NEWARK, DE.- The University Museums of the University of Delaware presents Beyond Borders: Bill Hutson & Friends, on view August 31-December 9, 2016.

Coinciding with the eightieth birthday of American artist Bill Hutson, Beyond Borders highlights the visual legacy of Hutson’s transatlantic friendships. Best known for his abstract paintings, Hutson is an active artist, educator and curator. Prior to settling in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Hutson forged lasting relationships with artists, visual and literary, in the communities where he was based. These include England, France, The Netherlands, Italy, Nigeria, Senegal, India and the USA.

Through selected works by Bill Hutson and his contemporaries, Beyond Borders navigates the transnational nature and scope of his creative life. Moving between London, Paris and Amsterdam with side trips to New York City, Hutson befriended artists working with the creative language of abstraction such as Edward Clark, Larry Potter, Herb Gentry and Sam Middleton, among many others. In the USA, Hutson’s network includes artists from California to New York. Drawn from the Phillips Museum of Art at Franklin & Marshall College, the exhibition includes a range of Hutson’s distinctive work, from 1960-2003, and that of his artist-friends, among them: Larry Potter, Sam Middleton, Ed Clark, Mel Edwards, Nanette Carter, James Little, Mr. Imagination and Mary Frances Merrill.

Born in San Marcos, Texas on September 6, 1936, William R. Hutson serves as the Jennie Brown Cook and Betsy Hess Cook Distinguished Artist-in-Residence at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. An artist-archivist, Hutson gifted his collection, inclusive of personal papers, exhibition catalogues and texts documenting African American art to Franklin & Marshall College in 2010. The Phillips Museum of Art houses an extensive poster and art collection donated by Hutson, the focus of the University of Delaware exhibition.