• WILLIAM DOOLEY: COLOR ON THE LINE

    WILLIAM DOOLEY: COLOR ON THE LINE

    January 23 - March 13, 2026

Close-up of a painted surface with purple grid lines on the left and yellow vertical stripes on the right.

I have produced paintings and drawings for a lot of different reasons. Materials and processes figure prominently into my ideas.

It is a matter of navigating a populated visual landscape of art and life that influences my attraction to design elements such as stripe, repetition, shape, and color that all offer compass and path.

The synthesis of many histories in painting and drawing takes place at uninterpretable levels, and it is in these conditions that I seek common ground and the echo of kinship.

Close-up of a fabric with vertical blue and yellow stripes on a textured background and a different blue and white checkered pattern fabric below.

William Dooley is Professor of Art at The University of Alabama Department of Art and Art History, and serves as director of the Sarah Moody Gallery of Art.

He teaches in studio foundations and pursues ongoing studio art research in painting and drawing. He joined the university in 1988, moving from Charlotte, North Carolina to Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

Dooley has received degrees in studio art from Georgia Southern University and University of South Carolina.

His work is in the permanent collections of the Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte, NC; Meridian Museum of Art, MS; Birmingham Museum of Art, AL and the Paul R. Jones Museum of American Art at the University of Alabama, AL, and has been featured in numerous exhibitions throughout the U.S. Early 2023 Dooley had a one-person exhibition titled “William Dooley: Incremental Memory” at Scott Miller Projects in Birmingham and his work was recently included in a 3-person exhibit entitled “Similar but Different” at the Alabama School for the Fine Arts, ASFA, in Birmingham.

A modern mixed media art piece with a grid pattern of lime green rectangles on a pink background, mounted on a white wall.
A book with a purple tiled pattern on the cover and a yellow striped spine placed on a white surface.

William Dooley

Stone and Vertical

2025

oil and pencil on canvas

approx. 35 by 27 in. (ca. 88,9 by 68,6 cm)

two assembled elements of 26 by 18 in. and 24 by 9 in. (66 by 45,7 cm and 61 by 22,9 cm)

private US collection

Blue mosaic pattern on a rectangular canvas hanging on a white wall.

William Dooley

7-Eleven

2025

oil on canvas

approx. 37 by 24 in.

(ca. 94 by 61 cm)

Yellow painting with small square tiles on white background

William Dooley

Yellow 558

2025

oil and pencil on canvas

approx. 29 by 21 in.

(ca. 73,7 by 53,3 cm)

private US collection

Abstract colorful artwork with vertical pink and orange striped pattern on a canvas.

William Dooley

Linking Pinks

2025

oil and pencil on canvas

approx. 18 by 14 in.

(ca. 45,7 by 35,6 cm)

Image of a painting with green, white, and black vertical and horizontal stripes creating a grid pattern.

William Dooley

Brown, Green, Brown

2025

oil and pencil on canvas

approx. 22 by 17 in.

(ca. 55,9 by 43,2 cm)

A small rectangular canvas with a pink and purple mosaic pattern.

William Dooley

Tango

2025

oil and pencil on canvas

approx. 15 by 10.5 in. (ca. 38,1 by 26,7 cm)

private US collection

A painting with a pattern of small, pink squares and rectangles.

William Dooley

Field Roses

2025

oil and pencil on canvas

approx. 45 by 47 in. (ca. 114,3 by 119,4 cm)

Two rectangular paintings, a yellow grid-like item on the left and a light blue striped item on the right, mounted on a white wall.

William Dooley

Yellow Baby Blue

2025

oil and pencil on canvas

approx. 24 by 23 in. (ca. 61 by 58,4 cm)

two assembled elements of 18 by 14 in. and 24 by 9 in. (45,7 by 35,6 cm and 61 by 22,9 cm)

private US collection

Green painting with a pattern of small, shiny green squares on its surface placed on a white background.

William Dooley

Green 824

2025

oil on canvas

approx. 28 by 21 in.

(ca. 71,1 by 53,3 cm)

private US collection

Close-up of a textured, colorful artwork with a green grid pattern on a pink and beige canvas, mounted on a white wall.
A yellow painting with a smaller right section, both sections have a pattern of horizontal yellow and red-orange stripes.

William Dooley

Shift

2025

oil on canvas, two assembled elements

approx. 24 by 34 in.

(ca. 61 by 86,4 cm)

Close-up of a yellow painting with white dividers.
Painting with orange and green stripes.

William Dooley

Stratum

2025

oil and pencil on canvas

approx. 26 by 18 in.

(ca. 66 by 45,7 cm)

Two paintings with striped patterns, one yellow and blue vertical stripes, and the other blue and white horizontal stripes, hanging on a white wall.

William Dooley

This and That

2025

oil and pencil on canvas

installed as shown approx. 36 by 21 in. (ca. 91,5 by 53,3 cm)

two individual elements of 17.75 by 13 in. and 16.5 by 16.5 in. (45,1 by 33 cm and 41,9 by 41,9 cm)

private US collection

Abstract artwork featuring vertical pink, green, and purple lines on a white background.

William Dooley

It Took a Minute

2025

oil on canvas

approx. 40 by 30 in. (ca. 101,6 by 76,2 cm)

Apainting with red, white, and blue horizontal stripes.

William Dooley

Red Way

2025

oil and pencil on canvas

approx. 14 by 18 in. (ca. 35,6 by 45,7 cm)

Abstract art piece with horizontal orange, pink, and red stripes on a white background.

William Dooley

Laundromat

2025

oil and pencil on canvas

approx. 17 by 22 in. (ca. 43,2 by 55,9 cm)

Abstract artwork featuring horizontal black lines with accents of green and pink, spaced evenly across a rectangular surface.

William Dooley

Old New

2025

oil on canvas

approx. 14.5 by 21 in. (ca. 35,8 by 53,3 cm)

Close-up of a colorful abstract painting with black, pink, green, and yellow threads.
A minimalist, rectangular painting with horizontal orange and gray stripes.

William Dooley

Like This

2024

oil on canvas

approx. 17 by 22 in. (ca. 43,2 by 55,9 cm)

Abstract painting featuring vertical black stripes with white and red accents on a white wall.

William Dooley

In Between

2023

oil on canvas

approx. 36 by 32 in. (ca. 91,4 by 81,3 cm)

Abstract painting with horizontal streaks of blue, yellow, and black lines on a white background.

William Dooley

Swift Water Sipsey

2020

oil on canvas

approx. 40 by 45 in. (ca. 101,6 by 114,3 cm)

A painting with vertical yellow and white stripes, framed in yellow.

William Dooley

Ba, bop, bop, bop, ba

2011

oil on canvas

approx. 36 by 42 in. (ca. 91,4 by 106,7 cm)

A painting with a sunset scene, featuring two yellow-orange suns on opposite sides and a central red-orange background with textured horizontal strokes.

William Dooley

Switchabout

1995

oil and pigmented polymer on canvas, three individual elements

approx. 36 by 120 in. (ca. 91,4 by 304,8 cm)