William T. Williams

Infobox_Senator
name=William T. Williams
nationality=American


image_size=
date of birth = birth date and age|1942|7|17|
place of birth = Cross Creek, North Carolina
height = 174 cm
field = Painting, Drawing, Printmaking, Sculpture
training = Pratt Institute, Yale
grad school =Yale, 1968
website = [http://www.williamtwilliams.com Official website]
profession = Fine Artist|

William T. Williams was born in Cross Creek, North Carolina, United States. He received a BFA degree from Pratt Institute in 1966 and studied at The Skowhegan School of Art. In 1968 he received an MFA degree from Yale University School of Art and Architecture. He is presently Professor of Art at Brooklyn College, the City University of New York, whose faculty he joined in 1971.

Williams is a recipient of numerous awards including a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship, two National Endowment for the Arts Awards, and a Joan Mitchell Foundation Award. He is also a recipient of The Studio Museum in Harlem's Artist Award in 1992 and received The James Van Dee Zee Award from the Brandywine Workshop for lifetime achievement in the arts in 2005.Most recently, he was the recipient of the 2006 North Carolina Governors Award for Fine Arts. The highest civilian honor the state can bestow. William's is represented in numerous museum and corporate collections including The Museum of Modern Art, The Whitney Museum of American Art, North Carolina Museum of Art, The Arthur Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, The Menil Collection, Fogg Art Museum, The Studio Museum in Harlem, The Library of Congress, Yale University Art Gallery, Chase Manhattan Bank, AT&T, General Mills Corporation, UnitedHealth Group, Southwestern Bell Corporation and Prudential Financial Insurance Company of America.

He has exhibited in over 100 museums and art centers in the United States, France, Germany, Russia, Venezuela, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, People's Republic of China and Japan.

Early Childhood

Born 1942, into the rural south

William T. Williams is a New York painter whose heritable roots in the South have remained a wellspring for his art throughout his career. His early childhood, spent in Spring Lake, North Carolina, provided the atmosphere for the sensible will an artist so often needs in the formative years. The colorful memories of a peaceful and wholesome lifestyle in the rural South followed Williams north.
David C. Driskell, "An Unending Visual Odyssey"

New York: Late 50’s

The family's move to the North had a positive effect on Williams' future when his art talent was recognized by the head of a local community center who gave him a room there to use as a studio. He attended the High School of Industrial Arts in Manhattan (now the High School of Art and Design), which held many of its classes at the Museum of Modern Art and The Metropolitan Museum of Art. In 1962 Williams entered Pratt Institute to study painting. During his junior year there, he won a summer scholarship to The Skowhegan School of Art and also received a National Endowment for the Arts, traveling grant. Before his brief stay was over, he had decided that he would become an artist. Valerie J. Mercer, Behind Closed Doors

College Years

First Encounters: The Art World

After completing an M.F.A. degree program in painting at Yale University in 1968, Williams quickly gained attention from the mainstream art world. The Museum of Modern Art acquired his composition "Elbert Jackson L.A.M.F., Part II in 1969, and by 1970 his work was being exhibited at The Foundation Maeght in the south of France, in a room with paintings by some of the superstars of abstract expressionism: Willem De Kooning, Mark Rothko, Clifford Still and Philip Guston.Valerie J. Mercer

Art School

His formal education at Pratt Institute and Yale University in the 1960s in the visual arts curriculum prepared him well for the creative path his art would take in the next two decades. He moved consummately thereafter to investigate the physical boundaries one finds uncommon to explorations in the science of color, setting for himself the standard of achieving in his work an inherent completeness out of the reach of other painters.
David C. Driskell

The Late 60’s

The late late 60's was a very busy time for William. In 1969 he participated in The Black Artist in America: A Symposium held at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, NY. He also took part in numerous groundbreaking exhibitions includingThe Studio Museum in Harlem's Inaugural Show, X to the Fourth Power and New Acquisitions held at The Museum of Modern Art. In 1970 Williams was also commissioned by the Jewish Museum (New York), and The Menil Collection in Houston, TX.

Founding The Artist in Residence at SMH

"The trustees of The Studio Museum in Harlem read my proposal, interviewed me and hired me to start an Artist-in-Residence program. That program had its start at the first site of the Museum over the liquor store on Fifth Avenue (2033 Fifth Avenue). It was a loft, a factory going out of business that had a lot of sewing machines in it. Mel Edwards and I physically cleaned that space out for the Artist-in-Residence program. That was the beginning." I wanted to create a context, namely an Artist-in-Residence program, through which money could be funnelled to artists which would allow them to ponder the kinds of issues and questions that come up in a graduate program. Kinshasha Conwill, former director of the museum, says that the program "has become critical to the museum's identity and its contribution to the larger art arena."

Reese Palley Instalation

Wiliam T. Williams first one-man show at New York's Reese Palley Gallery in 1971 resulted in the sale of every painting. That same year, TheWhitney Museum of American Art exhibited his work twice; collectors such as AT&T and General Mills purchased his art; and his work was featured in both Life Magazine and Time Magazines. Valerie J. Mercer

The 70's: New Inspiration

Returning Home

Williams returned home to the dusty unpaved roads of North Carolina for the inspiration of a new palette, one born of the luster and glow of mica, false gold, and fox fire from earth's pulsating cover. Williams' relief from color-field painting was celebrated in the new works completed between 1971-1977, such as Equinox and Indian Summer. In 1975 William also took part in an artist in residence program at Fisk University in Nashville, TN.
David C. Driskell

FESTAC Festival

In 1977, Williams participated in the second World Festival of Black Art and African Culture in Lagos, Nigeria, also known as FESTAC. This festival brought together more than 17,000 artists of African descent from 59 countries. It was the largest cultural event ever held on the African continent.

The 80’s

Early Exhibitions

In 1982 Williams was included in Recent Acquisitions of the Schomburg Collection at The Arthur Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in New York, NY. In 1984 William took part in a show titled Since the Harlem Renaissance, which traveled to The University of Maryland, Bucknell University and The State University of New York at Old Westbury. It also traveled to The Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute in Utica, NY and The Chrysler Museum of Art in Norfolk, VA.

1987: Exhibit at the Smithsonian

In 1987 William received The John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship. He also was a member of a show that took place in Tokyo, Japan entitled The Art of Black America in Japan. The international acclaim and fervor didn't stop there William also took part in Contemporary Visual Expressions, a show at The Anacostia Museum/Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC.

Espiritu & Materia

William's traveled to Venezuela with painter Jack Whitten and sculptor's, Mel Edwards and Tyrone Mitchell for the opening of their exhibition Espiritu & Materia at The Museum of Visual Arts, Alejandro Otero.

The 90's

1992: Studio Museum in Harlem Artist Award

In 1992 William's was presented The Studio Museum in Harlem Artist's Award for lifetime achievement and his role in creating the artist-in-residence program for the museum.

Working With Bob Blackburn

Bob Blackburn first invited Williams to make a print at the Printmaking Workshop in 1975. Over the next 22 years, Williams collaborated with Blackburn to produce 19 editions, as well as, a number of unique print projects. Bob's friendship, expertise and advice was key to Williams development in the print medium. His last project at The Printmaking Workshop was in 1997 when he produced a number of monoprints underwritten by art patron, Major Thomas.

2000: To Conserve A Legacy

In 2000 Williams took part in an extensive traveling show entitled, To Conserve a Legacy: American Art from Historically Black Colleges and Universities. The show organized by The Addison Gallery of American Art at The Philips Academy in Massachusetts and The Studio Museum in Harlem in New York traveled to over 8 major museums including, The Corcoran Gallery of Art, The Art Institute of Chicago, Fisk University, Duke University and Hampton Universities Art museums.

Jazz at Lincoln Center

In 1994 Williams participated in a Jazz at Lincoln Center program titled, Swing Landscapes: Jazz Visualized. The intent of the Jazz Talk program was to explore what it is about jazz that makes its colors, rhythms and characters so attractive to the painter's eye. Williams, along with author, Alfred Appel, Jr. discussed the influence of jazz on modern art. This program was part of a NY citywide celebration honoring the artist Romare Bearden.

Current Events

Receives Award for Lifetime Achievement

In 2005, Williams was invited to create a print at The Brandywine Workshop in conjunction with receiving The James Van Der Zee Award for Lifetime Achievement. Between July and late August he made five trips to Philadelphia staying several days at a time. These trips were unusually productive yielding four editions and a number of unique hand-colored prints. The Brandywine Workshop located in Phildalephia was founded in 1972 to promote interest and talent in printmaking while cultivating cultural diversity in the arts.

Printmaking at Lafyette College

In 2006, Williams was a visiting scholar and artist in residence at Lafayette College's, Experimental Printmaking Institute (EPI), which included Williams lecture about his work sponsored by the David L. Sr. and Helen J. Temple Visiting Lecture Series Fund. During this year, William's work was also shown at The Studio Museum in Harlem in Energy and Experimentation: Black Artists and Abstraction 1964-1980.

2006: Receives North Carolina Governors Award

In 2006 William T. Williams received The North Carolina Governors Award for Fine Arts by Governor Mike Easley. This is the highest civilian honor a state can bestow.

Trivia

1. The first African American in the H. W. Janson, History of Art2. Has exhibited on four continents and over 100 museums worldwide3. Created The Artists in Residence Program at The Studio Museum in Harlem4. Participated in the first exhibition of African American art to be exhibition in Japan5. One of the first African Americans to exhibit in the Republic of China6. The Director of the Skowhegigan School of Painting and Sculpture

elected Paintings

Awards and grants

*North Carolina Governor's Award for Fine Arts, NC 2006
*James Van Der Zee Award, Brandywine Workshop, Philadelphia, PA 2005
*Golden Key National Honor Society, Honorary Member 1998
*Joan Mitchell Foundation, Grant Award 1996
*Mid-Atlantic/NEA Regional Fellowship 1994
*The Studio Museum in Harlem Artist's Award 1992
*John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship 1987
*City University of New York, Faculty Research Award, Painting 1987, 1984, 1973
*Creative Arts Public Service Grant, Painting, New York 1985, 1981
*National Endowment for the Arts, Individual Artist Awa rd, Painting 1970
*Yale University, Grant for Graduate Study, New Haven, CT 1966
*National Endowment for the Arts, Traveling Grant 1965

References and further reading

1. Energy/Experimentation: Black Artists and Abstraction 1964-1990The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York. 2006 Kellie Jones and Lowery Stokes SimsISBN 0-942949-31-5

2. Energy and Abstraction at the Studio Museum in HarlemThe New York Times, New York Friday, April 7, 2006 Holland Cotter

3. William T. WilliamsHomes of Color, January/February 2006 Volume 5 Issue 1 Penny Shaw

4. The Chemistry of ColorThe Harold A. and Ann R. Sorgenti Collection of Contemporary African- American Art{Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PAISBN 0-943836-26-3

5. Artist and InfluenceHatch Billops Collection, Inc. New York, NY Volume XXIV 2005Library of Congress: 00-105-283 ISBN 0-9702620-1-9

6. Images of America: African American VoicesSelections from the Collection of Mr. And Mrs. Darrell WalkerWalton Arts Center, Fayetteville, AKLibrary of Congress ISBN 0-9744314-0-0

7. ConvergenceJames E. Lewis Museum of ArtMorgan State University, Newark, DE;Library of Congress ISBN 0-9610324-3-x

8. The Governor Nelson A. RockefellerEmpire State Plaza Art Collection and Plaza MemorialsRizzoli International Publications, Inc., New York, NY 2002

9. Successions: Prints by African American Artists from the Jean and Robert Steele CollectionThe Art Gallery, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 2002Library of Congress 2002101248 ISBN 0-937123-42-0

10. The Other Side of Color: African American Artin the Collection of Camille O. and William H. CosbyPomegranate Communications, Inc., San Francisco, CA 2001

11. To Conserve a Legacy: American Art from Historically Black Colleges and UniversitiesAddison Gallery of American Art, Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts andThe Studio Museum in Harlem, New York. 1999 Richard Powell and Jock Reynolds

12. Art & Antiques, March 1999 Lynne Konstantin

13. Narratives of African American Art and Identity: The David C. Driskell CollectionPomegranate Communications, Inc., San Francisco, CA 1998 ISBN 0-7649-0722-0

14. Collecting African American ArtCrown Publishers, Inc, New York 1998 Halima TahaISBN 0-517-70593-1

15. North Carolina Museum of the Arts: Handbook of the CollectionsHudson Hills Press, Inc; New York, NY 1998ISBN 0-088259-978-X

16. African American ArtOxford History of Art; Oxford/New York 1998 Sharon F. Patton

17. Seeing Jazz: Artists and Writers on JazzSmithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition/Chronicle BooksWashington, DC 1997

18. Revisiting American Art: Works from the Collections of HistoricallyBlack Colleges and UniversitiesKatonah Museum of Art, Katonah, NYISBN 9-915-171-45-7 1997

19. American

20. Twentieth Century African American Art from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Darrell WalkerUniversity of Arkansas at Little Rock, Little Rock, AK 1996

21. African American Visual Aesthetics - A Post Modernist ViewSmithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC Edited by David C. DriskellISBN 1-56098-605-0 1995

22. African-American Printmaking - 1838 to the PresentThe Rockland Center of the Arts, West Nyack, NY 1995

23. 25 Years of African-American Art: The Studio Museum in HarlemThe Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY 1994

24. Spirit and ChanceMetro Times, Detroit, MI July 6-12, 1994, Hobey Echlin

25. Master ColoristDetroit Free Press, Detroit, MI Sunday, July 3, 1994, Marsha Miro
26. Improving with Age The News & Observer, Raleigh, NC Sunday, July 18, 1993 Chuck Twardy

27. Getting Personal and Cultural in the AbstractThe New York Times, New York Friday, August 28, 1992 Holland Cutter

28. Works on Paper/William T. WillilamsThe Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY 1992 ISBN 0-942949-07-2

29. Fourteen Paintings/William T. WilliamsThe Montclair Museum of Art, Montclair, NJ 1991 ISBN 0-935489-42-1

30. Adding Emotion to Abstract PaintingsThe New York Times, New York Sunday, November 7, 1991 William Zimmer

31. Behind Closed DoorsAmerican Visions Magazine, April 1991, Vol 6 No 2

32. Espiritu & MateriaMuseo de Artes Visuales Alejandro Otero, Caracas, Venezuela 1991

33. The Search for Freedom-African-American Abstract Painting 1945-1975

34. Kenkeleba House, Inc. New York, NY 1991

35. African American Works on PaperThe Cochran Collection, Atlanta, GA 1991

36. The Mirror the Other: The Politics of EstheticsArt Forum, March 1990, XXVIII, No. 7, Lowery Stokes Sims

37. Dedication ExhibitionJames E. Lewis Museum of Art, Baltimore MD 1990

38. The Smokehouse Painters, 1968-1970Black American Literature Forum, Fall 1990 Vol 24 No 3 Michael Oren

39. A Force of Repetition
New Jersey State Museum, Trenton, NJ 1990 Allison Weld

40. A 'Painterly' Show in Jersey CityThe New York Times, New York, October 30, 1988 William Zimmer

41. Vivian Browne/William T. WilliamsJamaica Arts Center, Jamaica, NY, 1988 Lowery Stokes Sims

42. The Empire State Collection: Art for the PublicHarry Abrams, Inc., New York 1987 ISBN 0-8109-0884-0

43. Contemporary Visual Expressions Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC 1987 David C. Driskell

44. The History of ArtH.W. Janson, Third Edition, Harry Abrams, Inc. 1987 ISBN 0-13-389388X

45. Since the Harlem Renaissance-50 Years of Afro-American ArtCenter Gallery of Bucknell University, Lewisberg, PA 1985 Library of Congress 85-71056 ISBN 00916279-02-2

46. William T. WilliamsSoutheastern Center for Contemporary Art, Winston-Salem, NC 1985Library of Congress 85-061403

47. Art in the WorldHolt, Reinhart and Winston 1984 ISBN 0-03-061976-9 Stella Pandell Russell

48. East-West Contemporary ArtCalifornia Afro-American Museum, CA Library of Congress 83-60208

49. The Permanent Collection of the Studio Museum in HarlemThe Studio Museum in Harlem, NY 1982 Library of Congress 83-60208
50. Sam Gilliam, Al Loving, William T. WilliamsDialogue-An Art Journal, January/February 1995

51. American Paintings at Yale UniversityYale University Art Gallery New Haven 1982

52. American Art Since 1945Oxford University Press 1982 Dore Ashton

53. From Explosion to Implosion: The Ten Year Transition of William T. WilliamsArt Magazine, February 1981 April Kingsley

54. A Serene IndifferenceVillage Voice January 21, 1981 Judith Wilson

55. Mideast PipelineSoHo Weekly News January 14, 1981 John Perreault

56. Positively BlackSoHo Weekly News February 27, 1980 John Perreault

57. William T. WilliamsUniversity of Wisconsin Publication 1980 Dr. David C. Driskell

58. Singular Work, Double Blind, Triple ThreatVillage Voice March 3, 1980 Carrie Rickey

59. William T. WilliamsMiami-Dade Community College Publication November 1977 Dore Ashton

60. ContexturesGoode-Bryant and Philips Library of Congress 78-51925

61. Artists Salute SkowheganKennedy Galleries, NY Library of Congress 77-89091

62. A Selection of American Art-The Skowhegan School 1946-1976Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, MA Library of Congress 76-12154

63. Amistad II: Afro-American ArtFisk University, Nashville, TN David C. Driskell Library of Congress 75-7466
The Afro-American Artist-A Search for IdentityHolt, Rinehart & Winston, Inc. Elsa Honig FineLibrary of Congress 73-1235 ISBN 0-03-010746-6

64. ExtensionsWadsworth Atheneum 1974 Jacquelyn Day Sewer Library of Congress 73-04026
Conversation with Three ArtistsBlack Orpheus Vol 3 Nos 2&3 1975 Jane Cortez

65. Whitney Museum of American Art: Catalogue of the ColleWhitney Museum of American Art New York 1974 John Baur

66. Problems of CriticismArts Magazine Vol 46 No 7 Frank Bowling

67. Visiting ArtistsNew York State Council on the Arts, New York, NY 1972 Irving Sandler

68. Painting and Sculpture TodayIndianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, IN 1972

69. Drawings by New York ArtistsUtah Museum of Fine Arts 1972 Dore Ashton

70. Deluxe ShowMenil Foundation, Rice University, Houston, TX 1972

71. Canvasses Brimming with Color Life Magazine September 1971 Vol 71 No
72. The Structure of ColorWhitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY April 1971

73. William T. Williams, ArtistBay Street Banner, Boston, MA August 20, 1970
74. Two Black ArtistsArts Magazine April 1970 Walter Jones

75. Young Abstract Painters; Right On!Arts Magazine February 1970 Dore Ashton

76. Using WallsJewish Museum Publication 1970

77. Discussion on Black Art-IIArts Magazine 1970 Vol 3 Frank Bowling

78. In the MuseumsArts Magazine December 1969-1970 Janet Bloom

79. Critic's Choice 1969-70New York State Council on the Arts Publication Irving Sandler

80. The Black Artist; The Black Art Community; The White Art WorldNew York Times, New York, NY June 29, 1970 James R. Mellow

81. X to the 4th PowerArts Magazine September 1969
82. A Triumph Rather Than a Threat New York Times, New York, NY August 17, 1969 Peter Schjeldahl

83. The Black Artist in America: A SymposiumThe Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, January 1969 Vol XXVII No 5

84. American Contemporary ArtAmerican Embassy, Russia, Museum of Modern Art, NY 1969 Margaret Potter

External links

* [http://www.williamtwilliams.com Official Website of William T. Williams]
* [http://www.moma.org/collection/browse_results.php?object_id=80477]
* [http://nymag.com/arts/art/reviews/37245/]
* [http://www.observer.com/2007/it-art-or]
* [http://www.lafayette.edu/news.php/view/9204/]
* [http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2006/04/07/arts/stud.2.190.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/07/arts/design/07stud.html%3Fn%3DTop/Reference/Times%2520Topics/Organizations/S/Studio%2520Museum%2520in%2520Harlem&h=233&w=190&sz=38&hl=en&start=2&um=1&tbnid=PgwiSizQrWec8M:&tbnh=109&tbnw=89&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dwilliam%2Bt%2Bwilliams%26svnum%3D10%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dsafari%26rls%3Den%26sa%3DN]
* [http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/blackburn/images/bla42-02399r.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/blackburn/seeds.html&h=640&w=481&sz=64&hl=en&start=7&um=1&tbnid=UysD6rDsIEnBZM:&tbnh=137&tbnw=103&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dwilliam%2Bt%2Bwilliams%26svnum%3D10%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dsafari%26rls%3Den%26sa%3DN]