The Space Between Now and Forever
Essay:
Venice Biennale artist and Pollock Prize recipient Todd Williamson unveils a new body of work that explores the fluid boundaries between influence, time, and transcendence. In The Space Between Now and Forever, Williamson investigates how leadership, legacy, and the weight of human ambition echo across history—while extending that dialogue beyond our earthly confines to the vast unknown.
Building on the thematic foundations of his acclaimed 2019 Venice Biennale installation, #Processional, Williamson continues his deep engagement with the resonance of modern thought leaders through layered color, texture, and sound. Yet, in this series, his inquiry expands beyond the present moment, imagining how ideas persist—etched into memory, into art, and even into the fabric of space itself. A fragment of Williamson’s artistic vision now travels aboard a lunar library, joining an archive of human heritage destined for the Moon.
At the core of these paintings lies a meditation on impermanence and permanence: abstract impressions of public figures emerge and dissolve within the surfaces, while billowing layers of pigment capture moments of reflection, tension, and revelation in a single breath. Interwoven musical elements heighten this sense of resonance, creating a multisensory dialogue that asks: What endures? What fades? And how do we define our place within the ever-shifting present?
This exhibition extends the spiritual undercurrents of Williamson’s earlier chapel installation in Venice—where the hush of ancient walls converged with the pulse of modern voices. Now, in Los Angeles, that conversation stretches toward the cosmos, reflecting on the ways culture, thought, and artistic expression are preserved beyond the constraints of time and space.
In The Space Between Now and Forever, Williamson invites us to move through a landscape of abstraction that is both deeply personal and universally expansive. As history collides with the future, and as the present moment flickers between permanence and ephemerality, we are left to consider our own imprint—on this world and beyond.
#ToddWilliamson #ToddWilliamsonauctionrecord #ToddWilliamsonauctionresults
Essay:
Venice Biennale artist and Pollock Prize recipient Todd Williamson unveils a new body of work that explores the fluid boundaries between influence, time, and transcendence. In The Space Between Now and Forever, Williamson investigates how leadership, legacy, and the weight of human ambition echo across history—while extending that dialogue beyond our earthly confines to the vast unknown.
Building on the thematic foundations of his acclaimed 2019 Venice Biennale installation, #Processional, Williamson continues his deep engagement with the resonance of modern thought leaders through layered color, texture, and sound. Yet, in this series, his inquiry expands beyond the present moment, imagining how ideas persist—etched into memory, into art, and even into the fabric of space itself. A fragment of Williamson’s artistic vision now travels aboard a lunar library, joining an archive of human heritage destined for the Moon.
At the core of these paintings lies a meditation on impermanence and permanence: abstract impressions of public figures emerge and dissolve within the surfaces, while billowing layers of pigment capture moments of reflection, tension, and revelation in a single breath. Interwoven musical elements heighten this sense of resonance, creating a multisensory dialogue that asks: What endures? What fades? And how do we define our place within the ever-shifting present?
This exhibition extends the spiritual undercurrents of Williamson’s earlier chapel installation in Venice—where the hush of ancient walls converged with the pulse of modern voices. Now, in Los Angeles, that conversation stretches toward the cosmos, reflecting on the ways culture, thought, and artistic expression are preserved beyond the constraints of time and space.
In The Space Between Now and Forever, Williamson invites us to move through a landscape of abstraction that is both deeply personal and universally expansive. As history collides with the future, and as the present moment flickers between permanence and ephemerality, we are left to consider our own imprint—on this world and beyond.
#ToddWilliamson #ToddWilliamsonauctionrecord #ToddWilliamsonauctionresults
Museo KALUZ Arte Vivo Edition XXX Mexico City
Arte Vivo Edition XXX will take place at the beautiful Museo Kaluz in Mexico City in October 2024 with approximately 100 International Artists including Javier Marin, Harley Cortez, Todd Williamson, Yayoi Kusama and many others!!
Arte Vivo Exicion XXX catalog
Johannes Geccelli meets Bernd Wolf & Todd Williamson |
Sight Galerie Frankfurt Germany |
|
Click here for video:
GECCELLI meets WOLF & WILLIAMSON
GECCELLI meets WOLF & WILLIAMSON
Light + Space
|
Todd Williamson
|
|
|
|
|
Track and Soul! Longnecker Gallery Houston TX 2023
Track and Soul Video
"Track and Soul" is an exploration of contrasts and harmonies. It questions the boundaries between the silent strength that Williamson's abstract pieces exude and the roaring momentum in Somogyi's artworks. The exhibition seeks to bridge the gap between the introspective nature of abstract expressionism and the raw, tangible emotions of the automotive world. It's an invitation for viewers to move between moments of quiet contemplation and pulsating narratives.
The exhibition is set to engage audiences on multiple levels in a holistic, immersive experience. These spaces prompt the visitor to reflect, resonate, and even reinterpret the myriad themes present. "Track and Soul" is not just an exhibition—it's a journey. By intertwining the profound depth of Todd Williamson's abstract art with Andreas Somogyi's vehicular dynamism, it promises to be a space where art becomes the language of both the soul and the senses, echoing the multifaceted rhythms of life itself.
“We are very excited to pair an artist with a long, important career beside an emerging artist,” said gallery owner Nicole Longnecker. “Todd is a traditional abstractionist with pieces in museum collection world-wide, while Andreas is an automotive-based impressionist just beginning to make a splash. I found the fact both artists are from Southern California adds to the contrast."
"Track and Soul" is an exploration of contrasts and harmonies. It questions the boundaries between the silent strength that Williamson's abstract pieces exude and the roaring momentum in Somogyi's artworks. The exhibition seeks to bridge the gap between the introspective nature of abstract expressionism and the raw, tangible emotions of the automotive world. It's an invitation for viewers to move between moments of quiet contemplation and pulsating narratives.
The exhibition is set to engage audiences on multiple levels in a holistic, immersive experience. These spaces prompt the visitor to reflect, resonate, and even reinterpret the myriad themes present. "Track and Soul" is not just an exhibition—it's a journey. By intertwining the profound depth of Todd Williamson's abstract art with Andreas Somogyi's vehicular dynamism, it promises to be a space where art becomes the language of both the soul and the senses, echoing the multifaceted rhythms of life itself.
“We are very excited to pair an artist with a long, important career beside an emerging artist,” said gallery owner Nicole Longnecker. “Todd is a traditional abstractionist with pieces in museum collection world-wide, while Andreas is an automotive-based impressionist just beginning to make a splash. I found the fact both artists are from Southern California adds to the contrast."
Todd Williamson Sight Galerie Frankfurt 2023
LIGHT COLOR FORM (licht, farbe, form) Stadtisches City Museum (Deggendorf Germany)
Todd Williamson @ the Queens Kuntsgalerien Zurich 2022
The Power of Passion 2022
@Kunstforum Schloss Hohenstein
|
|
Prime Minister of Bavaria, Dr. Markus Söder, sends a warm welcome to the exhibition of Todd Williamson & Frank Teufel at Kunstforum Schloss Hohenstein.
|
Under the title "The Power of Passion", 36 works by the American Todd Williamson can be seen from Sunday, October 23, complemented by twelve sculptures by the Tuttlingen master stonemason Frank Teufel.
Williamson is one of the most famous contemporary representatives of Abstract Expressionism. His oil on canvas works have not only received two awards from the Pollock-Krasner Foundation and numerous other awards and honors, but in 2019 he was also one of the ten artists at the Venice Biennale who, according to Forbes magazine, are a must-see should have. Williamson's paintings are a further development of color field painting, characterized by large-scale color monotony interrupted by lines and edges. Playing with light and accents, his technique consists of applying different layers that are applied to and removed from the canvas. On the one hand, his art radiates calm and peace, yet it is full of dynamism and power. "Williamson also takes a stand with his work," explains curator Stephan Zipfel, stopping in front of a large screen on which a sword cuts through deep red colored areas during the tour of the exhibition. "The sword stands for the balance of power in society and politics, but of course it can also appear neutral to the observer." |
Abstract Nature of Color and Sculpture 2022
THE DEEPER THE BLUE @ Imago Gallery Palm Desert 3/26/22-5/14/22
In the galleries first exhibition for the 3 LA artists, The Deeper the Blue explores the ideas of color, spirit, and freedom. Kandinsky stated that “color is a means of exercising direct influence upon the soul, where color is the keyboard, the eye the hammer, and the soul the piano of many strings.”
“The deeper the blue becomes, the more strongly it calls man towards the infinite, awakening in him a desire for the pure and, finally, for the supernatural the brighter it becomes, the more it loses its sound, until it turns into silent stillness and becomes white.”— Wassily Kandinsky
“The deeper the blue becomes, the more strongly it calls man towards the infinite, awakening in him a desire for the pure and, finally, for the supernatural the brighter it becomes, the more it loses its sound, until it turns into silent stillness and becomes white.”— Wassily Kandinsky
"Inspirational: the Influence of Place" 2021
*in cooperation w The American Embassy Rome & Art 1307
Hercolano Museum, Royal Palace of Portici, Naples Italy
**artists: : Shane Guffogg, Justin Garcia, Kelly Berg, Miguel Osuna, Ned Evans, Todd Williamson
By: Consul of Public Affairs at USA Napoli Consulate
On the occasion of the celebrations for the 225th anniversary of the establishment of the US diplomatic headquarters in Naples, one of the oldest American diplomatic offices in the world, Art1307 Istituzione Culturale and the Museo Ercolanense Portici of the Federico II University present the exhibition: "Inspirational the influence of place ”with the support of the United States diplomatic mission in Italy with the participation of 7 contemporary American visual artists. The latter were inspired in their works, created for the occasion, by the literature of American writers of the past who participated in the Gran Tour in Campania. A union of ancient literature and contemporary visual arts that seals not only a prolific interconnection between the arts,
The curator was inspired by the literary work of Pier Luigi Razzano: America-NA which examines the writings of writers of the past addressed and dedicated to our territory. A "reading" and a re-reading of Naples and Campania that from the past reaches our contemporaneity in a path that cancels Time, breaks down barriers and cultural differences and looks at our territory with a new eye and detached from sentimental contaminations dictated from our origin on the territory.
At the same time, an investigation into a land that is very difficult to understand and to interpret with cognitive and judgmental meters distant from our culture. A "locus" where everything seems to suddenly happen and everything remains the same for centuries; a place where the sense of fluidity and precariousness of events is more intense and faster than elsewhere and where everything is irretrievably incorporated and sedimented under multiple layers of history. An unprecedented survey on the hidden potential of our territory that can enlighten us on our limits and on our mistakes to lead us towards a more correct and fairer future development.
The American artists Kelly Berg, Laddie John Dill, Ned Evans, Justin Garcia, Shane Guffogg, Miguel Osuna and Todd Williamson were invited to read the literary work of the American writers assigned to each one respectively and to visually report those emotions and sensations that , combined with their personal perceptive experience of Naples and Campania carried out during their previous stays, exhibited an unprecedented and innovative vision. A fascinating, captivating and all-encompassing reading of this land worked by pictorial synthesis.
An unusual way of questioning ourselves about our values and our limits to help us understand the place more deeply beyond easy stereotypes because sometimes Beauty alone is not enough to cross the river when the river is in flood.
INSPIRATIONAL: press links via Art 1307 Cultural Institution
On the occasion of the celebrations for the 225th anniversary of the establishment of the US diplomatic headquarters in Naples, one of the oldest American diplomatic offices in the world, Art1307 Istituzione Culturale and the Museo Ercolanense Portici of the Federico II University present the exhibition: "Inspirational the influence of place ”with the support of the United States diplomatic mission in Italy with the participation of 7 contemporary American visual artists. The latter were inspired in their works, created for the occasion, by the literature of American writers of the past who participated in the Gran Tour in Campania. A union of ancient literature and contemporary visual arts that seals not only a prolific interconnection between the arts,
The curator was inspired by the literary work of Pier Luigi Razzano: America-NA which examines the writings of writers of the past addressed and dedicated to our territory. A "reading" and a re-reading of Naples and Campania that from the past reaches our contemporaneity in a path that cancels Time, breaks down barriers and cultural differences and looks at our territory with a new eye and detached from sentimental contaminations dictated from our origin on the territory.
At the same time, an investigation into a land that is very difficult to understand and to interpret with cognitive and judgmental meters distant from our culture. A "locus" where everything seems to suddenly happen and everything remains the same for centuries; a place where the sense of fluidity and precariousness of events is more intense and faster than elsewhere and where everything is irretrievably incorporated and sedimented under multiple layers of history. An unprecedented survey on the hidden potential of our territory that can enlighten us on our limits and on our mistakes to lead us towards a more correct and fairer future development.
The American artists Kelly Berg, Laddie John Dill, Ned Evans, Justin Garcia, Shane Guffogg, Miguel Osuna and Todd Williamson were invited to read the literary work of the American writers assigned to each one respectively and to visually report those emotions and sensations that , combined with their personal perceptive experience of Naples and Campania carried out during their previous stays, exhibited an unprecedented and innovative vision. A fascinating, captivating and all-encompassing reading of this land worked by pictorial synthesis.
An unusual way of questioning ourselves about our values and our limits to help us understand the place more deeply beyond easy stereotypes because sometimes Beauty alone is not enough to cross the river when the river is in flood.
INSPIRATIONAL: press links via Art 1307 Cultural Institution
The Only Way Out is Through @ Georges Berges Gallery NYC Sept 2021
The Only Way Out is Through
September 9, 2021
In what has become one of the gallery’s most anticipated seasons to date, this fall, Georges Bergès Gallery will feature LA-based international artist Todd Williamson’s return to New York City for solo exhibition “The Only Way Out is Through” - at Georges Berges Galley, 462 West Broadway, New York City 10012. Opening Reception September 9, 2021, 5-8 pm. Tel. (212) 475-4524. RSVP Required for the opening event: [email protected]
Williamson’s new series powerfully reflects the tremendous emotional and psychological challenges and transitions that have occurred during this last year and a half, and the human spirit’s tenacity and ability to hold out during the most trying times. This exhibition examines the dichotomy of both hope and fear of the future, expressed through life-affirming vibrant, wispy blues and pinks representing hope and joy versus the art representing the angst of the show manifested through the hazy, slightly out of focus, fragility of the artwork’s surface. The sweeping nuanced abstracts - compliment one another, creating a loose balance, as if “discussing” the future while they hang on the walls.
The award-winning Williamson developed a unique process for this latest iteration of oil paintings, for which he provides a new meaning and reinterpretation. By wiping, sanding, scraping, and dry-brushing, over-and-over again, until the level of opacity and subtle color variations are achieved, Williamson creates unique layers of dreamlike palettes onto the canvas. Some colors float on the surface, broken only by small squares of deeper colors that are then sliced through with a darker paint, metaphorically referencing the elusiveness of life’s stability.
The Only Way Out Is Through, a title borrowed and inspired by Robert Frost’s prescient poem “Servant to Servant,” presents with each work what Williamson describes as “deeply layered reflections” of the past, of ways we lived that “no longer have a place in this world.” Who are we now? How do we see our future? What has fundamentally changed? He poetically captures the complicated and almost surreal space we have lived in for the past year and a half, not only as individuals but also as a collective society.
Todd Williamson's body of “nuanced abstractions” have been shown in over 125 exhibitions worldwide, for which he has netted awards and recognition. He is past recipient of the prestigious Pollock-Krasner Foundation Prize for Creativity - only one of three artists to ever receive this award. Williamson exhibited solo in PROCESSIONAL, one of the official collateral events of the 2019 Venice Biennale - named one of the Top Ten Exhibitions for 2019. His work is included in numerous private and corporate collections around the world, most notably in the permanent collection of the Pio Monte della Misericordia where the piece hung next to Caravaggio’s “Seven Works of Mercy” for a period of time.
The Only Way Out is Through
Georges Berges Gallery
462 West Broadway
September 9, 2021
In what has become one of the gallery’s most anticipated seasons to date, this fall, Georges Bergès Gallery will feature LA-based international artist Todd Williamson’s return to New York City for solo exhibition “The Only Way Out is Through” - at Georges Berges Galley, 462 West Broadway, New York City 10012. Opening Reception September 9, 2021, 5-8 pm. Tel. (212) 475-4524. RSVP Required for the opening event: [email protected]
Williamson’s new series powerfully reflects the tremendous emotional and psychological challenges and transitions that have occurred during this last year and a half, and the human spirit’s tenacity and ability to hold out during the most trying times. This exhibition examines the dichotomy of both hope and fear of the future, expressed through life-affirming vibrant, wispy blues and pinks representing hope and joy versus the art representing the angst of the show manifested through the hazy, slightly out of focus, fragility of the artwork’s surface. The sweeping nuanced abstracts - compliment one another, creating a loose balance, as if “discussing” the future while they hang on the walls.
The award-winning Williamson developed a unique process for this latest iteration of oil paintings, for which he provides a new meaning and reinterpretation. By wiping, sanding, scraping, and dry-brushing, over-and-over again, until the level of opacity and subtle color variations are achieved, Williamson creates unique layers of dreamlike palettes onto the canvas. Some colors float on the surface, broken only by small squares of deeper colors that are then sliced through with a darker paint, metaphorically referencing the elusiveness of life’s stability.
The Only Way Out Is Through, a title borrowed and inspired by Robert Frost’s prescient poem “Servant to Servant,” presents with each work what Williamson describes as “deeply layered reflections” of the past, of ways we lived that “no longer have a place in this world.” Who are we now? How do we see our future? What has fundamentally changed? He poetically captures the complicated and almost surreal space we have lived in for the past year and a half, not only as individuals but also as a collective society.
Todd Williamson's body of “nuanced abstractions” have been shown in over 125 exhibitions worldwide, for which he has netted awards and recognition. He is past recipient of the prestigious Pollock-Krasner Foundation Prize for Creativity - only one of three artists to ever receive this award. Williamson exhibited solo in PROCESSIONAL, one of the official collateral events of the 2019 Venice Biennale - named one of the Top Ten Exhibitions for 2019. His work is included in numerous private and corporate collections around the world, most notably in the permanent collection of the Pio Monte della Misericordia where the piece hung next to Caravaggio’s “Seven Works of Mercy” for a period of time.
The Only Way Out is Through
Georges Berges Gallery
462 West Broadway
The Sun is the Same
ARTISTS: Todd Williamson, Joe Davidson, Shane Guffogg, Christina Craemer, Raymond Pettibone
During this Great Pause, in which relationships, careers, and education have been transacted largely and impersonally through the internet, home for many has become our analog respite. It is a time in which people are redefining their environments by converting living areas into workspaces, while also looking forward to a time when we can congregate and entertain again. This period of domestic isolation has given many families and individuals greater periods to reflect upon their immediate surroundings. It is with this in mind that we present The Sun is the Same.
This exhibition brings together the work of five artists in conversation both with each other and with the Laurel Hills residence of David Thompson of Assembledge+. This masterwork of Mr. Thompson creates the ideal setting for the art as they interact with the many facets of a home defined by spaces of intimacy and tranquility. The salon-style environment of an exquisitely designed modernist home will provide an exceptional opportunity to see how these artists work in a less formal and more domestic environment. When viewing the art, what becomes apparent is a combined body of work that on first glance explores forms marked by an unabashed love of material and visual allure, yet also begins to expose elements of our emotional states marked by quiet anxiety. This fundamental push and pull within each artists’ practice seem a common thread as they are placed within our current emotional climate.
ARTISTS: Shane Guffogg, Christina Craemer, Joe Davidson, Todd Williamson
Todd Williamson’s oils on canvas display a similar tension, yet it is one between order and chaos created through the interplay of colors and depth. Williamson’s work raises questions of subjectivity and our relationship to the living world where colors recede and emerge in a quiet battle of compression and release. The conflict created careens into the near spiritual that could be a divide between two worlds or a fleeting thought, emotion, or scream.
It is a constant play at equilibrium and balance.
As we eagerly anticipate our resumption to normal life, many questions are at the forefront of our minds. What will become of us after the Great Pause has passed? How will we interact with our domestic and work environments? (Will there even be a distinction?) How will we interact with each other, or even with the art and beauty that surrounds us all? Only time will tell but, in the meantime, The Sun Is the Same provides a glimpse into what that future might hold by examining works created in and around this “great pause” and displayed in a home that represents “normal” life.
During this Great Pause, in which relationships, careers, and education have been transacted largely and impersonally through the internet, home for many has become our analog respite. It is a time in which people are redefining their environments by converting living areas into workspaces, while also looking forward to a time when we can congregate and entertain again. This period of domestic isolation has given many families and individuals greater periods to reflect upon their immediate surroundings. It is with this in mind that we present The Sun is the Same.
This exhibition brings together the work of five artists in conversation both with each other and with the Laurel Hills residence of David Thompson of Assembledge+. This masterwork of Mr. Thompson creates the ideal setting for the art as they interact with the many facets of a home defined by spaces of intimacy and tranquility. The salon-style environment of an exquisitely designed modernist home will provide an exceptional opportunity to see how these artists work in a less formal and more domestic environment. When viewing the art, what becomes apparent is a combined body of work that on first glance explores forms marked by an unabashed love of material and visual allure, yet also begins to expose elements of our emotional states marked by quiet anxiety. This fundamental push and pull within each artists’ practice seem a common thread as they are placed within our current emotional climate.
ARTISTS: Shane Guffogg, Christina Craemer, Joe Davidson, Todd Williamson
Todd Williamson’s oils on canvas display a similar tension, yet it is one between order and chaos created through the interplay of colors and depth. Williamson’s work raises questions of subjectivity and our relationship to the living world where colors recede and emerge in a quiet battle of compression and release. The conflict created careens into the near spiritual that could be a divide between two worlds or a fleeting thought, emotion, or scream.
It is a constant play at equilibrium and balance.
As we eagerly anticipate our resumption to normal life, many questions are at the forefront of our minds. What will become of us after the Great Pause has passed? How will we interact with our domestic and work environments? (Will there even be a distinction?) How will we interact with each other, or even with the art and beauty that surrounds us all? Only time will tell but, in the meantime, The Sun Is the Same provides a glimpse into what that future might hold by examining works created in and around this “great pause” and displayed in a home that represents “normal” life.
Processional @ the 58th Venice Biennale
PROJECT DESCRIPTION. by Priscilla Fraser Chase (MAK Center for Art & Architecture)
For Processional, Todd Williamson examines the ideas of order and tradition to insinuate the deep uncertainty and uncontrollable political, social, and cultural movements of our time. Both the work and concept generated for this installation will draw directly from the environment in which it will be displayed, Chiesa di Santa Maria Della Pieta, in Venice. Occupying the long, narrow chapel located to the side of the Church, the space invites a meditative, sequential process of reflection. Drawing from the formal proportions, material richness, and dramatic natural light of this special site, the artist has developed a series of works, which encourage contemplation, challenge the perceived order of tradition and ask who are our apostles today? What are their roles? Is the influence of today’s perceived Influencers truly inspirational or dangerously dogmatic?
Williamson’s large scale canvases will sweep across the chapel’s walls of brick and crumbling plaster. The artworks will offer a new layer, a current materiality, to the deep patina of aging plaster and brick establishing a deeply rich, and continuous monochromatic palette. The colors of these new works are connected to what Williamson has termed, “the Modern Apostles and their antithesis”, that is, contemporary influencers and thought-leaders that have the remarkable power to cover, pervade, and completely overwhelm the existing environment. These rare individuals can then both initiate great ethical reform or fragment such ethics to the point of irreparable damage and erasure. While figures have interrupted the establishment through civil, social and technological innovations (Nelson Mandela, Steve Jobs, Elon Musk); others have operated in a totally opposite direction, bringing fractures, distortions, erosion of pre-existing structures, but without any innovative or constructive intent of a new order.
Drawing from the historic tradition of imagining a physical representation of religious figures, Williamson will reimagine the visual “reality” of these individuals. Through different types of paint, material and their application with ink, oil, sand and mud, Williamson is developing a series of eight large canvases of 2.00 x 2/50 meters that highlight a specifically symbolic color set against the driving monochromatic background. For example, Barack Obama, enacted extraordinary change for African American’s by actively bringing to the American conscious police brutality. Using a deep rich red color to symbolize his unwavering devotion to civil rights, Williamson will also apply strokes of multi-colored oil paint in multiple directions without any controlling element to symbolize the erosion of his policies by the current administration. This carefully considered process poses a fascinating examination of what can only be referred to as perceived portraiture in today’s cultural climate.
Through Processional, Williamson questions the historical times in which we live where fragmentation, disorientation, erosion, and outright destruction of the very principles this country was founded on have sadly become commonplace. One must be aware of this potential catastrophe by being reminded how our society was built. Only within the context of order and tradition can the current culture of disruption be fully appreciated, understood, and perhaps even nurtured toward a newly conscious balance.
PARTICIPANTS
Artist Todd Williamson has for the past 20 years has lived, worked, and been a vital and influential part of the California school of abstraction. Williamson has exhibited extensively both in the United States and Internationally.
Composer and professor Greg Walter, Professor University of North Carolina School of the Arts, lives and works in North Carolina. He is an award-winning actor and distinguished Professor.
Curator Priscilla Fraser Chase is the Director of the MAK Center for Art and Architecture
For Processional, Todd Williamson examines the ideas of order and tradition to insinuate the deep uncertainty and uncontrollable political, social, and cultural movements of our time. Both the work and concept generated for this installation will draw directly from the environment in which it will be displayed, Chiesa di Santa Maria Della Pieta, in Venice. Occupying the long, narrow chapel located to the side of the Church, the space invites a meditative, sequential process of reflection. Drawing from the formal proportions, material richness, and dramatic natural light of this special site, the artist has developed a series of works, which encourage contemplation, challenge the perceived order of tradition and ask who are our apostles today? What are their roles? Is the influence of today’s perceived Influencers truly inspirational or dangerously dogmatic?
Williamson’s large scale canvases will sweep across the chapel’s walls of brick and crumbling plaster. The artworks will offer a new layer, a current materiality, to the deep patina of aging plaster and brick establishing a deeply rich, and continuous monochromatic palette. The colors of these new works are connected to what Williamson has termed, “the Modern Apostles and their antithesis”, that is, contemporary influencers and thought-leaders that have the remarkable power to cover, pervade, and completely overwhelm the existing environment. These rare individuals can then both initiate great ethical reform or fragment such ethics to the point of irreparable damage and erasure. While figures have interrupted the establishment through civil, social and technological innovations (Nelson Mandela, Steve Jobs, Elon Musk); others have operated in a totally opposite direction, bringing fractures, distortions, erosion of pre-existing structures, but without any innovative or constructive intent of a new order.
Drawing from the historic tradition of imagining a physical representation of religious figures, Williamson will reimagine the visual “reality” of these individuals. Through different types of paint, material and their application with ink, oil, sand and mud, Williamson is developing a series of eight large canvases of 2.00 x 2/50 meters that highlight a specifically symbolic color set against the driving monochromatic background. For example, Barack Obama, enacted extraordinary change for African American’s by actively bringing to the American conscious police brutality. Using a deep rich red color to symbolize his unwavering devotion to civil rights, Williamson will also apply strokes of multi-colored oil paint in multiple directions without any controlling element to symbolize the erosion of his policies by the current administration. This carefully considered process poses a fascinating examination of what can only be referred to as perceived portraiture in today’s cultural climate.
Through Processional, Williamson questions the historical times in which we live where fragmentation, disorientation, erosion, and outright destruction of the very principles this country was founded on have sadly become commonplace. One must be aware of this potential catastrophe by being reminded how our society was built. Only within the context of order and tradition can the current culture of disruption be fully appreciated, understood, and perhaps even nurtured toward a newly conscious balance.
PARTICIPANTS
Artist Todd Williamson has for the past 20 years has lived, worked, and been a vital and influential part of the California school of abstraction. Williamson has exhibited extensively both in the United States and Internationally.
Composer and professor Greg Walter, Professor University of North Carolina School of the Arts, lives and works in North Carolina. He is an award-winning actor and distinguished Professor.
Curator Priscilla Fraser Chase is the Director of the MAK Center for Art and Architecture
