L. G. Williams
L. G. Williams (born Lawrence Graham Williams III) is a contemporary American artist who works in painting, sculpture, photography, mail art, video, drawing and performance.
Life and art
LG Williams was born in Evanston, IL and raised in The Ozarks Mountains in Northeastern Arkansas. He studied art at Illinois State University and then at the Kansas City Art Institute where he received his B.A. He received his M.F.A. at University of California, Davis, and Honorary Ph.D. from Institute of Subversive Art and Analysis (ISSA), Cedar Rapids, IA. In school, Williams studied under Dale Eldred, Ken Fergeson, Wally Hedrick, Robert Arneson, and Wayne Thiebaud.
He has taught at numerous universities and colleges, for example, the University of California, Davis, University of Southern California, California College of the Arts, and the University of Hawaii to name just a few.
Williams' artwork has been exhibited in the Lance Fung Gallery (NY), the Stephen Wirtz Gallery (SF) and California Fine Arts (LA). It is included in many permanent collections at the Museum of Modern Art, Whitney Museum, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and di Rosa Art Preserve. His artwork, reviews and commentary have appeared in the Village Voice, Los Angeles Times, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, and Artforum.
Lindsey Westbrook wrote in the East Bay Express in 2003:
The many artworks.. (now exhibited at the Berkeley Art Museum)..are a little easier to "get," but there's still a marked historical distance that separates us from the immediate emotions and politics surrounding their creation; ten years from now we'll probably look back at LG Williams sculptures, now showing in San Francisco, with the same kind of subtle estrangement.
Upon seeing Williams's paintings at the Stephen Wirtz Gallery in 1999, Kenneth Baker, art critic for the San Francisco Chronicle wrote:
“Williams wants to hold open a space in which painting might resume in earnest.”
2002 Party Down Scandal, California College of the Arts
When Party Down was exhibited in 2002 at the California College of the Arts Oliver Art Center, "a well meaning janitor accidentally mistook Williams's sculpture for trash and 'recycled' it." The subsequent 're-installation' of the artwork caused a scandal, with detractors accusing Williams of blasphemy and others raising this as a major issue of artistic integrity and freedom. On the day of the exhibition opening, visitors and students expressed outrage for and against the artwork.
Williams Transforms 'Rat [...] Protective Association'
into LGASS
In response to the September 11, 2001 attacks, the Rat [...] Protective Association (Williams was an elected member in 2001) announced the establishment of LG Art Security Services (LGASS) to coordinate "homeland art security" efforts, to be headed by Williams at the The di Rosa Art Preserve (2003), Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (2004), Kuntzpanorama Lucerne, Switzerland (2004), Merry Karnowsky Gallery (2006 - 07), to mention a few venues. Additionally, 'LG Art Security Services' immediately issues national art-security memorandums: National Art Threat | National Art Policy. In 2002, Williams received the Rat [...] Protective Association Award (USA) for his distinguished work as an artist and his contribution to 21st Century art -- from Beat Generation icons: Bruce Conner and Wally Hedrick.
More recently, at the "2005 Western Biennial of Art" (a.k.a. "The Western Whitney Biennial"), curated by art historian Edward Lucie-Smith, Williams exhibited "Settler Make Wrong Turn" (2005) , a 20' long RV sculpture, and "Map to Hell" (2005).
Williams lives in Los Angeles and in Honolulu.
Selected Exhibitions
- 2005 “Gallery Subversive”, Truly Yours, Cedar Rapids, IA
- 2005 “Kuntzpanorama Luszerne”, Luscerne, Switzerland
- 2005 “John Natsoulas Center for the Arts”, 2005 Western Biennial Art, Davis, CA
- 2004 “Lemon”, One Awesome Sculpture and That’s All !, Honolulu, HI
- 2004 “World Wide Web”, Help Wanted: The Craigslist Exhibition
- 2003 “LG Art Security Services”, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA
- 2003 “The di Rosa Preserve”, Faux Real, Napa, CA
- 2003 “LG Art Security Services”, The di Rosa Art Preserve, Napa, CA
- 2002 “Princess Center For The Arts”, 10 New Installations, Montreal, Canada
- 2001 “Hi Gallery”, Recent Work, Waikiki, HI
- 1999 “Stephen Wirtz Gallery”, Recent Paintings, San Francisco, CA
- 1998 “Lance Fung Gallery”, New Work, New York, NY
- 1988 “Christopher Grimes Gallery”, Santa Monica, CA
Major Artworks and Awards
- (2005) The Mystery of the Mona Lisa Revealled (2005)
- (2004) Help Wanted, Craigslist digital artwork
- (2003) Everyone Sucks, Mail Art
- (2003) Williams expands Rat [...] Protective Association into 'LG Art Security Services'
- (2003) What I Stand For, Installed (2005) Gallery Subversive, Cedar Rapids, IA. Curated by Prof. Haleh Niazmand. 8
- (2002) Bosoms and Bottoms, 213 Photographs. Watch the video
- (2002) Honolulu Star Bulletin, Best Show Of The Year
- (2001) Williams elected into the Rat [...] Protective Association
- (1999) Party Down, 20 x 20 x 20", Cardboard (Empty 12-pak Corona Beer Container). Read More
- (1999) Raged Sage, 70 x 90", Mixed and Digital Media on Canvas. Collection: Merry Karnowsky, Los Angeles, CA. Read the review
Major Publications
- (2004) Gorgeous Nonsense: The Missing History of Artistic Genius. 200 pgs. 2003
- (2001) The Drawing Handbook: Mandarin Ruminations on The Art of Drawing, with Dr. Xie Zhao Ping, 287 pgs. 2001
- (2000) Y2K and Modern Art: Why the Modern World and Great Art is Incompatible. 60 pgs. 2000
- (1996) Drawing Upon Art: A Participatory Workbook for Art & Art History. 200 pgs.
See also
- Wally Hedrick 9 was a great friend to Williams. Hedrick, once married to artist Jay DeFeo, was a legendary founding member of the Six Gallery in San Francisco, where most famously, Allen Ginsberg first presented his famous Beat Generation poem "Howl". Hedrick’s seminal retrospective, “Pre-emptive Peace”, February 20 - March 16, 2003 at Sonoma State University acknowledges the contribution made by Williams 10. Watch the short documentary by Williams's for Hedrick.
- David Hollowell, MFA Yale University, who greatly influenced Williams.
References
- ArtDaily.com, Hawaii Professor Discovers ‘Mystery Behind Mona Lisa’s Smile’, December 16.
- Art Issues, San Francisco e-Mail, Mark Van Proyen, Sept - Oct 1999, Vol. 59, Los Angeles, CA
- Kenneth Baker, San Francisco Chronicle, "LG Williams at Wirtz", July 17, 1999 11
- Victoria Dalkey, Sacramento Bee, "Recalling the future: 'Art Tomorrow' Exhibit has Echoes of Past", February 27, 2005
- Elizabeth Marxen, California Aggie, "'Art Tomorrow' exhibition worth a visit today", March 10, 2005
- Honolulu Advertiser, Groundwater Article Simply Dumfounding, June 29, 2004.
- Linda Shin, The Daily Californian, University of California, Berkeley, “Well-Meaning Janitor Accidentally Recycles Art”, September 14, 1999 12
- Lindsey Westbrook, East Bay Express, "A Life's Cacophony: The Berkeley Art Museum", April 23, 2003 13
- Bay Area Guardian, Art: LG Williams at Stephen Wirtz, July 14 - 20 1999, San Francisco, CA
- San Francisco Bay Guardian, Talkback: Is It Art?, James Kidd, May 7 2003, San Francisco, CA
- San Francisco Chronicle, "Hip-Hip-Horray!", December 7, 2002
- Wired, She Can’t Smile Without You: The Science Behind Mona’s Smile, December 16.
- Village Voice, “Mount Whitney”, April 10 - 16, 2002 14
External links
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