Over the last 10 years, Los Angeles–based Michael Williams (born 1978) has created paintings known for their layered imagery, eye-popping color and use of airbrushing and inkjet printing.
His large-scale works begin as drawings either on paper or on the computer screen before they are printed or transferred to canvas and then embellished with oil paint. Williams’ narrative content reveals a dark sense of humor about everyday life, often exploring the role of the painter as observer. Wickedly funny allegories merge with abstract painting as free-form amoebic shapes frequently fill the entirety of his canvases. The resulting paintings offer a dense and absorbing terrain of color and form. Michael Williams is published to accompany the artist’s first US solo museum exhibition, at Carnegie Museum of Art, where he presents a new body of his large-scale paintings as well as drawings that mix collage and free-associative mark-making.
"Yard Waste" (2017) is reproduced from 'Michael Williams."
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Temporarily out of stock pending additional inventory.
Truth About Painting 2 (2017) is reproduced from Michael Williams, published to accompany the artist’s current exhibition at the Carnegie Museum of Art, on view through August 27. In response to Suzanne Hudson’s question about allegory in this painting, Williams says, “If I’m going to make a picture about the truth about painting, then there’s a sort of logic to this, but at the same time, it’s maybe meant to be illogical or too complex to be understood.” He goes on to compare the work to jenkem. “Jenkem is a drug that African street children supposedly make out of feces and urine. I like the idea of a total system, and I think that art is one, where we can generate and learn internally. Like the way my paintings, these products of my body, can have an effect on me. I also always think about how painting feels somehow related to smearing your waste on the wall.” continue to blog
FORMAT: Hbk, 9 x 11 in. / 112 pgs / 50 color. LIST PRICE: U.S. $29.95 LIST PRICE: CANADA $39.95 GBP £27.00 ISBN: 9780880390583 PUBLISHER: Carnegie Museum Of Art AVAILABLE: 8/22/2017 DISTRIBUTION: D.A.P. RETAILER DISC: TRADE PUBLISHING STATUS: Active AVAILABILITY: Out of stock TERRITORY: WORLD
Published by Carnegie Museum Of Art. Text by Eric Crosby. Interview by Suzanne Hudson.
Over the last 10 years, Los Angeles–based Michael Williams (born 1978) has created paintings known for their layered imagery, eye-popping color and use of airbrushing and inkjet printing.
His large-scale works begin as drawings either on paper or on the computer screen before they are printed or transferred to canvas and then embellished with oil paint. Williams’ narrative content reveals a dark sense of humor about everyday life, often exploring the role of the painter as observer. Wickedly funny allegories merge with abstract painting as free-form amoebic shapes frequently fill the entirety of his canvases. The resulting paintings offer a dense and absorbing terrain of color and form. Michael Williams is published to accompany the artist’s first US solo museum exhibition, at Carnegie Museum of Art, where he presents a new body of his large-scale paintings as well as drawings that mix collage and free-associative mark-making.
