William T. Williams

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William T. Williams
Image Not Available for William T. Williams

William T. Williams

American, born 1942
BiographyWilliam T. Williams earned his BFA from Pratt Institute in New York City before completing an MFA from Yale University in 1968. The following year, he organized X to the Fourth Power at the newly established Studio Museum in Harlem and was included in the 1969 Whitney Biennial. Williams is a sophisticated colorist, drawing from references including jazz, family memories, quilt patterns, and his environment to create innovative compositions that personalize the abstract. Unusually for his generation, he established a major print practice parallel to his painting. His many honors include his 2017 induction into the National Academy in New York. Williams’ work has been acquired by major U.S. museums, and has also been central to a number of landmark exhibitions exploring abstraction.

“Opening a can of paint, spilling the stuff out and doing something with it. It is the tactile that interests me, what that material can do and how you can exploit it. For me that’s at the heart of painting.”
Person TypeIndividual