Todd Williamson

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Todd Williamson (2016)

Todd Williamson (born January 24, 1964 in Cullman , Alabama ) is an American artist of contemporary Abstract Expressionism .

Life

Career and artistic influence

Searching the Void (2016)

Todd Williamson was born and raised in Cullman, Alabama. He began his artistic career with an art and music degree at Belmont University in Nashville , Tennessee in 1984. In 1986 a year-long project at the theater of the University of Alabama at Birmingham followed . Williamson then returned to Belmont University and graduated in 1988 with a Bachelor of Arts . The following year Williamson moved to California and continued his studies at California State University and UCLA . Williamson has been working as a freelance artist in Los Angeles since 2004 .

In addition to the influences of Mark Rothko , Ellsworth Kelly , Barnett Newman and Helen Frankenthaler , Williamson's art also contains elements of classical modernism as well as a reference to the chiaroscuro technique and the Californian light and space movement of the 1960s and 70s. Influenced by his musical career, Williamson tries to combine his art with the expression of music in order to open up a total work of art made up of “musical painting” or “visual music” for the viewer.

Style and techniques

Chasing Butterflies (2015)

Todd Williamson's pictures are structured color compositions shaped by abstract expressionism and a further development of color field painting . While this is characterized by large, homogeneously filled fields, Williamson reinterprets this style direction: his works mostly consist of multi-layered color grids that are symmetrically demarcated from one another or merge into one another. The boundaries typical for color field painting dissolve; in its place comes the impression of the entire work, which combines the structure of the underground with the play of colors.

Williamson initially dealt with figurative art and has been developing monochromatic works since around 1990 , but not necessarily limited to the dominance of one color. Many of his more recent works are characterized by lines that move horizontally, but also vertically. He often uses contrasts in the form of light and dark dividing lines, which musically divide his work by adding and leaving out light, as at the beginning and the end of a score . In this way, Williamson tries to build a bridge between expressionist painting and musical expressionism .

Exhibitions

Todd Williamson's works are mainly exhibited in the USA and Europe . Solo exhibitions took place, for example, in Milan , Montreal , Paris , Rome and Venice . Williamson u. a. in Abu Dhabi , Berlin , Shanghai and Beijing with artists such as Ed Ruscha , Jenny Holzer , Chuck Close and Robert Ryman . In addition to private collections and museums, Williamson's works can also be found as installations in public spaces. One of the largest works was carried out on behalf of EOP Blackstone in the Sun America building in Century City (Los Angeles) . Another Williamson's public art project can be found at Nashville International Airport .

  • Another Reason (2014)

  • Tiny Buddha (2016)

  • Fallout (2015)

  • People Throw Rocks (2016)

  • Creating Mischief (2016)

  • Counting on Forever (2016)

Works in public collections (selection)

  • Museo Pio Monte della Misericordia, Naples
  • MAUI Museum, Teano
  • Contemporary Art Museum (CAM), Naples
  • The Ritz-Carlton, Los Angeles
  • SunAmerica Center, Century City, Los Angeles

honors and awards

  • 2019 Pollock-Krasner Foundation - Pollock Prize for Creativity, New York
  • 2015 Bluduemila Associazione Sporte & Arte - Best Foreign Artist, Naples
  • 2010 Pollock-Krasner Foundation - Award Grant, New York
  • 2010 American Consulate / ART 1307 Istituzione Culturale - Artistic Merit Award, Naples
  • 2010 Artslant International - Abstract Showcase Award Winner
  • 2007 Curators Choice Award "Spectrum" - micromuseum, New York

literature

Web links

Commons : Todd Williamson  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ La Repubblica of November 26, 2015
  2. ↑ Arte de Camera by Peter Frank, Los Angeles, October 2015
  3. ^ Polyphony of a Landscape by Cynthia Penna. ART 1307 Istituzione Culturale, Naples and Los Angeles, October 2015
  4. ^ Mario Franco : Todd Williamson tra musica e pittura , in: La Repubblica of November 26, 2015
  5. ↑ The Perfect Line , in: West Hollywood Magazine, November 11, 2014, pp. 94-95
  6. ^ Emanuele Leone Emblema: Williamson: Napoli è la luce , in: Il Denaro of April 21, 2012
  7. ↑ The Perfect Line , in: West Hollywood Magazine, November 11, 2014, pp. 94-95
personal data
SURNAME Williamson, Todd
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American painter
DATE OF BIRTH January 24, 1964
PLACE OF BIRTH Cullman , Alabama