William T. Williams Selections from the 111½ Series

MICHAEL ROSENFELD GALLERY 100 ELEVENTH AVENUE @ 19TH NEW YORK, NY 10011 • 212.247.0082 MICHAELROSENFELDART.COM

WILLIAM T. WILLIAMS

WILLIAM T. WILLIAMS

111½ SERIES

The Art Show – ADAA Park Avenue Armory Park Avenue at 67th Street New York City

Booth D9 William T. Williams will be in the booth on Saturday, March 3, 2018 2 to 6 pm

FAIR HOURS

Wednesday, February 28 12 to 8 pm Thursday, March 1 12 to 8 pm Friday, March 2 12 to 8 pm Saturday, March 3 12 to 7 pm Sunday, March 4 12 to 5 pm

MICHAEL ROSENFELD GALLERY 100 ELEVENTH AVENUE @ 19TH NEW YORK, NY 10011 • 212.247.0082 MICHAELROSENFELDART.COM

WILLIAM T. WILLIAMS

111½ SERIES

The Art Show – ADAA Park Avenue Armory Park Avenue at 67th Street New York City

Booth D9 William T. Williams will be in the booth on Saturday, March 3, 2018 2 to 6 pm

FAIR HOURS

Wednesday, February 28 12 to 8 pm Thursday, March 1 12 to 8 pm Friday, March 2 12 to 8 pm Saturday, March 3 12 to 7 pm Sunday, March 4 12 to 5 pm

MICHAEL ROSENFELD GALLERY 100 ELEVENTH AVENUE @ 19TH NEW YORK, NY 10011 • 212.247.0082 MICHAELROSENFELDART.COM

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UNION JACK, 1978, acrylic on canvas, 84 x 54 Âź inches / 213.4 x 137.8 cm, signed

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William T. Williams in his New York studio with BLUES LABYRINTH, 1991, acrylic on canvas, 60 x 41½ inches / 152.4 x 105.4 cm, signed and dated

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William T. Williams Selections from the 111½ Series The paintings in the 111½ Series by William T. Williams (American, b.1942) are defined by their palette of vivid primary colors and bright jewel tones. They are signature for their physicality; surfaces thickly layered and encrusted that appear fractured to expose underlying colors or mysteries. As with earlier paintings, Williams attaches autobiographical references to not only his titles, but to the shapes and colors that he uses for symbolic effect.

Beginning in 1989, the 111½ Series is an ongoing painting series that continues to evolve today. Employing a loose grid-like structure, Williams creates the 111½ Series by painting sections, resulting in the varying levels of impasto, or thickness of paint, added at different times—sometimes years or decades later. This collage or “quilting” method emphasizes the ridges of the layered surface, with different colors of paint sinking down through sheer gravity. In the end, the effect creates a visually engaging richness that speaks directly to the point of Williams’ objective: a complex dialogue between form, color and texture. In addition, the valleys can be seen as Williams’ lasting mark, seeping past superficial surface to connect with the layers, and ultimately the canvas or plywood underneath—a reminder of the action of painting. On his concern with this kind of surface, Williams has stated: “I don’t want that kind of refined, seemingly effortless surfaces anymore… that’s very much a part of a certain tradition in painting…no indication of hand, no effort, no toil on the surface. In the Expressionistic tradition, the more apparent the toil, the better. I’m finding more and more that I related to what I previously didn’t relate to which was the aspect of gesture. But there are parts of each tradition that interest me. I think that what the work is doing is focusing in on the various artistic means that interest me…”1 1. Williams as quoted in Valerie J. Mercer, “Fourteen Paintings,” William T. Williams: Fourteen Paintings (Montclair, N.J.: The Montclair Art Museum, 1991), n.p.

William T. Williams in his New York studio with BLUES LABYRINTH, 1991, acrylic on canvas, 60 x 41½ inches / 152.4 x 105.4 cm, signed and dated

SPRING LAKE, 1988-2003 acrylic on canvas, 75 x 44 inches / 190.5 x 111.8 cm, signed and dated

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SPRING LAKE, 1988-2003 acrylic on canvas, 75 x 44 inches / 190.5 x 111.8 cm, signed and dated

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TIME OF SONG, 1993 acrylic on canvas, 70 ¼ x 32 ½ inches / 178.4 x 82.5 cm, signed and dated

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TIME OF SONG, 1993 acrylic on canvas, 70 ¼ x 32 ½ inches / 178.4 x 82.5 cm, signed and dated

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HARLEM HEARTS, 1999 acrylic on canvas, 57 x 36 inches / 144.8 x 91.4 cm, signed and dated

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HARLEM HEARTS, 1999 acrylic on canvas, 57 x 36 inches / 144.8 x 91.4 cm, signed and dated

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QUICK STEP, 2000 acrylic on plywood, 24 x 16 inches / 61.0 x 40.6 cm, signed and dated

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QUICK STEP, 2000 acrylic on plywood, 24 x 16 inches / 61.0 x 40.6 cm, signed and dated

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REAPERS, 2000 acrylic on plywood, 24 x 16 inches / 61.0 x 40.6 cm, signed and dated

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REAPERS, 2000 acrylic on plywood, 24 x 16 inches / 61.0 x 40.6 cm, signed and dated

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TALKING RIVER, 2000 acrylic on plywood, 24 x 16 inches / 61.0 x 40.6 cm, signed and dated

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TALKING RIVER, 2000 acrylic on plywood, 24 x 16 inches / 61.0 x 40.6 cm, signed and dated

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BITE THE NIGHT, 2017 acrylic on plywood, 22 x 14 inches / 55.9 x 35.6 cm, signed and dated

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BITE THE NIGHT, 2017 acrylic on plywood, 22 x 14 inches / 55.9 x 35.6 cm, signed and dated

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BRICK BY BRICK, 2017 acrylic on plywood, 19 ¼ x 14 inches / 48.9 x 35.6 cm, signed and dated

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BRICK BY BRICK, 2017 acrylic on plywood, 19 ¼ x 14 inches / 48.9 x 35.6 cm, signed and dated

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MAIN EVENT, 2017 acrylic on plywood, 31 ½ x 12 ¾ inches/ 80.0 x 32.4 cm, signed and dated

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MAIN EVENT, 2017 acrylic on plywood, 31 ½ x 12 ¾ inches/ 80.0 x 32.4 cm, signed and dated

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WILLIAM T. WILLIAMS (b.1942)

SELECTED MUSEUM COLLECTIONS Boise Art Museum, Boise, ID Colby College Museum of Art, Waterville, ME Columbia Museum of Art, Columbia, SC The David C. Driskell Center for the Study of the Visual Arts and Culture of African Americans and the African Diaspora, University of Maryland, College Park, MD Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller Empire State Plaza Art Collection, Empire State Plaza, Albany, NY Fisk University Galleries, Nashville, TN The Fogg Museum, Harvard University, Boston, MA Georgia Museum of Art, University of Georgia, Athens, GA Hampton University Museum, Hampton, VA Herbert F. JACK, Johnson Museum Cornell Ithaca, NY x 137.8 cm, signed UNION 1978, acrylicofonArt, canvas, 84University, x 54 ¼ inches / 213.4 James E. Lewis Museum of Art, Morgan State University, Baltimore, MD The Library of Congress, Washington, DC Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Memphis, TN The Menil Collection, Houston, TX Mount Holyoke College Art Museum, South Hadley, MA Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY Nasher Museum of Art, Duke University, Durham, NC New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans, LA Newark Museum, Newark, NJ North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, NC Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA The Phillips Museum of Art, Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster, PA Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, New York, NY Sheldon Museum of Art, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Washington, DC The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY University Galleries, Illinois State University, Normal, IL University of Maine Museum of Art, Bangor, ME Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, CT Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT

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Michael Rosenfeld Gallery is the exclusive representative of William T. Williams.

Michael Rosenfeld Gallery is the exclusive representative of William T. Williams.

MICHAEL ROSENFELD GALLERY 100 ELEVENTH AVENUE @ 19TH NEW YORK, NY 10011 • 212.247.0082 MICHAELROSENFELDART.COM

WILLIAM T. WILLIAMS