Dale Williams

"Lazarus from the Tombstone", acrylic painting, miracle, savior, myth, phoenix

2020

"Idiot Wind, Sweet Reason" is an acrylic painting on canvas measuring 24" high by 36" wide. Again cutting to the quick, Dale Williams posits our best and worst instincts as a duality, and that duality as a confrontation. There's nowhere to hide in any of William's paintings, that's part of the charge coming off his canvases. That's particularly true with this painting – as hideous as these personnages may be in Idiot Wind and Sweet Reason, we recognize their struggle for grace. Press Release 2018: "Williams acknowledges a large range of influences on his vision: the moral lessons embodied in the works of 17th century engraver Jacques Lagniet, the darkling phantasms and tragic reportage of Goya’s Caprichos and Disasters of War, and the personal mythologizing of the late paintings of Philip Guston. Such works echo throughout Williams social surrealist re-visioning." – George Del Barrio, Vanderbilt Republic, Brooklyn NY Dale Williams has exhibited in the New York City area for the past 25 years. He is a 2014 recipient of a Fellowship in Printmaking/Drawing/Book Arts from the New York Foundation for the Arts. His most recent one-person show, “America Now Suite,” which re-visioned American history in service of the civic imagination, was held at Gowanus Loft, Brooklyn in October 2018. A selection of portraits from “America Now Suite” was included in the BRIC Biennial, Winter/Spring 2019. His portrait of Osip Mandelstam...

"Starnosed Mole" is an acrylic painting with litho ink and charcoal on paper, measuring 36" high by 24" wide. It is one of 50 portraits that comprise Profiles in Democracy. Savage in their execution, they are nevertheless heartfelt expressions from the artist – politically, socially, culturally – in some cases featuring text and language in the portrait. In this case, one individual musters faith and fortitude to press on, fight on. The words at top read: "Audacity – said the mole – shall root that mountain down." From Dale Williams: "Profiles in Democracy is a group of 50 portraits completed in 2019. They are an expression of sorrow at the fracturing ideals that our country now teeters upon. The portraits are mostly – not exclusively – imaginary: a populace viewed from the inside out, people that someone like our current president might call losers. They perhaps “live in gaudy poverty, powerful destitution,” to quote Osip Mandelstam...

"Human Welfare" is an acrylic painting on paper measuring 36" high by 24" wide. It is one of 50 portraits that comprise Profiles in Democracy. Savage in their execution, they are nevertheless heartfelt expressions from the artist – politically, socially, culturally – in some cases featuring text and language in the portrait. In this case, the reference to Paris October 1979, Boulevard de Sebastopol, marks the afternoon Dale Williams was in Paris and sketched the woman in the portrait. From Dale Williams: "Profiles in Democracy is a group of 50 portraits completed in 2019. They are an expression of sorrow at the fracturing ideals that our country now teeters upon. The portraits are mostly – not exclusively – imaginary: a populace viewed from the inside out, people that someone like our current president might call losers. They perhaps “live in gaudy poverty, powerful destitution,” to quote Osip Mandelstam...

"Solidarity" is an acrylic painting and collage on paper measuring 36" high by 24" wide. It is one of 50 portraits that comprise Profiles in Democracy. Savage in their execution, they are nevertheless heartfelt expressions from the artist – politically, socially, culturally – in some cases featuring text and language in the portrait. In this case, the reference to resistance reads: "Solidarity – (phobia/philia)", and "most Americans not happy customers". The phobia/philia suggests a tension between fear/knowledge or fear/wisdom... From Dale Williams: "Profiles in Democracy is a group of 50 portraits completed in 2019. They are an expression of sorrow at the fracturing ideals that our country now teeters upon. The portraits are mostly – not exclusively – imaginary: a populace viewed from the inside out, people that someone like our current president might call losers. They perhaps “live in gaudy poverty, powerful destitution,” to quote Osip Mandelstam...

Inspired by her background in fashion, artist Lindsey McCord creates vibrant portraits that encapsulate the confidence that comes with the fun of being stylish and chic. Her figures ...

Inspired by her background in fashion, artist Lindsey McCord creates vibrant portraits that encapsulate the confidence that comes with the fun of being stylish and chic. Her figures ...

Inspired by her background in fashion, artist Lindsey McCord creates vibrant portraits that encapsulate the confidence that comes with the fun of being stylish and chic. Her figures ...

Inspired by her background in fashion, artist Lindsey McCord creates vibrant portraits that encapsulate the confidence that comes with the fun of being stylish and chic. Her figures ...