Draft:Michael Kelly Williams
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Michael Kelly Williams (born March 8, 1950) is an American painter, sculptor, and teacher. He was born in Detroit, Michigan, to American parents, and resides in upstate New York. His work is inspired by music, poetry, literature, the natural world, mythology, folk art, and the African diaspora. Themes of environmentalism, equality, and social justice often emerge in his poetry, sculpture, printmaking, and mixed-media paintings, which use elements of the spiritual, Afrofuturism, and surrealism. [1] [2] [3] [4]
Early life and education
[edit]Williams was born at the American Hospital of Paris in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France, and raised in Detroit. His father, artist Kelly Williams, helped him to pursue his studies in France with Fernand Leger, under the G.I. Bill after World War II. Williams began to make prints and sculpture early while attending Cass Technical High School in Detroit. [5] [4]
After completing his Egyptology studies and graduating with his first degree at the University of Chicago (1977-1978), he joined the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in 1988. Then, he graduated from Brooklyn College with an M.F.A. in Sculpture in 1996.[1] [6] [4]
Career, teaching, and residencies
[edit]Williams moved to New York City in 1979. He studied and taught at Robert Blackburn's Printmaking Workshop from 1979 to 1983. He studied with Krishna Reddy at his atelier at NYU in 1980, where he developed the stencil monoprint technique that relied on the viscosity he learned from Reddy. Williams later received the Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop Legacy Publishing Fellowship, the first one to do so, and received a Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant for sculpture in 2018-19. [1] [4]
Williams has held artist residencies at the Studio Museum in Harlem, where he was based in 1986–1987, Materials for the Arts in Long Island City, and Wave Hill in the Bronx. In addition to his artistic practice, Williams taught art classes to children at the Children’s Art Carnival from 1979 to 1986 and was an educator for the New York City Department of Education for some time. [2] [7] [4]
In film, Williams served as an art director for Julie Dash's 1991 film Daughters of the Dust. [5] [4]
Artistic practice and themes
[edit]Working with sculpture, printmaking, and mixed media, Williams often uses found and recycled objects in his art, such as the discarded parts of musical instruments and various everyday items. These are the elements he is particularly interested in when creating his 3D works, as well as jazz, improvisation, spirituality, environmental and social concerns, the African diaspora, and the reinterpreted use of materials that have found themselves in secondhand stores. [1] [8] [2] [9] [10] [4] [11]
Works
[edit]Comprising the body of a sitar and the silhouette of a watermelon, Samta is an assemblage that tackles the theme of discrimination against Dalits in India. The work of art demonstrates Williams’s interest in spirituality, social issues, world cultures, ancient and folk art, and found-object sculpture. [10]
Resist depicts a young girl behind bars and was created in response to news of children being separated from their families at the U.S.-Mexico border. [10]
Additional works include:
| Work | Details | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Algiers Motel | 2017; woodcut and lithograph; 29 × 36 in.; edition 20 | [1] |
| Self Portrait '73 | Block carved 1973; printed 2017; 30 × 22 in.; edition 20 | [1] |
| Tenacity | 2017; lithograph; 25.5 × 19.25 in.; edition 20 | [1] |
| Summer in Central Park | 2018; lithograph and chine collé; 31 × 22.25 in.; edition 10 | [1] |
| Can I get a Witness? | 2017; woodcut; 22 × 30 in.; edition 20 | [1], [9] |
| The Mingus Songbook | Found-object sculpture discussed in FiveMyles retrospective | [8] |
| Shout | Seven-foot assemblage centered on a trombone | [8] |
| Xenogenesis | Assemblage completed in 2016; includes carvings from The Tin Palace | [8] |
| Mother and Child | Stoneware sculpture; FiveMyles notes Japanese Ukiyo-e influence | [8] |
| Cosmic Cowboy | Raku work inspired by Ishmael Reed's poem “I'm a Cowboy in the Boat of Ra” | [8] |
| Intervale Study #5 / Intervale Study, The El #5 | 1991; Kenkeleba caption: monoprint with pastel, 34 × 48 in.; press release uses a longer title variant | [12] |
| Iron Man | 2022; tribute to Eric Dolphy and Greg Tate | [12] |
| Whistleman | 2021; dedicated to Rahsaan Roland Kirk | [12] |
| Green Sweeper | 2022; discussed in relation to Native American issues | [12] |
| Wodakota | 2017; viola-and-rake assemblage; made in solidarity with Standing Rock water protectors | [12], [9] |
| Khepera | 2023; scarab work dedicated to the Egyptian deity | [12] |
| For Paul Chambers | 1974; woodcut | [12] |
| Jes Grew | 1986; monoprint; title linked to Ishmael Reed's novel | [12] |
| Afternoon of a Georgia Faun | Color woodcut; included in the Crossings exhibition materials | [12] |
| Tell Me A Bedtime Story | 2021; ink drawing; relates to a Herbie Hancock composition | [12] |
| Things to Come from Those Now Gone | 2018; found-object assemblage; Wallach gives 65 × 36 × 38 in. | [12], [6] |
| Olu Iwa: For Cecil Taylor | Yorùbá-inspired shrine/assemblage dedicated to Cecil Taylor | [12] |
| Horns | 1984; described by Kenkeleba as an abstracted cityscape-related work | [12] |
| Meditations | 2016; assemblage; 48 × 16 × 12 in. | [6] |
| For Geri | 2019; metal keys, glass beads, threaded wire, circular mirror; 21 × 15 × 15 in. | [6] |
| M'Boom | 2016; steel, wood, iron, glass and brass assemblage; title honors Max Roach's percussion ensemble | [9] |
| Middle Passage | 2016; named in The 8th Floor essay | [9] |
| Protect Yo Net | 2016; named in The 8th Floor essay | [9] |
| Samta | 2017; mixed-media sculpture; 50 × 19 × 12 in. | [10] |
| Resist | 2018; drypoint; 15 × 13 in. | [10] |
| Through a Veil | 2020; chromogenic color print | [9] |
| A Celebration of All Life | 2019; presented in Wave Hill's What We Leave Behind | [6] |
| Sojourner, Harriet, Shirley and Maya | 2022; collagraph with chine collé | [9] |
| BrownPinkTaínoBlackGold | 2018; lithograph in gold ink on pink Yatsuo paper, flocked with gold pigment | [9] |
| Liturgy for Lenox Lounge | 2016; approximately 8-foot-tall public sculpture installed near Malcolm X Boulevard and 124th Street | [5] |
| El 2 and El 5 | 1992; glass mosaics on the Intervale Avenue station mezzanine walls | [13] |
Selected exhibitions and projects
[edit]- Works on Paper: Chashama 461 Gallery, New York; May 22–31, 2015. [4]
- Found and Funky: Materials for the Arts, Long Island City; produced in connection with Williams's MFTA residency. [14]
- Liturgy for Lenox Lounge: Public sculpture installed on Malcolm X Boulevard near 124th Street, 2016. [5]
- UPTOWN: Wallach Art Gallery, Columbia University; June 2 – August 20, 2017; Williams was among 25 participating artists. [15]
- Sedimentations: Assemblage as Social Repair: The 8th Floor; includes Wodakota, M'Boom, Middle Passage, and Protect Yo Net. [9]
- EMPATHY: Smack Mellon; November 17 – December 30, 2018; included Samta and Resist. [10]
- Persistence, Vision & Passion = Longevity: Conduit Gallery group exhibition, 2019. [16]
- Harlem Postcards: Studio Museum in Harlem; January 23 – March 29, 2020; included Through a Veil. [3]
- Returning to the Source: Wave Hill, 2020; group exhibition featuring Williams. [7]
- I Am My Best Work: The Painting Center; July 9 – August 7, 2020. [17]
- A Retrospective: FiveMyles; September 10 – October 16, 2022; curated by Carl E. Hazlewood. [8]
- What We Leave Behind: Wave Hill, 2022; included A Celebration of All Life. [18]
- Michael Kelly Williams: Crossings: Wilmer Jennings Gallery at Kenkeleba; September 18 – November 2, 2024; curated by Debra Vanderburg Spencer; featured 48 sculptures and works on paper and board from 1974 to 2024. [12]
- America Today: The Print Center, 2026; Williams is listed with three works on the exhibiting-artists page. [11]
- Press & Pull: A Legacy of the Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop: Gallery 400, University of Illinois Chicago; scheduled for September 11 – December 12, 2026. [19]
Public commissions and installations
[edit]- El 2 and El 5, Intervale Avenue subway station, Bronx: two glass mosaics on the mezzanine walls, installed in 1992. [13]
Collections
[edit]Williams's work is held in the collections of the following institutions: [1] [2] [11]
- Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, New York
- Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
- Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, Michigan
- Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Honors and grants
[edit]References
[edit]- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 "Michael Kelly Williams". Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop. Retrieved August 26, 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 5 "Michael Kelly Williams". The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Art Gallery. Retrieved August 26, 2026.
- 1 2 "Harlem Postcards". The Studio Museum in Harlem. Retrieved August 26, 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Works on Paper". Chashama. Retrieved August 26, 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Kambon, Mariamma (May 10, 2016). "Our Music Continues: Michael Kelly Williams". Mariamma Kambon. Retrieved August 26, 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 5 "Alumni & Faculty". Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture. Retrieved August 26, 2026.
- 1 2 "Returning to the Source". Wave Hill. Retrieved August 26, 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "A Retrospective". FiveMyles. Retrieved August 26, 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "SAaSR Essay". The 8th Floor. Retrieved August 26, 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 "EMPATHY – Illustrated Exhibition Checklist" (PDF). Smack Mellon. Retrieved August 26, 2026.
- 1 2 3 "America Today Exhibiting Artists". The Print Center. Retrieved August 26, 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 "Michael Kelly Williams: Crossing". Kenkeleba House. Retrieved August 26, 2026.
- 1 2 "Public Art in the Bronx – Artists". Lehman College. Retrieved August 26, 2026.
- ↑ "Michael Kelly Williams". Materials for the Arts. Retrieved August 26, 2026.
- ↑ "UPTOWN". The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Art Gallery. Retrieved August 26, 2026.
- ↑ "Persistence, Vision & Passion = Longevity". Conduit Gallery. Retrieved August 26, 2026.
- 1 2 3 "I Am My Best Work". The Painting Center. Retrieved August 26, 2026.
- ↑ "What We Leave Behind – Glyndor Gallery". Wave Hill. Retrieved August 26, 2026.
- ↑ "Press & Pull: A Legacy of the Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop". Gallery 400. Retrieved August 26, 2026.
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