Mark Williams
BIOGRAPHY
1975 Born, Columbus, OH
EDUCATION
2005 Green Street Arts Center, Middletown, CT
2002-2004 University of Connecticut, Storrs
M.F.A.
2001 Rhode Island School of Design
1999-2000 School of Visual Arts, New York
1998-1999 Art Students League, New York
1993-1997 Miami University, Oxford, OH
B.F.A. Painting and Printmaking
1996 Lacoste School of the Arts, Lacoste, France
Since the start of the United States military presence in Iraq, I have been making artwork based on the inexpensive, small, plastic toy soldiers that so many young children have played with for generations. The fact that there are toys of men holding guns, toys about war, about death, and murder for children at an early age interests me immensely. To give a child these toys sends the message that war is not a bad thing. To introduce the concept of war to children in the form of a toy or game is to introduce them to it as perhaps . . . something fun, something to aspire to do in real life when they grow up. It is at this young age that so many ideas are formed.
Recently my work has focused on photographs (and subsequently drawings, prints, sculptures, and paintings) of toy soldiers that have Play-Doh compound in various shapes, molds, and designs attached to them. The overall impression is a playful as well as pathetic look. Often I photograph these objects while the Play-Doh is fresh, before it dries, cracks, and loses its vibrant color. This freshness I view as more relevant to my idea because it is viewed as contemporary. On the other hand, the brittle, cracked forms would suggest something old and on the brink of being forgotten.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2007 “Killer Angels”, Grand Projects, New Haven, CT
2006 “Propagating War”, Windham Arts Center, Willimantic, CT
2001 “Paintings and Works on Paper”, AS220, Providence, RI
1999 “War Photographs”, New Youth Gallery, Hicksville, OH
“Recent Work”, Live Paint Fine Art, New York
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2008 “The Toy Show”, Hans Weiss Newspace Gallery, Manchester Community College, Machester, CT
2007 “48 Hours of Art”, First Night Hartford installation in Hartford 21 building, Hartford, CT
“Oh Holy Night”, Hello My Name Is Gallery, New Haven, CT “Welcome to Me: The Artists of Me Art Gallery”, Me Art Gallery, Washington, DC
“Black + White and Red Upstairs”, John Slade Ely House, New Haven, CT
“Implode”, Hello My Name Is Gallery, New Haven, CT
“Playing For Keeps, Toys and Their Side Effects”, Atlantic Gallery, New York, NY
“6th Lessedra World Art Print Annual”, Lessedra Gallery & Contemporary Art Projects, Sofia, Bulgaria
“Connecticut Contemporary”, Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, CT
- chosen by Sol LeWitt for inclusion
“Spring Salone.07”, Lennox Contemporary, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
2006 “48 Hours of Art”, First Night Hartford installation in Hartford 21 building, Hartford, CT
Roy G. Biv Gallery, Columbus, OH
“Moxie: The Best of City-Wide Open Studios 2005”, Green Gallery, Yale School of Art, New Haven, CT
- curated by Jodi Hanel of Exit Art, New York
“Toys”, Red Saw, Newark, NJ
“Model Citizens”, Artspace annex, New Haven, CT / Rockingham Arts and Museum Project, Bellows Falls, VT / Albany International Airport Gallery, Albany, NY
- curated and conceived by Michael Oatman
“49th Annual National Juried Exhibition”, Rocky Mount Arts Center, Rocky Mount, NC
- curated by Carlo McCormick, senior editor of Paper Magazine
2005 “Politics as Usual” : Eight artists express their views on America's foreign policy, Hartwick College, Oneonta, NY
- curated by Terry Slade
“The 23rd Annual BWAC Outdoor Sculpture Show”, Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park, Brooklyn, NY
“The Sculpture Salmagundi IX”, Rocky Mount Arts Center, Rocky Mount, NC
2004 “Fully Tilted”, Sideshow Gallery, New York
“Full Tilt”, William Benton Museum of Art, Storrs, CT
2003 “New York Area MFA Exhibition”, Hunter College/Times Square Gallery, New York
2002 “Hash Brown Potatoes”, Smack Mellon Studios, New York
- curated by Omar Lopez-Chahoud
“Paperwork”, Pacifico Fine Art, New York
2001 “Red Hot and Cool”, Pacifico Fine Art, New York
“Works on Paper”, Pacifico Fine Art, New York
“Traces of Provence”, The French Institute Alliance Franaise, New York
2000 “Dog Days”, Pacifico Fine Art, New York
“Sidelong Glance”, im n iL, Brooklyn, New York
- curated by Omar Lopez-Chahoud
Live Paint Fine Art, New York
Other 9 x 7 inches
Other 9 x 7 inches
Other 9 x 7 inches
by artist Adam Simon
and commissioned by
All artworks copyright by their respective owners.