Carl Joe Williams
In residence:
Erie, Pennsylvania – April,2021
Carl Joe Williams is a contemporary African American artist known for his multimedia paintings , sculpture , installations , and interdisciplinary works Williams creates paintings and painted sculpture from found objects. He describes his works as “symphonies of colors” that present a powerful visual experience. Williams’ installation, Journeys, was featured at the Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport Atlanta, GA in 2002. And his Sculptural Trees public art installation in Metairie, Louisiana was described as reminiscent of “lollipops in a Candyland forest,” with their custom acrylic light boxes attached to crepe myrtles.
Williams is one of the founders of Blights Out, a Creative Capital supported project in New Orleans along with artists Lisa Sigal and Imani Jacqueline Brown. Blights Out is a community- and artist-led initiative to activate agency in neighborhood development. This initiative was initiated as part of Prospect New Orleans, the largest biennial of international contemporary art in the U.S. His visual interpretations are enhanced by his vision of art and music as extensions of one another. An accomplished musician as well as a visual artist, Williams incorporates his musical compositions into videos and installations. Found objects play an important role in Williams’s works by becoming elements a narrative continuum that addresses societal and historical concerns. Williams attended the New Orleans Center for Creative Art, NOCCA where he received formal training. Williams continued his studies at Atlanta College of Art earning his BFA. Williams is a founding member of Level Artist Collective, which includes artists Ana Hernandez, Horton Humble, Rontherin Ratliff, and John Isiah Walton.
Williams has had a variety of exhibitions including at the George Ohr-O'Keefe Museum Of Art in Biloxi, Mississippi; at Crystal Bridges in Bentonville, Arkansas; at Convergence: JMC@P3 Exhibition in conjunction with Prospect 3+ New Orleans, Curated by Deborah Willis and Sponsored by the Joan Mitchell Center, New Orleans Museum of Art, Ohr-O'Keefe Museum Of Art, at McKenna Museum of African American Art, Hammonds House Galleries, Atlanta, GA; permanent public art installations in Atlanta at Sweet Auburn Curb Market (as part of 1996 Summer Olympics) and at the Washington Park Tennis Center. In 2013 he was a recipient of the Joan Mitchell Center NOLA Studio Artist Residence Program. His work is included in the Crystal Bridges Collection.
2020 exhibitions include PerSister Incarcerated Women of Louisiana at Ford Foundation NYC, MOCA Jacksonville Project Atrium, Arthur Roger Art Gallery-Art in the Time of Empathy and Gryder Gallery The Effect of Color
EDUCATION:
B.F.A. / Atlanta College of Art, Atlanta, GA.
AWARDS/GRANTS/RESIDENCIES:
2021
Long Road Projects, Erie, PA
2016
“Artist and a Sense of Place Residency Program”, Ogden Museum of Southern Art, New Orleans LA
2013
Joan Mitchell NOLA Studio Residency, New Orleans LA
2006
Artists’ Fellowship Inc., New York; Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Foundation, New York, NY
2005
The Pollock-Krasner Foundation, New York, NY
1999
1st Annual Forward Arts Foundation; Encouragement Award, Atlanta GA
1998
Artist in Residency, Brandywine, Philadelphia, PA
COLLECTIONS
City of Atlanta
Department of Aviation, Atlanta, GA
Disney Corporation, Atlanta, GA
King and Spalding Law Firm, Atlanta, GA
City of New Orleans Jefferson Parish LA
Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, AR
Petrucci Family Foundation,Collection of African American Art, Asbury NJ
Newcomb Art Museum, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA
Artist's Website: http://www.carljoewilliams.com/