Roger J. Williams
Columbus, OH
rogjwilliams@sbcglobal.net
www.columbusmakesart.com/artist/105-roger-williams
Education
1968 BFAColumbus College of Art & Design
Solo Exhibitions
2011 Kent Rigsby Contemporaries,
Columbus, OH
2007 Ursula Lanning Gallery,
Lancaster, OH
1980 Schlesinger Gallery, New York, NY
Group Exhibitions
2011 Mansfield Art Center, Mansfield, OH
2012 Ohio State Urban Art Space,
Columbus, OH
1975 Columbus Museum of Art,
Columbus, OH
Selected Collections
Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, OH
Creative Arts Center, Burbank, CA
Hilton Hotel Collection, Columbus, OH
Joseph Gallery, Columbus, OH
Artist Statement
Roger J. Williams is a post-modern artist turned deconstructivist. For the first 20 years of his career, post-modern art was his focus because of his interest in art and technology.
In 1999, he started working as a deconstructivist, a natural progression from post-modernism. The academics of post-modern art have been deconstructed to create lots of new energy. This technique is called the articulated formal. The structures have irreverent overlap, layering, and transparencies. In his pieces, large numbers of straight edges are cut out to get formal lines and mohair rollers are used to lay down transparent glazes. Most of his paintings are large and flat-shaped without a frame. (Frank Gehry is well known for his deconstructivist architecture.)
Unlike Julie Mehretu, Williams has decided to deconstruct more than abstractions. Subjects may be portraits, anime, hip hop images, and pop surreal. He looks for things and events that define this decade. For example, Lady Gaga, Lunch with Spongebob and the Mona Lisa, Bobble Buddha, Google Happyfaces, and Brush with Greatness.
Roger Williams has created several large-scale public murals; for example, he has installed “Salvador Dali Google Happy Face” in the Hilltop area of Columbus, and his interpretation of George Bellows “Riverfront No. 1” located in the Olde Town East neighborhood.