"The Jefferson Bottles" by Todd Williamson

Artist Statement

My latest works are a series of questions on society and the political climate that affect all of us.  It asks questions about how we grant power and how that power is used by social media influencers and power brokers.  The nuanced abstract "portraits" render the idea of the person or persons being discussed through the use of color and its emotive powers.
Music often accompanies the works to enhance the emotions on the canvas so the viewer both sees and hears the emotions in an exhibition.  

The works are delicately nuanced abstraction that is ethereal, resolute, and controlled with a depth of structure and light emanating from within the work more related to chiascuro than Light & Space.  Many of my works are spare, near-monochromatic compositions that are created by removing layers of oil and leaving distinct frameworks of 3” parallel or grid-like lines.  These parallel lines become a framework that holds the story told in the painting while allowing the viewer to observe the sometimes-chaotic mass of color from a place that is both calm and peaceful.  The lines reflect the war that wages within me over control and chaos.  
The work engages both complementary hues and opposing values of subtle layers of color and movement, which often references people, although my work does not rely on these descriptive elements and remains basically abstract. 
 
The work has subtle historic references from Rothko, Frankenthaler, and Still as well as appropriating ideas and thoughts from modern masters like Gerhard Richter, Ross Bleckner, and Sean Scully and has been compared to works by Kandinsky and Paladino.
Todd Williamson ’64 lives and works in Los Angeles.  He has a BA from Belmont University in Nashville TN ('88) and has studied at Cal State and UCLA.    His numerous awards include the prestigious 'PRIZE FOR CREATIVITY 2019/2020" from the Pollock Krasner Foundation in honor of Lee Krasner for his work associated with the 58th Venice Biennale, a Pollock Krasner Foundation Award Grant 2010/2011, Best Foreign Artist-Bluduemila Sporte & Arte Italy, 2 Artslant International Abstract Showcase Awards, and an Artistic Merit Award from Art 1307 Cultural Association in Italy.  Todd was honored with the inclusion of his work “Mercy” into the permanent collection of the Pio Monte della Misericordia where it hangs next to its inspiration, “The Seven Works of Mercy” by Caravaggio.