KENT WILLIAMS

Medium of Choice: Oil

“Having worked primarily with Trekell’s 10” Crimson Taklons, I must say that these quality-forward brushes not only hold up well to my often-times aggressive handling, but also, with proper basic aftercare, retain their shape and structural integrity use after use.

The brushes load well, allowing for superb paint flow-out. I’m looking forward to working with Trekell’s other brushes and materials, including their watercolor and mix media tools and exploring their prepared panels such as the oil primed linen mounted on ACM.”

Kent Williams has built up a formidable reputation as a powerful contemporary draftsman and painter. His is a bold realism with combined attributes of abstraction and neo-expressionistic sensibilities. His work is characterized by strong gestural forms combined with areas of layered and arresting detail, rendered with rich dynamic brushwork.

Williams’ approach to his subjects is often subjective and intense. Whether through multi-figured compositional complexity and suggestive narrative, or with the straight-forward lone human form, there is often autobiographical narrative at play. Favorite models, friends, and the artist himself all play a role in the human story of his paintings.

Williams has exhibited his work nationally and internationally with over twenty-five solo exhibitions, and has participated in numerous group exhibitions domestically and abroad.

He is currently represented by KP Projects, Los Angeles, CA and EVOKE Contemporary, Santa Fe, NM. He has taught at Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC, California College of the Arts, San Francisco, CA, California Institute of the Arts, Santa Clarita, CA, Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, CA, and is currently part of the Mentor/MFA Program at Laguna College of Art and Design, Laguna Beach, CA. Williams has had several monographs published of his work.

He has done work for numerous publishing houses and has had several graphic novels published by both Marvel Entertainment and DC Comics.

In the 1980’s he was one of the forerunners of what was coined as “Painted Comics”, setting the stage for a more experimental approach to the graphic novel medium.

His graphic novels include 'Blood: A Tale', 'Havoc and Wolverine: Meltdown', 'Tell Me, Dark', and he worked with filmmaker, Darren Aronofsky, developing the graphic novel of Aronofsky’s film, 'The Fountain'. Notably, he did the movie poster for the restored and theatrical re-release of Akira Kurosawa’s ‘Rashomon', and cover and interior art for the Criterion Collection Blu-ray edition of 'The Lord of the Flies'.

Williams currently lives in Pasadena, CA with his partner, the artist Soey Milk.