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The Bucks County Community College Newtown campus is presenting a new exhibit at the Hicks Art Center Gallery.
The exhibit – “Contested Identities: The Recent Work of Peter Williams” – will explore issues of race and identity, including the contradictions of the American Dream, and current social and political issues, according to curator Susan Hagen, an associate professor of visual arts at the college. The exhibit will run from August 24 through October 8.
“His wit and irreverence concerning these topics is enormously appealing, as is the warmth and visual richness of his colorful paintings,” said Hagen. “Williams grounds his work in his own personal experiences; his own trials and tribulations are fair game, as are homespun jokes and erotic fantasies.”
Williams, an amputee and artist, was born in Nyack, New York, and lived and worked for many years in Detroit, before settling in Wilmington 11 years ago.
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“His lush, painterly storytelling reveals a deeply resonant social critique that is both humorous and deadly serious,” said Hagen. “He the heroic role of Haitian volunteer soldiers – the gens de couleur libre – in the American Revolution in 1779 (During the Failure) and the events in Ferguson in 2014 (Da Ferguson News). There is a breathless quality to his most recent work, as if the fast pace and dire consequences of current events demand a fast response from the artist.”
In fact, Hagen points out that Williams has said “it is the task of the artist to bear witness to the events and stories of the time in which they live.” Williams himself, in the guise of a colorful self-portrait Man with Dolphin Hair, seems to lead the way to a brighter future, Hagen adds.
Williams, whose work has been shown extensively New York, Detroit, and other cities but rarely in Bucks County, will be at Bucks County Community College Wednesday, September 14 to discuss his work and attend a gallery reception. An informal conversation with the artist takes place from noon to 1 p.m. in the Linksz Pavilion on the Newtown campus, followed by an artist’s talk from 2 to 3:30 p.m. in Penn Hall room 257. The gallery reception takes place from 5 to 7 p.m., with a curator’s talk at 5:30 p.m.
Admission to the Hicks Art Center Gallery and all related events is free. The gallery is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday through September 16. After September 19, hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday and Friday; 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday; and 9 a.m. to noon Saturday.
