"INVESTED AS THEY ARE IN QUESTIONS OF MONUMENTALITY, WILLIAMS ACCEPTS NEITHER NATURE NOR CULTURE AS A BLANK SLATE THAT CAN BE
REINVENTED BY ARTISTS. RATHER, THEIR WORK ENGAGES IN THE COMPLICATED REPARATIVE LABOR OF UN/EARTHING HISTORICAL TRUTHS IN PLACES
WHERE SUCH RECORDS NO LONGER EXIST."
– WENDY VOGEL ON KIYAN WILLIAMS, ARTFORUM, 2022
Spanning performance, sculpture, and video, Kiyan Williams’ (b. 1991 in Newark, New Jersey, US) practice exhumes ignored histories. Attracted to everyday materials and unconventional methods, including singular processes of appropriation and transformation, the artist subverts traditional monumentality and national symbols. In doing so, Williams roots out the hegemonic narratives that those convey and celebrate. Embracing fragments and cracks, their works are reminiscent of ancient ruins or relics that simultaneously conjure up decay and capacities for resilience. By making, unmaking, and remaking, Williams creates embodied works that both fill lacunas and question power dynamics. Soil, in particular, is a recurring material and metaphor that Williams uses to delve into American history and identity, thus unearthing the historical and ongoing forces that have shaped, and tightly tied together, bodies and land.
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Untitled (Self Portrait 2), 2024Painting - Earth and chrome41 x 25 x 3 cm (16 x 10 x 1 in)
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Untitled (Self Portrait 1), 2024Painting - Earth and chrome41 x 25 x 3 cm (16 x 10 x 1 in)
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Untitled (Fried and Suspended Flag), 2024Sculpture - Nylon flag, egg, seasoning, binder, steel frame and hardware132 x 86 15 cm (52 x 34 x 6 in)
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Fried and Suspended Flag 8, 2023Mixed media - Nylon flag fried in adobo, anise, cardamom, crushed red pepper flakes, chili powder, eggs, flour, hawaij, jerk rub, seasoning salt, sazón, smoked cocoa, scotch bonnet, oregano, paprika, turmeric, sumac and resin.
Frame: steel tube, steel rod, steel chains, steel hooks152 x 106 x 3 cm (60 x 42 x 2 in) -
Molten Statue of Freedom 3, 2023Sculpture - Hydrostone gypsum plaster, silver nitrate, metal, hard foam, resin65 x 50 x 52 cm (26 x 20 x 21 in)
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Earth and Light (Study 2), 2023Painting - Silver nitrate, earth, resin on canvas, aluminum and wood frame124 x 97 cm (49 x 38 in)
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Between Starshine and Clay, 2022Sculpture - Earth, sandstone, wire, hardware305 x 244 x 244 cm (120 x 96 x 96 in)
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Between Starshine and Clay
Kiyan Williams 7 Sep - 19 Nov 2023 SeoulPeres Projects is pleased to present Between Starshine and Clay by Kiyan Williams, the artist’s first solo exhibition with the gallery in Seoul.Read more -
A Past That Is Future Tense
Kiyan Williams 8 Jun - 14 Jul 2023 MilanPeres Projects is pleased to present A Past That Is Future Tense, an exhibition of new sculptures by American artist Kiyan Williams. This marks the artist’s debut solo exhibition with...Read more
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The White House Has That Sinking Feeling (Thanks to an Artist)
Zachary Small, The New York Times, March 22, 2024 -
Kiyan Williams Is Deep Frying the American Flag
Hugh Hayden, Interview Magazine, February 29, 2024 -
The Past Haunts the Present: Kiyan Williams
Philipp Hindahl, Mousse Magazine, January 17, 2024 -
Taking My Body Out of Work
David Alarcón, Metal Magazine, October 13, 2023 -
Interview with Kiyan Williams
Riccardo Pillon, Émergent Magazine, October 1, 2023 -
Six Must-See Exhibitions over Seoul Art Week
Sherry Paik, Ocula Magazine, August 31, 2023 -
Spend Juneteenth Celebrating Black Artists
Cultured Magazine, June 19, 2023 -
10 exhibitions to see this week in Italy
Silvia Airoldi, Elle Decor Italia, June 10, 2023 -
Inside Kiyan Williams’ Earthen Odes to Ancestral Power
Wren Sanders, Them, April 21, 2023 -
The Black Artists Claiming More Space Than Ever Before
Emily Lordi, The New York Times Style Magazine, March 24, 2023 -
The Moon is Trans: On Cultivating an Aesthetics of Reaching
Jeanne Vaccaro, Texte zur Kunst, March 1, 2023 -
Kiyan Williams Puts the American Flag in a Frying Pan, Young Artists 2023
Elisha Tawe, Cultured Magazine, December 2, 2022 -
Kiyan Williams, Unsettling the Histories of Public Sculpture
Marica Antonucci, Monument Lab, September 26, 2022 -
New York: Kiyan Williams – LYLES & KING
Wendy Vogel, Artforum, September 1, 2022 -
Why This Artist Is Deep-Frying American Flags—and Inviting Guests to Bring Their Favorite Seasonings for the Batter,
Taylor Dafoe, Artnet News, June 3, 2022 -
Pick of the Week: Kiyan Williams Hammer Museum
Lauren Guilford, Artillery Magazine, June 2, 2022 -
Forms That Don’t Exist Yet
Louis Bury, BOMB Magazine, November 10, 2021 -
Kiyan Williams Digs Into the Meaning of Soil
Louis Bury, Hyperallergic, November 7, 2020 -
Alumni Artists Featured at the Shed in Hudson Yards
Rebecca Shapiro, Columbia Magazine, July 1, 2019 -
13 Artists Reflect on the Stonewall Riots
Zoë Lescaze, The New York Times Style Magazine, June 27, 2019 -
Queer Artists in Their Own Words: Kiyan Williams Uses Dirt to Unearth the Exploitation of Black People in America
Zachary Small, Hyperallergic, June 19, 2019 -
Commemoratating Stonewall Through the art of Queer Millennials
Rebecca Carroll, WNYC News, June 5, 2019 -
It Is Necessary to Be Able to Dream…
Magnus Rosengarten, Contemporary& Magazine, October 6, 2016
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KIAF Seoul
6 - 10 Sep 2023Peres Projects looks forward to presenting a curated booth for KIAF Seoul 2023 with a selection of works by artists from the gallery program. Encompassing...Read more -
Art Basel
13 - 18 Jun 2023Peres Projects looks forward to presenting a curated booth for Art Basel 2023 with a selection of new works by artists from the gallery program,...Read more