Todd Williamson

Todd Williamson is a Los Angeles contemporary artist that has exhibited around the world, most recently in Germany, Italy and Houston. He was named as one of the “2009 Artists to Watch” by Art & Living Magazine and was a recipient of the prestigious Pollock Krasner Foundation award grant. He received the “Best Foreign Artist” from Bluduemila Sporte & Arte and two Abstract Awards from Artslant Online, an Artistic Merit from Art 1307-Naples, Italy, and the Curators Award from the Micro Museum Brooklyn, NY.

He has attended the American Academy in Rome Italy, Nuove Opere Napoltane in Naples Italy, the Skopelos Foundation-Skopelos Greece, the Scuola Internazionale di Grafic Venice Italy, and the Louise Bourgeois’ Artists Salon NY, NY.

Todd has been exhibited alongside some of the leading contemporary artists including Ed Rusche, Ed Moses, Jenny Holtzer, Robert Ryman, and Chuck Close to name a few. He has representation in New York, Berlin, Tokyo, Naples, Milan, Houston, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Atlanta, Los Angeles and Miami.

Todd was chosen along with 10 other American artists to represent the United States at the 3rd Annual Songzhuang Arts Festival in Beijing China and was selected for the “25th Silver Anniversary Exhibition” at the Visual Arts Center of New Jersey curated by Joan Young, Guggenheim. He was shown at the “Biennale delle Arti dell ‘Uniti d’Italia” and “Sulle trace di Luca Giordano” at the Villa Bruno in San Giorgio Italy curated by art historian Marco di Mauro, and the P.A.N. Museum in Naples Italy. In 2019, Williamson has solo exhibitions in New York, Germany, Los Angeles and at the MAC Museum in Singen Germany. He was recently chosen as an official exhibitor at the prestigious Venice Biennale 2019 in Venice, Italy.

Todd lives and works in Los Angeles. His work can be seen in galleries and collection around the world. He is an arts commissioner for the city of West Hollywood and on the board of directors for the National AIDS Monument to be erected in West Hollywood Park in 2016.

ARTIST STATEMENT:

“My work is an expression of my emotions and the way I see the world. It deals with sex, violence, beauty, and freedom. It is an extension my thoughts and how the world affects my being.  Anger, frustration, fear, and intense passion all exist in the work as I debate within myself the uncertainties of the world and how to change it or control it.

“Color has a strong emotive power that pulls from the soul.  It brings out our deepest, darkest secrets and most intense passions. Colors can calm and warm your soul or it can insight you to violence or deeply felt passion. Color, much like sound, is a constant memory. I work to capture this memory and balance it in my work. The colors work like emotions, only real and perceptible to the viewer.

“My work is as much about removing paint as it is about adding paint. I systematically remove layers of paint in the process of building up the 3’’ parallel lines in my work.  These lines create the frame on which I build the story of each painting. They act similarly to staffs on a page of music holding each note in place and giving it structure.  In this respect, my work can be read like sheet music, giving you a small glimpse of who I am while creating a concerto of thoughts and memories on the canvas."

Artist CV