PRESS RELEASE
Casey Williams: New Work
Mar 29 – May 3, 2008
Holly Johnson Gallery in Dallas is pleased to announce the opening of Casey Williams: New Work, by the renowned Houston photographer. A reception for the artist will be held on Saturday, March 29th, from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. The exhibition continues through May 3, 2008.
In this new body of work Casey Williams captures both the tension and tranquility of the Houston Ship Channel - a subject he has investigated for nearly twenty years. Fascinated by the patterns found in the water and the worn surfaces of ships hulls, this new work intentionally alludes to the Abstract Expressionists. In framing the side of a ship with the camera lens, Williams reveals the uncalculated marks left on the boat by workers, water, and time, and the more purposeful acts of the artist, who paints, scrapes, and repaints.
Williams combines straight forward photography skills with computer-based digital technology. Although Williams has used canvas as a base with prior photographic imagery, the new works are printed onto polished aluminum panels producing an infinitely detailed image. The aluminum base adds to the image’s reflectivity further animating the subject.
Casey Williams received his B.F.A. from the University of Texas in 1970 and his M.F.A. from the San Francisco Art Institute in 1976. In 1999 he received an Individual Artist Grant and Fellowship Award from CACHH, the Cultural Arts Council of Houston Harris County.
Williams’ work has been included in numerous exhibitions, including: Art Museum of Southeast Texas, Beaumont, Texas; Diverseworks, Houston, Texas; El Paso Museum of Art, El Paso, Texas; Carnegie Art Museum, Oxnard, California; New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans, Louisiana; Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, Texas; Laguna Gloria Art Museum, Austin, Texas; The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas; and The Museum of Modern Art, New York, New York.
His work can also be seen in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris, Laguna Gloria Art Museum in Austin, University of Texas in Austin, Renaissance Boston Hotel, Atlantic Richfield Company in Los Angeles, SBC Collection in San Antonio, Frito Lay Collection in Plano; Hotel Palomar in Dallas, and the Federal Reserve Bank in Dallas.