artist statement - Dylan Williams
I approach each painting like a portrait. By focusing on individual tanks I show how each has a distinct personality and tells a different story. Water tanks are like forgotten people in forgotten places. My water tower paintings have a sense of isolation and solitude, feelings that are often a reality for people that live in this vast city.
My work is light driven, with a painterly vocabulary that separates it from the sometimes dry photorealistic style. The subject matter is firmly grounded, directly-observed life and yet is somehow alien, almost magical. It allows for objectivity while crossing into the territory of surreal and abstract painting
I see water towers as chalices, inanimate vessels of life. The water they carry is the primary ingredient of life; it sustains and nourishes the cities in which we live.
Water towers are an integral, iconic part of New York City.
EDUCATION
1989-1994 Training with John Nevin, painter. Guanajuato, Mexico
1991-1994 Art Students League. New York, NY
1986-1989 School of Engraving and Plastic Arts. University of Guanajuato Mexico
1985-1986 School of Graphic Design. Aguascalientes, Mexico
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2006 UNEXPECTED ITALY. Kate Ganz USA, New York, N.Y.
2005 UNDER THE BROOKLYN SKY. Brooklyn Public Library, Grand Lobby, Brooklyn, NY
2005 OIL DRAWINGS. Museo Olga Costa, Guanajuato, Mexico
2004 THE FIFTH FACADE: New York Landscapes. Galeria Alfonsina Storni,Guanajuato, Mexico
2003 DUMBO – ART UNDER THE BRIDGE. Brooklyn, NY
2002 NEW YORK ROOFTOPS. Williamsburg Art & Historical Center, Brooklyn, NY
2001 DUMBO – ART UNDER THE BRIDGE. Brooklyn, NY
2000 DUMBO – ART UNDER THE BRIDGE. Brooklyn, NY
1994 COLOR OF THE CITY. Agora Gallery, Guanajuato, Mexico
1993 NEW YORK LANDSCAPES. AMMO Exhibition Space, Brooklyn, NY
GROUP EXHIBITION
2007 URBAN SUBURBAN. ART 101, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York.
2007 URBANISM: NEW YORK CITY. The Painting Center, Soho, New York, NY.
2006 100 ARTISTS - 100 WATERCOLORS. Jeannie Freilich Fine Art, New York, NY.
2005 SENTINELS:WATER TOWERS OF N.Y. Object Image Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2005 AGAINST THE BROOKLY SKY. Brooklyn Public Library Grand Lobby
2005 IT’S ABOUT TIME. Gallery of Graphic Arts, New York, NY
2005 FELLOWS’ EXHIBITION: MURAL DESIGNS. National Academy of Design, NY
2005 NEW DIRECTIONS VI. Hoorn-Ashby Gallery, New York, NY
2005 IN SPIRITUS. RKL Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2004 NYC Water Towers. Gallery of Graphic Arts, New York, NY
2004 CROSSINGS: Images of New York Bridges. Object Image Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2003 ALL ABOUT ME. Spike Gallery, New York, NY
2002 BROOKLYN VIEWS, BROOKLYN ARTISTS. Object Image Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2001 S. E. FEINMAN FINE ARTS. Soho, NY
1996 17th ANNUAL SPRING EXHIBITION. Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition, Bklyn, NY
1996 ON THE WATERFRONT: Art About Brooklyn. Kentler International Drawing Space, NY
1996 CITYSCAPES. Lumina Gallery, Soho, NY
1995 PIER SHOW. Brooklyn, NY
1994 WATERCOLOR EXHIBITON. University of Morelia, Mexico
1993 GROUP EXHIBITION. AMMO Exhibition Space, Brooklyn, NY
1987 SPRING EXHIBITION. Atrium Gallery, Guanajuato, Mexico
AWARDS
2005 Fellowship Recipient, Abbey Fund for Mural Painting at the National Academy.
PUBLICATIONS
2007 The Artist’s Magazine. Feb.-March 2007
2005 a.m. Periodico de la capital. May 5, 2005, p. 2
2004 Correo del Estado de Guanajuato. June 5, 2004, p. 37
2004 Chopper Weekly Guanajuato. June 19, 2004, p. 36
1989 Arte in Guanajuato, Mexico. Spring 1989 Issue, p. 15