Kandis Williams is an artist, writer, editor, and publisher. Williams has received critical acclaim for her collage art, performance art, and publishing work. Williams lives and works in Los Angeles and Berlin. Williams is known for her art exploring racial issues,

nationalism Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a in-group and out-group, group of peo ...

, and many other categories.

Early life

Williams graduated from

Cooper Union School of Art The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art (Cooper Union) is a private college at Cooper Square in New York City. Peter Cooper founded the institution in 1859 after learning about the government-supported École Polytechnique in ...

Artistic practice

Kandis Williams' work often explores contemporary

critical theory A critical theory is any approach to social philosophy that focuses on society and culture to reveal, critique and challenge power structures. With roots in sociology and literary criticism, it argues that social problems stem more from soci ...

including, but not limited to, racial-nationalism,

authority In the fields of sociology and political science, authority is the legitimate power of a person or group over other people. In a civil state, ''authority'' is practiced in ways such a judicial branch or an executive branch of government.''The N ...

, and

eroticism Eroticism () is a quality that causes sexual feelings, as well as a philosophical contemplation concerning the aesthetics of sexual desire, sensuality, and romantic love. That quality may be found in any form of artwork, including painting, sc ...

. In addition to Williams' studio, writing, and publishing practices, Williams is also a visiting faculty member at

Cal Arts The California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) is a private art university in Santa Clarita, California. It was incorporated in 1961 as the first degree-granting institution of higher learning in the US created specifically for students of both ...

School of Art.

Solo exhibitions

*''A Line'' - 52 Walker, New York, NY - (2021) *''A Field'' -

Virginia Commonwealth University Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) is a public research university in Richmond, Virginia. VCU was founded in 1838 as the medical department of Hampden–Sydney College, becoming the Medical College of Virginia in 1854. In 1968, the Virgini ...

Institute for Contemporary Art,

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

- (2020 - 2021) Her first solo show that runs from November 6, 2020 - August 1, 2021 is called “''A Field”''. ''A Field'' is a live green house surrounded with multiple plants and plant sculptures as well as along the walls of the room. Williams also used wired plants instead of leaves to attach photos from history and use as a backdrop. With that Williams attaches multiple different photos including Mississippi chain gangs, images from Vintage Magazine, and depictions from tango dancers. In addition to ''A Field'' there is a live video with a dancer that was also choreographed by Williams on the former

Lorton Reformatory The Lorton Reformatory, also known as the Lorton Correctional Complex, is a former prison complex in Lorton, Virginia, established in 1910 for the District of Columbia, United States. The complex began as a prison farm called the Occoquan Work ...

an
Virginia State Prison Farm
where prisoners worked as time for their sentence. *''Eurydice -'' 219 Madison -

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

- (2018) *WOP Works on Paper - Vienna - (2017) *''Soft Colony -'' Night Gallery - Los Angeles - (2016) *''Disfiguring Traditions -'' SADE - Los Angeles, CA - (2016) *''Inner States -'' St. Charles Projects -

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

- (2016)

Events, performances, workshops

*''Fragile'', Berlin 2019 *''A Woman's Work'', a PopRally event at MoMA organized by

Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah (born 1982) is an American essayist. She won a Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing in 2018 for her profile of white supremacist and mass murderer Dylann Roof, as well as a National Magazine Award. She was also a National Mag ...

- (2018) * Human Resources Los Angeles - (2016)

Group exhibitions

*The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York *The Underground Museum, Los Angeles *Neu West, Berlin *68 Projects, Berlin *The Breeder, Athens

Cassandra Press

Williams co-founded the non-profit Cassandra Press in 2016 with Taylor Doran, and

Jordan Nassar Jordan Nassar (born 1985) is an American artist based in New York City. He primarily works with textiles, especially in creating works based on traditional Palestinian embroidery. Nassar also creates self-published artist's books and zines. Ear ...

. The organization distributes lo-fi activist and academic texts, flyers,

posters A poster is a large sheet that is placed either on a public space to promote something or on a wall as decoration. Typically, posters include both textual and graphic elements, although a poster may be either wholly graphical or wholly text ...

pamphlets A pamphlet is an unbound book (that is, without a hard cover or binding). Pamphlets may consist of a single sheet of paper that is printed on both sides and folded in half, in thirds, or in fourths, called a ''leaflet'' or it may consist of a ...

, and readers as well as offer classes and exhibitions. The name is a reference to the

Trojan Trojan or Trojans may refer to: * Of or from the ancient city of Troy * Trojan language, the language of the historical Trojans Arts and entertainment Music * ''Les Troyens'' ('The Trojans'), an opera by Berlioz, premiered part 1863, part 189 ...

princess

Cassandra Cassandra or Kassandra (; Ancient Greek: Κασσάνδρα, , also , and sometimes referred to as Alexandra) in Greek mythology was a Trojan priestess dedicated to the god Apollo and fated by him to utter true prophecies but never to be believe ...

, who was said to have accurately foretold the future yet no one would believe her.

Select awards and recognition

* 2021 Mohn Award ( Hammer Museum) — $100,000

References

External links

Kandis Williams - Contemporary Art DailyKANDIS WILLIAMS: YOUNG ARTISTS 2018 - cultured magLike No One's Looking - canadianart
Living people African-American artists Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century African-American people {{US-artist-stub