Kent Robert Williams (born 1962) is an American painter and graphic novel artist.
Williams was born in New Bern, North Carolina. He attended the Pratt Institute in New York City and graduated in 1984. Williams, a consummate draftsman and painter, has realized his work through various other artistic channels as well; that of the illustrated word and the graphic novel (including The Fountain with filmmaker Darren Aronofsky), printmaking, photography, design, architecture, and film. A selection of his works on paper, Kent Williams: Drawings & Monotypes, was published in 1991, and Koan: Paintings by Jon J Muth & Kent Williams, was published in 2001. His monograph, Kent Williams, Amalgam: Paintings & Drawings, 1992-2007, with text by Edward Lucie-Smith and Julia Morton, is the most comprehensive collection of Williams' work to date.
Comics
From 1983â€"1985, Williams was a regular contributor to Marvel Comics' Epic Illustrated. He collaborated with writer J. M. DeMatteis on Blood: A Tale in 1987 and with writers Walt and Louise Simonson and co-artist Jon J Muth on Havok and Wolverine: Meltdown the following year. Williams was the regular cover artist for Vertigo's Hellblazer in 1990â€"1991. Comics historian Les Daniels noted that Williams' "impressionistic painting style is an example of the new look that DC's Vertigo line brought to comics." Williams drew the "Fear of Falling" short story for Vertigo Preview #1 (1993) which featured the Sandman and was written by Neil Gaiman. In 2006 he illustrated a graphic novel adaptation of The Fountain from the script by filmmaker Darren Aronofsky.
Teaching
Williams was a visiting instructor at the Pratt Institute, and has taught at the California College of the Arts, San Francisco; East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, and the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts), Valencia, California. Williams lives in Los Angeles and teaches painting at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. In addition, he is an MFA mentor faculty at the Laguna College of Art and Design.
Exhibitions
Williams' work has been the subject of a number of solo exhibitions including shows in New York City; San Francisco; Sundance, Utah; the Nasher Museum of Art, Durham, North Carolina; in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where he is represented by Evoke Contemporary Gallery; and in Los Angeles, where he is represented by The Merry Karnowsky Gallery. His painting Trace Double-Portrait was exhibited at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., as part of the Outwin Boochever 2006 Portrait Exhibition.
Awards
Williams is the recipient of a number of awards for his work, including the Yellow Kid Award (de), Lucca, Italy's prestigious comics award. In 2001, he was invited to be a fellow at the Sundance Filmmakers Lab in Sundance, Utah.
References
External links
- Official website
- Kent Williams at the Comic Book DB
- Kent Williams at the Grand Comics Database
