Kent Williams (artist) explained

Kent Williams
Birth Name:Kent Robert Williams
Birth Date:1962
Birth Place:New Bern, North Carolina
Nationality:American
Area:Artist
Notable Works:
Hellblazer
Kent Williams: Drawings & Monotypes
Koan: Paintings by Jon J Muth & Kent Williams
Kent Williams, Amalgam: Paintings & Drawings, 1992-2007
Awards:Yellow Kid Award

Kent Robert Williams (born 1962) is an American painter and graphic novel artist.

Williams, a 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.

Early life

Williams was born in New Bern, North Carolina.[1] He attended the Pratt Institute in New York City[2] and graduated in 1984.

Comics

From 1983 to 1985, Kent Williams was a regular contributor to Marvel Comics' Epic Illustrated. He collaborated with writer J. M. DeMatteis on in 1987 and with writers Walt and Louise Simonson and co-artist Jon J Muth on Havok and Wolverine: Meltdown the following year.[3] The latter series was a result of Williams and Muth's desire to work on a project together.[4] Williams was the regular cover artist for DC Comics' Hellblazer in 1990–1991. 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."[5] Williams drew the "Fear of Falling" short story for Vertigo Preview #1 (1993) which featured the Sandman and was written by Neil Gaiman.[6] In 2006 he illustrated a graphic novel adaptation of The Fountain from the script by filmmaker Darren Aronofsky.[7]

Teaching

Kent 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.

Personal life

He is currently living and working in Los Angeles with his partner Soey Milk.

Exhibitions

His 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;[8] in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where he is represented by Evoke Contemporary Gallery;[9] and in Los Angeles, where he is represented by The Merry Karnowsky Gallery.[10] 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.[11]

Awards

Williams is the recipient of a number of awards for his work, including the Yellow Kid Award, Lucca, Italy's comics award.[12] In 2001, he was invited to be a fellow at the Sundance Filmmakers Lab in Sundance, Utah.[13]

Comics bibliography

Byron Preiss Visual Publications

Darkstorm Productions

DC Comics

Paradox Press

Piranha Press

Vertigo

Eclipse Comics

Last Gasp

Marvel Comics

Epic Comics

New Media Publishing

Pacific Comics

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Interview with Kent Williams. 2010. BAK. https://web.archive.org/web/20130510114837/http://bakmagazine.com/interviews/10/kent-williams. May 10, 2013. dead. November 21, 2013.
  2. Web site: Kent Williams. 2013. Lambiek Comiclopedia. https://web.archive.org/web/20120506180231/http://lambiek.net/artists/w/williams_kent.htm. May 6, 2012. live. November 21, 2013.
  3. Book: Jerry Bails

    . Jerry Bails . Bails . Jerry . Hames . Ware . Who's Who of American Comic Books 1928-1999 . Williams, Kent . November 21, 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20131122040425/http://www.bailsprojects.com/bio.aspx?Name=WILLIAMS%252c+KENT . November 22, 2013 . live . mdy .

  4. Web site: The many faces of comics world's Kent Williams. November 1, 2012. GMA News Online. https://web.archive.org/web/20180808073205/https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/lifestyle/content/280544/the-many-faces-of-comics-world-s-kent-williams/story/. August 8, 2018. live. mdy-all. The 1988 four-parter Havok & Wolverine: Meltdown came about because Williams wanted to work with Jon J. Muth, and they developed the story with the writers. Williams worked on the Wolverine art while Muth did the Havoc art..
  5. Book: Daniels, Les. Les Daniels

    . Les Daniels. DC Comics: Sixty Years of the World's Favorite Comic Book Heroes. Bulfinch Press. 1995. New York, New York. 226. 0821220764.

  6. Book: Bender, Hy. The Sandman Companion. DC Comics. 1999. New York, New York. 270. 978-1563894657.
  7. Book: Cowsill. Alan. Dolan. Hannah, ed.. 2000s. DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle. Dorling Kindersley. 2010. London, United Kingdom. 978-0-7566-6742-9. 327.
  8. Web site: Kent Williams. n.d.. Allen Spiegel Fine Arts. https://web.archive.org/web/20131122052950/http://allenspiegelfinearts.com/wp/kent-williams/. November 22, 2013 . live. November 21, 2013.
  9. Web site: Kent Williams: Ophthalm. 2013. Santa Fe Gallery Association. https://archive.today/20131122045612/http://www.santafegalleryassociation.org/santafe-news/kent-williams-ophthalm/. November 22, 2013. dead. November 21, 2013.
  10. Web site: Press. n.d.. Los Angeles, California. The Merry Karnowsky Gallery. https://web.archive.org/web/20130514072215/http://www.mkgallery.com/kentwilliams-press.html. May 14, 2013. dead. November 21, 2013.
  11. Web site: Exhibition Finalists. 2006. Washington, D.C.. National Portrait Gallery. https://web.archive.org/web/20130622061726/http://www.npg.si.edu/competition/site/exhibition/PeoplesChoiceAward/AllFinalists.aspx. June 22, 2013. dead. November 21, 2013.
  12. Web site: Kent Williams: figure drawings and paintings. 2013. Figurativepainters.com. https://web.archive.org/web/20131122051515/http://www.figurativepainters.com/kent_williams. November 22, 2013 . live. November 21, 2013.
  13. Web site: Kokoro. 2001. Sundance.org. https://web.archive.org/web/20131122050624/http://filmguide.sundance.org/film/FN3896/kokoro. November 22, 2013 . live. November 21, 2013.