TM Lighting is pleased to collaborate with Aleph Contemporary to show a series of exhibitions supporting artists. At this time, we are pleased to continue our art programme online by featuring exhibitions and contemporary artists from the London gallery, many of whom will show virtual solo exhibitions.
Artist Spotlight: British contemporary artist, Tess Williams.
Williams ((b. 1985) holds her MA, Fine Art, Distinction, Central Saint Martins, London, BA (Hons) Fine Art DeMontfort University, Leicester as well as a Foundation Diploma, Central Saint Martins. Honours include the Young Contemporary Talent Purchase Prize for the Ingram Collection, London, 2018. Key collections include Belevcar Patrimonio, Valencia, Spain; The Corinthia, London; DeMontfort University, Leicester; Grosvenor House Park Lane, London; Hogan Lovells International LLP as well as various international private collections.
Overview by Rosa JH Berland, Curator, Writer & Historian, New York, USA, courtesy Aleph Contemporary
“There is an underlying purity to be found in Tess Williams’ resolutely contemporary conception of new abstraction. Yet, the surfaces of her paintings reveal something more layered: a gritty surface, exposed staples, the cutting and reconstructing of canvas and in some works delicate stitching. Traces of the artist’s mark lie visible on tactile planes in areas of peeling and scraped away pigment, imprinted marks, and calligraphic lines of pigment. Frayed and raw canvas are artfully combined with monochromatic areas of grey and black as well as lighter tones that refer to the human body. In each work the artist plays with the sculptural qualities of deconstructed canvas, pushing the medium further by creating a newly topographic surface. Williams notes: “This contrast explores the relationship between the male and female properties of materials, and how when juxtaposed, they can form a dynamic visual language.”
This Rauschenbergian approach is intertwined with the artist’s particularly contemporary engagement with her urban environment: “London is a major influence on my work. Much of my research work is photography of the city landscape – its flaws and its faults, and so the industrial and rugged aesthetic is derived from this urban life.”
Through a mastery of surface and composition, Williams’ painting imaginatively balance idioms from mid-century abstraction with contemporary urban references and the mark of the artist in the atelier. This virtuosic use of tone, texture and a sculptural sensibility of canvas, colour and form make Williams’ work a significant contribution to twenty-first century artistic reimagining of the tenets of abstraction.
Watch a view interview featuring Tess Williams
View Tess Williams Viewing Room ‘Sirens’ until 1st April
TM Lighting is pleased to support artists through hosting collaborative exhibitions and sharing artist profiles and interviews as part of an annual art programme. For more information please email marketing@tmlighting.com