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. 

Rosa JH Berland

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BIOGRAPHY

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.

Williams 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.

Special residencies included the 2019 High House Residency, Norfolk; Ryall Hill Residency, Worcestershire, 2019; Griffin Gallery Residency, London, 2018 and the Bergmannkiez Studio Residency, Berlin, Germany, 2017.

Solo exhibits include:

Pineapple Black Gallery, Middlesbrough, 2019

Eagle Gallery, London, 2018; Nir Altman Galerie, Munich, Germany, 2017

Galeria Kernel, Cáceres, Spain, 2017

The Bomb Factory Art Foundation, London, 2017

White Conduit Projects, London, 2016

Chelsea College of Art, London, 2015

Select group exhibits include:

APT, London, 2019

Ugly Duck, London, 2019

LM Gallery, Latina, Italy, 2019

AP, Berlin, Germany, 2019

Collyer Bristow Gallery, London, 2019

Saatchi Gallery, London, 2018

Galleri Christoffer Egelund, Copenhagen, Denmark, 2018

Galeria Kernel, Lisbon, Portugal, 2018

Unit 1 Gallery, London, 2018 and 2017

Galeria Kernel, Madrid, Spain, 2018

Wijnsraat 119, Dordrecht, Netherlands, 2018

Tripp Gallery, London, 2017

93 Piccadilly, London, 2017

Sluice Biennial. London, 2017

Gallery Nosco, Marseille, France, 2017

Galerie L'Inlassable, Paris, France, 2017

Transition Gallery, London, 2016

CSM Sotheby’s Auction, Lethaby Gallery, London, 2016 and 2014

QPark Cavendish Square, London, 2016

The Dot Project, London, 2016

Galerie Heike Strelow, Frankfurt, Germany, 2016

Central Saint Martins, London, 2016

CHARLIE SMITH LONDON & Griffin Gallery, London, 2016 and 2015

Surface Gallery, Nottingham, 2015

Made In Arts London, AAF, 2015

Schwartz Gallery, London, 2015

Studio 1.1 Gallery, London, 2015