About
LG Williams is a Los Angeles-based artist and former Endowed University Instructor at the Academy of Art University. He currently holds the Emmy Hennings Distinguished Professorship of Visual Art and Art History at D(D).DDDD University and the Robert Hughes Distinguished Visual Artist-in-Residence position at The Lodge in Hollywood, CA. His work spans art criticism, art history, and studio practice.
Williams earned his MFA from the University of California, Davis. His work has been exhibited internationally, including venues such as the Internet Pavilion of La Biennale di Venezia (2011), Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, and di Rosa Art Preserve. Additional exhibitions include the Laguna Art Museum, Klaipėdos Kultūrų Komunikacijų Centras, and major art fairs including the Cologne Art Fair, Artissima, LISTE, Art-O-Rama, and ARCO.
He has completed numerous prestigious residencies worldwide, including stays at Le Royal Monceau – Raffles (Paris), The Brando (Tahiti), Four Seasons Tented Camp Golden Triangle (Thailand), and Jade Mountain Resort (St. Lucia). Additional residencies include Royal Malewane (South Africa), The Lanesborough (London), Twin Farms (Vermont), and Halekulani (Hawaii).
Williams’s artworks are featured in museums and private collections across Europe, the United States, and Japan. Kenneth Baker, San Francisco Chronicle art critic, wrote, “Williams wants to create a space where painting can resume in earnest.” His exhibition In Absentia at Super Window Project in Kyoto was featured in Artforum (May 2011). His work was also included in Donald Preziosi’s 2014 book Art, Religion, Amnesia: The Enchantments of Credulity (Routledge). In 2012, he received a mid-career retrospective, LG Williams / The Estate of LG Williams, Anthology: 1985–2012, in Milan.
His work has been covered in major publications, including Artforum, The New York Times, Times Literary Supplement, The Guardian, and Japan Times, as well as Los Angeles Times, La Stampa, Bookforum, The Brooklyn Rail, and Purple Diary.
As one of the youngest members of the Rat Bastard Protective Association, Williams joins notable artists including Bruce Conner, Wally Hedrick, Jay DeFeo, and Joan Brown.
Williams has taught at numerous institutions, including the University of California, Davis; University of Southern California; California College of the Arts; and Arizona State University.
In 2008, New York Times arts reporter Steven Heller recognized Williams’s writing in E Pluribus Venom: The Art of Shepard Fairey as one of the year's Top 10 Art Books. In 2009, he published Drawing Upon Art: A Workbook for Gardner’s Art Through the Ages with Cengage Learning/Wadsworth. From 2011 to 2012, he served as art critic for The Tokyo Weekender.
In 2016, Williams produced Wasted Words and Dust Bunnies by Dave Hickey through PCP Press. Both books were reviewed in the Times Literary Supplement and featured at events at the UCLA Hammer Museum, SITE Santa Fe, and the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art. Wasted Words appeared in Netflix’s Velvet Buzzsaw.
In 2018, he published Wayne Thiebaud: Lectures on Art and Drawing, a collection of student lectures by the legendary UC Davis professor. He has also published three collections of Raymond Pettibon’s social media writings: SCKONTHIS!!, Tuff Luv, and My Fists Are Free.
Williams developed Prosperity Aesthetics™ (PA™), a theory proposing that financial success and physical well-being derive from Art’s will. The theory suggests that faith in Art, positive speech, and donations can increase artistic esteem and material wealth. Since 2020, Williams has conducted Prosperity Aesthetics™ seminars for over 100,000 Zoom viewers across 20 countries.
He received an Honorary Doctorate from the Institute for Subversive Art and Analysis in Cedar Rapids in 2005.
LG Williams is a Los Angeles-based artist and has held positions such as the Endowed University Instructor at the Academy of Art University, the Robert Hughes Distinguished Visual Artist-in-Residence at The Lodge in Hollywood, California, and the Emmy Hennings Distinguished Professor at D(D).DDDD University. Williams has exhibited his work in various national and international venues, including the Internet Pavilion of La Biennale di Venezia. His art has been featured in prominent publications such as Artforum, The New York Times, Times Literary Supplement, The Guardian, Japan Times, Los Angeles Times, La Stampa, Bookforum, Purple Diary, Mousse Magazine, and The Brooklyn Rail, among others.
More information can be found at www.lgwilliams.com