Kevin A. Williams

(WAK )

Source- Artisan Arts Online

If pictures are worth a thousand words, then self-taught artist Kevin A. Williams has created enough elements of love, intimacy and passion on canvas to write a book. The sensual art that he creates is among the most contemporary African-American art of our time.

Williams combines acrylic and air brush techniques to speak to different generations of people. He enjoys expressing love, community, and the family through his paint and brushes.

Williams, thirty-something, and best known by his reversed initials, WAK, stays busy creating mixed-medium pieces inspired by his coming of age during the 70¹s and 80¹s ( a time when music inspired major cultural shifts in fashion and art).

While still in high school, he was very much aware of the cultural shift. As Williams was growing up on the southside of Chicago, his artistic talent was recognized early. At age 15, he realized that painting was what he would spend the rest of his life doing. He was truly fascinated by painting, and stayed long hours in his studio to polish his talents.

He launched his career as a commercial artist. His talent earned him numerous honors including three National Scholastic Awards, and a coveted ACT-SO Gold Medal. His debut print, "Taking Her Back," the first in a five-part series, pays homage to the beauty of Black love with muted, natural tones and an emotionally charged scene. The piece conveys the respect and honor that the Black man should hold for Black women.

"We are powerful people and there are certain messages I try to portray," says Williams. "I try to capture the elements of love."

He reminisced about the 70¹s: the romanticism, music, culture, and Black folks making a statement.

" I paint my music," he says, referring to Marvin Gaye, Earth, Wind, & Fire, and Maxwell.

His paintings reflect the process of a relationship (a man meeting a woman, to magnificent love, to having a family). More recently, Williams has begun to focus more on depicting an element of spirituality in his paintings.

Phenomenal works such as "God Is In Me" and "Divine Order" speak to the necessity of our people to acknowledge God¹s deserving place in our lives. As a man first and then an artist, Williams is honored to be able to communicate such messages through his art.

Compliments of Artisan Arts Online