Hollywood, Los Angeles
Jessica Williams
Only Girl In The World
Young Art“It was a new vision through which the spectator might recognize his own isolation and hear the silence of the world.” -René Magritte in response to Giorgio de Chirico's Le chant d'amour, 1914. Young Art is pleased to present Only Girl In The World, an exhibition of new paintings by Jessica Williams. The title, taken from Rihanna’s 2010 pop hit, sets a solipsistic stage for Williams’ new paintings. Themes of desire and impulse central to the song’s lyrics are embodied in Williams' fleeting scenes of nostalgia and fantasy. Sourcing imagery from a collection of photographs and drawings, Williams created this body of work at night using a projector. This effect of diffused light is imitated at the gallery where the existing fluorescent fixtures have been encased in blush tinted gels. Williams’ approach is loose and intuitive as the works slip away from representation and into a world of the unseen. The paintings echo with ghosts of their referents, evoking a sense of fragmented recollection and impermanence. Gestural lines trace out the silhouettes of adolescent figures, interiors, windowscapes and flora that overlay and dissolve into washes of color. Pastel hues clash against heavy shadows, a dissonance that only heightens the anxiety of the unresolved pictures. Williams’ compression of moment, image and emotion emulates an infinite stream of simulation as experienced on screen and reflects a hyper-saturated conscious that is forever reminded of her solitude. Jessica Williams (b. 1983 in Los Angeles, California) studied at Columbia University (MFA 2008) and the Rhode Island School of Design (BFA 2005). Her work been included in recent shows at Del Vaz Projects, Los Angeles; Torrance Art Museum, Torrance; Night Gallery, Los Angeles; Sargent's Daughters, New York; and Thierry Goldberg Gallery, New York. Williams lives and works in Los Angeles.