Antoine Williams

Multi-disciplinary artist Antoine Williams’ work explores cultural identity through the power, fear, and societal perceptions associated with being a Black American. Heavily influenced by science fiction and his upbringing in rural North Carolina, Williams creates his own mythologies that capture the complexities of contemporary Blackness. In his drawings, Black male figures wearing oversized clothing carry an immense physical, psychological and emotional weight, while they strive to be seen as fully human.

Antoine is an artist and educator. He was an Associate Professor at Guilford College for seven years and is now an Assistant Professor at the University of Florida. He played an integral role in the founding of God City Art Collective in Charlotte, a group that focuses on socially engaged, community-based art projects such as pop-up shows, after school art programs, and film festivals. He has exhibited at numerous institutions, including Michigan State University, the Mint Museum of Art (Charlotte, NC), Columbia Museum of Art (SC), Smack Mellon (Brooklyn, NY) and 21c Museum (Louisville, KY). He is the recipient of the 2017 Joan Mitchell Award of Painters and Sculptors.