701 Center for Contemporary Art presents Fletcher Williams III: Traces Exhibition – March 8 – April 22, 2018

Artist Talk: Thursday, March 8, 6 pm
Artist Reception: Thursday, March 8, 7 – 9 pm
Reception Admission: Members, free; non-members, $5 suggested donation

Columbia’s 701 Center for Contemporary Art presents a solo exhibition by Charleston based interdisciplinary artist Fletcher Williams III. Voted as one of the ’10 South Carolina Artists You Need to Know’ by Vice last year, Williams has been exhibiting throughout New York and the Southeast for the past nine years. The artist’s theoretical and conceptual art-making practice is rooted in a southern vernacular, which he finds essential to documenting the unweaving of Charleston’s social and cultural fabric. The exhibition, Traces, runs from March 8th to April 22nd, 2018. The opening reception is Thursday, March 8, 7-9 pm, and the artist will give a talk in the gallery an hour before at 6 pm. The reception is free for 701 CCA members: there is a $5 suggested donation for non-members.

Williams studied drawing, painting, print-making, graphic design, and sculpture at The Cooper Union, where he received a BFA in 2010 and worked for several years thereafter as a freelance graphic designer. While the core of William’s education focused on the visual arts, a significant portion of his education was dedicated to studying ritual theory through the lenses of anthropology and sociology. These concepts play an important role in his later works. In 2013, Williams returned to Charleston and began creating multimedia objects and installation that explore historical and contemporary African American narratives of culture and utility that are unique to the South Carolina Lowcountry.

Since 2009, the artist has been gaining recognition for his diverse palate of materials, whether it be automotive paint, found objects, metal flake, shingles, pen & ink or palmetto leaves. Williams has at his disposal a library of local motifs, including the ever-present handwoven palmetto roses that are sold by young black children on the streets of Charleston. Oak, a piece towering at five feet tall, is one of the many pieces in this exhibition that incorporates these roses in an unexpected way. By using these recognizable symbols, Williams is attempting to illustrate a moment of time, to “trace the removal of black communities and the culture taken with it.”

701 CCA is a non-profit visual arts center that promotes understanding, appreciation and enjoyment of contemporary art, the creative process and the role of art and artists in the community. The center also encourages interaction between visual and other art forms.

701 CCA is located at 701 Whaley Street, 2nd Floor, Columbia, SC 29201. During exhibitions, hours are Wed-Sat 11–5; Sun 1-5. For more information, visit www.701cca.org.

For further inquiries or high resolution images, contact [email protected] or call (803) 319-9949. Please check the 701 CCA website for additional information on the exhibition and associated events.

ATTACHED:

– Fenced, 2017, discarded wood, automotive paint, metal flake, 50″ x 35″ x 7″

Photo Credit: Fletcher Williams III