Lucy Williams: Beautiful, Perfect Things — Lucy Williams

We are delighted to present Lucy Williams’ inaugural solo show, Lucy Williams: Beautiful, Perfect Things, at Miles McEnery Gallery. Williams’ intricate architectural mixed-media collages teeter between realism and abstraction. Heavily inspired by the British modernist movement and Bauhaus architecture, Williams’ scenes build worlds of splendid color, varied textures and an atmospheric sense of light. Each component is carefully conceived, with intentionally sourced materials that allude to historic references, female artist peers, and most recently, to previous works of her own. Williams shared that the works are “speaking to one another.”

Williams’ process is thoughtful; consisting of color studies, woven textile tests, and color aid swatches. In the essay "Beautiful, Perfect Things," writer Emily McDermott explains that “the astounding beauty of Williams’s work lies not only in the historically validated splendor of her chosen subject matter but also in the thought poured into and the precision applied to each and every one of her compositions, color palettes, and construction techniques.” Although her practice involves careful planning, it also introduces an element of unexpected surprise, spontaneity, and play into her creation.

This exhibition is accompanied by a fully illustrated printed catalogue with an essay by writer Emily McDermott.

Lucy Williams (b. 1972 in Oxford, UK) received her Bachelor of Arts in Fine Art in Painting, at The Glasgow School of Art, Glasgow, Scotland, and her Postgraduate Diploma in Fine Art at the Royal Academy Schools, London, UK. Williams has been the subject of solo exhibitions at Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco, CA; McKee Gallery, New York, NY; Miles McEnery Gallery, New York, NY; and Timothy Taylor, London, UK. Her work has been included in several group exhibitions including The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Ridgefield, CT; Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco, CA; Bernhard Knaus Fine Art, Frankfurt, Germany; Galerie Mitterrand, Paris, France; Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY; National Galleries of Scotland: Modern Two, Edinburgh, Scotland; RISD Museum, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI; Timothy Taylor, London, UK; and Yale Architecture Gallery, Yale University, New Haven, CT among others. Her work may be found in the collections of the Anderson Collection, Stanford University, Stanford, CA; Firebird Collective, London, UK; Francis H. Williams Collection, Wellesley, MA; Hiscox Collection, London, UK; ISelf Collection, Geneva, Switzerland; the Mount Holyoke College Art Museum, Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, MA; and the RISD Museum, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI, among others. Williams lives and works in London, UK.