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SELECTED WORKS
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Jed Williams was born in Philadelphia, USA, in 1975 and brought up in Paris, France; he is a French and American dual citizen now based in Philadelphia, USA. He graduated from the University of the Arts (BFA in Painting and Drawing, 2000) and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (Certificate in Painting, 2005), both located in Philadelphia, and has been exhibiting his work in various venues ever since. And, since 2010, he also own/runs Jed Williams Gallery, a contemporary fine arts venue showcasing local, mostly visual 2D emerging and mid-career artists, along with his own art process.
Jed works on his images in different kinds of media: oil paint, acrylic, mixed media; his art stems from a wish to blend a more formalist, expressionistic abstract tradition with a conceptual quest nourished by his interest in the human figure, pop and mythological culture, and different forms of spirituality, along with a dose of whimsy and street art.
The images Jed makes simultaneously stem from intense inner turmoil and wonder expressing itself in his fascination with certain objects, images and symbols, which he observes and works from. The objects, images and symbols he chooses to work from possess “loaded” meanings as well as symbolic societal and cultural connotations. He is juxtaposing and associating ciphers of meaning by physically bringing these objects, images and symbols together in seemingly illogical yet intellectually and culturally relevant ways, all the while creating his own personal semi-abstract painting style. Jed selects objects to place within fields of line and color, from within a subtle range of the commonplace, which carry diverse associative meaning. In a formal sense these objects become islands or anchor points around which his lines flow– a balance is struck between the visceral palette, the active line, the sometimes heavy impasto, and these simply rendered objects so that a whole manifests itself amidst the charm of this luminescent chaos. A whole which doesn’t neutralize or negate the individual powers of seemingly irreconcilable elements, but harnesses their energy and harmonizes them into a whole without any abnegation.
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About Jed Williams Gallery: Named one of the top art galleries in Bella Vista and Queen Village by Philadelphia Magazine (March 2015), Jed Williams Gallery is a unique art space owned and operated since 2010 by artist Jed Williams. JWG showcases up-and-coming and inspiring artists from the Philadelphia area. Artists featured are from all backgrounds including classically trained as well as self-taught outsider artists. The gallery shows a variety of thoughtful, cutting edge high quality works ranging from 2D, mixed media and painting, to video, installation and sculpture.
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