Downs Adventures Number 3
DETAILS
August 12, 2020
by William Downs
This is the third and final ink wash animation (of a three-part series) by William Downs for the Virtual Arts Series. This work is curated by Floyd Hall.
Artist Statement:
I am really grateful and honored to be a part of this moment. This series of work has challenged me in the MOST amazing ways that I haven’t felt in a long time! Thank you for helping me press on the gas with this adventure. I was asleep with these ideas and now the flood gate has opened!
Floyd Hall curatorial statement:
There’s a depth and openness to William Downs’ work that challenges the viewer’s notions of reality and personal assumptions. You bring your own ideas to the work, and then experience the space to question those ideas. I’m excited to connect with William as he further explores video and incorporates this medium into his practice.
It is a privilege to observe a gifted artist take an idea, expand it, and explore themselves in the process. Throughout these three animations, William Downs has extended the scope of his art practice in a newfound way. In this third work, when taken with the prior two, we are able to witness an artist’s ability to adapt before our very eyes, moving through growth phases and creating art at the speed of technology.
About the Artist
Born and raised in Greenville, South Carolina, William Downs works in a range of mediums, but focuses primarily on drawing. He received a Multidisciplinary M.F.A .from the Mount Royal School of Art at the Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore and a B.F.A. in Painting and Printmaking from the Atlanta College of Art and Design. Downs taught Foundation Drawing at the Maryland Institute College of Art from 2002 through 2010. He taught Advanced Drawing at Parsons The New School for Design, Foundation Drawing at The Cooper Union and Tulane University.
His work has been presented at numerous venues in the United States and abroad. Downs was represented by Moti Haasn Gallery 2007—2009, Slag Gallery 2009—2010, both New York Galleries and Parker Jones Gallery in LA 2009—2010. His work was part of “Monster Drawing” at the High Museum of Art, and “On Paper” at Field Work Gallery in Pittsburgh, PA. He was recently included in a group exhibition “Art AIDS America” at The Zuckerman Museum of Art in Kennesaw. Downs is currently a Drawing and Painting Lecturer at Georgia State University.
“I want my work to speak the truth. With this, I find pleasure in admiring and studying human behavior. Drawing while traveling, from everyday life, and from dreams, keeping a visual record of the interactions I observe between others and within my own psychology.
By using the figure as a foundation I build bodies and landscapes with lines and layering of lines. The line is one of the most elemental forms of mark making: it is singular, yet serves to be manipulated and layered to create something more infinite than itself. This gives me the ability to mix formal and surreal elements, which are united on the surface of my drawings.”
Find works for purchase
William Downs is represented by Sandler Hudson Gallery. View available works here>
About the Curator
Floyd Hall is a media strategist, cultural producer, writer and documentarian from Atlanta, Georgia. His professional work often relates to the intersection of art, media and technology as platforms. As an artist he is interested in the process of how we come to define and design ourselves, and is passionate about how history, culture and art blend together to construct narratives of place.
Floyd counts the experiences of his Atlanta upbringing, childhood summers spent in Augusta, Georgia and living in New York City as an adult as the primary influences on his life. Time spent in these locations gave him moments of clarity and insight about regional perspectives, the immigrant experience, how spaces influence patterns of life, and the imagination and ingenuity of different cultures.
He has also produced over 800 podcast episodes covering Art, Pop Culture, Fashion, Sports, Music, and Technology, including projects for National Public Radio (NPR) Station WABE 90.1 FM, Flux Projects, Woodruff Arts Center/High Museum, City of Atlanta and Central Atlanta Progress, the Spelman College Museum of Fine Art, and The Creatives Project.
Floyd is a 2020 Idea Capital artist grant recipient, a Hambidge Creative Residency Fellow and has presented as a guest lecturer at Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), Spelman College, Spelman College Museum of Fine Art, and the Hudgens Center for Art and Learning; he is a past media contributor to ArtsATL, Number, Inc, ART PAPERS, and Americans for the Arts.
