the beginning of now
a solo exhibition by Jim Williams
June 10-June 25, 2011
opening reception: June 10, 6-9pm
art walk reception: June 17, 6-9pm
at Westgate Lofts, ground floor: 328 W 200 S, Salt Lake City, UT 84101
Salt Lake City based artist and former architect Jim Williams will exhibit his most in-depth project to date—the beginning of now—a culmination of the last twenty-plus years of his work that he has been creating and installing, unviewed, inside his home. The exhibition will also mark the release of a limited edition, hand-made book documenting the state of his house (which instigated the exhibition) written by Cara Despain, with photographs by Tj Nelson, and hand-bound by Mary Toscano.
the beginning of now will serve as a grand gesture that will be the crescendo of the project: Williams will re-create and stage a part of his home outside of his actual domicile. Working across several modes of expression (drawing, painting, photo, collage, installation, sculpture, and performance), Williams aims to expose each facet of self through the lens of the narcissistic and isolated artist in his decades-long (and counting) self-portrait. His practice has extended to encompass his entire life and living space—taking fragments, pictures of pictures of his early work, and life “dander” (personal events, photos, mementos), he creates generational, fractal-like sets that span decades. By removing the work from the home, he will literally use time as media, and present an installation that contains artifacts from his life as a portrait. The notion of façade, a prevalent theme in his work, will be embodied in part by an impersonator of him who will attend the opening to represent the removed self that results from the acting of putting personal work on public display.
