Artist: Bri Williams
Exhibition title: Lying is the most fun
Venue: interface gallery, Oakland, California, US
Date: August 10 – September 16, 2017
Photography: all images copyright and courtesy of the artist and interface gallery
“Lying is an elementary means of self-defense, a way of scrambling out of the trap, at least temporarily.” – Susan Sontag
Interface Gallery is pleased to present Bri Williams’ first solo exhibition. Williams is a sculptor and installation artist who uses found objects, often with personal associations, to evoke a potent, psychic mood. Recently, she has been experimenting with soap molds and embedded materials that seem trapped within, unable to fully surface or articulate themselves. The works suggest dark repressed feelings and an underlying violence.
Williams uses soap as a metaphorical material to investigate trauma and notions of cleanliness as spiritual purity. Her work for the current show powerfully (and aggressively) evokes sexual violence, asserting a narrative of exorcism and rebirth.
Williams received her MFA from Mills College in 2017. She has participated in shows at Queer Thoughts and Ramiken Crucible and will be in a group exhibition at Karma International, Los Angeles, this September, 2018.
Bri Williams, Lying is the most fun, 2018, exhibition view, Interface Gallery. Photo credit: Hasain Rasheed
Bri Williams, Lying is the most fun, 2018, exhibition view, Interface Gallery. Photo credit: Hasain Rasheed
Bri Williams, Lying is the most fun, 2018, exhibition view, Interface Gallery. Photo credit: Hasain Rasheed
Bri Williams, Lying is the most fun, 2018, exhibition view, Interface Gallery. Photo credit: Hasain Rasheed
Bri Williams, Lying is the most fun, 2018, exhibition view, Interface Gallery. Photo credit: Hasain Rasheed
Bri Williams, Medusa, 2018. Carousel horse, soap, bike mirror, red wax, bricks. Interface Gallery. Photo credit: Hasain Rasheed
Bri Williams, Scars that heel and don’t fester, 2018. Metal fold chair, metal pole, handkerchief, soap. Interface Gallery. Photo credit: Hasain Rasheed
Bri Williams, Scars that heel and don’t fester, 2018, detail. Metal fold chair, metal pole, handkerchief, soap. Interface Gallery. Photo credit: Hasain Rasheed
Bri Williams, Scars that heel and don’t fester, 2018, detail. Metal fold chair, metal pole, handkerchief, soap. Interface Gallery. Photo credit: Hasain Rasheed
Bri Williams, Medusa, 2018. Carousel horse, soap, bike mirror, red wax, bricks. Interface Gallery. Photo credit: Hasain Rasheed
Bri Williams, Medusa, 2018, detail. Carousel horse, soap, bike mirror, red wax, bricks. Interface Gallery. Photo credit: Hasain Rasheed
Bri Williams, Lie like a rock, 2018. Soap, leather strap, hot faucet knob, necklace. Interface Gallery. Photo credit: Hasain Rasheed.
Bri Williams, Lie like a rock, 2018, detail. Soap, leather strap, hot faucet knob, necklace. Interface Gallery. Photo credit: Hasain Rasheed
Bri Williams, The playground and the drugstore, 2018. Basketball net, corner store stand backing. Interface Gallery. Photo credit: Hasain Rasheed
