Art in America Celebrates Fall “Icons” Issue with Talk Featuring William T. Williams and Nari Ward

To mark the publication of Art in America’s fall “Icons” issue, the editors convened a panel discussion pairing William T. Williams, the subject of a profile in the magazine, with fellow artist Nari Ward, who studied with him at Brooklyn College. The conversation was moderated by ARTnews senior editor Maximilíano Durón, who wrote the piece about Williams, and is viewable in full below.

Before the talk, A.i.A. editor-in-chief Sarah Douglas and publisher Erica Lubow Necarsulmer welcomed guests to the ground-floor studio in PMC’s Fifth Avenue headquarters across from the New York Public Library. Libations were supplied by Ruinart and the Welsh gin distillery Cygnet, and the guests included Janine Antoni, an “Icons” profile subject whose work Mortar and Pestle (1999) features on the issue’s cover.

During the panel discussion, presented with support from Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, Ward called Williams a “mentor” and said, “I definitely wouldn’t be the artist I am without his guidance.” Williams countered: “Nari was never anyone’s student. He came full bloom as an artist.”

About the painting practice he has furthered and refined over six decades of work, Williams said, “Seeing it is different than experiencing it. It requires time.”