Born and raised in Akron, Ohio, I currently live in Columbus, Ohio, where I work as an artist, graphic designer and college art instructor.
I graduated from the Columbus College of Art and Design in 2003, where I studied Illustration, Fine Art and Art History, and where I now teach. I've also taken graduate-level courses studying art crime. I have given several classes and lectures on the subject.
My drawings have been exhibited in galleries all around Ohio and across the country, including Baton Rouge Gallery and La Luz de Jesus Gallery in Los Angeles, and published in books and magazines in the U.S., the U.K., Australia, Spain, Austria and Germany. One of my favorite illustration projects, Dodos auf der Flucht (Dodos on the Run), is a collection of German-language poetry written by Berlin-based poet Mikael Vogel about extinct and endangered animals. My first museum solo show, Ministers of the Kingdom, was exhibited at the Canton Museum of Art in 2018.
I live with two cats named Jasper and Mugsy. They have a knack for finding weird things in my basement that I've never seen before.
Artist Statement
My drawings reconnect with the magic of nature by reimagining the past. The animals in my drawings represent the primitive, emotional or mysterious parts of our humanity that have been obscured by the veneer of civilization and technological advancement. I often choose extinct or endangered animals to feature in my drawings. Generally, though, the subjects of my drawings are meant to emphasize nature's delicate preciousness, how human interference has threatened our planet's beauty and diversity, and how, by turning our backs on nature, we have lost the connection to our ancient heritage.
I like to play with surrealistic juxtapositions of animals in a man-made environment - sometimes posing as a person or replacing man-made technology - to illustrate the ways people and animals are similar but also to create unusual, humorous or vaguely unsettling images. In my Whaleplanes series, I replaced warplanes with dolphins and whales, trading inventions of destruction for a mythical pacifist alternate reality where peaceful ocean mammals float harmlessly above the landscape. In other drawings I focus on times when human history clashed with natural history, such as Extinct Birds, which shows birds that have gone extinct as a result of direct human interference. I depicted the birds dressed in clothing that was fashionable during the year that they went extinct as a way of visually connecting the animal's history with our own.
Dodos auf der Flucht poetry book illustrations \ 03.2018
I had the honor of illustrating a book of poetry written by German poet Mikael Vogel. It was a dream project; he and I both are passionate about animals.
Dodos auf der Flucht (Dodos on the Run), a collection of poems about extinct and endangered animals, is available here.
Extinct Birds postcard collaboration \ 09.2014
Before I was commissioned to illustrate Mikael's poetry book, he and I collaborated on a postcard project. He wrote poems about several of the extinct birds in my drawing series and then created postcards which he then distributed in cafés and coffee shops around Berlin.
My Artwork in the Media
My artwork has been featured in a number of websites and magazines, including:
- 04.2018: Verlagshaus Berlin
- 12.2017: Am Erker Magazine, issue 74 "Tag und Nacht"
- 07.2017: Johns Hopkins Magazine, volume 69 no. 2
- 01.2015: El Periódico Magazine
- 06.2014: Ernest Journal, issue 1
- 11.2012: ARTnews online
- 08.2012: Audubon Magazine blog
- 08.2012: Map Magazine
- 07.2012: Juxtapoz Magazine online
- 06.2012: Buzzfeed/Flavorwire
- 06.2012: 20 Minutos
- My Extinct Birds series was also referenced in WGSN's fashion trend forecast for Spring/Summer 2015, titled History 2.0.
Teaching Experience
I've taught college-level art classes at my alma mater, CCAD, since 2008. Some of the courses I have taught include:
- Figure Drawing
- Intro to Design and Color
- Digital Design and Typography
- Design and Visual Culture
- Art Crime: Heists and Forgeries
Honors Seminars:
- Art at Risk: The Illegal Antiquities Trade
- Defeating the Ideal: Art & Propaganda
Solo Shows
2021: Children of Melusine, S.Dot Gallery, Columbus, Ohio.
2020: Drawings, Bexley Public Library, Bexley, Ohio.
2018: Ministers of the Kingdom, Canton Museum of Art, Canton, Ohio.
Magic Realism, at the German Village Society, Columbus, Ohio.
2014: Drawings, Bexley Public Library, Bexley, Ohio.
2013: Explorers, Explorers Club Restaurant, Columbus, Ohio.
2008: I Could Swear I Saw a Light, Ohio Art League Gallery, Columbus, Ohio.
2007: Drawings, in a business space in the Short North gallery district, Columbus, Ohio.
2003: Oneiric, Senior Thesis Exhibition, Columbus College of Art and Design, Columbus, Ohio.
Group Shows
2023: Hypnagogia, a 4-person show at 934 Gallery, Columbus, Ohio. Curated by Liz Martin.
2022: Creative Spirits, Don Drumm Studios, Akron, Ohio. Curated by Toni Billick.
Surreal Salon 14, Baton Rouge Gallery, Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Curated by Carrie Ann Baade.
2021: Carbon Bonds, a 2-person show with Katy Paull, at Blockfort Studios, Columbus, Ohio.
2019: Canned Heat, La Luz de Jesus Gallery, Los Angeles, California.
2019: Laluzapalooza: 33rd Annual Group Show, La Luz de Jesus Gallery, Los Angeles, California.
2018: Columbus Open Studio and Stage Tour.
2017: Hit the Hop, Studios on High Gallery, Columbus, Ohio.
2016: Columbus Open Studio and Stage Tour.
Monsters in America, One Mile Gallery, Kingston, New York.
The Renegade Craft Fair, in the Prime 8 Art League booth, Chicago, Illinois.
2015: The Creature Show, Don Drumm Studios, Akron, Ohio.
The Renegade Craft Fair, in the Prime 8 Art League booth, Chicago, Illinois.
2014: 3rd Annual Prime 8 Art League Event, the Chop Shop, Chicago, Illinois.
Happy Together: A Wedding Exhibition, at the Cultural Arts Center, Columbus, Ohio.
Impact-Influence, a CCAD CE faculty exhibition at the Columbus Metropolitan Library, Columbus, Ohio.
2013: RAW Cincinnati presents: Elevation, at Bogart's, Cincinnati, Ohio.
2012: Art for Life Auction for the AIDS Resource Center Ohio, hosted by the Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, Ohio.
From A Different Flock, Ohio Art League Gallery, Columbus, Ohio.
2009: New Narratives: Paintings by Ohio Artists, Ohio Arts Council Riffe Gallery, Columbus, Ohio. Curated by Dominique H. Vasseur, European Curator at the Columbus Museum of Art.
2006: Brian Williams & Paul Richmond: Recent Works, Worthington Municipal Building, Worthington, Ohio.
Participated in staff art exhibition, Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, Ohio.
2005: Emerging Artists: A Collection, Legend Gallery, Zanesville, Ohio.
2004: The Dreaming: Works by Katy Schepers and Brian Williams, in a business space in the Short North gallery district, Columbus, Ohio.
The Ohio Art League Fall Juried Exhibition, Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, Ohio.
work email: brianrwilliamsart@gmail.com
school email: bwilliams.1@ccad.edu
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Freelance illustration work
I'm represented by Illozoo, the illustration agency. For editorial, advertising & book illustration projects, contact Illozoo at www.illozoo.com.