Didier William

Overview

Didier William (b. 1983) lives and works in Philadelphia. Within his practice, William has developed a distinct and ever-morphing visual language through bold pattern making and use of vivid color. William’s recent work largely draws on his memories of growing up in Miami after immigrating from Port-au-Prince, Haiti as a young boy. Pulling from Haitian history, language, mythology, and his personal experiences, he explores the legacies of colonialism, resistance, and the struggle for agency and identity. His work examines the relationship between formalism – his compositions combine both painting and printmaking techniques and push the limits of figuration and abstraction – and the narrative capacities of painting. William’s representation of bodies, natural and fabricated forms, and their shadows are at once resilient, sensual, and profound. Through these representations, he demonstrates a desire to uproot the constructs of the everyday and imagine a different future.

Documents

Works

Didier William
Difé, 2023
Acrylic, ink, oil, wood carving on panel
90 x 59 3/4 in
228.6 x 151.8 cm
Didier William
Alien: This Was Never Yours, 2022
Acrylic, ink, wood carving on panel
48 x 36 in
121.9 x 91.4 cm
Didier William
Blessed Garden, 2022
Acrylic, oil, ink, wood carving on panel
Triptych: 64 x 50 in each
162.6 x 127 cm
Overall: 64 x 152 in
162.56 x 386.08 cm
Didier William
Origin Story, Charging Station, 2022
Acrylic, oil, ink and wood carving on panel
70 x 52 in
177.8 x 132.1 cm
Didier William
Poto Mitan, 2022
Acrylic, ink and wood carving on panel
106 x 70 in
269.2 x 177.8 cm
Didier William
84 Corolla, 2021
Acrylic, ink, wood carving on panel
52 x 70 in
132.1 x 177.8 cm
Didier William
Bis (Bus), 2021
Acrylic, collage, ink, wood carving on panel
40 x 30 in
101.6 x 76.2 cm
Didier William
Chita nan Mango Yo (Sit Inside the Mangos), 2021
Ink, acrylic, wood carving on panel
64 x 50 in
162.6 x 127 cm
Didier William
Dimbulah’s Cave, 2021
Wood carving and acrylic on panel
104 x 68 in
264.2 x 172.7 cm
Didier William
Kouran Mango (Mango Electricity), 2021
Acrylic, oil, ink, wood carving on panel
64 x 50 in
162.6 x 127 cm
Didier William
Siklon 2, 2021
Acrylic, ink, wood carving on panel
68 x 104 in
172.7 x 264.2 cm