Philemona Williamson, born in 1951 in New York City, is an oil painter known for her “dreamlike” figure paintings. Williamson earned her BA from Bennington College and, later, a MA from NYU. She has worked at several prestigious art institutions including The Getty Institute, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the National Endowment for the Arts. The soft edges and smudged shapes that describe her work tend to depict moments of childhood. Williamson describes her work as “dynamic” and “poetic” where the viewer witnesses “adolescents intermingled and engaged in evocative poses and actions within mysterious settings... suggest[ing] various transitions and stages of life from childhood ...[o]f indeterminate age, gender, and ethnicity, the figures often seem caught in awkward, enigmatic moments.” While not abstract in composition, her compositions are open-ended and require the viewer to assign their own meaning to them. Williamson currently resides in Montclair, New Jersey and continues to exhibit her work.
Biography – Philomena Williamson. (n.d.) Philemona Williamson. Retrieved January 23, 2023 from https://www.philemonawilliamson.com/
Images:
Philemona Williamson. (n.d.) photograph. Retrieved January 23, 2023 from https://www.philemonawilliamson.com/
Philemona Williamson, Is It Only Make Believe, 2008, oil on linen. Montclair Art Museum, https://www.artsy.net/artwork/philemona-williamson-is-it-only-make-believe.
Philemona Williamson, Buckled Red Shoes, 2015, oil on canvas. 48 x 60 in., Courtesy of June Kelly Gallery, https://news.artnet.com/market/artnet-asks-philemona-williamson-emotive-painter-293885/#/slideshow/293885-0/1.
Philemona Williamson (portrait)
"Is It Only Make-Believe" (2008) Philemona Williamson
Oil on linen, 48 x 60 inches
"Buckled Red Shoes" (2015) Philemona Williamson
Oil on linen. 48 x 60 inches
