California Abstract
With Laddie John Dill and Todd Williamson, MAC Museum Art and Cars, Singen, curated by Premium Modern Art, presented a unique symbiosis of two highly decorated international artists from Los Angeles. Laddie John Dill (2011) and Todd Williamson (2019), two "Biennale di Venezia" artists exhibited simultaneously. For both artists, light, brightness and reflection have a special role to play.
At Todd Williamson, light breathes life into his canvas works and allows them to tell their own unique story. The radiance of his oil paints is unique and award-winning. In 2019, he became only the third artist ever to receive the "Pollock Prize for Creativity" from the Pollock-Krasner Foundation for his exceptional creativity and technique. He already received the prestigious "Pollock Krasner Foundation Award" in 2010. At the Venice Biennale (2019), Todd Williamson's installation "Processional" was considered one of the top hotspots. Just a few days after opening, "Processional" was written by the press into the top10 exhibitions that should definitely be visited.
Light also plays a key role in Laddie John Dill's work. He began his career in the late 1960s as part of the "California Light and Space Movement," experimenting with materials that were actually developed for fields other than art.
His unique light installations were described by the Los Angeles Times, for example, as "absolutely exciting". In Singen, he shows very special facets of his artistic diversity: In addition to two spectacular light installations made of sand and lava rock, which are reminiscent of his sculpture exhibited at MoMA, unique works made of aircraft aluminum, which change their character and message depending on the angle and incidence of light, will also be on display. Although most of these wall installations are very heavy in terms of weight, they emit perfect lightness.
However, the exhibition appealed to the senses not only visually.
While viewing the works of Todd Williamson, you often notice the sharp oil edges within his artwork. These equally spaced lines are similar to staves or lines waiting to be nonverbally filled with sophisticated and profound art. To further stimulate the viewer's experience of his art on another level, Todd Williamson has collaborated with Professor Greg Walter of the University of North Carolina, who has developed a harmonic nocturne to musically illustrate the emotions of the artworks on display.
This is equal to Laddie John Dill. Ken Johnson, a well-known art critic and writer for the New York Times, commented on his light sets, also on view at the museum, as "visual music." Among other things, he poetically described them as "a palette of jewel-bright colors that shine as beautifully as strings of illuminated glass beads."
