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{{short description|American painter}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Philemona Williamson
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| death_date = <!-- {{Death date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}} or {{Death-date and age|Month DD, YYYY|Month DD, YYYY}} (death date then birth date) -->
| death_place =
| nationality =
| other_names =
| known_for = ''Seasons''
| occupation = Artist
}}
'''Philemona Williamson''' (born 1951) is
==Biography==
Williamson was born in
Her African-American parents were employed by a wealthy Greek family, and she grew up in their Manhattan home.
She recalls a diversity of cultures but no racism when growing up.{{sfn|The World & I|1999}}
Her father was the chauffeur and her mother the housekeeper.
She said of the environment in the home on [[Sutton Place, Manhattan|Sutton Place]] that she and her parents maintained "a kind of quiet gentility" while their employers were involved in an endless "Greek passion play."{{sfn|Farrington|2004|p=323}}
She attended [[Bennington College]], earning a
At Bennington
Williamson has worked at [[Parsons School of Design]], The Getty Institute for Education in the Arts, [[New York State Council on the Arts]], [[University of North Carolina Chapel Hill]], [[Bard College]], [[Rhode Island School of Design]] and [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]].{{sfn|Jersey Arts}}
She was awarded a [[Joan Mitchell Foundation]] grant in
Other awards include
As of 2010
▲As of 2010 Williamson lived and worked in [[Upper Montclair, New Jersey]], with a studio in Bloomfield.{{sfn|Smith|2010}}
==Work and reception==
Williamson prefers to paint with oil on linen. Many of her pictures show children and adolescents, drawing on her imagination and her own childhood.
The paintings, in vibrant colors, may be interpreted as showing sadness or childhood innocence.{{sfn|Smith|2010}}
Her work is postmodernist, figurative art in which she explores her private identity.
She has said, "I do not make 'black art'. If my work bridges racial gaps, it is because I am sharing a part of myself and I happen to be black. My paintings are about my fascination with color and shape."{{sfn|Farrington|2004|p=323}}
In her words, "My paintings are of pre-adolescent girls and boys, children on the cusp of adulthood. The figures struggle to balance their innocence and awkwardness with their newfound sexuality. The figures are involved in their own drama when the observer discovers them; it is a surprise to both.
According to art essayist [[Nina Felshin]], "Life, in Philemona Williamson's paintings, appears to be a balancing act in which there are two sides to every coin and the action intentionally raises more questions than it answers."
Art critic Catherine Bernard has said, "The tension of the figures, the colors, and the distortion of space are all shadows, however faint, of our dismembered memories."{{sfn|The World & I|1999}}
In 1992, she received an Arts in Transit Poster Commission at New York's [[14th Street – Union Square (New York City Subway)|Union Square Station]].{{sfn|Jersey Arts}}
Her ''Folktales from Around the World'' (2003) is a set of four glass mosaic murals at the Glen Oaks Campus School in Queens.{{sfn|June Kelly Gallery|2010}}
Her work is held by the [[Sheldon Museum of Art]] in [[Lincoln, Nebraska]]; the [[Mint Museum]] in [[Charlotte, North Carolina]]; [[Hampton University]] museum in [[Hampton, Virginia]]; Mott-Warsh Art Collection, [[Flint, Michigan]]; Reader's Digest Art Collection and AT&T.{{sfn|June Kelly Gallery|2010}}
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==Exhibitions==
In 1994, Williamson's work was shown as part of the American contingent at the IV Bienal Internacional de Pintura en [[Cuenca, Ecuador]]. Other American artists exhibiting at this show were [[Donald Locke]], [[Whitfield Lovell]], [[Emilio Cruz (artist)|Emilio Cruz]] and [[Freddy Rodríguez (artist)|Freddy Rodríguez]].{{sfn|Lovell|Lippard|2003|p=119}}
Williamson's work has been displayed in many group and individual exhibitions in locations such as [[State University of New York at Old Westbury|SUNY College]] in [[Old Westbury, New York]]; the [[John Michael Kohler Arts Center]] in [[Sheboygan, Wisconsin]], the [[African American Museum (New York)|African American Museum]] in [[Hempstead (village), New York|Hempstead, New York]]; the [[Queens Museum of Art]] in New York City, the [[Montclair Art Museum]] and the [[Bronx Museum of the Arts]] in New York City.{{sfn|Towson University}}
Selected solo exhibitions:{{sfn|June Kelly Gallery|2012}}
*1988: ''Philemona Williamson:
*1989: Wenger Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
*1990: Paintings, June Kelly Gallery, New York Fine Arts Gallery, Southampton College of Long Island University, Southampton, New York
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*1993: Inaugural Exhibition, Flushing Council on Culture & Arts, New York
*1993: Selected Paintings, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA
*1994: ''Philemona Williamson:
*1995: ''New Paintings'', June Kelly Gallery, New York
*1998: ''Recent Paintings'', June Kelly Gallery, New York
*1999: ''Time and Memory:
*2000: ''New Paintings'', June Kelly Gallery, New York
*2001: ''Philemona Williamson/Barbara Friedman'', curated by Catherine Bernard, Amelie A. Wallace Gallery,
*2003: ''New Paintings'', June Kelly Gallery, New York; catalogue
*2006: ''New Paintings'', June Kelly Gallery, New York
*2008: "Sudden Passage", essay by Cynthia Nadelman, June Kelly Gallery, New York
*2008 October/November
*2009: Philemona Williamson Exhibition, curated by Bertha Gutman, Delaware County Community College, Media, PA; brochure
*2010 November: ''Fractured Tales'', June Kelly Gallery, New York{{sfn|ArtSlant}}
*2011 September: ''The Art of Giving Back
*2012 March: ''Celebrating 25 Years
==References==
'''Citations'''
{{reflist |
'''Sources'''
{{refbegin}}
*{{cite web
|title=Philemona Williamson
|author=ArtSlant
|
*{{cite web
|title=Philemona Williamson Lecture
|author=CBS Baltimore
|date=September 13, 2012 |
▲ |last=Farrington|first=Lisa E.|title=Creating Their Own Image: The History of African-American Women Artists
▲ |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=I7TS6bFWCbUC&pg=PA323|accessdate=2012-08-09
|date=2004-12-30|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-516721-4}}
*{{cite web
|author=Harpers Magazine
|title=Williamson, Philemona
|
*{{cite web
|author=Jersey Arts
|title=Philemona Williamson
|
*{{cite web
|work=Mutual Art
|title=Strong, Colorful Surreal Paintings by Philemona Williamson at June Kelly Gallery |date=November 13, 2010
|author=June Kelly Gallery
|
*{{cite web
|title=Philemona Williamson
|author=June Kelly Gallery |year=2012
|
|url=https://archive.org/details/artofwhitfieldlo00lucy|url-access=registration
▲ |last1=Lovell|first1=Whitfield|last2=Lippard|first2=Lucy R.|title=The Art of Whitfield Lovell: Whispers from the Walls
|page=[https://archive.org/details/artofwhitfieldlo00lucy/page/119 119]
|date=2003-03-01|publisher=Pomegranate|isbn=978-0-7649-2447-7}}
*{{cite web
|author=Mutual Art |title=Philemona Williamson (American)
|
*{{cite web
|title=Artwork: Seasons (Philemona Williamson)
|work=NYC Subway
|last=Rosenfeld |first=Robbie |year=2007
|
*{{cite web
|title=Philemona Williamson "Fractured Tales"
|last=Smith |first=Alexa
|date=2 October 2010 |work=NYC Art Gallery Exhibits
|
*{{cite
|title=Philemona Williamson: Half-Remembered Dreams
|date=February 1999
|author=The World & I
|website=World and I Home School Australia
▲ |accessdate=2012-08-09}}
|access-date=2012-08-09}}
*{{cite web
|author=Towson University
|title=PHILEMONA WILLIAMSON: NEW WORK
|
{{refend}}
== External links ==
* [https://www.mutualart.com/Artist/Philemona-Williamson/2EF074D1480D67E9 images of Williamson's work] on MutualArt
* [https://www.philemonawilliamson.com/ Artist's website]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Williamson, Philemona}}
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[[Category:20th-century American painters]]
[[Category:21st-century American painters]]
[[Category:People from the Upper East Side]]
[[Category:
[[Category:20th-century American women painters]]
[[Category:21st-century American women painters]]
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