Wright Auction

Haitian-American artist Didier William was born in Port-au-Prince in 1983, but he grew up in Miami. William earned a BFA in painting from the Maryland Institute College of Art and an MFA in painting and printmaking from Yale University School of Art. His mixed-media compositions explore themes of Blackness and identity, drawing on experiences as an immigrant to the United States. Williams' works combine abstraction and figuration with elements of oil painting, acrylic, collage, and printmaking. Through this multidisciplinary approach, William reflects on intersections of self and culture, often incorporating proverbs and testimonies in Haitian Kreyòl.

William's paintings challenge traditional notions of race, gender, and aesthetics, aiming to reclaim autonomy over personal and collective histories. His use of androgynous human figures with carved eyes both confronts viewers and invites them to engage with the complexities of immigrant narratives as well as the power dynamics of the gaze. William creates topographic terrains within his paintings, revealing multiple layers of meaning.

Works by William have been exhibited internationally and acquired by prestigious institutions like the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh and the Minneapolis Institute of Art. Among several honors, Williams has received the Morris Louis Award for Excellence in Painting and the Rosenthal Family Foundation Award in Art. He previously taught at the Yale School of Art and Columbia University. Currently, Williams is an Assistant Professor of Expanded Print at the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University.