Casey Williams (1947-2013) was a Texas-based
photographer and professor famous for his "found abstractions," or
close-up color field photographs, particularly those he made late in life of
the water and ships in the Houston ship channel.
He was actively producing artwork at the ship
channel until 2008, when new Department of Homeland Security regulations
prohibited photography from onboard the M/V Sam Houston, the only
public-accessible boat allowed in the channel. Williams was not able to secure
an exemption, and his work at the ship channel ceased out of necessity.
His abstracted images of channel water and rusted
ship hulls were so inspired by color field art that journalist Lisa Gray
described them as "Mark Rothko[s] wrung from Houston's industrial
underbelly." She wasn't the only one to make the comparison, and even
Williams' 2013 funeral was held, fittingly, at Houston's famed Rothko Chapel.
I would have liked to have met Williams. Though
his "found abstractions" are not always compelling, I deeply respect
him for searching for (and often finding) beauty in the ignored decay and for
pushing back against governmental overreach and encroachment on art making.
No comments:
Post a Comment