The West Campus Art Gallery at Montgomery County Community College, 16 High Street in Pottstown, is pleased exhibit "The Art of the Seasons," a mixed media exhibit by Robert Louis Williams. The exhibit will be on display from Nov. 4 through Dec. 17 with a "meet the artist" reception on Nov. 4 from 5-7 p.m. The exhibit is free of charge and is open to the public. For information, contact Gallery Director Holly Cairns at 215-619-7349 or hcairns@mc3.edu.
In his artist's statement, Williams expresses his view of a painting as a "stage on which all of the elements must support and enhance the main subject; then they are exaggerated, dramatized, lovingly mingled with one another to make a statement not only about the subject, but the artist’s response to and subjective experience of it."
At the young age of 20, Williams enlisted in the Marine Corps and was chosen to become a member of the prestigious Navy/Marine Combat art program. While stationed in Da Nang, Williams produced paintings and drawings that are now part of the permanent collection at the National Museum of the Marine Corps. He was awarded the Navy Commendation Medal for his work.
After his time in the military, Williams traveled to Italy in 1972, where he worked alongside fellow combat artist Benjamin Long IV, apprentice to Pietro Annigoni, the master Fresco painter.
In the following years, Williams opened a studio in Cedars, Pa., where he showed and sold his paintings, did art restoration and held art lessons. Through his restoration work, he received commissions to do major painting and statuary restoration and artwork, including iconography, in Philadelphia and surrounding area churches. In addition he received private commissions for landscapes, portraits and still life work.
In 1987, Williams established Motion Graphics and has painted hundreds of murals for commercial and residential clients. He has also been involved, through The Tri-County Chamber of Commerce grants, in numerous career development programs, teaching and working with high school students creating community murals.
Williams has always been inspired by Pennsylvania landscapes—the old farms and expanding vistas. He paints daily in his studio and out in the countryside.
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by Sean Ross, Communications Intern
