Collages by Jerry Williamson

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Here, artist Jerry Williamson becomes a storyteller, using a graphic and documentary approach, showing us the reliefs of a bygone … Read more Here, artist Jerry Williamson becomes a storyteller, using a graphic and documentary approach, showing us the reliefs of a bygone era. He has categorized past folklore in a system of divisions and collages as if to appreciate it better. Through a play of colored applications, highlights, and a red grid to organize our reading, he blurs the boundaries between the universe created and the cut-outs added to reality, diverted and arranged. It reinterprets naive illustrations, showcasing clichés, photos, advertising inserts, and funfairs. A recomposed circus that looks to the imaginary world of Robert Browning and a nostalgic joy like a memory lying dormant in our collective unconscious.

The result is a dialogue between order and creativity, discipline and imagination, sampling and mixing. His collage juxtaposes existing fragments from disparate sources but is rooted in a common era he pays homage to.
In this apparent simplicity of straight lines and squared shapes, a new canvas and historical testimony emerge. Therein lies the essence of this work of art: an exploration of the emotional density in service of nostalgia behind the impeccability of form, color, texture, and the unspoken relationship each piece has with the others.

Jerry Williamson (1926 - 2016) was active and lived in California, Washington, and France. He is known for portrait painting, street performers, and more. As a hair colorist for ten years, he traveled the world for Elisabeth Arden and worked for various TV and theatre stars.
In 1950, he opened a beauty shop with a friend that grew into a chain called "Beauty Plus," which would eventually consist of 11 shops and 120 operators. Jerry closed the shop in 1984 when his partner became ill. At this time, the formative experience of the Huntington Art Museum visit began to reassert itself in his life trajectory. He started painting seriously at that time. In 1996, he moved to France, where he stayed until 2003 to soak up and become part of the art community there. He didn’t speak French but said, "Art is hands-on, so language isn’t that necessary.” Inspired by the “Saltimbanques” of the French circus troupes, Jerry’s haunting and evocative portrait collection explores the faces and personalities of performers he has met over the years. “It’s a power of unity - we all enjoy art – we are all one community.” See less