24 Sep 2019

Ian White Williams: Twos

Proto Gomez

Reviewed by Elizabeth Johnson

Two paintings snugged together by a Thule brand cargo strap dominate "Twos," a show of new paintings by Ian White Williams.

Blues and pinks on the smaller, left canvas and gestural earthy greens on the right tolerate or mildly reject each other. The work blurs the gap between shared and unshared feelings, while joking that all relationships and personal lives feel forcibly held together. Titled Asilene (2019), the paired but incongruent surfaces may refer to the small, white Silene flower, or the rare forename. Besides being an outdoorsy brand, Thule is also the northernmost island of antiquity and an Air Force base in the Arctic Circle. "Ultima Thule" is a mythical place beyond the borders of the known world.

Contemplating the words Asilene and Thule with these two surfaces is a deliberate dead end that forces exploration beyond meaning. The work of "Twos" is provisional. It profitably isolates abstract shapes and color and sells low expectations, though the desire to navigate limbo passes swiftly.