THE N-WORD
PAINTINGS BY PETER WILLIAMS
A monograph of compelling work by painter Peter Williams, that caustically confronts the attacks, killings, and murder of Black Americans by police across the United States.
56 pages | full color | perfect bound | 2016
“A great deal of art leverages mystique by processing experience through varying layers of abstraction. The N-Word, a collection of paintings by the artist Peter Williams — with contributions by writers Lynn Crawford and Bill Harris — does the opposite: it lays out a response to systemic violence against people of color by the police in graphic and direct terms.” – Sarah Rose Sharp, “Paintings of a Homegrown Black Superhero,” Hyperallergic, October 18, 2016
The book contains an introduction to Williams' work, an in-depth conversation between he and acclaimed playwright, poet, critic and novelist Bill Harris, and an original short story by author Lynn Crawford inspired by Williams' urgent vision.
Peter Williams (1952-2021) earned his MFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art and his BFA from Minneapolis College of Art and Design. His paintings are held in the permanent collections of the Smithsonian’s American Art Museum; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; Detroit Institute of Arts, MI; Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington; Howard University, Washington DC; Davis Museum at Wellesley College, MA; Pizzuti Collection, Columbus, OH; the Mott-Warsh Collection in Flint, MI; and The Bunker/Beth Rudin DeWoody Collection, Palm Beach; Jorge Perez Collection, Miami; and the McEvoy Foundation, San Francisco, among others.
The N-Word: Paintings by Peter Williams was recognized by Art in America as “one of the most significant artworks produced in Detroit” in 2016.