William Maxen

William Maxen (b. 1993, Waterbury, CT. Lives and works in Houston, TX) is a visual artist whose work explores the duality and ambivalences of the mixed-race experience. Pulling from past experiences, both personal and historical, the work engages the artist’s connections with memory, environment, and belonging. The artist has stated:

“Dynamics of intimacy emerge in my work as the painted figures simultaneously interrupt, obstruct, bridge, appear, and erase traditional lines of demarcation between race and color, time and dimension, and subject and viewer … My practice is informed by these experiences, as well as my experience as a football player. I incorporate the physicality and the acute understanding of space that sports provide and consider how it translates into painting, both conceptually and materially.”

Maxen received his MFA in Art Studio from the University of California, Davis; BA in Illustration from Central Connecticut State University. He has held solo exhibitions at Fridman Gallery, NY, and UTA Art Space, NY. Maxen has participated in group exhibitions at Marrow Gallery, CA; Chili Art Projects, London, UK; Faith J. McKinnie Gallery, CA; Residency Art Gallery, CA; Museum of Northern California Art, CA; and Art Space New Haven, CT. Maxen was a resident at Silver Art Project and held a New Jewish Culture Fellowship. His work is in the collections at the Jan and Maria Manerri Shrem Museum of Art (Davis, CA) and Art Galleries at Black Studies (University of Texas, Austin).

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