Reception and Artist's Talk: August 31, 2022, 1 p.m. at Mary S. Byrd Gallery of Art
"Arrivals and Departures-Ecological Stories," presented by Marianna Dixon Williams,
is a multimedia viewing experience designed for the Mary S. Byrd Gallery of Art to
coincide with Williams’s exhibition on view at the European Cultural Centre’s Palazzo
Bembo through November 24, 2022, within the context of the contemporary art biennial
in Venice, Italy. Through the simultaneous display of the two installations, Williams
aims to engage gallery-goers in broader conversations regarding core themes such as
environmental loss and growth.
"Arrivals and Departures" reveals data collected during Williams’s summer residency
in New Mexico’s White Sands and the plateaus of Arizona and New Mexico. About this
body of work, Williams shares, "My work presents collected visual data from the American
desert using traditional methods and sensors built in my studio."
Williams's studio practice focuses on building sensory devices and augmenting spatial
relationships to produce installations. They incorporate new media and technology
to increase the visibility of systems within their surroundings.
More About the Artist
A native of Augusta, Georgia, Marianna Dixon Williams attended Brown University and
earned her BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design. They hold an MFA in Time Based
and Interactive Media from the University of Pennsylvania. Currently, Williams lives
and works in Massachusetts, where they serve as Assistant Professor of Digital Art
and Design at Mount Holyoke College.
Williams's extensive travels to diverse environments, ranging from the Arctic Circle
to the American desert, inform their work. An award-winning artist with international
accolades, they exhibit their work throughout the U.S. and Europe. Their work has
been featured in prominent art spaces such as the James A. Michener Museum, the Noyes
Museum at Stockton College, the European Cultural Center Venice Art Biennale, and
the Electronic Gallery at Salisbury University, among others. Williams has worked
as a consultant for PennPraxis and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, and their
installations have been acquired by the permanent collections of Berkshire Hathaway
Real Estate and ShopCore Properties.
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