Interview with Artist Todd Williamson at Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)

TV host Joey Zhou and artist Todd Williamson at the "Urban Light" installation at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). "Urban Light" (2008) is a large-scale assemblage sculpture by artist Chris Burden and is composed of 202 street lamps from the 1920s and 1930s.

Los Angeles, California, USA. 1st November, 2021. TV host Joey Zhou interviewed award-winning artist Todd Williamson at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) about his art and his upcoming projects in the coming year. Todd Williamson is a Los Angeles contemporary artist who has had his work featured in over 130 exhibitions across the world, and a member of the Arts and Cultural Affairs Commission for the City of West Hollywood, California. He studied at the American Academy in Rome Italy, the Nuove Opere Napoltane in Naples Italy, the Skopelos Foundation-Skopelos Greece, the Scuola Internazionale di grafic Venice Italy, and the Louise Bourgeois’ Artists Salon in New York. In 2019, he was the recipient of the prestigious Pollock Krasner Foundation Award, and has received many other awards and honors for his artwork.

During the interview, Los Angeles Beverly Arts (LABA) Blue-chip artist, Jiannan Huang, was joined in by video conference to meet Todd Williamson and get a virtual tour of some of the highlights of the museum. Jiannan Huang is one of the world's finest artists, specializing in Chinese ink and oil painting. He is ranked third on the 2020 Hurun China Art List, 19th on the Hurun Global Art List, and the first artist to become a LABA Blue-chip artist.

TV host Joey Zhou with Jiannan Huang (video conference), and Todd Williamson.

LABA Blue-chip artist Jiannan Huang at his studio in Beijing, China, enjoying some tea during the video conference.

TV host Joey Zhou and artist Todd Williamson talking together with artist Jiannan Huang by video conference.

When Todd was asked which exhibition of his artwork was most meaningful to him, he responded that it was the one titled "Processional," held at the 58th Venice Biennial Exhibition in Venice, Italy. In this exhibition, Todd examined the ideas of order and tradition to insinuate the deep uncertainty and uncontrollable political, social, and cultural movements of our time. This included the power of social media, influencers, and thought leaders to pervade and completely overwhelm the existing environment. Termed the "Modern Apostles and their antithesis”, his large canvases of color were exhibited in a chapel with walls of brick and crumbling plaster, and challenged the perceived order of tradition to ask, "Who are our apostles today?"

Todd's Venice Biennial exhibition, "Processional," was supported by the Pollock Krasner Foundation and the MAK Center for Art & Architecture. His award of the Pollock Prize for Creativity is a very special honor and is given to an outstanding artist whose work embodies high creative standards and exemplifies the impact of art on individuals and society. Todd's next upcoming exhibition will be held in Palm Desert in January 2022, and is tentatively titled, "The Deeper the Blue" where he will be joined by other artists, Christina Craemer and Joe Davidson. Todd's work can currently be seen at galleries including Galerie Michael in Beverly Hills, Georges Berges Gallery in New York City, Nicole Longnecker Gallery in Houston, Texas, Premium Modern Art in Germany, and Art 1307 in Italy. ​​

LACMA is currently undergoing a $650 million dollar construction project to expand the museum and update some of the existing buildings, yet remains open during this time featuring a number of exhibitions, including the Legacies of Exchange: Chinese Contemporary Art from the Yuz Foundation, and Yoshitomo Nara, a Japanese artist who is known for his distinctive depiction of children in a range of emotional states. One of Yoshitomo's most recent sales of artwork, was a painting that sold for $24.9 million dollars called "Knife Behind Back" (2000).

Legacies of Exchange Exhibition: Chinese Contemporary Art from the Yuz Foundation

Legacies of Exchange Exhibition: Chinese Contemporary Art from the Yuz Foundation

Legacies of Exchange Exhibition: Chinese Contemporary Art from the Yuz Foundation

Legacies of Exchange Exhibition: Chinese Contemporary Art from the Yuz Foundation

Yoshitomo Nara Exhibition

Yoshitomo Nara Exhibition

Yoshitomo Nara Exhibition

Yoshitomo Nara Exhibition

Yoshitomo Nara Exhibition

Yoshitomo Nara Exhibition