Introduction by Ebony L. Haynes, text by Hannah Black, conversation between Kandis Williams and Okwui Okpokwasili. Available September 13, 2022.
David Zwirner Books and 52 Walker are pleased to publish Kandis Williams, the first volume in the new “Clarion” series. With a sleek design influenced by encyclopedias, the “Clarion” series is positioned as an extension of each exhibition at the groundbreaking gallery space 52 Walker, curated by Ebony L. Haynes.
Kandis Williams documents the origins of the Los Angeles-based artist’s exhibition A Line—the gallery’s inaugural presentation—praised by ArtForum as “rich, sharp, and choreographic.” Interrogating issues of race, nationalism, authority, and eroticism, Kandis Williams’s topical work is made across collage, sculpture, and video. Williams draws on her background in dramaturgy to envision a space that accommodates the biopolitical economies that inform how movement might be read. She establishes indices that network the parts of the anatomy, regions of Black diaspora, communication and obfuscation, and how popular culture and myth are interconnected. Her body of work shapes an alternative language that examines how Black moving bodies are regarded. Williams continues to make visible the inexpressible violence Black bodies have been subjected to in dance and beyond.
In addition to high-quality illustrations of the artworks from A Line and rich archival materials, the book features contributions from Ebony L. Haynes, the artist, and writer Hannah Black, and a stirring conversation between Williams and the artist Okwui Okpokwasili.
The series title “Clarion” is derived from the Clarion Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers’ Workshop at the University of California, San Diego. Octavia Butler attended this workshop in the 1970s. Butler’s writing has been influential in the conceptual framework of the program and the “Clarion” series. The series captures 52 Walker’s gallery program ethos; a commercial, kunsthalle-like, gallery where shows run for several months, it focuses on showcasing conceptual and research-based artists from a range of backgrounds and at various stages in their careers. Envisioned by Haynes with the aim “to highlight and expand on the shows’ conceptual theses through newly commissioned critical texts, interviews, archival material, and artistic interventions,” “Clarion” will be a crucial touchpoint for those interested in engaging further with its artists’ practice.
Order Kandis Williams and look out for upcoming “Clarion” titles including Nikita Gale, Nora Turato, and Tiona Nekkia McClodden.
