Kelly D. Williams’ rusted works

Ideas, if good enough, last forever—cogent concepts won’t rust, as Kelly D. Williams would claim. However, his latest work, now on display at DDR Projects, will rust eventually, and is presently. In fact, most of his pieces have been tarnishing and eroding since their start; rust, featured in several of his pieces, is the medium of choice. It adequately characterizes the various works in his show, “That Was Now, This is Then,” as part of a larger discussion on the inevitable degeneration of both cultural and art objects and the resulting demand for new and lasting ideas—in order that art might withstand the decay.

Two large 48-by-7- inch untitled mixed-media paintings hang near the front of the gallery. Made with acrylic, enamel and aluminum chloride (which accelerates the oxidation process), they look similar, with varying mottled grays and dripping muted colors. One reads in large, brilliant, white, rust text, “THIS PARTICULAR PAINTING IS NOT FOR SALE,” while the other reads, “THIS ONE IS FOR SALE FOR $1,600.99.” The two work like diptychs, implicitly referencing one another while bringing to surface issues of art value. It’s Baldessari-like in its ironic, self-referential nature, making tongue-in-cheek mentions of contemporary art.

Williams’ use of contemporary practices and mixed media—photography, sculpture, painting, drawing and text—mingled with his patented style, which is highly influenced by skateboard culture, makes this show one for art and aesthetic lovers alike.

Untitled (My Other Skull is a Hirst) is a smooth pencil drawing of a skull—with cut-out images filling in the sockets—on a sheet washed with a cherry-blossom pink watercolor. Above, in an outline-font type characteristic of Williams, reads “MY OTHER SKULL IS A HIRST,” wittily alluding to Damien Hirst’s infamous diamond encrusted skulls.

Relic: 1953 Chrysler is a corroded readymade piece. Unable to fit in the small gallery space, it subsists in the show through documentation as a C-print photograph hung on the wall. The automobile is like the rusting, red-orange, terracotta-colored skull, grenades and high-heeled shoes displayed at the center of the room which, originally new, were treated with aqueous iron sulfate, aluminum chloride, time, and even more time to appear fully rusted. They are tarnished, and will eventually reduce to nothing, bringing—as Williams states—“now and then, full-circle.”

THAT WAS NOW, THIS IS THEN: NEW WORKS BY KELLY D. WILLIAMS DDR PROJECTS | 3403 EAST BROADWAY | LONG BEACH 90803 | 562.434.8480 | DDRPROJECTS.COM | OPEN TUES-FRI NOON-7PM | SAT NOON-6PM | FREE | THROUGH APRIL 10 | VISIT KELLYDWILLIAMS.COM TO PURCHASE OR VIEW MORE OF HIS WORK

Tags: art, ddr projects, kelly d. williams, Long Beach, rust