Painting
Printmaking
re:pattern (2024)
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About
About
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Amadi Williams is an artist whose work is deeply rooted in family history and the act of painting. Amadi explores the complexities of Blackness, family, and color through a multidisciplinary practice aimed at historicizing the stories of loved ones.
Living with a memory disorder, along with a family history of dementia and Alzheimer’s, profoundly influences Amadi's relationship with memory. To navigate this challenge, her family archive becomes essential for recalling and conveying narratives. When beginning a new painting, she often calls her grandmother to share stories that contextualize the figures being portrayed, enriching the work and anchoring memories in the narratives expressed.
She questions the truth of memory through abstraction,using geometric shapes to find a simple yet profound language that resonates with shared emotions. Thus creating an open space that invites viewers—especially family members—into a dialogue about their own feelings and recollections.
In addition to painting, Amadi explores storytelling through online resources such as data sites and public archives, focusing on underrepresented groups. Her practice involves various mediums in the pursuit of effective narrative conveyance. By engaging in roles like conservation fellow and curator, she aims to deepen understanding of the art world and create inclusive spaces that honor diverse histories. Ultimately, this work transforms memory into a visual language, fostering connections that bridge the past and present.
Amadi Williams b. 2002
Lives and works in Brooklyn, NY
Education
Rhode Island School of Design
BFA. Painting & Concentration in Art History
Solo Exhibitions
2021 Baba Weusi, Shen Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2019 It Could Be One of Us, Packer Collegiate
Institute, Brooklyn, NY
Group Exhibitions
2026 RISD Emerging, Featherstone Center for the Arts,
Oak Bluffs, Martha’s Vineyards, MA
2025 New Contemporaries, Gelman Gallery, Providence
RI
Senior Invitational, Woods Gerry, Rhode Island
School of Design, Providence RI
Senior Show, Woodsgerry, Rhode Island School of
DesignToo Cool for School, Virtual Exhibition
BLK “Open to Interpretation”, Public Not Private,
Providence, RI
2024 Landscape As, Memorial Hall, Rhode Island
School of Design, Providence, RI
Black Biennial, Gelman Gallery, Providence, RI
Re:pattern : a series of Installations, Rhode
Island School of Design Museum, Providence RI
Bank of America Black History Month
Exhibition, Providence, RI
BAAD x Carrhaus, Providence, RI
Junior Show, Memorial Hall, Rhode Island School
of Design, Providence, RI
2023 There’s No Hope for Love in Rhode Island,
Memorial Hall, Rhode Island School of Design,
Providence, RI
2022 Soup, who cares?, Memorial Hall, Rhode Island
School of Design, Providence, RI
Painting-A-Day 2022, Memorial Hall, Rhode
Island School of Design, Providence, RI
Black Arts Showcase Multiplicity, not Monolith:
Locating the self Through Art, Leung Gallery,
Brown University, Providence, RI
Black Biennial, Gelman Gallery, Providence, RI
2020 Not From Around Here, Napa, CA
2019 Art.Write.Now. The Best Teen Artist of 2019,
Parsons School of Design, NY
Scholastic Art & Writing Awards: New York City
Regional Exhibition, Metropolitan Museum of
Museum of Art, New York, NY
2016 From Panel to Panel: Our Voices, Medialia Gallery,
New York , NY
Awards & Residencies
2025 BRIClab Contemporary Art Residency, Brooklyn NY
Becky Westcott Award
RISD Honors Designation
2024 RISD Honors Designation
2023 Herbert Claiborne Pell, III & Eugenia Diehl Pell
Scholarship
RISD Honors Designation
2022 Ken Dresser ‘61 Scholarship
RISD Honors Designation
2021 RISD Honors Designation
2020 Marjorie Oatman Scholarship For Visual Arts
2018 Marjorie Oatman Scholarship For Visual Arts
Publications
2025 An Inspired Chat with Amadi Williams of Brooklyn,
NY, Bold Journey, Digital
2024 Meet Amadi Williams, Canvas Rebels, Digital
Black Biennial 2024 A Second Exhibition showcases
work by Black artist from RISD and Beyond, RISD
Alumni Magazine Summer 2024
Student-Curated Black Biennial Breaks Down Walls
Between RISD and the Community, Publicity Radio,
Providence, RI
RISD’s Student-Curated Black Biennial Focuses on
Access and Community, RISD Website
Meet Amadi Williams / Multidisciplinary Artists &
Students, Shoutout SoCal, Virtual
2022 Black Biennial 2024 A Second Exhibition showcases work by Black artist from RISD and
Beyond, RISD Alumni Magazine Summer 2024
RISD exhibition The Black Biennial provides
platform for Black experiences by Paige Davidson,
The Architect’s Newspaper
RISD Black Biennial envelops the viewer with the
work of nearly 80 artist by James Baumgarter,
Public Radio, Providence, RI
Sonder, a Sequel: A Short History of and Hopeful
Future for the Black Biennial, Volume 1 , Spring 2025
Edition, Providence RI
RISD’s First Black Biennial Now on View, Rhode
Island School of Design
Visual Art Stories, Packer Collegiate Institute, Virtual
2019 Best Teen Artist of 2019, Scholastic
Packer Current Items (Cover photo), Packer
Collegiate Institute, Brooklyn, NY