“I’m nearing 85, and I’ve been making art since I was 5,” explains Franklin Williams, whose retrospective show, “It’s About Love,” is currently on view at the David Winton Bell Gallery (The Bell) at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. “I am a spoiled old man, because I have lived a life of bliss.”
“It’s About Love” offers a rare glimpse into the mind of an artist who has spent eight decades nurturing a world of his own where art is both a meditation and a gift. Williams' creations remind us that art, like love, can be an act of pure intuition. “I didn’t learn to read or write until I was thirty. That was a real blessing,” says Williams. “If you make art from five to thirty-five with no reference point for art history or philosophy, you have no monkeys on your back. Everything feels wonderful.”
Kate Kraczon, Director of Exhibitions of the Brown Arts Institute (BAI) and Chief Curator of the Bell Gallery shares, “Franklin’s work is very much an extension of his personal spirituality, one that is not restricted to any form of organized religion but rooted in love and family.“
Williams weaves together vibrant colors, textures, and forms echoing the fabric of his life—literally and figuratively. These intricate multimedia pieces, spanning more than six decades, merge the traditions of painting and needlework with traditional paper practices. He often uses textiles passed down from his late mother, embedding familial love into each stitch and stroke.
In Twins: Part 1 & 2 (1972) impossible limbs sprout from multicolored fingers, hands becoming feet becoming hands once again. The symmetry and closeness of the figures evoke the closeness of family members dancing together. Some pieces, however, are more subtle in their family ties; Cutting Apron Strings (1982) is made from geometric forms and bold colors which, from a distance, resemble a quilt.
“Much of my time was spent beneath a quilting frame. I listened to the ladies gossip and watched the geometry come together,” recalls Williams as he reflects on the love and support he received from his family. “I lived my life in the frame of art and framed everything else out.”
Other family members had an equal impact on Williams’ work: “I had an uncle who was a great influence on me, the most important teacher I had.”
This uncle, George, was a folk artist who “lived his whole life within a two-mile radius” of his jobs as a typesetter and a farmer. In the middle of his garden sat a beautiful shed, stacked to the ceiling with National Geographic magazines. Williams remembers, “I would run to his house, he would say, ‘Sit down, let me tell you about my journey to Peru.’ He educated me by taking me all over the world with National Geographic while eating carrots.”
Though Williams has since had the opportunity to travel the world with his beloved wife, Carol, his home education remains an enduring influence.
“Carol convinced me I’d have to leave the studio after being in there for 20 years,” shares Williams. The first place they went was Thomas’s boathouse, a studio similar to Williams’ own, because Williams’ mother would often read the works of Welsh poet Dylan Thomas aloud to the family. “We admired the Welsh countryside. I drew and painted all the way there.”
Williams' work is powerful, channeling a record of personal history, love, and expression into textured, vibrant creations that resonate with both emotional depth and spiritual intensity, offering a visual language that transcends the boundaries of traditional art forms.
“Though his work has been recently acquired by major museums such as LACMA, LA MOCA, and the Tang, much of Franklin’s work on view at The Bell has never left his studio and home,” explains Kraczon, who selected exactly 40 works from his home studio, which was filled with thousands of pieces.
Kraczon connected with Williams through the Parker Gallery: “Parker Gallery is an artist-centered program. Integrity to the artists they represent is foundational to the way Sam Parker and Katy McKinnon work.”
“I’m very cautious about who comes in and who doesn’t,” recalls Williams, who described Kraczon as a “wonderful” collaborator who visited his studio multiple times. “She came in and we would spend the day together. I gave her free reign to choose whatever she wanted. There are many, many years of art represented in the show.”
“Meaningful exhibitions are based on curatorial trust,” Kraczon explains. “Franklin has been collaborative with me at every stage of the exhibition process, from conversations about the checklist to how the objects are installed within the gallery. Working with a living artist, especially a late-career artist, is a deeply symbiotic relationship.”
That trust and openness have paid off, as the resulting exhibition has captivated the local art community with its raw and authentic presentation of Williams' expansive body of work. As Williams’ first East Coast institutional solo, Kraczon has seen the impact of his uninhibited work on the immediate community: “Artists are sharing that they have visited The Bell numerous times in just the first few weeks that the exhibition has been open.”
Williams, however, plans to maintain the purity of his inward practice.
“The academic world is very good at destroying the intuitive soul of making art,” shares Williams, who will continue making work for himself in his home studio as a meditation on familial love. “I’m not too interested in the outer world. I just like being here.” WM
—Ken Krantz