America is built on contested ground, and Kiyan Williams makes that contestation visible. Born in 1991 in Newark, New Jersey, this multidisciplinary artist creates work that literally incorporates the earth – soil carrying histories of labor, displacement, and survival transformed into monuments that refuse to let us forget.
The Artist: Sculptor of Histories
Williams's practice spans performance, sculpture, video, and installation, but earth remains central. Their Whitney Biennial 2024 participation followed a major Public Art Fund commission in Brooklyn Bridge Park (2022) and the ongoing exhibition "Vertigo" at Art Omi (July 2024-October 2026). Represented by Altman Siegel and Peres Projects, they work at the intersection of material history and conceptual rigor.
The Work: Columns of Reclamation
"Vertigo" features reconfigured neoclassical columns – those symbols of Western civilization and, in America, often of slavery-built institutions. Williams doesn't destroy these forms; they transform them, creating works that acknowledge history while refusing its authority. The effect is vertiginous indeed – familiar forms made strange, stable symbols rendered unstable.
The Breakthrough: Institutional Recognition
Jerome Hill Artist Fellowship, Graham Foundation Grant, and Franklin Furnace Fund awards preceded their Whitney inclusion. This is an artist the institutional world has decided to support.
Why Now? Ground Truth
As debates over monuments and memory intensify, Williams offers a third way – neither preservation nor destruction, but transformation. Their work suggests that history is not fixed but ongoing, not monumental but material.
Conclusion: Solid Ground, Shifting Meanings
Kiyan Williams reminds us that the ground itself is political. Their rising profile signals an art world grappling with foundations – architectural, historical, ideological.