Mark Williams "War Is Over" show opens Thursday at Real Art Ways

Real Art Ways
56 Arbor St., Hartford, (860) 232-1006
Mark Williams: The War Is Over
Jan. 19—Apr. 1, 2012.
Opening reception during Creative Cocktail Hour: Thurs., Jan. 19, 6—8 p.m. Admission is $10/$5 Real Art Ways members.

Press release

Real Art Ways presents The War Is Over, an exhibition of brightly colored work by Mark Williams, who critiques—in the form of toy soldiers—the introduction of militarism to young children.

An opening reception on Thurs., Jan. 19, from 6—8 p.m. will be held as part of Creative Cocktail Hour, Real Art Ways' monthly third Thursday gathering. Creative Cocktail Hour is from 6—10 p.m.; admission is $10/$5 Real Art Ways members.

Artist Statement:

The War is Over started shortly after the United States
went to war with Iraq for the second time. In an era preoccupied with war and the military-industrial complex, I became interested in how war is perpetuated and glamorized to our youth. I chose to use toy soldiers, which are marketed to young children as my source material. Later on, I obscured these toys with playful objects made from Play-Doh to quell the aggression of the toy soldiers. Recently, The United States officially ended the war with Iraq and I have declared myself finished with this series of work. The war is over.

After spending his first 22 years in Ohio, Mark Williams moved to Greenwich Village in New York City to seek fame and fortune as an artist. After that didn't work out, he moved to Providence, Rhode Island and then to Connecticut where he earned his MFA from the University of Connecticut. Williams then worked for the artist Sol LeWitt and was awarded a full fellowship from the Vermont Studio Center as well as an artist fellowship grant from the Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism. He has exhibited his artwork extensively throughout North America and is in several public and private collections including The Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford. Williams lives and works in New Haven and teaches art at Three Rivers Community College.