Denis Williams's London

Abstract

Abstract:This article is a study of several works by Guyanese artist Denis Williams and the exhibitions of these works. Williams (1923–98) was a key figure in the history of artists of the then British Empire who made their way to London in the middle of the twentieth century (Williams himself arriving in 1946). The article discusses one of Williams's most celebrated works, Human World (1950), and examines how the artist's practice engaged with anticolonial resistance and modernist discourse surrounding abstraction. The author also explores and comments on the exhibitions in which Williams participated during his time in London and the reception his works received from artists and critics.