Aaron Williamson

Exhibition Dates: November 10 - 15, 2003

British performance artist Aaron Williamson is an interdisciplinary artist who combines performance, installation, photography, video, sculpture, text, choreography, and digital art. Over the last 20 years he has also become profoundly deaf. In November, he will work with arts and communications students at Columbia College Chicago to explore issues of ability and disability and to create a collaborative performance piece.

The result of the five days of creative workshops will be presented in a public performance on Friday, November 15 at 7 pm. Williamson will also perform a new solo piece on Saturday, November 16 at 7 pm. Both performances, which are free and open to the public, will take place in Columbia’s Glass Curtain Gallery, 1104 S. Wabash. Call 312-344-6650 for information.

“Last year’s residency with Guillermo Gómez-Peña and La Pocha Nostra was a remarkable experience, both in terms of creative growth for our students and as an affirmation of Columbia’s support for free expression in the arts,” says Carol Ann Brown, director of the Glass Curtain Gallery. “We’re eagerly anticipating Aaron Williamson’s visit and are certain he’ll also bring a powerful and enriching educational opportunity to our students and an outstanding cultural event to the public.”

For the last decade, Williamson has toured in Britain, North America, Europe and Japan.  His performances include Five Smokin’ Televisions (Ferens Gallery, Hull, England), Obscure Display (Victoria and Albert Museum, London, England), and Anti-Speak (Plan B, Tokyo, Japan and throughout the U.S. and Europe).   In 1997, Williamson completed a PhD in performance at the University of Sussex.  He has published several books, including Hearing Things, a book of generative texts and photos, (Bookworks, 2001) and A Holythroat Symposium (1993).