Lee Williams – Winner of the BEEP2014 painting prize.
Lee studied at S.G.I.H.E Cardiff , Birmingham Inst. of Art and Design, Goldsmiths University, London and University of Wales, Newport. In 1991 he received an Euro-creation award to exhibit and work in Tuscany. He has exhibited since 1990, with solo many exhibitions / projects in the UK, Italy, Ireland and Australia. Lee has taught at a several institutions and is currently course leader of the Foundation Diploma at Neath Port Talbot College Group. He is director of Colony Projects, an artist led organisation based in South and West Wales. He is currently developing a project with Tata steel using images of the port from the 1950’s-1970’s.
The environment we are brought up in exerts pressure on our personality formation; and the culture in which we are raised, plays a substantial role in shaping our personalities. Both works are from a series of rust paintings on industrial maps of Port Talbot town / steel works. The steel works is a hugely dominant factor in the lives of the people of Port Talbot. The steel works invades their everyday lives and is at the very core of their being. These paintings are in essence portrait of type; they express the fundamental influence of a certain environment over the idea of hereditary / genetic factors.
Portrait of a Town 2.
Portrait of a Town 1.
