An artist has few choices in these times. To paint light's effects, perhaps, or paint the fashionably dyspeptic 'real world', or even paint criticisms of how we live, but Williams takes the harder route. He uses painting to suggest how life might be and his humanistic, cool gaze, determinedly looking for the best, suggests what might be possible. In his 2004 interview with Neil Walton, he says "I can't paint dark subjects", and he rejects Timothy Hyman's accusation that, work is gently malicious, with the statement that he "thought he was being loving", and perhaps that is a clue to what these paintings are, finally; a love-letter to the human race.
QUALIFICATIONS:
BA(Hons) Fine Art
RAS Certificate in Painting (MA equivalent)
Cert. Ed (FE)
GROUP EXHIBITIONS:
2008
Royal Academy Summer Exhibition
RWS/Sunday Times Watercolour Competition, Bankside Gallery
Threadneedle Figurative Painting Prize, Mall Galleries
Gallery Artists, Thompsons Gallery, Aldeburgh and Marylebone High Street
Lynn Painter Stainers Competition, Painters Hall, London
2007
Royal Academy Summer Exhibition
'Interiors' at New Grafton Gallery, London, selected by Carol Cordrey.
Gallery Artists Thompsons Gallery, Marylebone and Aldeburgh
NEAC at Bankside Gallery
NEAC at Alresford Gallery, in aid of Naomi House
RWS Open Exhibition, Bankside Gallery, London
Zomerszalon, cAg, Laren, Netherlands
Art London
2006
Royal Academy Summer Exhibition
Cadogan Contemporary Gallery, Gallery Artists
NEAC Martin's Gallery, Cheltenham
Cadogan Contemporary Summer Exhibition
Thompson's Gallery, London, Autumn Show
Discerning Eye, selected by Anthony Green RA
NEAC Open, Mall Gallery
Art London
Gallery Artists, cAg Laren, Holland
Singer and Friedlander/Sunday Times Watercolour Competition, London
2005
Keller and Greene, Los Angeles, USA.
Future Hope, Group Show at HSBC HQ, London.
Islington Art Fair, BDC, London.
Cadogan Contemporary, London.
NEAC at Bankside Gallery, London.
Sheen Gallery, London.
Singer and Friedlander/Sunday Times Watercolour Competition, London.
Hunting Art Prizes, London.
Beaux Arts, Bath.
Henshelwood Gallery, Newcastle
'Out Of The Jungle', John Martin, London.
Coombs Contemporary, London
2004
Art London, with Beardsmore Gallery.
Summer Exhibition, Cadogan Contemporary.
Chelsea Arts Fair, with the Sheen Gallery.
NEAC at Lloyds Private Banking.
Albany Gallery, Cardiff.
Stuckism at the Walker Gallery, Liverpool.
British Contemporary Art Sale, Bonham’s, London.
2003
Hunting Art Prizes.
Royal Academy Summer Exhibition
Jenny Granger Fine Art, Whitstable
N.E.A.C. Bankside.
Chelsea Art Fair.
Gallery Artists, The Sheen Gallery.
NEAC Open, Mall Galleries, London
Group Exhibitions, Cadogan Contemporary, London
2002
Gallery Artists, The Sheen Gallery
NEAC Open, Mall Galleries, London
NEAC Exhibition, Albany Gallery, Cardiff
Jenny Granger Fine Art, Three-man show at Adam Street Club, The Strand.
Chelsea Art Fair.
Two-man show with Arthur Neal, The Sheen Gallery, London.
Discerning Eye, Mall Gallery, London
Real Turner Prize, Stuckism International.
Group Exhibitions, Cadogan Contemporary, London
Art Ireland
2001
Two-man Show, The Sheen Gallery, with Richard Sorrell
Beaux Arts, Bath, Summer Exhibition
N.E.A.C. Bankside Gallery, London
N.E.A.C. Open, Mall Galleries, London
Group Exhibitions, Cadogan Contemporary, London
Gallery Artists, The Sheen Gallery
Jenny Granger Fine Art, Ladbroke Grove.
Affordable Art Fair, Battersea
Chelsea Art Fair
2000
NEAC Open, Mall Gallery, London
Four NEAC Painters, Coombs Contemporary, London
Beaux Arts, Bath, Summer Exhibition
Four Painters, Merriscourt Gallery, Oxfordshire
The Real Turner Prize Show, Up and Above, Falmouth
STUCK! St. Martins College, Lancaster
Beaux Arts, Bath, Christmas Exhibition.
Die Stuckisten; Westwerk, Hamburg
Die Stuckisten, Kulturfabrik Leipzig, Leipzig
Stuck, Jos Fritz Café, Freiburg
STUCK STUCK STUCK! Beatcologne, Cologne.
Real Turner Art Prize, Buttclub, Hamburg
Stuckism at Pure Gallery, London
Stuckism at Salon des Arts, London
1999 Four Young Painters, Artspace Gallery, London.
KCC Offices, Brussels
15 for 15, Star Gallery Lewes
Coombs Contemporary Gallery Artists, London
NEAC at Bankside
NEAC Open, Mall Gallery, London
Stuck, Stuck, Stuck! Gallery 108, London
Millennium Exhibition, Star Gallery, Lewes
Figurative Painting at Michael House, Baker Street, London
Chichester Open.
NEAC at Langham Fine Art, Ludlow
1998
Arthur Andersen Biannual Exhibition.
Art for Mencap, Westminster Hospital.
‘Coastlines’, Lordswood Art Centre
NEAC at RWA
NEAC at Bankside
NEAC Open, Mall Gallery
Coombs Contemporary, London
‘Inside/Outside’ Group Show with Mick Rooney RA, Gus Cummins RA etc. at Royal College of Pathologists
1997
Royal Overseas League, Annual Open.
Cheltenham Drawing Biennale.
NEAC at Bankside
Arts Festival, Boulogne sur Mer
Star Gallery, Lewes
Coombs Contemporary, London
‘Coastlines’, KIAD at Rochester
NEAC Open, Mall Gallery
1996
“Diverse”, Herbert Read Gallery, Canterbury.
Royal Academy Summer Exhibition.
Royal Overseas League Annual Open.
BP Portrait Competition, National Portrait Gallery.
Discerning Eye, Mall Gallery
Humanism in Painting, Fish(y) Gallery, London.
KIAD Tutors, George Rodger Gallery
‘Making a Mark’, Mall Gallery
Gillingham Open
Coombs Contemporary, London
RP Open, Mall Gallery
NEAC Open, Mall Gallery
1995
Art 95, Islington.
Beaux Arts, Bath, Summer Show.
Sadlers Wells, London.
BP Portrait Competition, National Portrait Gallery.
Royal Overseas League Annual Open.
‘Discerning Eye’, Mall Gallery
Casa De La Cultura, Alguidas, Spain.
Coombs Contemporary, London
NEAC Open, Mall Gallery
Artists in Spain, Rye Art Gallery, Sussex
‘Making a Mark’, Mall Gallery
‘Four Artists’, Great Bower, Molash.
1994
“Open Door”, Kingsway
Greenwich Theatre Art Gallery
NEAC Open, Mall Gallery, London
Mercury Gallery New Year Exhibition
Mercury Gallery Summer Exhibition
‘Art for Sale’, Observer/Whitely’s
RWS Open, Bankside Gallery, London
Smith Family Show, Drew Gallery, Canterbury
Coombs Contemporary, Folkestone
Rye Art Gallery, Sussex
Star Gallery, Lewes
1993
Arthur Anderson Art Award
Royal Overseas League Annual Open.
Royal Academy Summer Exhibition.
“Interiors” Towner Gallery Open, Eastbourne.
‘Open Door’, Bernard’s Inn
Smith’s Gallery, selected by CAS
Linton Court Gallery, Settle, Yorks.
Leicester Schools and Colleges
Mercury Gallery New Year Exhibition
Mercury Gallery Summer Exhibition
‘Art for Sale’, Observer/Whitely’s
Rye Art Gallery, Sussex
Star Gallery, Lewes
1992
“Into the Nineties”, Mall Galleries
Royal Academy Summer Exhibition
“Smith’s Gallery”, selected by C.A.S
Premiums Exhibition, RA Schools
‘Art for Sale’, Observer/Whitely’s
RWP Open, Mall Gallery
‘New Young Masters’, Bruton Gallery
Folkestone Metropole Art Centre
RA Schools Final Show
SOLO EXHIBITIONS:
1993
Star Gallery, Lewes
Sadlers Wells
Cadogan Contemporary, London
1995
KIAD at Maidstone
Star Gallery, Lewes
Coombs Contemporary, London
1996 Strood Library Gallery
Gillingham Library Gallery
1997
Chelsea Arts Centre
Coombs Contemporary
1998
Lyn Strover Gallery, Cambridge
Landings Gallery, Edinburgh
1999
ROSL Overseas House, London
Coombs Contemporary,
2000
Star Gallery, Lewes
2001
Inaugural Exhibition, Fleur Gallery, Faversham
2003
The Sheen Gallery, London
2004
Bakersfield Museum of Art, California, USA
2006
McHardy Coombs, Shad Thames, London
2007
Thompson's Gallery, Marylebone
2008
Weekend Gallery, Hastings
PRIZES & SCHOLARSHIPS:
1991 RA Schools Prize for Anatomical Drawing
1992 Creswick Prize
Silver Medal for Painting
Landseer Scholarship
Richard Ford Award for Study in Spain
British Institution Fund Award
1993 Countess Driscoll Spalletti Watercolour Prize
1994 Bursary form South East Arts
NEAC/Marks and Spencer Young Artists 2nd Prize
1995 Travel Bursary from ROSL
1997 Sir Ernst Cassel Education Fund Prize
2007 Royal Watercolour Society Prize
PUBLICATIONS:
Exhibition Catalogues, ROSL Open,1993,1995-7
Millennium, Star Gallery Exhibition Catalogue, 1999
Artist’s Diary, Art Review, September 1999
The Stuckists, ed. Kay Evans, Victoria Press 2000
Julian Bell, Exhibition Catalogue, Sheen Gallery 2003
Nicholas Usherwood et al "Charles Williams Paintings, 1995-2004", Quinton Kingley, 2005
'Why I Became A Stuckist' Jackdaw Magazine, Feb 2006
Carol Cordrey "Charles Williams NEAC", Artscene, May 2006
Royal Academy Iilustrated, RA Publications, 2007
EXHIBITIONS CURATED:
1996
‘Diverse’ Herbert Read Gallery, Canterbury
1994
‘Painting’ at Greenwich Theatre Gallery
CLUBS & SOCIETIES
2007
Elected Associate Member of the RWS
1999
Invited to join Stuckists (resigned 2005)
1996
Elected to NEAC
TEACHING:
1996-2000 Lecturer in Drawing at National Film and TV School, Beaconsfield (Postgraduate level)
2000-present Lecturer at NEAC School of Drawing
2006-lecturer in Fine Art, Canterbury College
1996-2001 Occasional Lecturer in Fine Art, KIAD
1996-2003 Lecturer in Fine Art, Kent Adult Education Service
COLLECTIONS:
British Design Council
British High Commission in Nairobi
TVS
Kent Institute of Art and Design
Lily Savage
Alan Howarth MP
HSBC
Chevron UK
Westminster And Hammersmith Hospital Trust
Private Collections
