Exhibition

‘BLACK: Yesterday’ by Honey Williams

Dates of event: 18 May 2021 - 10 Jun 2021 Mon - Thurs, Daily Opening Time: 10:00am - Daily Closing Time: 3:00pm

Venue Address: City Arts, 11-13 Hockley, Nottingham, NG1 1FH

'Speak to me with respect' Artwork by Honey Williams, 2017

BLACK: Yesterday is an illustrated timeline featuring works by Nottingham artist Honey Williams that were made between 2004 and 2018. This exhibit features sketches, collage, illustration, poetry, diary entries, an interview with the artist about her work, and excerpts from blog posts.

I'm tired. Artwork by Honey Williams. Illustration of a woman with social media icons in her hair.
Enough. Artwork by Honey Williams. Illustration of a woman with dreads and an earring.

Honey’s work highlights some of the uncomfortable conversations relating to anti-black racism and injustice that were already taking place in the UK before the global response to the tragedy involving George Floyd 2020. Some of the topics covered in the exhibition include systemic racism, colourism and misogynoir.

This is the first exhibit for BLACK, an exhibition of existing and brand new artworks by City Arts resident artists Honey Williams & Richard Chung. BLACK is divided into three parts: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.

Curated by Saziso Phiri as part of City Arts’ CATALYST programme.

About the artist

Honey Williams is a creative powerhouse. She is a singer-songwriter, a visual artist and designer. In 2019, Honey was invited by the British Council to travel to Kingston, Jamaica. She was the lead artist for ‘Paint Up Yuh Creative Space’. The project worked with the local artistic community to create a mural honouring the Windrush Generation. Honey was one of 50 artists, selected from 700 applications, to exhibit at New Art Exchange’s 2019 NAE Open. She won the Public Choice Award for her piece ‘Big Black Truth’.

Williams has created special commissions for University of Nottingham, EMCCAN, DJ Ma Faiza, Syncopate Media and Actor/Writer Rachael Young. She has led art and vocal workshops for University of Nottingham, Nottingham Trent University, New Art Exchange, Nottingham Contemporary, Gramophone Theatre, Nottingham News
Centre and Staatstheater in Braunschweig, Germany.

As a singer-songwriter, Honey has performed and collaborated with recording artists from all over Europe. Notably, she performed at the 300th Anniversary of Karlsruhe, Germany. She is the Director of an alternative choir called Gang of Angels.

Williams is the founder and moderator of ‘Natural by The Pickyheads’, an online space with over 11,000 members. It focuses on increasing the love for women of African descent through discussion, art and events.