Tamasha Williamson - Contemporary Art

Born and raised in Chicago, Tamasha received a BFA from the University of Illinois at

Urbana-Champaign and earned her MFA at Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles.

Her work explores ideas of the construction of

a/our society and various "-isms" existing within it;

and how those "-isms" dictate our placement within that structure

through the use of text, image and the study of language as it reflects our culture.

INSTALLATION: The Master's Tools, The Master's House, 2009

			Lanyard detail view		framed polaroid images detail

DRAWINGS - Signifier Series

Penetration, Maturation, Violation OR The Allegory of a Soiled Panty, 2006	Teetering On the Brink and We All Fall Down: Do I Please You?, 2006	My Hero! The Damsel Repressed (Save Yourself), 2007	...As Told by the Victor: Divide and Conquer, 2007

REAL MEN Don't Wear Pink... or Rhinestones (A Man's Man), 2007	The Rules of Engagement, 2007	A Question about Beauty: The Hate versus The Love (Myself), 2007	The Elite: The Have's v. The Have-not's...and the Battle Goes On, 2007

The Belt: Chastity Chosen/ Not Chosen- Lock Down, 2007	In the Back Room (Dirty Little Secret), 2007	The Flyest Chain (after Talib Kweli), 2007	It Is...Ain't it? The African-American Vernacular and the King's English: Validation v. Degradation (Articulate), 2007

Yoking the Herd, Maintaining The Stable: Pimps Up, Ho's Down (Yeah, I guess I'm what you'd call a Hater), 2008	By Exaltation or Extinction...We Shall Overcome, 2008	Gotta Get Mine (Loss of Context), 2008	It's Funny, the Importance Men Place upon Ejaculate, 2008

OTHER WORK

Untitled, 2006	As it turns out, The Revolution Will Be Televised - brought to you by Citicorp TM, 2006	like a white girl 1999	On Passing...: Notes on the construction of a color class system in the US 2005

Manmade Women (I): VG, 2006	Study for girlfight, Gardena CA 2002	The Standard (Double): Sparkly! Shiny! 2006	Manmade Women (II): Car Quotes, 2006

The Personal Politic of "POLITICAL PROPAGANDA"- POSTERS: IV (How Come...), 2006

2006

The Personal Politic of "POLITICAL PROPAGANDA"- POSTERS: Boys v. Girls: Remember...! Series, 2007

	Remember Girls Series: Pretty 2006		Remember Boys Series : No Crying 2006		Remember Girls Series: What you think... 2006		Remember Boys Series: You're#1! 2006		Remember Girls Series: You're #2! 2006

EDUCATION

� MFA, 1999, Otis Institute of Art and Design in Los Angeles, California.

� Visual Art, 1999, Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Maine.

� BFA, 1997, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

� Art History, 1997, University of Michigan, Florence, Italy.

HONORS

� City of Chicago Arts Grant Recipient, 2006

� Ahmanson Award, Otis Institute of Art and Design, 1997-1999.

� Camille Hanks Cosby Fellowship, Skowhegan School, 1999.

� Lydia Parker Bates Award, University of Illinois, 1994-1997.

� President's Scholars Award, University of Illinois, 1993-97.

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

"Sticks and Stones...," Two-person Exhibition, NEIU Gallery, Chicago, IL 2009

"If I Didn't Care", Group Exhibition, The Park School, Baltimore, MD 2009

"Let Us Examine the State of Our Environment", Group Exhibition, Little Black Pearl, Chicago, IL 2008

"Disinhibition: Black Art and Blue Humor", Group Exhibition, Hyde Park Art Center: Chicago, IL 2008

"A Continuum", Group Exhibition, Phantom Gallery: Chicago, IL 2008

"From There to Here", Group Exhibition, Woman Made Gallery: Chicago, IL 2006

"Women of the African Diaspora", Group Exhibition, Woman Made Gallery: Chicago, IL 2005

Presentation: Do You Think They Know What You Did?, Jackson Blvd: Chicago, IL 2005

"Untitled", Performance on Sunset Blvd: Los Angeles, CA 2002

"ART" for the Masses: Wake UP, Public Art Presentation: Los Angeles, CA 2002

Relativity and Circumstance, Solo Exhibition, SPACE: Los Angeles, CA 2000

CON(text), Solo Exhibition, Bolsky Gallery: Los Angeles, CA 1999

Without Alarm II, Los Angeles County Jail (Abandoned), Los Angeles, CA 1998

Black Creativity, Museum of Science and Industry: Chicago, IL, 1998