Lavon Van Williams Jr.-Everything Must Change

Based in Lexington, Kentucky, LaVon Van Williams Jr. creates dynamic narratives via carved and polychromed figures and panels, along with paintings on canvas. Some works speak to his own life, identity, and experiences or to episodes in Black history; others forefront both actual and imagined Black musicians, religious leaders, educators, and others; and some blend the personal and the historical. All emanate from the artist's deep faith (he speaks of his work as part of his path to Heaven) and events in his life—sometimes painful—particularly his overlapping experiences of coming to Lexington and playing basketball for the University of Kentucky from 1976 to 1980.

This exhibition, curated by Scott Erbes, curator of decorative arts and design, will act as both a retrospective and a stage for new work. The former will present the arc of Williams' practice from the late 1980s onward. It will also incorporate the work of Dave Wright, his late brother, who was both a teacher and inspiration for Williams. New work for the exhibition will consist of carved panels focused on themes of education, music and musicians, histories of Black jockeys, and episodes in Black history.