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In her paintings, sculptures, installations and photographs, Amanda Williams explores the relationship between color as an artistic medium and as a racial signifier. An architect by training, her series ‘Color(ed) Theory’ (2014–16), focused on urban development, calling attention to the collapse of neighborhoods due to discriminatory lending practices. She painted houses that were slated for demolition in the Englewood neighborhood of Chicago and documented the results through photography. Williams chose paint colors that she associated with products marketed to the Black community in the 1960s, 70s and 80s, from Pink Oil Moisturizer to Flaming Red Hots, conjuring shared memories. In another investigation of color, ‘What Black Is This, You Say’, the artist responded to #BlackoutTuesday, the viral collective action in which black squares were posted to Instagram accounts to show solidarity for the Black Lives Matter movement. Williams posted her own squares in subtly different shades of black, rejecting the notion of a uniform color. She accompanied each post with captions referencing aspects of Black culture and then translated her feed into a series of abstract watercolors and paintings.

The title of ‘CandyLadyBlack (green apple and grape twice)’ (2022) is an abbreviation of one of these captions. The painting is part of a series in which Williams uses a limited palette of nine colors inspired by Now and Later and Jolly Rancher candies as a way to celebrate the “candy lady,” a recognizable figure and symbol of enterprise in Black urban neighborhoods in parts of the United States. The richly textured work in saturated hues evokes the artist’s memories of the sugary sweet treats sold by the candy lady.

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