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Nico Williams

2021-2022, Concordia University

Three works made from beads arranged to resemble lottery scratch cards. The piece on the left is a crossword puzzle containing words "take a way", "anishnabe", "get out", "diaspora", and "togther". The center piece is a bingo card with purple and green squares. The piece on the right, in blue tones, is a crossword containing the words "forward", "comforter", "fort", "lanscape", and "legislate" Mots cachés (Orange), 2020; Bingo (Red), 2019 and Mots cachés (Navy), 2020 by Nico Williams. Presented at the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal in the exhibition La machine qui enseignaient des airs aux oiseaux. Photo: Guy L’Heureux.

Nico Williams, ᐅᑌᒥᐣ (b. 1989) is Anishinaabe from Aamjiwnaang First Nation currently working in Tiohtià:ke | Mooniyang | Montreal. He has a multidisciplinary, often collaborative practice that is centered around sculptural beadwork.

Williams is an active member in the urban Indigenous Montreal Arts community, a board member for the Biennale d'art contemporain autochtone (Contemporary Native Art Biennial), and a member of the Contemoprary Geometric Beadwork research team.

He has taught workshops at The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, NSCAD University, the Indigenous Art Centre, Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada (CIRNAC), and Carleton University.

His work has been shown internationally and across Canada, including at the Art Museum at the University of Toronto, Musee des beaux-arts Montreal, Musee d’art contemporain de Montreal, Victoria Arts Council (British Columbia), PHI Foundation for Contemporary Art (Tiohtiá:ke), La Guilde (Tiohtiá:ke) and his most recent solo exhibition, Chi-Miigwech at Never Apart (Tiohtiá:ke).

Williams’ practice has been featured by National Geographic (2018) and CBC (2021) and is housed in prominent public collections including Musee des beaux-arts Montreal, Musee d’art contemporain de Montreal, The Art Gallery of Ontario, Archives Nationales du Québec, the Hydro-Québec Art Collection, the Ojibwe Cultural Foundation, and the Royal Bank of Canada Art Collection. His first public sculpture, Monument to the Brave, was commissioned in 2020 by the Sick Kids Foundation.

His work has been supported by the Canada Council, Conseil des arts de Montréal, Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec Impetus Grant, The Ontario Arts Council and the Fluevog Artist Grant.

A beaded representation of a government-issued Indian Status Card bearing the author's first name and id number. The card is tucked into a leather wallet. NDN Status, 2019 by Nico Williams. Collection of the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal (MAC) Photo: Guy L’Heureux
A 3D object made from red, blue and black beads. The beads are shaped into a polyhedron: red is the background colour, and the polyhedron is patterns with circular blue shapes that could suggests cells. Positive, 2019 by Nico Williams. Collection of the Indigenous Art Centre, Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada Photo: Richard-Max Tremblay
Close up of a polyhedron made from beads. The surface appears multi-coloured, with red, white, blue, green, black. Looking closer, each face of the polyhedron looks like a wrapping from a commercial food brand, like Coke or Nestle. Nibiikaa, 2020 by Nico Williams. Collection of the RBC Art Collection Photo: Richard-Max Tremblay
A 3D sculpture of a grocery shopping bag, made entirely from beads. The bag's surface is mostly white with diagonal stripes in light blue. The word "miigwech", appears 5 times of the bag's surface, in blue and orange. Miigwech means 'thank you' in the Anishinaabemowin (Ojibwe) language. miigwech, miigwech, miigwech, 2021 by Nico Williams. Presented at Never Apart in the exhibition chi-miigwech Photo: Richard-Max Tremblay
A brown and tan beaded strip protrudes from a gallery wall. Resting atop the strip is a another beaded piece that resembles a matchbook and features the words "slow burn" Slow Burn, 2021 by Nico Williams. Presented at Never Apart in the exhibition chi-miigwech Photo: Richard-Max Tremblay
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