Sue Williams's 2014 Exhibition at 303 Gallery Explores Post-9/11 Trauma Through Abstract Paintings

Sue Williams presented new abstract paintings at 303 Gallery in New York from January 16 to February 22, 2014. The exhibition, titled 'WTC, WWIII, Couch Size', featured six large color-saturated canvases made in 2013 that address the political and emotional aftermath of September 11. Works like 'Philip Zelikow, Historian' and 'Retire in Fla.' use vibrant, cascading colors to evoke violence, nausea, and libidinal sparks, moving away from Williams's earlier comic abstractions. The paintings reference her 2010 show curated by Nate Lowman, 'Al-Quaeda is the CIA', and her 1993 Whitney Biennial contribution, 'The Sweet and Pungent Smell of Success'. Through satirical style, Williams critiques the incendiary climate post-9/11, with titles suggesting global conflict and personal disorientation. The artist's focus on wartime tumult and historical precarity animates abstraction, as seen in 'Otis', where teal moose and bending buildings create frenzied landscapes. Eileen Myles's essay 'Everyday Barf' contextualizes the revulsion of daily life for feminist artists in New York. Mary Heilmann's 'Pink Trance' (2010) is noted as a contrast to Williams's inflammatory pinks. The works reflect lingering stupefaction over the World Trade Center attacks, blending personal and political collisions without sentimentality.