James Fuentes is opening the doors of his new LA-based gallery on May 6, a revamped 1920s-era building on Melrose Avenue, for its inaugural exhibition showcasing new work by Didier William. The 3,700 square foot space, enclosed by 14-foot walls with exposed wood, will house Williams’ 14 new paintings in an exhibition entitled Things Like This Don’t Happen Here, open until June 17. 

Haitian-born artist William’s new work features artwork that combines the techniques of painting and printmaking with techniques of carving and collage. Known for his metaphysical and deeply imaginative style, William’s new work describes underwater seascapes and further develops the artist’s thematic exploration of language, tradition, aesthetics, trauma, and autobiography.

Through tectonic splits and suspended rock formations, the paintings urge viewers to disregard arbitrary borders that designate nations or possessions. Instead, they evoke a border between life and death, heaven and hell, or whatever one wants to call it. In this sense, the ocean comes to represent the history of immigration from the Caribbean, and a body of water is visualized as a space of “weightless freedom.”