A transmedia historical fiction project by CAS artist-in-residence Antoine Williams, Black Fusionist Society takes the 1898 Wilmington Massacre as the beginning of a new narrative of the lives of a group of Black families who form a belief system based on physics and apotropaic magic that protects them in daily life and works towards an ultimate goal of migrating to a new dimension free of white supremacy.

A digital project housed on the new CAS web platform, Williams’ art will form a framework for the Black Fusionist Society story and invite Black writers and artists to contribute to creating a growing digital mythos. VIEW THE PROJECT HERE.

Antoine Williams' mixed-media work investigates his cultural identity by exploring power, fear and the perception of signs within society. Heavily influenced by science fiction, and his rural, working-class upbringing in Red Springs, North Carolina, Antoine has created his own mythology about the complexities of contemporary Black life. An artist-educator, Antoine received his BFA from the University of North Carolina, Charlotte, and his MFA from UNC Chapel Hill. He helped start the God City Art Collective in Charlotte, where he participated in a number of socially engaged, community-based art projects, such as pop-up art shows, afterschool art programs, underground rap shows, and film festivals. He has exhibited in a number of places, including at the Mint Museum of Art, Michigan State University, Columbia Museum of Art, Smack Mellon, Brooklyn, 21c Museum, as well as many other venues. He is also a recipient of the 2017 Joan Mitchell Award of Painters and Sculptors. Williams is an assistant professor of art at Guilford College
antoinewilliamsart.com