b. 1974
Education
2003
MFA, Mount Royal School of Art, Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD
1996
BFA, Painting and Printmaking, Atlanta College of Art, Atlanta, GA
Solo Exhibitions
2021
Pieces of a Man, Derek Eller Gallery, New York, NY 2020
Drawings of Wildness and Silence…, Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia, Atlanta, GA
Downs Adventures Animations, Flux Projects, Atlanta, GA
2019
LET THE WIND CARRY US, Tempus Projects, Tampa, FL
a soft place to lay , E.C. Liná, Los Angeles, CA
standing on the verge of…, Grizzly Grizzly Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
2018
Sometimes it hurts , Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, St. Louis, MO
Inhuman, Sandler Hudson Gallery, Atlanta, GA
2016
Aimless Revery, The Fuel and Lumber Company, Birmingham, AL
2011
At Ease, Parker Jones Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2009
A World I Never Made, Slag Gallery, New York, NY
2008
Fly Away Fly Away, Artspace, New Haven, CT
2003
Drawings, Tevis County Gallery, Westminster, MD
2002
Drawings 2001 – 2002, Mission Space, Baltimore, MD
1999
Broken Ladders, Chattahoochee Valley Art Museum, La Grange, GA
1998
Hands and Feet , Gallery 307, Decatur, GA
1997
Drawings, ASIS Alternative Space, Atlanta, GA
Broken Ladders, Georgia South Western University, Fine Arts Center Gallery, Americus, GA
Group Exhibitions
2021
Of Care and Destruction: 2021 Atlanta Biennial, curated by Dr. Jordan Amirkhani, Atlanta Contemporary Art Center
Grouper, Broadway Gallery, New York, NY
2020
IT’S BEEN SO LONELY WITHOUT YOU HERE , Tempus Projects, Tampa, FL
Parallel , curated by Teresa Bramlette Reeves, whitespace, Atlanta, GA
2019
Recent Drawings , Sandler Hudson Gallery, Atlanta, GA
Project, Temporary Art Center, Atlanta, GA
Figure Forward , Albany Museum, Albany, GA
2018
Til The Lights Go Out, Hathaway Contemporary Gallery, Atlanta, GA
Private Eyes , curated by Mountain, 284 Seigel Street, 1B Brooklyn NY 11206
Figure Forward , curated by Sarah Higgens, The Zuckerman Museum of Art, Kennesaw, GA
Black Pulp!, curated by William Villalongo & Mark Gibson, The African American Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA
Draw it OUT!, curated by MICA faculty members Renee van der Stelt and Gerald Ross, Meyerhoff Gallery, Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD
GSU Welch School of Art and Design Faculty Triennial , Georgia State University Welch Gallery, Atlanta, GA
THIRD SPACE/SHIFTING CONVERSATION ABOUT CONTEMPORARY ART , Birmingham Museum of Art, AL
2017
Published by The Artist, 2017 IPCNY, New York, NY Black Pulp, curated by William Villalongo & Mark Gibson, Ezra and Cecile Zilkha Gallery at Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT
Summer Thunder, Group Exhibition, Sandler Hudson Gallery, Atlanta, GA
Group Show, Sheffield Wood Gallery, Fine Arts Center Greenville, SC
Upstream part II, The Lyndon House Arts Center, Athens, GA
THIRD SPACE/SHIFTING CONVERSATION ABOUT CONTEMPORARY ART, Birmingham Museum of Art, AL
The Reroute, Day&Night Projects at Tempus Projects, Tampa, FL
2016
Tell All the Truth but Tell it Slant, Selena Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
Art Aids America, Alphawood Exhibitions LLC, Chicago, IL End HIV/AIDS: The Artists Respond, Fulton County Government Center, Atlanta, GA
Black Pulp, curated by Will Villalongo and Mark Thomas Gibson, IPC Chelsea, NY The voice never sleeps , Day and Night Projects, Atlanta, GA
Call and Response: Michael Reese and William Downs , Sandler Hudson Gallery, Atlanta, GA
All of Tomorrows Parties , Hathaway David Contemporary, Atlanta, GA
Art Aids America, The Zuckerman Museum of Art, Kennesaw, GA
Black Pulp, curated by Will Villalongo and Mark Thomas Gibson, Yale University, Edgewood Gallery, New Haven, CT
Moleskine Mailer Collaboration, Tempus Projects, Tampa, FL
2015
Monster Drawing Rally , The High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA
Sprawl! Drawing Outside the Lines , The High Museum, Atlanta, GA
Drawing Experiment, Chastain Arts Center, Atlanta, GA
Summer Salon, Sandler Hudson Gallery, Atlanta, GA
Careless Whiskers , curated by Joy Phrasavath, Beep Beep Gallery, Atlanta, GA
Bewareness , Tempus Projects, Tampa, FL
2014
NEXUS, SEXUS, PLEXUS series of systems , Dashboard Co-op, Atlanta, GA
Kaleidoscope Eyes , MacDonough Gallery, Albertus Magnus College, New Haven, CT
2013
On Paper, curated by Ayana Moore, Fieldwork Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA
Divisions , Beep Beep Gallery, Atlanta, GA
Precious , Porthole Gallery, London, UK
2012
Crossing Lines (two-person exhibition with Brooke Pickett), {Poem88}, Atlanta, GA
Everything All at Once, Antenna Gallery, New Orleans, LA
2011
Crossing Lines (two-person exhibition with Brooke Pickett), The Front, New Orleans, LA
PICK TWO, curated by Timothy Young, Artspace, New Haven, CT
2010
Painting Comes Alive, ARTJAIL Gallery, New York, NY
2009
Another Shade of Grey , NYU Art Gallery, New York, NY
Wakaime Art Studio Exhibition, Anjo, Aichi, Japan No Soul For Sale, X Initiative, New York, NY
State of Consciousness , curated by Damien Montalieu, Collective Gallery, New York, NY
ALIVE, Luxe Gallery, New York, NY
2008
Transformer, curated by Derrick Adams, The Gateway Gallery, Baltimore, MD
Inseparability , Five Ten Studio, Oakland, CA
Fine Arts Center Alumni Exhibition, Sheffield Wood Gallery, Greenville, SC
Untitled, Moti Hasson Gallery, New York, NY
2007
Reparations , curated by Keith Miller, Stony Brook University SAC Gallery, Stony Brook, NY
The Most Curatorial Biennial of the Universe, apexart, New York, NY
If It Ain’t Broke, Gallery 138 (in conjunction with Stony Brook University), New York, NY
2006
cotton candy on a cloudy day , curated by Shinique Smith, The Proposition, New York, NY
Art Auction, Artists Space, New York, NY
17th National Drawing & Print Competitive Exhibition, juror Amy Eva Raehse (purchase award), Gormley Gallery, College of Notre Dame, Baltimore, MD
Art Papers Art Auction, Atlanta, GA
2005
Battles , Current Gallery, Baltimore, MD
Group Show, I-5 Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Katrina Benefit, Spring Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2003
Faculty Exhibition, Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD
Door and Window Project, curated by Gary Kachedorian, Baltimore City Arts Projects, Baltimore, MD
Journey: A Traveling Exhibition, Chela Gallery, Baltimore, MD
Reduced, Century Gallery, London, England
Ripples , Alcazar Gallery, Baltimore School for the Arts, Baltimore, MD
Filter/Natural, Dog Couch Space, Baltimore, MD
Between the Lines , School 33, Baltimore, MD
51st Annual Keisho Art Association Exhibition, Nagoya, Japan Model Home, Artscape, Baltimore, MD
MFA Biennial Exhibition, Delaware Contemporary Art Center, Wilmington, DE
Fin, M.F.A. Graduate Exhibition, Decker Gallery, Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD
Door and Window Project, curated by Gary Kachedorian Baltimore City Arts Projects, Baltimore, MD
2002
Winter, Mission Space, Baltimore, MD
Freestylin, Meyerhoff Gallery, Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD
twenty-eight, Whole Gallery, Baltimore, MD
2001
Reactions , Exit Art Gallery, New York, NY
Untitled, Whole Gallery, Baltimore, MD
Nanotechnology , Whole Gallery, Baltimore, MD
2000
Drawings , 333 West Baltimore Street Alternative Space, Baltimore, MD
Drawings, One World Gallery, Baltimore, MD
1998
Michael Price One Year Anniversary Show, MPG Gallery, Boston, MA
The Nexus Biennial, Nexus Contemporary Art Center, Atlanta, GA
Sketches Part Two, Aurora Space, Atlanta, GA
Stimuli, Drawings and Paintings by William E. Downs III and Melvin Ocassio, Piedmont Park, Atlanta, GA
Atlanta College of Art Alumni Show, The Woodruff Arts Center Gallery, Atlanta College of Art, Atlanta, GA
The Padeia Arts Festival, Padeia Elementary School, Atlanta, GA
EATING: An Exhibition of Erotic Imagery , Building 130, Atlanta, GA
The Blue Dress , curated by Cathy Byrd, The Ballroom Studios, Atlanta, GA
Homage to Paint, The Michael Price Gallery, Boston, MA
Sketches, Drawings, Sound and Motion Pictures , ASIS Alternative Space, Atlanta, GA
Alumni Exhibition & Sale, Atlanta College of Art, Atlanta, GA
LEGACY, Thirty Years of Work from ACA’s African American Alumni1967-97, The Atlanta College of Art, Atlanta, GA
Cultural Freedom, Emory Law Library , curated by Jennifer Lackland and Veronica Carolson, Decatur, GA
Project 6, A Show of Painting and Photography with 6 artists , The Backdrop Gallery, Atlanta, GA
Investigation, Initiation, Exploration, Celebration, Penetration: A Journey Into Lifestyle, Eroticism and Imagery , The Old Lake Claire Baptist Church, Alternative Space, Atlanta, GA
Anti-Art, The U-Haul Building, Alternative Space, Atlanta, GA
1997
Etchings and Paintings (two-person exhibition), Eclipse De Luna, Atlanta, GA
Precise Significance Symbolism Iconology , curated by Daniel Hoover, Hammons House Gallery, Atlanta, GA
A Classic Halloween with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Live Action Painting, Symphony Hall, The Woodruff Arts Center, Atlanta, GA
Paintings , Gallery 307, Decatur, GA
November Project: Seven Artists , The Old Lake Claire Baptist Church, Alternative Space, Atlanta, GA
Cold Well Bank Arts Festival, Cold Well Bank, Atlanta, GA
Simple Fare, A Cultural Urban Market, Atlanta, GA
Center Space Salon, The Woodruff Arts Center Gallery, Atlanta College of Art, Atlanta, GA
The Slug, a one act play with visual art, a project by Leon Kirkland, The Old Highland Bakery Alternative Space, Atlanta, GA
The Americus , Georgia Art Gallery, Americus, GA Degrees of Excellence , Atlanta College of Art Gallery, Colony Square Mall, Atlanta, GA
Senior Show , The Woodruff Arts Center Gallery, Atlanta College of Art, Atlanta, GA
Ladders and Measurement (Daniel Paz and William E. Downs III), The Old Highland Bakery Alternative Space , Atlanta, GA
The 5th Annual College Juried Exhibition , Marietta, GA Erotiko: A Collection of Erotic works by Atlanta Artists , The Old Highland Bakery Alternative Space, Atlanta, GA
I am just because we are, Black History Exhibition , Atlanta-Fulton County Library Downtown, Atlanta, GA
The Southern Craft Expo , The Georgia Dome, Atlanta, GA
Grants & Awards
2020
Artadia Award Recipient
2019
MOCA GA Working Artist Project
2018
Artadia Award The Nellie Mae Rowe Fellowship at Hambidge Creative Residency Program
2001
Mount Royal School of Art Award
Selected Public Collections
The Birmingham Museum of Art
Clark Atlanta University Art Museum
Coca-Cola Corporate Art Collection
The High Museum of Art Drawing Collection
The Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia
Principal Financial Group Collection, Des Moines, IA
The Smithsonian Museum of Art
Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis
Microsoft Collection, Seattle, WA