Peter Williams isn’t shy about addressing race in his work, but he doesn’t fit neatly into any community of black (or white) artists. He likes to say that he “grew up as a young middle class white kid.” His father was a successful real estate agent, and the family lived in predominantly white New York suburb where they were just about the only people of color.

Some people, many black artists included, bristle at his tendency to depict minstrel-like characters in his paintings. These caricatures, he claims, are an attempt to come to terms with the malicious racial stereotypes that have persisted in American pop culture throughout history. Some characters are easier to stomach than others--for instance, a superhero who goes by the name of “The N-Word” soars across canvases, punching pig-faced cops. Of course, he certainly wouldn’t be the first black artist to come under fire for unnerving depictions of race in art.

Though disability isn’t always a prominent theme in Williams’s work, he is an amputee. He survived an attempted murder-suicide in his youth, when an art school peer offered him a ride home, and then intentionally drove the car over the edge of a cliff. The driver walked away with a broken jaw, but Williams lost a leg.

Williams spent 17 years living and working in Detroit, where he became a fixture in the local art community, despite never feeling 100% comfortable there. He lost a few paintings when they were riddled with bullet holes from a shooting near his studio. During his time teaching at Wayne State, he got ensnared in a $1 billion lawsuit filed by former student Jocelyn Rainey. Her work was in an exhibition by Wayne State MFA students sponsored by Mercedes Benz, and when they used images of her work without license to do so, Williams was held accountable. Tired of the hustle and strife that surrounded him in Detroit, he left in 2004 to teach in Delaware.

Some of his work is a bit lewd. Keep an eye out for hidden penises and vaginas.