Palettes II is an artist book by Los Angeles based painter Jessica Williams. In this second iteration of her Palettes publication series, Williams photographs her painting palettes and includes the images alongside photographs of her paintings. The book is structured by a table of contents organized by the paintings titles, which often make art historical and cultural references. The publication simultaneously locates William’s work directly in the history of painting and dehistoricizes it, by placing a focus on her process, as evidenced by the palettes.

Jessica Williams is a painter who lives and works in Los Angeles. She received her BFA from Rhode Island School of Design and her MFA from Columbia. She now is a visiting professor at the University of California, Los Angeles. Williams work includes narrative oil paintings, often situating a lone female figure in an urban environment. Like Palettes II her paintings exist as revisionist works. By directly referencing history in her titles and technique, Williams is able to make subtle gestures toward new ways of thinking about women as a subject of painting. Her figures are always in control, never at the mercy of the painter’s gaze.