Christopher Williams
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Biography
Born 1956 in Los Angeles, CA
Lives and works in Los Angeles, CA
Christopher Williams’ distinctive practice combines the precision of commercial photography with conceptual and institutional critique, often exposing how images are constructed, circulated, and assigned value. By meticulously recreating the conventions of advertising, fashion, and documentary photography, he turns the photographic medium itself into the subject of his work.
Williams has exhibited extensively worldwide, with solo exhibitions at The Perimeter, London; C/O Berlin; Kestner Gesellschaft, Hanover; La Triennale di Milano; Whitechapel Gallery, London; Museum of Modern Art, New York; Musée d’art moderne et contemporain, Geneva; Kunsthalle Baden-Baden; Kunsthalle Zürich; Secession, Vienna among many others.
His work is part of major international collections such as Museum of Modern Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Whitney Museum of American Art and Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, all in New York; Tate, London; Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; Ludwig Museum, Cologne; Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin; Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, DC; The Art Institute of Chicago, and more.
From 2008 to 2023, Williams was Professor of Photography at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf. Since September 2026, his work MODEL (High Line Billboard, 18th Street and 10th Avenue, New York, NY 10011) is presented at The High Line in New York.
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Works
Christopher Williams
Kodak Three Point Reflection Guide, © 1968 Eastman Kodak Company, 1968. (Meiko laughing), Vancouver, B.C., April 6, 2005, 2005Chromogenic print50.8 x 61 cm
20 x 24 inchesB-CWILLIAMS-.24-0007Exhibitions-
Sweet Sixteen
Celebrating 16 years of Capitain Petzel 7 June — 3 August 2024On the occasion of Capitain Petzel’s sixteenth anniversary, the gallery is excited to present Sweet Sixteen , a group exhibition celebrating the artists who have been integral to its program...Explore -
Souterrain: Christopher Williams
Kochgeschirr (Adapted for Use) 28 April — 17 July 2021Christopher Williams’ (b. 1956 in Los Angeles, CA) exhibition in the lower exhibition space of the gallery brings together several threads of work that the artist has developed over the...Explore -
Christopher Williams
Open Letter to Model No. 1740 29 April — 4 June 2016Dear Model No. 1740, How is it that we turn to the studio now? A time to carry out an inventory, an assessment of the tools, the materials, the conditions...Explore -
Bringing Light into a Windowless Room
Diango Hernández, Matt Mullican, Christopher Williams 26 June — 22 August 2014In 1964 the gallery building was completed and opened at Karl-Marx-Allee 45, in Berlin according to the design by architects Franek and Kaiser, under the name Kunst im Heim as...Explore -
Christopher Williams
For Example: Dix Huits Leçons Sur La Société Industrielle (Revision 8) 12 March — 25 April 2009How to start? A door opens. A cash register opens. A can of sardines is opened. A mouth opens. An unzipped zipper opens up a view. Four bottles of beer...Explore -
Kunst im Heim
COSIMA VON BONIN, MATTHEW BRANNON, TROY BRAUNTUCH, MARIA BRUNNER, GÜNTHER FÖRG, ANNA GASKELL, WADE GUYTON, MARGARETE JAKSCHIK, MARTIN KIPPENBERGER, MARIA LASSNIG, ZOE LEONARD, JOYCE PENSATO, ASCAN PINCKERNELLE, SETH PRICE, STEPHEN PRINA, SAM SAMORE and ma 31 October — 17 December 2008Gisela Capitain and Friedrich Petzel are delighted to announce the inaugural exhibition of Capitain Petzel Berlin at Karl-Marx-Allee 45, a groupshow entitled ‚Kunst im Heim‘. From 1961 to 1964 seven...Explore
News-
Christopher Williams
'The Game. Christopher Williams: Provisional Props and Blocking Templates', American Academy of Arts and Letters, New York
September 26, 2026 – July 3, 2027 26 September 2026I have invited the artists Christopher Williams, Monika Baer, Aria Dean, and Abraham Cruzvillegas to play a made-up game with a simple set of rules...Read more -
Christopher Williams
'MODEL (High Line Billboard, 18th Street and 10th Avenue, New York, 10011)', High Line, New York
September 24 – November, 2026 24 September 2026Christopher Williams creates photographs that mimic high-end commercial advertising, industrial cataloging, and architectural photography, working with professional studios and technicians to produce a flawless, slick...Read more -
Rodney McMillian, Peter Piller, Stephen Prina, Christopher Williams
'Hardcore. The Exhibition' (Group Show), haubrok foundation, Berlin
September 6, 2026 – April 4, 2027 6 September 2026Hardcore. The Exhibition is the new group show presented by the haubrok foundation. The Opening will take place on Sunday, September 6, 2026, from 2...Read more -
Karla Black, Barbara Bloom, Monica Bonvicini, Maria Brunner, Isabella Ducrot, Georg Herold, Charline von Heyl, Zoe Leonard, Laura Owens, Tobias Pils, Stephen Prina, Monika Sosnowska, Christopher Williams
'40 Years Galerie Gisela Capitain' (Group Show), Galerie Gisela Capitain, Cologne
September 4 – October 24, 2026 4 September 2026As part of the 40th anniversary, Galerie Gisela Capitain is pleased to announce a group exhibition presenting works from the gallery's history. Including works by:...Read more -
Matt Mullican, Christopher Williams
'Once Upon a Time' (Group Show), Pavilhão Julião Sarmento, Lisboa
July 4, 2026 – May 30, 2027 4 July 2026Once Upon a Time in America proposes a reading exercise on the impact of U.S. mythology and culture on postwar contemporary creation. Drawing on works...Read more
External ExhibitionsChristopher Williams: Blocking Templates, 2025 – 2026
haubrok foundation, Berlin
Press-
TEXTE ZUR KUNST: "WHY, ACTUALLY? Tom McDonough on Christopher Williams’s “Radio Play”"
Tom McDonough, 2 April 2026 -
Financial Times: "The captivating, revelatory world of Christopher Williams"
Jeremy Millar, 15 November 2025 -
Artforum: "Christopher Williams at Neubauer Collegium for Culture and Society, Chicago"
Michelle Grabner, 20 June 2024 -
Hyde Park Herald: Archival remains and ‘rudderless curiosity’ with Christopher Williams at Neubauer
Joshua Wagner, 8 April 2024 -
ARTnews: "Taxi TV Turns Strange, Thanks to a Surprise New Video by Artist Christopher Williams"
Alex Greenberger, 28 February 2020 -
Deutschlandfunk Kultur: "Christopher Williams im C/O Berlin: Vom Playboy zu Brecht"
Gerd Brendel, 6 December 2019
Publications-
Christopher Williams
Christopher Williams. Photographs, Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther und Franz König, Cologne, 2025 2025 Read more -
Christopher Williams
Kölnische Dramaturgie, Walther König, 2024 2024Softcover, 50 pagesRead more
Publisher: Walther König, Cologne
ISBN: 9783753304571
Dimensions: 21 x 22,9 cm -
Christopher Williams
BLOCKING TEMPLATES. Four templates in full color, Galerie Gisela Capitain, Cologne, 2023 2023Spiral bound, 78 pagesRead more
Publisher: Galerie Gisela Capitain, Cologne
Dimensions: 26.5 × 21 cm -
Christopher Williams
Stage Play, Walther König, 2021 2021Softcover, 240 pagesRead more
Publisher: Walther König, Cologne
Dimensions: 241 × 165 × 34 mm -
Ross Bleckner, Barbara Bloom, Troy Brauntuch, Matt Mullican, Stephen Prina, Christopher Williams
Kunsthaus Graz, Kestnergesellschaft, Hannover, 2020 2020Softcover, 176 pagesRead more
Publisher: Kunsthaus Graz, Kestnergesellschaft, Hannover
ISBN: 978-3-903179-23-3
Dimensions: 15 x 21 cm -
Christopher Williams
Model 38, 2020 2020 Read more -
Christopher Williams
Inklusive, Walther König, 2020 2020Paperback, 42 pagesRead more
Publisher: Walther König
Dimensions: 15.4 x 0.7 x 23.1 cm -
Christopher Williams
Normative Models, Kestner Gesellschaft, Hannover, 2018 2018 Read more -
Christopher Williams
The Production Line of Happiness, Art Institute of Chicago / Museum of Modern Art, New York / Whitechapel Gallery, London, 2015 2015 Read more -
Christopher Williams
Printed in Germany (yellow), Walther König, 2014 2014 Read more -
Christopher Williams
Printed in Germany (green), Walther König, 2014 2014 Read more -
Christopher Williams
Printed in Germany (red), Walther König, 2014 2014 Read more -
Christopher Williams
For Example: Dix-Huit Leçons Sur La Société Industrielle (Revision 10), Bergen Kunsthall, 2010 2010 Read more
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