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.
His work MODEL is currently presented at The High Line, New York (until November 2026).
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; and Secession, Vienna, among many others.
His work is part of major international collections such as The Museum of Modern Art, New York; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, 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.
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WorksOpen a larger version of the following image in a popup:
Installation image
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Installation Image
Christopher Williams
Supplement 04 Ringier Jahresbericht 2003, 2004Book, silkscreened poster, offset card, DVD
Gmund Colors 19, light brown matt, 100/qm wood-free/chlorine-free
Producer: Ringier AG, Unternehmenskommunikation, Zürich
Film of 332 MIN 17 SECB-CWILLIAMS-.20-0002Further images
'Supplement 04 Ringier Jahresbericht 2003' elaborates Williams’ interest in the conditions of production. This includes an annual report he created in 2003 for the Swiss publishing house Ringier AG, along...'Supplement 04 Ringier Jahresbericht 2003' elaborates Williams’ interest in the conditions of production. This includes an annual report he created in 2003 for the Swiss publishing house Ringier AG, along with a video and production documents for Supplement 2003, a cooking show made by using the existing apparatus of Ringier’s television studio, whose primary product was a popular Swiss cooking show.
Williams used the program’s shot list as a model for his version, with one shift: the duration of twelve of the shots was extended to correspond to the actual preparation time of the food, thereby stretching the show’s running time from 50 to 332 minutes. Alongside the annual report and related documents, Williams presents spreads from the publication for his 2007 exhibition at Kunsthalle Zürich, which uses the advertising space historically used in exhibition catalogues, to highlight the economies of collaboration and sponsorship usually kept in the background of an exhibition’s presentation and reception.Exhibitions-
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, Player I: Christopher Williams, Provisional Props and Blocking Templates', American Academy of Arts and Letters, New York
September 26, 2026 – July 3, 2027 26 September 2026The first round of The Game is played by Christopher Williams. The title of his exhibition is Provisional Props and Blocking Templates, and it is...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 -
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, The Perimeter, 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
Inklusive 1972 / Inclusive 1974, Walther König, 2024 2024Softcover, 36 pagesRead more
Publisher: Walther König
ISBN: 1659580 -
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
Program. For Example: Dix Huit Lecons sur la Societe Industrielle (Revision 11)., Staatliche Kunsthalle Baden-Baden, 2011 2011Softcover, 126 pagesRead more
Publisher: Staatliche Kunsthalle Baden-Baden
ISBN: 9783865608444 -
Christopher Williams
Program. For Example: Dix-Huit Leçons Sur La Société Industrielle (Revision 10), Bergen Kunsthall, 2010 2010 Read more -
Christopher Williams
97,5 Mhz*, Kunsthalle Zürich, 2007 2007Softcover, 24 pagesRead more
Publisher: les presses du réel
ISBN: 978-3-905829-04-4
Dimensions: 32,3 x 23,4 cm -
Christopher Williams
Program. For Example: Dix-Huit Leçons Sur La Société Industrielle (Revision I), Kunstverein Braunschweig, 2006 2006Softcover, 88 pagesRead more
Publisher: Lukas & Sternberg, New York / Berlin
ISBN: 978-1-933128-11-5
Dimensions: 21×27 cm
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