Christopher Williams: Footwear (Adapted for Use)

David Zwirner is pleased to present new work by Christopher Williams (b. 1956). Referencing a wide range of source material, including Ikea catalogues, airplane magazines, coloring books, and his own past imagery, Footwear (Adapted for Use) reflects the artist’s ongoing interest in how meaning and information are actively structured through the process of adaptation and restaging. The exhibition will feature new photographs as well as distinctive wall treatments, hand-painted signs, printed ephemera, sculptures, and videos. The imagery, surfaces, and objects on display engage with postwar material and cultural histories while also responding to the unique spatial qualities of the gallery’s East 69th Street location in New York. This will be Williams’s ninth solo exhibition with David Zwirner.

Image:
Christopher Williams
Model No. 2745 (Son)
Distance to lens: 105.5 cm
Garment label: HANOI TOCONTAP VIETNAM 48
Model No. 1542 (Mother)
Distance to lens: 159 cm
Garment label: VEB Wäschekonfektion m94 Obercrinitz 40°
Model No. 1316 (Father)
Distance to lens: 231 cm
Garment label: Dreiklang 60 2450 60°
Sleepware courtesy of Adlershofer Fundus Kostüm- & Requisitenverleih, Ernst-
Augustin-Str. 7, Berlin-Adlershof, Germany (fmr. DDR)
Pillows manufactured by Heinrich Häussling GmbH & Co., Branchweilerhofstraße
200, Neustadt an der Weinstraße, Germany (fmr. DBR)
Bedding manufactured by Oberlausitzer Leinen, Hoffmann GmbH & Co. KG, Zittauer
Straße 23, Neukirch/Lausitz, Germany (fmr. DDR)
Studio Thomas Borho, Oberkasseler Str. 39, Düsseldorf, Germany
October 7, 2019
2020 (detail)

Location

34 East 69th Street New York New York, 10021

Dates

February 27—July 24, 2020

Opening Reception

Thursday, February 27, 6–8 PM

Artist

Christopher Williams

Press Release

Footwear (Adapted for Use)

“‘Use,’ at its simplest, is something to activate the mobilization of thought and vision for a ‘user.’ The art world is one of the few public areas that allow for speculative thought or slowed down vision. The camera, the gallery, the museum, the play between language and images, are all part of a workshop to make things that could be interesting and useful to others.”
—Christopher Williams in conversation with Catherine Taft and David Tasman in DIS magazine

“Christopher Williams’s recent exhibitions have been prefaced by open letters. Sometimes addressed to the models participating in his images, the letters act as a strategy that cuts across intimate dialogues and public debate, unveiling constructions of the self and the institutions of everyday life. He opens up the deep complexity of institutional structures while putting human detail into the frame.” —Duncan Wooldridge, Artforum

Installation view, Christopher Williams, Open Letter: The Family Drama Refunctioned? (From the Point of View of Production), David Zwirner, London, 2017

Christopher Williams
Provisional Prop, Klebelayout, hochtransparentes Zeichenpapier entfernt
2020
Single-channel video, 32 min, black and white, sound

Christopher Williams

Adapted For Use:
Untitled
Focal length: 180mm
Aperture: f/5.6
Image ratio: 2:1
Distance lens to focal plane: 27cm
Distance film layer to focal plane: 81cm
Bellows extension: 36cm
Depth of field: 1.932mm
Studio Rhein Verlag, Düsseldorf
August 13, 2016
2019

Gelatin silver print

19 7/8 x 15 7/8 inches (50.5 x 40.3 cm)

“One of the most telling images in the Museum of Modern Art’s beautiful but demanding survey of the Conceptual photographer Christopher Williams represents an act of elegant iconoclasm. It lays bare something most of us rarely see: the guts of a camera’s lens. It is an amazing sight....He is an ardently self-conscious artist who wants to let us in on his entire act. You feel his touch everywhere....There’s nothing that he hasn’t tweaked....All these details conspire to make us look harder, and the images feel a little like windows, an expansive effect.” —Roberta Smith, The New York Times

“I address the production, reception, and distribution of photographic information… through the idea of models, and the adoption of models.”
—Christopher Williams, DIS magazine

Christopher Williams
Provisional Prop, Klebelayout, hochtransparentes Zeichenpapier
2020

“For Williams, every artistic production is a sort of dialogic enterprise in which he engenders a conversation with creatives of his generation, his predecessors and artists of the younger generation…. Williams’ critique spans both authoritarian regimes and political situations, and the capitalist democracies of Western Europe and the USA.” —Roxana Marcoci in conversation with Colin Herd in Aesthetica magazine

Christopher Williams

Adapted For Use:
Teppich: Kinast Teppiche, Wiesenstraße 11, D-24539 Neumünster, Qualität: KODIAK, Flor ca. 3,5cm, Fabre: 482 010 – 100%, Größe cm: 200/200
Kochgeschirre: Contacto Bander GmbH, Gruitener Strasse 1, D-40699 Erkrath, Art-Nr.: 2101/600, Volumen: 155L, ∅ Innen: 60cm, Höhe außen: 55cm, ∅ Boden: 53cm
Studio Thomas Bohro, Düsseldorf
March 24, 2019
2019

Gelatin silver print

16 x 19 3/4 inches (40.6 x 50.2 cm)

Christopher Williams

Model No. 2745 (Son)
Distance to lens: 105.5 cm
Garment label: HANOI TOCONTAP VIETNAM 48
Model No. 1542 (Mother)
Distance to lens: 159 cm
Garment label: VEB Wäschekonfektion m94 Obercrinitz 40°
Model No. 1316 (Father)
Distance to lens: 231 cm
Garment label: Dreiklang 60 2450 60°
Sleepware courtesy of Adlershofer Fundus Kostüm- & Requisitenverleih, Ernst-
Augustin-Str. 7, Berlin-Adlershof, Germany (fmr. DDR)
Pillows manufactured by Heinrich Häussling GmbH & Co., Branchweilerhofstraße
200, Neustadt an der Weinstraße, Germany (fmr. DBR)
Bedding manufactured by Oberlausitzer Leinen, Hoffmann GmbH & Co. KG, Zittauer
Straße 23, Neukirch/Lausitz, Germany (fmr. DDR)
Studio Thomas Borho, Oberkasseler Str. 39, Düsseldorf, Germany
October 7, 2019
2020

Archival pigment print

16 x 19 3/8 inches (40.6 x 49.2 cm)

Christopher Williams

Knockbox, 14 gram spent puck accumulator,
Kaffee + Kuchen
Venloer Str. 19. 50672 Köln, Germany
Studio Thomas Borho
Oberkasseler Str. 39, Düsseldorf, Germany
October 13, 2019
2020

Archival pigment print

16 x 19 3/8 inches (40.6 x 49.2 cm)

Christopher Williams

Untitled (standard men’s insole)
BÚFALO
NATURE
ALLROUND 46
2 Lagen
Echtes Leder / Feuchtigkeitsbindend
Inhalt: 1 Paar
Art. 4035
BNS Bergal Nico & Solitaire Vertriebs GmbH, Rheinallee 96, Mainz, Germany
4035-BUF-1301
Studio Thomas Borho, Oberkasseler Str. 39, Düsseldorf, Germany
October 3, 2019
2020

Archival pigment print

Print: 16 x 19 3/4 inches (40.6 x 50.2 cm)
Framed: 29 1/2 x 33 inches (74.9 x 83.8 cm)

“Williams’s photographs…. enable a vicarious appeal: imagining what it’s like to care so much about something, no matter what. And one immediately compelling aspect of Williams’s process is his mastery of the forms and protocols of display.” —Peter Schjeldahl, The New Yorker

Inquire about works by Christopher Williams

Installation view of the exhibition, Christopher Williams: Footwear (Adapted for Use), at David Zwirner in New York, dated 2020.

Christopher Williams

Archival pigment print

Print: 16 x 19 3/8 inches (40.6 x 49.2 cm)
Framed: 29 x 32 inches (73.7 x 81.3 cm)

Inquire

Christopher Williams

Archival pigment print

Print: 16 x 19 3/4 inches (40.6 x 50.2 cm)
Framed: 29 1/2 x 33 inches (74.9 x 83.8 cm)

Inquire

Christopher Williams

Knockbox, 14 gram spent puck accumulator,
Kaffee + Kuchen
Venloer Str. 19. 50672 Köln, Germany
Studio Thomas Borho
Oberkasseler Str. 39, Düsseldorf, Germany
October 13, 2019, 2020

Archival pigment print

Print: 17 x 21 inches (43.2 x 53.3 cm)
Framed: 30 x 33 1/2 inches (76.2 x 85.1 cm)

Inquire

Christopher Williams

MODEL (David Zwirner, 34 East 69th Street, New York, NY, 10021), 2020

Enamel paint, glass, aluminum, and felt

22 1/2 x 60 3/8 inches (57.1 x 153.3 cm)

Inquire

Christopher Williams

Adapted For Use: Wall designed by Dirk Ufermann, Head Technician, Bonner Kunstverein, Bonn. Scaled at 1:1.2 for room dimensions of third floor gallery, David Zwirner, 34 East 69th Street, New York, NY. Constructed after drawings by Pasztori Simons Architects, Berlin with Avery Dennison 500 Event Film Matt vinyl (color code: 707EM) and PPG Diamond Interior Flat Matte paint (Seed Pearl 40YY 75/084), 2020

Plywood, metal, wood, aluminum, adhesive vinyl, acrylic, rubber, ink, and tape

114 1/8 x 114 5/8 x 18 5/8 inches (289.9 x 291.1 x 47.3 cm)

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Christopher Williams

Adapted For Use:
Untitled
Focal length: 210mm
Aperture: f/11
Image ratio: 2.41:1
Distance lens to focal plane: 29.7cm
Distance film layer to focal plane: 101cm
Bellows extension: 50.6cm
Depth of field: 1.289mm
Studio Rhein Verlag, Düsseldorf
November 20, 2016, 2019

Gelatin silver print

Print: 19 7/8 x 16 inches (40.6 x 50.5 cm)
Framed: 29 1/4 x 28 3/4 inches (74.3 x 73 cm)

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Christopher Williams

Adapted For Use:
Hand Carved Songye Kifwebe Mask 22” – DR Congo African Art
Overall Condition: Wear and tear — shown in photos. This mask could easily be partially restored. It
has been left alone to give buyer that option.
Was: US $375.00
You save: $187.50 (50% off)
Price: US $187.50
Shipping: $30.00 Standard Shipping
Item location: Clackamas, Oregon, United States
Ships to: Worldwide
Returns: Seller does not accept returns
Seller: tribaltruth16 (79)
Seller Notes: “This item is in good condition with imperfections and possible cracking or previous
repairs. See photos or inquire for specific details.”
Type of Object: Kifwebe Mask on Custom Stand
Country of Origin: DRC
Ethnicity: Songye
Materials: Wood, Pigment
Approximate Age: Unknown
Height (Inches): 22”
Width (Inches): 7.5”
Depth (Inches): 13”
Weight (Pounds): 2.5lbs
Keywords: Songye, Shaba, Lualaba, DRC, Democratic Republic of Congo, Zaire, Mask, Kifwebe
ID# 1000496
©1995-2019 eBay Inc., 2145 Hamilton Avenue, San Jose, CA 95125
Studio Thomas Bohro, Düsseldorf
February 20, 2019, 2019

Gelatin silver print

Print: 19 3/4 x 15 3/4 inches (50.2 x 40 cm)
Framed: 31 1/8 x 28 3/4 inches (79.2 x 72.9 cm)

Inquire

Christopher Williams

Gelatin silver print

Print: 16 x 19 3/4 inches (40.6 x 50.2 cm) Framed: 28 1/8 x 30 inches (71.4 x 76.2 cm)

Inquire

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