Artwork
Untitled
Untitled is a paint drawing by Christopher Williams. It dates from 1982 and is held in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art.
About this work
Overview
On every panel a small, torn photograph is affixed: a red automobile, a bustling street view, and an urban landscape with buildings.
Created in 1982, this untitled work by Christopher Williams consists of three separate panels of colored paper—pale green, off‑white and soft gray—each framed in a simple black border. On every panel a small, torn photograph is affixed: a red automobile, a bustling street view, and an urban landscape with buildings. The three pieces are taped together, forming a modest collage that resides in the Museum of Modern Art’s collection.
Subject & Meaning
The juxtaposed images present everyday visual fragments—a vehicle, a crowd‑filled thoroughfare, and a built environment—highlighting the ordinary moments that populate urban life. By isolating these scenes on distinct colored grounds, Williams invites viewers to consider how context and presentation alter perception, prompting reflection on the ways media extracts and reassembles reality.
Technique & Style
Williams employs a cut‑and‑tape method, extracting printed photographs from their original sources and adhering them to colored paper supports. The torn edges retain a magazine‑like quality, emphasizing the materiality of the source. The minimalist framing and flat presentation align with his conceptual approach, where the process of selection and recontextualization becomes central to the artwork’s visual impact.
History & Provenance
The piece was produced while Williams was based in Los Angeles before relocating to Europe; he now lives in Cologne and works in Düsseldorf. Acquired by the Museum of Modern Art, the work has remained in the institution’s holdings, representing an early example of his exploration of photographic appropriation and collage during the early 1980s.
Context
Emerging in the early 1980s, Williams’ practice intersected with broader conceptual art movements that questioned authorship and the role of the image. His background in photography and his later activity in German art circles situate the work within a transatlantic dialogue on media critique, aligning with contemporaries who used similar cut‑and‑paste strategies to interrogate visual culture.
Artist & collection
Artist
Christopher Williams (born 1956 in Los Angeles) is an American conceptual artist and fine-art photographer who lives in Cologne and works in Düsseldorf.
