Christian Holstad
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AboutInhale, exhale. (with Peter Dean & Frank Lincoln Viner), 2021
United by attitude rather than medium or method, Christian Holstad’s work probes received ideas about class, culture, sexuality and society. A keen eye on concepts of high and low informs a body of work that, encompassing sculpture, installation, performance, photography, ceramics, collage and textiles, is concerned with the construction and manifestation of social and intimate spaces. Holstad's practice has explored domestic and subcultural sites, often exploring and calling into question preconceived notions of identity and desire.
Holstad has often examined the conceptual and aesthetic resonance of the vessel as part of a wider enquiry into cycles of consumption and their effects on the world. Many of his recent ceramic works are the result of an extended period living and working in Faenza, Italy, which is home to the historical manufacture of majolica ware known as faience. Working closely with Italian ceramicists, Holstad has developed new ways of working with clay that expand on the techniques – variously American, English and Japanese – to which he was already accustomed. In his ongoing series of Eraserhead drawings the artist selectively erases sections of images cut from newspapers and magazines, transforming their meanings in ways that hint at hidden or subtextual layers beneath the surface.
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Selected Works
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BiographyInhale, exhale. (with Peter Dean & Frank Lincoln Viner), 2021
Holstad was born in Anaheim, California in 1972 and lives and works between New York City and Romagna, Italy. Recent solo exhibitions include Museo Civico Luigi Varoli, Cotignola, Ravenna (2024); Massimo de Carlo Pièce Unique, Paris (2023); Slow Fish, Genova (2021); Ca' Foscari University, Venice (2019); Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York (2017 and 2013) and Galleria national d'arte moderna, Rome (2009).
The artist presented the multi-disciplinary performance work red, yellow, lime, pink, lavender, green, scarlet, lavender, scarlet, green, lavender as part of The Magazine Sessions 2016 at the Serpentine Galleries, London, and has participated in group exhibitions including The Flames: The Age of Ceramics, Musee d’art Moderne, Paris (2021); Transitions and Transformations, NSU Art Museum, Fort Lauderdale (2019-21); Harald Szeemann - Grandfather: A Pioneer Like Us, Swiss Institute, New York (2019); A Cool Breeze, Galerie Rudolfinum, Prague (2019); Chromaphilia & Chromaphobia, Kansas City Art Institute (2016); From The Ruins..., 601Artspace, New York (2015); Hangzhou Triennial of Fiber Art, Hangzhou, China (2013); Paper, Saatchi Gallery, London (2013); Aquatopia, Nottingham Contemporary, Nottingham, touring to Tate St Ives (2013); Graphite, Indianapolis Museum of Art (2013); The Air We Breathe, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (2011); Coming After, The Power Plant, Toronto (2011); Compilation IV, Kunsthalle, Dusseldorf (2009); Compass in Hand: Selections from the Judith Rothschild Collection, Museum of Modern Art, New York (2009); Unmonumental (Inaugural Exhibition), New Museum, New York (2017) and Uncertain States of America, Serpentine Gallery, London (2006). Holstad participated in the Lyon Biennial in 2007 and the Whitney Biennial in New York in 2004.
His work is in the permanent collections of institutions including the Museum of Modern Art, New York; Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami; Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago and Astrup Fearnley Museet for Moderne Kunst, Oslo.
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News
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Christian Holstad: Salve at Palazzo Sforza, Cotignola
February 28, 2024A two-part exhibition featuring new works in papier-mâché (from 9 March 2024) and a selection of the artist's celebrated drawings on newsprint (from 12 April...Read More -
Christan Holstad’s Consider Yourself as a Guest (Cornucopia) installed on Procida
September 2, 2021Installed on Procida, an island off the coast of Naples, Christan Holstad' s Consider Yourself as a Guest (Cornucopia) is made entirely from plastic waste....Read More -
Designboom features Christian Holstad’s Consider Yourself as a Guest (Cornucopia)
May 23, 2019Holstad's site-specific installation in Venice aims to raise public awareness on the pressing issue of ocean pollution from plastic waste. Supported by FPT industrial, who...Read More -
Christian Holstad: Consider yourself as a guest (Cornucopia) on view in Venice
May 4, 2019American artist Christian Holstad has been invited by curator Milovan Farronato to create a site-specific installation inspired by the theme of marine protection from plastic...Read More -
Work by Christian Holstad features in SI Onsite at the new Swiss Institute building, New York
June 21, 2018On the occasion of the opening of Swiss Institute’s new home at 38 St Marks Place, SI has commissioned and borrowed a series of semi-permanent...Read More -
Christian Holstad in Still Human at the Rubell Family Collection
December 6, 2017The exhibition (until 25 August 2018) confronts the complex consequences of the digital revolution and recent technological developments as they redefine the human condition. Twenty-five...Read More -
Christian Holstad: The Magazine Sessions at Serpentine Galleries
October 17, 201621 November, 8pm. £5/£4 concs. Presented in collaboration with Fiorucci Art Trust and with the participation of The Magazine restaurant, the multi-disciplinary series The Magazine...Read More -
Just out: Protest publication
September 23, 2016This publication accompanies Protest at Victoria Miro, 23 September - 5 November 2016, an exhibition of historical and contemporary works by artists concerned with the...Read More -
Power to... the art of protest, as featured in The Observer
September 23, 2016Politically engaged art is thriving again, finding new ways to challenge in a complex digital world. We look at the rich history of protest art...Read More
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Gallery Exhibitions
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Christian Holstad: Time wounds all heels
10 Apr – 8 May 2021 VeniceVictoria Miro is delighted to present an exhibition in Venice by Christian Holstad. The US artist’s fourth solo exhibition with the gallery, Time wounds all heels features new two- and...Learn More -
Christian Holstad, Grayson Perry, Tal R, Betty Woodman
26 Jan – 18 Apr 2019 VeniceThis exhibition brings together ceramic works by four artists who, through a diversity of approaches, explore the possibilities of the medium: its fluidity, in spite of an undeniable physicality, in...Learn More -
Protest
23 Sep – 5 Nov 2016 London Gallery IDoug Aitken, Jules de Balincourt, Vlassis Caniaris, Elmgreen & Dragset, Ian Hamilton Finlay, Christian Holstad, Isaac Julien, Yayoi Kusama, Wangechi Mutu, Alice Neel, Chris Ofili, Richard Prince, Sarah Sze, Wolfgang Tillmans, Rirkrit Tiravanija and Kara Walker.Learn More -
Christian Holstad: Corrections
26 Apr – 31 May 2014 London Gallery INew collage work by the American artist is presented in his third exhibition with the gallery. Corrections looks at various types of borders, boundaries and constraints in our environment that...Learn More -
Christian Holstad: american standard
6 Feb – 14 Mar 2009 London Gallery IVictoria Miro announces the second solo exhibition in the UK by American artist Christian Holstad, whose distinctive practice encompasses large-scale installations, performances, labour-intensive collage and hand-made textiles. american standard will...Learn More -
Christian Holstad: Beautiful Lies You Could Live In
23 Mar – 23 Apr 2005 London Gallery IIn the project space, Victoria Miro Gallery presents a new installation by New York-based artist Christian Holstad, titled Beautiful Lies You Could Live In.
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