Context
It is both an intention and an outcome that the development of my art practice encompasses the polemics and issues of our contemporary culture and society as a means of consciously examining the function and meaning of art in society. This necessarily takes it beyond the norms and conventions of an object-based art world, rather seeing it as a function of my work to transform peoples’ perceptions of a deterministic culture of objects and monuments, into the possibilities inherent in the community between people, the richness of its complexity and self-organisation. The artwork having a dynamic, interactive social function.
Some of the polemics and issues that impact on my work involve seeing culture and its society as fluid, transient, relative and complex. I view the world we live in as a multi-channel experience in time, that our encountered fragments of reality are in themselves random variables, that we create the order we choose to see, and in this respect art practice itself becomes a social phenomenon.
For me these concepts have remained a constant, as I wrote in the 1960s:
- A work of art can itself constitute a societal state, a model of human relationships
- A work of art can consist of a process in time, a learning system through which the concepts of the social view forwarded in the work are accessed and internalised
- A work of art must acknowledge the relativism inherent in perception and the transience of experience, there being no right or wrong, it taking the form of an open-ended process
- A work of art has the possibility of operating as its own institution and as such is independent of art institutions
- A work of art can engage anyone meaningfully, being available to whoever wishes to enter its domain, only through embodying in its presentation the means by which people are able to acquire the necessary language and procedures to receive and internalise its meaning
My work engages the audience in a new way of encountering art in society. I am not talking about a compliance, but something more active, a mutual understanding, an interaction between people – similar to the dynamic image of the homeostat where all the parts of the network are equal and equally linked.
Ultimately I am interested in the idea that reality is our own construction, that we build it and we create the reality we want in our life. There is not only one way of viewing reality. My work is an open work, based on agreement and open agreement.
Solo Exhibitions
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2024
Transition - Transform, Charim Gallery, Vienna
2023
Time Tumbler, Victoria Miro Gallery, London
Stephen Willats - An Introspective, Galerie Elizabeth and Reinhard Hauff, Stuttgart
2022
The Social Resource Project for Tennis Clubs, Bonnington Gallery, Nottingham Trent University
2019
Languages of Dissent, Migros Museum fur Gegenwartskunst, Zurich
Modern Buildings, Galerie Lumen Travo, Amsterdam
2018
Control, Tate Liverpool, UK
Endless, Galerie Thomas Schulte, Berlin
2017
Stephen Willats, The Conceptual Designer, Art Feature at Basel Art Fair, Galerie Balice Hertling
Human Right, MIMA, Middlesbrough
2016
THISWAY - Stephen Willats - Index - Stockholm
Inside the Night, Galerie Balice Hertling, Paris
Conversations With Buildings, Galerie Reinhard Hauff, Stuttgart
2015
Publishing Interventions - Stephen Willats - Selected Publications 1965 - 2015, Tenderpixel, London
Step Change, Lumen Travo, Amsterdam
Man From the 21st Century, Museo Tamayo, Mexico City
2014
Strange Attractor Series No 28, Corner Space, Galerie Thomas Schulte, Berlin
Berlin Local, MD72, Berlin
How Tomorrow Looks From Here, DAAD Galerie, Berlin
Attracting the Attractor, Anne Mosseri-Marlio Galerie, Basel, Switzerland
Concrete Block, Drawings & Works on Paper, 1978 - 2005, MOT International, Brussels
Concerning Our Present Way of Living, Whitechapel Gallery, London
Representing the Possible, Victoria Miro, London
Control, Stephen Willats 1962 - 69, Raven Row, London
2013
Living for Tomorrow, Galerie Balice Hertling, Paris
World Without Objects, Annie Gentils Gallery, Antwerp, Belgium
World of Objects, Galerie Reinhard Hauff, Stuttgart, Germany
Conscious - Unconscious In and Out the Reality Check, Modern Art Oxford
2012
Secret Language The Code Breakers, Galerie Thomas Schulte, Berlin
Surfing With The Attractor, South London Gallery, London
How the Future Looks from Here, April, Lumen Travo Gallery? Amsterdam
2011
The Strange Attractor, Gallery Reena Spaulings, New York
The Information Nomad, MOT International, London
West London Social Resource Project Public Monitor, Chelsea Space, London
Talking City, Passerelle Centre d’Art, Brest
2010
Street Diagram, Corner Space, Galerie Thomas Schulte, Berlin
The World As It Is and the World As It Could Be, Victoria Miro, London
In Two Minds, Erna Hecey Gallery, Brussels
Street Diagram, Galerie Thomas Schulte, Berlin
Counter Consciousness, Badischer Kunstverein, Karlsruhe
2009
Cybernetic Still Life, BaliceHertling Gallerie, Paris
In And Out The Underworld European Kunsthalle, Köln.
The Ideological Diagram Galerie Christian Nagel, Köln.
Assumptions And Identity Identity And Assumptions, Galerie Lumen Travo, Amsterdam
2008
Democratic Mosaics And Conceptual Towers, Galerie Thomas Schulte, Berlin.
The Architecture of Stephen Willats, LWL, Westfälisches Landesmuseum, Munster, Germany.
The Speculative Diagram, CASCO, Utrecht, Holland.
2007
Person To Person People To People, Milton Keynes Gallery, Milton Keynes.
Assumptions And Presumptions, film commission by Transport for London, for Rayners Lane and Sudbury Town Underground Stations.
Just Between People, Galerie Reinhard Hauff, Stuttgart.
2006
Publishing Interventions, Connor Donlon Books, Herald Street Gallery, London.
From My Mind To your Mind, Victoria Miro Gallery, London.
Wie die Welt ist und wie sie sein könnte, Stephen Willats, Museum für Gegenwartskunst Siegen, Germany.
2005
Street Talk Amsterdam. Galerie Lumen Travo, Amsterdam.
Multichannel Life, Galerie Christian Nagel, Köln, Germany.
Going Home. MOT Gallery, London.
2004
Messages From The Polemical City. Galerie Thomas Schulte, Berlin.
2003
Personal Encounters In Your Imagination, Galerie Reinhard Hauff, Stuttgart.
2002
Through Your Symbolic World. Victoria Miro Gallery, London.
Cognition Control. From The Archives of Stephen Willats. Institute of Visual Culture. Fitzwilliam Museum. Cambridge.
2001
Traces And Signs Galerie Lumen Travo. Amsterdam.
Rencontres et Cooperations 1970-2000.’ Galerie Gabrielle Maubrie. Paris.
2000
Macro To Micro. Gallery Laure Genillard.London.
1999
Multichannel Vision, Galerie Reinhard Hauff, Stuttgart
1998
Random Encounter, Southampton City Art Gallery
Changing Everything, South London Art Gallery
Creative Force, Mappin Art Gallery, Sheffield
Multicult Berlin, Galerie Franck & Schulte, Berlin
Concepts, Strategies & Models 1962 - 65, Gimpel Fils, London
Blind Date With Reality, Galerie Brandstetter & Wyss, Zurich
1997
Street Talk, Gallery Victoria Miro, London
Between Me And You, Middlesbrough Art Gallery
MULTICULT, Galerie Lumen Travo, Amsterdam
1996
In Response To Each Other, Galerie Brandstetter & Wyss, Zurich
Du Hasard a l’Accord, Galerie Gabrielle Maubrie, Paris
1995
Living Together, Tramway, Glasgow
A State Of Agreement, Galerie Franck & Schulte, Berlin
Writing on the Wall, Galerie Kaj Forsblom, Helsinki
Writing on the Wall, Reinhard Hauff at Galerie Archim Kubinski, Stuttgart
1994
Multiple Clothing, Daniel Buchholz, Cologne
Random Life, Victoria Miro Gallery, London
Museum Mosaic, Tate Gallery, Liverpool
Fateful Combinations, The British School at Rome
Into the Infra-Structure, Galerie Lumen Travo, Amsterdam
Urban Nomads, Galerie Gabrielle Maubrie, Paris
1993
Buildings & People, Berlinische Galerie, Berlin
Multiple Clothing, Institute of Contemporary Art, London
Walking Between Objects, Galerie Franck & Schulte, Berlin
Buildings & People, Goethe Institute, London
1992
Signs of Living, Galerie Gabrielle Maubrie, Paris
1991
Publishing Interventions, 1963 - 1991, National Art Library, Victoria & Albert Museum, London
Concrete Window, Gallery Montevideo, Antwerp, Belgium
1990
Mosaics, Galerie Kaj Forsblom, Helsinki, Finland
Stephen Willats, Galerie Barbara Farber, Amsterdam
1989
Secret Language, Cornerhouse Gallery, Manchester
1988
Transformers, Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle
Code Breakers, Torch Gallery, Amsterdam
Stephen Willats, Galerie Ralph Wernicke, Stuttgart
1987
Contemporary Living, Museum van Hedendaagse Kunst, Gent
Between Objects And People, Leeds City Art Gallery
1986
City of Concrete, Ikon Gallery, Birmingham
Grusse vom Medernen Lebe, Stadtische Galerie, Regensburg, West Germany
Groeten uit het moderne leven, Museum van Hedenaagse Kunst, Utrecht, Holland
Concepts and Models, ICA, London
Vier Hiizen in Den Haag, Haags Gemeentemuseum, Den Haag, Holland
Striking Back, Mappin Art Gallery, Sheffield
Fragments of Modern Living, Galerie Tanja Grunert, Cologne
1985
Doppelganger, Lisson Gallery, London
Double Crossing, Ralph Wernicke Galerie, Stuttgart
1984
Means of Escape, Rochdale Art Gallery, Greater Manchester
Another City, Riverside Studios, London
1983
Angst in den Strasse, Rudiger Schottle Galerie, Munich
Inside The Night, Lisson Gallery, London
Under Cover, Arnolfini Gallery, Bristol
1982
Meta Filter and Related Works, Tate Gallery, London
The New Reality, Orchard Gallery, Londonderry, Northern Ireland
1981
4 Inseln in Berlin, Goethe Institute, London
Mens en Omgeving, De Beyerd Centrum voor beeldende Kunst, Breda, Holland
1980
The Lurky Place, Galerie Jurgen Schweinebraden, East Berlin
Four Professionals, Lisson Gallery, London
Berlin Wall Drawings, Galerie Rudiger Schottle, Munich
Concerning Our Present Way of Living, Stedelijk van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven
4 Inseln in Berlin, National Galerie, West Berlin
1979
Concerning Our Present Way of Living, Whitechapel Art Gallery, London
1978
Questions About Ourselves, Lisson Gallery, London
Living Within Contained Conditions, Museum of Modern Art, Oxford
1977
Attitudes Within Four Relationships, Southampton City Art Gallery
1976
Life Codes And Behaviour Parameters, The Midland Group Gallery, Nottingham
Social Structures: The Perception of Context, Stampa Gallery, Basel, Switzerland
Attitudes Within Four Relationships, Lisson Gallery, London
1975
Coding Structures And Behaviour Parameters, Massimo Minini, Gallery Banco, Brescia, Italy
Meta Filter, A State Of Agreement, The Gallery, London
1974
Life Codes And Behaviour Parameters, Gallery December, Munster, West Germany
1973
The Artist As An Instigator Of Changes in Social Cognition and Behaviour, Gallery House, London
1968
Visual Automatics & Visual Transmitters, Museum of Modern Art, Oxford
1964
Chester Beatty Research Centre, London
Group Exhibitions
2024
British Museum, Contemporary Collecting: David Hockney to Cornelia Parker,
De Stadscollectie: In/Zicht, MUHKA, Antwerp
Zone, Gallery Reena Spaulings, New York
2023
If the Berlin wind blows my Flag, Art & Internationalism before the fall of the Berlin Wall, Neuer Berliner Kunstverein
Tate Britain: Room 17, Modern and Contemporary British Art
GEN/GEN: Generative Generations, Gazeli Art House, London
Light Works from the Tate Collection, The National Art Center, Tokyo & Nakanoshima Museum of Art, Osaka
Coded: Art Enters the Computer Age, 1952 - 1982
Los Angeles County Museum
Feb - July 2023
A Tall Order - Rochdale Art Gallery in the 1980s
4 Feb - 6 May 2023
Touchstones Gallery, Rochdale
2022
L'école des créateurs: L'art de l'apprentissage des années 1960 à nos jours
Centre Pompidou, Metz, France
PALP Festival
Beauty & Room - A Fleeting Exhbition
Sion, Switzerland
2021
Light Works from the Tate Collection, Museum of Art Pudong, Shanghai, China
Rhythm & Geometry, Constructivist Art in Britain since 1951, Sainsbury Centre, Norwich, October 2021
2020
Not Working - Artistic Production and Social Class, Kunstverein, Munich
What If ... on Utopia in Art, Architecture & Design, Neues Museum, Nuremberg
Objects of Wonder: From Pedestal to Interaction, Aarhus Kunstmuseum, Denmark
Bodies - Cities: Collections and Excursions, Museum der Moderne, Salzburg
2019
Still Undead, Popular Culture in Britain Beyond the Bauhaus, Nottingham Contemporary
The Aerodrome, An exhibition dedicated to the memory of Michael Stanley, Ikon Gallery, Birmingham, and illustrated in the accompanying catalogue
Pushing Paper, Contemporary Drawing from 1970 to Now, British Museum and touring to Durham, Stromness, Swansea and Barnsley
Amberes, MUHKA, Antwerp
Going Out Of Circles, Berlin, Gropiusstadt, nGbK Hellersdorf 2019
Familienbande: Die Schenkung Schröder -Family Ties: The Schröder Donation.Museum Ludwig, 2019
Objects of Wonder - British Sculpture 1950 - Present, Palais Populaire, Berlin
Exchanges, The Whitworth, Manchester
The Lie of the Land, Milton Keynes Gallery
1989 El Fin del S.XXInstitut Valencia d'Art Modern
2018
The Value of Freedom, Belvedere 21, Museum of Contemporary Art, Vienna
Exchanges, The Whitworth, Manchester
Fashioned From Nature, Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Front International: Cleveland Triennial for Contemporary Art, Cleveland, Ohio, USA
The Medium is the Message, Heong Gallery, Downing College, Cambridge
Drawings, Models and Sculptures, Leeds Art Gallery
Extra Bodies Migros Museum, Zurich
Open Codes - Living in Digital Worlds, ZKM, Karlsruhe
Space and Photography, Museum der Moderne Mönchsberg, Salzburg
2017
Good Space, Politische, Asthetische und Urbane Räume, Villa Merkel, Esslingen, Germany
The Making of Modern Art & The Way Beyond Art, Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, Netherlands
Case Study, Balice Hertling, Paris
Everything We See Could Also Be Otherwise (My Sweet Little Lamb), The Showroom, London
Out of Line, The Meeting, Bill Cournoyer, New York
This Way Out of England: Gallery House in Retrospect, Raven Row, London
Control Issue 20, Gallery Laure Genillard, London
Les Objets Domestiquent, Frac Nord -Pas de Calais, Dunkerque
Lines of Thought - Drawing From Michelangelo to now, British Museum exhibition touring to Poole Musuem, Hull University, Ulster Museum, New Mexico Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design
Living with Art, collection of Christiane and Martin Middeke, Berlin
2016
Museum of Rhythm, Museum Sztuki, Lodz, Poland
Lines of Thought Drawing from Michelangelo to now. British Museum touring exhibition 2016 - 17 to Poole Museum, Hull University, Ulster Museum Belfast, New Mexico Museum of Art Santa Fe and Rhode Island School of Design Providence.
You Don't Need a Weatherman, Galerie Thomas Schulte, Berlin
Conceptual Art In Britain 1964 - 1979, Tate Britain, London
Crossing Media: Good Space - Political, Aesthetic & Urban Spaces, Villa Merkel, Esslingen, Germany
Do Boomerangs Always Come Back, Castle d'Aspremont-Lynden, Oud-Reken, Belgium
Art in Europe 1945-1968, ZKM, Karlsruhe, Germany
2015
Annexes, Emanuel Layr Gallery, Vienna
Subtle Patterns of Capitalism, Georg Kargl Gallery, Vienna
An English Summer, Elizabeth Dee Gallery, New York
Welfare State, MUHKA, Antwerp
Imaginary Audience Scale, Artspace, Auckland, New Zealand
2014
West:Berlin, Stadtmuseum Berlin
Social Factory, Shanghai Biennale, Power Station of Art, Shanghai
Sleeping Producers - part of Curated By - Vienna, Galerie Charim, Vienna
Traucum, Parc Saint Léger, Pougues-Les-Eaux, France
The Promise, Arnolfini Gallery, Bristol, UK
Was Modelle können, Museum für Gegenswart Kunst, Siegen, Germany
Warm Math - Part 2, Gallery Balice Hertling, New York
Nouvelle Generation, Frac Nord - Pas de Calais, France
Somewhat Abstract: Selections from the Arts Council Collection, Nottingham Contemporary
Bibliologie, Frac Haute-Normandie, Sotteville-les-Rouen, France
Secret Codes, Galerie Luisa Strina, San Paolo, Brazil
2013
Signs and Messages, Kate Macgarry, London
Xerography, Firstsite Gallery, Colchester
Pop Art & Design, Barbican Art Gallery, London
L'Expérience des Marges?Un Coup de Dés::Net?Le Centre Photographique d'Île-De-France? Stephen Willats by Chantal Pontebriand
'Mom. am I Barbarian' 13th Istanbul Biennial? 2013
Prologue - Part One - References, Paperclips and the Cha Cha Cha Arge Kunst ?Bolzano Italy
SPOT, Paris, France
Nessun Oggetto é Innocente - part of Les Pleiades, 30 Years of Fracs, Frac Corse
The Content of Form, Generali Foundation, Vienna
Inseldasein, DAADgalerie, Berlin
A World of Wild Doubt, Kunstverein in Hamburg
Nessun Oggetto é Innocente, FRAC Corsica
Vertical Club, curated by Will Benedict, Gallery Bortalami, New York
European Kunsthalle in Bregenz, KunsthausBregenz, Austria
Keywords, Iniva, London
The Content of Form, Generali Foundation, Vienna, Austria
2012
La Collection Frac Haute-Normandie, La Maison Pour Tous, Sotteville-Lès-Rouen
PVM-2130, Furnished Space, London
Fine Arts, curated by Thomas Locher, Galerie Georg Kargl, Vienna
Reflecting Fashion, Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Lugwig, Vienna
A Drawing While Waiting for an Idea, Large Glass, London
Préférences Systeme, Édition et Photographie dans la Collection du Frac Haute-Normandie, ESADHaR, Rouen
God Save the Queen, Centraal Museum Utrecht
Living with Art, Galerie Reinhard Hauff, Stuttgart
Salvo, Annie Gentils Gallery, Antwerp
2011
United Enemies, The Problem of Sculpture in Britain in the 1960's and 1970's?Henry Moore Institute, ?Leeds
'For Eindhoven' - The City as Muse - part of VANUIT HIER - OUT OF HERE, Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven
Through Symbolic Worlds, July 2011, International Project Space, School of Art Bournville, Birmingham
Final Exhibition, Kleingartenkolonie am Potsdamer Guterbahnhof, May 2011
Stay Hungry, May 2011 Group Exhibition, ?Kleingartenkolonie am Potsdamer Güterbahnof ?Berlin? May 2011
Aftermath: Objects from Projects, May 2011, ?Chelsea Space ?Chelsea College of Art & Design?, London
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Galerie Reinhard Hauff, Stuttgart
Indices, vestiges et prémonitions, Frac Corse, France
Balice Hertling & Lewis, Front Desk Apparatus, New York
Balice Hertling, Independent Art Fair New York
The Logic of Association, MOMA PS1, Long Island City, NY
Signal:Noise, The Showroom, London
2010
Moving Images Artists & Video / Film, Museum Ludwig, Cologne
Learning Machines, Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti, Milan
Ground Level, Arts Council Touring Exhibition, John Hansard Gallery, Southampton; Whitechapel Gallery, London; Oriel Mostyn, Wales
2009
Modernologies, Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona
My Yard, British Council Collection Exhibition, curated by Jeremy Deller and Alan Kane, Whitechapel Gallery, London
Revisiting the Shaping of the Social since the 20th Century, Central Museum Utrecht,
At the Edge British Art 1950 – 2000, Touchstones, Rochdale
Die Moderne als Ruine, Kunstmuseum, Lichtenstein
Die Moderne als Ruine, Generali Foundation, Vienna, Austria
Oppositions & Dialogues, Kunstverein Hannover, Germany
An Eye for an Eye, Glucksman Gallery, University of Cork, Ireland
2008
Monde e Terra, La collezione del FRAC Corsica, Museo d’Arte Provincia di Nuoro, Italy,
Volksgarten, Die Politik der Zugehörigkeit’, Kunsthaus Graz, Graz, Austria.
Be(com)ing Dutch, Vanabbemusem, Eindhoven, Holland.
Oh Girl It’s A Boy!, Kunsverein Munich, Munich.
Punk No One Is Innocent, Kunsthalle Wien, Wien, Austria,
Manifesta 7, Rovereto Italy.
Soziale Diagramme. Planning Reconsidered, Künstlerhaus Stuttgart, Germany.
Cold War Modern, Design from 1945 to 1980. Victoria & Albert Museum, London.
Social Interactions: Beth Campbell/Stephen Willats, Seiler + Mosseri-Marlio Galerie, Zurich, Switzerland
Eclectic, FRAC Basse-Normandie, Caen, France
Building Dwelling Thinking, curated by John Slyce, Laura Bartlett Gallery, London
The Art of Participation 1950 to Now, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, California
2007
What Does The Jellyfish Want?. Museum Ludwig, Köln, Germany.
The Secret Public/ Last Days of the British Underground 1978-1988.Institute of Contemporary Arts, London.
Centre of the Creative Universe. Liverpool and the Avant-Garde.Tate Liverpool, Liverpool.
Panic Attack/Art In The Punk Years, Barbican Art Gallery, London.
Art Link, Göteborgs Konsthall, Göteborgs, Sweden.
Beyond The Wall, Stiftung Brandenburger Tor, im Max Liebermann Haus, Berlin.
2006
The Secret Public. The Last Days of the British Underground 1978-1988. Kunstverein Munich. Germany.
Art Link. Dötenborgs Konsthall, Götenborg, Sweden.
2005
Faltering Flame. Graves Art Gallery, Sheffield.
Kritische Gesellschaften. Badischer Kunstverein, Karlsruhe, Germany.
Borders Dialogues, Barents Art Triennial, Kirkenes, Norway.
Wie Gesellschaft und Politik Ins Bild Mommen, Generali Foundation, Wien, Austria.
2004
3rd Berlin Biennial. Martin Gropius Bau. Berlin.
L’Air du Temps, Migros Museum, Zurich.
Streets, Galerie Lumen Travo, Amsterdam.
Engagierte Kunst 70/90 Neus Museum, Nürnberg, Germany.
Re:Location. 1-7 Shake, Halle für Kunst Lüneburg, Germany.
Art & The 60’s. This Was Tomorrow. Tate Gallery, London,
Art & The 60’s. This Was Tomorrow. Birmingham City Art Museum.
La Collection Continue FRAC Corse, Centre Culturel Una Volta, Bastia. France.
Vanishing Points:Landscape Art Beyond The Horizon. Southampton City Art Gallery.
70/90. Engagierte Kunst. Neuesmuseum, Nürnberg, Germany
2003
Collection 001. Frac Rhone-Alpes. Institut d’art Contemporain.Villeurbanne. France.
In Portraiture Irrelevance Is Ugliness. Curated by Claudia Seidel.Galerie Reinhard Hauff. Stuttgart.
Bewitched Bothered and Bewildered. Migros Museum. Zurich.
In Portraiture Irrelevance Is Ugliness. Museum Schloss Hardenberg. Velbert-Neviges. Germany.
Art For Networks. Turnpike Gallery. Leith, Nr Manchester.
Air Guitar. Reconsidering Rock Music. Tulie House Museum & Art Gallery. Carlise.
Urban Codes, coder/decoder, Espace de l’Art Concret, Chateau de Mouans, Mouans-Sartoux. France.
Independence. South London Gallery. June/August.
2002
Private Views.London Print Studio.
The Gap Show. Museum am Ostwald. Dortmund.
Air Guitar Milton Keynes Gallery and then touring.
Art For Networks. Chapter Art Centre, Cardiff and then touring.
Blast To Freeze. British Art In The Twentieth Century. Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg. Germany.
2001
City Racing. A Partial Account Institute of Contemporary Art, London.
Conception. Conceptual Documents 1968-72 Norwich Gallery.Norwich.
Double Vision.Galerie fur Zeitgenossische Kunst. Leipzig.Germany.
Antagonisms. Musee d’Art Contemperani, de Barcelona. Spain.
Arbeit Essen Angst, Kokerei Zollverein, Essen. Germany.
The Map Is Not The Territory. England & Co. London.
Video Evidence. Southampton City Art Gallery. Southampton.
Video Project Space. Anthony Wilkinson Gallery. London.
Works on Paper, Acconci To Zittel. Victoria Miro Gallery.London.
Selbst Portrat. Schloss Agathenburg. Agathenburg. Germany.
Stadsgezichten. Amsterdam vereeuwigd 1901-2001 Amsterdam Historisch Museum. Holland.
2000
Democracy. Royal College of Art. London.
Live In Your Head. Whitechapel Art Gallery. London.
Protest And Survive.Whitechapel Art Gallery.London.
Raw.Victoria Miro Gallery.London.
ein/raumen. Hamburger Kunsthalle. Hamburg.
Protest And Survive. Whitechapel Art Gallery.London
1999
Nur Wasser Lasst Sich Leichter Schneiden, Hamburg
Bildung. Grazer Kunstverien. Graz. Austria.
Borderline PILOT. Museum van Bommel van Dam, Venlo.Holland
1998
Addressing the Century, 100 Years of Art & Fashion, Hayward Gallery, London
1997
Sous le manteau, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropec, Paris
The Grand Design, The Art of the Victoria and Albert Museum, Baltimore Museum of Art, USA
In Every Moment Everywhere, Porin Taidemuseo, Finland
C’est ici que nous vivons (2), FRAC Rhones-Alpes, France
Photographie d’une Collection 3/97, de la Caise des Depots et Consignations, Paris
Wilson to Callaghan, Poster Studio, London
1996
Les Contes de Fees se terminent bien, Frac Haute-Normandie, Chateau du Val Freneuse, Sotteville-sous-le-Val
Radikale Images, 2nd Austrian Triennale for Photograph, Neue Galerie, Graz
Everybody’s Talking, Gemeentemuseum Helmond, Holland
1995
Mapping Knowledge, The Minories Gallery, Colchester
Ars 95 Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
I don’t actually have to go, Galerie Lumen Travo, Amsterdam, Holland
Imprint 93, City Racing, London
Temples, Victoria Miro Gallery, London
Ideal Standard Summertime, Lisson Gallery, London
La Transparence Dans L’Art Du XXe Siecle, Museum des Beaux-Arts Malraux, Le Havre, France
The Edge of Town, Joseloff Gallery, University of Hartford, Conn., USA
Paste-Up, Past & Present, Kent Gallery, New York
1994
Outsiders, Camerawork, London
Visione Britannica, Valentina Moncada, Rome, Italy
Sarah Staton Super Store Boutique, Laure Genillard Gallery, London
Conceptual Living, Rhizome, Amsterdam, Holland
Looking at Words: Reading Pictures, Elms Lester Painting Rooms, London
Lesezimmer II, Kunstlerhaus, Stuttgart, Germany
1993
Sixties Art Scene in London, Barbican Art Gallery, London
Out of Sight, Out of Mind, Lisson Gallery, London
Public and Private, Stills Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland
The Ideal Place, HCAK, Den Haag, Holland
1992
Wasteland, Photographic Biennale, Rotterdam, Holland
Real Stories, Museet fur Photokunst, Odense, Denmark
Instructions and Diagrams, Victoria Miro Gallery, London
1991
Exhibition of Gallery Artists, Gallery Montevideo, Antwerp, Belgium
Oikos, Galerie Gabrielle Maubrie, Paris
Excavating the Present, Kettles Yard Gallery, Cambridge
Past Continuous, Artsite Trust, Bath Festival
Shocks to the System, ACGB Touring Exhibition, South Bank Centre, London
1990
Art Creating Society, Exhibition to accompany Symposium at the MOMA, Oxford
1989
Invisible City, Leeds City Art Gallery, Leeds
Tekens Van Verzet, Beeld Museum Fodor, Amsterdam, Holland
1988
British Modernist Painting, Birch & Conran Fine Art, London
Beyond the City, The Metropolis, Triennale di Milano, Italy
What is good appears, and what appears is good, Galerie Tanja Grunert, Cologne, Germany
New Urban Landscape, World Financial Centre, Battery Park, New York, USA
100 Years of British Art, Leeds City Art Gallery, Leeds
New Reform Retrospective 1970 - 79, Cultural Centre, Alst, Belgium
1987
Art and Craft made and designed in the Twentieth Century, Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle upon Tyne
1986
The Art of Peace Biennale, Kunstverein, Hamburg, Germany
Androgyn, Academie der Kunst, Berlin, Germany
Eye Level, Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, Holland
1985
Watch Your Step, Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester
Sculpture Alternatives - Aspects of Photography and Sculpture in Britain 1965 - 82, Tate Gallery, London
The British Art Show, National Art Gallery, Wellington, New Zealand
Summer in the City, Ikon Gallery, Birmingham
Human Interest, Cornerhouse Gallery, Manchester
The British Show, Art Gallery of New South Wales (travelling exhibition throughout Australia)
1984
Strip Language, Gimpel Fils Gallery, London
1983
Place, Gimpel Fils Gallery, London
New Art and the Tate Gallery, Tate Gallery, London
The Sculpture Show, Hayward Gallery, London
1982
Contemporary Choice, Contemporary Art Society Exhibition, Serpentine Gallery, London
Noi altri wir anderen. Regensberg Stadt Museum, Germany
Past - Present - Future, Wuttembergischer Kunstverein, Stuttgart, Germany
Enweiterte Fotografie, Wiener Secession, Wiener, Austria
London - New York, Lisson Gallery, London
Aperto 82, Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy
1981
Kunst und Politik, Badischer Kunstverein, Karlsruhe, Germany
Die Kehrseite der Wunschbilder, Bonner Kunstverein, Bonn, Germany
Sculpture in the Twentieth Century, Whitechapel Art Gallery, London
1980
Artist and Camera, Mappin Art Gallery, Sheffield
1979
Un Certain Art Anglais, ARC 2, Museum of Modern Art, Paris
Anglo-Belgium Exhibition, JP2 Palais des Beaux Arts, Brussels
Languages, Third Eye Centre, Glasgow, Arts Council of Great Britain Touring Exhibition
La Parola e le Imagine, Commune di Milano, Italy
1977
Gallery Artists, Lisson Gallery, London and then Fine Arts Building, New York
Social Criticism and Art Practice, San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, USA
10th Biennale of Paris, France
1976
Artist’s Bookworks, Arts Council of Great Britain Touring Exhibition
Art as Thought Process, British Council Touring Exhibition for France
Twentieth Century Artist’s Photographs, Israel Museum, Israel
1975
Structures and Codes, Royal College of Art Gallery, London
Artists’ Bookworks, British Council Touring Exhibition for Germany
Body and Soul, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool
1974
Art as Thought Process, Serpentine Gallery, London
1973
Interact, Edinburgh Festival, Scotland
1972
Survey of the Avant-Garde, Gallery House, London
Cognition Control, Midland Group Gallery, Nottingham
1971
Electric Theatre, ICA Gallery, London
Invention of Problems, Leicester Polytechnic, Leicester
Cognition Control, Museum of Modern Art, Oxford
1970
Kinetic Art, Hayward Gallery, London
1969
Five Light Artists, Greenwich Theatre Art Gallery, London
British Movements, Onnasch Galerie, Berlin, Germany
1968
Public Eye, Kunsthaus Hamburg, Germany
Preview London, Camden Arts Centre, London
1967
K 4, Brighton Festival
Light and Movement, Herbert Art Gallery, Coventry
1966
Kunst Licht Kunst, Stedelijk van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, Holland
Control Magazine
Control Magazine acts as a vehicle for proposals and explanations of art practice between artists seeking to create a meaningful engagement with contemporary society
Published and edited by Stephen Willats since 1965, this pioneering magazine has documented the work of many artists, both from the UK and abroad and encouraged a wide discussion of artists’ practices. It has included contributions and original pieces from an extensive range of artists over its eighteen issues.
Since 1965, the magazine has published work and writing by over 150 artists, including John Latham, Roy Ascot, Anthony Benjamin, Dan Graham, Mary Kelly, Helen Chadwick, Tony Cragg, Dennis Adams, Lawrence Weiner, Anish Kapoor, Martha Rosler, Jeremy Deller, alongside collectives and collaboratives such as Gallerie in Fiedrichstrasse, Artists Placement Group and early producer’s galleries such as that of Dieter Hacker. Many of the artists have made artwork specially for the magazine.
Control Magazine’s function has always been to provide a resource for artists to discuss their work and, in particular, to make connections with other disciplines such as social or computer sciences, technology etc. Its issues provide a unique record of a specific area of art practice over four decades and this non-profit making publication has had an acknowledged influence on the practice of artists.
Alongside the magazine itself, there have been events held to launch certain issues, such as Cognition Control, Midland Group Gallery, Nottingham, 1972; the Symposium Art Creating Society at MOMA, Oxford, 1989; Art and Intervention at Wilma Gold, London, 2003.
Project Works
2017
Human Right, Middlesbrough
2015
THISWAY: Stockholm, Sweden
2013
Oxford Community Data Stream, Kennington, Blackbird Leys and Modern Art Oxford
2007
Person to Person, People to People, Netherfield Estate, Milton Keynes
2003
Meeting of Minds, Sefton Park, Liverpool
2000
Multichannel Workshop Hamburg, Hamburg
1999
Eine Demokratische Reise, Hamburg
Democratic Journey, Liverpool.
Multichannel Workshop, Graz.
1998
Creativeforce, Sheffield
Changing Everything, Peckham, South London Gallery
Random Encounter, Southampton
1997
The Transformer, Middlesbrough
1996
Chemins Imaginaires, Champagne, Sotteville, Rouen
1994
Museum Mosaic, Tate Gallery, Liverpool
Private Journeys, Heston Farm Estate, Hounslow, West London
Taking the Short Cut, Roydon, Essex
Personal Interface, Galerie Franck & Schulte, Berlin, Germany
1993
Personal Islands, Samuda & Barkentine Estates, Isle of Dogs, East London
1992
Living Tower, Linacre Court, Hammersmith, London
1991
Tower Mosaic, Warwick & Brindley Estate, Paddington, London
Living Mosaic, Snowhill Estate, Bath
People Mosaic, Kettle’s Yard Gallery, Cambridge
1990
Private Network, Friars Wharf Estate, Oxford
Multi-Storey Mosaic, Homecourt, Feltham, West London
1989
White Towers, Helsinki, Finland
1988
Between Straight Lines, Newcastle
1987
From Different Worlds, Leeds
1986
Four Houses in Den Haag, Den Haag, Holland
1982
Blocks, Avondale Estate, West London
1985
Brentford Towers, Brentford, West London
1981
Two Worlds Apart, Charville Lane Estate, Hayes, West London
1979
Inside an Ocean, Ocean Estate, Mile End, East London
1978
Vertical Living, Skeffington Court, Hayes, London
Contained Living, Museum of Modern Art Oxford and the Friars Wharf Estate, Oxford
1973
The Oxford Insight Development Project, Oxford
The Edinburgh Social Model Construction Project, Edinburgh
1977
From a Coded World, Perivale, London
1972-3
The West London Social Resource Project, London
1971
The Social Resource Project for Tennis Clubs, Nottingham
1970
The Man From the Twenty First Century, Nottingham
Books & Bookworks
2019
Artwork as Institution Stephen Willats, pub. Brand-New-Life, Zurich, Stephen Willats, Lucie Kolb, Jamie Allen, Bernhard Garnicnig & Elsa Himmer
2016
Vision and Reality, Stephen Willats, Uniform Books, Devon
2012
Artwork as Social Process, pub. RGAP Press
2011
Street Talk, published by Occasional Papers, London
2010
The Artist as an Instigator of Changes in Social Cognition and Behaviour, Re-published by Occasional Papers, London
Stephen Willats Art Society Feedback
Texts by Andrew Wilson, Tom Holert, Brigitte Franzen, Ute Meta Bauer, Emily Pethick, Anja Casser, Philipp Ziegler
Verlag für moderne Kunst Nürnberg
English and German text
2008
The Speculative Diagram, CASCO, Utrecht, Holland
Meeting of Minds, Control. London.
2006
Going Home, MOT London.
2003
Random Networks, Artlab, Imperial College, London
2002
Through Symbolic Worlds. Control. London
2001
Multichannel Vision. Control. London.
Beyond The Plan. Academy/John Wiley. London
2000
Art and Social Function (Reprint of 1976 original) Elipsis.London.
Multiple Clothing. Walther Konig. Koln.
1998
Random Encounter, Southampton Art Gallery
1997
The Art Museum in Society. Collected Writings, Middlesbrough Art Gallery
Shopping Parade, Little Cockroach Press, Art Metropole, Toronto, Canada
1996
Between Buildings and People, Academy Editions, London
1995
Wie ich meine Fluchwege organisiere, Edition 931, Leipzig
1994
Private Journeys, Hounslow Borough Council, London
Balcony, Imprint
1992
Tower Mosaic, Control, London
1991
Corridor, Imschoot, Gent, Belgium
Book Mosaic, Control, London
1990
Society through Art, HCAK, Den Haag, Holland
Stairwell, Coracle Press, London
Multi-Storey Mosaic, Control, London
White Towers, Academy of Art, Helsinki
1989
The House that Habitat Built, Cornerhouse, Manchester
1986
Intervention and Audience, Coracle Press, London
1985
Doppelganger, Actualities, London
1982
Cha Cha Cha, Coracle/Lisson Gallery, London
1980
Ich Lebe in einem Betonklotz, Walther Konig Verlag, Cologne, Germany
1978
The Lurky Place, Lisson Gallery, London
1976
Art and Social Function, Latimer New Dimensions, London
1973
The Artist As An Instigator of Changes in Social Cognition and Behaviour, Gallery House Press, London
Statements & Writings
The National Art Library in the Victoria and Albert Museum has a large collection of publications by Stephen Willats and of Control Magazines
2018
Art and Social Function 1976 by Stephen Willats in Collection of Artists' Texts, Oslo Pilot (2015 – 17) – a project investigating the role of art in and for the public space – laying the groundwork for the Oslo Biennial First Edition. Mousse publishing
2016
The Cha Cha Club by Stephen Willats, Flash Art, Nov/Dec 2016
Vision And Reality, Uniform Books
2012
Artwork As Social Model – A Manual of Questions and Propositions, RGAP
2011
Street Talk Amsterdam, Occasional Papers
2010
The Artist as an Instigator of Changes in Social Cognition and Behaviour, re-published by Occasional Papers, London
2009
The Diagram as a Speculative Modelling Tool in Art Practice, Control Magazine, Issue 19, London
2008
The Speculative Diagram, published in The Speculative Diagram, Stephen Willats, CASCO, Utrecht, Holland.
Explain Yourself, published by Serpentine Gallery, London, Manifesto Marathon
2006
Going Home, publication Going Home published by MOT, London
2005
Stephen Willats: An Interview on Art, Cybernetics and Social Intervention, George Mallen, Page 60, Bulletin of the Computer Arts Society, Spring 2005.
Means Of Escape, (1983), Juni, Kunst Zeit Schrift No.8. Badischer Kunstverein, Karsruhe
2004
Stephen Willats zu seinen Werken, Stephen Willats, ‘70/90, Engagierte Kunst, Neusemuseum Nürnberg, Verlag für moderne Kunst Nürnberg.
Meeting Of Minds, Stephen Willats, Places, Vol 16, No.3. Prat Institute, University of California, Berkely, California
2002
The Edinburgh Social Model Construction Project. Justified Sinners. Pocketbooks 14. Edinburgh.
Control. Interview by Uscha Pohl. Inside Magazines.
Independent Pop Culture Magazines. Patrik Andersson and Judith Steedman, Thames & Hudson, London
2001
Multichannel Workshop Practice In The Art Museum. Control Magazine No.16.
Macro To Micro. A Report. Camera Austria International. 73.
Contemporary Relationships No.3, Catalogue text for ‘The Map Is Not The Territory’ published by England & Co.
2000
King Of Code. Interview. Mute 16. June/July.
Stephen Willats. Interview by Claudia Seidel. Netter Art Collection Vol 10/ 10.Erganzungsband. Georg Thieme Verlag. Stuttgart.
1998
Random Encounter, Stephen Willats, Southampton City Art Gallery
The Artwork as Interactive Simulation, Stephen Willats, Mappin Art Gallery, Sheffield
Changing Everything, Stephen Willats, South London Art Gallery
Unterschiedliche Begegnungen, Stephen Willats, catalogue, ‘Do All Oceans Have Walls?’, G.A.K., Bremen.
1997
The Art Museum in Society. Collected Writings, Stephen Willats, Middlesbrough Art Gallery
1996
Fateful Combinations - Random Life and Occasional Events Between Four People, Radikale Bilder, catalogue published by 2nd Austrian Triennale for Photography, Neue Galerie, Graz
Imagined Pathways, catalogue for Les Contes de Fees se Terminent Bien, FRAC Haute Normandie, Rouen
1996
Stephen Willats: an interview with Nicola Kearton in Public Art Issue, Art & Design, London
Private Journeys, Control Magazine No. 15
Time Will Tell, Texte zur Kunst, No. 23, August
1995
Untitled text for catalogue ‘Private/Public’, ARS 95, Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki
Pat Purdy and the Glue Sniffers Camp, catalogue published by Joseloff Gallery, Hartford, ‘The Edge of Town’
City of Concrete, catalogue published by the FRAC Haute-Normandie, ‘Appartement Temoin’
1994
From Objects to People: Interaction in the Art Museum, Kunst & Museum Journal, Vol. 5, No. 4, Amsterdam
Fateful Combinations, text for catalogue published by The British School at Rome
Fateful Combinations, Opening No. 22, Rome
Going into the Infrastructure, Meta No. 3, Stuttgart
1993
Just Between People, Meta No. 4, Stuttgart
1992
Living Mosaic, catalogue essay for Real Stories, Museet for Fotokunst, Odense, Denmark
Starting From Zero, an interview by Grant Kester, Afterimage, Vol. 19, No. 10, May, Rochester, New York
1991
From Object to Concept in Society, Excavating the Present, catalogue essay, Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge
1990
The Determinism of the Camera, Perspektief No. 38, Rotterdam
White Towers, Control Magazine No. 14
1989
Art and Cybernetics, AND No. 18/19
Organic Exercise, Catalogue essay for ‘The Possibilities of Space’, Fifty Years of British Sculptor’s Drawings, Huddersfield Art Gallery
Transformers, Beeld No. 4, Amsterdam
1988
From Different Worlds, AND No. 15/16
Secret Language, Arte Factum 25, Belgium
Signs and Messages from Corporate America, Art Monthly No. 122
Code Breakers, CODE, No. 9, Amsterdam
1987
Between Objects and People, text for catalogue published by Leeds City Art Gallery
Contemporary Living, text for catalogue published by Vereninging voor het Museum van Hedendaagse Kunst, Ghent, Belgium
A Work Between Two Institutions, Performance No. 47
Meta Filter - Depart From Zero, The Gallery Trust publication, London
Between Objects and People, Art Monthly No. 112, January
Variable Sheets, 2D/3D Art and Craft Made in the Twentieth Century Catalogue, published by the Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle
Art and Intervention, (various texts), AND No. 13/14
Between Buildings and People, Artefactum 18, April/May
1986
City of Concrete, text for catalogue published by Ikon Gallery, Birmingham
1985
Meeting with Doppelgangers, Stephen Willats talks about his work with people on the margins of society, Performance, No. 36, August - September
Intervention und Publikum, Kunst Nachrichten, Heft 5, October
Means of Escape, text for exhibition catalogue, ‘Alles und Noch viel Mehr’, Das Poetische ABC, Bentelik, Verlag, Berlin
Im Innen der Nacht, Kunst Nachrichten, 21 Jahrgang, Heft 3 May
Doppelganger, interview conducted by Antonia Payne, Studio International, Vol.198, No. 1011
1984
Another City, Juliet Art Magazine No. 14
Intervention and Audience, Juliet, No. 17
Intervention and Audience, a Synopsis, Coracle Press, London
1983
Living Like a Goya, text in catalogue, The Sculpture Show, published by the Arts Council of Great Britain, Hayward Gallery, London
1982
Inside the Night, Aspects, No. 21
Leben in vorgegebenen Grenzen - 4 Inseln in Berlin, Kunst Nachrichten, 18 Jahrgang, Heft 1
Pat Purdy and the Glue Sniffers Camp, Artwork for Numero Quattro a cura di Sol le Witt, Milan
Inside the Night, Art Monthly No. 62
1981
Two Worlds Apart, Aspects, No. 16 (first part)
Two Worlds, Art Monthly No. 49, September
Two Worlds, report on some experiences, Art Monthly No. 51, November
Working with Life and Institutions, Control Magazine No. 12
The Lurky Place, Artist and Camera. Arts Council of Great Britain catalogue
Two Worlds Apart, Aspects, No. 17 (second part)
1980
Physische Beengtheit und Kultureller Druck, Kunst Nachrichten, Heft 2, 16 Jahrgang
Identifizierung von Zwangselementen (text by Stephen Willats) in 42, June Contained Reality, Art Monthly, No. 33
1979
Unter Druck Leben, Kunstforum International, Band 35, May
Die Darstellung de sozialen Realitat, Kunstmagazine 19, Jahr No.2
Les Enfants de Garges-les-Gonesse, Art Press No. 27
Working with the work of Art, Art Monthly, No. 25
Les Problemes de la Nouvelle Realite, Tesstuale, published by Commune di Milano, Italy
Vivere con le realta pratiche, Arte e Pratica Politica, published by Tra, Italy
The Counter Consciousness in Vertical Living, Control Magazine No. 11
1978
Questions About Ourselves, text accompanying exhibition with same title at Lisson Gallery, London
From A Coded World, Studio International, Vol. 194, No. 988
1977
The Project Operator’s Manual, from A Coded World, Perivale, self-published, London
Between a Symbolic World and a Contextual Reality: The Artwork as a Vehicle for Forwarding Counter Consciousness, Control Magazine No. 10
Les Problems de la Nouvelle Realite, statement to accompany work of same title presented in 10ieme Biennale de Paris, self-published, London
The Group as Social Analogue in Art Practice, text in the catalogue accompanying exhibition, Attitudes Within Four Relationships, Southampton Art Gallery
1976
Artwork as Social Model, Studio International, Vol. 191, No. 980
Social Codes and Behaviour Parameters: as Area of Concern for Art, catalogue published by The Midland Group, Nottingham
Statement in the catalogue, ‘Twentieth Century Artists Photographs’, Israel Museum, Jerusalem
Control Magazine, Studio International, Vol. 192, No. 983
1975
A Survey of Distance Models of Art, Control Magazine, No. 9
Meta Filter, Studio International, Vol. 190, No. 977
The Book as Interactive Tool: The Modelling Book, Artists’ Bookworks, catalogue published by The British Council, London
State of Agreement, Control Magazine No. 9
1974
The Edinburgh Project, Art and Artists, Vol. 8, No. 94
The West London Social Resource Project, Leonardo, Vol. 7
The Externalisation of Models in Art Practice, Control No. 8
Meta Filter, Art and Artists, Vol. 9, No. 104
Meta Filter, Flash Art No. 48
1973
The West London Social Resource Project, Studio International, Vol. 185, No. 951
Art and Social Function: Prescriptions, Art and Artists, Vol. 8, No. 87
The Project Operator’s Manual for the Social Model Construction Project, Edinburgh
Art Practice and Social Function, published paper from Interact Symposium, Edinburgh
Prescriptions for Task-Orientated Methodologies in Constructing Operational Models of Art Practice, Control Magazine, No. 7
A State of Agreement, Statement published in association with the presentation of Meta Filter at The Gallery, London
1972
Cognition Control, Control Magazine No. 6
Visual Meta Language Simulation and Cognition Control, Midland Group Gallery, Nottingham and then the Museum of Modern Art, Oxford
The West London Social Resource Project, a Survey of the Avant-Garde in Britain, Vol. 1, Gallery House Press, London
1971
Behavioural Nets and Life Structures, The Paper, No. 1, Fine Art Dept, Trent Polytechnic, Nottingham
The Artist and the Structuring of Social Behaviour, read at the Symposium, ‘The Invention of Problems 2’, published in Creativity in a Machine Environment’, Leicester Polytechnic, ed. Stroud Cornock
If I had a Mind, Du Mont Aktuell Cologne (ed. Klaus Groh)
1970
The Artist as a Structuralist of Behaviour, Control Magazine, No. 5
1967
Text in Studio International, February Issue, Vol 173, No. 886
Text in Control Magazine No. 4 (untitled)
Statement in Studio International, Vol 176, No. 904
Statement in the catalogue, ‘Visual Automatics and Visual Transmitters, ’ Museum of Modern Art, Oxford
1966
Statement in Control Magazine No. 2 (untitled)
Statement in the catalogue, Kunst Licht Kunst, Stedelijk van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, Holland
1965
Statement in Control Magazine No. 1 (untitled)
1964
Statement in catalogue of exhibition. Chester Beatty Research Centre, London
Education & Events
1962-63 ‘The Ground Course’, Ealing School of Art
1965 to date Editor and publisher of Control Magazine
1972-73 Director of ‘The Centre for Behavioural Art’, London
1979-80 D.A.A.D. Fellowship, West Berlin
1990 Convener of the Symposium, ‘Art Creating Society’, Museum of Modern Art, Oxford
1991 ‘Stephen Willats - Printed Archive’ established at the Victoria and Albert Museum
2003 Convener of the Seminars ‘Art Intervention’ - Control Magazine at Vilma Gold, London.
2005 ‘Multiple Clothing’, showstudio.com - website project established
2006 ‘Multiple Clothing’ seminar and performance at Tate Modern, London
2011 'Street Talk', Presentation of Films by Stephen Willats, Tate Modern, London
2011 Art Basel Conversation, The Future of Artistic Practice - The Artist as Urbanist , Moderator, Hans Ulrich Obrist
http://basel.artbasel.com/go/id/nkg/
Audio Tapes
1986 Brentford Towers, Audio Arts Magazine, Vol. 8, No. 1
1983 Inside the Night, Audio Arts Special Supplement
1982 Live to Air, Audio Arts Magazine, Vol. 5, Nos. 3 & 4
1977 From a Coded World, Audio Arts Magazine
1976 Externalising the Meaning of Art - A Basis for Operation, Audio Arts Magazine
Selected Writings, Exhibition Catalogues & Reviews in Publications
2024
Stephen Willats - Victoria Miro - Review - Andrew Hunt, Art Forum, March 2024
2023
Stephen Willats, Artwork as Social Model, Nathalie Olah, Art Review, Jan 2024
2022
Arkadiusz Poltorak’Soft Feelings in Steel Hard Casing. Notes on Stephen Willats & Karina Nimmerfall’In Was Sagt Die Kunst, Gegenwartskunst und Wissenschaft im Dialog, Monika Reisch-Kiesl / Franziska Heiss, 2022 Transcript Verlag
2020
Artistic Production and Matters of Class, Catalogue, Kunstverein Munich
2019
Amberes, catalogue MHKA, Antwerp, 2019
Objects of Wonder - British Sculpture 1950 - Present, Palais Populaire, Berlin
Stephen Willats, Languages of Dissent, Ed. Heike Munde, catalogue of the exhibition at Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst & Scheidegger &Spiess, Zurich
Pushing Paper, Contemporary Drawing from 1970 to Now, The British Museum and Thames and Hudson, 2019
'...And Other Such Stories' , Concrete Window, Stephen Willats, Chicago Architectural Biennial, 2019
Familienbande: Die Schenkung Schröder
Family Ties: The Schröder Donation, Museum Ludwig, 2019
2018
FRONT International catalogues for Cleveland Triennial for Contemporary Art - An American City
A Porous Entity: The Centre for Behavioural Art at Gallery House, 1972 - 73, in London Art Worlds, Mobile, Contingent, and Ephemeral Networks, 1960 - 1980; Edited by Jo Applin, Catherine Spencer, and Amy Tobin; The Pennsylvania State University Press, University Park, Pennsylvania; 2018.
The Value of Freedom, catalogue, Belvedere 21, Vienna
2017
Stephen Willats, Good Space, catalogue, Villa Merkel, Esslingen, Germany
You Don't Need a Weatherman, Galerie Thomas Schulte, 2017
A – Z Die Sammlung Marzona, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, 2017
The Conceptual Designer in 1965: Stephen Willats interviewed by Bronac Ferran, Interdisciplinary Science Reviews 2017, Vol. 42, Nos 1-2. The Experimental Generation.
Walking Between Streets in the Sky, Ed. James Lander & Tamara Stoll, University of the Arts London
Familienbande: Die Schenkung Schröder -Family Ties: The Schröder Donation.catalogue, Museum Ludwig, Vienna, Austria
Lisson – Artist, Work, Idea, Archive, Index, an archive book of a selection of work from artists shown at the Lisson Gallery between 1967 & 2017, Lisson Gallery, London
2016
The Cha Cha Club by Stephen Willats, Flash Art, Nov/Dec 2016
2015
Pat Purdy and the Glue Sniffers Camp, Law, Issue 7
The Idea of Art, Anthony Bond, Art Gallery of New South Wales
Stephen Willats, A Man for the 21st Century, ModernMatter, No 8, 2015, London
Berlin Local, by Mark Prince, Frieze d/e, No 18, April 2015
2014
How We Lived Then, Ajay Hothi, Art in America
Stephen Willats, Concerning Our Present Way of Living, Whitechapel Gallery
Stephen Willats, Representing the Possible, Victoria Miro Gallery, London
Control, Stephen Willats, Work 1962 - 69 Raven Row, London
Was Modelle können, Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Siegen
2013
World Without Objects, Annie Gentils Gallery, Antwerp
Night People, Stephen Willats, Fluor, No 8, 2013/14
Stephen Willats, Conscious Unconscious In and Out the Reality Check, exhibition catalogue, Modern Art Oxford
A World of Wild Doubt, exhibition catalogue, Kunstverein in Hamburg
Conversation Pieces, Community and Communication in Modern Art, Grant H Kester, pub. University of California Press
2012
Secret Language - The Code Breakers, exhibition catalogue, pub. Galerie Thomas Schulte, Berlin
The Performance of Information Flows in the Art of Stephen Willats, Sharon Irish, Information and Culture, Vol. 47, No 4, 2012, University of Texas Press
Surfing with the Attractor, exhibition catalogue, South London Gallery
2011
Review of recent exhibition at Reena Spaulings in New York
http://www.artinamericamagazine.com/reviews/stephen-willats/
Stephen Willats - The World How it is and the World How it Could Be, Emanuele Guidi, Denkraun IV: Künstlerische Praxisk Als Soziale Praxis, Kunstforum International, Bd 207, March - April 2011
Art Society Feedback, Stephen Willats interviewed by Emily Pethick
Mousse Magazine, No: 27, February / March 2011
2010
Art Society Feedback, Verlag fur Moderne Kunst Nurnberg & Badischer Kunstverein - essays by Anja Casser, Phillipp Ziegler, Andrew Wilson, Tom Holert, Brigitte Franzen, Emily Pethick, Ute Meta Bauer
The Social Meaning of Art, Stephen Willats interviewed by Hans Ulrich Obrist, Abitare, Issue 504, July - August 2010
Modernologies: Contemporary Artists Researching Modernity and Modernism, Brian Dillon, Artforum, January 2010, New York
2009
Beyond Architecture, Imaginative Buildings and Fictional Cities, Edited By Robert Klanten and Lukas Feiriss, Gestalten, Berlin
7 x 14, Staatliche Kunsthalle Baden-Baden, Germany
Hans Ulrich Obrist Interviews Stephen Willats, Abitare-International Design Magazine: http://www.abitare.it/highlights/hans-ulrich-obrist-intervista-stephen-willats/, Milan, Italy
In and Out of the Underworld, Stephen Willats, Renate Purvogel, Kunstforum International, November 2009
Stephen Willats, European Kunsthalle, Catrin Lorch, Artforum International, New York, December 2009
Utopischer Untergrund, Barbara Hess, Texte zur Kunst, BD 19, Nr 76, December 2009, Berlin
2008
A computer in the art room. The origins of British computer arts 1950-80, Catherine Mason, Published by JJG Publishing, Norfolk, U.K.
Stephen Willats - Texte zur Architektur, Vrlan der Buchhandlung Walther König, Köln.
Volksgarten Die Politik der Zugehörigkeit, Kunsthaus Graz, Graz, Austria.
Punk No One Is Innocent, Kunsthalle Wien, Wien, Austria.
Manifesta 7. Catalogue, Manifesta, Amsterdam.
The Everyday, Edited by Stephen Johnstone, Documents Of Contemporary Art, Whitechapel London, and MIT Press, U.S.A.
Stephen Willats. Galerie Thomas Schulte, Saskia Draxler, Artforum 21.02.
Democratic Grids and Conceptual Towers, review of Thomas Schulte exhibition in Kunstforum International by Astrid Musla.
The Art of Participation, 1950 to Now, MOMA San Francisco, USA
Thin Cities 100 Years of the Piccadilly Line, Art on the Underground, London
2007
Centre of the Creative Universe. Liverpool and the Avantgarde. Catalogue published by Liverpool University Press in association with Tate Liverpool.
Stephen Willats. Victoria Miro Gallery, review by Melanie Gillagan. Artforum International. XLV No.5.
Networking, Stephen Willats, by Tom Morton, Frieze, Issue 106, April.
Talking Art. Interviews with artists since 1976, edited by Patricia Bickers and Andrew Wilson, Art Monthly and Ridinghouse, London.
Person To Person People To People, Stephen Willats, Milton Keynes Gallery, Milton Keynes, U.K. (Ex. Cat.)
Beyond The Wall. Berlin-Freihafen der Künste, Stiftung Brandenburger Tor, Berlin. Published by Nicolai.
Panic Attack! Art In The Punk Years, Published by Merrell, LondonNew York.
Collection Art Contemporain, Centre Pompidou, Paris.
Punk No One Is Innocent, Kunsthalle Wien, Wien, Austria.
Sculpture Projects Muenster 07, text by Christiane Mennicke, Published by Verlag de Buchhandlung Walther Kuonig, Köln.
Künstler & Fotografien. 1959- 2007, Museum Ludwig Köln, published by Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther König, Köln.
2006
Stephen Willats, Galerie Christian Nagel, Koln, review by Catrin Lorch, Frieze, Issue 98, April.
Kritische Gesellschaften. Ein Ausstellungsprojekt in vier Kapiteln, Verlag für Moderne Kunst Nürnberg, Badischer Kunstverein.
Wie Die Welt Ist Und Wie Sie Sein Könnte. Stephen Willats.Catalogue published by Museum für Gegenwartskunst Siegen.
Conceptual Paradise. Dilm by Stefan Römer, DVD.
Stephen Willats. review by Niels Henriksen. Camera Austria. No.96/2006.
Boy, das ist Kunst!, Das Kommunikationsarchiv des Stephen Willats im Museum für Gegenwartskunst in Siegen, , von ulf Edmann Ziegler, Frankfurter Rundschau, 24/10 Auflage 196.542.
Such nach multiplen Wahrheiten, review of Siegen exhibition by Katja Behrens, TAZ NRW, 04.10. Auflage 82.000
Wie die Welt ist und wie sie sein könnte. Stephen Willats review by Annelie Pohlen. Kunstforum No 183. December.
Stephen Willats, Stephen Willats. review by Peter Suchin. Art Monthly No. 300.October.
2005
Stephen Willats: An Interview on Art, Cybernetics and Social Intervention, George Mallen, Page 60, Bulletin of the Computer Arts Society, Spring 2005.
Magic Moments, ‘collaboration between artists and young people’, Edited by Anna Harding, Black Dog Publishing.
Control Magazine. Emily Pethick, ‘Tank’, Vol 4, Issue 1.
70/90 Engagierte Kunst, Text by Freiderike Wrappler, Neuesmuseum Nürnberg, Verlaf für moderne Kunst Nürnberg.
Tenant To Tenant. The Art of Talking with Strangers, Sharon Irish, Places, Vol 16, No.3. University of California, Berkeley, California.
2002
Stephen Willats. Renate Puvogel. ‘The Gap Show. Junge Zeitkritische Kunst aus Grossbritannien’. Catalogue published by Museum am Ostwall Dortmund.
Beyond The Plan. Art & Artchitecture, No 56. May,
Model Dwellings Catalogue essay by Emma Mahony, for ‘Air Guitar’, published by Milton Keynes Gallery. Milton Keynes.
2001
Channel Hopping. Review by Adrian Glew of ‘Art and Social Function’, in Art Monthly No 246, May.
Life Codes’, Diagramme Und Schwarzweisskopien. Andreas Fogarasi. Derive. Heft 4. June. Austria.
Traces And Signs. Christel Vesters. Tubelight 16. July/August.Holland
Double Vision. Catalogue essay by Andrea Schlieker. Galerie fur Zeitgenossische Kunst, Leipzig.
Selbt Portrat. Schloss Agathenburg. Agathenburg. Germany.
Conception. Conceptual Documents 1968- 1972. Norwich Art Gallery. Norwich. England.
2000
Democracy Royal College of Art, London.
Live In Your Head. Whitechapel Art Gallery.London
Protest And Survive. Whitechapel Art Gallery.London.
Work becoming of the man about town. Morgan Falconer. Highbury & Islington Express.
1999
Deer ganz alltagliche Funktionalismus, Interview by Vitus Weh, Kunstforum Bd. 143, Jan - Feb.
1997
Stephen Willats, Middlesbrough Art Gallery, Matthew Higgs, Art Monthly, October No. 210
Realitybytes, John O’Riley, The Independent, Saturday 19th July
Les Arts Steve Willats, Alexandre de Cadeney, Sleaze Nation, Nov/Dec, Vol. 2, No.1
Stephen Willats, Art, Ethnography and Social Change, Variant, Vol. 2, No. 4, October
Photographie d’une Collection, 2, Caisse des Depots et Consignations’, Hazen Paris
The Grand Design The Art of the Victoria & Albert Museum, Harry N. Abrams Inc. Publishers, New York
1996
Stephen Willats. Text by Frank Hoenjet, catalogue for ‘Everybody’s Talking’, Gemeentemuseum, Helmond, Holland
Ich lebe in einem Betonklotz, Stephen Willats, Zurich, Tip, 13th
1995
Living Together, Tramway, Glasgow (exh. cat.) text by Andrew Wilson
Stephen Willats Galerie Franck & Schulte, Berlin, review by Harald Fricke in Neue bildende Kunst, No. 3
Konzeptuelles Leben Galerie Franck & Schulte, Berlin, review by Jochen Becker, Zitty, No. 8, Berlin Nos. 5 & 6
Kaupunkkirakenne ja ihmissuheet, Stephen Willats, ja modernin maailman Kuva, Kukka Haikkola, Taide 6/95, Helsinki
Paste-Up, Past and Present, Kent Gallery, New York
1994
Ideal Society text by Phillip Peters in the published report made by the HCAK, Den Haag on the Ideal Place Project
Stephen Willats: Galerie Franck & Schulte, Berlin, review by Peter Herbstreuth, Falsh Art, No. 174, Jan/Feb
Stephen Willats: Random Life, Victoria Miro Gallery review by Clifford Myerson, Portfolio No. 20
Stephen Willats, text by Renate Puvogel, Artis No. 3, April/May
The Complexity of People, interview by Gareth Jones, Flash Art, No. 179, Nov/Dec
1993
Building and People, Berlinische Galerie, Berlin (exh.cat.) texts by Martina Jura, Horst Kurnitzky, Helmet Geisert, Karin Herrmann and Stephen Willats
Cognition Control, Oliver Cieslik, Texte Zurkunst, Cologne, Nov.
Buildings and People, Art Monthly, Dec. 93/94, text by Toni del Renzio
Stephen Willats: Galerie Gabrielle Maubrie, Paris, review by Benjamin Weil, Flash Art, No. 168, Jan/Feb
1990
Conceptual Living, Victoria Miro Gallery, London (exh.cat.), text by Stephen Bann
Publishing Interventions, National Art Library, Victoria & Albert Museum (exh.cat.), texts by Stephen Willats and Simon Ford
High Rise to Heaven: Stephen Willats, Victoria Miro Gallery Artscribe, Nov/Dec, text by Andrew Wilson
City of Concrete, Galerie Montevideo, Antwerp (exh.cat.)
1989
Secret Language, Cornerhouse Gallery, Manchester (exh.cat.)
1988
Andrew Wilson: Review, Laing Art Gallery exhibition, Artscribe, Sept/Oct
Transformers, The Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle, (exh.cat.)
Code Breakers, Torch Gallery, Amsterdam (exh.cat.)
1987
Between Objects and People, Leeds City Art Gallery (exh.cat.)
Groeten van Stephen Willats uit het moderne leven, Phillip Peters, De Tijd, 2nd Jan., Amsterdam
1986
Rob le Frenais: Brentford Towers, Performance No. 38
Stephen Willats. Three Essays, ICA, London and The Mappin Art Gallery, Sheffield (exh. cat.)City of Concrete, Ikon Gallery, Birmingham (exh. cat.)
Margaret Garlake: Artists and Our Environment, The Artist, Vol. 101, No. 7, Issue 665, July
Gray Watson: Stephen Willats at the ICA, Artscribe, No. 57, April-May
Michael Archer: Recent Project Works, ICA, London (exh. cat.)
Manfred Schmalriede: In Berlin und Eindhoven geschaffene Werde - catalogue text in ‘Stephen Willats. Three Essays’, ICA, London
1985
The British Show, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney (exh. cat.) Text by Richard Francis
1984
Brian Smith: Soft Computing: Art and Design, Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, London
Means of Escape, Rochdale Art Galery, Rochdale, Greater Manchester (exhibition catalogue)
Nadine Descendre: Anatomie d’une Creation, Autrement, No. 6, Paris, (London issue)
Sarah Kent: Art and Artifice: Changing Attitudes, Artscribe, No 45
1983
Eli Pascal, A l’Interieure de la Nuit Artistes, No. 16, Paris
John Roberts, Willats in Derry, Performance, Nos. 20-21, Dec - Jan, London
Christiane Bergob, Sprechen sie Cha Cha, Kunstforum International, Band 61, May
Michael Compton: New Art, (catalogue essay) in New Art at the Tate Gallery, Tate Gallery Publications, London
Lewis Biggs: Under Cover, Arnolfini Review, May
1982
Deirdre O’Connell, Steve Willats, CIRCA, No. 7, Northern Ireland
Michael Newman, Man’s Place - Four Works, Art and Artists, No. 193
1981
Marina Vaizey, The Artist as Photographer, Sidgwick and Jackson, London
The New Reality, Orchard Gallery, Londonderry, Northern Ireland (exh. Cat.)
Tilman Osterwold, Vergangenheit Gegenwart Zukunft, Wurtembergischer Kunstverein, Stuttgart, (exh. cat.)
Viet Loers, Noi altri wir anderen, Statdische Galerie, Regensberg, West Germany (exh. cat.)
1980
Frank Gribling, Over onze aktuele leefwizjzwe, Museum Journal, 80/5, Holland
Over onze actuele leefwije, Stedlijk Van Abemuseum, Eindhoven, Holland
4 Inseln in Berlin, Nationalgalerie Berlin, West Berlin(Ex. Cat)
Jorg Johnen, Stephen Willats, review Kunstforum International, Band 41, May
Jurgen Schweinebraden, The Lurky Place, Art Monthly, No. 41
1978
Marina Vaizey, Stephen Willats, Arts Review, Vol. 31, No. 2, Feb.
Sandy Nairne, Stephen Willats, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels
Concerning Our Present Way of Living, Whitechapel Art Gallery, London (Ex. Cat.)
1977
Richard Cork, Involved - Yet Semi-Detached, Evening Standard, 21 April
Jane Kelly (with Willats), Contemporary Artists, ed. Colin Naylor and Genesis P. Orridge, St James Press
Sandy Nairne, Report from a Coded World, Art Monthly No. 10
1976
Jane Kelly (with Willats), Midland Group Gallery Exhibition Nottingham, Studio International, Vol. 191, No. 981, May - June
1975
John Walker, Meta Filter, interview with Stephen Willats, Studio International, Vol. 190, No. 977, Sept.
Richard Cork, Nice to Meta You, Evening Standard, 16 October
1973
Rosetta Brooks, Behavioural Art, Studio International, Vol. 185, No. 951
Martin Kunz, Rationale Englishe Kunst-tendenzen, (11 Teil), Kunst Nachrichtung, March
1972
Conway Lloyd Morgan, Cognition and Control Project, New Scientist, 26 October
Works in Public Collections
Documentation on the West London Social Resource Project commissioned by the Arts Council of Great Britain housed at Osterley Library.
Southampton City Art Gallery & Museum
Kunstmuseum Zurich, Switzerland
Haags Gemeentemuseum, Den Haag, Holland
The Mappin Art Gallery, Sheffield
Rochdale Art Gallery, Rochdale, Greater Manchester
The Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh
The Tate Gallery, London
De Beyerd Centrum voor Actuelle Kunst, Breda, Holland
Stedelijk van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, Holland
Contemporary Art Society, London
The Arts Council of Great Britain
Gimpel Fils Galery, London
Victoria & Albert Museum, Drawing Dept., London
Victoria & Albert Museum, Clothing and Dress Dept., London
The British Museum, Prints & Drawings Dept.,
London National Gallery,
Gdansk, Poland
Muzeum Stuki, Lodz, Poland
Wadsworth Athenaeum, Conneticut, USA
Leeds City Art Gallery, Leeds
Stadtische Galerie, Stuttgart, Germany
Museum of Contemporary Art, Utrecht, Holland
The Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle
Helsingen Kaupungin Taidemuseo, Helsinki, Finland
Stichting Volkshuisversting in de Kunst, Ben Haag, Holland
Victoria & Albert Museum (Artist’s Book Collection, archive of writings and publications)
Hounslow Borough Council, London
Museum de Beaux Arts, Le Havre, France
Frac Course Centre of Centemporary Art, Corsica, France
Cleveland Gallery, Cleveland
Frac Limousin, France
Rhone Alpes Frac, France
Caise de depots et Cousiguations, Paris
Porin Taidemuseo, Pori, Finland
Frac Haute-Normandie, France
Middlesborough Art Gallery
South London Art Gallery
Frac Poitou Charentes, France
Sud West Landesbank, Stuttgart, Germany
Frac Languedoc-Roussillon, France
Art Gallery of New South Wales. Sydney.Australia.
Amsterdams Historisch Museum
Henry Moore Foundation, Leeds
Whitworth Art Gallery, University of Manchester
Fonds Regional Nord-Pas-de-Calais, France
Fonds National d’art Contemporain Paris, France
Folkwang Museum, Essen, Germany
Migros Museum, Zurich, Switzerland
National Portrait Gallery, London
Nationalgalerie, Berlin, Germany