Stephen Willats2021

The work of the British conceptual artist Stephen Willats (b. London, 1943) interrogates structures of community life and social interaction. Exploring the modular architecture of social housing projects, he spotlights forms of individual creative adaptation that defy the uniformity and functionality of the spaces. Such dissent with normative parameters is especially Interesting to Willats because it is where individuality reveals itself and self-determination is articulated. He finds similar modes of nonconformist expression in London's experimental underground club scene and in places on the urban periphery where teenagers seek escape from institutional or conformist pressures. His understanding of what art is and does is reflected in a collaborative and interdisciplinary practice that...