Based in London since 1994, Dr. Gilda Williams is a contemporary art critic and teacher; editor of ON&BY Andy Warhol (MIT/Whitechapel Press, 2016); and author of the bestselling art book How to Write about Contemporary Art (Thames & Hudson, 2014), now published in seven languages.
From 2008-23 Williams was Senior Lecturer on the MFA Curating programme at Goldsmiths College (University of London), where she taught art writing. Dr. Williams has also taught at the The Ruskin School of Art, Oxford University; The Royal College of Art, London; Frieze Academy; Sotheby’s Institute of Art London; the Guardian’s ‘Masterclass’ series, among many others. Williams has served as an Examiner on PhDs at Goldsmiths, the Royal College of Art and Birkbeck University. A longtime London correspondent for Artforum magazine and a member of the International Association of Art Critics, Williams has served as an Evaluator for the Arts Writers Grant Program, The Andy Warhol Foundation | Creative Capital, New York (2020).
Since 2023 Gilda Williams’ main activity is a textile- and stitching-based studio art practice.
‘An epic achievement…
If Andy were alive he’d probably say,
“Oh, wow. Why didn’t I think of that”.’
~Bob Colacello, journalist and former Editor, Andy Warhol’s Interview, longtime personal Warhol associate
‘The little red book
everyone in the art world should have.’
~Art Monthly
‘A gem of a primer’
~Tom Morton, frieze
Edited volumes include On&By Andy Warhol (2020, MIT/Whitechapel); Fiona Tan. With the Other Hand. A Reader (2020, Snoeck); The Gothic (2007, MIT/Whitechapel, ‘Documents of Contemporary Art’ series.
She has given numerous talks, in London: at the Serpentine Gallery; Tate Modern; Tate Britain; Whitechapel Gallery; South London Gallery; the Royal Academy; Photographer’s Gallery; Camden Arts Centre; Goethe Institute; Chisenhale Gallery; across the UK: MAC, Belfast; The Oxford Museum of Modern Art; Folkestone Triennial; Nottingham Contemporary, Whitworth Museum, Manchester; Leeds Art Gallery; Towner Museum, Eastbourne; Bristol University; and abroad, at The Garage Museum for Contemporary Art, Moscow; Hangar Bicocca, Milan; the University of Cartagena, Colombia; NYU Abu Dhabi; UCL Qatar; Phileas, The Austrian Office for Contemporary Art Vienna.
During her 11 years at Phaidon Press, she was pivotal in their growing contemporary art publishing programme, and edited and commissioned some 50 monographs in the ‘Contemporary Artists’ series. She also edited such anthologies as Minimalism, Land and Environmental Art, Conceptual Art, The Artist’s Body, Arte Povera and Art and Feminism in Phaidon’s ‘Themes and Movements’ series. She was commissioning editor and creator of the ‘cream’ series of biennials-in-a-book, cream (1998), fresh cream (2000) and cream3 (20030. Other commissioned books include Salon to Biennale: Exhibitions that Made History (2011) and Gordon Matta-Clark (2003).
In 2005 Williams co-authored The Art Book for Children, which has been translated into 12 languages and was awarded Children’s Illustrated Book of the Year by the English Association. In 2024, Phaidon published the revised and expanded edition of The Art Book for Children, co-authored by Ferren Gibson, Amanda Renshaw and Gilda Williams Ruggi.
Dr. Williams has served as an advisor to the Arts Council of England (2001, 2005), the Whitechapel Gallery (2008, 2016-23), the Scottish Arts Council (2003), and the British School in Rome (2000). She has been a visiting tutor at Central Saint Martins; the Royal College of Art, London; the Ruskin School of Art, Oxford University; and has lectured at Westminster University, London; the Slade School, London; NYU Abu Dhabi; Leeds Beckett University; Northampton University; Norwich University of the Arts; and more.
Curatorial projects include ‘History Stripped Bare’, at Vilma Gold Gallery, London; ‘London Orphan Asylum’ (co-curated with Clare Manchester); ‘Arte all’Arte’ (co-curated with Roberto Pinto), San Gimigniano, Tuscany, Italy; ‘Strange Days, British Contemporary Photography’, Claudia Gian Ferrari Gallery, Milan.
In 1994 Williams moved to London from Milan, Italy, where she was Managing Editor of Flash Art International. She holds a doctorate in architecture from the University of Milan, and a PhD in art history with the Open University. Previously, Williams studied architecture at The University of Virginia, Charlottesville.
Gallery talk with Jockum Nordstrum, Camden Arts Centre, London, July 2014
In 2017-2019 Williams studied Psychotherapy at the Philadelphia Association (founded by R.D. Laing) and in the Department of Psychosocial Studies at Birkbeck College (University of London). She holds a Certificate in Higher Education in Psychodynamic Counselling, and is keenly interested in Transpersonal Psychotherapy.
Gilda Williams’ current textile- and stitching-based studio practice focuses on traditions of abstract painting imagined in textiles and other untraditional media, such as vinyl, iron-on decals, masking tape, mohair, silk, and recycled fabrics.
Contact
gilda[at]gildawilliams.com
Instagram
@in.black.white.champagne.only