Description
A major monograph documenting a decade of figurative and geometric work by London-based contemporary artist Lucy Williams. Her mixed-media bas-relief collages depict modernist architecture and interiors, from tower blocks and municipal buildings to private residences in Palm Springs. All made painstakingly by hand, this is a singular contemporary art practice that employs fine art, design and craft traditions in the digital age.
Radiant City is a major monograph documenting a decade of figurative and geometric work by London-based British contemporary artist Lucy Williams (b. 1972, Oxford). Her mixed-media bas-relief collages depict modernist architecture and interiors, from tower blocks and municipal buildings to private residences in Palm Springs.
All made painstakingly by hand, this is a contemporary art practice that, with the precision of an architect or a draughtsperson, references craft traditions, using materials including paper, Plexiglas, wood veneer, fabric, piano wire and thread. Space, form, pattern, design and geometry meet with colour and light to form mesmerising, detailed scenes such as tiled swimming pools with mosaic walls, the imposing facades of Brutalist buildings, and domestic interiors containing bookcases replete with books, vases and ornaments.
In addition to figurative works, the publication also features the artist’s ‘Threaded Collages’, abstract geometric pieces inspired by Bauhaus tapestries and constructivism. Williams creates repeated triangular and diamond forms, using colourful painted papers along with silk and cotton threads.
Radiant City features a foreword by Joseph Becker, Curator of Architecture and Design at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; essays by writers Charlotte Mullins, Salena Barry and Kathryn Lloyd; and an interview by art historian Ben Street. This, Williams’s second trade monograph, has been designed by Kristin Metho, edited by Matt Price, and published by Hurtwood with generous support from Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco.
Lucy Williams (b. 1972, Oxford) studied at Glasgow School of Art and the Royal Academy Schools, London. She has exhibited internationally with solo shows at McKee Gallery, New York and at Timothy Taylor Gallery, London, and since 2016 has been represented by Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco. Group shows have included Painting the Glass House: Artists Revisit Modern Architecture, The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Ridgefield, Connecticut (2008); Building Blocks: Contemporary Works from the Collection, Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, Rhode Island (2011); and Cut & Paste | 400 Years of Collage, National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh (2019).
Salena Barry is a writer from Toronto, Canada, who is based in London, UK. She was part of the inaugural cohort of Frieze New Writers in 2021 and, in 2022, she was Jerwood Writer in Residence. Throughout her career, she has written for institutions including Delfina Foundation, SITE Gallery and The Goldsmith's Company. Her exhibition reviews, interviews and feature articles have also appeared in publications including frieze, ArtReview, émergent magazine and CMagazine. Salena holds a BA in Art History and History from the University of Toronto and an MA in Art & Politics from Goldsmiths College, University of London.
Joseph Becker serves as Curator of Architecture and Design at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, where his recent exhibitions include Art of Noise (2024), Barbara Stauffacher Solomon: Strips of Stripes (2023), Marshall Brown Projects: Dequindre Civic Academy (2023), Tauba Auerbach: S v Z (2022), The Sea Ranch: Architecture, Environment, and Idealism (2018-19) and Donald Judd: Specific Furniture (2018). He has written and contributed to numerous catalogues and publications. Becker's work explores the intersections of architecture, design, art and visual culture, with a focus on exhibition-making as a form of critical spatial practice.
Kathryn Lloyd is a writer and editor from the North-West of England, who lives and works in London. She has written for numerous art publications and contributed texts to various exhibition catalogues, artist monographs and survey publications, including Vitamin Video (Phaidon, 2025) Vitamin Txt (Phaidon, 2024) and The Anomie Review of Contemporary British Painting 3 (2024). Lloyd has delivered talks at Central Saint Martins and Jerwood Space and has appeared on the Art Monthly Radio Show. She is Contemporary Art Editor at The Burlington Magazine and was previously Editorial Manager at Central Saint Martins.
Charlotte Mullins is an art critic and broadcaster. Her latest book, The Art Isles: a 15.000-year story of art in Britain and Ireland is published by Yale University Press. Recent titles include A Little History of Art (Yale, 2022) and A Little Feminist History of Art (Tate, 2019). She writes a weekly column for Country Life, is the presenter of the podcast Making a Mark and a reviewer for BBC Radio 4's Front Row. She also regularly writes catalogue essays for artists including Clare Woods, Ali Banisadr, Yinka Shonibare, Vicken Parsons and Rachel Lumsden.
Dr Ben Street is an art historian, educator and writer based in London. He is the author of several books for general audiences, including How to Enjoy Art (Yale, 2021) and the award-winning children's book How to Be an Art Rebel (T&H, 2021). He has contributed essays on monographs on Edward Boccia (2025), Agustín Fernández (2025), Patrick Caulfield (2023), Henry Ward (2021), Christopher LeBrun (2018), Benjamin Senior (2015) and Gunnel Wåhlstrand (2013). He is a contributing writer on contemporary art to Apollo, Gagosian Quarterly, ArtReview and the Times Literary Supplement.
