Christian Holstad (b. 1972, Anaheim, California, USA) lives and works between Brooklyn, NY and Romagna, Italy. He holds a degree in Fine Arts from the Kansas City Art Institute, where he focused on ceramics, textiles, printmaking, and Jungian philosophy.

His interdisciplinary practice encompasses drawing, collage, installation, performance, and photography, addressing themes such as class, counterculture movements, consumerism, and sexuality. He is particularly concerned with the construction and manifestation of social and intimate spaces. Holstad’s work has long engaged with domestic and subcultural contexts, often questioning preconceived notions of identity and desire. By reimagining everyday and domestic objects, like shopping carts, microphones, and jewelry, he explores the contradictions of contemporary consumer society and challenges dominant cultural narratives. Recent works incorporate unconventional materials, like handmade pasta, ceramics, textiles, waste, and mosaics, further extending his inquiry into the material and symbolic language of the everyday.

Recent solo exhibitions include Salve, Museo Civico Luigi Varoli, Cotignola, Ravenna, Italy, 2024; The Divulgation of Tops and Bottoms, Massimo de Carlo Pièce Unique, Paris, France, 2023; Consider yourself as a guest (Cornucopia), Ca' Foscari University, Venice, Italy, 2019, touring to Slow Fish, Genova, Italy, 2021. Holstad 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, UK, and has participated in group exhibitions including The Flames: The Age of Ceramics, Musée d’Art Moderne, Paris, France, 2021; Transitions and Transformations, NSU Art Museum, Fort Lauderdale, FL, 2019–21; Harold Szeemann – Grandfather: A Pioneer Like Us, Swiss Institute, New York, NY, 2019; A Cool Breeze, Galerie Rudolfinum, Prague, Czech Republic, 2019; Chromaphilia & Chromaphobia, Kansas City Art Institute, Kansas City, MO, 2016; From The Ruins..., 601Artspace, New York, NY, 2015; Hangzhou Triennial of Fiber Art, Hangzhou, China, 2013; Paper, Saatchi Gallery, London, England, 2013; Aquatopia, Nottingham Contemporary, Nottingham, UK, touring to Tate St Ives, Cornwall, UK, 2013; Graphite, Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, IN, 2013; The Air We Breathe, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA, 2011; Coming After, The Power Plant, Toronto, ON, Canada, 2011; Compilation IV, Kunsthalle, Düsseldorf, Germany, 2009; Compass in Hand: Selections from the Judith Rothschild Collection, Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY, 2009; Unmonumental – The Objects in 21st Century, New Museum, New York, NY, 2007; The Lyon Biennial, Lyon, France, 2007; Uncertain States of America, Serpentine Gallery, London, UK, 2006; and The Whitney Biennial, New York, NY, 2004.

His work is held in the permanent collections of institutions including The Armand Hammer Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA; Astrup Fearnley Museet for Moderne Kunst, Oslo, Norway; MoMA - Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY; Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, PA; LACMA - Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA; Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami, CA; Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL; Rubell Family Foundation, Miami, CA and Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN, among others.