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18th February 2009
A Fellow of the Institute of Advanced Study (IAS), University of Durham, distinguished British artist Chris Gollon is working on a public commission of 15 paintings on the theme of 'Being Human', as part of a major international research project. The Residency and Fellowship takes place from January until March 2009, which, for Gollon, will culminate in an exhibition of the paintings at the Institute of Advanced Study in June and at IAP Fine Art, London in May.
Gollon's powerful and formally innovative paintings came to the attention of the Directors of the IAS in 2007, and together with 9 of the world's leading academics and creative thinkers he was invited to ask the question what does it mean to be human in our 'decentred' and fragmented 21st Century world?
What, if anything, is distinctive about being human? This question inspired a Renaissance that made 'man' (not God) the measure of things and in the 20th century it drew on ideas of progress and reason to define human achievement. In the 21st century a 'decentring' of human beings is taking place and we no longer have the old belief systems that gave people a strong sense of identity. Chris Gollon is an artist profoundly interested in the human condition. In preparation for the Being Human project, Gollon has responded to the notion of 'decentring' by developing a striking new style of painting anatomy, almost a new way of seeing the human figure, or making it hold an idea. He is using his visual imagination and imagery to probe both his own ideas and those which emerge from discussion with the visiting thinkers. Themes he and the fellows are tackling are 'Home', 'Mind/Consciousness', 'Boundary Crossing', 'Humanizing Practice', 'Crises of Personhood'; and 'Abjection, Bare Life & De-Humanization'. “I am developing my painting style further, and in a new direction, to search for the means to paint the Fellowship's specific subject matter…I started looking at how some gods, which humans have needed, do survive when civilizations change; yet some, like Venus , do not make it through. The series of paintings of a modern Venus show a faceless, out-moded god; yet she still retains a powerful presence, almost like a human with supernatural powers” Chris Gollon The Institute of Advanced Study is located in the grade-one listed Cosin's Hall, on the world-heritage site of Palace Green next to Durham Cathedral. www.dur.ac.uk/ias/. For further information on Chris Gollon: www.chrisgollon.com. Praise for Chris Gollon “He is guided less by artistic precedent than gut instinct, which explains how – in an age of post-modern painterly angst – he can go on producing such gutsy paintings. 'All art is theft,' said Picasso. Gollon is a pro who steals to order, and resets his gems in an idiom that is completely contemporary, and completely his own' Laura Gascoigne, (visual arts critic, The Spectator, RA magazine, Galleries magazine, The Tablet and ART Review) 'Chris Gollon has produced some truly compelling work'
Robin Dutt, The Independent. 'Tapping into a rich figurative tradition, Chris Gollon's paintings combine the upended perspective of Stanley Spencer with the dark moodiness of Otto Dix or George Grosz' Stephen Mitchell, Evening Standard
'In his 'BEING HUMAN' series of paintings, Gollon has redefined the human form with piercing insight, shattering preconceptions surrounding the nude, and layer by layer giving it new form. His nudes challenge the concept of the real and embody fundamental, primordial energy. These are images of passion, devoid of trivial prettiness or banal statement, which address basic, human emotions transmitted through raw and resonant flesh. Gollon's triumph is this balance between the conceptual and the real, which facilitates the expression of humanity at its most naked' Tamsin Pickeral, Author and art historian. Chris Gollon Biography Born London, 1953, Chris Gollon is an established name in British painting. He exhibited at ART'97 Chicago, and has had 5 solo museum shows in the UK. In 1998, he exhibited with Yoko Ono, David Bowie and Gavin Turk in 'ROOT', a crossover exhibition of contemporary music and art created by Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth, at the Chisenhale Gallery, London. In 2004, Chris Gollon was invited to show in St Paul's Cathedral with Bill Viola, Craigie Aitchison, Maggi Hambling and Tracey Emin. In 2005, the Huddersfield Art Gallery purchased a major work by Chris Gollon entitled 'Einstein & The Jealous Monk', partially inspired by a lyric in Bob Dylan's 'Desolation Row' and which now hangs in the permanent collection alongside works by L.S. Lowry, Sir Jacob Epstein and Francis Bacon. In 2001, the award-winning River & Rowing Museum in Henley-on-Thames, purchased Gollon's hinged triptych 'Big Fish Eat Little Fish', which now forms part of the permanent collection. In 2007, he accepted a commission from the River & Rowing Museum to paint the Henley Regatta. Unveiled in 2008, his painting hangs permanently in the museum's collection in juxtaposition with Raoul Dufy's 'Regatta at Henley'. Gollon's new cinematic art work Kaleidomorphism, a collaboration with Jabod, was shown at the East End Film Festival in April 2008. Moving like a magic lantern or a kaleidoscope, fifteen years of Chris Gollon's paintings move toward us and recede at differing speeds, set to very affecting music by Paolo Conte, Calexico and Gavin Bryars. In 2000, Gollon accepted a large commission from the Church of England to paint 14 Stations of the Cross for a grade-one listed church in East London, designed by Sir John Soane. The 14 paintings were unveiled in 2008 and will be permanently installed in March 2009 with a blessing by the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams.
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