Christopher Stead
b. 1974, United Kingdom
Created within the socio-political cul de sac that is post-Brexit Britain, Christopher’s work pokes fun at the inherited hierarchies of the old order, questioning the role and relevance of the art object during times of social prohibition; with contact reduced to a digital screen and creatives encouraged to retrain in cyber. Driven by a fear of ‘white cube’ boredom, the work disrupts the paradigms of commercial obedience, trend, and cultural hegemony. Working with hand-torn or found material, the matter is woven into post-industrial spaces that invite human presence, participation, and play.
The tagliatelle series of paintings addresses how we as humans interact with our daily waste. Consisting of found fishing nets, recovered industrial waste, and studio detritus, the tagliatelle material grows and gathers in a fecund manner into a reusable source, which can be repurposed time and time again. This exercise of regeneration helps produce a more sustainable studio practice in times of accountability.
Christopher Stead is a London-based multidisciplinary artist, curator, and documentarian of British counterculture. In 2016 Christopher graduated with a First Class BA Hons in Fine Art at the City and Guilds of London Art School, where he received the Painter-Stainers Scholarship Prize and Brian Till Art History Thesis Award. He is currently midway through the MA Painting programme at the Royal College of Art, London, and is the co-founder and director of the London-based curatorial collective Pigeon Park, which was created in response to the post-pandemic threat posed to artists’ working conditions in the wake of the Covid crisis. Through collaboration, Pigeon Park works with artists to create immersive sculpture and painting exhibitions in unique spaces, fostering artistic growth and engagement within the public sphere in times of restrictions, cutbacks, and uncertainty.