biography:

Driven by a fear of ‘institutional’ boredom, the work questions cultural hegemony and the inherited hierarchies that pervade the socio-political cul de sac that is Brexit Britain. Informed by both ecological and economic positions, discarded materials such as single-use plastics, electronic wires and industrial nets are recovered and upcycled to create a bubbling stock. The recycled matter grows and gathers in a fertile manner into a reusable source, which can be repurposed time and time again.

This shape-shifting practice focuses on the conditions of post-pandemic materiality by turning life’s lemons into lemonade through the agency of found matter. Gleaned detritus and mined materials are woven together, creating spectral nervous systems which index the entanglement of past, present and lost futures. This regenerative practice reimagines spaces of other into storage vats of regional, cultural and collective memory, inviting human presence, participation and play. 

Christopher Stead is a London based multi-disciplinary 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. In 2023 he graduated from the Painting Programme at the Royal College of Art, London with a Masters Degree 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.

solo exhibitions:

Autonomic Ambience Vol 1, with Ruttkowski;68 at @ POP;68, Cologne, Germany (2023-24)

You Turn Me Inside Out @ Fold Gallery, London (2022)

Acid Reign @ Urban Spree, Berlin, Germany (2019)

Heterotopic Tourism @ Lab Kalkhorst, Kalkhorst, Germany, Germany (2019)

Moral Minimalism @ Aloïse, Barcelona, Spain (2018)

Chromophobia @ Proof Gallery, London (2017)

exhibitions:

Studio Response 4 @ Saatchi Gallery, London (2023-24)

Nouvelle Vague : Group presentation at LBF Contemporary, London (2023)

Context + Art Miami : Miami, USA (2023)

Ghost Notes (duo presentation) with Carolina Aguirre @ Fold Gallery, London (2023)

Royal College of Art Degree Show @ Truman Brewery, London (2023)

Unfolding Traces curated by Pigeon Park @ The Hangar Gallery, RCA, London (2023) 

Beyond The Streets @ Saatchi Gallery, London (2023) 

New Forms at Saatchi Gallery, London (2022)

Pigeon Park 2 @ Manor Place, London (2022).

London Original Print Fair with Jealous Gallery @ Somerset House, London (2022).

Post>andalism curated by Unruly Gallery @ Het HEM, Amsterdam (2021).

It Happens Sometimes, People Just Explode, part of the The Factory Project curated by Thorp Stavri, London (2021).

Pigeon Park @ Manor Place, London (2021).

London Original Print Week @ Jealous Gallery, London (2021).

Wavey Garms Xmas Pop Up, Soho, London (2020).

Five Hides curated by Thorpstavri @ Manor Place, London (2020).

The Viral Art Car Boot Fair, with Jealous Gallery (2020).

Together @ Oakland Gallery curated by Our Types, Liverpool, (2020).

Touch Me, online (2020).

Contact hosted by Fad Magazine, curated by Thorp Stavri (2020).

Up, Up & Away @ Hockney Gallery, London (2020).

Up @ Jealous Gallery, London March (2020).

Snapshot @ Hockney Gallery, RCA, London (2020).

WIP Show @ the RCA, London (2020). 

Jealous Booth @ Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair, London (2019). 

Cutting Together Apart @ Dyson Gallery, RCA, London (2019).

Sugar Mountain @ The Silver Building, London (2019).

Jealous Stand @ Affordable Art Fair, Battersea Park, London (2019). 

Underground On The Up @ The Silver Building, London (2019).

Heterotopic Tourism (Installation) @ Lab Kalkhorst, Germany (2019). 

Jealous Booth @ Affordable Art Fair, Hampstead, London (2019). 

Jealous Booth @ London Original Print Fair, Royal Academy, London (2019).

Mantra @ Stour Space, London (2018).

Low Voltage Experiments: Installation with Gala Bell @ The Silver Building, London (2018).

Jealous Stand @ The Affordable Art Fair, London (2018).

JNY 3018 @ Jealous North, London (2018).

Jealous Stand @ Moniker Art Fair, London (2018).

Hack Morecambe @ Gas Contemporary, Morecambe, Lancashire (2018).

JNY 3018 @ Saatchi Gallery, London (2018).

Jealous Needs You @ Jealous East, London (2018).

Silver Sehnsucht, curated by Approved by Pablo, The Silver Building, London (2017).

Unruly Suspects, Unruly Gallery, Amsterdam, Netherlands (2017).

Paper Cuts, Transition Gallery, London, (2016).

After presents Glossary, Safehouse, London (2016).

Out of Sight, Proof Gallery, London, (2016).

City & Guilds of London Art School Degree Show, London (2016).

Shatter Proof, Proof Gallery, London (2016).

LAX/ LHR, Stolen Space, London (2015). 

Les Etudients, Salon, London (2015). 

Post Transit Romantics, Make Your Mark Gallery, Helsinki, Finland (2015).

Liminal, The Ragged School Museum, London (2015).

From the Studio Floor, Anise Gallery, London (2015).

Unruly Gallery, Dog & Pony, Amsterdam, Netherlands (2015). 

Art of Angel, The Candid Arts Trust, London (2015).

Dirty Laundry, Library Members Club, London (2014)

A Comfortable Man, Wiltons Music Hall, London (2014).

Dubl Trubl, Urban Spree, Berlin, Germany (2014).

‘Why is a raven like a writing desk?’, Londonewcastle Project Space, London (2014).

Wu Tang is for the Children, Londonewcastle Project Space, London (2014).

Cedar’s Graffiti Supply Store, Movement, Worcester (2013).  

Monsters Ink, Wayward Gallery, London (2013).

residencies:

Artist in Residence at Lab Kalkhorst, Germany (2019). 

curation:

Pigeon Park @ Manor Place, London (2021).

Up, Up & Away @ Hockney Gallery, RCA, London (2020).

Post Transit Romantics, Make Your Mark Gallery, Helsinki, Finland (2015).

contact:

christophersteadstudio@gmail.com

podcast:

Artproof Podcast (2020)

press:

Fad Magazine: Sugar Mountain exhibition (2019).

Wall Street Journal: Acid Reign, Berlin (2019).

Third Text: Review of the Heterotopic Tourist installation at the Silver Sehnsucht exhibition The Silver Building (2018).

Fad Magazine: Sehnsucht exhibition (2017).

Unruly Gallery: Interview for (2017).

Proof Gallery: Review of Chromophobia solo exhibition at (2017).

Artlyst: Review of degree exhibition at City & Guilds of London Art School (2016):