biography:

Christopher Stead (b.1974, Halifax, UK) is a London-based artist and writer. In the wake of the EU Referendum and the cost of living crisis, his work celebrates the recalcitrant spirit of countercultural resistance amid the continuing divisions of a post-Brexit Britain. Informed by the current hand-to-mouth economic and ecological conditions, the practice aims to turn life’s lemons into lemonade through processes of archival accumulation and the currency of found matter.

Materials recovered from the streets and detritus gleaned from the studio are woven, wrapped and cast together to create systems that index entanglements of both the past and present, and futures lost. This regenerative practice reimagines spaces into regional, cultural, and collective memory time capsules.

Christopher is a co-founder of the London-based curatorial project Pigeon Park, created in response to the post-pandemic threat to artists’ working conditions. Through collaboration, Pigeon Park works with artists to create immersive exhibitions in unique spaces, fostering artistic growth and engagement in the public sphere amid restrictions, cutbacks, and uncertainty. In 2023, he graduated from the Royal College of Art with a Master's in Painting. Recent shows include solo presentations with Ruttkowski;68 (Köln 2024), Fold Gallery (London 2022), and group presentations at Saatchi Gallery and Tick Tack (Antwerp 2024). In April 2025, he released his first book, Ghosts in the Machine: The Hauntology of Graffiti and Rave Culture 1990 - 2010, with Alias Press, and was awarded the DYCP grant from Arts Council England this year.

solo exhibitions:

Autonomic Ambience Vol 1, with Ruttkowski;68 at @ R;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)

book fairs:

Unlock Book Fair @ Völklinger Hütte, Germany (2026)

Bound Art Book Fair @ The Whitworth Museum, Manchester (2025)

GLUE Book Fair @ Institute of Contemporary Arts, London (2025)

Unlock Book Fair @ Hallenkunst, Chemnitz, Germany (2025)

exhibitions:

Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair , London (2025)

Eurostarz @ Tick Tack, Antwerp, Belgium (2024)

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 2 @ Manor Place, London (2022).

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:

Practice Magazine: Ghosts in the Machine book interview (2025)

3 AM Magazine: Ghosts in the Machine book interview (2025)

DJ Mag: Ghosts in the Machine book interview (2025)

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):