biography:

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

Mined materials recovered from the streets and detritus gleaned from the studio are woven and patched together, creating systems that index an entanglement of the past, the present, and lost futures. This regenerative practice reimagines spaces into regional, cultural, and collective memory time capsules. Art, just like that of music and poetry, doesn’t always come from a place of light, and if the flower that was Acid House grew from the dark days of Thatcherism, then the generational resistance to the binaries of boredom created amid today’s oppressive political climate, mark a continuation of that rave / DIY spirit, as the ghosts that haunt the British political machine.

Christopher is a co-founder and director of the London-based curatorial project Pigeon Park, 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 exhibitions in unique spaces, fostering artistic growth and engagement within the public sphere in times of restrictions, cutbacks, and uncertainty. In 2023, he graduated from the Royal College of Art with a Masters in Painting. Recent shows include solo presentations with Ruttkowski;68 (Köln 2023), 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 a DYCP grant from the Arts Council England.  

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)

exhibitions:

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 @ 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):