Christopher Sage
Gestalistamaður Gilfélagsins í apríl 2022 er enski myndlistamaðurinn Christopher Sage.
Undanfarin 4 ár hefur Christopher rannsakað táknmyndir sem myndrænar byggingareiningar samskipta og skilnings og þróað sína eigin röð af glýfískum lykkjuformum. Á meðan á dvöl sinni í Gestavinnustofu Gilfélagsins stendur mun hann rannsaka tungumálið í tengslum við 32 stafi íslenska stafrófsins. „Þó að það sé boðið upp á nýjar tegundir áhrifa, einkum Þ og Ð, er fjarvera bókstafsins Z í íslenska stafrófinu síðan 1973 einnig áhugaverð. Frá mínu eigin menningarlegu sjónarmiði hefur bókstafurinn Z þýðingu sem Omega, „loka“ stafurinn í settinu en það hefur líka stærðfræðilega tilvísun í staðbundið hnit líkamlegrar dýptar. Þetta er form sem endurtekur sig í mínum eigin verkum, og ég er áhugasamur um að skilja þessa helgirún frá íslenskum menningarsjónarmiðum.“
Christopher Sage fæddist árið 1975 í London; hann býr og starfar í Berlín. Christopher starfar á sviði málaralistar, prentgerðar, skúlptúra og innsetningar. Hann lærði myndlist við háskólann í Reading og sérhæfði sig í skúlptúr og innsetningarlist undir stjórn listamannanna Bill Colbert og Ron Hasendon, sneri aftur til háskólans sem yngri lektor og lauk framhaldsnámi í myndlist í málaralist hjá prófessor Stephan Buckley.
Christopher hefur sýnt á völdum sam- og einkasýningum í Bretlandi, Þýskalandi, Austurríki og Ameríku á söfnum, stofnunum, galleríum og verkefnarýmum, þar á meðal sýningum í Spike Island (Bristol), Bristol Museum (Bristol), Kunstraum Kreuzberg Bettanien (Berlín) , Kunsthalle Exnergasse (Vín), Affenfaust Galerie (Hamborg), Lage Egal, (Berlín), Busche Kunst (Berlín), Schau Fenster (Berlín), & Fancy Nasty Studios, (Miami).
Hann hefur stýrt og verið meðstjórnandi fjölda sýninga í Bristol, Berlín, Hamborg og Vínarborg í verkefnarýmum og öðrum stöðum, þar á meðal Presents, Avery’s wine vaults (Bristol), Form from Function, REH Kunst & Arcadia Unbound í sögulegu fyrrverandi DDR. Funkhaus Berlín.
Artist in residence for the month of april 2022 is Christopher Sage.
Christopher Sage work explores visual language & coding as a mode of dissecting the various systems that underpin & influence our understanding of the universe we inhabit, from philosophy & science to religion & language. Christopher draws from varied contemporary & historic sources, often exploring contradictory ideas or disparate notions within his compositions.
Mathematical structures govern the formation of Christopher Sage’s work, as the laws of physicals govern the physical world. Christopher employs Prime number sequences as a framework to define his compositions & proportions. This mathematical underpinning looks at it’s own aesthetic impact. While aesthetic principles of classical Golden section stems from natural forms, Primes stem from within our number system itself. Christopher explains, „I’m interested in Primes as a by-product of an ordered, logical system. Their unique, concrete indivisibility, sits at odds with their erratic behaviour, appearing at unpredictable, seemingly random intervals.“
Over the past 4 years Christopher has been researching glyphs as pictorial building blocks of communication and understanding, developing his own series of glyphic looped forms. During his stay at the Gil Residency, he will be researching the language in relation to the 32 characters of the Icelandic alphabet. „While offering new forms of influence, significantly Thorn & Eth, the absence of the letter Z in the Icelandic alphabet since 1973 is also of interest. From my own cultural viewpoint the letter Z holds significance as the Omega, the ’final’ letter to it’s set, but it also has a mathematic reference of spatial coordinate of physical depth. It is a form that repeats in my own works, & I am keen to understand this glyphic form from an Icelandic cultural viewpoint.“
Christopher Sage was born in 1975 in London; he lives & works in Berlin. Christopher works in the fields of painting, printmaking, sculpture & installation. He studied Fine Art at the University of Reading specializing in sculpture & installation art under artists Bill Colbert & Ron Hasendon, Returning to the University as a Junior Lecturer, & completing his Fine Art Post Graduate in painting under the Professor Stephan Buckley.
Christopher has exhibited within selected group shows & solo presentations in the UK, Germany, Austria & America at museums, institutions, galleries and project spaces, including exhibitions at Spike Island (Bristol), Bristol Museum (Bristol), Kunstraum Kreuzberg Bettanien (Berlin), Kunsthalle Exnergasse (Vienna), Affenfaust Galerie (Hamburg), Lage Egal, (Berlin), Busche Kunst (Berlin), Schau Fenster (Berlin), & Fancy Nasty Studios, (Miami).
He has curated & co-curated a number of exhibitions in Bristol, Berlin, Hamburg & Vienna at project spaces & alternative venues, including Presents, Avery’s wine vaults (Bristol), Form from Function, REH Kunst & Arcadia Unbound at the historic former GDR Funkhaus Berlin.
