Being Human

Jan - March 2009

Following a very well-received exhibition at the Institute of Advanced Study, University of Durham, in November 2007, the IAS has offered Chris Gollon a Fellowship. This will be taken up January - March 2009. The IAS is based in the Georgian, grade-one listed Cosin's Hall, Palace Green, (adjacent to Durham Cathedral).

The IAS will convert one of the academic rooms temporarily into a studio. The Institute has invited a small number of leading scientists, social scientists, professors of humanities and British artist Chris Gollon to look at what it is to be human in the 21st century. Subsections to this theme will include 'Home', 'Mind-Conciousness', 'Crises of Personhood' and 'Abjection, Bare Life & De-humanization'. Chris will produce 15 paintings during the Fellowship, which will be exhibited in spring 2009 at the IAS, and then tour.

Impressed by Gollon's innovations both in technique and in his image-making, as he describes the human condition in a unique way, the IAS see his studio as a place of experimentation akin to a scientific laboratory. Chris Gollon is looking forward to his sojourn at Durham, and to the interaction and conversations with leading figures from other disciplines.

Chris Gollon on the show 'Early Thoughts' at IAP Fine Art, London, Sept-Nov 2008:

"For this show I am starting the ball rolling for my residency at Durham in 2009. The big ideas (hopefully) will come during the residency with the interaction between myself and the other fellows. I will therefore not be dealing with the themes specified by the Institute – i.e. mind/consciousness – boundary crossing – crises of personhood etc. However, I would prefer to begin my Residency not in the foothills but half way up the mountain so to speak: hence the early start. I will begin with a more general approach to being human. I have decided to put the human being on trial in the first few canvases and see what happens. I will then try to do something different (and hopefully significant) on what it means to be human." Chris Gollon (June 2008)