Christian Ward

Known for a distinctive visual vocabulary made of broad brush-strokes saturated by technicolour palettes, Ward’s paintings recall the psychedelic design of 1960s vinyl records. Formally, his landscape paintings depict pre-historical and futuristic deserts that mix styles and narratives whose conventions are partly inherited from Asian Master paintings. According to Ward, the employment of landscape as a genre is not exhausted but re-emerges through pop culture, kitsch, science fiction and electronic music. Deserted islands, dead caves, dooming sunsets and abstract landscapes with no light, aerial views that play with the spatial order and scales of objects or figures, are confused by the quasi complete absence of horizon lines. The peculiar organisation of his compositions suggests they are not about places but spaces that are empty and define landscape as a process in motion. The recessive environments, dim lights, sombre tones portray the mechanisms of the human mind aspiring to no idealism or hegemony and approach painting with the desire to map the dark sides of landscape, the black holes of the mind.

Christian Ward (b. 1977, Noda, JP) lives and works in London. This year he has a solo show at Michel Rein in Paris and has been selected for ’The Library of Babel’ at 176 (London). Last year group shows included ’Eat-me, Drink-me’ at the Goss-Michael Foundation, Dallas, Texas, USA and ’Elements of Nature’ at the Weisman Art Museum, California, USA. In 2008 Ward participated in ’’Imaginary Realities at Max Wigram Gallery, London, and the Beijing Biennale (China). In 2007 Ward had a solo show at Patricia Low Contemporary, Gstaad (Switzerland). In 2005 he exhibited in ’Ideal Worlds’ at the Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt a/M (Germany) and ’Faltering Flames’ at Graves Gallery, Sheffield (UK).

For further information contact the gallery