CHRISTOPHER BUCKLOW
(b.1959 Manchester)
(b.1959 Manchester)
'Anima'
Monday 23 November - Saturday 19 December
"Anima and animus are the names given by Carl Jung to the undeveloped parts of the male and female psyche. In males, this unexpressed side has an inner feminine quality.
Often personified as a character in one’s dreams, Anima appears as mysterious, distant and beautiful. In my case this character appeared as the female alien in my Alien Fusion Dream painting which was published in the Riflemaker book for my 2004 exhibition ‘I Will Save Your Life’. I believe this character did in fact save my life by causing me stop my intellectual-curatorial career and make begin to create art.
Anima figures do not only occur in private dreams. Anima is present in the dreams of our culture - in literature, fashion and cinema as well as in the myths of our religions - as Eve and Mary, siren-like figures, matriarchal and queenly archetypes. In my new light photographs and in some of the accompanying paintings, I make use of the physical characteristics of the German supermodel Claudia Schiffer. Characteristics which have caused her to be promoted to a situation whereby Anima conditions and fantasies have been projected onto her.
Some of the images show this Anima figure with the artist Matthew Barney (who appeared in my first photographic series in 1994) holding up my paintings - like the saleroom porters who display lots for bidders during an auction. When the same character appears at the door in the voluminous dress (in my painting) she is in the character of Eustacia Vye, the mysterious, dark Anima-figure in Thomas Hardy’s 'Return of the Native'. I like the idea that a fictional character from Hardy and an artist such as MB, dressed as a goat-god, act as bearers of these newly created images. Paintings of paintings of paintings.
The internal Anima figure which I feel I personally bear acts much like a door. Anima opened the inner doors between my conscious and unconscious areas, but she is also, in some way, the door itself."
Christopher Bucklow, London 2009
Christopher Bucklow's photographic work is represented in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, New York, The Metropolitan Museum, New York, and the Victoria & Albert Museum, London.
Monday 23 November - Saturday 19 December
"Anima and animus are the names given by Carl Jung to the undeveloped parts of the male and female psyche. In males, this unexpressed side has an inner feminine quality.
Often personified as a character in one’s dreams, Anima appears as mysterious, distant and beautiful. In my case this character appeared as the female alien in my Alien Fusion Dream painting which was published in the Riflemaker book for my 2004 exhibition ‘I Will Save Your Life’. I believe this character did in fact save my life by causing me stop my intellectual-curatorial career and make begin to create art.
Anima figures do not only occur in private dreams. Anima is present in the dreams of our culture - in literature, fashion and cinema as well as in the myths of our religions - as Eve and Mary, siren-like figures, matriarchal and queenly archetypes. In my new light photographs and in some of the accompanying paintings, I make use of the physical characteristics of the German supermodel Claudia Schiffer. Characteristics which have caused her to be promoted to a situation whereby Anima conditions and fantasies have been projected onto her.
Some of the images show this Anima figure with the artist Matthew Barney (who appeared in my first photographic series in 1994) holding up my paintings - like the saleroom porters who display lots for bidders during an auction. When the same character appears at the door in the voluminous dress (in my painting) she is in the character of Eustacia Vye, the mysterious, dark Anima-figure in Thomas Hardy’s 'Return of the Native'. I like the idea that a fictional character from Hardy and an artist such as MB, dressed as a goat-god, act as bearers of these newly created images. Paintings of paintings of paintings.
The internal Anima figure which I feel I personally bear acts much like a door. Anima opened the inner doors between my conscious and unconscious areas, but she is also, in some way, the door itself."
Christopher Bucklow, London 2009
Christopher Bucklow's photographic work is represented in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, New York, The Metropolitan Museum, New York, and the Victoria & Albert Museum, London.
Anima and animus are the names given by Carl Jung to the undeveloped parts of the male and female psyche. In men, this unexpressed side has an inner feminine quality.
Often personified as a character in one's dreams, Anima appears as mysterious, distant and beautiful. In my case this character appeared as the female alien in my Alien Fusion Dream painting which was published in the Riflemaker book for my 2004 exhibition 'I Will Save Your Life'. I believe this character did in fact save my life by causing me stop my intellectual-curatorial career and begin to make art.
Anima figures do not only occur in private dreams. The figure is present in the dreams of our culture - in literature, fashion and cinema as well as in the myths of our religions - as Eve and as Mary, as well as siren-like figures, matriarchal and queenly archetypes. In my new light photographs, and in some of the accompanying paintings, I make use of the physical characteristics of the German supermodel Claudia Schiffer. Characteristics which have caused her to be promoted into a situation whereby Anima conditions and fantasies have been projected onto her.
Some of the images show this Anima figure with the artist Matthew Barney (who appeared in my first photographic series in 1998) holding up my paintings - like the saleroom porters who display lots for bidders during an auction. When the same character appears at the door in the voluminous dress she is in the character of Eustacia Vye, the mysterious dark Anima-figure in Thomas Hardy's 'Return of the Native'. I like the idea that a fictional character from Hardy and an artist such as MB, dressed as a goat-god, act as bearers of these newly created images. Paintings of paintings of paintings.
The internal Anima figure which I feel I personally bear acts much like a door. Anima opened the inner doors between my conscious and unconscious areas, but she is also, in some way, the door itself.
Christopher Bucklow, London 2009
Christopher Bucklow's photographs are represented in the collections of Museum of Modern Art, New York, The Metropolitan Museum, New York and the Victoria & Albert Museum, London.
Often personified as a character in one's dreams, Anima appears as mysterious, distant and beautiful. In my case this character appeared as the female alien in my Alien Fusion Dream painting which was published in the Riflemaker book for my 2004 exhibition 'I Will Save Your Life'. I believe this character did in fact save my life by causing me stop my intellectual-curatorial career and begin to make art.
Anima figures do not only occur in private dreams. The figure is present in the dreams of our culture - in literature, fashion and cinema as well as in the myths of our religions - as Eve and as Mary, as well as siren-like figures, matriarchal and queenly archetypes. In my new light photographs, and in some of the accompanying paintings, I make use of the physical characteristics of the German supermodel Claudia Schiffer. Characteristics which have caused her to be promoted into a situation whereby Anima conditions and fantasies have been projected onto her.
Some of the images show this Anima figure with the artist Matthew Barney (who appeared in my first photographic series in 1998) holding up my paintings - like the saleroom porters who display lots for bidders during an auction. When the same character appears at the door in the voluminous dress she is in the character of Eustacia Vye, the mysterious dark Anima-figure in Thomas Hardy's 'Return of the Native'. I like the idea that a fictional character from Hardy and an artist such as MB, dressed as a goat-god, act as bearers of these newly created images. Paintings of paintings of paintings.
The internal Anima figure which I feel I personally bear acts much like a door. Anima opened the inner doors between my conscious and unconscious areas, but she is also, in some way, the door itself.
Christopher Bucklow, London 2009
Christopher Bucklow's photographs are represented in the collections of Museum of Modern Art, New York, The Metropolitan Museum, New York and the Victoria & Albert Museum, London.
 |
 |
 "Tetrarch" 2.43pm, 17th January, 2006 2006 (edition unique) cibachrome, dye-destruction print 100 x 145 cm |
 "Tetrarch" 10.07am, 11th January, 2003 2003 cibachrome, dye-destruction print (edition unique) 100 x 140 cm |
 "Magnetic Mirror", 4.11pm, 5th November, 2001 2001 (edition unique) cibachrome, dye-destruction print 40 x 30 cm |
 "Guest" 8.01am, 15th August, 2005 2005 (edition unique) cibachrome, dye-destruction print 40 x 30 cm |
Bucklow's vast projections of the mythified self make him exceed the bounds of identity. He has wedded the world of Ovid with its physical shifts and transformations with the great twentieth-century mythology of nuclear physics: the modern alchemy.
Prof David Alan Mellor. Essay in 'Christopher Bucklow', Blindspot Publications, N.Y. forthcoming, 2004
Christopher Bucklow is one of the most innovative artists working in Europe today.
Michael Auping in the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth Journal, 1998
Prof David Alan Mellor. Essay in 'Christopher Bucklow', Blindspot Publications, N.Y. forthcoming, 2004
Christopher Bucklow is one of the most innovative artists working in Europe today.
Michael Auping in the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth Journal, 1998