Christine Borland
Encyclopedia
Christine Borland is a British
artist and one of the Young British Artists
(YBAs). Borland attended the University of Ulster
, and the Glasgow School of Art
.
She works with forensic science and medicine, including police and judicial processes and collaborations with the Medical Research Council’s Social and Public Health Sciences Unit at Glasgow University. She has said, "The heart of what I am trying to discuss is very dark, very strong and passionate, and if you can reach that through quite a rational process, I think it
becomes more powerful, and importantly, more powerful to the viewer."
In November 1996, she presented a show Second Class Male, Second Class Female, which was of two reconstructed heads.
In 1997, for her first solo show in London, L'Homme Double at the Lisson Gallery
, she commissioned 6 academically-trained sculptors to make life-size clay heads of the Nazi
Auschwitz doctor Josef Mengele
from photocopied pictures of him which she provided and descriptions which Auschwitz survivors had made.
In 1997, she was a nominee for the "all women" Turner Prize
, which was won by Gillian Wearing
. The art works that Borland exhibited included The Dead Teach the Living (1997), originally displayed at the 1997 Munster Sculpture Project in Germany, was a group of computer-reconstructed heads cast in white plaster that show different racial stereotypes. After a True Story—Giant and Fairy Tales (1997) showed a negative impression of the skeletal remains of an 18th century dwarf and contrasted them with a 19th century giant. Phantom Twins (1997), consisted of leather "dolls" containing real foetal skeletons. Her work From Life was a record of her forensic reconstruction of a missing Asian woman. This started with a skeleton and concluded with a bronze cast of the head. The concern of the artist was with issues of depersonalisation of the individual that take place with medical establishments. Her rebuilding of a missing person was a process of re-personalisation.
Solo exhibitions include the Fabric Workshop and Museum (Philadelphia), Dundee Contemporary Arts, De Appel (Amsterdam), Fundação Serralves (Lisbon) and Museum für Gegenwartskunst (Zurich).
She is represented by the Lisson Gallery, London
.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
artist and one of the Young British Artists
Young British Artists
Young British Artists or YBAs is the name given to a loose group of visual artists who first began to exhibit together in London, in 1988...
(YBAs). Borland attended the University of Ulster
University of Ulster
The University of Ulster is a multi-campus, co-educational university located in Northern Ireland. It is the largest single university in Ireland, discounting the federal National University of Ireland...
, and the Glasgow School of Art
Glasgow School of Art
Glasgow School of Art is one of only two independent art schools in Scotland, situated in the Garnethill area of Glasgow.-History:It was founded in 1845 as the Glasgow Government School of Design. In 1853, it changed its name to The Glasgow School of Art. Initially it was located at 12 Ingram...
.
She works with forensic science and medicine, including police and judicial processes and collaborations with the Medical Research Council’s Social and Public Health Sciences Unit at Glasgow University. She has said, "The heart of what I am trying to discuss is very dark, very strong and passionate, and if you can reach that through quite a rational process, I think it
becomes more powerful, and importantly, more powerful to the viewer."
In November 1996, she presented a show Second Class Male, Second Class Female, which was of two reconstructed heads.
In 1997, for her first solo show in London, L'Homme Double at the Lisson Gallery
Lisson Gallery
The Lisson Gallery is a contemporary art gallery in Bell Street, Lisson Grove, London, founded by Nicholas Logsdail in 1967. The gallery represents such artists as Ai Weiwei, John Latham, Sol LeWitt, Robert Mangold, Jonathan Monk, Julian Opie, Richard Wentworth and Turner Prize winners Anish Kapoor...
, she commissioned 6 academically-trained sculptors to make life-size clay heads of the Nazi
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
Auschwitz doctor Josef Mengele
Josef Mengele
Josef Rudolf Mengele , also known as the Angel of Death was a German SS officer and a physician in the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau. He earned doctorates in anthropology from Munich University and in medicine from Frankfurt University...
from photocopied pictures of him which she provided and descriptions which Auschwitz survivors had made.
In 1997, she was a nominee for the "all women" Turner Prize
Turner Prize
The Turner Prize, named after the painter J. M. W. Turner, is an annual prize presented to a British visual artist under the age of 50. Awarding the prize is organised by the Tate gallery and staged at Tate Britain. Since its beginnings in 1984 it has become the United Kingdom's most publicised...
, which was won by Gillian Wearing
Gillian Wearing
Gillian Wearing OBE RA is an English conceptual artist, one of the YBAs, and winner of the annual British fine arts award, The Turner Prize, in 1997. On 11 December 2007, Wearing was elected as lifetime member of the Royal Academy of Arts in London....
. The art works that Borland exhibited included The Dead Teach the Living (1997), originally displayed at the 1997 Munster Sculpture Project in Germany, was a group of computer-reconstructed heads cast in white plaster that show different racial stereotypes. After a True Story—Giant and Fairy Tales (1997) showed a negative impression of the skeletal remains of an 18th century dwarf and contrasted them with a 19th century giant. Phantom Twins (1997), consisted of leather "dolls" containing real foetal skeletons. Her work From Life was a record of her forensic reconstruction of a missing Asian woman. This started with a skeleton and concluded with a bronze cast of the head. The concern of the artist was with issues of depersonalisation of the individual that take place with medical establishments. Her rebuilding of a missing person was a process of re-personalisation.
Solo exhibitions include the Fabric Workshop and Museum (Philadelphia), Dundee Contemporary Arts, De Appel (Amsterdam), Fundação Serralves (Lisbon) and Museum für Gegenwartskunst (Zurich).
She is represented by the Lisson Gallery, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.