Christian Mieves

Statement

My paintings deal with border crossings. They are an exploration of the boundaries of paintings (their edges, the straight lines that enclose them). They are also an open-ended exploration of other boundaries, a working through of the idea of inbetween spaces.
My work usually begins with an encounter certain kinds of source material, more recently with cuttings from National Geographic Magazines from the 1960s and 70s.The work born of my encounter with these materials deals with ambiguous images, which seem to belong to a faded or bleached out past. I try to respond directly to these images, but my paintings inevitably work on the images, transforming and mutating them, changing their feel, their texture and their meanings.

The appearance of my artwork might be termed ‘exotic’: their colours and textures make it difficult to think of them as in any sense reminiscent of real events. This way of exploring the external world through photographs mirrors the motive of most of my paintings, which depict human figures coming to terms with their immediate environment. This inquiry, I think, closes up the space between viewer and viewed, internal/external, real/unreal.

More recently, I have become interested in looking at and working on images of beaches. This raises for me questions about the meaning and status of borders and limits. It seems to me that beaches offer an ideal arena in which to investigate transgressions between land and sea, the concrete and abstract spheres and that place where new and foreign agents first appear.

In this way, my practice combines familiar depictions with abstract marks that are less clearly definable. The approach is a deliberately destabilising one and attempts to undermine processes of figurative representation. It serves not only to undo the dichotomy of abstract and figurative painting, but to place the viewer in an ambiguous relation with that representation.

2006 - present PhD School of Arts and Cultures
University of Newcastle, UK

2006PGCE (Post Graduate Certificate in Education)
University of Northumbria at Newcastle, UK. Subject: Art and Design

2005 Master in Fine Art (Double Distinction: dissertation and studio work)
(2-year full-time postgraduate degree). University of Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK

2003 B.A. Graphic Design (2.1)
(4-year full-time degree) University of Applied Science; Mainz, Germany

SCHOLARSHIPS

2006-2009AHRC (Arts and Humanities Research Council), UK

2004

Bartlett Scholarship, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK

2003-2005

AHRC (Arts and Humanities Research Council), UK

TEACHING

Newcastle University (2004, 2006-present)
Gateshead College (2007)
Artist Workshop organised by Gateshead Council (2006)
Secondary Level: Teesside High School, Eaglescliff, UK,
RC St Joseph’s Comprehensive School, Hebburn (2005/06)

2001 SOLO EXHIBITIONS

26 Nov -16 Dec 2007
St Aidan's College, Durham University More Info

14 July - 25 August 2006
The Gallery, Gateshead, UK More Info

16 May – 3 June 2005
Kofi; School of Architecture, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK More Info

8-13 November 2004
Long Gallery; University of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK More Info

17 May – 10 June 2004
Kofi; School of Architecture, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK More Info

September 2003
Kunstverein Walpodenkeller, Mainz, Germany More Info

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

6 Dec 2007 – 18 March 2008
Abstract Focus, Art Works Galleries, Newcastle, UK

17 Nov - 30 Nov 2007
Red Wire Liverpool More Info

2-18 September 2005
Breakfast on a Roundabout, Hatton Gallery, Newcastle, UK More Info

20 August – 10 September 2004
MFA-Interim Show, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK More Info

January 2002
Kunstverein Eisenturm, Mainz, Germany

May 2001
Kunst und Foerderverein Buchschlag, Frankfurt, Germany More Info

January 2001
Kunstverein Eisenturm, Mainz, Germany