Christian Mieves Erosion of Bodies, Spaces and Materials. Paintings, 2011-12
top: Girl, 2012, oil on canvas, 40 x 30 cm. right: Woman, 2012, oil on canvas, 40 x 30 cm. Cover image: Kinder 1, 2011, oil on board, 19 x 25,5 cm (Detail).
Erosion of Bodies, Spaces and Materials. Recent Paintings (2011-12) In his recent work Christian Mieves has examined the site of the beach as a threshold which not only explores the transgression of two entities but which often eschews Western thought. The liminal site of the beach becomes here a metaphor for a semantically uncertain field, associated with a kind of Arcadia and, the other side of the same coin, Modernity. His paintings deal often with a certain ambiguity in representing the beach, which does not allow a clear categorisation and as a kind of threshold, marks the place where the arrival of refugees is juxtaposed with sun bathing tourists. In his new project, presented here, Christian focuses on the idea of erosion more broadly. This will enable him to explore the conceptual resonances of some of his earlier work and to develop a new trajectory for his artistic practice. For the purposes of this project, erosion is defined as that set of processes. It will be observed both on a formal ‘painterly’ level (the breaking up of the image surface or objects), and more broadly in the decaying or disappearance of environs. The process of breakingup objects allows him then to assemble or construct fragments again, which becomes a vital part of the creation process.
left: Children, 2012, oil on canvas, 30 x 40 cm.
right: Shepherd, 2012, oil on canvas, 30 x 40 cm.
Christian Mieves is an artist and academic based in the North East of England. He co-organized the 2009 Revisiting the Beach conference at Newcastle University (http://conferences.ncl.ac.uk/beachconference/). He holds a Ph.D. in Fine Art and an MFA from Newcastle University (UK), both funded by the AHRC (Arts and Humanities ResearchCouncil). His paintings have been shown at exhibitions in Germany, Mexico, Spain and the United Kingdom. He has written on issues of exoticism, cannibalism, heterotopias and the beach in the work of Dana Schutz and the trope of fragmentation in Luc Tuymans. He is currently working on a large project on the subject of ‘erosion’ in contemporary art.
Contact: website: http://www.mieves.info/ e-mail: mievi@gmx.de
Exhibition View,
Projectspace, Newbridge Project, Newcastle upon Tyne, 2012.
right: River, 2012, oil on canvas, 40 x 30 cm.
Recent Exibitions (Selections) 2013
Galerie der Stadt Mainz, Mainz, Germany (Solo, forthcoming).
2012
Duckett & Jeffreys Gallery, Malton, Oct 2012 (Solo).
2012 2011
2010 2010
2009 2009 2009 2008 2008 2008 2008 2008 2007 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2001 2000
St Cuthbert’s College, Durham University, Nov 2012 (Solo).
Constantine Gallery, Middlesbrough, 10 Nov -16 Dec 2011 (Solo). Xunta de Galicia, Lugo, Spain, Sept 2010 (Solo).
Myles Meehan Gallery, Darlington, 4 June-30 July 2010 (Solo). South Square Gallery, Bradford, 7- 29 Nov 2009 (Solo). Ex-Libris Gallery, Newcastle, 3-17 July 2009.
Long Gallery, Newcastle University, 28 April-4 May 2009 (Solo).
Claustro de Sor Juana, Mexico City, Mexico, 3-29 March 2008 (Solo). ArtSway, Sway, UK, 6 Dec 2008 - 15 Feb 2009. Phoenix Gallery, Exeter, 18 Sept-5 Nov 2008.
University Gallery, Northumbria University, Newcastle, 30 Aug-13 Sept 2008. Lloyd Gill Gallery, Weston-Super-Mare, 25 Jan-22 Feb 2008.
St Aidan’s College, Durham University, Durham, 26 Nov-16 Dec 2007 (Solo). Red Wire, Liverpool, 17 Nov-30 Nov 2007.
The Gallery, Gateshead, UK, edddd14 July-25 Aug 2006 (Solo). Hatton Gallery, Newcastle, UK, 2-18 Sept 2005.
School of Architecture, Newcastle University, UK, May 2004 (Solo) Kunstverein Walpodenstrasse, Mainz, Germany, Sept 2003. (Solo).
Kunstverein (Art Association) Dreieich, Frankfurt, Germany, May 2001. Kunstverein Eisenturm (Art Association), Mainz, Germany, Jan 2000.
left: Break IV, oil on board, 2012, 25,5 x 19 cm.
right: Mother and son, 2012, oil on canvas, 35 x 24 cm.
left: Messenger, 2012, oil on canvas, 40 x 30 cm.
right: Formation 3, 2011, oil on board, 19 x 25,5 cm (Detail).
left: Kinder 1, 2011, oil on board, 19 x 25,5 cm.
right: Kinder 2, 2011, oil on board, 19 x 25,5 cm (Detail).
Christian Mieves Erosion of Bodies, Spaces and Materials. Paintings, 2011-12 contact e-mail: mievi@gmx.de http://www.mieves.info/
left: Object 1, 2011, oil on board, 19 x 25,5 cm.
right: Group 1, 2011, oil on board, 19 x 25,5 cm (Detail). cover: Play 1, 2011, oil on board, 25,5 x 19 cm.