Touching the Future English sculptor ignites IMAS Pop Surrealism Revolution By Robert Longoria
Pristine lips, futuristic anime caricatures, and metallic faces greet you at every corner as you walk the halls of the International Museum of Art and Sciences. It’s as though you’ve stepped into the reel of an alternate universe. You have entered the world of Colin Christian. On January 18th, sculptor Colin Christian sat down with RGV The Word to discuss the influences, themes, and journey of his Pop Surrealistic work. His opening exhibit, “Looking Forward” is the latest in a series of Pop Surrealists to permeate the halls of IMAS. “The name of the show, “Fast Forward” is my idea as a possible futurist, I’m very optimistic about then the future but there are dangers concerning some of the technologies and we might be coming against them and I want to address some of those ideas,” Christian states. For those unfamiliar with the sizeable audience for this British sculptor’s work, his sculptures have toured through New York, Hong Kong, and more recently, Italy. Among major internet and mainstream publications, his work has been featured by the Today Show and The Nerdist.
Christian’s inspiration for his work stems from the artistic movement known as pop surrealism-or lowbrow- a term coined in the 1990s by artist and founder of Juxtapoz magazine, Robert Williams. The sculptures are penetrated by the raw sexuality enraptured by contemporary media. Inspiration for his work is found in Anime, Science-Fiction, and H.P. Lovecraft blending into the public conscious of popular culture. Enraptured with the love of science-fiction, it’s not surprising that a young Christian originally wanted to make Universal Monsters such as Frankenstein’s Monster, Dracula, and The Creature From The Black Lagoon. In fact, it is in the special FX of film that he finds the inspiration to mold his creations.
“A lot of the materials they use in movies, they’re industrial materials. The techniques they use are mold-making and replicating. In some of the pieces, I use silicone and that’s used now in movie special FX…So a lot of the same things you see on these figures and heads are used in movies like Robocop and Terminator movies—it’s the same basic material.” “Originally, I started producing work on a commercial level, I didn’t have that much confidence as an artist, so I started doing a lot of work for nightclubs, restaurants, I did kids bedrooms, I did all this kind of stuff. But all the time, I was using the experience to learn to perfect the technique.” For 2012, IMAS is shaking things up by embracing pop surrealism, hoping to become the precursor for a movement in the Rio Grande Valley. Gaby Jones, Executive Publicist for IMAS commented, “We started with Ron English, continued with Colin Christian, and are moving forward in that direction.” Reaching beyond the international art scene, IMAS is also looking inwards to regional artists within the community to exhibit at their satellite galleries, located in Mercedes and McAllen. Jones continues, “We’re working on expanding our galleries, we started it as a project to branch to local areas, to welcome regional artists out in the community.” Jones concluded, “We’re at a great location, at the Border; we want to introduce Mexican artists to The journey from his native country of England to Florida to the Rio Grande Valley has been an arduous trip, but overall Christian says that it has been worth it, from the inception of his first sculpture to his current exhibit. American audiences and vice-versa with international artists. We want to be the gatekeepers and bring artists to inspire children and adults to think outside the box,” she said. “The road has been long and hard but I’m happy with the way things have turned out, I’ve done most of the work, and I am self-taught. I managed to sell my first sculpture to a CEO from NIKE, a high-profile client, at that moment, I knew I was on the right track after making that deal, with that first piece.” Reflecting on advice he would offer to aspiring artists, “try to do whatever you do and be the best you can be, I think [of art] as the Olympic event that never ends.”