Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 5
Christopher ColvilleBlack Root2015
2015
$1,800
£1,348.77
€1,581.15
CA$2,520.89
A$2,825.48
CHF 1,479.18
MX$34,864.77
NOK 18,581.25
SEK 17,490.86
DKK 11,795.48
Shipping
Retrieving quote...The 1stDibs Promise:
Authenticity Guarantee,
Money-Back Guarantee,
24-Hour Cancellation
About the Item
Edition of 15
Christopher Colville is an American artist working to push the boundaries of the photographic medium in both experimental and traditional forms. His images are created outdoors by igniting a small portion of gunpowder on the surface of silver gelatin paper. In the resulting explosion, light and energy abrade and burn the surface while simultaneously exposing the light-sensitive silver emulsion. I loosely control the explosion by placing objects I have gathered in the field on the paper’s surface, but the results are often surprising and unpredictable as the explosive energy of gunpowder is the true generative force creating the image. I believe that by working in these ways, the images push the material and symbolic limitations of the medium. They turn the photograph inside out while creating something that is both serendipitous and elemental. The images are the residue of both creation and obliteration, generated from a single spark.
Beyond Reckoning Artist Statement:
Throughout my career, I have harnessed energy, fluid, motion, light and the chaos of volatile reactions. This attempt to reconfigure the photographic medium, has aligned with my interest in the dual nature of creation and destruction. Recently however, my attention has been redirected as I try to comprehend our increasingly divided and violent American culture. Suspended in a state of wonder and dread, my time in the landscape has shifted from a search for transformative experiences to a reckoning with the residue of American volatility.
Beyond Reckoning is the antiphon to a continuous cycle of violence imbedded in American culture, reflecting our polarized population. The images are made with targets I have collected from desert hillsides, abandoned by recreational shooters. The targets include commercially produced bulls-eyes, life size human forms, predators, mannequin heads, and wedding photographs as well as more divisive, crudely drawn political caricatures. These objects are cultural relics of a violent era, reduced to delicate lace by the onslaught of gunfire, revealing complex motives of hero fantasies, fear, frustration and hatred.
In the darkness of night I place the targets on gelatin silver paper and ignite measured portions of gunpowder on their surface. The explosive energy imprints the negative form of the target on the light sensitive paper while fire burns through the voids of bullet holes, scaring and pitting the surface of the print, creating luminous shadows whose clarity refute their violent creation. Forms rise from the flames as mythological apparitions haunting a landscape that holds a compressed history of violence. The targets are consumed in the process of creation but the images generated reveal triumphant revenant forms bearing the wounds of their creation.
This ongoing body of work has grown to include multi panel assailants, whose filmic repetition reference comic book cells, clustered installations of bulls-eye targets along with the human scale silhouettes titled “Citizens.” I have spent the last year and a half scouring the land surrounding my home, gathering objects and orchestrating nighttime interventions. Engulfed in billowing smoke, I sift through debris, repeating and refining small explosions, layering violence upon violence with the hope of finding clarity. The further I dive in to this work the more emotionally fraught it becomes and more determined I am to follow this path into uncharted territories.
- Creator:Christopher Colville (1974, American)
- Creation Year:2015
- Dimensions:Height: 20 in (50.8 cm)Width: 24 in (60.96 cm)
- Medium:
- Movement & Style:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Gallery Location:Sante Fe, NM
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU13425264822
Christopher Colville
Christopher Colville is an artist working to push the boundaries of the photographic medium in both experimental and traditional forms. Born in 1974 in Tucson, Arizona, he received his BFA in Anthropology and Photography from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri and his MFA in Photography from the University of New Mexico. After leaving New Mexico, he returned home to the Sonoran Desert and is currently living in Phoenix. Colville has spent his time in Phoenix exploring the desert where he has taught at multiple institutions including as a visiting Assistant Professor at Arizona State University. Colville’s work has been included in both national and international publications and exhibitions including SCOPE Basel 2015. Recent awards include the Ernst Cabat Award through the Tucson Museum of Art, Critical Mass top 50, the Humble Art Foundations New Photography Grant, an Arizona Commission on the Arts Artist Project Grant, a Public Art Commission from the Phoenix Commission on the Arts and an artist fellowship through the American Scandinavian Foundation. Colville’s work has been reviewed in national and international publications including the Los Angeles Times, the Boston Globe and GUP Magazine.
About the Seller
5.0
Vetted Professional Seller
Every seller passes strict standards for authenticity and reliability
Established in 1993
1stDibs seller since 2015
230 sales on 1stDibs
Typical response time: 1 to 2 days
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Shipping from: Sante Fe, NM
- Return Policy
Authenticity Guarantee
In the unlikely event there’s an issue with an item’s authenticity, contact us within 1 year for a full refund. DetailsMoney-Back Guarantee
If your item is not as described, is damaged in transit, or does not arrive, contact us within 7 days for a full refund. Details24-Hour Cancellation
You have a 24-hour grace period in which to reconsider your purchase, with no questions asked.Vetted Professional Sellers
Our world-class sellers must adhere to strict standards for service and quality, maintaining the integrity of our listings.Price-Match Guarantee
If you find that a seller listed the same item for a lower price elsewhere, we’ll match it.Trusted Global Delivery
Our best-in-class carrier network provides specialized shipping options worldwide, including custom delivery.More From This Seller
View AllAugur
By Christopher Colville
Located in Sante Fe, NM
Edition of 15
Christopher Colville is an American artist working to push the boundaries of the photographic medium in both experimental and traditional forms. His images are created...
Category
2010s Contemporary Color Photography
Materials
Archival Pigment
Revinins 1
By Christopher Colville
Located in Sante Fe, NM
Christopher Colville is an American artist working to push the boundaries of the photographic medium in both experimental and traditional forms. His images are created outdoors by ig...
Category
2010s Contemporary Abstract Photography
Materials
Silver Gelatin
Stilbon (One)
By Christopher Colville
Located in Sante Fe, NM
Stilbon
Stilbon in the ancient Greek religion, is the sky god of Hermaon, the planet Mercury, and one of the Astra Planeta. The word, Stilbon, means sh...
Category
2010s Abstract Abstract Photography
Materials
Silver Gelatin
Untitled 6
By Carlos Tarrats
Located in Sante Fe, NM
Visually I try to construct my images in a metaphorical and abstract way so that the viewer’s imagination is free to explore and derive their own thoughts and conclusions independent...
Category
Early 2000s Contemporary Color Photography
Materials
Archival Pigment
Price Upon Request
Revinins 2
By Christopher Colville
Located in Sante Fe, NM
Christopher Colville is an American artist working to push the boundaries of the photographic medium in both experimental and traditional forms. His images are created outdoors by ig...
Category
2010s Contemporary Abstract Photography
Materials
Silver Gelatin
Untitled 7
By Carlos Tarrats
Located in Sante Fe, NM
Visually I try to construct my images in a metaphorical and abstract way so that the viewer’s imagination is free to explore and derive their own thoughts and conclusions independent...
Category
Early 2000s Contemporary Color Photography
Materials
Archival Pigment
Price Upon Request
You May Also Like
Untitled 593-8
By Alan Ostreicher
Located in New York, NY
Selenium-toned gelatin silver print
Signed, titled, dated, and numbered in pencil, verso
Also blindstamped with artist's name and edition number, recto
8 x 8 inches, image size
(Ed...
Category
Early 2000s Contemporary Landscape Photography
Materials
Silver Gelatin
Révélations 2
By Patrick Beaulieu
Located in Montreal, Quebec
Patrick Beaulieu’s most recent project Révélations uses installation and digital prints to explore how artistic manipulation can create shifts in one’s expectations of the visual experience. Beaulieu clearly acknowledges his artistic presence in the work through mechanical and digital manipulation of the objects and images he presents. He becomes more than a passive observer and recorder of his physical world; the alteration of conventional photographs implants his voice and vision into the work. This approach directly addresses and contrasts artistic practices which seek to conceal the artist’s hand. His method diverges from those that attempt to present an uninterrupted and uncontaminated record, such as some documentary and straight photography. In using these stylized techniques, Beaulieu makes a palpable proclamation regarding the subjective and flexible condition of images.
In Révélations, images of trees, moss, leaves and other natural objects are presented in strict colour schemes of muted grays, browns and greens. Though these colours are familiar components of the natural world that we experience in day-to-day life and in photographs of nature...
Category
2010s Contemporary Landscape Photography
Materials
Digital
Untitled 682-1
By Alan Ostreicher
Located in New York, NY
Selenium-toned gelatin silver print
Signed, titled, dated, and numbered in pencil, verso
Also blindstamped with artist's name and edition number, recto
8 x 8 inches, image size
(Ed...
Category
Early 2000s Contemporary Landscape Photography
Materials
Silver Gelatin
Untitled 681-3
By Alan Ostreicher
Located in New York, NY
Selenium-toned gelatin silver print
Signed, titled, dated, and numbered in pencil, verso
Also blindstamped with artist's name and edition number, recto
8 x 8 inches, image size
(Ed...
Category
Early 2000s Contemporary Landscape Photography
Materials
Silver Gelatin
Révélations 7
By Patrick Beaulieu
Located in Montreal, Quebec
Patrick Beaulieu’s most recent project Révélations uses installation and digital prints to explore how artistic manipulation can create shifts in one’s expectations of the visual experience. Beaulieu clearly acknowledges his artistic presence in the work through mechanical and digital manipulation of the objects and images he presents. He becomes more than a passive observer and recorder of his physical world; the alteration of conventional photographs implants his voice and vision into the work. This approach directly addresses and contrasts artistic practices which seek to conceal the artist’s hand. His method diverges from those that attempt to present an uninterrupted and uncontaminated record, such as some documentary and straight photography. In using these stylized techniques, Beaulieu makes a palpable proclamation regarding the subjective and flexible condition of images.
In Révélations, images of trees, moss, leaves and other natural objects are presented in strict colour schemes of muted grays, browns and greens. Though these colours are familiar components of the natural world that we experience in day-to-day life and in photographs of nature...
Category
2010s Contemporary Still-life Photography
Materials
Digital
Untitled II
By James T. Murray
Located in New York, NY
Archival pigment print
30 x 40 inches
(Edition of 5)
44 x 60 inches
(Edition of 3)
This artwork is offered by ClampArt, located in New York City.
Please note that prices increase ...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Abstract Photography
Materials
Archival Pigment
