Following the success of her 2010 solo exhibition at Pangolin London, Ann Christopher RA returns to the gallery this November with a new body of work in To Know Without Remembering. Determined to continue making despite a shoulder injury last year, Christopher has adapted to working on a smaller scale and in doing so has created one of her most intimate and enigmatic exhibitions of work to date.

The exhibition title, To Know Without Remembering, encapsulates the distinct experience of viewing Ann Christopher’s work. Her sculptures in particular have a familiar yet mysterious presence. Much like ancient standing stones that signal lives lived and histories unknown, Christopher’s work seems imbued with soul and humanity while remaining distinctly in the realm of the abstract and belonging to a visual language all of its own.

The exhibition title also sheds light on Christopher’s artistic process, which is fuelled by an instinctual approach to making. On first observation the sculptures seem to form organically in the studio through a series of formal decisions and aesthetic concerns. A basic shape is chosen and a template is constructed, often out of material as humble as cardboard. The shape is then built up using resin, giving depth and texture to the form before it is cast into Christopher’s metal of choice and further worked upon. Precise machine made linear incisions create a tension with delicate hand made surfaces.

Integral to this process of making by instinct however is the stimulus and fascination Christopher draws upon from a broad range of visual sources. Among other things the artist takes inspiration from soaring skyscrapers and urban skylines as well as plant structures, animal skeletons and ancient artefacts. Most recently during a residency in the West Coast of Ireland, Christopher was influenced by the area’s rugged landscape and coastline which can be seen reflected in the forms and surface of her sculptures.

Christopher’s enquiries into both the natural and man-made, the ancient and the contemporary are present throughout her work. Piece’s such as Held Memory and The Edges of Memory seem to harness the approach of modern architecture and aerodynamics while containing a primal landscape of marks reminiscent of an ancient cliff face or timeless seascape on their surface. These influences bring both a fearless modernity and an intriguing primitivism to her work and draw the natural world and the man-made world, the past and the present, not into collision, but into a seamless harmony.

Ann Christopher was elected a Royal Academician in 1980 when she was only 32 years old, making her one of the youngest elected Members in the Academy’s history. Having exhibited extensively since the late 1960’s she has become renowned for a style that articulates both great strength and delicate sensitivity. This latest work demonstrates a new dimension to Christopher’s practice, quite literally, through smaller scale works that retain the powerful presence and inimitable style she has become renowned for.

This selling exhibition includes sculpture and works on paper and is accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue. For further information on additional works in the exhibition please contact us.

All images courtesy of Pangolin London; Photographed by Steve Russell

Pangolin London
90 York Way, Kings Place
London N1 9AG United Kingdom
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gallery@pangolinlondon.com
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