SELECTED WORKS BY Christian Holstad
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Christian Holstad
Defined through deflation and limits of exposure (detail)
2004
Mixed Media: Cashmere coat, tie, white shirt, leather glove, terry cloth, polyester, cotton, vintage millinery trimmings, vintage satin glove, champagne glass, men's suiting and vintage party dress
Dimensions variable |
 
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Two stuffed snakes, a dark male and his floral female mate, lay entwined on the gallery floor. Clutching a bouquet of microphones, they confront the viewer with a wry statement on the privileged social systems that media imagery exploits. In the same breath, this hand-sewn, soft sculpture, typical of Holstad's interest in traditional forms of craftsmanship, invites us to reconsider culturally prescribed notions of gender, domesticity, and high and low art. |
Christian Holstad
The Brain Quilt
2002
Cotten, felt, wool, mixed media
200.66 x 180.34 cm |
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Craftwork, and the use of everyday materials, are central to Holstad's practice. Labour-intensive, often collaborative techniques such as sewing, knitting and crocheting feature strongly in his work, embodying his interest in the tactile object and its ability to convey sensuality and comfort while resisting the increasing 'virtuality' of contemporary life. Like the majority of his works, be they drawings, collages or soft, sculptural forms, The Brain Quilt is imbued with a distinctly personal aesthetic symptomatic of a close physical and emotional relationship with its maker. The coloured and colourless forms seem to suggest the vagaries of human memory, or the contrasting sentiments at play in one's mind. |
Christian Holstad
Defending Decisions
2005
pencil on newspaper
13 x 18 cm |
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These seven works on paper belong to an ongoing series known as the 'Eraserhead' drawings. Ordinary black-and-white photographs are cut from newspapers; leaving large parts untouched, Holstad carefully erases the ink from other areas to create ghostly, ambiguous voids, rendering their subjects – political figures, landscapes, interiors – deformed and isolated. In their place, details are added in pencil to contort, warp and dramatically recontextualize the original image. This technique, married to the scale and fragile nature of the works, generates a tremendous and highly personal pathos, evoking feelings of loss and fear, and threatening our faith in and experience of media imagery. |
Christian Holstad
Grasping For Straws
2005
pencil on newspaper
13.5 x 19 cm |
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Christian Holstad
Held Hearts and Bated Breath
2005
pencil on newspaper
15.5 x 23 cm |
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Christian Holstad
Media Talk
2005
pencil on newspaper
24 x 23 cm |
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Christian Holstad
Under Development
2005
pencil on newspaper
24 x 23 cm |
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Christian Holstad
A Sacrifice on a Volcano
2004
pencil on newspaper
16.5 x 26.5 cm |
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Christian Holstad
A Slide of Hands
2004
pencil on newspaper
22 x 33.5 cm |
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Christian Holstad
Members of Leather Beach hold a "meet n greet" to discuss the daily agenda (on a reproduction mission)
2006
Hemp, archival handmade paper, acid neutralized wood veneer, and color. xeroxes on archival museum board
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Christian Holstad
Members of Leather Beach hold a 'meet n greet' to discuss the daily agenda ( on a reproduction mission)
2006
Hemp, archival handmade paper, acid neutralized wood veneer, and color. xeroxes on archival museum board
Panel 1: 101.6 x 76.2 cm
Panel 2: 101.6 x 152.4 cm
Panel 3: 101.6 x 76.2 cm |
 
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Christian Holstad
House Training # 5 (Flowers)
2006
Wool, leather, polyester, rubber, chicken wire, wood, linen, tie
81.3 x 38.1 x 43.2 cm |
 
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Christian Holstad
House Training # 6 (Dancing Goats)
2006
Wool, leather, polyester, rubber, chicken wire, wood, linen, tie
100.3 x 40.6 x 50.8 cm |
 
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Christian Holstad
House Training # 12 (Flowers)
2006
Wool, leather, polyester, rubber, mohair, chicken wire, wood, tie
96.5 x 40.6 x 50.8 cm |
 
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Christian Holstad
House Training # 20 (Dancing Goats)
2006
Wool, leather, polyester, rubber, foam, linen, tie
101.6 x 45.7 x 48.3 cm |
 
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Christian Holstad
Cacoon (detail)
2007
Vintage aluminium lawn chair, paint, 2xist underwear elastic, vintage mohair sweater, xerox transfers, wool felt, vintage exercise boots, sand
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ARTIST INFORMATION
Christian Holstad's BIOGRAPHY
1972
Born in Anaheim, California
Lives and works in Brooklyn, New York
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2005
Greater New York, P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center, New York
Beautiful Lies You Could Live in, Victoria Miro Gallery, London
Solo Exhibition, Galeria Massimo de Carlo, Milan, Italy
2004
Gaity; Discovering the Lost Art (in Absentia), curated by Beatrix Ruf, Kunsthalle Zurich, Switzerland
Formalismus. Moderne Kuinst, huete, curated by Yilmaz Dziewior Kunstverein in Hamburg; 04/05
A Dark Room in Which to Stagger Sorrow, Whitney Biennial, NY
Innocent Killers, Project Room, P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center Queens, NY
Moving Towards the Light, Daniel Reich Gallery, NY
American Express, Hiromi Yoshii, Tokyo, Japan
2003
Sonnenaufgang (sunrise), Aurel Scheibler Gallery, Cologne, Germany
Sonnenaufgang (sunset), Daniel Schmidt Gallery, Koln, Germany
The Birth of Princess Middlefinger, Prague Biennial, Prague
The Housekeepers, Daniel Reich Gallery @ the Scope Art NY '03, Dylan Hotel
2002
Life is a Gift, Daniel Reich Gallery, NY
The Self Esteem Salon: The Baptism Series, jointly with Chris Verene Deitch Projects, NY & Faye Gold Gallery, Atlanta, GA
GentleHeights presents Christian Holstad's Sand Day (in Absentia): A Show of Artifacts, Absentia Art Gallery, Williamsburg, NY
1997
How Art Thou, Chorus Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
Selected Group Exhibitions and Performance:
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2004
Incantations, Metro Pictures, New York, NY
The New Gothic: Art for the Tortured Soul, (with Olaf Breuning, Steven Klein, Pierre Molinier, Ewoud Van Rijn, Markus Selg, and Floria Sigismondi), Cokkie Snoei, Rotterdam, Sweden
Happy Days are Here Again, David Zwirner, New York, NY
My People Were Fair..., Team Gallery, NY
Domestic Porn, Foksal Foundation Gallery, Warsaw, Poland
Le Cabinet des Collages, D'Amelio Terras, NY
California Earthquakes, Daniel Reich Gallery, New York, NY
Socle du Monde, Herning Kunstmuseum, Herning, Germany
Anima/Botanica, Branch New York, NY
04. Preview Collection, Hiromi Yoshii, Tokyo, Japan
2003
Today's Man, John Connelly Presents, NY
Regarding Amy, Greene Naftali Gallery, NY
Now Playing, D'amelio Terras, NY
Group Show, Grant Selwyn Fine Art, Los Angeles, CA
Surreal Estate, Gavin Brown's Enterprise, NY
Group Show, Galleria Massimo de Carlo, Milan, Italy
Brewster 2003, Brewster, NY
Karaoke Death Machine, Daniel Reich Gallery, New York City
Branch New York: First Biennial Group Show - Anima/Botanica, Branch Gallery, NY
Costume and Set collaboration with Claude Wampler: stable (Stupidity Project Part 10), P.S. 122 Performance Space, NY
Twentieth Anniversary Exhibition: Welcome Home, Gavin Brown's Enterprise, NY
2002
Bathroom Group Show, Daniel Reich Gallery, New York City
Two For the Road, with Delia R. Gonzalez + Gavin R. Russom, Gavin Brown's Enterprise, NY
It's a Wild Party and We're Having a Great Time, Paul Morris Gallery, New York, NY
2001
Coat Check, with Claude Wampler, Contact Studios, Brooklyn, NY.
Zeek Sheck Collaboration, Knitting Factory, NY
2001-2000
GentleHeights, Manhattan Public Access Television, NY
2000
The Self Esteem Salon, for Cherie Nevers, Whitney Biennial, NY
M.I.M.E.: History Part One, Gavin Brown's Enterprise, NY
Slide Show, John Michael Kohler Art Center, Sheboygan, WI
1999
The Car ShowReported Injuries Art Space, Brooklyn, NY
1998
Fleshy Juggler Collaboration with Scoli Acosta and Hall of Fame, Brownies, New York, NY
Rejoice Collaboration with Scoli Acosta Rubulad - The Strip Show, Brooklyn, NY
¡Gringo!, La Panderia, Mexico City, Mexico
1997
Beck and Al Hansen Benefit, Thread Waxing Space, NY
New York Society of Fondness and Appreciation, Gavin Brown's Enterprise, NY
Fancy Pantz School of Dance Collaboration with Alex Bag & Tom Borgese, Gramercy Art Fair, NY
The Lucky Breeders Barbershop Quartet, The Cooler, NY
Current - A Human Buffet Collaboration with Scoli Acosta, Here Arts Gallery, NY
Cult of Claude Here Arts Gallery, NY
“Home Shopping Channel,” for Chivas Clem's Fifth International, NY
1996
Sauna Hut Available, Chorus Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
1995
Midwest Bound, Chorus Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
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