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CHRIS GOLLON: LIFE IN PAINT

By Mark CALDERBANK

SHADOWLINE MEDIA - as PROD / FIN

Documentary - Completed 2023

Tthe mesmerizing journey of UK artist Chris Gollon as this captivating documentary delves deep into his life, unveiling the profound inspirations, creative struggles, and remarkable artistic evolution that have shaped his groundbreaking work, leaving an indelible mark on the contemporary art scene

Festivals
& Awards

Cannes 2024
sheffield 2024
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    • Year of production
    • 2023
    • Genres
    • Documentary, Art - Culture, Biography
    • Countries
    • UNITED KINGDOM
    • Duration
    • 85 mn
    • Director(s)
    • Mark CALDERBANK
    • Producer(s)
    • Peter DUNPHY (Shadowline Media ), Charlotte ARDEN (SHADOWLINE MEDIA)
    • Synopsis
    • Part documentary, part experimental art film, CHRIS GOLLON: LIFE IN PAINT tells the unique story of one of this century's most important artists. Chris Gollon was an exceptionally innovative British painter who came on the art scene in the mid-1990s, just as the YBAs were in ascendance, and critics declared "painting is dead". He realised that because most people received their imagery through film, he had to find new ways to relate his imagery to the public, and to breathe new life into painting.

      The film spans 25 years of Chris's life and work, beginning with a chance collaboration with Thurston Moore, who speaks of his admiration for Chris's work, and how what he did was so radical. The film shows 'ROOT', Chris's collaboration with Thurston, a ground-breaking crossover exhibition of contemporary music and art, featuring David Bowie and Yoko Ono, and how this inspired Gollon to become a pioneer in artistic boundary crossing. Music became the springboard for a rich vein of powerful imagery. The documentary shows how Gollon's unique collaboration with Grammy-nominated Chinese virtuoso Yi Yao 'And It Came To Pass' developed, becoming a 19-minute composition and a 12.5m painting.
      Art historian and Gollon biographer Tamsin Pickeral describes how Gollon picked up the baton from the Northern European tradition of painters such as Breughel, Bosch and Beckmann, looking at humanity and our propensity for folly, with both humour and empathy. Using interviews with Sara Maitland and BBC news footage we show how Gollon's depiction of humanity came to the attention of the Church of England, leading to a commission to paint Fourteen Stations of the Cross for a Grade I listed church in East London.

      Through a wealth of found footage we see Chris working in his studio, openly sharing his ground-breaking painting techniques, and asks the question whether, like Francis Bacon, being self-taught might be an advantage. Although Chris had never been to university, he became the first ever non-academic to be made a Fellow at the prestigious Institute of Advanced Study, Durham University, where he was invited to work with some of the world's leading thinkers on the 'Being Human' project. The film shows how being a self-taught artist, sticking with an art form considered dead, was as radical as you can be; and how that made his work uncategorisable to the over-commodified art market of the day. However, at the height of his powers in 2017, Chris met an untimely death. The film highlights the profound affect his work has on people and explores the surge of interest in his work and relevance today.

      Interviews feature collectors and those who collaborated with Chris: Eleanor McEvoy, Yi Yao, Thurston Moore and novelist Sara Maitland. Overviews are given by artist Maggi Hambling CBE, writers Nick Soulsby, Philip Clark and art historians Tamsin Pickeral and Mary Rose Beaumont, as well as Gollon's friend and agent David Tregunna.
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