Chris Thompson
Lives and works in London, UK
b. 1991
Chris Thompson is an artist and curator specializing in sculpture and installation. He is interested in creating art that appropriates, reconfigures, and antagonises a diverse array of materials, objects, and references. Through these explorations, he builds speculative, anthropological enquiries into cultural memory and the contradictions embedded within contemporary existence. He curates exhibitions by re-contextualising objects, employing classic modes of production, and constructing fictional narratives that engage audiences. Thompson’s work typically takes the form of immersive sculptural installations, characterised by site and context-specific responsivity. Recurring methods in his practice include humour, audience interactivity, and spectacle, which he uses to explore a range of subjects.
Thompson's work has been supported by grants from the Gilbert Bayes Trust for Sculpture, the Freelands Foundation, the Eaton Fund, and the Oppenheim John-Downes Memorial Trust. He recently completed an MFA in Fine Art at Goldsmiths, where he received the Warden's Prize. In 2023, he was awarded a DYCP grant from Arts Council England. In 2024, he was selected for the Gilbert Bayes Scholarship with the Royal Society of Sculptors and shortlisted for the North East Emerging Artists Award.
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Born in 1991 in Teesside, UK
Lives and works in London, UK2019-2023
MFA Fine Art, Goldsmiths, University of London, London, UK2010-2013
BA Hons Painting, Camberwell College of Arts, University of the Arts London, London, UK2012
Purchase College, State University of New York, Purchase, NY2009-2010
Cleveland College of Art and Design, Middlesbrough, UK -
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Solo exhibitions
2025
Roughcast, Inspection Pit, West Sussex, UK
2024
Kit-Bash, Xxijra Hii, London, UK
2023
The Vessel, St Chad’s, London, UK
2022
Old Bones, Bobinska Brownlee New River , London, UK
2020
Instrument,Thames-Side Studios Gallery, London, UK
2019
👀, Brockley Gardens, London, UKGroup exhibitions
2024
North East Emerging Artists Award Show, Seaton Delaval Hall, Northumberland, UK
Dumping Ground,Regents Place, London, UK
2023
Winter Sculpture Park 2023, Bexley, London, UK
MFA Fine Art Degree Show, Goldsmiths, University of London, London, UK
Stable, BBNR Gallery, London, UK
2022
London Micro Sculpture Fair, Goldsmiths, University of London, London, UK
Present Tense, Goldsmiths, University of London, London, UK
Cosmoses,Xxijra Hii, London, UK
Dinosaur Coast, Eston Arts Centre, Middlesbrough, UK
2021
The Sompsons,CHEAP CHEAP Gallery, Birmingham, UK
FUNHOUSE,Chris Thompson Studio, London, UK
2019
MOSTYN Open 21, Mostyn, Wales, UK
Creekside Open 2019, Art in Perpetuity Trust, London, UK
2018
Pleasure Garden,21b Wykham Road, London, UK
Fatal Attraction,Thames-Side Studios Gallery, London, UK
Group Show, 41/42 Woolwich, London, UK
2017
ArtWorks Open, Barbican Arts Group Trust,London, UK
Changelings, The Flying Dutchman, London, UK
2016
Show Home, Safehouse 1, London, UK -
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2024
Gilbert Bayes Sculpture Award, Royal Society of Sculptors, UK
2023
Wardens Prize, Goldsmiths, University of London, UK
2022
Developing Your Creative Practice Grant, Arts Council England, UK
2021
Oppenheim-John Downes Memorial Trust, UK2020
Gilbert Bayes Trust Scholarship, UK
Artists Support Grant, Freelands Foundation, UK2019
Prize Winner, Creekside Open, Art in Perpetuity Trust, UK2017
Grant Recipient, The Eaton Fund, UK -
Selected installation views
Installation view, Kitbash, Xxijra Hii, London, UK, 2024.
Installation view, Kitbash, Xxijra Hii, London, UK, 2024.
Kitbash Container 001, 2024, MDF, primer, spray paint boiler panel, collection of Star Trek novels, quartz crystals, 30 x 33 x 29 cm (11 3/4 x 12 7/8 x 11 1/2 in.)
Installation view, The Vessel, St Chad's, London, UK, 2023. Photo: Studio Adamson.
Installation view, The Vessel, Brass Eagle, Butchers Block (detail), St Chad's, London, UK, 2023. Photo: Studio Adamson.
Installation view, The Vessel, Brass Eagle, Dolls House (detail), St Chad's, London, UK, 2023. Photo: Studio Adamson.
Installation view, The Vessel, Brass Eagle, Brass Eagle and Miniature (detail), St Chad's, London, UK, 2023. Photo: Studio Adamson.
Installation view, Old Bones, Bobinska Brownlee New River, London, UK, 2021.