Christine Borland facts for kids

Christine Borland (born 1965) is a famous Scottish artist. She was born in Darvel, Ayrshire, Scotland. Christine Borland is known for being one of the Young British Artists (YBAs). This was a group of important artists who became famous in the 1990s.

In 1997, she was nominated for the Turner Prize. This is a very important award for artists. She was nominated for her artwork called From Life. Today, Borland lives and works in Kilcreggan, Argyll. She is also a professor at the BxNU Institute of Contemporary Art.

Christine Borland studied art at the Glasgow School of Art. Later, she earned a master's degree from the University of Ulster in 1988. She was part of the committee for the Transmission Gallery in Glasgow. In 2004, she won a special award called the Glenfiddich Artist in Residence programme. In 2012, she became a professor at Northumbria University. There, she leads the Institute of Contemporary Art in Newcastle upon Tyne. This institute works with the BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art.

Borland helped make Glasgow a well-known place for modern art in the 1990s. For over 25 years, she has created art that mixes with other areas of study. She often works with medical science and forensics. This helps her explore ideas about the history of medicine, how doctors should act, and human genes. She once said that her art discusses very deep and strong ideas. She believes that if you reach these ideas through a thoughtful process, they become more powerful for people who see her art. In 2020, Christine Borland became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

What Kind of Art Does Christine Borland Make?

Christine Borland creates sculptures, prints, and photographs. She uses many different materials like glass, china, fabric, and bronze. Her art often makes us think about how delicate human life is. She also explores how society and big organizations value people.

Borland's art often shows how modern medicine can make people feel less like individuals. Her work tries to bring back a sense of physical presence and identity. She asks us to think about what we consider scientific facts and truth. She also combines traditional art materials, like bronze, with new technologies.

Exploring Identity with From Life

Christine Borland's artwork From Life was nominated for the Turner Prize in 1997. For this project, she bought a human skeleton. It was from a missing person and was bought legally from a medical supply company. She then worked with doctors, forensic experts, and police. She gathered information about the person the skeleton belonged to.

The final artwork showed the skeleton. It also included a bronze model of the head. This model was made using special facial reconstruction techniques. Borland wanted to give the skeleton its individual identity back. She aimed to turn an object into a specific, understandable human being.

Reconstructing Faces: Second Class Male, Second Class Female

In November 1996, Christine Borland showed her work Second Class Male, Second Class Female. For this art piece, she created reconstructed heads of two people. This work was shown at the Sean Kelly Gallery.

Different Views of One Person: L'Homme Double

L'Homme Double (which means "The Double Man") was first shown in 1997. For this project, Borland asked six different artists to make a clay portrait of a very famous and terrible person from history. This person was a doctor from World War II. Borland gave each artist two old, blurry black-and-white photos. She also gave them a short description of the person's appearance.

The six artists then created their clay portraits. Each portrait looked different, even though they all used the same information. The clay was left unfired, which means it wasn't made permanent. This showed that there was no clear, final answer about what the person looked like. When you see all six portraits together, they don't show one clear identity. Instead, they show many possible ideas of what the person might have looked like.

Other Interesting Artworks

The Dead Teach the Living (1997) was shown in Germany. It featured computer-reconstructed heads made of white plaster. These heads showed different ideas of racial types.

After a True Story—Giant and Fairy Tales (1997) showed a negative image of a dwarf's skeleton from the 1700s. It was compared with a giant's skeleton from the 1800s. Phantom Twins (1997) was made of leather "dolls" that held real tiny skeletons.

Where Has Her Art Been Shown?

Christine Borland's art has been shown in many places around the world.

• Second Class Male, Second Class Female, November 1996
• L'Homme Double, 1997, Lisson Gallery
• The Dead Teach the Living, 1997, Skulpture Projekte Münster, Münster Germany
• She has had solo exhibitions at places like the Fabric Workshop and Museum (Philadelphia), Dundee Contemporary Arts, De Appel (Amsterdam), Fundação Serralves (Lisbon), Museum für Gegenwartskunst (Zurich), and Cast From Nature, Camden Arts Centre (London).
• In 2015, she worked with Brody Condon on an artwork called Circles of Focus. This was shown at CCA Glasgow.

Where Can You See Her Art?

You can find Christine Borland's artworks in important collections.

• Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh
• Tate Gallery, London

See also

• British Art