Christopher Horder was born in Sydney in 1976. Horder began his studies in the arts in 1996, eventually completing a Bachelor of Fine Art (Hons) at the National Art School, Sydney in 2008. Throughout the duration of his studies, Horder begun exhibiting in both solo and group exhibitions. In 2010, Horder moved to Berlin to live and work.
Horder first began exhibiting in Melbourne, with his debut solo exhibition at Roar Studios, Fitzroy, Melbourne in1998. Since then, he has regularly held solo exhibitions in gallieries within Sydney and Melbourne including Fitzroy Galleries, Melbourne, City Living Gallery Sydney and two solo exhibitions at Liverpool St Gallery, Sydney. In 1997, Horder was the winner of the Tap Gallery Peoples Choice Award and in 2007, Christopher won the Reg Richardson Travelling Art Scholarship, which allowed him the opportunity to travel and paint around Europe.
Horder’s paintings are an exploration of process fusing the Ancient Chinese ink techniques of the T’ang Dynasty to the action paintings of Abstract Expressionism and post-Abstract Expressionism. Working directly on the floor and on a large scale, Horder applies carefully handmade watercolours, Indian inks and acrylics onto sheets of canvas that have been soaked thoroughly, allowing the mediums to bleed and metamorphose onto the wet surface. Each canvas is a unique creation that can never be replicated and is unpredictable in its formation.
Christopher has participated in numerous group exhibitions both nationally and internationally. After moving to Berlin in 2010, Horder, begun to exhibit there, including in a group exhibition at the Kunstquartier, Bethanien, Berlin. This exhibition titled, A Perfect Day to Chase Tornadoes (White), was curated by the Sydney artists, Sarah Mosca and Kim Fasher, and showcased the work of Australian artists living in Berlin. Horder has also collaborated several times with fashion designer Michael Lo Sordo. Le Sordo used digital prints of Horder’s paintings, which were then silk screened onto fabrics and designed into garments including in, Being Born Again Couture and in the 2010 Spring/Summer Collection which was showcased at Rosemount Australian Fashion Week, Sydney.
Horder states “with the combination of artist, painting, man, nature, conscious, unconscious and the metaphysical aspects of paint, the possibilities are endless.” This endless imagery in Horder’s paintings can be interpreted using the ‘Gestalt Theory’, which refers to the shape-forming capability of our senses particularly with respect to the visual recognition of figures and whole forms instead of a collection of simple lines and curves. In this respect, Horder’s ink-stained canvases are a manifestation of our subconscious, allowing multiple interpretations of the ambiguous imagery.
Christopher Horder has been a finalist for the Brett Whiteley Travelling Arts Scholarship, in 2000 and in 2002, the artist was a finalist for the Dobell Prize for Drawing at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney. Horder has been a two time finalist in the RBS Emerging Artist Award in 2009 and again in 2010.
- Writers:
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- Date written:
- 2012
- Last updated:
- 2012
