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Christopher Grimes

Born in San Francisco, California, Christopher Grimes founded Christopher Grimes Gallery which presented a diverse yet rigorous program of contemporary art in a variety of media including painting, photography, installation, performance, sculpture and video. Over the gallery’s 40-year history he organized its many exhibitions, most notably Amnesia and Super 8, which traveled to institutions in the US, Europe, North and South America, including the Museum of Modern Art in Rio de Janeiro and the Bronx Museum, NY among others. The gallery was involved in the early development of the careers of artists such as Katharina Grosse, Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle, Ernesto Neto, Fred Tomaselli, and Lisa Yuskavage.

He has presided over the Santa Monica/Venice Art Dealers Association and served on various international institutional boards, panels and juries including the ARCO Art Fair in Madrid, Spain, the Otis College of Art and Design Board of Governors in Los Angeles, the Otis Parsons School of Design, President’s Advisory Council, Los Angeles, and served as Program Advisor for the Getty for Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA.

Inspired by an interest in architecture and its relationship with art, he began developing a program focusing on integrating the two disciplines by collaborating with artists who incorporate architecture in their work. Following the closing of the gallery in 2018, he launched Christopher Grimes Projects, a multidisciplinary contemporary art program which focuses on facilitating the integration of art and architecture for large scale, site specific environments. He, alongside his son Jarred Grimes who assists in program development, aims to bring architecturally and culturally informed work to the public sphere bridging the connection between art and architecture through impactful and innovative projects.

The book mentioned in the interview was Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind.

CHRISTINE CORDAY, Sans Titre (untitled), 2020 Permanent installation, Crane Hall, Saint-Paul-Lez-Durance, ITER, France Christine Corday’s two-pound sculptural object, Sans Titre, represents Art as the 36th contributor to mankind’s largest terrestrial realization of the celestial. The site-specific and functional work, which the artist forged from metals derived from ancient stars, was integrated into the ITER fusion device late last year, a physical manifestation of Art that stands alongside the material contributions of the 35 major international country collaborators, an infrastructural object within the fabricated star that will harness fusion energy for human use. Sans Titre functions both symbolically and functionally in merging the philosophical and spiritual underpinnings between Art and Science, an intersection that is frequently overlooked. Both science and art are human attempts to understand and describe the world around us. The categorizations of science, art, chemistry, architecture, archeology, and cosmology separate what materially is unified. The subjects and methods have different traditions, and the intended audiences may be different, but the motivations and goals are fundamentally the same. Image credits: ITER Organization / R. Arnoux / EJF Riche
LUCIA KOCH, Dusk and Dawn, 2019 TEGNA Headquarters, Tysons, VA Light and air are the vital substances of a space, converting it into a place to be inhabited and transformed. Dusk and Dawn was created for an environment of coexistence and communication—though sound and air are isolated, transparent (glass) walls offer a visual continuity in between distinct spaces. For the TEGNA headquarters designed by the architectural firm Lehman Smith & McLeish (LSM), Koch created a work comprising a thirty foot LED back-lit color gradient lightbox that spans the height of the three-floor atrium. The lightbox establishes a dialogue with the free-flowing curtains installed on the opposing side of the atrium. The curtains, though separated by a floor, represent one continuous vertical color gradient establishing the overall unity of the work which represents the color transitions throughout the course of the day. Image credits: Christopher Grimes Projects
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3 COMMENTS

  1. […] Christopher Grimes spoke to us from California where he was enduring both the pandemic and wildfires. Grimes had just returned to his home after a two week evacuation and there were still helicopters dropping water on the fires on Big Sur. The air around him is difficult to breathe and when we spoke the area was facing an impending change of wind that would prove an even further challenge. Having lived in the Big Sur area before, Grimes moved there again about a year ago seeking a change from Los Angeles. He did not anticipate the challenges of these fires or of how the rural area would make his work more difficult. In 1979, Christopher Grimes Gallery opened in Monterey area before moving to Los Angeles area. He began with regional works before expanding to international work with a conceptual underpinning to everything they do. Their work now is predicated on a few points of reasoning, adapting to the ever-changing art world. To hear more about the principles on which Grimes operates his gallery and much more, including what he hopes to build in the Big Sur area where he lives, listen to the complete interview. […]

  2. […] Christopher Grimes spoke to us from California where he was enduring both the pandemic and wildfires. Grimes had just returned to his home after a two week evacuation and there were still helicopters dropping water on the fires on Big Sur. The air around him is difficult to breathe and when we spoke the area was facing an impending change of wind that would prove an even further challenge. Having lived in the Big Sur area before, Grimes moved there again about a year ago seeking a change from Los Angeles. He did not anticipate the challenges of these fires or of how the rural area would make his work more difficult. In 1979, Christopher Grimes Gallery opened in Monterey area before moving to Los Angeles area. He began with regional works before expanding to international work with a conceptual underpinning to everything they do. Their work now is predicated on a few points of reasoning, adapting to the ever-changing art world. To hear more about the principles on which Grimes operates his gallery and much more, including what he hopes to build in the Big Sur area where he lives, listen to the complete interview. […]

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