Christopher Bucklow (British, b.1957) is a painter and photographer, best known for his
Guest series. This collection uses a combination of photographs and pin-hole solar illuminations of male and female silhouettes. The series is deeply inspired by the theory of
Anima and Animus by Carl Jung. Bucklow was born in Manchester, England, to Roy and Doreen Bucklow. He spent his childhood years in Flixton. His artwork is exhibited in venues in both London and the United States in places such as the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, The Museum of Modern Art in New York, and the Photographers' Gallery in London.
As a teenager, the artist became intrigued by the artwork of Impressionist painter
Alfred Sisley. This fascination prompted Bucklow to make landscape paintings from around his property that were influenced by Sisley's work. He went to school to study art history in 1975 at Leicester Polytechnic. After graduating in 1978, Bucklow began to work as a museum curator at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, in the Drawings and Prints Department. During that time, he began to conduct research on Romantic artwork and photography. He also became interested in astronomy, physics, and the artwork of
William Blake. While working at this museum, Buckley also wrote articles and reviews on artwork for
Artscribe and
New Scientist in London.
Bucklow’s early art projects consisted of conceptual and sculptural pieces inspired by nature and plant forms. These works included
Dianthus Chris Eubanks, Potato-Tomato Plant, Pear-Hawthorn Graft, and
Hyacinthus Orientalis. These artworks were exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art in Oxford and the
Lisson Gallery in London in 1996. A collection called the
Noosphere paintings were the first of his artworks to be transformed into photographic pieces. In 1995, he married Susan Percival at Appleton Thorn in Cheshire. He also wrote a book called
Philip Guston about the late painter and printmaker, which was published in the United Kingdom in 2007. Bucklow’s most recent collection is entitled
To Reach Inside a Vault. The artist currently lives and works in London.