The Glasgow School of Art (GSA) is deeply saddened by the passing of acclaimed Scottish artist, educator and GSA graduate Christine Borland, whose pioneering practice and commitment to teaching helped shape contemporary art in Scotland and earned international recognition over a career spanning more than three decades.
A leading member of the generation of artists who transformed Glasgow into an internationally recognised centre for contemporary art during the 1990s, Christine studied Environmental Art at The Glasgow School of Art from 1983 to 1987 before completing a Master of Fine Art at the University of Ulster in 1988. She was also a member of the artist committee at Transmission Gallery from 1989 to 1991, helping to shape one of Glasgow’s most influential artist-led organisations.
Throughout her career she maintained close relationship with the School for many years both as a teacher and, latterly, a research fellow, before being appointed Professor of Contemporary Art in 2011 at Northumbria University, where she continued to develop her internationally recognised artistic practice alongside her commitment to research and education.
Professor Penny Macbeth, Director and Principal of The Glasgow School of Art, said:
“Christine Borland was one of Scotland’s most important contemporary artists and a deeply valued member of The Glasgow School of Art community. Through an extraordinary cross-disciplinary body of work that combined art, science and medicine, she challenged audiences to think differently about identity, ethics, memory and what it means to be human.
As a GSA graduate, educator, researcher and mentor, Christine’s relationship with the GSA spanned decades. She inspired generations of students through her generosity, intellectual curiosity and unwavering commitment to artistic enquiry. Her influence extended far beyond the studio, helping to shape contemporary art education and strengthening Glasgow’s reputation as a world-leading centre for creativity.
Christine has left such an enduring mark on the cultural life of Scotland and on the international contemporary art community. On behalf of everyone at The Glasgow School of Art, I extend our deepest sympathies to Christine’s family, friends, colleagues, former students and all those whose lives she touched.”
Over the last 35 years Christine Borland has made and exhibited work across the globe, recognised particularly for her cross-disciplinary practice working, for example, with medical and forensic specialists in projects such as From Life at Tramway (for which she received her Turner Prize nomination in 1997) and Cast from Nature (Glasgow Sculpture Studios & Camden Arts Centre). She also collaborated with fellow artists on major projects such as Circles of Focus with Berlin-based Brody Condon.
In recognition of her outstanding contribution to art and education, Christine was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters (DLitt) by The Glasgow School of Art and the University of Glasgow in 2016. She was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) in 2020.
Through her critically acclaimed and globally recognised practice, she made a profound and lasting contribution to the cultural landscape of Glasgow, Scotland and beyond. By helping bring international recognition to the extraordinary creative practice emerging from this country, she helped shape an environment for countless aspiring artists to learn, develop and thrive in. Her legacy will continue to shape artistic practice, research and education for years to come.
Christine was a longstanding and treasured member of our community, and her passing will be deeply felt by many.
At this very sad time, the thoughts of the whole GSA community are with Christine’s family.
Bio
Born Darvel, Ayrshire Scotland
1983 – 1987 BA (Hons) Glasgow School of Art
1987 – 1989 MA Fine Art, University of Ulster at Belfast
Recent Academic
2000 – 2011: Academic Researcher, Glasgow School of Art
2006 – 2009: NESTA Creative Fellow
2011 – Medical Humanities Research Fellow, School of Medicine, Glasgow University
2010 – 2013: Honorary Professor, Peninsula College of Medicine & Dentistry, Universities of Exeter & Plymouth
2011 – 2016: BALTIC Professor of Contemporary Art, BALTIC & Northumbria University, Newcastle
2016 – D.Litt: University of Glasgow
2016 – present: Professor of Fine Art, Northumbria University
Selected Works in Public Collections
Phantom Twins, The Tate Gallery, London
English Family China, Museums of Liverpool
A Treasury of Human Inheritance, The Wellcome Collection, London
Positive Pattern & Spirit Collection, The Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art
L’Homme Double, The Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Zürich
Winter Garden & The Velocity of Drops, The Centre for Contemporary Art, Sydney, Australia
Bullet Proof Breath, The Fabric Workshop & Museum, Philadelphia
SimBodies, The Arts Council of England Collection
The History of Plants According to Women, Children and Students, The Government Art Collection
Small Objects That Save Lives, Scottish Parliament, Art Collection
Our Village, Their Town, The British Council Collection
Cet être là, c’est à toi de le créer ! Vous devez le créer ! FRAC
A Treasury of Human Inheritance, Mendel’s Monastery, Brno, Czech Republic
From Life (Berlin), Les Musées d’Annecy, France
From Life, The Berardo Collection Museum, Belém, Lisbon, Portugal
Selected Recent Exhibitions, Projects & Commissions (Last Decade)
2024
Approaching Home (with Cat Auburn) Aratoi Wairarapa Museum of Art and History, Masterton, Aotearoa/New Zeland, (10 Aug – 27 Oct)
If Not Now, When? Patricia Fleming Gallery (Nov 24 – Jan 25)
The Edinburgh Seven Tapestry, Practice Cloths Medieval & Renaissance Galleries, The V&A, London UK, (8 Mar – 27 May 2024)
The Edinburgh Seven Tapestry, Practice Cloths, Edinburgh Futures Institute, Edinburgh University, Edinburgh, UK. Permanent Installation (from July 2024) Commissioned by Dovecot Studios
2023
Projection Cloth, The British Textile Biennial, Cruck Barn, Pendle Heritage Centre, East Lancashire UK (29 Sep – 29 Oct) Commissioned essay Patricia Fleming Gallery (Caroline Stevenson)
Interior Dialogue, Pathfoot Building, University of Stirling, Scotland, UK (from October onwards)
2020
Artist’s Residency, RBGE, Edinburgh, Scotland. Accompanying exhibition, Inverleith House, postponed until 2021
2019
Flax, On-going research Project, Deveron Projects, Huntly, Scotland
2018
I Say Nothing, Glasgow Museums, Art Fund & 14 – 18 NOW WW1 Centenary Art Commission, Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum, Glasgow Scotland*
to The Power of Twelve, Mount Stuart, Bute, Scotland *
Wrong Right Hand, Patricia Fleming Gallery, Glasgow
2017
Common Groin, Timespan, Helmsdale, Scotland
2016
Positive Pattern, Pittenweem Arts Festival, Pittenweem, Scotland
Circles of Focus; The Fall Experiment Stroom den Haag, Netherlands (with Brody Condon)
2015
Circles of Focus, CCA, Glasgow (with Brody Condon)
Selected Group Exhibitions (last decade)
2020
Infinite Sculpture: from the antique cast to the 3d scan, Beaux-Arts de Paris, France & Calouste Gulbenkian Museum, Lisbon, Portugal
2019
Women Power Protest, Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery
2018
Strange Foreign Bodies, Hunterian Gallery, Glasgow University
NoW 3 Scotland Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Modern 1) Edinburgh, Scotland
2017
Transparency, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool Museums. England
2016
Devil’s in the Making GOMA, Glasgow, Scotland
Nightfall. Gothic imagination since Frankenstein, Musée d’art et d’histoire, Geneva
The Scottish Endarkenment: Art and Unreason 1945 to the Present, The Dovecot Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland
Transparency, Yorkshire Sculpture Park, England
That Which Remains, Mount Stuart, Isle of Bute, Scotland
