Biography
Christopher Paul Dean was born an hour north of London in Milton Keynes, England. Dean has an Undergraduate Degree in Contemporary Applied Arts from the University of Hertfordshire (England), and a Masters Degree in Sculpture from The Savannah College of Art and Design in Atlanta. Since 2010 Dean has worked as an Artist Assistant in Denmark (Folk Art School, Holbæk), Detroit (Cranbrook Academy of Art), Atlanta and Mexico (U.S Consulate, Monterrey). As well as managing his own studio in Dallas, TX, Dean is also lead assistant to multimedia Artist Gabriel Dawe.
Dean has exhibited in numerous locations including London, NYC, Dallas, multiple locations in GA and in 2017 showed work at UNTITLED as part of SCAD at Art Basel Miami Beach. In 2020, Dean was awarded a commission for a large-scale installation to be on permanent display at Georgia Tech Campus Safety Building.
Artist Statement
My practice is an exploration of universally recognised signs of standardised accident prevention. To function effectively, safety signs employ a variety of surface textures, bold colours, and repeated patterns; these demarcate zones, establish order, aid in navigation, and warn of potential hazards. I am intrigued by the role of colour, pattern, texture, and form as markers alerting humans to their bodies in relation to their surroundings. As I’ve grown older, I’ve become very aware of a sense of disconnectedness, a feeling that I’ve always been somewhere in-between places. In addition to this predisposition is the physical distance I experience from my home country. Sometimes, I don’t feel as though I am anywhere. In the realm of my artwork, where the aesthetic language of safety is abstracted and decontextualised from its original context, signs of safety exhibit a duality of existence. In this state of flux, these familiar signs not only function as an alert of my physical location but also as an invitation to exist beyond just that which is physical.