Chris Gilmour is a British sculptor baser. Gilmour is known for his sculptures that use cardboard to recreate everyday objects in life-size scale.

Personal life

Born in

Stockport Stockport is a town and borough in Greater Manchester, England, south-east of Manchester, south-west of Ashton-under-Lyne and north of Macclesfield. The River Goyt and Tame merge to create the River Mersey here. Most of the town is within ...

in Great Britain in 1973, Gilmour received his BA from the University of the West of England in

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

in 1997, and studied at South Trafford College in Manchester. In 1997 he moved to

Udine, Italy Udine ( , ; fur, Udin; la, Utinum) is a city and ''comune'' in north-eastern Italy, in the middle of the Friuli Venezia Giulia region, between the Adriatic Sea and the Alps (''Alpi Carniche''). Its population was 100,514 in 2012, 176,000 with t ...

, where he lived until returning to Manchester in 2016. He currently lives in Manchester and is working on a PhD in sustainable design at Lancaster University

Work

Gilmour is known for his sculptures made from recycled materials and cardboard. He has created hyper-realistic sculptures that mimic the form of cars, bicycles, a wheelchair, an Aston Martin, public monuments, a typewriter and a piano, among others, all from recycled cardboard and in full scale. Referencing the recycled materials normally used in his work, Gilmour has said: "The use of these found materials is a way of reappropriating or taking control of the things around us, which if you live in a city are pretty much all man-made." Gilmour has exhibited extensively in Europe and America, including shows at the Museum of Arts and Design (NY) and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Lyon. Gilmour also regularly leads workshops and training events, promoting the use of cardboard as an artistic medium.

Awards

In 2006 Gilmour was awarded the 7th edition of Premio Cairo, a prize for young artists in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

. In 2012, he received the Premio Michetti award. In 2022 Vectar Sets won the

Ashden Award Ashden is a London-based charity that works in the field of sustainable energy and development. Its work includes the annual Ashden Awards, advocacy and research in the field of sustainable energy, and mentoring and practical support for award w ...

in the 'Greening All Work' category for promoting ecological solutions to set-building in film and TV.

Collections

Gilmour's 2009 work is held in numerous collections, including the Yale Center for British Art and the Dikeou Collection in Denver.

Advertising

In 2013 Gilmour created forty-foot wide scaled-down replicas of the city of

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

and

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

using the product known as ''Bankers Boxes'', in collaboration with the manufacturer Fellowes. This was followed by a much larger cardboard London set for Vidal Sasson's 'London Luxe' campaign Gilmour also created all the cardboard props for the 2017 UK Post Office Christmas campaign "It's Never Just Post", which included press adverts and three stop-motion animations.

Sustainability and Vectar Sets

In 2019 Gilmour was involved in the launch of Vectar Project, a studio dedicated to sustainable, carbon-neutral filming based in south Manchester founded and directed by Tom Henderson. Seeing the waste produced by filming while working at the studio, as well as starting a PhD in sustainable design at Lancaster University, led to research into paper-based scenery for film and TV. This research has brought together Gilmour's knowledge of cardboard and design skills with modern industrial technology and innovative paper products. After a year of research and testing, in 2022 Vectar Sets was officially launched by Tom Henderson and Chris Gilmour to provide paper-based sets and props for film, TV and theatre. Vectar Sets uses a proprietary engineered paper board which offers strength similar to conventional wooden sets, but with much lower weigh. The sets can be printed or finished in traditional materials to create the same realistic look of traditional sets, but are fully recyclable and have a much lower carbon impact. The light weight, ease of use and speedy manufacturing all help reduce costs for productions, as well as helping to reduce the environmental impact and waste caused by film and TV. Gilmour is now Chief Creative Director at Vectar Sets, in partnership with Tom Henderson, and Head of Sustainability at Vectar Project. Vectar sets has been involved in numerous productions since its launch, including adverts for Old Spice, Simplisafe, Braun and Meta, and TV programs including Channel 4's 'Drawers Off' and BBC 3's 'Rap Game'. Vectar Sets won the 2022

for sustainability 'Greening All recognising their commitment to sustainability and reducing the environmental impact of filming.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gilmour, Chris British expatriates in Italy Living people 1973 births English contemporary artists Artists from Stockport