About Chris
“I paint from life. My process is direct and uncluttered. I make individual marks, each based on something seen. I feel my way into the subject, looking for lyrical, organizing structures, discovered anew with each painting, like parallel diagonals or edges of forms intersecting at right angles. Ideally, my paintings are simple accumulations of marks within a compositional structure. I constrain my work within a particular subject, and apply strong formats to evoke different emotional and visual possibilities. Color and paint have their own magic; I try to harness it. Color conveys my feeling of the experience. Oil paint is uniquely suited to hold the energy of the marks made in response to life; it’s an alchemic substance. My paintings begin with exuberance for light, subject and paint; I try to carry it through the whole process.”
Exhibitions
2014 Holiday Group Show, Haley Fine Art, VA
2014 New Work, Haley Fine Art, Sperryville, VA
2012 Sycamore Musings, solo exhibition, Red Door Gallery, Richmond, VA
2011 Sycamore, solo exhibition, Middle Street Gallery, Sperryville, VA
Casting Light, solo exhibition, Haley Fine Art, Sperryville, VA
2010 Shenandoah Seasons, solo exhibition, The Byrne Gallery, Middleburg, VA
Reflections on the Shenandoah, solo exhibition, Red Door Gallery, Richmond, VA
The Southern Landscape, Mahler Gallery, Raleigh, NC
2009 in between, solo exhibition , Middle Street Gallery, Washington, VA
Colors of Spring, solo exhibition, Byrne Gallery, Middleburg, VA
2008 Three Artists, The Watergate Gallery, Washington, DC
2007 Partly Cloudy, solo exhibition, The Middle Street Gallery, Washington, VA
Sky Light, solo exhibition, The Byrne Gallery, Middleburg, VA
Shenandoah Light, solo exhibition, The Red Door Gallery, Richmond, VA
2006 River of Light, solo exhibition, Gala, Washington, DC
2005 House and Home, Center of the Earth Gallery, Charlotte, NC
2004 Andrew Martin and the Greensboro School of Painting, Lee Hansley Gallery, Raleigh, NC
Clouds, Water, and Light, solo exhibition, Longview Gallery, Sperryville, VA
New Work, Eastern Standard Gallery, Greensboro, NC
2003 Artists Speak, The Middle Street Gallery, Washington, VA
The Way I See It, solo exhibition, Middle Street Gallery, Washington, VA
2001 Earth, Air, Water, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD
By the River, solo exhibition, Theatre Art Galleries, High Point, NC
Powers of Three, 3 person collaboration, Artspace, Richmond, VA
2000 Along the River, solo exhibition, The Middle Street Gallery, Washington, VA
1999 Pieces of Light, solo exhibition, The Middle Street Gallery, Washington, VA
New Dimensions, solo exhibition, Art Ventures Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
1983-2003 Winter Show, Green Hill Center for N.C. Art, Greensboro, NC
1998 Faculty exhibition, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA
Artsites, The Greater Reston Art Center (sponsored by the Corcoran Gallery of Art)
1997 Art Ventures Gallery, solo exhibition, Philadelphia, PA
Mid-Atlantic New Painting, Mary Washington College, Fredericksburg, VA, purchase award
Night Light, solo exhibition, The Middle Street Gallery, Little Washington, VA
1996 Of The Land, By The Hand, The Middle Street Gallery, Little Washington, VA
1995 The 3-D Show, The Middle Street Gallery, Little Washington, VA
Where We Live, solo exhibition, The Middle Street Gallery, Little Washington, VA
1993 Paintings, solo exhibition, The Middle Street Gallery, Little Washington, VA
Three Painters, Great Reston Arts Center, Reston, VA
Art at the Mill, Millwood, VA
1992 Members Juried Exhibition, Greater Reston Arts Center, Reston, VA
1991 People and Places, solo exhibition, The Middle Street Gallery, Washington, VA
1988 Glaxo Presents Images of North Carolina, Raleigh, NC
Point of View, solo exhibition, Arlington Arts Center, Arlington, VA
1987 Arlington Arts Center, 10th Anniversary Exhibition, Part II, (David Tannous, Curator)
Artists Equity Juried Exhibition, (Barbara Kornblatt-Juror) Atheneum, Alexandria, VA
Porch Views, solo exhibition, F. Clay-Tor Gallery, Washington, DC
Annual Juried Exhibition, (Jack Shainman-Juror), Arlington Arts Center, Arlington, VA
1986 Membership Exhibition, (Barbara Fendrick-Juror), Arlington Arts Center, Arlington, VA
Artists Equity New Members Juried Exhibition, Montgomery College, Rockville, MD
Juried Membership Exhibition, (Martin Puryear-Juror), Arlington Arts Center, Arlington, VA
Covington & Burling Law Firm, solo exhibition, Washington, DC
1984-1988 James McLaughlin Memorial Staff Show, The Phillips Collection, Washington, DC
Area-Wide Juried Painting Exhibition, (Willem DeLooper-Juror), Arlington Arts Center
American Artist National Artist Competition, Grand Central Art Galeries, New York, NY
Juried Membership Exhibition, Alexandria Art League, Alexandria, VA
Collections
Culpeper Regional Hospital, Culpeper, VA
Martha Jefferson Hospital, Charlottesville, VA
University of Mary Washington, Fredericksburg, VA
SAS Institute, Raleigh, NC
United Technologies, Hartford, CT
Southern Progress, Birmingham, AL
University of Virginia Health Sciences Center, Charlottesville, VA
Bell Atlantic, Arlington, VA
American Express, Operations Center, Greensboro, NC
Duke Medical Center, Durham, NC
Stouffer Corporation, Winston Plaza Hotel, Winston-Salem, NC
Dillard Paper Company, Greensboro, NC
First Union National Bank, Greensboro, NC
Wachovia Bank & Trust, Winston-Salem, NC
The Weatherspoon Gallery, UNC-Greensboro, NC
North Carolina National Bank, Charlotte, NC
Oliver Carr Corporation, Washington, DC
UNC Womens and Childrens Hospital, Raleigh, NC
Moore and Van Allen LLC, Charlotte, NC
Teaching Experience
1993 - 2004 President, The Middle Street Gallery, Washington, VA
2001 - 2009 Adjunct Professor, Drawing and Painting, Lord Fairfax Community College, Middletown, VA
1997 - 2002 Adjunct Professor, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA
1996 - 1997 Teaching Assistant (Instructor of Record), James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA
1998 - 2004 Elementary Art Specialist, Warren County, VA
1988 - 1998 Artist in Education (sponsored by the Virginia Commission for the Arts), Warren County, VA
1991 - 2001 Instructor, Virginia Governor's School, Richmond, VA
Education
May, 1997 James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA MFA Painting
May, 1983 University of North Carolina at Greensboro, NC
Double Major: BFA Painting/Print Making; International Studies
Bibliography
December 2007 Art and the City, The Hill Rag, Washington, DC
June 2006 Colored Shadows, Elan Magazine, Fairfax, VA
July/August1994 Land of a Different Color, Southern Accents Magazine
February 5, 1988 Two Artists Experiment with Shape, Color in Paintings, Clay, Laura King, The Journal, Arlington, VA
July 27, 1988 Bringing Up The Next Generation, Donna Funk, The Warren Sentinel, Front Royal, VA
October 17, 1987 The Visual Launching Pad, Jo Ann Lewis, Washington Post, Washington, DC
January 5, 1986 Galleries: Works By The Phillips Staff, Jo Ann Lewis, Washington Post, Washington, DC
February 14, 1985 Stephens Art Has Familiar Appearance, Abe Jones, Greensboro News & Record
August 2, 1984 Galleries: Galerie Francois, Jo Ann Lewis, Washington Post, Washington, DC
Awards
June 1998 Lewis Foundation Grant
1997 Purchase Award, University of Mary Washington, Fredericksburg, VA
1988-1990 Virginia Commission for the Arts Grant