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-Pablo Picasso
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Chris Mcgee
 
 
About the Artist

I've been drawing since I was 2 years old. What started out as copying T.V. cartoons and movie monsters for amusement and attention quickly expanded a lot throughout the years into many creative outlets. These have included illustration, underground comics,painting, conceptual art and also playing in various rock bands and experimental noise/improv guerilla theatre projects.
Mixed media is now my main style of choice because it allows for a maximum of creative freedom and flexibility. It enables me to incorporate elements of past art styles and techniques as well as inventing new ones. it's fun and exiciting to combine diverse materials such as oil pastels, markers, sketchbook drawings, magazine cutouts, wood, canvas, fabric, metal, cardboard, dirt, leaves, twigs and paint. The end results are often intricate images that depict a wide spectrum of the human experience: slapstick, psychodrama, social politics scifi/fantasy and sometimes even the sublime.
The artists that inspire me the most right now are those whose work contains a large amount of dynamic tension between figuration and abstraction. These include Philip Guston, Basquiat, A.R. Penck and Leon Golub.
My overall influences I listed in a vaguely chronological order: Disney, Sesame Street, Looney Tunes, Movie monsters,Marvel Comics, British Invasion Music, Lefty Anti Reagan Propaganda, Neo Psychedelia, Underground comics, Nature and the Supernatural, Religion and Mythology, Punk Rock, Abstract Expressionism, Post Modernism, Art History and World History.

 
Click to enlarge images
(if larger image has been loaded)
 

Panic Button

2005
Acrylic and latex paint on Canvas
22.9X30.5 cm

Scifi social satire

Eyesotope

1998
Mixed Media Assemblage
91.5X40.6 cm

Mysterious structure containing jungian archetypes that was composed with acrylic and latex paint with fabric and wires and oil pastel on vinyl and wood.

Rabbit Playing Pinball

2005
Acrylic and latex paint on Canvas
22.9x30.5 cm

The painting about nothing

The Great Hexscape

2007
Acrylic and latex paint on Canvas
30.5X22.9

The Great Hexscape
Mysteriuos nonsencical automatic writing

Face to Face

2007
61X61 cm

A Colourful abstract background morphs into weird figures and faces.

Magickal Chicken Scratch

1990
51.34X34.3 cm

A Totally experimental artwork that playfully excavates the unconcious alphabets of the imagination.

Gray Manor

2007
22.9X30.5 cm

Surreal t.v. suburban cartoon existence.

Face Off

2006
61X61 cm

A Conflict of psychological forces.

Last Sun of Krypton

2005
20.3X25.4 cm

Supernova collapses into a black hole.

Demolation Man

2003
22.9X30.5 cm

An Attempt to harness and transform self destructive impulses.

Money Maker

2007
22.9X30.5 cm

A Playfull composition which incoporates images from comic book ads.

Toonscape

2007
22.9X30.5 cm

Funny faces emerging from abstraction.

Meltdown

2004
22.9X30.5 cm

Primitive abstraction meets techno apocalypse.

Robo Flop

2003
20.3X25.4 cm

The failure of technocracy.

Futuristic Skull

2003
22.9X30.5 cm

A Science fiction archaeological expedition.

Time

2003
20.3X25.4 cm

The Hidden language inside the unconcious mind.

Springtime

2007

Springtime
For this artwork , I incorporated colors inspired by nature, foilage and direct sunlight. Figures emerged and developed from the backround. For this creative process I was very influenced by the decorative color of Matisse, the "push/pull"abstractions of Hans Hoffman and the high contrast dynamics of Op Art.

Wet on Wet

2007
45.7cmX61cm

Wet on Wet
I named this painting after the wet on wet technique that is probably my specialty. Many of my artworks are totally planned out or semi improvised with layers and layers of drawing, collage and paint being applied for sometimes days, weeks and months. Occasionally, I get bored with this process of carefully gluing, glazing and paint mixing. I like to take a more direct method in which I attack the canvas or wood in a maelstrom of paint scraping, splattering, dripping and slathering. The paint is scooped and applied with various putty knives or poured directly from the tube or can. This piece is the best example I have in which Iutilized this technique. While the paint was still wet I dug objects into the surface to create various shapes and forms such as a living guitar and assorted faces and body parts. The end result is a very sloppily expressionistic still life.

What's the Matter with Matter

2007
45.7cmX61cm

What's the Matter with Matter
This is from a series of paintings that involved layers and layers of dripping paint interspliced with bits of collage. The collage elements are cutouts from women's fashion mags and from old comic books. I don't know if I have an exact statement in mind for this piece but It reminds me of a line from a movie: "Never trust a limping dog or a crying woman".

Lunar Tick

2007
40.6cmX50.8

Lunar Tick
I finished this piece in 2007. I showed it at Hallwalls Art Museum members show and at the Cosmopolitan Gallery holiday show in Buffalo, N.Y. Like much of my work, this one fits into the "obnoxious cartoon" end of the spectrum. What makes the piece unique is the high contrast figure/ground shift that I achieved by using tried and true painting techniques of blending and color mixing. I applied this illusionistic method to the insectoid alien creature. I left the backround completely raw and abstract for a dramatic "push pull" punchy effect.

Goddess of Blessings

2007
20.32X31.1

Goddess of Blessings
This one started out as an agonizingly overworked abstract experiment. Eventually, it mutated into two figures. The women's silhouette on the right is pouring water into the man's mouth to the left. This activity was inspired from watching a Turkish folk dance in which the women dancers simulate pouring water on the men working in the fields. it was nice to take a break from what is sometimes "blood and guts"imagery and depict something pleasant. This work was inspired by folk and outsider art and most definitely by the stick figure art of German artist A.R. Penck.

Cosmic Portrait

2007
22.9cmX30.5cm

Cosmic Portrait
This painting developed in a very spontaneous, orgnanic way. I combined drippy abstract expressionism with shimmery op art colors to create a fun, psychedelic effect. It's called a portrait because it started out as a face but it quickly mutated into several crawling creatures that resemble duck bill dinosaurs, frogs, body parts, and ghost-like faces. This picture shows the complicated psychological forces lurking beneath the human animal.

Note to Self 4 Double Feature

2007
122cmX29.2cm

Note to Self 4 Double Feature
This is a mixed media work from a short series that I exhibited at the Cosmopolitan Gallery in Buffalo, NY. I composed this picture using words and pictures from newspapers, magazines, and comics. Then, with paint, I brought out the forms with paint that emerged from the shapes within the collage material. Like most of my work, the subject matter flowed freely from my imagination. It's a process similar to seeing faces and forms in the clouds or psychololgical inkblot tests. This is the aspect of my Art that relates to surrealism and Abstract Expressionism. For this picture, I assigned concious meaning to the imagery only after it was finished. Some of my paintings are dogmatic with a definite statement of story while others are completely experimental, vague and abstract. This one is somewhere in the middle. It relates to communication, competition and consumption. Mind vs body, East vs West. I used a long plank of wood for this piece and painted on each side of it. This image shows both painted sides of the artwork.

Nirvana

2007
30.48cmX40.64cm

Nirvana
This painting started out as an old abstract painting that I used as an underpainting and added forms that I saw within abstract patterns. Because the painting ended up with 3 faces, I named it after the 3 man band "Nirvana". It's meant as a caricature and as an homage to their misanthropic, grungy,"warts and all" forms of expression.

Angels in the Elements

2007
22.9cmX30.5cm

Angels in the Elements
This painting started out as a very sloppy abstraction that gradually developed figurative elements such as faces inside a serpentine form. These creatures inhabit a primordial, astral world co-habitated by elves, faeries, demons and elementals. After viewing this work several times It reminded me of numerous reincarnated souls sharing the body of a small worm like animal.
 
Education and biography
Objective: To constantly improve my art work by exploring and inventing new media and formats, expanding into new environments and obtaining new audiences.
Education
05/1991 Bachelor of Fine Arts, School of Visual Arts, New York City, NY
GPA: 3.4/4.0
•Work-study intern at the Alternative Museum at 17 White Street in New York City. Assisted with installing the artwork of many acclaimed sociopolitical artists such as Sue Coe and Peter Dean. Participated in the museum’s community events such as the annual “Day of the Dead” parade which were fundraisers for AIDS victims and homeless people(1989-1991)

05/1988 Associate of Fine Art, Jamestown Community College Jamestown, NY
GPA: 3.6/4.0
Related Courses:
1987-1991 Art Courses: Design, Figure drawing, Visiting Artist Seminar, Painting workshops, Illustration, Cartooning, Sculpture, Art History, Art Theory
Humanities Courses: English Literature, Psychology, Sociology, Biology, Anthropology, History
Past Exhibitions:
Member Shows:
12/2006 Rochester Contemporary Museum Rochester, NY
• Showed nature inspired abstract oil painting.
2006/2007 Arts Council Buffalo, NY
• Contributed neoexpressionist collage paintings.
1994-2007 Big Orbit Gallery Buffalo, NY
• Exhibited numerous mixed media art pieces.
1994/2007 Hallwalls Contemporary Art Center Buffalo, NY
• Displayed numerous mixed media art pieces.
2002-2003 Art Dialogue Gallery Buffalo, NY
• Showed cartoon-collage paintings of various sizes.
Group Shows:
06/2007-present Gallery 141B Buffalo, NY
• Exhibited numerous new and old paintings. Participated in an outdoor group show of local artists during the Allentown Art Festival. Also worked on live large scale drawings with oil pastels and markers to produce scifi/fantasy Giacometti inspired artwork.
06/2007-present Cosmopolitan Gallery Buffalo, NY
• Over 20 regional and out of town artists. Showed numerous new collage paintings that combined images pillaged from old comics, tabloids and electronic manuals with latex and acrylic paint.
06-08/2007 Niagara Arts and Cultural Center Niagara Falls, NY
• “Beyond the Barrel” Regional Juried Show. Displayed 3 new mixed media paintings.
01/2007 Gallery 141B Buffalo, NY
• Showed numerous mixed media works in the “New Year, New Media” show.
01/2007 Cosmopolitan Gallery Buffalo, NY
• Showed paintings that incorporate Christian, Hindu and Norse beliefs and stories in the “Jesus and Pals” religious and cultural beliefs exhibition.
10/2006 B-West Art Studio Buffalo, NY
• Showed mixed media paintings to benefit Crisis Service Advocate Program.
08-09-12/2006 B-West Art Studio Buffalo, NY
• Showed numerous old and new art pieces in a four artist group show, holiday show.
03/2006 Hallwalls Contemporary Art Center Buffalo, NY
• Original cartoon inspired paintings in a three artist group show.
12/2005 Hardware Café and Art Gallery, Allen St. Buffalo, NY
• Contributed a few surreal collage paintings to holiday art show
08/2004-05-06 Art on Porches (Yearly community event)
• Showed numerous mixed media paintings.
04/2005 “Art After 9/11” New Phoenix Theatre Buffalo, NY
• Small cartoon paintings about the war on terrorism and nuclear proliferation.
02/2005 Art auction: benefit for Tsunami victims. Pensandote Art Gallery, Allen St. Buffalo, NY
• Contributed abstract paintings.
11/2004 Impact Gallery Buffalo, NY
• National juried group show, Mixed media work “Social Architecture”.
06/2004 Gallery 164, 164 Allen St., Buffalo, NY
• Showed various old and new works in “4X40 group show”
08/2003 Olcott Beach Art Festival Olcott, NY
• Showed various cartoon-abstract paintings.

2000-01 The Spot Coffee House Buffalo, NY and Squeaky Wheel Multi Media Gallery Buffalo, NY
• Art Against the W.T.O.
o Showed political cartoon paintings that protested sweatshops and other conditions caused by globalization.
05/1991 “Le Salon De Refuse” The School of Visual Arts New York City, NY
• Showed series of humorous, dada inspired collage paintings clipped from various tabloid journals.

04/1990 Crosby Street Studios Broadway, NY
• Showed several expressionistic paintings based on the female form.
04/1989 Student Show School of Visual Arts New York, NY
• Showed a large monochrome black assemblage painting constructed with wood, leaves, dirt, wire, and found objects.
09/1989 Student Show School of Visual Arts New York, NY
• Showed a large monochrome white assemblage constructed with cardboard, dirt, wood, and twine.
Solo Exhibitions:
06/2006 Hardware Café and Art Gallery, Allen St. Buffalo, NY
• Psychoasis: Series of surreal/dadaesque collage paintings.
02&04-2004 Gallery 164 Buffalo, NY
• Mutating Mythology (information war): Mixed media landscape and cityscapes strewn with robotic and animalistic figures, primitive automatic writing and printed word play. A mysterious blend of abstraction and figuration.
09&10/2003 The Spot Coffee House Buffalo, NY
• Showed a series of minimalist black and white and limited color cartoon paintings utilizing additional unconventional art materials such as leaves, dirt, paper maché, oil pastels, and collage. These paintings depict various states of the conscious and unconscious mind such as insanity, alienation and the liberating effects of free association. They represent a slapstick melodrama of dysfunctional human relationships.
09&10/2002 The Spot Coffee House Buffalo, NY
• Showed a series of collage-cartoon paintings in which animalistic robotic figures depicted subject matter such as nuclear proliferation, genetic engineering, and T.V. brain washing as well as more “normal” aspects of daily existence.
05/1998 The Brown Bean Fredonia, NY
• A series of full color expressionistic paintings, which combined animal, human, and technological forms. This show depicted war, fascism and mass media brainwashing.
Multimedia Shows:
07/2003 Hallwalls Contemporary Art Center Buffalo, NY
• Artists and Models
o Painted a wall size canvas in the “real time painting” event. Using collage, house paints and oil pastels created something resembling an Urban Arena consisting of mutated figures in multiple states of political and psychological warfare.
02/2000 Big Orbit Gallery and Basta Magazine Buffalo, NY
• Murder the Word
o Along with my band “Global Village Idiots” I co-wrote and performed a dada absurdist mock opera called “Henry”. It featured experimental music and hand made, painted costumes and backdrops.
02/1999 Big Orbit Gallery and Basta Magazine Buffalo, NY
• Murder the Word
o Along with my band “Global Village Idiots” I co-wrote and performed a guerilla rock opera. It featured experimental music and hand made, painted costumes
 
Future shows
I am continuing with showing my art in group, member and solo shows as well as festivals and multimedia events.
I will also pursue more national exhibitions and out of town shows.
 
Website:  www.expressionartexpress.com
 
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