Chris Campbell b.1975 (UK)

Artist Statement:

“My paintings all have an affinity with the urban environment and have a strong sense of misanthropy and an absence of presence as its main focus. The works are of a photo realist nature, however they retain a painterly quality. Influence has been drawn from painters past and present, from Titian and Carravagio to Patrick Caulfield, David Hepher and Peter Doig. Recent direction has led to studies of tube stations and abandoned cars, tube stations acting the role of landscape, and the cars acting as almost bulky scarred portraits.

In my portrayal of cars, the cars themselves take on the central narrative, the crux of the composition. The empty vehicles act as a residual entity, a shell or a husk long since drained of its drama, its presence the last and only indicator to the episode of events that have previously unfolded. These images are painted nocturnally, sodium orange streetlights cast colours into a strange ambiguous neutral yet sensual palette. This culminates in pools of light casting dark and ominous shadows giving the deserted streets a theatrical menacing eminence. In these paintings a strong narrative is evoked, forming a macabre romanticism in their stillness, emptiness and fragility, thus placing the viewer into a form of solitary confinement and contentment.

The strongest impetus to make paintings is a desire to create a still, yet emotionally charged composition, from images of dull, mundane everyday life, that most people would not stop and give a second glance; a conscious effort to enhance the aesthetic of the mundane”.

The Critters Series (2025)

Bringing along his trademark palette and dark eye, this new series by Campbell is a playful portrayal of the squeaky clean world of kitsch porcelain figures.