Christopher in his
New York City studio
'Cinquanta'
Oil on linen, 46" x 46", 2006
Sa Poitrine
Oil on linen, 52" x 64", 2005
Amphorae
10 X 8 Inches
Oil on Linen |
Born in
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Canadian parents, raised in New England,
lived in Arizona, traveled extensively across Europe, India and Mexico
and now living in New York City, Christopher Pelley’s paintings reflect
his diverse cultural and geographic experiences. “Richly painted and
abundant with metaphoric imagery the works are not only aesthetically
pleasing but intellectually complex” states Julie Sasse, curator of
Modern & Contemporary Art at the Tucson Museum of Art. Critic Joyce
Korotkin adds “[Pelley] forces the past and present to co-exist on the
same plane echoing the manner in which successive civilizations rise and
fall on top of one another.”
His approach to
the craft of painting is traditional; linen or canvas is stretched over
supports, sized with rabbit skin glue and primed with paste that at one
time would have been made of lead and linseed oil, but is now made from
the less toxic titanium dioxide. The layers of paint are built up over
time with glazes, impastos and scumbles. Sometimes the surface is sanded
down to reveal a glimpse of what is underneath or simply to abrade the
image.
It might be
difficult to categorize Pelley’s work into a specific genre. He is a
realist at heart, capable of rendering subjects with the deftness of an
old master, but he also has an eye for the purely abstract. His work has
been acquired by a growing number of public and private collections
including the Austin Museum of Art in Austin, Texas, The Mint Museum of
Art in Charlotte, North Carolina and the Hechinger Collection in
Washington, DC.
Christopher pictured
with works that will be arriving at Abbozzo Gallery in December 2004
More Works
Biography
Lexicon Exhibition |
