
A Gay Collection
Paintings by Rick Chris
"A Gay Collection," now on display at the Chez in Hartford features paintings by gay realist painter Rick Chris. All paintings in this collection are from the years 1995-2001. All proceeds go directly to supporting the New Haven Pride Center.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Rick was born and grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. His higher education included the arts program at the Fine Arts school of the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee. Additional education was at the Milwaukee Area Technical College, the Colorado Institute of Art and various in-house corporate training programs. Early on, Rick provided some cartooning for the GPU News, a publication for a pioneering gay organization in Milwaukee, Gay Peoples Union. Some years later, Rick moved to Colorado, working as a staff artist and technical illustrator for aerospace, defense and research companies, including one of the largest defense and aerospace contractors in the United States. Working as a tech illustrator influenced Rick's fine art, steering him towards a precise realism, an influence which can be seen in Rick's work today.
"Among my favorite artists are Rip Colt, Delmas Howe, Norman Rockwell, Bev Doolittle and some of the contemporary Japanese illustrators such as Hideaki Kodama. Rip Colt was a very good illustrator of the male form in addition to his now famous photography and I purchased some prints of his illustrations in the early 70's and was determined to draw just like him. I admire Rockwell because of his craftsmanship and his ability to tell a story in his paintings. I like Howe's imagery which seems to jump out of his paintings and the hearty Southwestern spirit which thrives in his paintings. My own art was influenced by my years as a technical and commercial illustrator which demanded that I produce realistic illustrations of things which often times did not yet exist. I got to be pretty good at this and finally it became a second nature for me to be able to produce images which appear photo realistic but yet are purely fantasy. Sometimes it is an enjoyable challenge for me to see just how much of a realistic image I can produce from an idea and my pencil sketches." Rick Chris