March 31 2017

AMP presents Christopher Tanner | Reception at La Mama | 74 East 4th St, 3rd floor, NYC

Opening Reception: Friday, March 31, 6-9 pm

Christopher Tanner

In-Studio Opening Party and Reception

“I get my inspiration from many places — light and sparkle, longing, The Golden Age of Hollywood, films, glamour, gay history, burlesque history, war, and seduction are all very close to me. I love to find the beauty in the grotesque, the light in the dark, order in chaos, and to share that experience with my audience. I enjoy having a constant dialog with my art, both physically and mentally. When passing in front of one of my glitter pieces, the light continues to move and change bringing new vitality to the work while also keeping my environment alive.

Collecting materials that are precious and have a sense of historical context is very exciting for me. I encourage my audience, and myself to make a journey of discovery with the work I create. I am always looking to uncover secrets from the past, present and future. I find I am most successful when I am truly relaxed, working with no agenda, and in the zone. It’s then that the magic comes.”

Christopher Tanner attended the San Francisco Academy of Art, and graduated from the California Institute of the Arts in 1978. In 2008 he was Artist in Residence at Yaddo in Saratoga Springs, NY. Over the years he has had numerous solo national exhibitions, recently including: 2016, "A Flower is a Lovesome Thing", AMP Gallery, Provincetown; 2015, “Eye of the Heart”, La MaMa Galleria, NYC; 2013, “Treasure”, Smart Clothes Gallery, NYC; 2010, “The Queen of Hell & the Horn of Plenty”, Pavel Zoubok Gallery, NYC; 2008, “Give Me the Cobra Jewel”, Atrium Gallery, St. Louis, MO; “Off the Yellow Brick Cliff: Paintings, Drawings & Collages”, Carl Solway Gallery, Cincinnati, OH; 2007, “How High the Moon”, Pavel Zoubok Gallery, NYC; 2005, “Ravaged by Romance”, Pavel Zoubok Gallery, NYC; 2004, “Christopher Tanner”, Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, CO. He has also participated in many group shows both nationally and internationally.

As a performing artist Tanner has worked with Cyndi Lauper, Penny Arcade, Everett Quinton, Bloolips, Mabou Mines, The Wooster Group, David Lynch, Karen Finley, and The New Stage Theatre Company.

“Christopher Tanner—also a set designer, actor and downtown cabaret singer in drag—that old modernist dictum “less is more” has rarely carried much weight. Rather, his motivating mantra has long been “more is more.” Over the years, Tanner’s aesthetic outlook and art-making efforts have focused on the value of meticulous craftsmanship, the meaning and nature of glamour, and an unabashed celebration of beauty. More recently, the artist has said, he’s become interested in “succulence, abundance, bounty and the life force that flows through nature and the human body.” Best known for spectacular, mixed-medium “paintings”—luxurious, canvas-mounted assemblages of such humble materials as big shiny sequins, colored sand, shells, stones and fabric scraps—Tanner is also a capable draftsman who routinely draws from live models, and sinuous lines derived from his drawings often make their way into his compositions in other mediums. Lately, Tanner has taken a break from his brightly colored, thickly encrusted paintings, experimenting instead with more pointedly three-dimensional, wall-mounted and freestanding sculptures.” — Edward M. Gómez, Art in America

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