CHRIS GREGSON (b. Morristown, New Jersey, 1951)

Untitled (10083), 2008
oil on wood panel

Collection of the Longwood Centerfor the Visual Arts
Virginia Artists Collection
LCVA purchase, made possible through a gift from Homer Kephart for the Bobby Chandler Memorial Collection
2009.36.3.1-3

These three works by Chris Gregson represent his characteristic imagery and methodology. For the catalogue for the 2008 Constructsexhibition Gregson wrote,“I start with a collection of square or rectangular birch panel supports. I arrange these panels in different groupings along a grid on the walls of my studio. Randomly, I mark the panels in paint with arches, circles, squares, rectangles and lines. My images are built on the formalist concerns of line, form, balance and edge. There is no conscious pursuit of subject matter or narrative. Between each paint application I sand the surface, revealing the veiled forms below. I edit until there is a visceral feeling of resolution. My content is not specific or conscious, but sometimes associations can be made. My images share an affinity with diagrams, maps, structures and landscapes. I am successful when the viewer is drawn in and a response is provoked.” Susan Glassner, inthe introduction tothe same catalogue, describes the result as being “like a meditative chant, calming and contemplative.”Perhaps, given Gregson’s interest in assembled structures, it is not surprising to learn that his initial artistic training was in stage design, at the Studio and Forum of Stage Design in New York City. Known as an abstract painter, he has served also as a speaker, curator, and critic on arts topics, and his work has been exhibited widely, including in Richmond, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Washington DC, Guinea, and Italy.