Chris Stevens

Chris Stevens, a figurative painter, has been exhibiting regularly since graduating with a Fine Art degree from the University of Reading in 1978.

Stevens' work centres on challenging media-driven stereotypes through his depictions of human figures. His paintings explore themes of identity, class, race, and gender within specific environments, weaving a narrative that forms a crucial element of his art. While focused on these social aspects, Stevens also pays attention to the abstract nature of painting and the expressive qualities of the medium itself.

Rather than traditional portraiture, Stevens' subjects act as representatives of broader types. However, all his subjects are people he knows personally - friends, family, or casual acquaintances - which adds a layer of individual identity to what might otherwise be anonymous stereotypes. The figures are typically set against sparse backgrounds suggestive of decaying urban landscapes, with additional imagery introduced to enhance the narrative.

Stevens has held solo exhibitions at various prestigious venues, including Beaux Arts and The PM Gallery in London, Smelik & Stokking and Galerie Rademakers in Amsterdam, the GlynnVivian Museum & Art Gallery in Swansea, and the Howard Gard...

1974-78 BA Fine Art University of Reading

2022
Art Contemporain, EXPO Internationale, Maison Gramont, Fanjeaux, France

Affinités, L’Ecurie, Caunes Minervois, France

2021
Painting of the Year, EuropArtFair, Westergas, Amsterdam

2019
Ailleurs, Domaine De L’Ostal, La Livinière, France (with Nick Rands)
Summer Exhibition, Beaux Arts London.
London Art Fair, London, (with Beaux Arts)

2018
Lapada Art Fair, London. (with Beaux Arts)
Shades of Summer Lapada, Beaux Arts, London (with Patrick Heron, Elizabeth Frink, Keith Vaughn, Victor Pasmore, Michael Craig-Martin)
London Art Fair, London, (with Beaux Arts)

2017-18
The Poetry of the Real, Beaux Arts, London (with David Hockney, Francis Bacon, Walter Sickert, David Bomberg, Frank Auerbach, Philip Harris & Ray Richardson)

2017
Paintings from Somewhere Else. Youngblood Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa (with Nick Rands)

2016
Liquid Thought, De Queeste, Belgium.
Lapada Art Fair, London. (with Beaux Arts)
Summer Exhibition, Beaux Arts, London
The Age of Reason, Beaux Arts, London (solo)
BADA Art Fair, London, (with Beaux Arts)

2015
Contrastes, Galleria Emergentes dst, Braga, Portugal.
El Camino, Hortensia Gallery, London.
The Contemporary Portrait, Thompson’s Gallery Lo...