Artist Christopher Leith Evans was born in 1954 in Bremerton, Washington. His grade school years were spent in Brightwaters, Long Island, in the suburbs of New York City. In 1972, after graduating from Bay Shore High School, he moved with his family to Santa Monica, California.
In the autumn of 1973 Christopher began attending the University of California, Los Angeles where he studied with such renowned artists as William Brice, James Valerio, James Doolin, Tom Wudl, and David Hockney. Although conceptual art, performance, and video were popular art forms of that time, Evans chose a path of traditional oil painting and the realistic representation of Nature and the human figure. He earned his Master of Fine Arts degree in 1980.
Christopher Leith Evans’ paintings have been shown in galleries and museums in Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York. His three-hundred-sixty-degree spherical panorama from the top of the World Trade Center, New York Full Circle (In the Light of Memory), was described by New York Times art critic Roberta Smith as “exhilarating”.
Throughout a decades long quest to see beyond the boundaries of the two-dimensional picture plane and to find deeper personal and cultural context for the pictures he makes, Evans has been on a journey of exploration starting from wide angle panoramic landscapes, to triptychs, to painting on spheres, to ultimately creating large multi-picture canvases composed around an ellipse. His Supply Chain Portraits present encompassing views of pressing global issues such as fair trade, social justice, and environmental degradation, with concern, compassion, and hope.
Evans’ prodigious skill as a painter has also propelled him into other visual realms. He has worked with George Lucas, Stephen Spielberg and Martin Scorsese creating matte paintings for movies such as Star Wars, E.T., and Hugo. In 1983 while working at Industrial Light & Magic he became the first artist in history to paint using a computer. Collaborating with the George Coates Performance Works in 1986 he helped introduce the technique of using computer generated projections to create theater sets. He has also produced historical paintings for National Geographic magazine and museum installations.
Christopher Leith Evans currently lives in Sonoma County, California and owns CL Evans Gallery in Healdsburg, CA.
EDUCATION
1980 M.F.A. University of California, Los Angeles, CA
1977 B.F.A. Painting, Sculpture, Graphic Arts, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, Summa Cum Laude
AWARDS AND HONORS
2006 Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant
2000 Honorary Ph.D. Academy of Art College, San Francisco, CA
1979 Ford Foundation Travel / Study Grant
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2019 “River, Ocean, Sky,” Luther Burbank Center for the Arts, Santa Rosa, CA
2017 "The Place of Understanding," Pepperwood Preserve, Santa Rosa, CA.
2014 “Supply Chain Portraits,“ Taylor & Company, San Francisco, CA.
2013 “Equilibrium,” Fischbach Gallery, New York, NY.
2012 “Family Trees,” David Brower Center, Berkeley, CA.
2010 “Verdant Refuge,” Fischbach Gallery, New York, NY.
2007 “Open Space,” Fischbach Gallery, New York, NY.
2004 “New York: In the Light of Memory, ”New York Historical Society, New York, NY.
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2020 “The DeYoung Open,” DeYoung Museum, San Francisco, CA
2018 "Power of Ten: Scaling Up," Petaluma Art Center, Petaluma, CA.
2016 "Painting 360° : A Look at Contemporary Panoramic Painting," The Butler Center, Little Rock, AR.
2007 “Spring Break,” Fischbach Gallery, New York, NY.
2006 “The Woods,” DFN Gallery, New York, NY.
2005 “Hudson River: Inspiration for the Ages,” Sherry French Gallery, New York, NY.
2005 “The Four Seasons,” Contemporary Landscapes and Sculpture, Sherry French Gallery
2004 “NYC,” DFN Gallery, New York, NY.
2004 “Skies & Scapes,” DFN Gallery, New York, NY.
2003 “Facing Reality: The Seavest Collection of Contemporary Realism,”
The Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase College, State University of New York, NY.
2002 “In the Light of Memory,” The Museum at the New York Historical Society, New York, NY.
2001 “Places and Spaces,” The Fairmont Gallery, Sonoma, CA.
1999 “Land, Sea, Sky,” The Fairmont Gallery, Sonoma, CA.
1997 “Get Real: Contemporary American Realism from the Seavest Collection,” Duke University Museum of Art, Durham, NC.
1996 “Origin / Oracle: California Landscapes,” Mulligan-Shanoski Gallery, San Francisco, CA.
1996 Philadelphia Art Expo, Mulligan-Shanoski Gallery.
1995 “Go Figure,” Mulligan-Shanoski Gallery, San Francisco, CA.
1994 Maxwell Davidson Gallery, New York.
1986 “America: New Vistas,” Schmidt-Bingham Gallery, New York, NY.
1980 “L.A. Seen by L.A. Artists,” Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, Los Angeles, CA.
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Andrews, Coleman. “Art of the State: California,” New West Magazine, January 1981.
Bailey, Peter. “A City’s Emotions on View,” Newsday.com, July 24, 2002.
Blake, D.P. “California Artist with a Master’s Touch,” Ambassador International, October, 1991.
Bonito, Virginia A. “Get Real: Contemporary American Realism from the Seavest Collection,” 1998, illus. In Color, p.49.
Crane, Tricia, “An Artist’s Eye View of the City of Angels,” Valley News, September 12, 1980.
Henninger, Daniel. “An Impatient Age Begins To Build a Memory,” The Wall Street Journal, September 6, 2002.
Howell, Betje. “Los Angeles as Viewed by Artists,” Santa Monica Evening Outlook, October 4, 1980.
Kachka, Boris, ed. “Never Forget,” New York Magazine, July 29, 2002.
Knight, Christopher. “Art That Tries to Examine Elusive L.A.,” Los Angeles Herald Examiner, September 21, 1980.
Parks, John A. “Golden Distances; The Paintings of Christopher Evans,” American Artist, July/August, 2008.
Smith, Roberta. “From Photos to Relics, Remembering the Unforgettable,” The New York Times, September 6, 2002.
SELECTED PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Commerce Bancshares, Kansas City, MO
First Boston Bank, San Francisco, CA
Pave & Bogards, San Francisco, CA
Bay Shore – Brightwaters Library, Bay Shore, NY
SELECTED PRIVATE COLLECTIONS
The Seavest Collection of Contemporary Realism, New York
Mr. Daniel Selznick, Beverly Hills, CA
Mr. George Lucas, San Anselmo, CA
Mr. Seymour Rubenstein, Belvedere, CA
Mr. and Mrs. Albert J. Rosenberg, Bryn Mawr, PA
Mr. and Mrs. Andrej and Dionne Remec, Walnut Creek, CA
Ms. Melanie Saker, Bedminster, NJ
Mr. and Mrs. Harry Wetzel, San Francisco, CA
Mr. and Mrs. Mark and Daryl Nelson, San Francisco, CA
Mr. and Mrs. Marko and Cynthia Remec, New York, NY