Chris Liberti Artist Biography
Gesture, color and surface enliven the new harmonies and patterns Liberti creates as he works, generating a distinct back-and-forth between representation and abstraction. Although there are certainly similarities that connect his works, each completed painting stands on its own: a distinct vision that Liberti has shepherded towards a necessary and unique conclusion. Some paintings come to the edge of realism, while others feature willfully invented patterns, intersections and overlaps.
“I often find myself in a struggle between abstraction and representation, “ Liberti comments. “I don’t want to lock myself in to being one or the other. Working abstractly is freeing since there is more looking involved: more than simply looking at what was being painted.”
Liberti is a very direct, visually oriented artist who is relatively unconcerned with theories or conceptual underpinnings. He is also a painter without pretensions who speaks of his artistic process in very straight-forward terms: “I simply enjoy the process of painting, working with my hands, looking, mixing, adding a spot of color, standing back, looking and going in again.” He is a formalist who values perceptual experiences more than symbolism or context.
Larry Groff: Painting Perceptions: Interview with Chris Liberti (Nov 2019)
"I’ve long admired and drawn inspiration from Chris Liberti’s paintings and his remarkable devotion to advancing his artmaking. His desire to continually expand the fields of view with his compositions as well as exploring new possibilities for color has been exciting to watch unfold as he posts his new images to social media. Read more.
Savvy Painter: "Artist Chris Liberti shared with me that one of his favorite places to go and paint is in his parent’s basement. Didn’t see that coming did you? The way Chris describes this space and why he likes to go back and paint a particular utility sink is really touching. As he describes what that artwork and that space meant to him, I was instantly transported to that location..." Chris Liberti: Savvy Painter Podcast interview, Listen to the podcast here.
The subject matter in Chris Liberti’s recent paintings comes from his interest in the way the forms around him can be re-configured and made to work together. Whether Liberti is painting rooflines, bookshelves, palm trees or telephone poles, he sees them not as isolated elements, but as part of a larger scheme. I recently interviewed Liberti in connection with the show of his work on view at the John Natsoulas Gallery in Davis, California. --John Seed interview with Chris Liberti, Huffington Post, here.
Chris Liberti
1974 – Born Buffalo, NY.
EDUCATION:
Fine Arts/Painting & Urban Planning BS - Buffalo State College
EXHIBITIONS:
2020 - Group Show - Summer Pleasures - Thomas Deans Fine Art, Atlanta GA - June 25 - August 20
2020 - Solo show - “Foreign & Domestic” - Blue Spiral, Asheville, NC - March 6th - May 1st
2020 - Group Show - Art of Painting in the 21st Century - John Natsoulas Gallery, Davis CA - March 4 - April 11
2019 - Group show - “Microdose” - Booth Gallery, NYC - Dec 13th - Jan 18th
2019 - Solo show - “Encountered Content” - Wingate University, NC - Oct 14 - Dec 6, talk on Oct 25
2019 - Group show - “Summer Pleasures” - Thomas Deans Fine Art, Atlanta GA - June 14 - August 17
2019 - Solo show - “Simple Things” - John Natsoulas Gallery, Davis CA - May 22 - June 29
2019 - Two person show - “Found Objects” - Thomas Dean’s Fine Art, Atlanta GA - April 26
2018 - Group Show - Holiday Exhibition - Thomas Dean’s Fine Art, Atlanta GA - November 16
2018 - Group Show - International Figurative Biennale- John Natsoulas Gallery, Davis CA - August 15 - Sept 22
2018 - Group Show - Summer Salon: Modern - Meibohm Fine Arts, East Aurora, NY - July 21 - September 1
2018 - Group Show - Summer Gallery Group Show - John Natsoulas Gallery, Davis CA - July 5 - August 11
2018 - Group Show - Summer Pleasures - Thomas Deans Fine Art Gallery, Atlanta, GA - June 8th
2018 - Group Show - Art of Painting in the 21st Century - John Natsoulas Gallery, Davis CA - March 7 - April 7
2018 - Group Show - Still Life - Blue Spiral 1 Gallery, Asheville, NC - March 1 - April 27th
2018 - Group Show - Still Life invitational - John Natsoulas Gallery, Davis CA - Jan 3 - Jan 27th
2017 - Group Show - Small Works - Shain Gallery, Charlotte NC - Dec 7th
2017 - Group Show - Summer Show - Shain Gallery, Charlotte NC - June 28 - July 28
2017 - Solo show - John Natsoulas Gallery, Davis CA - May-June Dates TBD
2017 - Group Show - Spring Show - Shain Gallery, Charlotte NC - March 2 - March 5
2017 - Group Show - Art of Painting in the 21st Century - John Natsoulas Gallery, Davis CA - Feb 1 - March 11
2017 - Art Fair Group Show - Palm Springs International Art Fair, Palm Springs CA - Feb 16-18
2016 - Group Show - Small works - Shain Gallery, Charlotte NC - Dec 2
2016 - Juried group show - "Schema" - Manifest Gallery, Cincinnati OH - November 11 - December 9
2016 - Solo Show - "Around the House" - Meibohm Fine Arts, East Aurora, NY - October 21 - November 19
2016 - Solo Show - "Landscapes" - Gay Street Gallery, Little Washington VA - April 2 - June 6
2016 - Group Show - "The Art of Painting" - John Natsoulas Gallery, Davis CA
2016 - Art Fair - Palm Springs International Art Fair, Palm Springs CA
2016 - Group Show - "Figure Show" - John Natsoulas Gallery, Davis CA
2015 - Group Show - "14th Annual California Landscape Exhibition" John Natsoulas Gallery, Davis CA
2015 - Group Show - LA Modernism (art fair) - April 24-26
2015 - Solo show - "California etc." John Natsoulas Gallery, Davis CA
2014 - Collection- Michael Levy Gallery Long Beach CA
2014 - Group show - "13th Annual California Landscape Exhibition" John Natsoulas Gallery Davis CA
2015 - Solo show - "California etc." John Natsoulas Gallery, Davis CA
2013 - Collection - Meibohm Fine Arts Gallery East Aurora NY
2013 - Juried Art Fair - Art Echo Fair, Buffalo NY
2012 - Group show - Benjaman's Art Gallery Buffalo NY
2012 - Juried Art Fair - Art Echo Fair, Buffalo NY
2012 - Group Show - Art Guild of Clifton VA
2012 – Group Show "Artists Among Us" - Burchfield Penny Museum Buffalo NY
2011 - Collection - Benjaman’s Art Gallery Buffalo NY
2004- Solo show - Wax Gallery Brooklyn (Williamsburg), NYC
PUBLICATIONS/OTHER
Painting Perceptions interview - https://paintingperceptions.com/interview-with-chris-liberti/
Huffington Post - California Etc. - https://www.huffpost.com/entry/chris-liberti-california_b_6928566
Savvy Painter interview - https://savvypainter.com/podcast/layered-paintings-chris-liberti/
Painting Perceptions slide show - https://paintingperceptions.com/chris-liberti-paintings/
Manifest Gallery INPA7 (International Painting Annual Juried Publication
Manifest Gallery INPA8 (International Painting Annual Juried Publication
Poets and Artists “Heightened Perceptions” juried publication
Chris Liberti: Self-Portrait