Chris Orr

About

Jill George Gallery is delighted to announce the latest exhibition by Chris Orr; who has been showing at the Gallery since its foundation, This exhibition is his flrst solo show in two years and will present a selection of new watercolours, drawings and prints, concentrating on London and NewYork, Born in London, and having spent his life here, Orr has long made its architecure, history and geography central to his work, Previous drawings of the city have occasionally incorporated historical elements into the teeming modern metropolis, with medieval, Shakespearean and Victorian characters mingling together on Waterloo Bridge, reflecting the mixture of history and modernity that characterises the city. He has also drawn spectacular London landscapes, with much of the human interaction that characterised earlier work becoming therefore less visible and the teeming pulsating architecture of London revealed as a growing, organic mass. His new series of London drawings focuses on the theme of 'work' and will feature the artist's trademark fantasy mix of re-appropriated architecture as a composite backdrop to figures working in the metropolis, lnspired partly by Ford Maddox Brown's famous nineteenth century painting Orr's workers toil in the continually evolving city before fantastical re-imagined tableaux of historical and modern buildings, For the New York images in this show, Orr has produced some of his most colourlul and vibrant architectural studies so far: His views of Times Square and Coney lsland capture the hectic visual and aural stimulation of these famous urban locations. He also found inspiration on a recent trip to Hoboken where a newly renovated train terminal attracted a fascinating range of people. Besides the many commuters and travellers who passed through the building newlyweds used it as a backdrop for their wedding photographs and homeless people clalmed it as shelter. Just as the artist selects and uses London landmarks as a backdrop to his city narratives here, NewJersey residents selected the transport building as the setting for their own individual stories, His watercolours and prints record the sad, hilarious and sometimes absurd dramas acted out in the Hoboken train terminal.