2013 has been a good year for contemporary art, and a most tremendous year for my art in particular and as another year comes to a close I would like to wish all of my customers, friends, followers and lovers of my art  from around the world a most wonderful and Happy New Year for 2014.

The Juelich Museum hanging Forest Chapel ~ contemporary art from Chris Billington

For me this has been a most spectacular year for my own individual style of contemporary art, with its continued focus on strong colour and reduction of form, and I am most pleased and thankful that my work has been in increasing demand at home and abroad.

There was a strong European bias to my exhibitions in 2013 starting with the Lille Contemporary Art Fair in France  and I went on to have a very packed year taking in Barcelona and Reus shows in Spain, but undoubtedly my main highlight of 2013 was my exhibition at the Juelich Museum in October and November.

Chris Billington talks contemporary art at Lille Art Fair with Maf and Jennie

I continue to be overwhelmed by the warm friendship extended to me by the Juelich Museum. Incredibly the staff sent me a Christmas Card, signed by each and every employee who was involved in my exhibition, and on Christmas Eve a disc with additional exhibition photos arrived in my post, one of which can be seen below, showing some of the glory of the exhibition building.

The Daytime Cycle ~ contemporary art at the Juelich Museum ~ Chris Billington with J W Schirmer

During 2013, amongst my exhibitions, I have completed more video and digital work, and I have worked on album cover artwork, and I have managed to fit in a few commissions.  Most notably was my commission for Velux where I was asked to produce a video for their Daylight Project, which is a celebration of light in all forms.   I produced Light Waves, a short video that explores the subject of daylight, in particular the range of natural light conditions that I experience here in Cornwall.  My last painting of 2013 was a commission for a client in the South East who asked me to paint her dog Millie, not my normal type of work but as she is a dear customer who has some of my paintings I agreed on my usual basis, that I paint Millie as I see her, not quite as abstract as usual but a piece of contemporary art nonetheless.  Whilst Millie was in Cornwall for a few days in the summer I spent an afternoon with her at Church Cove, the resulting painting is still drying on my easel but the irony is that the poor little thing has gone missing down a rabbit hole and her owner is so glad that she commissioned the painting.

Millie Jumping The Riverbank, Church Cove (2013) ~ 32in x 32in ~ Chris Billington

During 2013 my support for local and national charities was as strong as ever, and donations of my work included paintings for Exeter based Charity Dream-A-Way, 20th Birthday Year, who offer grants towards holidays for disabled and seriously ill people of all ages living in Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.   Dream-A-Way is one of those very rare charities where nobody from the Chairman Jeff Merrett down take any remuneration, or payments for expenses for their work.

Dream-A-Way Charity providing holidays and outings supported by Chris Billington

I also donated a painting to the The Humphry Davy Project group to help with their fundraising efforts for the setting up of a new Museum in Penzance, to mark the life of noted Cornish scientist Humphrey Davy.

Looking forward to 2014 my main project is my ‘Punk: The Transatlantic Paintings’, this has been more than a year in the planning and will open at The Gallery Liverpool in September before moving on to Gallery 2091 in Ohio for October, work for which will begin next week.  I also have many other exciting projects for 2014, UK and international and I already have two commissions to start my new year in January which I have managed to slot in alongside my mounting workload.

Finally, and most importantly, I could not have done it without you, especially those of you who have purchased my work during 2013 and over the previous years, thank you.   I would also like to thank all of the galleries, gallerists and museums for your faith in my work and your enormous support, and last but not least a special mention for the journalists, critics and members of the press – at home and abroad – who have taken the time and energy to write about me and my work.

A very Happy New Year to you all!

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Can You Smell Carrots?   Charlie is a delightful and most special 11 year old boy who lives in my village.   A few weeks ago he visited me with his mother to interview me as part of his school project.

It was a wonderful experience, made all the more special because to carry out the interview Charlie was dressed up like a professional, he turned up looking very smart in a jacket and tie, armed with his iPad.   Keen to get started he pressed the record button and set off with his questions.

Charlie was quite excited to be conducting the interview and eager to get going he fired his first question, ‘Wait a minute Charlie’, his mother cried, “you have to ask him his name first!”   “But… I know his name” said Charlie, “It’s Chris”…  and so started an entertaining and very productive 15 minutes of tough interviewing!

Why am I telling the story and what has this to do with carrots?

Well Charlie has a favourite joke about two snowmen, where one snowman asks the other, “Can you smell carrots?” a line which we both find very funny indeed, and it is even funnier hearing Charlie deliver the joke in his own unique way.

Can You Smell Carrots? ~ Contemporary British Painting ~ Chris Billington

I am so touched by Charlie’s heart warming innocence and his constant wonder of everything in his life that I decided to paint  “Can You Smell Carrots?” for him as a Christmas present.

Charlie has Down Syndrome and he sees the world in a very special way and I am sure  that the bright and happy scene of the two snowmen of  ‘Can You Smell Carrots?’  will bring him much delight, not just at Christmas but throughout the years and his life to come.   I am posting this on my News Page because I wanted to share the joy of this painting with friends and followers of my work.

I shall be delivering ‘Can You Smell Carrots?’ to Charlie and his family this afternoon.

I wish you all a most magical Christmas.

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My 2012 painting ‘Temple Of The Moon’ is currently featuring in the Christmas Selection at The ARThouse Gallery in Bournemouth.

Temple Of The Moon (2012) – 50cm x 100cm – Chris Billington

‘Temple Of The Moon’has been selected for the Christmas Exhibition along with a variety of pieces by other artists that all bear some reflection on the season

The exhibition is curated by The ARThouse Director Paul Watts and will run from December 1 through December 23.

The ARThouse Gallery – Chris Billington

Paul Watts Christmas Selection

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My recently sold painting ‘Christmas Present’ is looking rather grand hanging in it’s elegant new home in New York, and just in time for Christmas.

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Copies of the Art Reviews of my recent exhibition in Germany have just arrived from the Juelich Museum.

A massive thank you to the museum for sending these through to me, and for their continuing support and for generating so much interest in my Colour and Reduction Exhibition through their dedicated promotion of the exhibition before, during and after the show.

After the 3 week exhibition some of my paintings were taken out into the community to a wider audience to places for members of the public to see, along with the corresponding Schirmer’s, such as our work from The Daytime Cycle which was taken into Churches.

Chris Billington Art Reviews by German Press

Together with the Cornish press who through Lee Trewhela, The Editor of The West Briton What’s On, gave me a fantastic write up once again, the phenomenal coverage in the German Press has resulted in the most remarkable body of art reviews of my work for one exhibition.

I am overwhelmed by the generosity of the German Press, the journalists and photographers who through their newspapers and magazines have given a wholehearted and considerable response to my work, a response for which I am incredibly grateful.

Copies have all now been added to my Press Page.

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With one of Francis Bacon’s paintings sold at auction last week for a record $142m it has been a busy week for the work of British artists in New York.

Sold after six minutes of intense bidding at Christie’s Auction House, Bacon’s tryptych,  ‘Three Studies of Lucien Freud’ (1969), the price exceeded the previous record of $119.9m paid for Edvard Munch’s ‘The Scream’ last year.

Francis Bacon ‘Three Studies of Lucian Freud’ painted at the Royal College of Art 1969

I am most pleased that I have just sold two more of my own paintings to a collector in New York and whilst they are not quite in the same price range it is certainly good news for me.

The two latest paintings sold are Winter Wonderland and Christmas Present from my 2012 ‘Colours Of Christmas’ exhibition at The Blake Gallery in Gravesend last December and they are being shipped out to New York later today.

Christmas Present (2012) ~ 20in X 24in ~ acrylic on canvas                     Chris Billington latest paintings sold

Winter Wonderland (2012) ~ 60cm X 50cm ~ acrylic on canvas ~ Chris Billington latest paintings sold

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LIGHT WAVES, which was commissioned for VELUX and The Daylight Project, has now been released for general viewing.

Light Waves ~ The Daylight Project ~ Chris Billington

I am absolutely delighted to have been invited to contribute to this incredible project which is a celebration of light in all forms.

Light Waves is a short video that explores the subject of daylight, in particular the range of natural light conditions that I experience here in Cornwall, and it was created to convey the energy and impact of that Cornish light and the emotional lift that it has on all who live here.

You can see the video and read more about Light Waves, and my approach to the project, on The Daylight Project website which follows…

LIGHT WAVES

We commissioned Chris Billington to produce a piece of digital video art that explores the subject of daylight, and in particular the range of natural light conditions that he experiences whilst working and the relationship between that light and his art. Here Chris talks about the resulting video, entitled Light Waves…Read more here

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Art news from my studio as the exhibition in Germany is now in the final week, closing on November 10, and once again there is a buzz of energy around my workspace as I move into my next phase of activity.

Art News from the Cornish studio of abstract artist Chris Billington

I am currently working on two commissions, one is a painting for a very patient client for whom I am determined to deliver a finished and framed work before Christmas, and the other is album artwork which I am delighted to be doing for Cornish outfit Clay.

Once these are completed I will be going full tilt into my 2014 project, ‘Punk:The Transatlantic Paintings’ which has been over 12 months in the planning and of which there will be developing news over the coming weeks and months.

Finally it is that time of year again, in the next few weeks I shall be organising my Christmas card which hopefully will be going out to everyone on my list from previous years.

As usual I will be happy to add a strictly limited number of new followers of my work to the list on a first come basis. If you have not received a Christmas card from me before but would like one, please email me at info@chrisbillington.com, marking the subject Christmas Card and I will do what I can.

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Here is a short film from the Exhibition Vernissage of “Colour and Reduction – Landscapes to J. W. Schirmer” at The Juelich Museum on 19 October 2013.

Every detail for the exhibition was carefully planned by the museum, including the choice of music for the opening piano recital. This was a piece by Irish composer John Field, chosen because Field was composing wonderful music in the same era that J. W. Schirmer was painting his magnificent landscapes and he was believed to have lived in the West Country, at Bath during part of his life before moving to London.

The exhibition is in the final week and will close on 10 November.

Chris Billington Exhibition Vernissage ~ Juelich Museum 19 October 2013

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I discuss some of my ideas and thinking behind my “Colour and Reduction – Landscapes to J.W.Schirmer” exhibition which is currently featuring at The Juelich Museum, in a short film that was produced for the museum to accompany the show.

In addition to the video the museum are holding Curator tours and are supplying audio guides with commentary of my work. There is also a full colour 44 page bi-lingual catalogue to complement the exhibition.

Chris Billington discusses his current exhibition at The Juelich Museum

The video is available in HD at Youtube.

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