Chris Harrison
Chris Harrison is a contemporary abstract artist, working as a painter, collagist and photographer. He was born on the Norfolk coast and continues to live there, at Sheringham. His art education began with A level art at Boston Grammar School, followed by the foundation course at Jacob Kramer College of Art and Design in Leeds, a BA in Art and History of Art from Reading University, and a Postgraduate Art Teachers Certificate at the Institute of Education, University of London. He taught art, art history and photography until 1985, when he began painting full-time. In 1988 he and his wife Debby founded Bircham Gallery in Holt, and they owned it until 2023, showing his own work alongside that of many other artists. Since 2023 he has been able to devote time to studio practice again.
Artist Statement
My photographs are a way of investigating the nature of things, discovering the miraculous that lies everywhere within the ordinary.
My paintings and collages are also an exploration. Starting a new painting is always like setting out into unknown territory - leaning on years of experience but not knowing a thing! I like to use undeciphered signs suggesting there is meaning I can't see yet. Where to stop? Never an easy one - when and if the painting has acquired what I can only call an iconic value.