Chris Engman
Chris Engman
Transplant, 2005
Digital pigment print
48 x 36 in.
Edition of 6 + 2 AP
Chris Engman
Disappearance, 2005
Digital pigment print
20 x 16 in.
Edition of 6 + 2 AP
Chris Engman
Ode, 2002
Digital pigment print
42 x 21 in.
Edition of 6 + 2 AP
Chris Engman
The Artist as an Explorer, 2002
Digital pigment print
42 x 21 in.
Edition of 6 + 2 AP
Chris Engman
Playground, 2006
Digital pigment print
48 x 36 in.
Edition of 6 + 2 AP
Chris Engman
The Meeting, 2004
Digital pigment print
40 x 48 in.
Edition of 6 + 2 AP
Chris Engman
The Claim, 2006
Digital pigment print
36 x 50 in.
Edition of 6 + 2 AP
Chris Engman
The Library, 2005
Digital pigment print
36 x 50 in.
Edition of 6 + 2 AP
Chris Engman
The Audience, 2004
Digital pigment print
40 x 48 in.
Edition of 6 + 2 AP
“My photographs are documentations of sculptures and installations, but they are also records of actions and elaborate processes. Days are spent, sometimes with a crew but more often in solitude, silently driving, carrying supplies, erecting structures and sets, and studying the slow progress of the sun overhead and its all-powerful, comfort-giving and taking effects. Created in close collaboration with the movements of the sun, precisely observed, I see my photographs as acts of reverence and participation in a deep, reassuring natural order outside of and much larger than myself.”
— Chris Engman, September 2006
Luis De Jesus Los Angeles is very pleased to announce CHRIS ENGMAN: The Artist as Explorer—2002-2006, an exhibition of historical photographic works on view in the Project Space from September 17 through October 29, 2022. An opening reception will be held on Saturday, September 17, from 5:00 to 8:00 pm. This is the artist’s fifth solo exhibition with the gallery.
Originally created by Chris Engman between 2002-2006, this is the first time this series of black and white photographs is being presented in Los Angeles. These works read differently now than when they were produced 15-20 years ago. Certainly, we have all become accustomed to images that lie more boldly or more insidiously, and as a result, the flaws in the illusions these works create will for some be more readily apparent in 2022. For Engman, however, a complete illusion is an uncompelling one—and he has always been more interested in the flaws than in the fooling. The flaws allow the viewer to enter the image and better understand the process behind it, which was conceived at the time by the artist as a performance.
Chris Engman (b. Seattle, 1978). Engman received his MFA from USC Roski School of Fine Arts in 2013 and BFA from the University of Washington in 2003. Earlier this year Engman was recently the subject of solo exhibition at the Museum of Art and History in Lancaster, CA. Recent exhibitions include the FotoFocus Biennial 2018: Open Archive, Cincinnati, OH; Prospect and Refuge at Luis De Jesus Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA; Second Sight: New Representations in Photography, Torrance Art Museum, Torrance, CA; The Claim, High Desert Test Sites, Joshua Tree, CA; Staking Claim: A California Invitational at the Museum of Photographic Arts, San Diego, CA; and NextNewCA at the Institute of Contemporary Art, San Jose, CA. Engman's work is held in collections internationally, including Orange County Museum of Art, Newport Beach, CA; Houston Fine Arts Museum, Houston, TX; Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, WA; Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR; The Henry Art Gallery, Seattle, WA; Sir Elton John Collection, Atlanta, GA; Microsoft Collection, Seattle, WA; the Cleveland Clinic Collection, Google Cloud Collection, as well as numerous corporate and private collections. Engman lives and works in Los Angeles, and is represented by Luis De Jesus Los Angeles.
For further information, including images and previews, please call 213-395-0762, or email: gallery@luisdejesus.com.