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CONTEXT: an exhibition of paintings by Chris Stevens
Reading town centre
11/05/12
roves and roams and Jelly are working in collaboration to produce a town-wide exhibition of paintings by London-based painter Chris Stevens. Stevens, who graduated from Reading University in 1978, has exhibited internationally since and was awarded the BP Portrait Award from the National Portrait Gallery in the ‘90’s.
Stevens says of his work “I always use figures in my paintings. I use them to challenge the preconceptions we have about people due to media stereotyping. The paintings are concerned with identity, class, race, gender and the environment. This narrative is an essential element in my work”.
The notion behind Context was to support the use of alternative creative space in order to reach new audiences and reconceptualise the way we experience public art. The paintings inhabited various spots around the town centre with locations including windows in Broad Street Mall and the Oracle shopping centre.