2024 Highlights 'Fragments' SEMI FINALIST October Paris Lady Moviemakers Festival Artist in Residence /Solo Exhibition - Time Dream & Reflection at Compassionate Funerals 2023 Highlights 'We've Come a long way' BESTExperimental Film winner ATIFF International Film Festival Wales OCTOBER 2023 2022 Highlights CutLog Re-Imagining Wonderland | Annual Exhibition – Society of Scottish Artists (s-s-a.org) HAUS-A-REST — Issue 29 - Exhibition - Conscious Environment Interlude Exhibition (artlymix.com) Chronos Exhibition -- ‘Voices in the Shadows’ a major body of work was exhibited in February/March 2019. https://www.parktheatre.co.uk/whats-on/voices-in-the-shadows Aspects of this were shown in October 2019 at Synergic The Old Biscuit Factory SE16 and Death of Art at Vout-O-Reenees E1 2017 highlights included selection for 'Schlachten' Contemporary Arts Festival held near Berlin, and a solo exhibition 'SHE' at the Park Theatre, London. In 2014 she devised and directed a Barbican Guildhall Open Lab which was followed in 2015 when her work was shown at Rich Mix as part of a Barbican Festival. In 2013 she was awarded a Winston Churchill Travel Fellowship to research the potential of older artists in Berlin, Amsterdam and Copenhagen Chris Avis (churchillfellowship.org) PRESS RELEASE (December 2014) 'Revelation: Artists of the Third Age’ Barbican Open Lab 8th - 12th December 2014 Through a successful application to ‘Open Lab’ part of Creative Learning at the Barbican, London, Chris Avis will be directing a group of older professionals in the Pit Theatre in December. By combining the skills of artists from a range of disciplines the group will aim to explore aspects of age and creativity. . The selection of thought provoking works by five visual artists will stimulate a range of innovative collaborations by the six performing artists The performers group comprises : two contemporary dancers, Ann Dickie and Susan Hayes; a jazz vocalist ,Jan Ponsford; a musician, Andy Parker; a sonic artist Fred de Faye and an actor, Didi Hopkins. Deborah May will be filming the final run through at the end of the week. The artist group comprises: from London, Vicky Hawkins,Chris Avis and David Pike; from Amsterdam, Harry van der Woud and from Berlin ,Emilly Puetter
PRESS RELEASE (November 2013) Is your age showing ? Older artists overlooked by galleries Chris Avis, a retired senior manager, returned to her roots as a London-based artist four years ago. She has just completed a Winston Churchill Travelling Fellowship where she spent five weeks in Amsterdam, Copenhagen and Berlin to explore the variety of ways in which older people engage with visual arts. “As a re-emerging professional artist of 65 I am very aware of the difficulties faced by older artists in London when they approach galleries to submit their work,” says Chris. “It is assumed that because you are older, your work has not been successful. I wanted to see if the situation is the same in other art capitals of Europe and to explore the ways these cities have of exhibiting older artists.” During her travels Chris met with a range of people; from internationally successful artists and leading curators, to community art project managers and those who participated in art activities in care homes. She found that, overwhelmingly, the older artists she met were passionately committed to their work, with one 73 year old international artist telling her, “It’s my life, it’s the main thing, the only thing”. In the galleries, however, new young talent tended to be the priority. The artwork exhibited was predominantly by artists in their 20s, 30s and 40s, with older artists only being represented if they had become attached to a gallery in their youth. Back in the UK, Chris intends to highlight the conflict between older artists and their potential to exhibit. Two seminars are planned in the coming months, one in Voluntary Action Islington and one in The London Resource Centre organised by Creative Islington and Rowan Arts
