About Chris

Christopher Prewett has worked as a full-time artist since graduating from Canterbury College of Art in1975. His work has been exhibited in the UK, France, Austria, Denmark, Italy and Cyprus. His work is in public collections in the UK and France and in private collections in Europe, the Americas, Canada and Australia.

Prewett uses traditional media in both a realistic and an expressionistic style. His specialities of portraiture and landscape are sometimes united in his “thematic” works that are mainly social realist and sometimes satirical in nature. (Further descriptions can be read about the work in the “review” section)

In the late 1970s, he exhibited regularly at the Royal Academy of Art, London, and won first prize in a national art competition. In 1979, he exhibited alongside David Hockney and Roderick Barrett in a show of five artists’ work at Ellingham Mill, Suffolk. In the late 70s and early 80s, he exhibited regularly with the Paton Gallery, London. He lived and worked in Spain in 1983 and then in southern Italy in 1985. He was provided with studios by various sponsors; notably the Harrisons of Northampton from 1986-89. A film about his work was broadcast on Anglia TV’s programme, Folio, in 1986.

In the late 80s and 90s, he established himself as an accomplished portrait artist and was selected several times for the National Portrait/BP Portrait Awards and he was awarded second prize in 1993.

He moved to France in 1989, restored a house and created a studio and gallery at Labrousse. While in France during the 1990’s, he gained notoriety by painting seventeen life-sized portraits of local traders and professionals in the village of Catus, and exhibited their portraits in their shop windows and places of work. A later watercolour version of one of the participants, renowned chef Alexis Pelissou, won second prize in the Sunday Times Watercolour Exhibition in 2000. He also made appearances on French television.

In 2004, he was selected to show in the Norwich Castle Surprise exhibition with eighteen internationally-known artists, including: Michael Andrews, De Kooning, De Stael, Elizabeth Frink, Sam Francis, Goldman, Hockney, Nicola Hicks, Roger Hilton, Hodgkin, Patrick Hughes, Alan Jones, Miro, Ana Maria Pacheco, Paula Rego, Pasmore and Rosenquist,

Having lived in the Lot region of France for twenty years, he decided in 2009 to turn his attention to painting the river Lot.

Between 2009 and 2013, he worked on a project entitled “24km”, a work of 16m in length that consisted of five triptychs representing 24km of the river between Cahors and Puy L’Eveque. As a result of this work and his services to the community, he was awarded a Rotary prize.

He was invited to be the Parrain du Festival at Rocheserviere Nantes in 2012.

His work has been represented by The John Davies Gallery, Moreton in Marsh since 2006 and by Le Domain Perdu in Meyrals since 2010.

At present he lives and works Brighton and France.

 

CV

1971-2 Luton School of Art

1972-75 Canterbury College of Art

MIXED EXHIBITIONS
1973-75 The Stowell Trophy
1977 Cardiff Museum. Mall Gallery, London. The Royal Academy Summer Show. Ellingham Mill
1978-79 The Piccadilly Gallery, Cork Street, London. Ellingham Mill

1980 The Royal Academy. The City Gallery Milton Keynes

1981 The Paton Gallery, London. The Exhibition Gallery: Milton Keynes. Gallery on the Cam. Cambridge.

1982 The Paton Gallery, London. The Royal Society of Oil Painters. The Exhibition Gallery; Milton Keynes

1984 The National Portrait Gallery; London, B.P. Portrait Award. The City Gallery Milton Keynes

1985 The Royal society of portrait painters open exhibition.

1988 The Royal Academy; Summer Show. The Museum of Contemporary Art, Nicosia, Cypus.  The National Portrait Gallery; London: B.P. Portrait Award.

1989 The Exhibition Gallery; Milton Keynes. The Derngate, Northampton.

1990 The Singer Friedlander/Sunday Times Watercolour Exhibition

1991 The Royal Academy, Summer Show.

1993 The National Portrait Gallery London; B.P. Portrait Award, 2nd Prize winner. Centre Culturel, Agen.

1994 Le Grenier du Chapitre, Cahors

1995 The Singer Friedlander/ Sunday Times Watercolour Exhibition.    Espace Paul Elouard, Cugnaux,Toulouse 1996 The Montpelier Sandleson Gallery, London. Gallery Inuit, Denmark. Galerie Auriel, Toulouse

1997 The Montpelier Sandleson Gallery, London. Singer Friedlander/Sunday Times Watercolour Exhibition. Art 97, London Contemporary Art Fair. Gallerie Innuit, Denmark.

1998 Gallery Innuit, Denmark, Farnham Maltings, Farnham Surrey.

1999 Musee Henri Giron, Le Vigan.

2000 Singer Freidlander/Sunday Times Watercolour Exhibition. Prizewinner.

2001 Bell Fine Art, Winchester. The Affordable Art Fair, Bath. Les Semains d’Art, Montauban

2002 Soif d’Art , Saint Emillion. Free Art Paris. Singer Friedlander, Mall Galleries, London
2003 Singer Friedlander, London
2004 Castle Museum Norwich ‘Surprise’ exhibition. Singer Friedlander, Royal Society of portrait painters
2005 Catto gallery London,
2006 John Davies Gallery, Catto Gallery London,
2007/10 Sunday Times Watercolour, John Davies Gallery, Catto Gallery.
2011 Galerie Reves d’Art Prayssac

2012-18 John Davies Gallery Moreton in Marsh. Buckingham fine art.

2016 Le Domaine Perdu, Meyrals, France. Crescent House Brighton.

2017 Hue Rai gallery, Lewes

SOLO EXHIBITIONS
1976 The Monica Jones gallery Leighton Buzzard.

1977 Buckingham fine art.

1980 The New Statesman, London. Gallery on the Cam, Cambridge.

1981 The Bluecoat Gallery, Liverpool. The City Gallery, Milton Keynes.

1985 Minskys Gallery, Primrose Hill, London.

1988 Abington Museum, Northampton St Gregory’s Art Centre . Norwich

1990 Galerie Municipal, Cahors .
1991/3 The Stomach, Vienna,  Galerie Municipal, Cahors.

1994 Centre des Ormes, Toulouse.

1995 Galerie Municipal, Cahors.

1998 The Maltings, Farnham Surrey. Gallery Inuit, Denmark.

1999 Bromham Mill, Bedford
2002 Chips Gallery , Copenhagen . The Prefecture Montauban
2004 Musée Henri Giron, La Vigan France.
2005 Maison Sénéchal Gourdon, The Stomach Vienna
2006 Private showings in UK Denmark &Vienna
2007 Hotel du Vin Henley,
2008 Maison Sénéchal Gourdon,
2009-10 Galerie Marie-Thérèse Cochin Paris
2011 Galerie Chrystel Antheo, Le Domaine Perdu, Meyrals
2012 Galerie Arbouge, Labastide Murat

2013 Rocherserviere, Nantes.

2014 Le Domaine Perdu, Meyrals, France. AOH Brighton festival

2015/16 Private showing in Vienna Austria. AOH Brighton festival.

2017 Le Domaine Perdu, Meyrals.

From 1989-2016 Galerie Labrousse, Le Lot France.

AWARDS AND OTHER
1979-81 Eastern Arts Association awards. Ellingham Mill-Sealink Open, 1st Prizewinner. Merseyside Arts Council grant. EAA Artist in schools.

1985/6 Sponsored by the Motorway Tyre Company/ Camden London. Visiting Artist Architectural Association.

1987 Anglia television film for Folio.

1987-89 Sponsored by C .J. Harrison, Northampton. Artist in Residence EAA.

1993 National Portrait Gallery B.P. Awards. 2nd Prizewinner. Prix du Publique , Diagonal des Arts, Cahors 2000 Singer Friedlander/ Sunday Times. Watercolour award Prizewinner.

2001 Prix du Midi Pyrenées , Montauban Semains d’Art. TV appearances for Channel 3 France.
2004 Selected for ‘Surprise’ exhibition by Tate East/EA art Society. Parrain du Festival Rocherserviere, Nantes 2013 Prix de Rotary «Intelligence de la Main» . Parrain du festival, Rocheserviere Nantes.

PUBLIC COLLECTIONS

Bedfordshire Education Service. The Eastern Arts Association. Radcliffe Hospital. Nottingham University.
Effectinvest Bank, Vienna. Maison des Jeunes, Cahors. Bedfordshire Arts Advisory Service.
Marjorie Mynard Barley Collection, St. Anne’s College, Oxford. Musee Henri Giron, Le Vigan. La Ville du Montauban.