Shattered (2019) A series of three etchings created by shooting a 10mm bullet through safety glass. The glass is then inked and printed in a limited edition of five sets.
While Chris King was teaching at a high school in Massachusetts in 1993, one of his students murdered another boy in the history class down the hall, a tragic event that killed one 15 year-old boy and sent two other juveniles to prison. It was six years before the Columbine massacre, so there was no “real” fear of school shootings and no training for faculty like there is today. Columbine served as a catalyst for many institutions to instate lockdown training and made active shooter drills the norm on campuses across the country. King explains, "Over twenty-five years later as I prepare for a new school year, I consider my role as an artist and educator in this era of school violence. Recent discussion among colleagues and the community of bulletproof backpacks and arming faculty are signs of how desperate and paranoid we’ve become, a society defined by violence and terrorism. Teachers are now trained to face gunmen and fight, or to hide in their rooms and function in isolation, and be responsible for the lives of dozens of children. On the weekend, I find myself at the local shooting range for target practice, considering a new body of work. I'm beginning the series with these three prints to represent the three boys whose lives were violently shattered when I began my teaching career."
Down Goes the Demon (2017) This woodcut print was created while attending a residency at Evil Prints in St. Louis, MO. In this piece King retains his interest in the anxiety he shares with many Americans during the first year of the Trump Administration. As Trump threatens to "totally destroy" North Korea, calling Kim Jong Un a "Rocket Man", North Korea prepares to test launch another nuclear weapon, and intensity grows world wide. King understands that while some may find humor in his representation of Trump unconscious on the floor, others may see this piece as a sympathetic or disturbing portrait of our president; one that references King's previous series of paintings, Fallen Giants, containing images of passed out party kids. Only this time it's the leader of the free world who is intoxicated, clueless, and on the verge of self-destruction. |
Up All Night (2017)
"As we enter the first year of a new presidency and political tension continues to grow, the themes in my work are evolving. I realize that for a lot of Americans, watching the recent election was like watching a spectator sport, similar to the Super Bowl or a national championship; particularly how the duality of our society is a constant battle between two rival teams of winners and losers. These types of contests are exciting, often fueling an excessive, sometimes dangerous amount of pride among gangs of screaming fans with an extreme desire to be on the “winning” team at any cost. That being said, our collective inflated American ego also does not help us deal very well with disappointment, regardless if it’s at a basketball game or an election and no matter who we’re rooting for, we hate to lose. It’s these feelings of loss, anxiety, and anger that I see in myself and in American culture that has become the focus of
my work." - Chris King
Fallen Giants (2016)
"My buddy King and I used to hang out together almost every night after school. We’d race our cars on the boulevard, then pick up a case of Budweiser, drink in the sand pit behind the bowling alley, and talk about our hopes and dreams for the future. King ended up moving a thousand miles away and carved out a nice career for himself as an artist. Art, music, video—he seems to be able to move from one arena to the next, all with his own unique voice, humor, and vision. I’m proud of my buddy King, but it's lonely here in the pit without him." - Anonymous Friend
"My buddy King and I used to hang out together almost every night after school. We’d race our cars on the boulevard, then pick up a case of Budweiser, drink in the sand pit behind the bowling alley, and talk about our hopes and dreams for the future. King ended up moving a thousand miles away and carved out a nice career for himself as an artist. Art, music, video—he seems to be able to move from one arena to the next, all with his own unique voice, humor, and vision. I’m proud of my buddy King, but it's lonely here in the pit without him." - Anonymous Friend