Christopher Klein is a British visual artist based in Quebec, best known for his richly colored, hyperrealistic paintings portraying original scenic costumes from theatrical plays, films, and period collections. His oeuvre was described as "a poetics of observation as a repeated and prolonged meditation on these beautiful fabrics, folds, pleats and colours". Since the mid-nineties, he has worked as a scenic artist on many films and theatrical plays.
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Career
In Ontario, Klein he was hired as a Head of Scenic Art at the Stratford Festival. Klein has painted costumes from major productions such as The Phantom of the Opera, and exhibited them at Bernaducci Gallery.
He has produced paintings inspired by the designs of Zandra Rhodes, and Thierry Mugler.
Klein painted costumes for the cover of a Disney brochure celebrating The Lion King's 20th anniversary in London. Klein's paintings of scrapyards were included in an exhibition at Nicole Longnecker Gallery.
Awards
Klein's distinctions as an artist include:
Shortlisted as a finalist to the Figuratieve Kunst Vandaag (FiKVA-foundation) International Award for Painters in 2022
Best of Show, Grey Cube Gallery, 2022
Grand Prize of the Teravarna Gallery Fall competition in 2023
Winner, Boynes Monthly Art Award, December 2023
Exhibitions
Solo shows
2013: Galerie Richelieu, Montreal, Canada
2013: Galerie Luz, Montreal, Canada
2016: Agora Gallery, Stratford, Ontario, Canada
2017: Westland Gallery, London, ON, Canada
2019: Bernarducci Gallery, New York
Other
2014: AFK Gallery, Lisbon, Portugal
2016: Nicole Longnecker Gallery, “Industrialism in the 21st Century”, Houston, USA
2017: Agora Gallery, Summer Show, Stratford, Ontario, Canada
2018: Agora Gallery, Summer Show, Stratford, Ontario, Canada
2019: Bantierra Palace, ArteLibre 20th Anniversary show, Zaragoza, Spain
2019: MEAM Museum, ArteLibre 20th Anniversary show, Barcelona, Spain
2019: Bernarducci Gallery, “New York Cool” New York, USA
2020: Art Palm Beach, Anthony Brunelli Gallery Booth, Florida, USA
2020: CK Contemporary Gallery, San Francisco, USA
2020: American University Art Museum in Washington DC, USA
2021: Agora at the Bruce, Agora Gallery, Stratford, Ontario, Canada
2021: Rarity Gallery, Mykonos, Greece
2021: Arte Roma Gallery, ArteLibre 20th Anniversary show, Zaragoza, Spain
2022: San Francisco Art Market, CK Contemporary booth, San Francisco, USA
2023: "Coronation", Plus One Gallery, London, UK
2023: San Francisco Art Market, CK Contemporary booth, San Francisco, USA