more about Chris Kettle
“A painter can say all he wants to with fruit, or flowers, or even clouds.”
Edouard Manet
Chris Kettle is a British artist that has redefined still life paintings into a modern idiom. Drawing from the Dutch Masters, he acknowledges and expands on traditional practice.
Fascinated by still life, Chris is inspired by17th and 18th century artists, such as Jan Davidsz de Heem and Jan Van Huysum. He does not exactly follow their techniques but rather presents still life in a new and refreshing manner. His incredibly detailed art creates exploration, in which obscure objects come into unusual arrangements, and creates what he considers to be ‘New Still Life’.
In Chris’s own words “The paintings inhabit a mysterious world of their own with objects arranged on canvasses that are charges with light and drama to somehow channel emotion and universal feelings. I like the idea that my paintings are entertaining, and possess relatable aesthetic qualities alongside ambiguity and even at times a kind of humour. The absorbing challenge I face every time I pick up a brush and attempt to portray elements of human spirit using the apparently inanimate, is one that keeps me totally consumed.”
”We just say “the pictures are stunningly beautiful”.
Chris Kettle is a degree-educated fine artist who lives and works at his studio in Brighton, UK.
“For the last couple of decades I have focused solely on Still Life painting. The paintings inhabit a mysterious world of their own with objects arranged on canvasses that are charged with light and drama to somehow channel emotion and universal feelings. I like the idea that my paintings are entertaining, and possess relatable aesthetic qualities alongside ambiguity and even at times a kind of humour.
The absorbing challenge I face every time I pick up a brush and attempt to portray elements of the human spirit using the apparently inanimate, is one that that keeps me totally consumed.”