Chris Easley is an Albuquerque painter who oscillates between landscape and nonobjective themes. Whether he is painting a landscape en plein air from the back of his pickup truck, or a non representational abstraction in his studio, Easley employs a technique that emphasizes bold color relationships that are typically rendered with thick painterly applications of paint.
Easley is a graduate of UC Berkeley (History 1998). It was in the Bay Area art museums that he had first hand exposure to the works of Hans Hofmann, the Bay Area Figurative painters . . . the landscapes of the Society of Six, and of course the modern masters like Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso. The way that these artists represented their visions in paint and color had a profound effect on how his own view of painting.
In 2001 Easley enrolled at Stanislaus State University to gain a more formal understanding of his craft. In Turlock he worked with professor Richard Savini. Professor Savini used the Charles Hawthorne method of teaching painting. Color relationships were emphasized. Details were not. The Hawthorne method resonated with the works of Hofmann and those masterworks Easley saw in his time in the Bay Area. A technical base was established for Easley. The application of paint became the focus and style was of minimal concern. This is still true for Easley. The end point of the painting is felt when actualized. This method of observant improvisation leaves the painting open and rough, imperfect and sometimes scared.
Easley moved to the southwest in 2009. He lived and taught school in Zuni, and Gallup before moving to Albuquerque with his wife and son in 2016.
