Available
artworks

COLVILLE Christopher, Photography, guest artist, La fabrique des éléments

Christopher Colville was born in Tucson, Arizona in 1974. He spent his formative years exploring the desert arroyos

and abandoned lots developing a deep connection to the desert and desire for the unknown. Christopher received

his BFA in Anthropology and Photography from Washington University in St Louis, Missouri 1997 and his MFA in

Photography from the University of New Mexico in 2003.

After leaving New Mexico, he returned to the Sonoran Desert, building a home and studio in Phoenix, Arizona.

Chris has spent his time in Phoenix exploring the desert with his wife and children, forming a life and art practice

informed by and connected to the desert space. Interested in the dual nature of creation and destruction Colville’s

artwork explores the boundaries of the photographic medium in both traditional and experimental forms.

In 2016, Christopher Colville created luminous drawings on light-sensitive materials using flashes of black powder

inside a broken band saw blade. This broken circle forms an image reminiscent of the ancient symbol of the

Ouroboros, the mythical serpent swallowing its own tail, reborn from its own destruction. By embracing myth and

mixing explosive materials with a knife blade, Colville lyrically creates abstractions born of explosive violence.

These are meditations on the dual nature of creation and destruction that appear in many forms,

including a distant burning horizon.

Solo exhibitions

2022 Ouroboros- A World on Fire, Rick Wester Fine Art, New York, NY, USA

2019 Flux, Photo Eye Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA

2017 Dark Hours, Citizens and other Works, KMR Arts, Washington Depot, CT, USA

2016 Beyond Reckoning, Rick Wester Fine Art, New York, New York, USA
Works of Fire, Robert and Elaine Stein Gallerie, Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio, USA

2015 The Dark Hours, Duncan Miller Gallery, Santa Monica, CA, USA
Foto Fever, Photography Festival Solo Booth, Photo Week, Paris, FR
Scope Basel, Contemporary Art Festival Solo Booth, Basel Switzerland

2014 MIA Photo Festival, Milan, IT
Christopher Colville, In House Pop up Gallery, Etherton Gallery, Tucson AZ, USA

2013 Meditations. Duncan Miller Gallery, Santa Monica, CA, USA
Selections from Works of Fire, The Monorchid Bokeh Gallery, Phoenix, Arizona, USA

2011 Instar, Glendale Community College, Glendale, Arizona, USA
Nothing is the Rule, The Griffin Museum of Photography, Winchester, Massachusetts, USA
Instar, @Central Gallery, Burton Barr Central Library, Phoenix, Arizona, USA

2009 Christopher Colville, Selections from the Sonoran Project, Emanations and the Iceland Trilogy, curated by Larissa Leclair. Foto Week DC, Insomniac Design, Washington DC, USA

2008 Since Returning Home, The Kitchenette, Phoenix, Arizona, USA

2007 Movements, The Kitchenette, Phoenix, Arizona, USA

2006 Dark Emanations, The Kitchenette, Phoenix, Arizona, USA

2005 Dark Emanations, 1101 Gallery, University of Southern Illinois at Carbondale, USA
Christopher S. Colville, Selected New Works from Trace Identities, North Light Gallery, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA

2004 Lost Images, @Central Gallery, Burton Barr Central Library, Phoenix, Arizona, USA

2003 Trace Identities, John Sommers, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA

Group exhibitions

2025 La fabrique des éléments, galerie Capazza, Nançay, FR

2020 Quailty of Light, Center for Creative Photography, Tucson, AZ, USA

2019 Out of the Box: Camera-Less Photography, Norton Museum of Art, Palm Beach , Florida, USA

Shots in the Dark, four person exhibition New Mexico Museusm of Art, Santa Fe. New Mexico, USA

2018 Not of This World: Transcending Reality In Photography, Rick Wester Fine Art, New York City, New York, USA

2017 Photoplay: Lucid Objects, JP Morgan Private Bank Art Collection, Paris Photo, FR
Tremelo, Rick Wester Fine Art, New York City, New York, USA
Terra Matter, Etherton Gallery, Tucson Arizona, USA
The Landscape Show, Cattle Track, Scottsdale, AZ, USA

2016 Clestial Terestrial, Print Center, Phillidelphia PA, USA
Sight Lines, Houston Center for Photography. Houston Texas, USA
Respite, Modified Arts, Phoenix AZ, USA
This is a Photograph, Penland Gallery, Penland Pensylvania, USA
Into the Night: Modern and Contemporary Art and the Nocture Tradition, Tucson Museum of Art, Tucson, Arizona, USA
Scope Basel, Duncan Miller Gallery, Basel Switzerland, CH
AIPAD 2016, Etherton Gallery. New York City, New York, USA

2015 Bullet Points, The Griffin Museum of Photography, Winchester, Massachusetts, USA
One of A Kind, One of a kind photographic objects form the collection of the Center for Creative Photography, Phoenix Art Museum. Phoenix, AZ, USA
Cameraless, New Mexico State Museum. Santa Fe. NM, USA
Heat, San Francisco Camera Works, San Francisco CA, USA
Emerging Talents, Lens Culture. SF Camera Works. San Francisco CA, USA
Infocus Exhibition, Phoenix Art Museum, Phoneix AZ, USA
AIPAD Etherton Gallery, New York, NY, USA

2014 SF Camera Works Benefit Exhibition, San Francisco CA, USA
Center for Photography at Woodstock Benefit Exhibition, Woodstock NY, USA
Infocus Exhibition, Phoenix Art Museum, Phoneix AZ, USA
PAC L.A., Leica Gallery L.A. Los Angelas CA, USA
Exposure, Wright State University, Robert and Elaine Stein Galleries, Dayton OH, USA
Photo Independent, Los Angelas CA, USA
L.A. Photo, Los Angelas, CA, USA

2013 The Fixed Shadow, Robert and Elaine Stein Galleries, Dayton OH, USA
Infocus Exhibition, Phoenix Art Museum, Phoneix Az, USA
Arizona Biennial, Tucson Museum of Art, Tucson Az, USA
Critical Mass 2012, Southeast Museumn of Photography, Daytona Beach, Fl, USA
Critical Mass 2012, Jennifer Schwartz Gallery, Atlanta GA, USA
One of a Kind, RayKo Photo Center, San Francisco, CA, USA
What Are We Doing Here?, Modified Gallery, Phoenix, AZ, USA
Alternatives: Borders and Boundaries, Ohio State University, Athens, OH, USA
The Physical Photograph, Art Inersection, Gilbert, AZ, USA

2012 Looking at The Land, 21st Century American Views, A collaboration with the Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design. Rhode Island, NY, USA
Center for Photography at Woodstock Benefit Exhibition, Woodstock NY, USA
Terra Cognita, Noorderlicht Photo Festival. Noorderlicht Photography, NL
Not Kansas, RayKo Photo Center, San Francisco, CA, USA
Forecast: A new wave of creative talent, Penland Gallery, Penland PA, USA
Surface Tension, The Center for Photography at Woodstock. Woodstock, NY, USA
Arizona Re-Viewed, Art Intersection, Gilbert, AZ, USA

2011 Three Fold: Selections form the Independent Photo Book Library, Photographic Research Center at Boston University, Boston MA, USA
No Mirrors: Juried Camera-less photography exhibition, RayKo Photo Center, San Francisco, CA, USA
The Collector’s Guide to New Art Photography Vol. 2, Launch exhibition, Chelsea Art Museum, New York, New York, USA
Arizona State University Faculty Exhibition, ASU Art Museum, Tempe, Arizona, USA

2010 Permanent Impermanence, Washington Project for the Arts, Washington DC, Usa
Picturing Maricopa, @Central Gallery, Burton Barr Central Library, Phoenix, Arizona, USA
Texas National 2010, Cole Art Center, Stephen F. Austin University, Nacogdoches, Texas, USA

2008 WPA Auction Gala, Washington Project for the Arts, Washington DC, USA
Retrospective, Tilt Gallery, Phoenix, Arizona, USA

2007 From Sun Pictures to Mega Pixels, Juried exhibition with catalogue, W.A.H. Center, Harlem, New York, USA
Member Exhibition, The Kitchenette, Phoenix, Arizona, USA

2006 Three Pulses, a three-person exhibition, Tilt Gallery, Phoenix, Arizona, USA
Antiphon, North Light Gallery, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA
Member Exhibition, Art Detour 2006, The Kitchenette, Phoenix, Arizona, USA
Faculty Exhibition, Phoenix Community College, Phoenix, Arizona, USA

2005 Food is Good, The Kitchenette, Phoenix, Arizona, USA
Faculty Show, Scottsdale Community College Department of Art, Scottsdale, Arizona, USa

2004 First to See the Light, Quay School of Art Gallery, Whanganui, NZ
Illuminated, Afif Gallery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Faculty Show, Scottsdale Community College Department of Art. Scottsdale, Arizona, USA
Art for Art Sake, Eye Lounge, Phoenix, Arizona, USA

2003 Faculty Show, Scottsdale Community College Department of Art, Scottsdale, Arizona, USA
Digital Experimental III, Period Gallery, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA
Inside8, Center of Contemporary Arts, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA
9th Annual Graduate Juried Exhibition, Johnson Gallery, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
Small Packages, Harwood Art Center, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA

2002 Student Photography Initiative, Harwood Art Center, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
G.A.A. Silent Auction, Harwood Art Center, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
Small Works, John Sommers Gallery, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
Persuasion, North Light Gallery, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA
Latent Discoveries: Exploring Identity Through Environment, The Red Eye Gallery, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, Rhode Island; Pratt School of the Arts, New York, New York; Joseph Gross Gallery, The University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona; Las Vegas, Nevada. (Traveling Exhibition), USA

2001 Memory and In(ter)vention, Curated group exhibition including works from the collection of Geoffrey Batchen, Harwood Art Center, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
Small Works, John Sommers Gallery, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
505 Salon, John Sommers Gallery, Albuquerque, New Mexico,USA

2000 Small Works, John Sommers Gallery, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
Sixth Annual Graduate Juried Exhibition (Juried by Kirby Gookin), The University of New Mexico Art Museum, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA

1999 6th Annual Silent Art Auction, Harwood Art Center, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
New Arrivals, John Sommers Gallery, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
Group Exhibition, Penrose Gallery, Tyler School of Art, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, USA
Graduate Exhibition, Tyler Gallery, Tyler School of Art. Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, USA

1997 Specimens, Design Center, St. Louis, Missouri, USA
New Technologies, Weitman Gallery of Photography, St. Louis, Missouri, USA

Fellowships, awards, grants

2015 Top 50 Emerging Talents. Lens Culture.

2014 Nominee, Baum Award 2014

2013 Ernst Cabat Award, Tucson Museum of Art

2012 Photolucida, Critical Mass Top 50

2011 Photography Book Now, International Juried Competition, Honorable Mention.

2010 Nominee, John Gutmann Fellowship
Picturing Maricopa, Virginia F. Piper Charitable Trust.

2009 New Photography Grant, Humble Art Foundation.

2008 Artist Project Grant, Arizona Commission on the Arts.
Public Art Commission, Phoenix Commission on the Arts.

2006 Artist Fellowship to create work in Iceland, American Scandinavian Foundation / Thor Thors Memorial Fund.
Professional Development Grant, Arizona Commission on the Arts.

2003 Van Daren Coke/Beaumont Newhall Fellowship for Demonstrated Artistic Excellence, University of New Mexico. Albuquerque, New Mexico.