Rock n' Roll, Cali, And Why Garth Brooks Didn't Make The Cut: Artist James Chronister

The painter James Chronister will be exhibiting a few of his pieces in a solo gallery show on Friday, Sept 24th, 2010 entitled "Ceremony".  The exhibit is being anticipated as an intriguing parallel between music and nature. A Montana born artist, Chronister has an incredible eye for detail and movement, settling himself on the boarder of both imagination and reality quite comfortably.  Audiences would be very appeased by Chronisters humble approach towards growing up with a love for rock music and equally, towards his take on the relationship between sound and imagery.  I recently got a chance to get some answers out of the California based artist, chopping it up on everything from The Cure, to fellow SF artists, and Russell Chatham.MJ, Oil on Canvas 42''x42'', 2010Ten Mile 1, Oil on Canvas, 40" x 40"

-What is the importance of music and landscape to you, particularly for the pieces in "Ceremony"? What initially inspired you?
The importance of music and landscape seem to be at the center, or at least, close to the center of my artistic concerns. This wasn’t a conscious decision in any way, but I just kept finding myself painting landscapes and rock stars. A seemingly puzzling combination even to me. I suppose going thru an MFA program helped me to become more analytical about why I’m doing what I do. The answer I’ve come up with is that, to a certain extent, my paintings are about ‘place.’ This place seems to be the mountains and woods around my hometown of Helena, Montana. I spent a lot of time by myself in the woods, having little adventures, perhaps inspired by Dungeons and Dragons, and listening to my walkman.

-You've spoken a bit about the "manner is which a piece is painted" in regards to your current work...what do you mean by that?
As personal as the paintings are, complete with a somewhat opaque personal narrative, I find myself painting them in a rather mechanical manner. My friend Andy Mills said he thought of me as a human copy machine, which is basically true. I’ve always been interested in painting that is structured around an intentional sort of sabotage. Luc Tuymans, for instance, creates paintings that almost have a fog around them. You have to navigate thru the mist to even see what might be the intent of the paintings. I’ve always found this very interesting, in both painting and music. In the context of music, Sonic Youth was one of the first bands I became interested in that sort of kept a distance from the audience. It took a little work to find something beautiful in the sound. I like to keep the work at a bit of a distance. This is just what appeals to my subconscious interests. I’ve never liked paintings that look like ‘paintings.’

-How has living on the West coast transformed the way you work? Clearly its very different from Montana...
Yes, California is very different than Montana, that was clear right away. In High School and College (I attended the University of Montana, Missoula for my BFA), I always fancied myself as a ‘city person.’ I dressed a little different and listened to different music. Depeche Mode and The Cure rather than Garth Brooks. But when I got to California in 2002, I was definitely in for a big culture shock. Just the lines at the grocery store were hard to become accustomed to! But as I’ve lived here longer and have been away from Montana for a more significant period of life, it seems that California has become the place that I dream about Montana. There are four generations of my family all living in Helena. My wife, who’s also from Montana, and I are like the apples that fell far from the tree. So, Montana is not only the place of my childhood, but it continues to be this idea of home. It’s the place I dream about. I think if I actually lived there again, I would probably start making paintings with palm trees!KR, Oil on Canvas, 42" x 42"Ten Mile 2, Oil on Canvas, 40" x 40"-

Do you have a specific generation you tend to relate to when it comes to art? What is the younger generation around you getting into vs. the older generation?
Interesting question. I still feel fairly out of step with what people around me are making in San Francisco, and probably NYC and LA. The ideas that seem to be dominating my generation of artists (people in their 30’s) relate to graffiti, hand painted signs, rays emanating from a single point, and just a high street look in general. I’ve always felt different than that. Even after having lived in SF for the better part of a decade. I always think about Agnes Martin, whom we all know, and Russell Chatham. Russell Chatham is a landscape painter who made the opposite journey that I made. Born in San Francisco in 1939 and moved to Montana in 1972 to escape the real estate boom in the Bay Area. Although he has had a fantastic career by any standard, he isn’t exactly the hippest artist in my generation. You would be hard pressed to find people my age who know who he is. But he paints these amazing, austere soulful landscapes. Dark, brooding and full of feeling.Having said that, there are certainly peers of mine whose work I admire. I love the sensitive focus on materials of Mitzi Pederson, a sculptor whom I went to school with, and Leslie Shows, an SF painter, who makes fantastic, huge, mixed-media landscapes on panel. And most of my friends influence me either directly or indirectly. Vanessa Marsh, Matthew Hughes Boyko, Ryan Thayer, Sarrita Hunn and about a million others I should mention!

-Your work seems to hit all different kinds of juxtapositions...do you ever create work that people can take literally without trying to understand the underlying meaning or narrative?
On an ‘even my Grandma would like it’ level, I’d like to think my work hits that target. My wife’s Grandmother, Mary, for instance, is a landscape painter in Redlodge, Montana and she really likes my work. I don’t think she’s read Baudrillard.  As much of a conceptual construct that there is behind the work, (thanks a lot grad school), there is an undeniable beauty and sheer industry in its making. The juxtapositions always seem obvious to me, but I’ve realized that most people need an explanation, which I’m happy to offer as well as I can. I think the forests are pretty rock and roll.

-What are you currently listening to?
Funny you should ask. I cannot quit listening to Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti. Ariel Pink is this musician from LA who’s like a week older than me, or vice versa, whose music I have liked for along time in the same way I was interested in Sonic Youth. He creates this (let’s find some buzz words) chill-wave, lo-fi pop music that is beautiful and deep as soon as you cut through the fuzz and the pops and the over all poor quality of the recordings. I want my work to have the same sort of filter, like the image is pushed back from the surface, looking old as soon as it’s made.

Opening reception Sept 24, 2010
Burnet Gallery, Le Meridien Chambers
901 Hennepin Ave.Minneapolis, MNGallery hours 11am - 9pm daily