About The Exhibition

Kristopher Wright: Just As I Am

September 29 – February 19, 2023

Venue: BMoCA

‘Kristopher Wright’s large-scale artworks intertwine the disciplines of painting and printmaking. Just As I Am features the artist’s latest body of work, filled with color and complexity. Wright is influenced by American iconography, machine diagrams, and personal narratives to create works that explore themes of joy, community, and healing. While his creative process begins with a found photograph, Wright quickly departs from the language of photography as he investigates how an image can shape-shift, changing form as it evolves through the hybrid disciplines.

Just As I Am features 16 new, large-scale works that capture moments within places of sanctuary— communal backyard barbecues, sitting around the kitchen table, or time together in the living room after a satisfying meal. Wright refers to these moments as ”social engines,” a nod to the hand-drawn diagrams he overlays in his work to reference the constant personal repair and maintenance needed to grow and better oneself throughout life. The moments of gathering are symbolic of liturgical spaces in that they prompt feelings of gratitude, togetherness, and inclusivity.

The power in Wright’s work comes from his ability to translate these anonymous, humble snapshots into compositions that connect and resonate with the viewer in ways that feel deeply personal, and even sacred. Wright’s work meets the viewer with a raw sense of familiarity and comfort despite the ambiguity of who his subjects are. Identifying the subjects becomes less important than experiencing the feelings of security and joy nurtured within the works.’

About the Artist:
Kristopher Michael Wright (b.1991, Denver CO) is an American Artist, Educator, Curator and graduate of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago where he studied painting and printmaking. Now based in Colorado’s San Luis Valley since 2019, he uses both print and painting techniques together to construct images full of color and complexity. Taking influence from American Iconography, machine diagrams, anatomical studies, Blues, Jazz and personal histories, Wright deploys his materials in brash yet thoughtful ways, exploring themes of joy, tragedy and a search for meaning within a landscape of contradiction. Since leaving Chicago, his works have been exhibited in various group exhibitions throughout The West and Midwest; including BMoCA, SAIC’s Sullivan Galleries and Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry.