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"I have lived a great deal among grown
ups. I have seen them close at hand, and that hasn't much improved my
opinion of them."
— Antoine De Saint-Exupery
The Little Prince
His
work is powerful, yet cerebral, revolving around photographic images on
a grand scale, exploring themes derived from theology and history. His
images have been described as "vigorous and visually charged."
Art critic Martha McWilliams explains Christopher Simmons’ use of
mixed media in the Washington CityPaper as "large black-and-white
photographs of ocean liners, railroad boxcars and tank cars, industrial
sites, and cemeteries, collaged onto heavy panels which he then paints,
gouges, cuts open, sews together, or encases in glass."
"Two trips I have taken—one to Tucson, Arizona to photograph
the mothballed U.S. Air Force, and a trip to Vladivostok, Russia to capture
their sinking Pacific Fleet—document the choices mankind has made
and the consequences of these actions. In an attempt to personalize this
journey, I have sometimes focused my energies on trying to draw parallels
between these relics and my own family history," says Simmons.
His current theme, A Decade of Revelations, concerns the choices
made during the Cold War. "My grandfather, Ernest J. Simmons, was
a well-respected Russian scholar who wrote about the life and work of
men such as Tolstoy and Dostoevsky. He died in 1972, when I was only 9;
yet his legacy fuels my artistic and intellectual curiosity to this day."
Papers displayed in one of Simmons’ recent installation pieces, Birch
Bark Canoe & Mr. Hoover, were part of a file that Simmons obtained
through the Freedom of Information Act. The file documented almost 20
years of FBI surveillance of Simmons’ grandfather. "The blacked
out sections of the file contain information that the FBI apparently still
thinks is too sensitive to reveal. Many complete pages of the file have
been withheld to protect national security," he explains.
Simmons has had two solo exhibitions in Washington, D.C.—in 1995
at the Troyer, Fitxpatrick, Lassman Gallery and in 1993 at the Jones,
Troyer, Fitzpatrick Gallery. His work has been featured in selected group
exhibitions in Washington, D.C., New York, Vineyard Haven, MA, Boston
and Newton, MA. Simmons has received critical acclaim from such publications
as Washington Review, Washington CityPaper, Where-Washington magazine
and The Washington Post, as well as on PBS Around Town.
His work is displayed in two public collections: the U.S. State Department
and The Washington Post Company, both in Washington, D.C. Simmons is the
1988 recipient of the Dana Pond Award from Boston’s School of the
Museum of Fine Arts.
Simmons, who majored in history at Duke University, holds a BFA degree
in fine arts and art history from Tufts University, as well as an MA degree
with a concentration in painting and drawing from the School of the Museum
of Fine Arts in Boston. A native of Huntington, NY, he was raised in the
Washington, D.C. area and currently resides in Alexandria, Virginia with
his wife and two young children.
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