Chris Christion
Lecturer
Chris Christion has a hybrid of experiences as an artist, curator educator, and arts administrator. His work explores themes of history, identity, religion, and inherited social perceptions. He has exhibited throughout the US and Europe including the Chinese American Museum in Los Angeles, Chaffey College’s Wignall Museum of Contemporary Art, and the University of Dortmund, Germany. His work also appears in the critically acclaimed 2005 feature film “Me, You, and Everyone We Know.”
Coming from a background of community and academic outreach Christion is committed to engaging with underrepresented and underserved communities. Particularly those of African American and Latinx backgrounds who often do not see themselves reflected within the broader art community. As both an artist and curator Christion functions as a context provider for critical dialectic: addressing the nuances within ever shifting identities and how we experience/create our contemporary world and culture. He believes this inspires inclusiveness, cultural humility, and advocacy and helps instill within these communities an entitlement to spaces of art, art history, and the production of cultural products.
In 2015 he began a curatorial project with Los Angeles artist/curator Jessica Wimbley, titled Biomythography. Defined by author Aurdre Lorde Biomythography is a literary concept that weaves myth, history, and biography into epic narrative. The project engages students and patrons in exhibitions, workshops, and public programs which address interdisplinary perspectives, the nuances within ever shifting identities, and discuss how we experience/create our contemporary world and culture.
Christion currently lives and works in Sacramento, CA. He received his MFA from the University of California, Irvine, and his BFA from the University of Oklahoma. In 2012 he was awarded a Certificate of Leadership from Academic Museums and Gallery Leadership Seminar at Northwestern Unversity.
Email: chrischristion@berkeley.edu
Website: www.chrischristion.com
Office hours: M/W, 12-1pm. Email for appointment.