Chris Bors

No Redeeming Social Value

2013

New York City-based artist Chris Bors's post-pop, conceptual paintings feature a mash-up of images, in which any visuals are fair game for repurposing. He works with bold graphics and text, commenting on commodification, trash culture, and personal obsessions. They are meticulously painted to resemble silkscreen prints or t-shirt graphics, and often include logos from hardcore punk bands or circles of color from children’s Paint with Water activity books. He often incorporates drips of color that activate the surface and create a jarring contrast, which also references stain paintings of the 1950s and 60s. The juxtaposition of appropriated and drawn images resembles the compositions of and mimics the tactics used in political messaging. He also paints the drips alone, focusing on the materiality of paint itself. Chris Bors was born in Ithaca, New York and received his MFA from School of Visual Arts. Solo shows include Randall Scott Projects in Washington, D.C. and ADO Projects in New York City. His art has also been exhibited at MoMA PS1, Freight+Volume, Arts+Leisure, Kustera Projects, White Columns, and the Bronx Museum of the Arts in New York, Casino Luxembourg in Luxembourg, Bahnwarterhaus in Esslingen, Germany, and Bongoût in Berlin. His work has been reviewed in the New York Times, Time Out New York, and the Brooklyn Rail, and featured in Vogue Italia, K48, and zingmagazine.