Chris Soria is __________________, and a visual artist who works in a variety of media, primarily painting and photomontage.
Soria's concentration in the visual arts began very early in childhood with the encouragement of family, friends, and teachers alike, later attending
Parsons School of Design to study Illustration and Art Education. His artwork exudes architectonic expressionism fueled by a pervading curiosity for the cylical nature of all things.
An active muralist, with public art in every borough of New York, Chris Soria also leads a unique mural program with
Groundswell Community Mural Project at Rikers Island, NYC's main jail complex, funded by the
New York State Council on the Arts. This Summer, as part of the
NY400 celebrations that mark 400 years of history between the Netherlands and the United States, endorsed by the Mayors Office of the City of New York and by the Mayor of Amsterdam, Soria will be working with Groundswell,
Red Hook Community Justice Center and Dutch Human Rights charity,
Miles4Justice, on a mural that recognizes the histories of human rights.
Soria's photomontages consist of 35 mm prints, cut, pasted, layered, and placed in plexiglass. He is drawn to abandoned factories, exploring the transformation of neglected industry. In a series of almost documentary works, Soria uses hundreds of photographs to rebuild fallen complexes, revealing their post-functional vitality as nature claims their remnants. He montages distinct building sections and reconfigures them to create new structures while, at the same time, revisiting particular sites as they transform under changing seasons and weather. Eventually, where and when pluralize. Time separates. Space is replaced. And everything becomes an imitation of what is lost.
In addition to creating for arts sake, Soria's clients include,
MTV,
BET,
Mark Ecko,
Zoo York,
Code and Theory, and
Yankee Stadium. His art communities include,
The Free Art Society,
Art For Progress,
Maniac Pumpkin Carvers,
North Brooklyn Public Art Coalition, and various collectives throughout NY.
With his back to the void, Chris Soria steps out from lifes puzzle like an escapee of the matrix, pointing his devices at the expelled fragments of a disintegrating reality, juggling projects and fortifying his footing as time and space separate all around him.