The work of Christopher Pate utilizes painting, drawing, photography and collage, often in combination. His imagery ranges from the nonobjective to the fully representational, involving portraiture, landscape, geometric hard edge abstraction and painterly abstraction. His objective is to investigate the human condition, both macroscopically, in terms of the relationship of our species to the world at large, and microscopically, in the more intimate sense of psychology, dream states and personal identity. Grounded in abstraction, these investigations exist in the realm of the poetic, not the polemical. They are intended to induce meditative states through composition and color, and therefore are graphically and optically vibrant and often very colorful, as color is celebrated as an important means of setting the emotional tone within a piece.
Christopher received his B.A. from Pitzer College. Based in Los Angeles, his work as an exhibiting artist has been augmented by his role as Director of Collections and Facilities at LA Louver Gallery and as a curator of exhibition projects highlighting emerging art in Los Angeles. Curatorial projects include Tripindicular, Hef and Transient Apocalypse, as well as the five celebrated Rogue Wave exhibitions at LA Louver beginning in 2001. In addition to taking part in many group exhibitions locally and abroad, he has had solo exhibitions at Rio Hondo College, Marine Contemporary, Jail Gallery and Roberts and Tilton, among several others. His work has appeared in publications including Artforum, Artillery, Art & Auction, LA Weekly, Huffington Post and the LA Times, as well as several solo and group exhibition publications.