To those familiar with Christopher Lees’ oeuvre…his landscapes (for the past twenty years) have frequently slipped through the net of geography, seeking instead to capture the spirit of the Australian environment. Lees’ hand transforms ordinary objects into surrealist icons, taking the viewer by surprise.
He captures the sacred essence of natural forms with a fluidity and mastery of technique. Whilst navigating his fishing adventures, Lees’ builds up a memory bank of composites that he can later draw on – secret streams of iron-coloured water are bordered by iconic eucalypt and mountainsides littered with boulders, cliffs and crevasses. Lees’ process is straightforward, beginning with a sketch which organizes the painting, creating a sense of balance and proportion that is transposed onto the canvas.
The resultant landscapes are still, stark, and mysterious. Opal miner turned landscape painter, reflects an authority in his brushstrokes which is evident in his monumental perspectives of the Australian terrain. In his twenties Lees travelled extensively throughout remote Australia, working as an opal miner. Now based in rural Victoria, his experiences of the outback unravel on the canvas in panoramic and dioramic form.
Having held numerous sell-out shows over twenty years, and since 1998 at Libby Edwards Galleries in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane since 2000, demand for his work is now driven by overseas and local collectors. Lees’s work is currently represented in numerous significant private and corporate collections in Australia, Asia, U.S.A, Europe and the U.K.
Born 1969, Victoria
2024 “Monkey Maze”, Libby Edwards Galleries, South Yarra 2024 “Boondocks”, Harvey Galleries, Sydney
2023 “Nightcap”, Libby Edwards Galleries, South Yarra 2023 “Headspace”, Harvey Galleries, Sydney
2022 “Fragments”, Libby Edwards Galleries, South Yarra 2022 “Habitat”, Harvey Galleries, Sydney
2021 “Cloud trip”, Libby Edwards Galleries, Melbourne 2021 “Rock Candy”, Harvey Galleries, Sydney
2020 “Ancient Summer”, Libby Edwards Galleries, Melbourne
2019 “Un-discovery”, Libby Edwards Galleries, Melbourne
2019 “Transfigure”, Harvey Galleries, Sydney
2018 “Group Show”, Margaret River Gallery, WA
2018 “Terrain”, Harvey Galleries, Sydney
2017 “Group Show”, Libby Edwards Galleries, Melbourne
2017 “Recent Landscapes”, Harvey Galleries, Sydney
2017 “Recent Landscapes”, Redsea Gallery, Brisbane
2016 “Recent Work”, Harvey Galleries, Sydney
2015 “Vision of Solus”, Redsea Gallery, Brisbane
2014 “Recent Paintings”, Libby Edwards Galleries, Melbourne
2013 “Exhibition WA”, Gadfly Gallery, Perth
2012 “Recent Paintings”, Libby Edwards Galleries, Melbourne
2011 “New Paintings”, Libby Edwards Galleries, Sydney
2011 “New Surrealist paintings”, Libby Edwards Galleries, Melbourne
2010 “Recent Landscapes”, Libby Edwards Galleries, Melbourne
2009 “Recent Landscapes”, Libby Edwards Galleries, Melbourne
2008 “Recent Landscapes”, Libby Edwards Galleries, Melbourne
2008 “Recent Landscapes”, Libby Edwards Galleries, Brisbane
2007 “Coldsnap”, Libby Edwards Galleries, Sydney
2007 Libby Edwards Galleries, Hong Kong
2006 Libby Edwards Galleries, Sydney
2005 “Australian Landscapes”, Libby Edwards Galleries, Melbourne
2004 “Recent Landscapes”, Libby Edwards Galleries, Sydney
2002 Libby Edwards Galleries, Sydney
2001 Libby Edwards Galleries, Sydney
2001 Libby Edwards Galleries, South Yarra
2000 Libby Edwards Galleries, South Yarra
2000 Libby Edwards Galleries, South Yarra
1999 Libby Edwards Galleries, Portsea
1999 Libby Edwards Galleries, South Yarra
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