OCA preloader logo
Christopher Orr - The Open College of the Arts

To find out more details about the transfer to The Open University see A New Chapter for OCA.

Christopher Orr thumb

Christopher Orr


Over my time as a tutor for the OCA I have noticed that figurative painting is a real draw to a significant number of students starting out. For many it turns out, as they move through their studies, that actual figuration is not really where their interest lie, but rather in the human condition more broadly, and themes develop which are better served in other ways.
We do still get people completing their degrees with figuration though and it is certainly something that features heavily in the foundation years for many.
orr-c45438-F5Qu03
To this end, then I thought it might be useful to share the artist Christopher Orr more widely. I find I often have recourse to mention him to students who are dealing with figuration and scale, but I think he might chime with many of you.
He is London based, and currently has an exhibition of his work in Edinburgh although I think he might be one of those artists for whom you can get a pretty good idea of his work from looking at it digitally.
Orr trained and worked as a printer before the age of photoshop, and so he learned to cut out shapes and attend to fine detail. Much design work in those days was done with the original cutting and pasting (i.e. scissors and glue) and he cites this experience as being formative as he uses collected scrap imagery to construct his paintings today and has large files of clippings.
orr-c45429-TIRhoA
I’m not totally convinced by Orr, especially by his use of vintage / period clothing (shades of Vettriano) and listening to what he says about his influences I would think Geraldine Swayne gets to a better place on similar lines. He has a certain grace to his brush work though, and seeing his sketchbooks at this show shows his graphic novel / 50s drawing school method for figure drawing which gives his work that magpie feel.
My take away from Orr’s work is to remember just what can be achieved with radical juxtapositions of scale and subject.


Posted by author: Emma Drye

3 thoughts on “Christopher Orr

  • Hi Emma,
    Thanks for sharing…I like the way Christopher Orr talks about his work in the video. He explains well how he creates an atmosphere of deep seeing/ looking.
    It’s an interesting observation you make about students starting out thinking about figuration and then realising their interest lies in the human condition.
    I suppose the structure of the course plays a part in that development of interest. Maybe the newer courses are more concept led, but when I started the level 1 painting and drawing courses were all about observation of objects and people, and then level 2 courses were about exploring styles. But through research and tutor guidance I started to clarify which themes and concepts interested me, so that now I’m more concepted led ( and I’ve moved to abstraction to express my ideas better)
    Doing broad research and reviewing many styles in art history is of course an important part of our education; but I’d say as a student that its crucial to use that research to zoom in on the ideas behind the work that attract us, and identify what drives each of us to create art. When we know what we’re trying to say through our work it immediately becomes richer, and our feeling about the human condition (or whatever inspires us) becomes manifest. For me this was the real value of following the degree programme.

  • I agree Carol, I often receive introductory student profiles that cite learning to paint the a figure or render portraits is one of the reasons for wanting to take up art studies, but equally I often receive profiles which identify self expression or personal research as a key factor and of course sometimes both together!

  • I like the idea of his archives. I don’t tend to collect images from magazines although I do have a lot of sketchbooks that I take bits from. When two unrelated things come together, often a third thing is created and I like that element of surprise.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

> Next Post Rembrandt Live

< Previous Post The Two Roberts: Review

Back to blog listings