Exhibit by Chris Autio
For the last 3 months I have been working diligently on a solo show of 40 Industrial Landscapes. The undertaking feels burdensome. Shooting, perusing many books of negatives. Printing, sometimes in studio 25×36 sized prints. Oil coloring is my favorite part. And an enormous venture in framing, which includes old wood on table saw, adding a profile, mitering, fixing problems, painting. It is all very much worth it.
Jessie Wilber Gallery & Lobby Gallery
May 13 – July 1, 2022
Artists Reception
Friday, May 13 from 5:00-7:00pm
Artist Statement
I work mainly with medium format film, printing them large in the darkroom. I use fiber based matte surface paper for the potential of oil coloring, but I generally favor matte surface.
While most images have a strong foundation in composition, contrast and detail, I may choose an ordinary pasto- ral landscape to liven with color. My philosophy is to recreate a sense of openness of Montana. I am just as inter- ested, however, in industrial landscapes where I can really exact strong compositions, and color dramatically.
Before coloring I smooth into the surface a transparent oil to allow other media to adhere and homogenize. Often, I will apply with just my fingers or a small piece of leather.
Artist Bio
Chris Autio is a photographer in Missoula, MT. He specializes in photographing artwork for artists, galleries and publications. He has photographed for Lark Productions and publications by artists Adrian Arleo, Beth Lo and the Archie Bray Foundation. Recent exhibitions include montaged nude/landscapes at the Red Raven gallery, a 36- person show at the Missoula Art Museum, the Stoplight gallery in Anaconda and, in Missoula, a two-month exhibi- tion of oil-colored photographs at Montana Art and Framing.
Autio double majored at MSU Bozeman in 1989 in photography and English literature. He began a monthly poetry reading at the Beall Park Art Center, which lasted three years. He lived for a couple years in Portland, Oregon working in photography labs, but then ventured home to Montana, working for the forest service as a firefighter and a lab tech for radiology.
Autio began his business here in photography at the Emerson Cultural Center in 1993 until 1997, photographing for architectural firms, contractors and local businesses. He moved to Missoula and has continued his business in photography. The digital era proves to be daunting to all photographers, Autio being no exception, but he began making 45-minute educational films on artists around the world.
Three films are shot in Mexico. “Potters of Oaxaca” include 5 styles of ceramics in southern Mexico, “Weavers of Oaxaca” is filmed in Teotitlan, and a third “A Glassblowing Odyssey” which includes footage mostly from Seattle but also Melbourne and Bendigo, Australia. Other feature films include Montana ceramist David Shaner and the 50th Anniversary of the Archie Bray Foundation, which included demonstrations by artists and a forum of the Archie Bray founders Bozeman native Peter Voulkos and his father, Rudy Autio.
