Christopher Leith Evans (born 1954), commonly credited as Christopher Evans or Chris Evans, is an American painter,

matte artist A matte painting is a painted representation of a landscape, set, or distant location that allows filmmakers to create the illusion of an environment that is not present at the filming location. Historically, matte painters and film technicians ...

, and visual effects art director for major motion pictures. Evans's paintings are characterized by a highly realistic representation of landscape, architecture, and the human figure. He has created more than 100 matte paintings for films such as '' E.T.'', ''

Return of the Jedi ''Return of the Jedi'' (also known as ''Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi'' is a 1983 American epic space opera film directed by Richard Marquand from a screenplay by Lawrence Kasdan and George Lucas. The sequel to '' The Empire ...

'', '' Star Trek II'', '' III'', and '' IV'', as well as ''

Titanic RMS ''Titanic'' was a British ocean liner that sank in the early hours of 15 April 1912 as a result of striking an iceberg on her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, United States. Of the estimated 2,224 passengers a ...

'' and '' The Curious Case of Benjamin Button''. Evans was awarded a

Primetime Emmy The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Owned and operated by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the P ...

in 1985 for ''

The Ewok Adventure ''The Ewok Adventure'' is a 1984 American television film based in the ''Star Wars'' universe. It takes place on the moon of Endor, and features the Ewoks, who help two young human siblings as they try to locate their parents. The film premier ...

'' and was nominated for an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

in 1988 for ''

Willow Willows, also called sallows and osiers, of the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 350 species (plus numerous hybrids) of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions. Most species are known ...

''. Before, during and after his career in film, Evans created many works of fine art and exhibited his work in several solo, group and public exhibitions. His first was in a 1980 group exhibition, "L.A. As Seen by L.A. Artists", at the Municipal Art Gallery in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. ''New York In the Light of Memory'', a 360-degree view of

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

from the South Tower of the World Trade Center prior to the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

, was exhibited at

New-York Historical Society The New York Historical (known as the New-York Historical Society from 1804 to 2024) is an American history museum and library on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. The society was founded in 1804 as New York's first museum. It ...

. His work can also be found at the

Duke University Museum of Art The Nasher Museum of Art (previously the Duke University Museum of Art) is the art museum of Duke University, and is located on Duke's campus in Durham, North Carolina, United States. History In 1936, art collector William Hayes Ackland wrot ...

Neuberger Museum of Art The Neuberger Museum of Art (the NEU) is located at the centre of the Purchase College campus in Purchase, New York. With a collection of nearly 7,000 works of modern, contemporary and African art, it is one of the nation's largest academic mus ...

and

Los Angeles Theatre Center The Los Angeles Theatre Center is a performance complex of several theaters that first opened in Downtown Los Angeles Downtown Los Angeles (DTLA) is the central business district of the city of Los Angeles. It is part of the Central Los Ang ...

Early life and education

Christopher Leith Evans was born in 1954 in

Bremerton, Washington Bremerton is a city in Kitsap County, Washington, Kitsap County, Washington (state), Washington, United States. The population was 43,505 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and an estimated 44,122 in 2021, making it the largest city ...

, to Virginia Joan () and Alan Edward Evans. As a child, Evans was encouraged by his parents to express himself through drawing and painting. He grew up in

Bay Shore, New York Bay Shore is a Hamlet (New York), hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Administrative divisions of New York#Town, Town of Islip, New York, United States. It is situated on the South Shore (Long Island), South Shore of Long Island, adjo ...

, and attended

Bay Shore High School Bay Shore High School is a public high school located in Bay Shore, New York. The school has about 2,000 students in grades 9 to 12. where he joined the staff of his high school newspaper, the ''Maroon Echo''. He drew cartoons and caricatures, wrote and illustrated articles and took photographs for the newspaper. Evans graduated from high school in 1972. Inspired by a teacher, he began to focus his academic career on art, traveling to Europe at 17 years old, and viewing classical art in museums in Belgium, France, Spain, Italy, Germany and England. While his family members supported his artistic endeavors as a youngster, when Evans applied to college he was encouraged to seek an education that would prepare him for a more practical career. He began classes at

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

(UCLA) as an art history major, but continued to paint in his free time. When he showed his work to his art history professors, Evans was encouraged by one to change his major area of study to art. He changed majors in sophomore year and graduated ''

summa cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

'' and

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States. It was founded in 1776 at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, ...

in 1977 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in painting, sculpture and graphic arts. In 1979, he received a travel and study grant from the

Ford Foundation The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a $25,000 (about $550,000 in 2023) gift from Edsel Ford. ...

and continued his studies to receive a Master of Fine Arts from UCLA in 1980. Evans was awarded an honorary doctorate from the

Academy of Art College The Academy of Art University (AAU, or ART U), formerly Academy of Art College and Richard Stephens Academy of Art, is a private for-profit art school in San Francisco, California. It was founded as the Academy of Advertising Art by Richard S. ...

in San Francisco in 2000 and earned a grant from the

Pollock-Krasner Foundation The Pollock-Krasner Foundation was established in 1985 for the purpose of providing funding to visual artists internationally to further their artistic practices. It was established at the bequest of Lee Krasner, who was an American abstract expr ...

in 2006.

Career

After graduate school, Evans pursued a career as a painter; he had a studio in a small garage in

. In September 1980, in one of his earliest exhibitions, Evans was among a group of 30 artists featured at an exhibit, "L.A. As Seen by L.A. Artists", curated by Josine Starrels and presented at the Municipal Art Gallery in Los Angeles. The exhibit included two works by Evans; both were photorealistic oil paintings of an identical view of his red tile-roofed white stucco home − one in the morning light and the other in the late afternoon. Christopher Knight wrote for the ''

Los Angeles Herald Examiner The ''Los Angeles Herald Examiner'' was a major Los Angeles daily newspaper, published in the afternoon from Monday to Friday and in the morning on Saturdays and Sundays. It was part of the Hearst Corporation, Hearst syndicate. It was formed w ...

'' that Evans's work showed "acuity of observation" and "a remarkably fluent handling of paint". Soon after, he watched the film ''

The Empire Strikes Back ''The Empire Strikes Back'' (also known as ''Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back'') is a 1980 American epic film, epic space opera film directed by Irvin Kershner from a screenplay by Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan, based o ...

'' (1980). Impressed by the film's portrayal of the Cloud City, he submitted samples of his work to

George Lucas George Walton Lucas Jr. (born May 14, 1944) is an American filmmaker and philanthropist. He created the ''Star Wars'' and ''Indiana Jones'' franchises and founded Lucasfilm, LucasArts, Industrial Light & Magic and THX. He served as chairman ...

's company,

Industrial Light & Magic Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) is an American Film, motion picture visual effects, computer animation and stereo conversion digital studio founded by George Lucas on May 26, 1975. It is a division of the film production company Lucasfilm, which Lu ...

(ILM), and was offered a position as an apprentice matte painter. Evans first project at ILM was on the 1981 film ''

Dragonslayer A dragonslayer is a person or being that slays dragons. Dragonslayers and the creatures they hunt have been popular in traditional stories from around the world: they are a type of story classified as type 300 in the Aarne–Thompson classifica ...

'' for which he created about 20 background paintings. He not only served as an artist on projects but also as a consultant from the beginning of the project during script writing and advising the director and storyboard artist as production progressed. At ILM, Evans created more than 100 matte paintings for films such as '' E.T.'', ''

The Dark Crystal ''The Dark Crystal'' is a 1982 dark fantasy, dark fantasy film directed by Jim Henson and Frank Oz. It stars the voices of Stephen Garlick, Lisa Maxwell (actress), Lisa Maxwell, Billie Whitelaw, Percy Edwards, and Barry Dennen. The film was prod ...

'', '' Star Trek II'', ''

'', ''

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom ''Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom'' is a 1984 American action-adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg from a script by Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz, based on a story by George Lucas. It is the second installment in the Indiana Jone ...

'', '' Starman'', ''

The NeverEnding Story ''The Neverending Story'' () is a fantasy novel by German writer Michael Ende, published in 1979. The first English translation, by Ralph Manheim, was published in 1983. It was later adapted into a film series and a television series. Plot T ...

'', '' Star Trek III'', '' Enemy Mine'', ''

'', '' Ewoks II'', '' Star Trek IV'', '' Cocoon'', and ''

The Golden Child ''The Golden Child'' is a 1986 American dark fantasy action comedy film directed by Michael Ritchie. The film stars Eddie Murphy as Chandler Jarrell, a Los Angeles social worker who is informed that he is " The Chosen One", and is destined to ...

''. Evans was awarded a

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Special Visual Effects This is a list of the winning and nominated programs of the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Special Visual Effects for a Serial (radio and television), series, miniseries, television film, film, or television special, special. Since the aw ...

in 1985 for his work on ''The Ewok Adventure'' and was nominated for an

Academy Award for Best Visual Effects The Academy Award for Best Visual Effects is presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) for the best achievement in visual effects. It has been handed to four members of the team directly responsible for creatin ...

in 1988 for his work on ''

''. He became the head of the matte painting department and remained at ILM until 1989. In 1986 and 1987, Evans collaborated with theater director George Coates to create scenic projections for ''Actual Sho'', a theatrical production that opened at

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

, Germany, and was also presented at the

Palace of Fine Arts The Palace of Fine Arts is a monumental structure located in the Marina District of San Francisco, California, originally built for the 1915 Panama–Pacific International Exposition to exhibit works of art. Completely rebuilt from 1964 to 197 ...

San Jose, California San Jose, officially the City of San José ( ; ), is a cultural, commercial, and political center within Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area. With a city population of 997,368 and a metropolitan area population of 1.95 million, it is ...

. Paul Hertelendy of the ''

San Jose Mercury News ''The Mercury News'' (formerly ''San Jose Mercury News'', often locally known as ''The Merc'') is a morning daily newspaper published in San Jose, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is published by the Bay Area News Group, a subsidia ...

'' particularly attributed the visual success of the production to Evans, Charles Rose and Jeff Hunt, who together are credited for the scenic and lighting projection design. The visuals included

op art Op art, short for optical art, is a style of visual art that uses distorted or manipulated geometrical patterns, often to create optical illusions. It began in the early 20th century, and was especially popular from the 1960s on, the term "Op ...

, computer art, ''

trompe-l'œil ; ; ) is an artistic term for the highly realistic optical illusion of three-dimensional space and objects on a Two-dimensional space, two-dimensional surface. , which is most often associated with painting, tricks the viewer into perceiving p ...

'', film projections, and "giant Rorschach patterns

hat A hat is a Headgear, head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorpor ...

bleed into vaguely biological images ndproduce clusters of

petroglyph A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions ...

s". After leaving ILM, Evans began working as a freelancer for companies such as Walt Disney Studios and

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly ''The National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as ''Nat Geo'') is an American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. The magazine was founded in 1888 as a scholarly journal, nine ...

. He contributed historical recreations of anthropological sites for the National Geographic, including the IMAX film '' Lewis & Clark: Great Journey West''. He worked for

Matte World Digital Matte World Digital was a visual effects company based in Novato, California that specialized in realistic matte painting, matte painting effects and digital environments for feature films, television, electronic games and IMAX large-format product ...

as a digital matte painter and art director, contributing to several films including ''

'', '' The Green Mile'' and '' The Curious Case of Benjamin Button''. Evans told ''

Newsday ''Newsday'' is a daily newspaper in the United States primarily serving Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island, although it is also sold throughout the New York metropolitan area. The slogan of the newspaper is "Newsday, Your Eye on LI" ...

'' in 2004 that a background painting of the he made for Titanic was the last oil painting used as matte for a feature film and a stained-glass window he created for ''

Young Sherlock Holmes ''Young Sherlock Holmes'' (also known with the title card name of ''Young Sherlock Holmes and the Pyramid of Fear'') is a 1985 American mystery adventure film directed by Barry Levinson and written by Chris Columbus, based on the characters ...

'' was the first computer generated image used as a background. In 2001, Evans moved back to Bayshore and became interested in painters of the

Hudson River School The Hudson River School was a mid-19th-century American art movement embodied by a group of landscape painters whose aesthetic vision was influenced by Romanticism. Early on, the paintings typically depicted the Hudson River Valley and the sur ...

art movement with whom he says he shares "an awe and reverence for nature". His best known fine art work is ''New York In the Light of Memory'', a panoramic representation of the view from the South Tower of the World Trade Center prior to the attacks on September 11, 2001. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' art critic

Roberta Smith Roberta Smith (born 1948) is co-chief art critic of ''The New York Times'' and a lecturer on contemporary art. She is the first woman to hold that position at the Times. Education and early life Born in 1948 in New York City and raised in Lawre ...

wrote that, in Evans's panorama, "the progression of shifting perspectives comes to a close with an exhilarating yet painful moment of illusion created by the painter". The hand-painted spherical work which offers a 360-degree view of

was exhibited in 2002 at

as part of a presentation of artifacts, photographs and paintings about the

. In the mid 2000s, Evans began creating the ''Supply Chain Portraits'' series in which he explores the places from which the materials he uses in his life and work originate. One of the first paintings in this series is ''Riches of the Delta''.

Omoyele Sowore Omoyele Yele Sowore (born 16 February 1971) is a Nigerian politician, human rights activist, citizen reporter, writer, lecturer and pro-democracy campaigner, known for founding the online news agency Sahara Reporters. In August 2018, he founde ...

, a Nigerian human rights activist, described the painting as the "'Riches and Pains' of humanity in the

Niger Delta The Niger Delta is the delta of the Niger River sitting directly on the Gulf of Guinea on the Atlantic Ocean in Nigeria. It is located within nine coastal southern Nigerian states, which include: all six states from the South South geopolitic ...

area of Nigeria. Sowore writes: Another painting in this series, ''Cobalt Blue'', focuses on the process by which the color reaches the artist from the mines in the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

. Evans had three solo exhibitions at the Fischbach Gallery in New York City: ''Open Space'' (2007), ''Verdant Refuge'' (2010), and ''Equilibrium'' (2014). He has also presented his work in several other solo, group and public exhibitions, including at the New-York Historical Society,

and

. According to the painter and art critic John A. Parks, "Evans paints light-filled landscapes that drop away into glorious, hazy distances." He often starts his painting by first creating on-site color studies of the subject to establish the composition and details. In his studio, he creates a small drawing of the composition which he projects onto a large pre-primed linen canvas on which he applies paint

wet-on-wet Wet-on-wet, or ''alla prima'' (Italian, meaning ''at first attempt''), direct painting or au premier coup, is a painting technique in which layers of wet paint are applied to previously administered layers of wet paint. Used mostly in oil pain ...

with no

underpainting In art, an underpainting is an initial layer of paint applied to a Ground (art), ground, which serves as a base for subsequent layers of paint. Underpaintings are often monochromatic and help to define color values for later painting. Underpainting ...

Personal life

Evans attended

Christian Science Christian Science is a set of beliefs and practices which are associated with members of the Church of Christ, Scientist. Adherents are commonly known as Christian Scientists or students of Christian Science, and the church is sometimes in ...

Sunday School as a child and began reading the Christian Science Bible Lesson daily as a youth. In a 2002 interview in ''

The Herald of Christian Science ''The Herald of Christian Science'' is a magazine published in multiple languages by the Christian Science Publishing Society. It was first published as a German magazine in 1903, and grew to include other languages as well. The magazine is curren ...

'', he said that when he was struggling find his way as an artist, "Christian Science helped imput aside fear about isfuture, and a feeling of limitation". Evans is married and has a son. He lives in

Sonoma County, California Sonoma County ( ) is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, its population was 488,863. Its seat of government and largest city is Santa Rosa. Sonoma County comprises the Santa Rosa-Petaluma ...

Art exhibitions

* 2019 — "River, Ocean, Sky," Luther Burbank Center for the Arts,

Santa Rosa, California Santa Rosa (Spanish language, Spanish for "Rose of Lima, Saint Rose") is a city in and the county seat of Sonoma County, California, Sonoma County, in the North Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, Bay A ...

* 2017 — "The Place of Understanding,"

Pepperwood Preserve Pepperwood Preserve is a 3,117-acre plot of land owned by the Pepperwood Foundation, located in the Mayacamas Mountains in the coast ranges of California near the towns of Santa Rosa and Healdsburg in Sonoma County. The preserve includes the h ...

, Santa Rosa, California * 2014 — "Supply Chain Portraits," Taylor & Company,

San Francisco, California San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

* 2013 — "Equilibrium," Fischbach Gallery,

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

* 2012 — "Family Trees," David Brower Center,

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Anglo-Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland, Cali ...

* 2010 — "Verdant Refuge," Fischbach Gallery, New York City * 2007 — "Open Space," Fischbach Gallery, New York City * 2004 — "New York: In the Light of Memory",

, New York City

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Evans, Christopher Leith 1954 births Living people 20th-century American painters American male painters 21st-century American painters Sportspeople from Bremerton, Washington UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture alumni 20th-century American male artists Bay Shore High School alumni