Chris Drange

Chris Drange (born 24 May 1983) is a German contemporary artist. He is best known for his large-format post-digital portraits and realist oil painting artworks. Drange is a pioneer in modern contemporary art that depicts self-identification around the mood and style of social media culture.
Drange specializes in court painting of modern-day influencers. His work is based on giving the digital world (photographs) a reality, by adding emojis and by painting with oil medium on canvas. His work has been featured in several exhibitions and magazines including Museum der bildende Künste Leipzig, Kunstforum International, Numéro Berlin, New York Photography Awards Exhibition, Museum für moderne Kunst, Bremen; and PhotoBastei.
Drange has published two books titled Hecho En Socialismo and Relics. He is also the recipient of Publication Grant of Materialverlag of University of Fine Arts Hamburg, and the Purple Earth Foundation Grant.
==Early life and education==
Drange before moving to Berlin in 2009, studied for two years at the International Center of Photography (ICP) in New York and one year at the Art Students League of New York. Before pursuing higher education, Drange first worked as a studio assistant for fine art photographer Michael Schmidt and as a freelance visual and graphic designer. 
In 2015, Drange enrolled at the University of Fine Arts in Hamburg and pursued his bachelor’s degree in fine arts, majoring in graphic design, typography and photography. After his graduation, Drange completed a master’s program in painting from the same university.
==Work==
Drange took an early interest in graphic design and photography before finally homing to large-format post-digital portraits and realistic oil painting artwork. Characteristic of his work are digital photographs that are used from their original form, altered and painted on Canvas with oil. Drange’s artworks are a culmination of 21st-century realism and expressionism imbibed in large-format portraits, representative of post-digital pop.
While he is well known for his use of materials and physical alterations, Drange’s work gives digital images a material reality, The artist uses a vast and diverse group of materials taken from the digital world and the material world including photographs, emojis, oil medium and pastes, and canvas. He first creates a simplified yet precise composition on his computer, which is then enlarged to its final size by another computer at a machine learning company in Lithuania. The file produced in Lithuania serves as a blueprint for a Chinese manufactory for an oil painting that finally paints the picture by hand, in consultation with Drange, the portrait on canvas, and sends it to Germany.
By leveraging the painting medium, Drange aims at showcasing his talent by merging the tradition of court painting with present-day celebrity idols. Most of his subject muses are glamorous people depicted in a realistic style on canvas. The highlighting feature of Drange’s work is that he presents the digital artworks with hues of material reality, almost allegorical, a commentary on the rising influence of celebrities on common people. The kitsch allegory as represented in Drange’s work comprises the utmost pleasure of the social media realm, be it of beauty and youth, death and immortality, and emerge as a beacon of self-identification.
 “Appropriation is the basis of my work, but not its subject” .- Chris Drange
==Publications==
In 2015, Drange released Hecho En Socialismo - Socialism Today in Venezuela, the book explores the phenomenon of a new socialist society living in a country that holds old traces of capitalism. The book was published by Kerber Verlag on 1 October 2015.
In 2017, Drange released Relics, a contemporary art book that is based on the relationship between celebrities and their followers, especially covering the digital body cult. This book aims at artistically describing the dynamics of a world affected by social media influencers and dominant public figures. It was published by Hatje Cantz on 14 July 2017.
* 
* 
* 
==Selected exhibitions==
* 2020: Der River, Group Exhibition Leipzig
* 2019: LINK IN BIO, MdbK Leipzig, Group Exhibition, Leipzig
* 2019: NEW PAINTINGS, HFBK Graduation Exhibition, Hamburg 
* 2017: ARTIST'S BOOKS FOR EVERYTHING, Centre for Artists´Publications, Weserburg, Museum for Modern Art, Bremen
* 2017: KLEINE GESELLSCHAFT FÜR PROFANE RELIQUIEN, Kleine Gesellschaft für Kunst und Kultur, Hamburg
* 2016: HECHO EN SOCIALISMO, Konform, Lemgo
* 2014: CRASH, Photo Bastei, Zürich
* 2012: DIE HAUT DER STADT, Fenster61, Berlin
* 2012: TIME IN SPACE, New York Photography Awards Exhibition, Brooklyn, New York
==Grants==
* 2017: Publication Promotion, Materialverlag – HFBK, Hamburg
* 2017: Promotion, Purple Earth Foundation, Berlin
==Chris Drange artwork==
==In the media==
<youtube width="300" height="300">tKNQ88K5uRY</youtube>
==References==
 
 
==External links==
* Official Website
* 
Category:German contemporary artists
Category:1983 births
Category:University of Fine Arts of Hamburg alumni