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Education

1999 Valdosta State University, BFA
2002 University of Florida, MFA

Courses Taught

Foundations: 2-D Design
Introduction to Painting
Mixed Media Painting
Experimental Painting
Figure Painting
Figure Painting II
Advanced Painting

Career Specialties

Chris Valle specializes in painting and contemporary art, combing both representation and abstraction, using classical and experimental approaches.

Conceptually, Valle's work explores how the affect of entertainment content depicting sexual norms, stereotypes and sexual roles have a profound influence on our perceptions about sex and body image.  Television pretends to reflect our realities as if it were a mirror; however it does not give us a pure reflection. We are shown things from elsewhere only in an already established, ready-made version: there is no place for our own judgment, and we are unable to resist simply accepting, as reality, the images placed before us. Valle's paintings are a social commentary about our media-manipulated society that has constructed a culture of sexual exploitation and commodification.

Professional and Community Activities

Valle has dedicated his life to art and exploring the influence that entertainment and advertisements have on our perceptions of ourselves. Using classical and experimental approaches, he combines representation and abstraction in his work. Valle’s artwork has been featured across the globe. His paintings have hung in over 130 exhibitions from New York to Germany, together with 17 solo-exhibitions in 16 years. Valles’ work is in several impressive collections including William J. Clinton Presidential Library and Museum, the Sienna Art Institute Library and the HESS Corporation.

Valle describes his ‘Branded Series’ paintings as exploring “the influence of television and mass media on our culture” and aims at “instilling doubts in the viewer regarding the nature of reality.” By paying close attention to detail within the paintings, observers will be able to see the message of awareness represented throughout the series.

Some highlights of his recent scholarship include: The Kinsey Institute's International Juried Exhibition at the SoFA gallery in Bloomington, Indiana; Funktified, a National Juried Exhibition at the Staller Center for the Arts, SUNY, Stony Brook, New York; Pinnacle: a National Juried Art Exhibition at the Foster Tanner Fine Arts Gallery at Florida A & M University; Remedy, a National Juried Exhibition at Gallery 180 of The Illinois Institute of Art-Chicago; and Contempor Arte 2010 at the Galleria d'arte Mentana in Florence, Italy.

Valle is represented by the Spazio Culturale Mentana in Florence, Italy, and IGI Fine Art in Greenwich, CT.