Studio Information
ICB ART
278A
Please visit during events available on my website or contact me at Chris@ChrisAdessa.com to set up a studio visit! I look forward to seeing you!
About The Artist
My latest series is called Everyday Sacred. I am celebrating the extraordinary in the ordinary, painting portraits of enduring objects: a light bulb, a paintbrush, a pile of books, a cardboard box … in a finely nuanced monochrome palette.
Using a black and white palette takes me back to the day when photographs were in black and white. I find you can take in an image more completely when the color is stripped off and you see the form and relate the function at the same time. These objects are timeless and I seek to portray their innate beauty … and I invite my viewer to do the same.
In life and in painting I find meaning enhanced by the nuances and details. Each subtle shift reveals something more …my choice of details discloses as much about me as the subject.
I think about all these things when I decide what to paint. It grounds me as I let the subject talk to me and tell me about itself. And then I paint.
Chris Adessa is a representational fine artist whose studio overlooks the San Francisco Bay in the historic ICB building in Sausalito, California. Born in New York State, she was drawn to the San Francisco Bay Area over 30 years ago for its magnificent beauty and gentle climate. Her latest series is called Everyday Sacred. She celebrates the extraordinary in the ordinary, painting portraits of commonplace, enduring objects: a light bulb, a paintbrush, a pile of books, a cardboard box … in a finely nuanced monochrome palette. “Using a black and white palette takes me back to the day when photographs were in black and white. I find you can take in an image more completely when the color is stripped off and you see the form and relate the function at the same time.” These objects are timeless and she seeks to portray their innate beauty … and she invites her viewer to do the same. Her work has been shown in museums and galleries across the United States, published in books, and can be found in collections internationally. Contact her at Chris@ChrisAdessa.com See more of her work at ChrisAdessa.com
Oil Paint
Contact Information
Exhibitions & Press
2025 48 Pillars, Arc Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2024-25 True North, di Rosa Center for Contemporary Art, Napa. CA
2024 Northern California Open, MarinMOCA, Novato, CA
2024 FourSquared Alumni Invitational, Arc Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2023 True North di Rosa Center for Contemporary Art, Napa. CA
2023 FourSquared Arc Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2023 MarinMOCA’s Inaugural Northern California Open MarinMOCA, Novato, CA
2023 Landscape Perspectives, Art Works Downtown, San Rafael, CA
2022 Her Story in America, Bay Model Exhibition Gallery, Sausalito, CA
2022 48 Pillars Arc Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2022 Greater Bay Area Open, New Museum, Los Gatos, CA
2022 Manifestly Marin Solo Show, Throckmorton Theater, Mill Valley, CA
2022 Golden State, Bay Model Exhibition Gallery, Sausalito, CA
2022 Monochromatic, O’Hanlon Center, Mill Valley, CA
2022 Listen, Learn, Change, Grow, New Museum Los Gatos, CA
2021 Women Artists Making Their Mark O’Hanlon Center, Mill Valley, CA
2021 Her Story in America, The White Barn, St. Helena, CA
2021 Hardly Strictly Invitational Bolinas Museum, Wharf Road, Bolinas, CA
2021 The ART of Recycling Sebastopol Center for the Arts, Bolinas, CA
2021 conVERGEnce – National Juried Exhibition, MarinMOCA, Novato, CA
2021 Hardly Strictly Invitational Bolinas Museum, Bolinas, CA
2021 Her Story in America White Barn, St. Helena, CA
2020 Women Artists Making Their Mark O’Hanlon Center, Mill Valley, CA
2020 Our World Reimagined, California Art Club
2019 The Bigger Picture: A Brush with Nature Bay Model Exhibition Gallery, Sausalito, CA
2019 Ranches and Rolling Hills Marin Art and Garden Center Gallery, Ross, CA
2019 From Sea to Shining Sea National Show, Marin Society of Artists Gallery, San Rafael, CA
2019 Summer Salt
2019 Food, Farms and Art, Bardolini Gallery, San Rafael, CA
2018 Ranches and Rolling Hills, Druids Hall, Nicasio, CA
2017 Terrain, Studio Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2017 Ranches and Rolling Hills, Druids Hall, Nicasio, CA
2017 Hardly Strictly Bolinas Museum, Bolinas, CA
2017 California Dreaming Solo Show, Thompson|Dorfman, Mill Valley, CA
2016 Ranches and Rolling Hills, Druids Hall, Nicasio, CA
2016 Terrain Studio Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2015 BayWood Artists Paint Point Reyes, Toby’s Gallery, Point Reyes Station, CA
2015 Ranches and Rolling Hills, Druids Hall, Nicasio, CA
2015 Terrain: Views of California 2015, STUDIO Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2015 Paint Point Reyes, Red Barn Gallery, Point Reyes National Seashore, CA
2014 Lilies, Figs and Folly: Contemporary Still Life, Cerulean Arts, Philadelphia, PA
2014 By Invitation Only: Revealing the Landscape, Saint Mary’s College Museum of Art, Moraga, CA
2014 Point Reyes Wild, Red Barn Gallery, Point Reyes National Seashore, CA
2014 Ranches and Rolling Hills Druids Hall, Nicasio, CA
2014 Art By The Sea Sea Ranch, CA
2014 Delicious Studio Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2013 MarinMOCA Summer National Show MarinMOCA, Novato, CA
2013 Delicious Studio Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2013 Altered Book Show MarinMOCA, Novato, CA
2013 Ranches and Rolling Hills Druids Hall, Nicasio, CA
2013 Waterfront Studio Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2013 Art By The Sea, Sea Ranch, CA
2013 Channel Islands paint out, Channel Islands, Santa Barbara, CA
2013 Bolinas Museum 25th Annual Show, Bolinas Museum, Bolinas, CA
2012 Bolinas Museum Mini Show, Bolinas Museum, Bolinas, CA
2012 Waterfront-Views of the Bay Area Coast, Studio Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2012 Save Mount Diablo-Major Donors, Thomas Home Ranch
2012 Haggin Museum-57th National Juried, Haggin Museum, CA
2012 CAC-Point Reyes – 50th Anniversary, Red Barn, Point Reyes, CA
2012 MALT-Ranches and Rolling Hills, Druids Hall, Nicasio, CA
2012 Color and Light:Contemporary Landscape Painters of California, Santa Cruz Art League
2012 The Bigger Picture, Bay Model Exhibition Gallery, Sausalito, CA
2012 Art By The Sea, Sea Ranch, Gualala, CA
2012 BayWood Celebrates Pt. Reyes 50th, Red Barn, Point Reyes, CA
2012 BayWood Celebrates Pt. Reyes 50th, Bay Model, Sausalito, CA
2012 Easton Plein Air, Easton, MD
2012 Save Mount Diablo-Major Donors,
2011 David Gallup Channel Islands Paint Out, Channel Islands, Santa Barbara, CA
2011 Bolinas Museum Invitational Mini Show, Bolinas Museum, Bolinas, CA
2011 Publisher’s Invitational, Adirondacks, NY
2011 BayWood Artists Make a Splash, Bay Model, CA
2011 The Beauty of Mount Diablo, Lindsay Museum
2011 Peter Michael Foundation, Foundation Headquarters, Sausalito, CA
2011 Art By The Sea, Sea Ranch, CA
2010 BayWood Artists Paint Marin, Bay Model Exhibition Gallery
2010 Bolinas Museum Mini Invitational, Bolinas Museum, Wharf Road, Bolinas, CA
2010 Bolinas Museum Auction, Peace Barn, Bolinas, CA
2010 Mount Diablo: As We See It, Save Mount Diablo Headquarters
2010 Auction 4 Haiti Tiburon Town Hall, Tiburon, CA
2010 Best of Marin Landscapes, Art Bar Molinar, CA
2009 Bolinas Museum Mini Invitational Bolinas Museum, Bolinas, CA
2009 Marinscapes, Escalle Winery, Larkspur, CA
2009 Dreams and Revelations-5th Annual MarinMOCA, Novato, CA
2009 Concertos in Color Blinn House, Women’s City Club, Pasadena, CA
2009 Sausalito Art Festival, Art of Parks Bay Model, CA
2009 Art on the Farm, Claudia Chapline Gallery, Stinson Beach, CA
2008 Marinscapes 20th Anniversary Escalle Winery, Larkspur, CA
2008 BayWood Artists Capturing Angel Island, Bay Model, Sausalito, CA
2008 In Our Mist Spindrift Gallery, Cypress Village, Gualala, CA
2008 Bolinas Museum 19th Annual Mini Show Bolinas Museum, Bolinas, CA
2008 Seasons of Martis Village at North Star, Tahoe, CA
2007 Sausalito Art Festival, Marinship Park, Sausalito, CA
2007 Bolinas Museum Mini Invitational, Bolinas, CA
2007 Northern Views, Napa Valley Museum (Biennial), Yountville, CA
2007 Plein Air Invitational, I. Wolk Gallery, St. Helena, CA
2007 Marinscapes, Larkspur, CA
2007 West Marin Wild, Point Reyes, CA
2007 Marin Views, San Rafael Corporate Center-Mayor Al Boro Room
2007 BayWood Artists: Saving the Russian River Bay Model, Sausalito, CA
2007 Mustard Festival-Napa Valley, Culinary Institute, Calistoga, CA
2006 Bolinas Museum Invitational, Bolinas Museum, Wharf Road, Bolinas, CA
West Marin Review- Volume 10
Marin Open Space Trust Newsletter
Bay Model Newsletter
Straus Home Ranch – image on notecards
Presented painting to Jane Goodall
PRNSA Dinner on Pacific Plate – Dinner Program
Bay Crossings – October 2013 – On The Water
Marin Magazine – October 2013, On The Water
Pt Reyes Book-BWA
Marin IJ, Sept 2012
Brandvia Calendar Images 2009
Plein Air Magazine- Adirondacks
Plein Air Magazine- Extreme painting
Bay Nature – photo of plein air painting
Peter Michael Foundation- Annual Publication
Marin Conservation League- Annual Report Cover 2007
Marin Magazine – Sausalito Art Festival 2007
TV- Channel 4 – Teaching Henry Tenenbaum to paint
TV- National ad campaign – plein air painting
MV- Gallery Guide cover
Twin City Times, article on AWD
Marin IJ – Painting: Angel Island burning
Marin IJ -Painting: Russian River
Marinscope – Angel Island
TV- National ad campaign – Smith Barney
Marinscope
Education
BS in Fine Art, Pennsylvania State University
Private study with Randy Sexton, Brian Blood, Chester Arnold, Jeff Beauchamp
