Christopher McHugh
Senior Lecturer
About
Chris McHugh
Senior Lecturer (part time)
BA Hons Fine Art, Manchester Metropolitan University
MA Language, the Arts and Education, University of Sussex
Chris is Level 5 coordinator and teaches across the University’s undergraduate programmes. His specialist research area is painting and he is also a founding member of Red Herring Studios in Brighton with a particular interest in studio provision.
Visit Chris’ Research page for more information.
Academic Roles:
- Teaching across contextual and studio modules
- Level 5 Coordinator
- Student Exhibition and Display Coordinator
- Member of the Otter Gallery Committee
Specialist Areas:
- Drawing
- Painting
- Public Art
- Digital Video
- Critical and Contextual Study
External Examining:
2010-14 External Examiner, University of Plymouth, L6 BA Hons Fine Art Somerset College, Taunton
Email: C.McHugh@chi.ac.uk
Tel: (01243) 816188
Weblinks:
http://www.cmchugh.com
http://www.stannesgalleries.com/mchugh.html
http://www.chi.ac.uk/otter-gallery-0/our-collections/your-paintings
http://fabrica.org.uk/
Professional
Member of National Association of Fine Art Education (National Symposia, London, 2013 & 2014)
Paper delivered at NAFAE sympoisium, London, 2014
Board Member, Red Herring Studios (artists’ association, special IPS company with educational aims)
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2013 ‘Liminal’ exhibition and symposium at The Otter Gallery, University of Chichester, Fine Art staff research exhibition, relating to Graylingwell site
2012 ‘The Margins of the Lane’ exhibition and symposium at The Otter Gallery, University of Chichester, a follow on project from;
2011 ‘Entrance to a Lane’ exhibition and symposium involving new paintings and critical papers in response to works from the University Art Collections.
2010 ‘Los Angeles’ with Frank McHugh () at St Anne’s Galleries, Lewes
2009 ‘Sounding the Site’ temporary public cross-art collaborations at the University & 10 of Sussex.
2009 ‘Exegesis’ involving the written contribution of over 100 writers and a digital projection made in collaboration with Neil Bryant () and ‘Exegesis Dialogue’ seminar at the Creativity Centre, University of Brighton and workshops at the Creativity Centre, University of Sussex.
2008 ‘Interventions’ with other Fine Art lecturers, responding to the museum collection at Worthing Museum and Art Gallery
2008 ‘Chimerae’ HQ Gallery, Lewes [solo exhibition]
2008 ‘Drawing on Research’, Otter Gallery
2007 ‘Lewes Festival’ exhibition, HQ Gallery, Lewes
2006 ‘Testbed’ Otter Gallery
2006 ‘Paintings’ ‘ St Richard’s Hospital, Chichester [solo exhibition]
2006 ‘Emporion’ The Art Space, West Stoke House, Sussex [solo exhibition]
2003 ‘Paintings’ display in the offices of William Morris Agency, London [solo exhibition]
2003 Exhibition of paintings in the Concourse, EDB, University of Sussex [solo exhibition]
2002 ‘Brighton Underground’ Sussex Arts Club, Brighton
2001 ‘Landscapes’ Adcore Strategy UK, Hammersmith [solo exhibition]
Key Publications
‘I’ve Not Finished: why studios are still a fundamental requirement in the study of fine art’, in Journal of Visual Art Practice, Volume 13, Issue 1, 2014, Special Issue: The Art School; questioning the studio
‘Artist and Place in Peter Iden: Versions of the Downland’ (2013), University of Chichester
‘Onomatopoeia’ (2008) in ‘Nick Bodimeade Onomatopoeia’ Campden Gallery, Chipping Campden.
‘Susan Francis’ catalogue (1992) Arts Council of Northern Ireland
Research
Christopher’s main area of practice is as a painter and his work is regularly exhibited in group and solo exhibitions. He was instrumental in developing a series of exhibitions exploring contemporary uses of landscape in painting for the Otter Gallery, Chichester, including; Entrance to a Lane (2011) and The Margins of the Lane (2012). These exhibitions responded to and included works from the University’s art collections, including paintings by Ivon Hitchens, Peter Lanyon, Graham Sutherland, William Scott, Patrick Heron, William Gear, Paul Nash, John Piper, Edward Bawden, Norman Ackroyd, Paul Feiler. The exhibitions incorporated responses from artists and commentators in the form of critical papers and symposia discussing their conceptual basis. He was also part of the staff team that coordinated the exhibition of new work and symposium that explored conceptual themes related to the Graylingwell hospital site development, Liminal (2013).
In 2010 Christipher exhibited in Los Angeles with Frank McHugh at St Anne’s Galleries, Lewes, Sounding the Site temporary public cross-art collaborations (2009 & 2010) at the University of Sussex and Exegisis (2009) involving written contributions by over 100 participants from a range of cultural contexts and a digital text projection made in collaboration with video artist Neil Bryant.
Christopher is currently a member of the Steering Committee for NAFAE (National Association for Fine Art Educators) and has contributed to the national debate with a paper presented at the annual Symposium in 2014. I’m not finished, a paper discussing the continuing value of practical studio space in the study of art, was published in JVAP (the Journal of Visual Art Research, Taylor & Francis) in 2014. He was a founder member of Manchester Artists’ Studio Association, and Red Herring Studios artists’ collective and Fabrica Gallery in Brighton and a founder member of Artonic public art collective and sat on the boards of eta (Empowering the Artist), Brighton & Hove Philharmonic Society and Micklepage Trust and has acted as a consultant to South East Arts and various artists’ organisations.
Aside from Christopher’s main output as a painter, previous work has included large-scale, temporary public art projects, such as Everybody’s with Artangel Trust on the Spectacolour Board in Piccadilly Circus, London and collaborative, digital projects such as In Vivo/In Vitro by Video Virus shown around the country at venues including Cambridge Darkrooms, the Museum of Installation, London, the Ikon, Birmingham and the Arnolfini, Bristol.
