CHRIS ORR RA

The work of Chris Orr has been “collected” since his graduation show back in 1967 by enthusiasts who discover his work an enduring commentary on the foibles of life, and who have to move house to accommodate their burgeoning acquisitions. It was one “collector” who recently coined the phrase “orr-some” to describe a chaotic and surreal situation, rather in the way we use “Heath Robinson” to indicate an improvised contraption.

In over 400 published prints, and in numerous paintings and drawings Chris Orr has created, or recreated, a distinctive world that is nevertheless wired to everybody’s experience. Although he cocks a snook at all and sundry and has long been on the sceptical and subversive wing, Chris Orr is now Professor of Printmaking at the Royal College of Art and is a Royal Academician.

The subjects of his work are often oxymoronic, such as “Small Titanic” or “Book of Books”. The works reveal themselves as labyrinths of contradictory ideas and meanings, but with an overriding serious purpose - to grapple with the stuff of life, its shortfalls, its boredoms and its joy. A rapturous anarchy pervades many of the pictures; and what creates addicts for the work is the attention to detail, such as the inclusion in almost all of his output of a cricket bat, often well hidden and rarely part of the action. It has to be understood that he can’t stand cricket.