Chris Drury

Chris Drury (born 1948) is a British environmental artist. His body of work includes ephemeral assemblies of natural materials, land art in the mode associated with Andy Goldsworthy, as well as more permanent landscape art, works on paper and indoor installations. He also works in 3D (three-dimensional) sculpture.

Biography

Drury was born in Colombo, Sri Lanka in 1948, his family moving to the UK when he was 6 years old. From 1966, he attended Camberwell College of Arts (at the time known as Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts), studying art and sculpture, where he was taught drawing by artists such as Euan Uglow.

Initially frustrated by comparisons of his work to leading land artists such as Fulton and Richard Long, his work continued to develop and in 1982 he made what he describes as a "radical departure" and spent a year creating Medicine Wheel in which he explored seasonal change and displayed objects from nature over the course of a year in the form of a large circle. Medicine Wheel was displayed through Coracle, a small independent gallery with whom Drury continued to work intermittently for a number of years, and was eventually given to Leeds City Art Gallery. Drury has largely continued to eschew traditional larger galleries, preferring to distance himself from commercial expectation and production which has allowed him a freedom to work in remote areas and in natural surroundings and to make art in a wide range of unusual collaborations.

From December 2006 to February 2007, he was artist in residence with the British Antarctic Survey where his work included creating ephemeral pieces with the materials of nature, including Wind Vortices, ice prints and ice igloos which he also photographed.

His works in 3D sculpture include mushroom clouds evoking nuclear testing made out of as many as 6000 pieces of fungi strung floor to ceiling. These were first exhibited at his first major solo exhibition in the US, Mushrooms | Clouds, at Nevada Museum of Art in 2008.

On paper, he uses a variety of unusual media, notably mushroom spore prints, dung, and peat, as a source of colour and patterns, which he might overlay with text or fingerprints, or underlay with maps or other geographic images.

Drury has also produced works associated with the body, working in residence with hospitals and incorporating echocardiogram data and blood into his art.

Drury is an active participant in several organisations which aim to address the effects of and challenge thinking about climate change through art, including Cape Farewell, UK, ONCA (a Brighton based charity which "supports artists and audiences to engage with environmental and social challenges" and Art Works for Change, which creates exhibitions worldwide to advocate for human rights, social justice and to highlight environmental awareness.

Carbon Sink at the University of Wyoming

In 2011, Drury's outdoor artwork titled Carbon Sink created controversy when it was installed at the University of Wyoming and was ultimately censored. The sculpture was constructed of coal and burned wood and was intended to highlight the link between climate change and environmental issues in Wyoming, and the specific issue of Wyoming forests extensive infestation with pine beetle.

Complaints were received by the president of the university, Tom Buchanan, from members of the public, mining executives, Republican lobbyists and other representatives of energy industries who were aggrieved that the university displayed the sculpture whilst receiving considerable funds from state taxes. The sculpture was removed on Buchanan's recommendation, with the initial reason given as water damage, which the later release of Buchanan's emails contradicted. Subsequently, legislation was passed that means any proposed artwork at the university must "reflect Wyoming's history of transportation, agriculture and minerals" and be approved by the Wyoming Energy Resources Council, made up of local energy executives, and by Republican governor of Wyoming, Matt Mead.

Publications Also . Land Art. Tate, 2007. Ben Tufnell. Chris Drury Mushroom|Clouds. Anne M Wolfe Centre For American Places/University of Chicago Press, 2009. . Song of The Earth: European Artists and the Landscape. Thames & Hudson, 2007. Mel Gooding and William Furlong. UK edition. Artists Land Nature. Harry N. Abrams. USA edition. The Ethics of Earth Art. University of Minnesota, 2010. Amanda Boetzkes. Antarctica – Exhibition Catalogue. Drill Hall Gallery, Australian National University, 2012. Drury, Philip Hughes, Bea Maddock, Anne Noble, Sydney Nolan, Jan Senbergs, Jorg Schmeisser. . Art and Ecology Now. Thames & Hudson, 2014. Andrew Brown. . Exchange. Cape Farewell, UK, 2015. Drury and Syrad. Handmade, A2 Leather-bound book. Edition of 3 copies. Exchange. Cape Farewell and Little Toller. Drury and Syrad. Hardback small version, with inserted artwork. . Exchange. Cape Farewell and Little Toller. Drury and Syrad. Paperback version. .

Exhibitions

Mushrooms | Clouds, Nevada Museum of Art, Reno, Nevada, 2008. Solo exhibition. Mushroom Cloud, , Borgo Valsugana, Italy, 2010. Installation and videos. Water, Land and Language, Taigh Chearsabhagh, Lochmaddy, Western Isles, Scotland, 2010 Land, Water and Language, Dovecot Studios, Edinburgh, 2011 Chris Drury, Lloyds Club Gallery, London, 2014 Chris Drury, Oppland Art Centre, Lillhammer, Norway, 2014. Mini retrospective and installation. Exchange, Fine Foundation Gallery, Durlston Castle, Swanage, 15–31 August 2015. A Cape Farewell project with writer Kay Syrad about three farms in West Dorset. The exhibition included a large leather bound book and several works on the wall representing a year's research. Earth, Onca Gallery, Brighton, 10 March – 3 April, 2016. Solo exhibition.

Awards In 2018, Drury was awarded the Lee Krasner Lifetime Achievement Award by the Pollock-Krasner Foundation.