chris mcadoo at striped light
  • Artist CV & Resume

    Relevant Representation and Professional Affiliations

    2023 – Present, Chauvet Arts, Nashville, TN
    2020 – Present, Art & Light Gallery, Greenville, SC
    2022 – Art House Knox Featured artist at the Knoxville Museum of Art
    2013 – 2022, Bennett Galleries, Knoxville, TN
    2016 – Present, Rala, Knoxville, TN
    2010 - Present, Pecha Kucha Knoxville (featured presenter several times)
    2008 – 2015, Soho Myriad Gallery and Art Consultants, Atlanta, GA & Los Angeles, CA
    2008 – 2015, Arden Art, Piedmont, OK
    2012 – 2013, Laws Interiors, Knoxville, TN
    2012 – Present, Community School of the Arts, Knoxville, TN
    2012 – Present, Board Member & Vice President, WDVX, Knoxville, TN
    2012 – Present, Member, Tennesseans for the Arts
    2003 – Present, Member, Knoxville Arts & Culture Alliance, Knoxville, TN
    2008 – 2010, Member, Chattanooga Association for the Visual Arts, Chattanooga, TN
    2003 – 2009, Adjunct Instructor, Pellissippi State Community College, Knoxville, TN
    2006 – Present, Advisor for Letterpress/ Printmaking Design Studio, University of Tennessee

    Chris is a regular guest speaker at the University of Tennessee and other institutions in the schools of art, design, engineering, and business.

    Education

    May 2000, B.F.A., with an emphasis in painting, Carson Newman University, Jefferson City, Tennessee

    Exhibitions and Awards

    August 2024 Judge and Curator, Dogwood Arts Regional Exhibition
    March 2022 Art & Light Gallery exhibition
    March 2020 Bennett Galleries Solo Exhibition
    December 2019     Bennett Galleries Exhibition
    December 2018     Bennett Galleries Exhibition
    October 2018    Exhibition and live art experience, RALA, Knoxville, TN
    December 2017     Bennett Galleries exhibition
    March 2016     Bennett Galleries exhibition with Andrew Saftel
    March – April 2013, Solo Exhibition, Phoenix Building, Knoxville, TN
    April 2013     Dogwood Arts Festival Regional Arts Exhibition, Knoxville, TN
    June 2012      Random Acts of Flowers Annual Auction and live art event, Knoxville, TN
    Sept. 2011      Knoxville, TN, Museum of Art, Artscapes Annual Exhibition
    Sept. 2010      Knoxville, TN, Museum of Art, Artscapes Annual Exhibition
    Sept. 2009      Knoxville, TN, Museum of Art, Artscapes Annual Exhibition
    Nov. 2008      Solo Exhibition, Club LeConte, Knoxville, TN
    Oct. 2008       Solo Exhibiiton, Three Flights Up Gallery, Knoxville, TN
    Sept. 2008      Knoxville, TN, Symphony in the Park Annual Auction
    Sept. 2008      Knoxville, TN, Museum of Art, Artscapes Annual Exhibition
    Sept. 2008      Maryville, TN, Pistol Creek Gallery, “A Friend for Life” Humane Society Benefit
    June 2008      Hope Center Annual Auction, Knoxville, TN
    April 2008      Rome, GA, Rome Art Coterie Annual Exhibition
    April 2008      Knoxville, TN, Dogwood Arts Festival Annual Art Show (three pieces accepted)
    Feb.2008      Informal Exhibition and Art Workshop, Reinhardt College, Reinhardt, GA
    Dec. 2007      Knoxville, TN, Arts & Culture Alliance National Juried Exhibition, Award Winner
    Sept. – Oct. 2007      Knoxville, TN, Museum of Art, Artscapes Annual Auction and Show
    Sept. 2007      Tennessee Arts Commission Artist of the week for the third week of September
    August 2007      Solo Exhibition, Knoxville Arts & Culture Alliance Emporium Center for the Arts,
    June 2007      Hope Center Annual Auction, Knoxville, TN
    2007-Present      Ruby Tuesday, Inc. Restaurants, represented by Arden Art, Inc., Piedmont, OK
    November 2006      Solo Exhibition, Omega Gallery, Carson Newman College, Jefferson City, TN
    April 2006      Solo Exhibition, Bowie Arts Center, Erskine College, Due West, South Carolina
    February 2005      Knoxville Tennessee Advertising Federation Gold Award
    November 2004      Group Exhibit, “Breaking the Mold”, Endicott College, Beverly, Mass.
    October 2004      Knoxville Arts & Culture Alliance Inaugural Exhibition
    October 2004      Rose Arts Center, Morristown, Tennessee, Fall Exhibition
    April 2003      Solo Exhibition, The Tomato Head, Knoxville, Tennessee
    February 2003      Knoxville Tennessee Advertising Federation Gold Award
    January 2003       Print Magazine Award of Design Excellence
    January 2003       Featured Exhibition, Hanson Gallery, Knoxville, Tennessee
    November 2002      16th Annual Douglasville, Georgia, Cultural Arts Council Exhibition
    October 2002      Carson Newman College Alumni Exhibition, Jefferson City, Tennessee
    January 2002      Print Magazine Award of Design Excellence
    1996 – 2000      Various college sponsored art exhibitions
    June 1999       1st Annual First Tennessee Bank Art Show, Johnson City, Tennessee

Chris McAdoo at Striped Light printmaking studio. Photo by Holly Rainey

Meet Artist Chris McAdoo

Chris McAdoo is an artist, strategist, and creative professional living in East Tennessee who believes that creativity can change the world. His work is intensely autobiographical and uses paint and canvas to focus on “the stories we tell others, the stories we tell ourselves, and the liminal space between those two shores”. His paintings and original prints have been featured in numerous exhibitions, private collections, and publications around the country and he has been an active studio artist for over twenty years. Chris is also an accomplished speaker and podcast host, traveling all over the United States, focusing on the power of creative thinking, entrepreneurship, and the practice of design. Chris is currently the director of strategy and engagement for the Knoxville Entrepreneur Center, home to the first official ETSY Maker City.

Chris has also worked with Community School of the Arts “Side by Side” exhibition and sat on the board of non-profit radio station WDVX. Chris started his artistic career as a printmaker, and has donated his collection of historic letterpress equipment and presses to the University of Tennessee printmaking Department.

Artist’s statement

“My work focuses on memory (or the lack thereof) and the significance that we attach to objects and places, particularly when we take them out of their original context. My work is an extension of my own experiences growing up in the south and a comment on my connections that give me a visceral reaction to the past rather than simple nostalgia. While the paintings speak to me in a very particular way, I would much rather suggest a narrative to the viewer than to lay it all on the table.”

  • Original Artwork

    Paintings, drawings, and linocuts inspired by “the stories we tell others, the stories we tell ourselves, and the liminal space between those two shores”

  • Speaking

    The High Energy Emcee, Keynote Speaker, and facilitator who knows business & turns events into experiences.

  • Big Ideas Welcome

    Season three of The Big Ideas Welcome podcast pairs business legends and ambitious founders to dive deep into the world of big ideas—successes, failures, and everything in between.

  • Business consulting

    Business Consulting

    Providing clarity, defining purpose, and compressing time for leaders and organizations ready to move fast & fix things.