Meet Chris McAdoo
Artist, creator, speaker & entrepreneur
Chris McAdoo at Striped Light printmaking studio. Photo by Holly Rainey
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 recently donated his collection of letterpress equipment and presses to the University of Tennessee printmaking Department.
Artist’s statement
“My most recent series 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.”
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
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
