biography

The artwork of Christopher Chinn

is inspired by the marginalized and dispossessed of our society. His work focuses on the unhoused population of Los Angeles, where he lives and works. Troubled by witnessing the conditions of his neighbors living on the streets of downtown in 2002, he has almost exclusively dedicated his artwork to sharing his compassion for those experiencing extreme poverty, his desire for social and political change, and raising awareness of the defining issue facing LA for the past several decades. His work is created out of active social interaction with the community that he paints. His most recent work depicts tent cities and encampments in and around Los Angeles.

Christopher’s work has been included in numerous solo and national group exhibitions, in Chicago, Washington DC, the Grand Rapids African American Museum and Archives, and throughout California, including the San Luis Obispo Museum of Art. He is a grant recipient of USA Projects, the Puffin Foundation, LTD., and the California Community Foundation. Christopher received his BFA from the University of Illinois, Urbana - Champaign in 1998, and MFA from the University of Southern California’s School of Fine Art in 2001.