This June, STATE Gallery + Studios at The Forge is proud to present WIN WIN: The Work of Chris Hundo. The exhibition will open with a public reception on the evening of Saturday, June 17th from 6pm to 10pm, and continue through July 18th, 2023. This is Chris’s first exhibition with The Forge and the culmination of his residency as part of the STATE Gallery + Studios Scholarship Program. 

Referencing not only the relationship between artist and the individual viewer, but also that of the artist and their collective community, WIN WIN is aimed at deliberately accessible art. Each work consists of multiple phases of physical drawings, the ‘winning version’ of which is then scanned, digitally augmented with color, and printed onto canvas. This ‘arrive at the beginning again’ type of process allows Chris to simultaneously labor over his compositions and also deliver a finished work which is highly affordable, and therefore highly collectible. As he reasons, “when you support the artist, you support a whole community, and vice versa… moving to digital allows for faster results and art that’s more accessible, but still pulled from an initial analog source.”

The works themselves, playful and clean compositions that become deceptively complicated upon repeated viewing, have a buoyant, charming quality. Chris’s characters are highly emotive, despite their simplistic construction - lending an animated feel that welcomes inspection, leading to discovery. 

In spirit of the occasion, WIN WIN will also feature several opportunities for ‘players’, or attendees, to engage in games and obtain their own piece of the collection. For Chris, this embodies the final aspect of the title: “a person’s ability to show up in the present moment and provoke fate, fortune, or lack thereof.” 

WIN WIN will open on Saturday, June 17th from 6pm to 10pm, and run through July 18th, 2023. Gallery viewing hours will be 10am-6pm Monday through Friday, and by appointment with the Artistic Director.