SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

2016 – Dissecting Signifiers, Ukrainian Museum of Modern Art, Chicago, IL
2016 – Present Standard, Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago, IL
2015 – Human Mess (solo show), Lubeznik Center For The Arts, Michigan City, IN
2015 – The House on Mango Street, National Museum of Mexican Art, Chicago, IL
2015 – Supernatural, Oakland Terminal, Oakland, CA
2015 – Progression, 15th & West Gallery, Chicago, IL
2014 – Invasive Species, Lubeznik Center For The Arts, Michigan City, IN.
2014 – Dock 6 Design + Art #7, Chicago, IL.
2013 – The Light Consumers, Believe Inn, Chicago, IL.
2013 – Paint, Sticker, Paste, Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago, IL.
2013 – Neu Folk Revival, Lequivive, Oakland, CA.
2013 – Altar of Loving Intentions, Live installation at International Beethoven Festival, Chicago, IL.
2013 – What Goes Around Comes Around, Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago, IL.
2013 – Assemble, Vertical Gallery, Chicago, IL.
2013 – 83ism, UniBrow Art Gallery, Three Rivers, MI.
2013 – Now See Hear, Believe Inn, Chicago, IL.
2013 – Has-Beens & Wannabes, Zhou B Art Center, Chicago, IL.
2012 – Will To Power, Bridgeport Art Center, Chicago, IL.
2012 – Somewhere Else, UICA, Grand Rapids, MI.
2012 – I Can Arrange That, Walnut Ink Gallery, Michigan City, IN.
2012 – PLAY!, Believe Inn, Chicago, IL.
2011 – Tape: A Celebration, Chicago Art Department, Chicago, IL.
2011 – Is This Thing On?: The Art Of Comedy, Cobalt Studio, Chicago, IL.
2011 – Chicago Street Art Show, Chicago Urban Art Society, Chicago, IL.
2010 – Rubber Swords, Lovers & Fighters, Lorenzo Homar Gallery, Philadelphia
2010 – The Lando Lake Effect, Debut EP from This Mother Falcon (my band)
2009 – Church of Wife, Wuv & Waughter, Gallery 3, San Francisco, CA.
2009 – Mating Call, Believe Inn, Chicago, IL.
2008 – Manifesto, D-Structure, San Francisco, CA.
2008 – Indy Windy Love, IUN Gallery for Contemporary Art, Gary, Indiana
2007 – Allegoric, Bridge Art Fair, London
2006 – Public Display Of Affection, Walker’s Point Center For The Arts, Milwaukee, WI.
2006 – The Group Group Show, Version Fest, Chicago, IL.
2006 – 9 Lives, Parts Unknown Gallery, Chicago, IL.
2006 – Square Foot, Thinkspace Gallery, Los Angeles
2006 – Seasick Rhyme (solo show), Elmhurst College, Elmhurst, IL.
2005 – Birdhouse, Lab 101, Los Angeles, CA.
2005 – Home Sweet Street, Copenhagen, Denmark
2005 – Mike Genovese, Sayre Gomez, Chris Silva, Parts Unknown Gallery, Chicago, IL.
2005 – Tragic Beauty, Open End, Chicago, IL.
2005 – The Natural Low, Victoria, BC, Canada
2004 – Little Utopias, Heaven Gallery, Chicago, IL.
2004 – Group Show, Governors State University, University Park, IL.
2004 – Amor y Esperanza, Defiance Gallery, Chicago, IL.
2004 – Chris Silva & Juan Angel Chavez, Higher Gallery, Chicago, IL.
2003 – Surface Tension, ARC Gallery, Chicago, IL.
2003 – Chris Silva & Michael Genovese, Page Open Studio Program, Chicago, IL.

COMMISSIONS, YOUTH EDUCATION, & PUBLIC WORKS
2015 – Yollocalli, youth mural project, Chicago, IL
2015 – Art & Street Culture course at SAIC
2015 – OFS Brands, 7′ x 11′ reclaimed materials mural for Chicago showroom
2015 – Tioga Elementary School, youth mural project, Bensenville, IL
2015 – Prudential Building, 7′ x 50′ collaborative mural for new south entry way
2014 – CBRE, 14′ x 26′ wall installation for new Chicago office space
2014 – Youth Mountain Magic, 8′ x 70′ mural with students of my Art & Street Culture course at SAIC
2014 – Linked In, 9′ x 40′ mural commission for new Chicago office space
2014 – SxSW, designed the City Of Chicago’s booth
2013 – Love Now, Mural project for WPB Chamber of Commerce’s Orange Walls Project, Chicago, IL
2013 – With All Of Our Might, Youth mural project for Yollocalli, Chicago, IL
2013 – Endgrain, Interior reclaimed wood mural for the Chicago restaurant
2012 – Sailing To The Home Of The Heart, Youth mural project for Yollocalli, Chicago, IL
2012 – Boom Boom, Youth mural project for After School Matters, Chicago, IL
2012 – Diamonds + 1 x Infinity, Large art piece for Prime 8 Art League, Chicago, IL
2012 – Back To the Future Primitive, Large mural commission for 1871, Chicago, IL
2011 – 63rd Street Magic, Collaborative mural with Ruben Aguirre, Chicago, IL
2011 -Plant Seeds, Temporary mural for IN:SITE Projects, Milwaukee
2008 – Running Man, Watercut steel sculpture, Sound Transit System, Seattle, WA
2006 – Most Of Us…,Temporary mural for IN:SITE Projects, Milwaukee, WI
2005 – You Are Beautiful, Large mural commission for City of Chicago
2004 – Amor, Large mosaic commission, Chicago Transit Authority
2003 – Amor, Esperanza, Alma, Mural commission for Uprise Skateshop, Chicago, IL
2002 – Pajaro De La Luz Brillante, Mural for Westtown Center For Aging, Chicago, IL

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Manco, Tristan (Compiler), Raw Materials, Thames & Hudson 2012
Good Art On View In Chicago, Artletter.com/Huffington Post, March 5, 2012
Critic’s Picks: Chicago, Art Ltd Magazine, September 2011
Ganz, Nicholas (Compiler), Graffiti World: Street Art From 5 Continents, Abrams 2009
Hübner, M. (Compiler), Tactile, High Touch Visuals, Gestalten Press 2007
Artist Profile, Juxtapoz Magazine, Feb. ’07 issue
Fogelson, D. (Compiler), Graffitecture, Front 40 Press 2007
Hundertmark, Christian (Compiler), Art Of Rebellion 2, Publikat 2006
The Art Issue, Cool’eh Magazine Issue 10, August 2006
Up Until Now, Upper Playground 2006
40 Outdoor Artworks We Love, Time Out Chicago, January 21, 2005
Plan Ahead, Public Art Review Issue 32, 2005
Off The Streets, Time Out Chicago, January 3, 2005
Huebner, Jeff & Gude, Olivia, Urban Art Chicago, Ivan R. Dee 2000

AWARDS
2015 – 3Arts, Awardee
2014 – Maker Grant, Honorable Mention
2012 – ArtPrize, Jury Award, Best 3D Piece, Grand Rapids Michigan
2008 – London International Creative Competition, Honorable Mention
2007 – Illinois Arts Council, Fellowship Grant
2005 – CAAP Grant, Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs

COLLECTIONS
Urban Institute for Contemporary Art, Grand Rapids, MI.
City of Chicago Public Art Collection
Chicago Public Schools

I see art as a way of thinking and acting in the world rather than merely a stylistic or material practice. I
am concerned with how people relate to the self, to each other and to their environment and aim to give
artistic presence to my humanity and concern, or simply to present a joyous and generous alternative to
the divisive and hateful forces at work in our world. I believe audio/visual beauty sets a tone which
helps to facilitate more harmonious social interactions in it’s presence. I seek to make work which is
engaging to children, speaks to the inner children of adults, and has a healthy dose of unpretentious
complexity. I appreciate eye candy, but work to include a serving of soul food in my offerings. I’m
interested in visual work which is felt intuitively, in much the same way music is experienced. I seek
beauty, resonance, and harmony through interesting combinations of, color, texture, lighting, sound,and
partnership with collaborators. My frequent practice of collaboration seeks to pursue a less self-centric
approach to art making – one which embraces the challenge of sacrificing individual control, or credit,
for the greater good of the projects, and in the service of a larger community. I am more interested in
seeing what we can do than merely showing what I can do.

While philosophically framed by these intentions, I encourage my work to reveal its own logic, speak
its own language, and remain open, since that is how I find the most resonant beauty and poetry
emerges.

-Chris Silva