Tim de Christopher began his art career in 1977 while living in New York’s Lower East Side and attending Cooper Union. He is now an established artist known for his stone carvings featured in private collections and public installations, including gargoyles for the facade of the Jewish Museum in New York City and a major work titled Rock Paper Scissors installed in Turners Falls. With this public artwork, de Christopher has made his mark on the town of Turners Falls.
Paper and Stone is a retrospective of de Christopher’s artwork, on view in the Open Door Gallery at the Worcester Art Museum. Featuring stone carvings, paintings, prints, and drawings, this maximalist celebration highlights Tim’s consistent artistic voice across media, as well as his legacy of creativity, humor, and gift for elevating the everyday. A special highlight of this exhibition is the display of Tim’s Napkin Drawings—600 napkin sketches made from 1977 to the present day, installed in the drop-in studio. A literal visual diary of the artist.
Tim shares about his art: “We love to use the phrase ‘etched in stone,’ with an ironic wink, but to me it has a vital immediacy. I am a stone carver, and I tell stories in stone. We know our ancient history largely from artifacts in stone left behind by past civilizations. I want to follow that tradition but with a contemporary twist. My vision is to capture events—general and specific moments in time—that relay milestones in our shared human experience, events that have marked episodes in our collective history.”
The Open Door Gallery is a gallery space for artists with disabilities, created in partnership with Open Door Arts, a program of Seven Hills Foundation. The gallery is located in the Higgins Education Wing and admission is always free.
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