Chris Price

Jumping on a bike is a great way for anyone to get healthy, but for artist Chris Price cycling is crucial in allowing him to cope with cystic fibrosis. Pedalling around his adopted home town of Bristol helps him maintain good lung function; and also provides him with plenty of inspiration for his work.

For Chris’ Every Bike in Bristol project he began drawing portraits of the bicycles of all shapes and sizes that inhabit the city and began recording their owners’ stories to document the relationships between man and machine.

You can check out his pedal-powered artwork at the Iklect group show in Brighton, July 25-27.

Tell us a bit about yourself?
I graduated last year from UWE Graphic Design in Bristol. During my time at uni I fell in love with the city and decided to stay and start a career as a designer. Currently I work freelance based in the Spike Design studio, part of Spike Island in Bristol. I love the freedom and the possibility of working on something different every day. I’m very multi disciplined and can work on Apps, Illustration, Motion Graphics, Web Design or anything else I fancy putting my hand to.

Originally I grew up in a tiny village outside of York. It is a fairly isolated place so I spent a lot of time teaching myself the technical stuff. For me art is about curiosity, solving problems, telling stories and sharing ideas. I can’t remember when this started it’s just how I’ve always approached everything I’ve done. I have a very DIY ethos and try to use what’s around me creatively.

What do you love about cycling?
Personally for me, cycling is a way to maintain good lung function as I suffer from Cystic Fibrosis. As well as fitness I love the engineering challenges bikes inevitably have. I currently own 4 bikes (2 in Bristol and 2 back in York). I have a strong connection with all of them. They are all yellow or orange and have interesting stories attached. Bikes can last a long time and people go through a lot with them. I love working with human interactions and stories so bikes seemed like a vehicle to investigate this. From a design perspective I love the simplicity and variety.

Could you explain the Every Bike In Bristol project?
Every Bike in Bristol is an exploration into the relationship between bike and rider. A collection of personal stories and bespoke illustrations to share with the world. This is an ongoing personal project that has been a part of my life ever since I moved to Bristol. It started with the concept of drawing every bike in Bristol ‘one line at a time’, by creating single line representations of the variety of bikes that Bristol showcases day to day.

I began documenting, illustrating and leaving tags on other people’s bikes asking them to submit a story to the website. I became really inspired by other people’s stories; their past bike-loves, their perfect bike, the good times and bad times they’ve seen from the saddle. From these collected narratives I illustrate each bike and collate them together to produce prints, zines, t-shirts and anything else to celebrate people’s bikes.

What will you be showing at Iklect?
At Iklect I will be showing a variety of prints from the Every Bike in Bristol collection. There will also be some hand made tags if anyone is interested in submitting a story to the project. As well as Every Bike in Bristol I also have another project there. Al who organises Iklect is a good friend of mine and has offered to run some workshops showing people how to make a DIY Projector based around another project I created called Project Yourself.

Head over to Chris’ website or check out his work at the Iklect group show in Brighton, Friday July 25 – Sunday 27 at the Circus Street Old Market space.