- Source: Chris Roberts-Antieau
Chris Lee Roberts-Antieau (born November 18, 1950) is an American fiber artist based in Michigan. She described her work as "embroidered tapestries," created with the use of fabric appliqué, thread painting, and hand embroidery. She also draws, paints, and creates mixed-media works.
Early life and career
Roberts-Antieau was born and raised in Michigan. She learned to sew in her seventh-grade home economics class. She briefly enrolled in a high school art class, but eventually dropped out and did not attend college.
Roberts-Antieau's career began in the early 1980s when she began sewing three-dimensional sculptures of circus workers, trapeze artists, and male figures. She then took an appliqué class, where she learned to develop her pencil sketches and paintings into fabric art. Roberts-Antieau began appliquéing her drawings onto fabric, creating a line of vests, jackets, and handbags. Her work has been described as “Embroidered Tapestries” — to represent its combination of fabric appliqué, thread painting, and hand embroidery.
With the gallery in her direct ownership, Roberts-Antieau had more control over the sale of her work and she spent more time in her Michigan studio. After a breast cancer diagnosis, her work became more introspective and often focused on everyday experiences.
In 2017, Roberts-Antieau and her team traveled to Santa Fe, New Mexico, for a pop-up experience. She then opened a gallery in Santa Fe.
Roberts-Antineau owns two galleries and a frame shop.
Select exhibitions
2021 Healing And The Art Of Compassion (And Lack Thereof!) American Visionary Art Museum. Baltimore, MD
2020The Art Of Play. Antieau Gallery. Santa Fe, NM
2019The Secret Life Of Earth: Alive! Awake! (and possibly really angry!). American Visionary Art Museum. Baltimore,he gallery had been in operation since 2010 and moved further into the French Quarter after Hurricane Ida flooded the original location
Dreaming And Doing. Antieau Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
50th Jazz & Heritage Festival. Antieau Gallery, New Orleans, LA
2018 Parenting: An Art Without A Manual. American Visionary Art Museum. Baltimore, MD
Mind and Hands. Gallery 81435. Telluride Arts District, Telluride, CO
The Myth of Certainty. Antieau Gallery. New Orleans, LA + Santa Fe, NM
2017 Ad Lucem. Gallery 81435. Telluride Arts District, Telluride, CO
New Work. Antieau Gallery, New Orleans, LA
Hey Asheville. Horse + Hero, Asheville, NC
James Brown’s Funeral. Antieau Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
Yum! The History, Fantasy and Future of Food. American Visionary Art Museum. Baltimore, MD
Sunny’s Calicoon Pop. Calicoon, NY
2016 Night Flying. Antieau Gallery. New Orleans, LA
Ephemeral Nature. Kohler Art Center. Sheboygan, WI
The Big Hope Show. American Visionary Art Museum. Baltimore, MD
The New Orleanian. Heron Arts. San Francisco, CA
Two person Exhibition. Chelsea Underground Gallery
Gumbo: A Celebration of Louisiana Art. Jeannie Taylor Folk Art Gallery. Sanford, FL
2015 Small Indignities. Red Truck Gallery. New Orleans, LA
Louisiana Contemporary. Ogden Museum of Southern Art. New Orleans, LA
2014 Phantom Limb. Antieau Gallery. New Orleans, LA
Human, Soul & Machine: The Coming Singularity. American Visionary Art Museum. Baltimore, MD
2013 Gathering Stars. Antieau Gallery. New Orleans, LA
Hard Times in Mini Mall. Shooting Gallery. San Francisco, CA
The Art of Storytelling: Lies Enchantment, Humor and Truth. American Visionary Art Museum. Baltimore, MD
2011 What Makes Us Smile. American Visionary Art Museum. Baltimore, MD
Public collections
UWF Pensacola Museum of Art, Pensacola, FL.
American Visionary Art Museum, Baltimore, MD
Boxing Hall of Fame, Canastota, NY
House of Representatives, Washington, DC
Smithsonian Museum of American Art, Washington, DC
21c Museum Hotel, Oklahoma City, OK
21c Museum Hotel, Durham, NC
Filmography
A Love Letter to Tom Waits: The Life of Chris Roberts-Antieau - A documentary about the life and work of Roberts-Antieau.
Publications
Sew Far: The Fantastic, Incredible and Amazing Life and Work of Chris Roberts-Antieau.