CJ Pyle

C.J. Pyle (b.1956) grew up in a working-class family in Richmond, Indiana. His artistic endeavours began when he was at school and he would copy images from his textbooks. His mother, who was a creative person, recognised and supported his talent from early on. Pyle learnt about colour and artistic techniques from library books but describes himself as being a daydreamer at school.

During puberty he became a very good drummer and soon began playing locally in rock ‘n’ roll bands, whilst continuing to draw all the time as there was a lot of down time, waiting for things to happen. Around the year 2000, Pyle became bored of what he was doing and decided to explore new artistic territory, feeling something had hitherto been missing in his art. He started developing his now well-known portraits, instantly feeling that he was on the right path. He has always been fascinated by portraiture, making up characters and bringing out different personalities with the way he portrays them. He describes them as ‘humanoid’, some may look like they’re deep in thought, and others may look goofy. He draws on the reverse of LP record sleeves because he likes the texture of them and he thinks he gets the best reaction from his pens on that surface. He prefers LP covers from the 80’s because of the paper used to make them then. He believes it adds character to his drawings and that the covers have a kind of life of their own, a history. He gets the sleeves from the discount bins in his local record store. Pyle has developed his own personal style after 30 years hard work as a working artist, drawing constantly while perpetually pushing his creative boundaries over the years.

“I like making two-colour portraits; I don’t really know why I just do. As a kid, drawing faces is what I fixated on. I also find creating an image with limited colour much more challenging than one created with many colours.”

2024 From the Neck Up (solo show), Olsen Gallery, Sydney, Australia
2024 Perspectives: The Human Figure in Art, Carl Hammer Gallery, Chicago
2024 Hair Pieces, Heide Museum of Contemporary Art, Australia
2023 Manchester Contemporary Art Fair, Manchester Central
2023 Why We Linger, Darbyshire, London
2022 To all the Kings who have no Crowns, Carl Freedman Gallery, Margate
2020, Crawling From The Wreckage, Carl Hammer Gallery, Chicago
2019, The Chicago Imagists : Before And After, The Lubeznik Center For The Arts, Michigan
2020, In A Sky Full of Shining Stars, Unknown Gems Can Be Found - To Feel Change and Expansion in Our Universe, Shibuya Koen-dori Gallery, Japan
2015, Shake your Undertaker, The Hughes Gallery, Australia
2014, Saints and Sinners, Carl Hammer Gallery, Chicago
2013, Raw Vision: 25 years of Art Brut, Halle St Pierre Museum, Paris
2011, Twisted, Ricco Maresca Gallery, New York
2009, Kilroy's Delight, Carl Hammer Gallery, Chicago