Chuck Tingley

Chuck Tingley is a Buffalo based contemporary artist whose paintings, drawings and murals combine abstractionism and realism, while exploring a wide range of themes including personal experience, reflection, conscious thought and emotion. Tingley received his BFA from Buffalo State and currently maintains a studio in the Larkin District.

Tingley’s work and artistic journey stem from his own internal explorations, giving them the space to physically manifest in his visual works. He leaves his reflections open to the viewers, who in turn attach their own personal perceptions, experiences and narrative to “connect the dots” with the hope of creating new, varying connections to each of his pieces. Tingley describes his current wave of thought and creation in his artist statement:

“My current work is a reflection of my own personal memories, inspiration, longing, and lust. Through cycles of repression and displacement, painting is my way of stepping through the looking glass. Relying heavily on the human figure as my subject matter, fragments of dream and memory are refracted through a filter of emotion that is central to the theme of my work.”[1]

Tingley has been featured in group exhibitions at the Buffalo Arts Studio, El Museo Gallery, the Erie Art Museum in Erie, Pa and the Burchfield Penney Art Center. He has had solo shows held at the Olean Public Library in Olean, NY, El Museo Gallery and Buffalo Arts Studio in Buffalo.[2]

His most recent solo show Stream exhibited at the Buffalo Arts Studio March-May 2018. The stream-of-consciousness walk through exhibition included a linear stream of work that combined layers of paint, video and audio components to create detailed renditions of Tingley’s family memories, archives, and personal histories to make for a comfortable familial experience.[3] Designed in the shape of a childhood fort, the highly personal piece was a way for Tingley to work through the loss of his father, immersing the viewers into his world of memory, the past, the present, representing all of the elements encompassed in our experience of life.[4]

Tingley’s use of assorted layers of paint, striking a balance between deconstruction, reconstruction and evolution evoke emotion in both his personal pieces and his commissioned works. He has completed several murals throughout Western New York, including commissions for the West Side Bazaar, Artpark in Lewiston, NY, Art Alley in Niagara Falls and Glow Gallery in Buffalo.[5] Tingley has also commissioned public art for the Albright Knox Art Gallery, including the Freedom Wall on the corner of Michigan Ave. and East Ferry St. in collaboration with John Baker, Julia Bottoms and Edreys Wajed. His portrait of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was featured on the special collector’s edition of Conde Nast Magazine in March 2018.[6]

More information on Tingley and his work can be found on his website.