Chris Roberts-Antieau

Chris Lee Roberts-Antieau (born November 18, 1950) is an American fiber artist based in Michigan. She characterizes her work as "embroidered tapestries," composed of fabric appliqué, thread painting, and hand embroidery. She also draws, paints, and produces mixed-media work.

Early life and career
She was born and raised in Michigan. She is the daughter of Finch Lee Roberts and Rosemary Lee Roberts, and has 3 siblings. She has one child, Noah Antieau.

In 7th grade Home Economics Class, Roberts-Antieau learned how to sew. She did not attend college. She signed up for one art class, but dropped out after a few lessons because she didn't understand why an art teacher would want her art to be just like theirs.

Her career as an artist began in the early 1980s, when she began sewing three-dimensional sculptures of circus folk, trapeze artists, and strong men. These works would take her over 24 hours to create, and she’d bring them to the craft fair where she sold these pieces for $18. After realizing that she could in fact sell what she was creating, she took an appliqué class and discovered she could interpret her pencil sketches and paintings into fabric art. From here, Roberts-Antieau began putting her drawings on fabric with the appliqué technique. She created a line of vests, jackets, and handbags with whimsical designs. She traveled the country displaying her work throughout the craft circuit. Her line was picked up by a prominent retailer out of New York City.

While at the New Orleans Jazz Festival Craft Fair, she and her assistant, Chris Redden, took a trip through the French Quarter. Roberts-Antieau spotted a “For Rent” sign in the window of a gallery on Royal Street, and on a whim, called the number. Chris inquired to lease the space for a month to see if it might work out. The Royal Street gallery has been in operation since 2010, having moved closer into the French Quarter after Hurricane Ida flooded the original gallery in 2021.

Gaining control of the sale of her work through direct ownership of her own gallery allowed Roberts-Antieau to spend more time in her Michigan studio. After a diagnosis of breast cancer, she began creating from a deeper, more introspective place in her creative channel. That's when her Limited Series pieces were born. Still creating the joyful works, filled with sweet and comical moments with animals, Roberts-Antieau’s vision opened to the more poignant everyday experiences.

In 2017, Roberts-Antieau and her team traveled to Santa Fe, NM for another “Pop-Up” experience. It was met with the same enthusiastic response by locals and tourists, and the Santa Fe gallery was born.

Galleries
Chris Roberts-Antieau currently owns two galleries and a frame shop, solely dedicated to framing her art. The first gallery opened in the French Quarter of New Orleans in 2010 and is located at 719 Royal Street. The New Orleans frame shop began as a small gallery and frame shop on Magazine Street and moved to 715 Camp Street in mid 2022. The Santa Fe gallery started at 134 Water Street in the heart of the Santa Fe Plaza in 2017. In 2021 the gallery moved to a larger location at 130 Lincoln Avenue and holds an annual Art Retreat.

Select Solo and Group Exhibitions
2021	Healing And The Art Of Compassion (And Lack Thereof!)  American Visionary Art Museum. Baltimore,

MD

2020	The Art Of Play. Antieau Gallery. Santa Fe, NM

2019	''The Secret Life Of Earth: Alive! Awake! (and possibly really angry!)''. American Visionary Art Museum. Baltimore,

MD

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

SELECTED ART FAIRS

2019	Market Art + Design. Hamptons, NY

Superfine! Washington, DC

2018	Superfine! Washington, DC

Texas Contemporary. Houston, TX

2017	SCOPE, Art Basel. Miami FL

LA Art Show. Los Angeles, CA

2016	SCOPE, Art Basel. Miami FL

LA Art Show. Los Angeles, CA

2015	SCOPE, Art Basel. Miami FL

LA Art Show. Los Angeles, CA

2014	LA Art Show. Los Angeles, CA

Art Toronto. Toronto, Ontario, Canada

2013	SCOPE, Art Basel. Miami, FL

Houston Art Fair. Houston TX

LA Art Show. Los Angeles, CA

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