Throughout his career Chris Orr has worked in various media, producing countless drawings, paintings and printed works. Early in his twenties, Orr became fascinated with the practiceof printmaking because of its experimental qualities, multiple nature and strong connection to books.

There is a hint of voyeuristic realism that can be detected in Orr's prints. He creates imaginative settings that are filled with familiar objects and everyday activities. The Small Titanic (1993) [1], given as his Diploma work to the Royal Academy, represents the myth of past narratives. It is not an accurate representation of the Titanic but a mixture of various ships. The Small Titanic is akin to a strip cartoon that allows the viewer to scan the image, becoming privy to the inner-workings of the vessel. The Small Titanic is an oxymoron, doubly comical but also alarming. The illustrated figures gamble, embrace, shower and dance onboard, unprepared for tragedy. The print encapsulates the legend; it becomes another report of the ship's tragic history. Orr mixes his own reality with history in order to create an image that stands in for the general uncertainties of life.

Orr blends together many elements that convey contradictions, truths and myths, subsequently offering new ways of interpreting an image. For Orr, printmaking has always been about reversals, both in technique and subject matter. He works in a traditional manner, frequently creating counterproof etchings and offset lithographs. He re-prints impressions so that his images are shown the correct way around, a process that is especially convenient for relaying text. Orr has said that he enjoys the demanding physicality of the printmaking process, 'Reworking, frequently adding, it [printmaking] is an ongoing process that is tactile, letting you experiment and take risks.'

Early on Orr began exploring the lives of notable writers such as Blake, Dickens, Proust and Ruskin. His admiration for the printed word led him to publish six works of his own, his most recent The Multitude Diaries (2008) which offers a large selection of his drawings demonstrating his draughtsmanship skills.

Throughout his career Orr's artistic style has been likened to artists such as William Hogarth and James Gillray. Orr will not willingly classify his work but he does acknowledge those who have inspired him, particularly William Blake. In 1992 Orr created a set of eight prints called The Life of W. Blake that became his personal report of the artist's life. He combined the prints with excerpts from documentary records relating to Blake's life, edited by G.E. Bentley Jr.

Blake at the Royal Academy Schools [2] is a counterproof etching whose central image depicts a cramped room in the Royal Academy Schools. The room is filled with casts, artistic props and the focal point is a coloured statue of Venus holding a tennis racket. To her right Blake is shown working at his easel. Two female nudes flank the central image; the one on the right holds a bow with a tag reading 'Principalities.' Beneath is a small paragraph of text that discusses how the artist George Michael Moser came to Blake, and discouraged him from painting the 'old, hard, stiff and dry unfinished works' of Raphael and Michelangelo, insisting that he focus on works espousing simplicity. Orr relates to Blake's brave resolve to remain consistent in his views, representing the world as he saw fit.

Strolling Actors Undressing in a Ruined Barn (2000) [3] is Orr's tribute to Hogarth's painting (later reproduced as an engraving) titled Strolling Actresses Dressing in a Barn(1738).Hogarth's engraving depicts actors who do not appear to match their roles, like the central figure playing Diana who beckons the viewer to observe her in spite of representing a chaste goddess. Orr's version heightens this tension with several actors undressing or standing partly unclothed. Orr states that 'Pictures are like theatre, the play is always artificial, conveying a number of plots and narratives.' A print is acting out what Orr says are 'some serious bits and quite ironic bits' sometimes in unexpected combinations.

Orr has always been interested in how systems of expression have developed. When Worlds Collide (2001) [4] is an offset lithograph, and part of Orr's Semi-Antic Homeland, Dry Stone Wall Style. In this series Orr focused on the collage method, merging together his own images with those found in vintage sources, like the Ladybird books. The Internet and the notion that 'We have so much access to so many different avenues of information, and they collide together, incredibly profound and stupid ideas with hardly any time to sort them out' has intrigued him. Inspired by the loss of longstanding values, especially after the war, Orr examines the recent chaos of information where everything exists in fragments. Planes fly out beyond the borders, challenging the margins of the print. Bright colours contrast with the old illustrations of barn animals and words like 'trousers' dictate the obvious.

Orr has been attracted by humanity's ongoing need to accumulate information through objects, acquiring and building large collections that link us to our pasts. In Bones (1988) [5] Orr has created an image brimming with details. The ceiling architecture of the Oxford University Museum of Natural History is carefully depicted as are the specimens housed inside. The large dinosaur is the focal point of the work and Orr has carefully illustrated the numerous bones that comprise the bulky creature.

London's Dreaming (2001) [6] depicts Orr's growth beyond small scale settings into packed city surroundings with expansive horizons. Orr is attentive to the history of places, investigating the way the land changes and records human existence. London's Dreaming was inspired by Orr's father who also worked in the printing industry. At the bottom centre of the print is a school photograph with a cut-out picture of Orr (aged 9) seated next to his father (also 9). This print represents Orr's connection to his father and the fact that the city of London infused both their lives, they were, as Orr says, 'taking on the city' in similar ways. The image is littered with silhouettes of fairly discernable landmarks, but implies dreaming because of the subdued palette and fusion of shapes. Cities like London, New York, Nagasaki and Shanghai have since inspired Orr because they are always revealing and concealing their histories.

Orr says that he is 'getting under the skin' and showing all the messy bits of life without hesitation like the 'different aspects of what cities can throw up.' Through his intimately packed settings exposing daily life and large topographical cityscapes suggesting a long history of human goings-on, Orr discloses the small and big realities of the world. He recognizes that like the written word, the image demands rereading; it is an adaptation filled with serious and comical bits whose negations evince reality.

Chris Orr was born in 1943 in Islington, London. He studied at Ravensbourne College of Art (1959-1963), Hornsey College of Art (1963-1964) and the Royal College of Art, London (1964-1967). He became a Fellow of the Royal College of Art (RCA) in 1985 and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Painter Printmakers in 1988. From 1998 to 2008 Orr taught as the Professor of Printmaking at the RCA. He was elected a Royal Academician in 1995 and in 2005 he curated the Royal Academy's Summer Exhibition dedicated to prints and the multiple. In 2008 he was awarded an MBE. Today Orr continues working in his studio in Battersea London, exhibiting frequently at the Jill George Gallery and the Royal Academy of Arts. His work can be found in numerous Collections including the Arts Council of Great Britain, British Museum, National Portrait Gallery, Royal Academy of Arts, Tate and the Victoria and Albert Museum.