Chris Follows

Chris Follows is a UK-based artist and researcher known for his mesh paintings, made by pushing acrylic paint through perforated aluminium mesh to produce a pixelated image. He left school at 16 and worked as a chef before enrolling in evening life drawing classes in Wimbledon, going on to complete a foundation course and degree at Wimbledon School of Art, where he developed the mesh technique in his final year. Early works include The Boat, shown at the National Maritime Museum, and a painting of Wimbledon FC's abandoned Plough Lane stadium, now in the collection of the Professional Football Association. Follows founded the Digital Maker Collective in 2016 and became a Tate Exchange associate the following year, curating events at Tate Modern and Tate Britain. Since 2020 he has carried the mesh painting process into virtual reality and generative code, exhibiting digital work at NFT NYC in 2024 and NFC Lisbon in 2025. He is co-founder of the immersive production studio artsXR and Emerging Technologies lead at University of the Arts London.