Chris Barton was born in Derby in 1959. Forgoing Art College, he plunged straight into the world of printing and graphic design and spent eleven years as a freelance art director and visualiser for many advertising agencies in London.

Having always been interested in Films and filmmaking, he began working as an animatronic mechanical designer for Jim Henson’s Creature Shop in 1987. Responsible for creating the inner mechanisms of creatures for such films as The Witches, The Flintstones and Babe for nine years at Henson’s, Chris became a freelance lead mechanical designer for The Fifth Element, Star Wars ‘The Phantom Menace’ and six of the Harry Potter films, working on such notable creations as Yoda, Kermit the Frog, Hagrid the Giant and Mad Eye Moody.

After twenty three years in the film industry, Chris left to join the Honda Grand Prix Formula 1 Racing Team, making aerodynamic models of racing cars for wind-tunnel testing.

For the last seven years Chris has been designing bespoke displays for collectors of original film props and costumes, and in 2015 began putting his acquired knowledge and skills to use, creating his signature four times larger than life cassettes and cassette cases.

With acrylic on canvas, hand painted inlays and individually fashioned cases and cassettes faithful in every detail, the cassettes are the equal of any nostalgic memories of the diminutive originals.

Chris regularly works on private commissions and has enjoyed successful exhibitions in London, Manchester, York, Dublin, Los Angeles and San Diego including shared exhibitions with acclaimed artists Morgan Howell and Horace Panter with their popular ‘Cassette versus Vinyl’ show.

 ‘Cassettes versus Vinyl’ Video courtesy of Seaside Films.

Chris’s Film Credits Link: