Chicago IL, February 12, 2004 - New York artist Lesley Dill uses constructions of paper, paint, fabric, text and metaphorical imagery to create delicate yet provocative costumes that explore the relationships of body, soul and language, and the ways in which words mediate between the interior emotional world and the exterior social realm. Cris Bruch's monumental paper structures are formalist, abstract investigations of material, form and mass that address his fascination with work and the cycles of labor and rest that drive our lives. His sculptures appear to be made of cast iron, steel or wood, rather than paper.
Structure and Skin, an exhibition of work by Bruch and Dill, will open at Columbia College Chicago's Center for Book and Paper Arts on Friday, March 12 and run through April 24, with an opening reception on March 12 from 5:30 - 7:30 pm.
Lesley Dill will present a slide lecture on her work during the opening reception. Cris Bruch will present a slide lecture on his work on Friday, March 5 at 6:30 pm. All events take place at the Columbia Center for Book & Paper Arts and are free and open to the public.
The Center is located at 1104 S. Wabash, 2nd floor. Gallery hours are Monday - Friday, 10 am - 5 pm; Saturday, 10 am - 2 pm. Call 312-344-6630 for more information.
"This is the first time their work will be shown together," says curator Suzanne Cohan-Lange, a sculptural artist and chair of Columbia's interdisciplinary arts graduate program. "As an artist and educator, I was immediately struck by the way in which their work addresses very different aspects of human endeavor. I find Cris's work to be an embodiment of his concern with the social, extroverted world of labor and work, very yang. Lesley's world is all about the interior, the yin of our lives. It's interesting that while Lesley credits living and working in India as a major influence on her work, Cris's work often has the meditative quality of a Zen garden. Both these artists really push the boundaries of paper as an art form and I think this will be an extraordinary exhibition."
Cris Bruch was born in Kansas City Missouri in 1957. He earned an MFA from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. His work has been exhibited in galleries in Oregon and Washington State as well as in Dusseldorf Germany and is in the permanent collections of the Tacoma Art Museum, Microsoft Corporation, the Seattle Art Commission and the Stadtsparkasse in Dusseldorf.
Lesley Dill was born in Bronxville New York in 1950. She earned a BA in English from Trinity College, Hartford, an MA in art education from Smith College and an MFA from the Maryland Institute. She has exhibited nationally and internationally and her work is in major collections at the Whitney Museum, Yale University Art Museum, High Museum of Art and the St. Louis Art Museum.
Media Contact: Micki Leventhal, 312-344-7383; mleventhal@colum.edu