November 4 – December 16, 2006
RECEPTION: Saturday, November 4, from 5 – 8 pm
COLEEN STERRITT
Recent Sculpture and Drawings
Beginning November 4th, d.e.n. contemporary art will feature an exhibition of recent work by Los Angeles-based artist Coleen Sterritt.
Having exhibited in the southern California area for thirty years, for this exhibition Sterritt will present recent sculpture and drawings, in which she retains her signature exploration into formal aspects of weight and balance, surface and texture.
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In recent years as society
has indelibly changed, many works of art have come to be seen
in a relatively new light as they reflect ideas of imbalance,
the notion of certain geometries as invulnerable, and the disparity
between the raw and the refined. Viewed in the context of these
uncertain times, Sterritt's work ventures into new directions
with an up reaching but precarious verticality, while still
retaining moments of innocence and surreal fairy-tale construction. Sterritt constructs three-dimensional works ranging up to nearly ten feet by joining and stacking together a variety of collected wood - in its raw state as tree stumps and branches, cast-off fragments of milled wood, and found furniture - wherein different states of the same material initiate a dialogue with each other via surface, tone, and odd composition. |
The energy of the organic material (wood) forcibly
bound to its domesticated relative (furniture) gives way to a range
of meanings, from the control as humans we wield over nature, to the
rich dissonance that results from the coupling of the wild versus
the domesticated, to the formal aspects of the investigation and play
amidst a material’s multiple manifestations.
Having made works on paper in addition to sculpture throughout her
career, the exhibition also will include a selection of Sterritt’s
recent drawings. The drawings integrate similar elements found in
her sculpture: the biomorphic coexisting with the geometric, the softness
of the pastel colluding with the hardness of collaged paper strips,
and the efflorescent stains acting as horizon for crisp and delineated
abstractions.
Sterritt was born in Morris, Illinois and now resides in the Pasadena
area. She received her M.F.A. from Otis Art Institute in 1979, and
over the years her work has been featured in several solo exhibitions,
most recently with the Riverside Art Museum in 2006. Her extensive
academic career includes positions at Claremont Graduate University,
Otis Art Institute, University of Southern California, Pepperdine
University, and others. Currently, Sterritt heads the Sculpture Program
at Long Beach City College.
She is a 2006/07 recipient of the Individual Artist Fellowship from
the City of Los Angeles (C.O.L.A.), as well as a previous recipient
of other distinguished awards, including fellowships from the J. Paul
Getty Trust Fund for Visual Arts in Sculpture and the National Endowment
for the Arts. Among the notable collections that include Sterritt’s
work are Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; Crocker Art Museum,
Sacramento; Capitol Group Companies, Los Angeles, New York, and London;
and Scripps College Collection, Claremont, California.
A reception for Sterritt will be held on Saturday, November
4, from 5 to 8 p.m. The exhibition will be on view through December
16. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 11:00 - 5:30.
For visual material or additional information, please contact the
gallery at (310) 559-3023 or info@dencontemporaryart.com.
©2006