Larry Cressman and Susan Crowell Exhibit
Artists Larry Cressman and Susan Crowell, Michigan natives who have known each other and worked together for many years, will open Material Matters, their first dual exhibition, at the Chelsea River Gallery in September.
The two artists have much in common. Both grew up on the Great Lakes, Cressman in Port Huron and Crowell in St. Joseph. Both studied at the University of Michigan during the late 1960s and early 1970s, working with many of the same instructors. Currently, both Crowell and Cressman teach at the University of Michigan’s Residential College, where both have taught for over 30 years, and at the School of Art and Design.
Despite these similarities, the differences in their work are significant. Crowell teaches ceramics and Cressman teaches drawing and printmaking. While Cressman, whose non-traditional drawings employ a lean, skeletal aesthetic and Crowell’s ceramic sculptures are intensely colored and voluptuous, their work presents intriguing connections and contrasts that create a dialogue about imagery, material, surface, space, impermanence, form, and ideas. Material Matters will feature not only individual, but also collaborative works by both artists.
The exhibition will open with an artists’ reception from 5 until 8 p.m. on Saturday, September 26, at the Chelsea River Gallery, and will run until November 15, 2009. The gallery is located at 120 S. Main St., Chelsea, Michigan.