Installation view (left): Stardust, 1991, collage and oil on canvas, 46 × 60 inches; Collection of Larry and Laura Gerber. (left, then clockwise) Self Portrait, 1981, oil on canvas, 19 × 15 ½ inches; Courtesy of the artist. Steven, 1984, oil on canvas, 30 × 22 inches; Courtesy of the artist. Amy, 1982, oil on canvas, 27 × 21 inches; Courtesy of the artist.
Installation view (left, then clockwise ): Sweet Arrangement, 1990, collage and oil on canvas, 42 × 31 inches; Courtesy of Vicki Tritsch Buka. Faded Roses, 1990, collage and oil on canvas, 32 × 26 inches; Courtesy of Dean and Melanie Butterman. The Big Bouquet, 1990, collage and oil on canvas, 36 × 48 inches; Courtesy of Lynn Polen.
Installation view (left): Beautiful Tomorrow, 2003, acrylic, collage and oil on canvas, 48 × 50 inches; Collection of Lisa Wainwright. (right) She Had Blue Eyes, 1997, acrylic, collage, and oil on canvas, 87 ½ x 63 inches; Courtesy of the artist.
Installation view (left to right): Little Spittle, 2005, acrylic, collage and oil on panel, 16 × 10 inches; Courtesy of the artist and Carl Hammer Gallery. Chowder, 2005, acrylic, collage, and oil on panel, 24 × 15 ½ inches; Courtesy of the artist and Carl Hammer Gallery. Submissives, 2005, acrylic, collage, and oil on panel, 16 × 24 inches; Courtesy of the artist and Carl Hammer Gallery.
Installation view: Plein Air Landscapes in Wood Vitrine, 1997-2006, acrylic on wood panel, various sizes.
Installation view (left to right): Girls of the Gun, 2006, acrylic, collage and oil on panel, 27 × 24 inches; Courtesy of Paul and Amy Carbone. Early Shore, 2006, acrylic, collage and oil on panel, 27 × 24 inches; Courtesy of the artist and Carl Hammer Gallery. Prima, 2006, acrylic, collage and oil on panel, 27 × 24 inches; Courtesy of Tony Phillips and Judith Raphael. I ♥ I Go, 2006, acrylic, collage and oil on panel, 27 × 24 inches; Courtesy of the artist.February 1 - April 12, 2009, Gallery 1
curated by Allison Peters Quinn
Altogether Mutable is the first retrospective dedicated to the work of Mary Lou Zelazny. For nearly thirty years, Ms. Zelazny has consistently woven narrative, humor and sexuality into the painted image through the seamless use of collage and realism. This exhibition presents a comprehensive selection of this important Chicago artist’s oeuvre to date featuring over 70 collaged paintings and paint studies made between 1980 and 2008.
This exhibition is presented in its entirity online through the Illinois State Committee of the National Museum of Women in the Arts. Visit the “online exhibitions” section to view the works.
Instructed by artists including Ray Yoshida and Karl Wirsum and shown early in her career at the momentous Phyllis Kind Gallery, painter Mary Lou Zelazny is often grouped with the Chicago Imagists. This exhibition aims to expand such perceptions by revealing a trajectory of technical styles and socially-conscious subjects that have pushed Zelazny to go beyond the Imagist tradition and forge a path in the canon of painting. Her works pose questions and make pointed observations concerning the complexity of human relationships and the socialized - even commercialized - roles we play in those relationships. According to Zelazny, “Collage never completes the story; instead it leaves openings for multiple interpretations.”
Mary Lou Zelazny is known for blending the skilled rigors of painting and the spontaneity of collage to create multiple meanings that unravel before our eyes and drive the content of her work. She studied painting at the California College of Arts and Crafts and the School of the Art Institution of Chicago, where she has been Adjunct Professor since 1990. She has also been a visiting artist at various colleges and universities including Maine College of Art, Williams College, University of Iowa, and Northwestern University. Collected by the Rockford Museum, The Museum of Contemporary Art (Chicago), the McCormick Place West Public Art Collection and other corporate and private collectors, her work has received many solo and group exhibitions in Chicago and the Midwest. Zelazny is currently represented by Carl Hammer Gallery, Chicago.
A color catalogue featuring reproductions of all of the exhibited works and essays by Allison Peters Quinn and a short story by author John Haskell will be available. The catalogue for Altogether Mutable is made possible by support from a special assistance grant from the Illinois Arts Council Michael and Sandra Perlow, Paul and Amy Carbone, Larry and Laura Gerber, Mr. and Mrs. Nathan Grossman, Carl Hammer, and friends of the artist.
Image (top right): Stardust, 1991, collage and oil on canvas, 46 × 60 inches, collection of Larry and Laura Gerber
Reviews of this exhibition have been published in the following publications and websites:
flavorpill
TimeOutChicago
Newcity Art
Chicago Reader