June 21 - August 11, 2007

Lawrimore Project is honored to mark its one-year anniversary by celebrating the 20-year career of Seattle artist, Cris Bruch. A significant figure artistically, politically and professorially in the region, the exhibition is an opportunity to survey Bruch's unique contribution to northwest art. From the artifacts, sculpture, drawings and photo-documentation of his socio-politically motivated installations and street actions, to his refined sculpture and works on paper of recent years, the five exhibition areas of the gallery will feature work from all stages of Bruch's impressive career.

IN THE MAIN SPACE

Beginning at the end, Bruch's artistic inquiries to date culminate in the Main Space featuring a selection of his most recent sculpture and works on paper. Utilizing such diverse materials as wood, paper, string, resin, metal and Alpolic, Bruch's latest pieces are decidedly his most formal, and reveal his exacting standards of craftsmanship and rigorous social and conceptual underpinnings. Highlights include: Muttlerhulse, 2007, a large-scale formal sculpture made with aluminum composite material that relates to the complicated shingling of old-world German architecture; PILGRIM, 2004 [shown at right], a meticulous coiling of painted paper; Perfect Landscape, 2007, an omphalos cum geometric marvel; and Sketchbook, 2007 [shown above right], a 'crumpled page' sculpture made from 100s of facets cut from the large plywood sheets on which Bruch sketches his forms, gathers his conceptual thoughts, and computes the mathematical complexities of his work.

IN THE WHITE CUBE

Making manifest Bruch's particular creative and practical processes, the White Cube has been overrun by an installation of towering steel sculpture. Banded, spiral forms appear to grow on their own accord, coiling, repeating and expanding methodically across the room such that viewers are inclined to heed the title: Don’t Feed It, 1993.

IN THE HALL

It's ironic, perhaps, that Bruch's public efforts to enact change--to engage Seattle, its people, and, literally, its streets--have been moved inside. The Hall is dedicated to Bruch's socially motivated work from the late 80s. In his much talked about, but rarely seen shopping cart pieces, we see Bruch as both artist and activist. A formal object such as Attention Shopers, 1985, a shopping cart completely sheathed in riveted steel, creates a dialogue between art and consumerism. Roller Roaster, 1987 shows Bruch questioning the function and potential of art as he removed it from the studio, the gallery or the museum, and deployed it in the streets. 93 Pieces, 1988, a crushed and scattered shopping cart, provides a definitive, though slightly tragic exclamation point to this body of work. These works are important benchmarks in the development of Bruch's artistic and social consciousness, but also have cultural relevance today as we continue to struggle with issues of poverty, homelessness, and hunger.

IN THE BLACK BOX

Bruch's installation in the Black Box conflates Minimalist sculpture, folk art, humanist endeavor, social activism, and the Post-Minimal scatter art of Barry Le Ve and contemporary acolytes. Lit from beneath, perforated with enigmatic messages ("dreaming doing craving," "paths not taken disappear"), the trash can lids are littered across the floor in piles and tangles of wire. How Did I Get Here?, 2001, from which this survey takes its title, reveals Bruch's engagement with the history of art, while exposing his struggle to find his own place within it.

Also in the Black Box: We're pleased to debut Idle, 2007, a video of the artist sleeping while a motorcycle's engine running in neutral provides the soundtrack to his reverie.

IN THE BACK ROOM

Stacked liquor bottles defy gravity in The Back Room. Collected by the artist in alleys outside his former studio in Pioneer Square, the bottles are what remains of Burden of Proof, 1990, a sculptural installation and testament to Bruch's interest in engaging his immediate surroundings through his art. The piece is an important transitional moment for Bruch--still socially conscious, still wrestling with his place in contemporary art, especially with the rise to prominence of the glass movement in the northwest, this piece also presages the rifined forms of his recent sculpture. Also in the back room: a selection of early sculpture, prints and drawings. We're particularly excited to include examples of Bruch's Street Rubbings--meticulous palimpsests amassed from the streets, sidewalks, sewer covers, architectural details and historical placards he was 'drawn' to memorialize while walking through Seattle.

THE QUICK C.V.

Cris Bruch (b. 1957) received his B.F.A. in 1980 from University of Kansas, Lawrence, and completed his M.F.A. at the University of Wisconsin, Madison in 1986. He has since been included solo and group exhibitions in Seattle, Portland, Olympia, Port Angeles, Boise, Salt Lake City, Chicago, Bellingham, Cincinnati, Milwaukee, Ratingen and Dusseldorf, Germany. In 2000, Bruch's Duty Cycle was featured at Seattle's Suyama Space, and later traveled to the Boise Art Museum in 2004. In 2003, the Salt Lake Art Center organized the first retrospective of Bruch's work, entitled "Dreaming, Doing, Craving." He has received numerous public commissions, residencies, and awards including the Artist Trust/Washington State Arts Commission Fellowship, 2006; Alumni Achievement Award, University of Wisconsin, 2003; the Neddy Fellowship, Behnke Foundation, 2003; and the Betty Bowen Memorial Award, 1990. Bruch has received critical acclaim in national magazines such as Art in America, Sculpture, Artforum, Artweek, and ArtNews. His work is featured in the permanent collections of the University of Washington, Henry Art Gallery; Tacoma Art Museum; New York Public Library Print Collection; Microsoft Corporation; Seattle Portable Works; King County Art Collection; Davidson College; Stadtsparkasse Dusseldorf; Washington State University Museum of Art; and The Seattle Art Museum; Most recently, his work was included in the 2007 Northwest Biennial at the Tacoma Art Museum. Bruch is represented by Elizabeth Leach Gallery in Portland whom we would like to thank for their assistance with the exhibition. He lives and works in Seattle.

A full-color, harbound catalog with an essay by Elizabeth Bryant is available. View | Inquire

Read Reviews:

The Stranger

Art Access

The Stranger Podcast - Jen Graves Interviews Cris Bruch

Seattle PI - online

Seattle PI - print edition

Seattle Times

More about the artist’s work