HATCH Projects
This Captivating Culture
A two-person exhibition featuring
HATCH Projects artists
Cydney Lewis & Sandra Perlow
Curated by Angela Bryant
Opening Reception: July 6, 6-9pm
Exhibition Dates: July 6-26, 2012

Sandra Perlow, A Question Has Struck, 48” x 48”, collaged materials and acrylic on canvas, 2012

Cydney M. Lewis, Bare Necessity, Plastic bags and wire, 2011

Citing inspiration from the rhythms and relationships associated with social interaction, This Captivating Culture showcases the artists’ parallel uses of contemporary cultural impulses and materials.

Through the use of everyday contemporary materials, such as plastic bags and fabric, both Lewis and Perlow gather evidence of our current cultural status.  Lewis’ work is a response to our culture’s increasing tendency to communicate feelings and emotions through technology.  In Lewis’ view, this inclination can inhibit human contact, which she describes as “an essential pleasure.”  Motivated by her surroundings, everyday materials, and interactions with loved ones, Lewis strives to revitalize that fleeting human connection in both her studio practice and life.

Perlow looks to travel experience, literature, architecture, and the activity of daily life for inspiration. Her studio is located in the heart of downtown Chicago, allowing her to study the movements and expressions of individuals through explorations of her neighborhood and its surroundings. Perlow utilizes layering techniques, often beginning with patterned fabric or paper with a printed surface, to transform her observations of human interaction into shapes and colors. Aided by music, her physically demanding process of scraping, blotting, and smearing resembles a “syncopated rhythm” that is not far removed from the movement of the crowds that captivate her.

Cydney M. Lewis credits her use of color to her father, who was an artist, art educator and founder of The Art Unlimited Children’s Art Studio.Growing up, Cydney’s interest in the arts was far reaching. She studied ballet for 15 years, before moving on to study Architecture at the L’ecole d’architecture des Versailles, France and later studying art at the School of the Art Institute in Chicago. Architecture became the outlet for expression but soon gave way to Hollywood. As an Art Director/Production Designer, Cydney worked on films such as the critically acclaimed Love Jones and later on Oprah Winfreys’ Beloved.

Motherhood brought back a need for a different self-expression and she began to see her art as a way of building awareness of our earth and repurposing materials to create solutions and beauty.  As Cydney stated, “I began to notice plastic bags, drifting in the wind or stuck in trees. The disconnected human spirit led me to reinvent those ubiquitous plastic bags. ” By poignantly addresses the beauty in things that we normally throw away, Cydney reminds us that all too often in this technological age we throw away the most beautiful thing of all: authentic connection with each other.

Sandra Perlow was born in Chicago and studied painting and drawing at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago where she received her BAE and MFA.  She went on to receive a degree in printmaking from the Illinois Institute of Design.  She is the recipient of  several awards including two important residencies as Yaddo and the American Academy in Rome.  Selected exhibitions include the Rockford Museum, the Brauer Museum and Linda Warren Gallery.

Angela Bryant is director and owner of Abryant Gallery,an art consulting service and rotating contemporary art gallery for young/new and emerging artists.  She has curated several exhibitions, exhibited over 70 artists and has participated as both a juror and a panelist.   Angela is also the director of Dominican University’s O’Connor Art Gallery where her programming highlights the work of both emerging and established artists in two-person and group exhibitions. In addition to directing two galleries, Angela has served as an independent curator, guest lecturer and seminar instructor.  She is the recipient of several awards and honors including the Presidential Scholarship Award, and the Archibald Motley Award for Ragdale Artist Colony. In 2009, she received her MFA in painting and drawing from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and continues to participate in exhibitions as a practicing artist.

Chicago Artists’ Coalition, 217 N. Carpenter Street, Chicago, IL 60607. 312-491-8888
Gallery Hours are Monday-Friday 9:00am-5:00pm, and Saturday by appointment
[312.491.8888/cortney@chicagoartistscoalition.org]