Columbia College Chicago Exhibition: Papercuts

The Center for Book and Paper Arts kicks off its 20th year with contemporary, international cultural styles of paper cutting
With 31 works by artists from Australia, Canada, the Czech Republic, France and the United States, Papercuts transforms the ancient technique of paper cutting from 6th century China into bold, contemporary statements on international historical, cultural and personal identity.

CHICAGO (Aug. 7, 2014)—Columbia College Chicago’s Glass Curtain Gallery and the Center for Book and Paper Arts present Papercuts, Sept. 18–Nov. 8. With 31 works by artists from Australia, Canada, the Czech Republic, France and the United State, Papercuts transforms the ancient technique of paper cutting from 6th century China into bold, contemporary statements on international historical, cultural and personal identity.

“Laboriously cut by hand, the works in the exhibition are poetic interplays of light and shadow,” said Reni Gower, professor of Art, Painting and Printmaking at Virginia Commonwealth University and organizer of the exhibition.

Using an array of tools and paper, the exhibition celebrates the subtle nuance of the artist’s hand, playing with light, shadow and color for dynamic installations filled with delicate illusions. Each artist contributes a unique sensibility within a complex construct that has hand cut paper at its core, manifesting as silhouettes, romanticized fictions, enigmatic reenactments, cryptic scripts, poetic abstractions, and more.

By encrypting their content through arduous and obsessive processes — cutting, rolling, punching, folding, pinning — these meditative works are charged with narrative, metaphor, and beauty. The exhibition is also sponsored in part by VCUarts, School of the Arts at Virginia Commonwealth University.

When:
Sept. 18 – Nov. 8
Reception and 20th Anniversary Celebration of the Center for Book and Paper Arts: Sept. 19, 5-8 p.m.
Artist talk with Reni Gower: Oct. 14, 6 p.m., Center for Book and Paper Arts, Room 205

Where:
Glass Curtain Gallery, 1104 S. Wabash Ave., 1st Floor and
Center for Book and Paper Arts, 1104 S. Wabash Ave., 2nd Floor

Participating Artists:
Jaq Belcher
Béatrice Coron
Michelle Forsyth
Reni Gower
Lenka Konopasek
Lauren Scanlon
Daniella Woolf

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