Rita Grendze

Best of Show

Summer Show 2011: June 3rd

Out of the many artists who submit for the show, our guest juror has selected seven Honorable Mention Artists and one Best of Show.

• Best of Show artists are awarded: Free two weeks Solo Show in Water Street Studios 2nd floor gallery, valued at $200.
  (Rita's solo show will be anounced soon.)
  

photo by John Granata

BEST OF SHOW:
Rita Grendze
"Prayer"

Rita Grendze

Grendze earned her BFA in Fiber and Drawing from Cleveland Institute of Art in 1987;
and a MFA in Fiber from Cranbrook Academy of Art in 1994.
You can view Rita's website here: www.ritagrendze.carbonmade.com
Welcome to a full sensory experience: Rita's Gallery Audio Tour

Artist Statement:

I think of my art as a study of material and time. Making sculpture from multiples of found and manufactured objects, I often combine a hard structure like steel with a softer, less permanent element, such as felt or thread. Looking for the familiar in objects, I allow myself to be seduced by shapes and materials. I then use a joining process that emphasizes rhythm and the passing of time: welding hundreds of hemispheres together, knitting dozens of yarn cords, drawing thousands of small circles. In each medium I'm creating patterns, but the volume of the materials and markings is indicative of real time passed. Within this framework, I insert materials like spices, hand written notes, and dried plants that use other senses to involve the viewer, to possibly invoke a memory.

I earned my BFA in Fiber and Drawing from Cleveland Institute of Art in 1987; my MFA in Fiber from Cranbrook Academy of Art in 1994. I've taught at Maryland Institute College of Art in the Fiber and Foundations departments, as well as at Jersey City University. Since moving to the Chicago area in 2001, I have worked with Redmoon Theater creating costumes and props for outdoor spectacles, as well as leading youth workshops for their All Hallow's Eve project, but mostly I've been juggling my responsibilities to my family with studio work. My artwork has been shown in galleries and museums, including the ASU Art Museum, Tempe, Arizona; the American Craft Museum, New York, New York and Cranbrook Museum of Art, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. I currently have several pieces in traveling shows, including the Center for Latvian Diaspora Art (in Latvia).

Another Piece in this current show:
"Becoming like the River"

Grendze's current works on view, Summer 2011:

Next
Invitational group show
210 South 5th St., Suite 100 St. Charles IL
May 28th through June 30th
Opening reception Saturday, May 28th

St. Charles Art Fair
Water Street Studios tent
Corner of 1st St and Rte. 64
May 28th and 29th 10- 4

Summer Show
Group exhibition, juried by Lisa Gloria
Water Street Studios
160 South Water St., Batavia IL
June 3rd through September 10th
Opening reception Friday, June 3rd 6-10 pm

Touch
Four artists: Fawn Clark Peterson, Rita Grendze Kari Kraus and Sharon Sychta
Create with Curtis
120 First St., Batavia, Il
June 17th through July 29th
Opening reception Friday, June 17th 5-9 pm

Flow
New work by Rita Grendze
Allen + Pepa Architects
11 Wilson St., Batavia IL
August 5th through September 5th
Opening reception Friday, August 5th 5-9 pm