Bozzetto Sconosciuto, cardboard, plastic, tape, 2013
Since joining Union in 1988, the works of sculptor Chris Duncan have been featured in multiple exhibits nationally and internationally, as well as on campus.
As Duncan, the May I. Baker Professor of Visual Arts, prepares to retire at the end of the academic year, his works are showcased in the exhibit, “Chris Duncan: Beats and Riffs.”
The exhibit is now open in the Crowell and West galleries, Feigenbaum Center for Visual Arts. The exhibition is curated by David Ogawa, associate professor of art history.
Passenger cardboard, wood, steel epoxy, paint, 2023
An opening reception is set for Friday, Sept. 26, 4:30-6:30 p.m. It is free and open to the public.
The exhibit features 44 recent and new works by Duncan, who teaches sculpture and three-dimensional design.
It includes works that trace key lines of his creative trajectory across the years – small-scale bozzetti (sculptural sketches), cast bronze pieces, large-scale works on paper, and numerous freestanding sculptures.
Duncan describes the exhibition as “a snapshot of almost 15 years of work, illustrating the change from steel and concrete to lighter materials, and from an idea of ‘permanence’ to an effort to express more immediate impressions in whatever materials are available.”
Chris Duncan, Andrew Hill (for Willy Clay), 2019, ink and acrylic on Arches paper
“It also illustrates the support I’ve received from Union and my Visual Arts colleagues over the years. This support has enabled me to travel widely, to interact with other artists, and has given me the time to work in the studio, experiment, and explore opportunities here and abroad.”
Duncan said those experiences have widened his horizons and deepened his understanding of the human condition.
“And I have found teaching - and consequently formulating what I find the most compelling reasons for making or thinking about art and culture - a very satisfying and focusing complement to my studio practice,” he said.
Duncan embodies the principles of the scholar-teacher in the Department of Visual Arts. In addition to teaching the fundamentals of creating artworks in three dimensions, he has also maintained a prodigious and dynamic artistic practice of his own.
He’s received awards from the Guggenheim and Pollock-Krasner Foundations, and has been a guest artist at many schools and institutions including the American Academy in Rome, Dartmouth College, Colby College, School of Visual Arts, Virginia Commonwealth University, and others.
“This show reflects Chris's ongoing evolution as an artist,” said Ogawa. “His recent work shows a new, more organic engagement with sculptural abstraction. It includes a new playfulness with materials and a new expressiveness with color, movement and gesture. Like the jazz that inspires him, these sculptures pulse with a steady beat, while he riffs new melodies and harmonies.”
The exhibit runs through Nov. 29. The gallery is open Monday-Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
