Clarice Dreyer: Bird On A Limb
November 17 2010 - February 13 2011
A wonderful work of art from MAM's Permanent Collections by Bozeman, Montana, sculptor Clarice Dreyer will be suspended in MAM's radiant light well. Dreyer is a respected and widely exhibited artist known for her large scale cast aluminum and bronze sculptures that display rich detail, economy of gesture, and wildly complex subtleties of line. Dreyer earned a BFA from Montana State University and an MFA from UC Berkeley. She has received numerous awards, commissions, and fellowships. This mobile was generously gifted to the museum by St. Patrick Hospital and Health Sciences Center in 2007.
This bronze cast mobile delights the eyes and engages the mind. Brightly colored birds dance against the bronze wood in greens, reds, yellows, and blues. In the artist's own words: "I see in nature what I feel in myself - mystery, complexity, simplicity, strength, weakness, beauty, joy, and pain. These are the elements that give life to my art. Birds, snakes, butterflies, stones, and Clarice Dreyer, Bird on a Limb, detail. plants help to define daily experiences for us all. General contrasts of life, such as strength and fragility, are mirrored in our surroundings. Life and nature are additive and complex - as is my art. My work is a search for images of simple and direct visual power. I consider art and life [to be] one."