Inquiries : bleckcathie@gmail.com : 216.559.5667
ZG Gallery, Chicago : 300 W. Superior St. 312.654.9900
(CV : please scroll to the bottom of page)
“Temperado” 8″ x 8″ Oil, handmade pigments, inks on clayboard panel at ZG Gallery 2024 Available
ZG Gallery :: Chicago :: 20th Anniversary Exhibit : 20×20 Group Show
OPENS Friday July 8, 2022 from 5-8pm Thru August 27
300 W Superior Street, Chicago, IL
Clay Pigments on Panel (AVAILABLE at ZG gallery)
CLEVELAND :: CAN Triennial (held in various venues in Cleveland Area) Opens June 8th : M-F 10-5pm
Cleveland Institute of Art @ Anna and Norman Roulet Student and Alumni Gallery
Reception July 29 from 6-8pm : Alongside openings at The Sculpture Center, Artist Archives of the Western Reserve (The CAN Trienniel exhibition is held at various venues running concurrently during FRONT Trienniel, an International Event held in Cleveland, OH
Thru May 6, 2022 :: “Exquisite Attention” at Hedge Gallery, CLE :: VIEW WORKS
3 Woman Show features the works of :: Cathie Bleck, Rebecca Cross, Taryn McMahon :: VIEW ENTIRE EXHIBITION
+ Collaboration of “Exquisite Corpses” an exchange, whereby each artist created one third of the artwork : Cathie Bleck chose Black Stonehenge paper, Rebecca Cross chose Silk, Taryn McMahon chose Stonehenge paper :: VIEW EXQUISITE CORPSE COLLABORATION
ARTIST STATEMENT
The tools I work with-pen, graphite, ink, and clay became natural choices for someone drawn to observe and record the world in close detail. I am interested in the orchestration where the balance occurs between opposing forces: light, dark; intimate, huge; static, moving”.
I am interested human origins, lineage of species, the infiniteness of the cosmos and the mythologies that have been born since the dawn of life on earth. I am also fascinated by the dynamic relationship between humans and the forces of nature that define and reflect in all our lives.
My works on paper for this exhibition are a visual journal, inspired by travel and experiences I have recorded in sketchbooks for over forty years, several of which are on display. My installation of cascading scrolls are my largest works to date and created on Stonehenge paper measuring 55” x 170”. I began these large-scale scrolls in 2011 with dual goals in mind. I wanted to reset and unblock my approach to creating images which for decades I’d been producing in small scale, with minute detail using an unforgiving medium. These scrolls reveal a narrative about the dualities that exist in nature, both past and present and our human evolution.
Drawing with a graphite Lyra soft pencil, powdered graphite mixed with water and applications of clay, I worked in 6 ft. increments using a pulley system my friends renovated spiritual space and gallery at St. Josephat’s.
In the paintings I am using liquid kaolin clay that I mix with powdered pigments and apply to clay board or paper. Inspired by the title of the exhibition, I began my process by recalling the most spectacular things in nature that I have ever witnessed.
2021 Group Exhibition)
Zg Gallery, 300 W. Superior St. Chicago, IL / Spring Collection April thru June
2020 Group Exhibition
The 15TH ANNUAL BLAB SHOW, curated by Monte Beauchamp, @blabworld, opens to the public
Saturday, September 12, 2020 from 1-7pm
Copro Gallery at Bergamot Station in Santa Monica, CA.
30” x 30” x2” AVAILABLE
Contact coprogallery@live.com for inquiriesHere’s a preview link to the artwork on exhibit: http://www.copronason.com/blab20/ The gallery can accommodate up to 10 people at a time inside and there’s plenty of room in the gallery’s back outside area should you have to wait. #coprogallery#newcontemporaryart @CoproGallery #cathiebleck #contemporaryart#flowers#gallery#art
“Permeate” 5” x 36” inks clay pigments on clay board AVAILABLE detail below
“Process and Material” curated by YoonShin Park at Woman Made Gallery in Chicago @womanmadegallery #chicago
August 7 through August 30
2019 Solo Exhibition
“Immersion” : Chicago : Bert Green Fine Art curated by Alix Sloan/Sloan Fine Art : May 18-June 22
“Bouquet” 24″x24″ 2019 Lacquer Inks, handmade kaolin pigments on clay board panel AVAILABLE
“Two Moons” 10″x10″ each panel 2018 Lacquer inks, handmade kaolin pigments on clayboard panel SOLD
“Bleu” 2014 Lacquer Inks, handmade kaolin pigment on clay board panel 12″ x 12″
“Nights Calling” 2019 Lacquer Inks, handmade kaolin pigment on clay board panel 8″x8″ AVAILABLE
2019
RECENT Exhibition
“Immersion” : Chicago : Bert Green Fine Art curated by Alix Sloan/Sloan Fine Art : May 18-June 22
View all artworks at Sloan Fine Art
Available works : Bert Green Fine Art
“Light can come from inside or out, above us or below. We can swim in light without seeing or dance in the dark with perfect illumination. Light within or between us can be the hardest to see…until we pause.” CB
During a self-appointed sabbatical over a year and a half, I traveled in France, Croatia, Iceland and sailed up Vancouver island into Desolation Sound. The extraordinary diversity in the scope, texture, and movement of water in these flowing landscapes has fueled this work. These images explore and reflect feelings of intimacy, serene humility, and occasional clarity. I worked rather intuitively and some evolved into ambitious and even experimental works.
With paints that I make by hand with organic kaolin clay and pure pigments I build layers, finally adding lacquered inks and oil paint. Through these layers of sculptural dimension, light and narratives reveal themselves.
This is an offering to the timeless gifts of inspiration and metaphor available through immersion in this garden we share.
“Chrysalis” 24″ x 36″ Lacquer Inks, Handmade Clay Pigments on clay board panel
Press Release : Cathie Bleck‘s work is a series of luscious explorations into color, light, movement and form. Her process is a building up of multiple layers of organic clay and handmade pigments; she then carves, sands and etches the surface before adding inks, paint, lacquer and/or varnish. These expressive gestures — both subtractive and additive — create depth and lightness. Bleck created this show after an 18-month sabbatical were she traveled the world. Refreshed by glittering waters and enveloped by lush landscapes; she surrendered herself to the universe, utterly and completely immersed. The resulting works are at once bold and intimate, confident yet quiet, soulful and smart. Originally from Chicago, Bleck currently resides in Cleveland.
Bleck will give an artist talk about her work on Saturday, June 22 at 4 pm.
More photos and films from exhibition on Instagram cathie bleck
2015
“Avance” : Chicago : Firecat Projects : August/September
This body of work is a continuation of an ongoing series that explores the vulnerable nature of the human spirit and its immense resilience in the face of adversity. We continually pose questions like, “Now what? What will be? When will it happen?” These questions articulate a moment in time when a transition is taking place, when the world inside us changes. I feel that the most important parts of being human are those moments when we have the courage to rise up and face our demons; it is at these transitions that life’s challenging circumstances are reshaped indefinitely. Rather than focusing on the before or after, I use anthropomorphic characters to depict the state of mind when something happens; that place when we are moving through our lives experiencing courage, love and transcendence.
“Sacrifice I” 46″x 90″ Inks, lacquer and clay pigments on panel
left : “Blue” 36″x48″ Inks, lacquer and clay on panel :
I think of the shadows as a kind of poetry that reaches into our subconscious, providing a transitory space between the dark and the light areas. Darkness heightens our sense of awareness because you have to strain “to see-to touch-to hear-to feel” darkness. Light, however, is our greatest source in seeking a direction. Yet we cannot have one without the other, because the symbolic duality between light and darkness is how we encounter our fears and continue to move forward.
A series of 4″x8″ panels that measure 90″ as a unified group of 11 horizontal panels
Studio shot
CV
Artist statement
“When I was a girl I fell in love with darkness. The tools I work with-pen, ink, knives and clay-became natural choices for someone drawn to observe and record the world in close detail. My art explores the space and tension between opposing forces. These forces in our lives can be profoundly good or extraordinarily bad. I don’t see darkness as a place of fear, rather choosing to associate it with a sense of risk and excitement.
I see and feel the most important part of being human as those moments when we have the courage to be reborn, rise up and overcome adversity. What I find myself drawn to in art is depicting these exploring moments of transformation. Not the condition before or after, but the state when something happens and we are moving through our lives. That is the point in time when we experience courage, love and transcendence. This ‘movement’ of life is a culmination of many pieces which fit together in a complex puzzle that shifts a little here and there, morphing over time. My intent is to interpret this outcome by utilizing interconnected forms, intense contrasts of tone and imagery, emphasizing the necessity for all species to maintain an equilibrium in a world of constant change.”
Education
1978 BFA, University of Illinois, Champaign, IL, studied under Edward Betts, Carl Rehger and Tom Kovacs
1981 Oxbow Workshop, The Art Institute of Chicago
Museum solo exhibitions
2008 Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, OH: Sept14-Nov 7 (show extended)
2008 New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain, CT: Feb 8-May 3 (show extended)
Museum Group exhibitions
2011 “WomenArtists@NewBritain”, New Britain Museum of American Art, CT
2011 “Picturing Health”, El Paso Museum of American Art, TX
2009 Japanese American National Museum, Kokeshi Show, LA
2008 “Picturing Health”, Kalamazoo Institute of Art, MI
2007 Associazione Culturale Teatrio, “43 Woman Illustrator’s Worldwide”, Egg’s Castle, Naples, Italy
2007 “Picturing Health”, Florence Griswald Museum, Old Lyme, CT
2007 “Picturing Health”, Norman Rockwell Museum, Stockbridge, MA
2006 Associazione Culturale Teatrio, “43 Woman Illustrator’s Worldwide”, Villa Poniatowski, Rome, Italy
2004 Santa Monica Museum, “Dialog”, CA
2001 Centro Cultural Recoleta, “Nine Artists from Ohio”, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Gallery solo exhibition
2019 May 18-June 22 “Immersion” Bert Green Fine Art,
Chicago, Curated by Alix Sloan of AlixSloanFineArt
2016 “Histories in Black and White” Shaker Historical Society, OH
2015 “Avance” Firecat Projects, Chicago
2013 “frAGILITY” New Works on Papyrus, Packer Schopf Gallery, Chicago
2009 “Undercurrents” Billy Shire Fine Arts, Los Angeles
2009 “Aqua Regia” Meta Gallery, Toronto, Canada
2007 “Time Lines” Intown Club, Cleveland, OH
2007 “Elemental Stories” Durst Organization at Conde Nast, NY
2007 “Elemental Stories” 1155 Avenue of the Americas Gallery, NY
2006 “Open Spaces” : Heights Arts, Cleveland, OH
2006 “Open Spaces” : I Space Gallery, University of Illinois at C-U Chicago, Exhibition + Book Launch, Chicago, IL
Two person exhibitions
2014 “Rarely Home” with Amy Casey, Maria Neil Art Project, Cleveland, OH
Selected Group exhibitions
2022 Hedge Gallery, Cleveland 3 person show
2020 LA : BLAB, curated by Monte Beauchamp, Copro Gallery, LA
2020 Chicago : Woman Made Gallery, “Process and Material” Curated/Juried by Yoonshin Park
2018 Springfield Art Museum, OH “Art 360” Curated Ohio Artists Ostrich Egg Exhibition
2017 Columbus Cultural Center, Curated Exhibition of Ohio Artists
2016 Massilon Art Museum, “Art 360” Curated Ohio Artists Ostrich Egg Exhibition
2016 Columbus Museum of Art, “Art 360” Curated Ohio Artists Ostrich Egg Exhibition
2016 Southern Ohio Museum, “Art 360” Curated Ohio Artists Ostrich Exhibition
2016 “Art 360” Columbus Art Museum, OH
2015 “Asymetrical Diptych” Corey Helford Gallery, LA
2015 “Your Pencilled Masses, Yearning to be Free” Corey Helford Gallery, LA
2015 BLAB, curated by Monte Beauchamp, Copro Gallery, LA
2015 “Histories in Black and White” Lissauer Gallery, Shaker Heights, OH
2014 Egregore’, Yves La Roche Gallery, Montreal, Quebec
2014 Ampersand’s 20th Anniversary Exhibition, Austin, TX
2014 BLAB, curated by Monte Beauchamp with hard cover catalog, Copro Gallery, LA
2014 “FILTERED”, Friesen Gallery, Sun Valley, ID
2013 25th Anniversary Exhibition, Copro Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
2012 Ursaline College Wasmer Art Gallery, 15 Women Artist’s Northeast Ohio, OH
2012 BLAB, curated by Monte Beauchamp with hard cover catalog, Copro Gallery, LA
2012 “Juxtapoz Turns 18”, Curated by Gwyneth Vitello and Greg Escalante, Copro Gallery, LA
2011 25th Anniversary Exhibition Billy Shire Galleries, LA
2011 “After Life”, BLAB exhibition, Copro Gallery, CA
2011 “15 Women artists in NE Ohio”, Convivium 33 Gallery, Cleveland, OH
2011-2012 “Monumental Miniature Books II”, International traveling exhibition
2010 San Diego Contemporary Art Fair, CA, curated by Mark Murphy, San Diego, CA
2010 “Phantasmagoria”, Meta Gallery, Toronto
2010 New Hampshire Institute of Art, Amhurst Gallery, Manchester, NH
2010 “Sea No Evil” Exhibition fundraiser for Sea Sheperd Marine Conservation
2010 Pratt Manhattan Graduate School, NY
2010 “Manifest Equality”, Los Angeles, CA
2009 Aqua Wynwood : Art Basel curated by Mark Murphy, FL
2009 “Scribble 8” curated by Mark Murphy, San Diego, CA
2009 “Sea No Evil” Sea Shepard Marine Conservation, Curated by Jeff Soto
2008 “Influence” with Tom Balbo, William Sommer + Paul Travis at Metropolitan Galleries, Cleveland, OH
2008 Gen Art Vanguard : Art Basel : curated by Mark Murphy, Miami, FL
2008 “Manifest Hope” Democratic convention, Invited artist, Denver, CO
2008 “Mapmakers” Meta Gallery, Toronto, Ontario
2007 “Green” Robert Berman Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
2007 Art Now Fair : Art Basel : curated by Mark Murphy, Miami, FL
2007 SILA, Billy Shire Fine Art Gallery, Los Angelos, CA
2006 “The Ripple Effect” Parsons, The New School, New York, NY
2006 Picture Mechanics Zeitgeist Gallery, Nashville, TN
2006 Art on Paper, Enid Lawson Gallery, Royal College of Art, London
2004 PictureMechanics Mmodern Gallery, Palm Springs, CA
2003 PictureMechanics Zeitgeist Gallery, Nashville, TN
2003 “Heaven and Hell” Philadelphia Sketch Club Philadelphia, PA
2000 American Greetings Corporation, “Three Artist’s from Ohio”, Cleveland, OH
2002 “Prevailing Human Spirit” United Nations, New York, NY
1993 “World Conflict”, The Carter Center, Atlanta, GA
Awards/Residencies
2015 Selected for MOCA Cleveland Studio Visit with Adam Lerner, curator MOCA Denver
2014 Distinguished Alumni Award, University of Illinois C-U College of Art & Design
2013 Cleveland Institute of Art, Stone Lithography Artist Residency, Cleveland, OH
2011 “Art Therapy Studios” Artist residency at Metro hospital, Cleveland, OH
2010 “8 Hour Projects”, Allegheny College, PA
2005 Gold Medal, Museum of American Illustration at the Society of Illustrators, NY
Lectures
2015 Kent State, OH
2014 California College of Art and Design, CA
2013 Kent State, OH
2012 Ursaline College, OH
2010 Pratt Manhattan Graduate School, NY
2009 Art Institute of Chicago, IL
2009 Sheridan College, Oakville, Ontario, Canada
2008 Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, PA
2008 New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain, CT
2007 Intown Club, OH
2006 I Space Gallery of University of Illinois, C-U at Chicago, IL
2007 Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, CA.
2007 Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI
2007 Otis Parsons, Los Angeles, CA
2007 College for Creative Studies, Detroit, MI
2004 Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH
2004 University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS
2003 The Illustration Conference ICON3, Philadelphia, PA
2002 American Institute of Graphic Arts, Austin, TX
2002 Belmont University, Nashville, TN
2001 The Illustration Conference ICON2, Santa Fe, NM
2001 American Institute of Graphic Arts, San Diego Y Conference, CA
2000 University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA
2000 American Institute of Graphic Arts, Seattle, WA
1999 The Illustration Conference ICON1, Santa Fe, NM
1999 Art Center Dayton, OH
1997 San Jose State University, CA
1993 American Institute of Graphic Arts, Cleveland, OH
1991 Northern Illinois University, IL
Collections
Partial list: Victoria & Albert Museum, The Butler Institute of American Art, The New Britain Museum of American Art, The Library of Congress, Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland Foundation, Cleveland Art Association, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, University Hospitals of Cleveland, Honeywell Corporation, Bauerlien Steel, UCLA, Cypress Funds, Chicago Tribune, St. Louis University, Zygote Press, Art Toy Museum-CA and private collections of Martha Stewart, Henry Adams, Marianne Berardi, Milton Glaser, Brandi Carlisle
Selected Commissions
World Wildlife Fund, U.S. Postal Service, U.S. State Dept. Earth Day Image 2007 and World Ocean Day Image 2012, Sony Records, Motown Records, Time, New York Times, New Republic, Esquire, Atlantic, Martha Stewart, Oprah, Warner Bros. Records, Farrar, Strauss & Giroux, Abrams, Simon & Schuster, Knopf, Harper, Doubleday, Random, Knopf, Sterling, National Geographic, Habitat for Humanity, National Institute of Health, The Lila Wallace Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation, Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, Alan Guttmacher Foundation, National Forest Service, Poetry Foundation, The Carter Foundation, UPS, Federal Express, Tetley, Good Earth Teas
Featured publications/television interviews
-2015 Juxtapoz Blog, “Avance” Exhibition at Firecat Projects, Chicago August-September 19, 2015
-2015 Hi Fructose Magazine, “Cathie Bleck Celebrates Nature with Works on Scratchboard” by Nastia Voynovskaya
-2015 My Modern Met “Artist Scratches Away Pigments to Reveal Spectacular Scenes Celebrating Nature”
-2015 USPS Featuring four US postage stamps
-2014 Juxtapoz Blog : Cathie Bleck & Amy Casey “Rarely Home” @ Maria Neil
-2014 Light Seeing Eyes Feature Interview
-2014 Escape Into Life : Featured Artist
-2013 Taschen Books, Collectable edition, 100 Illustrators with linen slipcase, international selection published four continents
-2012 Juxtapoz Magazine/August 2012/Interview by Gwyneth Vitello, president and publisher of Juxtapoz
-2011 Taschen Illustration NOW 3, 2010, Profile and Selected intro double page spread
-2009 Cathie Bleck Interview, Mark Murphy Blog
-2009 Fairfield, Douglas, “Santa Fe New Mexican” Pasatiemo Arts Magazine, “All’s Fairey in national politics”
-2009 Escape into Life : Artist-Watch, Cathie Bleck : www.escapeintolife, November 4, 2009
-2009 Poetry Foundation, Fred Sasaki : Harriet the Blog, “Transformations” Cathie Bleck, September 30, 2009
-2009 FlavorPill Cathie Bleck feature August 2009
-2009 Juxtapoz Magazine, March 2009
-2009 Cleveland Free Times, Scene Magazine, January 20, 2009, Michael Gill “Art we can believe in” featured artist Manifest Exhibition at the 2008 Democratic convention, Denver, CO
-2008 Cleveland Plain Dealer, December 19, 2008, Evelyn Theiss, Arts Section “Artist Cathie Bleck tells stories with powerful works”
-2008 Chicago Tribune, November 2, 2008, Teri Colby, Travel Section: Midwest Events with image featured from The Butler.
-2008 Northern Ohio Live, October, 2008, Brooke Willis, Art Exhibits:“Flora, Fauna and Fantasy”, review The Butler Show
-2007 CT Central.com, September 02, 2007, Judy Birke, “Picture of Health” group show Florence Griswold Museum, mention
-2007 Cleveland Plain Dealer, September 27, 2007, Steven Litt, Review of Heights Arts at the Library exhibition “Open Spaces: Cleveland”, “Strong photos, shapely forms”
-2007 Applause Television show, WVIZ-PBS Cleveland, half hour segment interview with Dee Perry
-2007 Communication Arts Magazine, June/July 2007, Book Review, RH, “Open Spaces: Chicago”
-2006 Chicago Tribune, 8/18/2006, “On The Town”Featured artwork “Mother Nature’s Son Three” I Space gallery by Doug George
-2006 Chicago Reader, August 5, 2006, Featured artwork “When We Became Human” Friday section
-2006 Artscope.net, September 5, 2006, Katherine R. Lieber, Review of “Open Spaces: Chicago” I Space Gallery
-2006 Time Out Chicago, August 24-30, Issue No. 78, Ruth Lopez, “Scratching the Surface” feature article on “Open Spaces: Chicago” I Space Gallery
-2006 London Times, January 28, 2006, Rebecca O’Conner, “What’s It Worth” mention and featured artwork “Bottle Man” from Art on Paper show
Selected Profiles:
-Taschen Books, Collectable edition, 100 Illustrators with linen slipcase, international selection, 2013
-Juxtapoz Magazine/August 2012/Interview by Gwyneth Vitello, president and publisher of Juxtapoz
-Taschen Illustration NOW 3, 2010, Profile and Selected intro double page spread
-Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper/Arts Section/Dec 2008/ by Evelyn Theiss
-Communication Arts Magazine/September/October 1999 issue/profile of career
-Step In Design Magazine/Premiere redesign July/August 2002 issue/sketchbooks
-3×3, The Magazine of Contemporary Illustration, Vol 3
I used to read “A Lasting friend: Friendship : making friends”(Kidskills interpersonal skills series) when I was growing up. The artwork is intrinsically intricate and spell bounding. I have a few questions about the series, and was wondering if Cathie would help me with some questions.
Hello Cathie!
I am hoping you are the same Cathie Bleck who illustrated a series of children’s books in the 80s.
I have a copy of The Rules at My House – Responsibility: understanding and accepting limits. It’s a fantastic book that is slowly sinking in with my 5 year old, and I am trying to find more books from the series. The copy I have was my sister’s (as the sticker inside clearly indicates! This was NOT my book hahaha) yet somehow I wound up with it, and it’s great for bedtime stories with my son.
If this was you I would greatly appreciate a reply and any assistance you could give on how/where to find the other books.
Thank you so much!
Hi Cathie! Long time no speak-but I do have an opportunity I wanted to run bye-you. Please call me on my cell# 973 868 5119 a.s.a.p.
It’s for Leo Burnett/Chicago and their client WalMart. They’re looking for an artist able to work in black + white. You immediately came my mind. Though, I’m not sure you want to work commercially anymore. This is a national 51 state search for talents (Puerto Rico is 51) For some reason I don’t have your phone # and can’t locate it on the internet-you are a very well protected woman!! Call anytime starting tomorrow at 10:30/am EST. Have a nice night-DG
Hello Cathie. I’ve long admired work, I’ve been to a couple shows and own your book. I’m wondering if you have any originals for sale or prints.