CURT BRILL

CURT BRILL Biography

Curt Brill chanced upon sculpture as a means of expression while taking a pottery class at Cornell University. After receiving a B.S. in graphic and product design from the university, he embarked on a career as a sculptor and gained a national reputation for large-scale raku pottery. Since then, Brill has experimented with such varied media as plaster, metal, foam, and telephone wire. In 1980, however, he poured his first bronze and discovered a fascination with the medium that he has since made his own.

Brill's female bronzes are caught in relaxed poses, which the artist rapidly sketches as his models naturally sit, stand, or lie down. He then creates a small-scale model in clay or wax, making sure to retain the immediacy of the original sketches. While he casts bronzes from these original models, Brill is best known for the larger-than-life-size figures that result from scanning the originals to Styrofoam and, from there, working a proportionally accurate model out plaster, clay, or wax. The final results are sculptures stripped of heroism, narrative, and romanticism. This realism, due in part to the artist's experience as a drug rehabilitation counselor and a professional in state-run mental institutions, strives to find the beauty and grace in human imperfections, not in spite of them.
 

CURT BRILL Description

Curt Brill has shown widely throughout the United States and Japan. His work has been featured in solo and group exhibitions at such venues as the Amakusa Community Center (Japan), Macchi Community Center (Japan), Cornell University, Tokyo Museum of Art, and Tucson Museum of Art.
 

CURT BRILL Statement

My search in the visual arts is for the hidden human spirit - that small part that makes us each unique, yet finds us a common home. In my pieces I first search for movement, then I search for the humor to help carry me through the piece, and - in completion - I search for serenity.
 

CURT BRILL Resumé

Solo Exhibitons
2012 Boone, North Carolina Turchin Center For The Arts 2009 Tucson International Airport, Tucson, AZ
2009 Kouros Gallery, New York, NY
2008 Downtown Main Library Plaza, Tucson, AZ
2008 The Gallery at 6th & 6th, Tucson, AZ
2006 The Gallery at 6th & 6th, Tucson, AZ
2005 Tucson, AZ Galleria Musou, Tucson, AZ
2004 University of Arizona Museum of Art, Tucson, AZ
2004 Bill Lowe Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
2003 Bill Lowe Gallery, Atlanta, GA
2003 MHB Gallery, Omaha, NE
2001 Vanier Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ
2000 Vanier Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ
1998 Raw Gallery, Tucson, AZ
1998 D C Harris, Tucson, AZ
1996 Canyon Ranch Resort, Tucson, AZ
1995 Edith Lambert Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
1993 Tucson Museum of Art, Tucson, AZ
1992 Hondo Gallery, Kumamoto, Japan
1992 Diamar Department Store, Fukuoka, Japan
1992 Amakusa Community Center, Ooyano, Japan
1992 Machi Community Center, Sumoto, Japan
1991 Edith Lambert Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
1990 Tubac Center for the Arts, Tubac, AZ
1989 Pima Community College, Tucson, AZ
1989 Dartmouth Street Gallery, Albuquerque, NM
1988 Wilhelm Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ
1988 Oasis Gallery, Tucson, AZ
1988 Dinnerware Artist’s Gallery, Tucson, AZ
1987 Tohono Chul Park, Tucson, AZ
1984 Tucson Museum of Art. Tucson, AZ
1983 Gallery One, Ft. Worth, TX
1981 Pima Community College, Tucson, AZ
1981 Lambert/Miller Gallery, Phoenix, AZ
1980 The Signature Shop, Atlanta, GA
1979 Confluence Gallery, Tucson, AZ
1979 Pima Community College, Tucson, AZ
1978 First National Bank, Tucson, AZ
1977 Tucson Museum of Art, Tucson, AZ
1974 Cornell University, Ithaca, NY

Group Exhibitions
2015 "25th Anniversary," Sculpturesite Gallery, Glen Ellen, CA
2013 "BODYworks," A New Leaf Gallery | Sculpturesite, Sonoma, CA
2012 "41st Marin Designers Showcase," Hosted by A New Leaf Gallery | Sculpturesite at the Villa Belvedere, Belvedere, CA
2006 Obsidian Gallery, Tucson, AZ
2006 Palm Beach Sculpture Biennale, Wellington, FL
2006 Karin Newby Gallery, Tubac, AZ
2005 Skokie Sculpture Park, Chicago, IL
2005 Galleria Musou, Tucson, AZ
2005 Sculpturesite Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2004 Sculptor’s Dominion, San Antonio, TX
2003 A New Leaf Gallery, Berkeley, CA
2003 Tucson, Arizona Vanier Gallery
2001 A New Leaf Gallery, Berkeley, CA
2000 Navy Pier Sculpture Show, Chicago, IL
2000 3D Chicago, Chicago, IL
1999 A New Leaf Gallery, Berkeley, CA
1999 D C Harris Gallery, Tucson, AZ
1998 Raw Gallery, Tucson, AZ
1998 Jewish Community Center, Tucson, AZ
1997 Lumina Fine Art, Taos, NM
1997 Select Art Gallery, Sedona, AZ
1996 Select Art Gallery, Sedona, AZ
1993 “Strokes of Genius ’93,” Scottsdale, AZ
1993 Tucson Museum of Art, Tucson, AZ
1992 Edith Lambert Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
1992 “Art of the Nineties,” Kumamoto, Japan
1992 Metropolitan Museum of Art, Tokyo, Japan
1990 “In Another Dimension,” Tempe Arts Center, Tempe, AZ
1989 Rosequist Gallery, Tucson, AZ
1989 Roswell Fine Art National Juried
1989 Tempe Arts Center Contemporary Realism, Tempe, AZ
1988 Santa Cruz Valley Arts Association
1988 Shemer Art Center, Phoenix, AZ
1987 “In Celebration of Public Art,” “Fine Art For Fine Causes,” and “Tucson Sculpture,” Tempe Arts Center, Tempe, AZ
1986 “Sculptors of the Southwest,” Tucson, AZ
1986 “Artists of the Southwest,” Tucson, AZ
1986 “Southwest Sculpture Competition”
1981 Bullock’s, Scottsdale, AZ
1980 Gallery One, Ft. Worth, TX
1980 The Artisan’s Gallery, Great Neck, NY
1980 Yuma Fine Arts Center, Yuma, AZ
1980 Tucson Museum of Art, Tucson, AZ
1979 Tucson Museum of Art, Tucson, AZ
1979 Scottsdale Center For The Arts
1979 Broadloom City Gallery, Tucson, AZ
1979 The Heard Museum, Phoenix, AZ
1977 Confluence Gallery, Tucson, AZ
1977 University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ

Invitational Exhibitions
1999 Tohono Chul Gallery, Tucson, AZ
1998 Select Art Gallery, Sedona, AZ
1997 Select Art Gallery, Sedona, AZ
1992 Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Art, Tokyo, Japan
1992 Edith Lambert Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
1991 “Twenty-fifth Annual Invitational,” Yuma, AZ
1988 “Masks and Costumes,” Tucson, AZ
1987 OK Harris South Gallery, Miami, FL
1986 Obsidian Gallery, Tucson, AZ
1985 Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix, AZ
1984 Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix, AZ
1982 The Craftsmen’s Gallery, Scarsdale, NY
1982 Tucson Museum of Art, Tucson, AZ
1982 Scottsdale Center for the Arts, Scottsdale, AZ
1982 The Signature Shop, Atlanta, GA
1982 The Craftsmen’s Gallery, Scarsdale, NY
1982 Art Association, Springfield, IL
1981 Gallery One, Ft. Worth, TX
1981 The Artisan’s Gallery, Great Neck, NY
1981Sedona Fine Art Center, Sedona, AZ

Selected Public and Private Collections
Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
Tucson Museum of Art, Tucson, AZ
Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte, NC
Grounds For Sculpture, Hamilton, NJ
Skokie Northshore Sculpture Park, Skokie, IL
Dupont Collection
Sunstone Cancer Treatment Center, Tucson, AZ
Canyon Ranch Resort, Tucson, AZ
TDI International, New York
Gannett Company
Andrew Maas – Director, Tampa Museum of Art
Gerritt Cone – Curator, Tucson Museum of Art
Rhod Lauffer – Preparator, Tucson Museum of Art
Alice Herman – Executive Director, Tohono Chul Park
Howard Conant – Head of the University of Arizona Art Department
Bob McMillan – Head of the University of Arizona Art Department
Ansel Adams Collection
Allan Chasanoff Ceramic Collection
Merrill Mahaffey – Painter
Halle Berry Collection
Roberta Snyder Collection
Harris Collection
Masaako Abe – Just Life Inc., Fukuoka, Japan
Clifford Smith – Barrister, Hong Kong
Mr. and Mrs. R. Greenberg – Owners, Eegee’s restaurants
Pamela McNair – Owner, Gadabout Salons
Dr. and Mrs. David Lapan
Dr. Denis Carroll
Bill Small

Awards
Purchase Award, Tucson Museum of Art
Exhibition Award, Tucson Museum of Art
Honorable Mention, Long Island Craftsman
Honorable Mention, “Artists of the Southwest”
Honorable Mention, Pima College
Honorable Mention, “Sculptors of the Southwest”
Award of Merit, University of Arizona
Award of Merit, Pima College
Award of Merit, Santa Cruz Valley Art
Hicksville Hall of Fame
Roswell National Juried Best of Sculpture
Juror’s Award, “In Another Dimension”
Best of Show, Kumamoto Japan
Juror’s Award, Tucson Museum of Art

Reviews and Publications
2008 Cable Channel 12, Artist profile December
2008 Luxe Magazine, Artist profile December
2007 Southwest Art,August
2004 Caliente, July
2004 Arizona Star, July
2004 Tucson Weekly, July
2004 Arizona Republic, May
2004 Tucson Weekly, August
2002 Arizona Illustrated, May
2001 Arizona Republic, June
2001 Southwest Art, June
2001 Art Talk, January
2000 The Arizona Republic, July
1999 Arizona Daily Star, August
1999 Tucson Citizen, August
1997 The Santa Fean, January
1995 The Arizona Post, September
1995 Pasatiempo, August
1992 The New Mexican, December
1991 Kumanichi Shinbun, November
1990 The Arizona Republic, February
1989 Roswell Daily Record, May
1988 Art – Talk, November
1988 The Arizona Daily Star, November
1988 The Phoenix Gazette, November
1986 The Arizona Republic, November
1981 The Phoenix Gazette, May
1980 The Arizona Daily Star, December
1979 Tucson Citizen Focus, March

Professional Organizations
Southern Arizona Clay and Glass
Tucson Museum of Art
Tucson Museum of Art Craft Guild
Arizona Designer Craftsmen
Long Island Craftman’s Guild
American Craft Council
Tucson Festival Society
Santa Cruz Valley Art Association
Dinnerware Cooperative Gallery
National Sculpture Society
International Sculpture Center

Professional Experience
1988-1989 Pottery Instructor, Pima College
1978-1986 Artist in Education, National Endowment for the Arts
1978 Art Director, Southern Arizona Clay
1977 Arizona Sonora Desert Museum, Ceramic consultant
1976-1978 Pottery Instructor, Pima College
1976-1977 Multi-media Art Instructor
1974-1976 Pottery Instructor, Tucson Parks
1974- 1974 Clay Instructor, Cornell University

Education
Cornell University, BS Design, Ithaca, New York