Bruce Childs

Artist Statement

My life has been impacted by two geographic places in particular, the Cape Cod peninsula, where I was born and lived for 25 years, and the New Mexico high desert, where I first visited over 40 years ago. As a young man I was emotionally engaged in a letter writing campaign to support the establishment of the Cape Cod National Seashore. I was even lucky enough to have attended a lecture by Rachel Carson, whose remarkable book, “Silent Spring” signaled a wake up call for many Americans in the 1960’s. In combination with living here and reading about the fragile and spectacular urban environment of Albuquerque, past and present events have come together to inform my new life in the high desert as well as my work in photography and printmaking.

Open Spaces is a body of work in which I’ve attempted to capture imagery of Albuquerque as seen in and around the built urban spaces, for the most part avoiding man made structures.

Albuquerque is a unique city, surrounded by spectacular geography. There’s the grandeur of the Sandia Mountains, the lure of the west mesa volcanoes, the basaltic escarpment and the Rio Grande bosque,  all of which  can be viewed and enjoyed without the intrusion of buildings or houses. This is, in part,  due to the advocacy of concerned Albuquerque citizens, who have enabled the  Albuquerque Open Space Center and related planning, thus raising awareness of this beautiful city and the splendid landscape in which it is nestled.

Biography

Place and Date of Birth: Centerville, MA; August 10, 1939

Professional Education

1965, BFA in Art, Massachusetts College of Art

1966, MA in Printmaking, St. Cloud State University, Minnesota

1972, MFA studies, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque

1980, MFA in photographic studies, Visual Studies Workshop, Rochester NY

Professional Teaching Experience

1966-1969                     College of St. Benedict/St. John’s University 

                                    Collegeville, Minnesota

1970-1972                     Massachusetts Institute of Technology

                                    Cambridge, Massachusetts

1980 to 2007     Austin Peay State University, Clarksville, Tennessee

Recent Professional Presentations

Southern Print Council, University of Tennessee, Knoxville

            Essay:  “Erotic Prints of Charles Demuth and American Moderns”

Southeastern College Arts Association, New Orleans, LA

            Essay:  “Survey of the Male Gaze in Western Graphics”

Santa Fe Community College, Santa Fe, NM

            Essay:  “Survey of the Male Gaze in Western Graphics”

Residencies

Dorland Mountain Arts Colony, Temeculah, CA

International Artists Ateliers Basel (IAAB), Weil am Rhein, Germany

Select Recent Exhibition Activity

Gallery One, Birmingham, AL and

Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, TN

            Drawings and Prints, “Crossing the Border”

Mid States Annual Exhibition, Evansville Museum of Science and Art, IN

            Mixed Media Painting

Small Prints Annual Exhibition, University of Arkansas, Little Rock

            Mixed Media Prints

Austin Peay State University, Clarksville, TN

            Digital Prints

Visual Studies Workshop, Rochester, NY

            Mixed media Prints

Cheekwood Arts Center, Nashville, TN

            Drawings

Customs House Museum, Clarksville, TN

            Prints

Artrageous Annual Exhibition and Auction, Nashville, TN (1998- 2003)

Margaret Fort Trahern Gallery Group Exhibit, Clarksville, TN

            Intaglio Prints (2000, 2002)

“Digital Dimensions” Exhibition, Ned McWherter West TN Cultural Arts Center, Jackson, TN

            Digital Photographic Prints

“Regionale 2001”, Kunst Raum Museum, Riehen Switzerland

            Outdoor installation of large scale digital photograhs

“Culture Clash” Group Portfolio, published for the Southern Graphics Council, exhibited at annual SGA portfolio review, Boston MA

Recent Solo Exhibitions

 2010: Open Spaces, New Grounds Gallery, Albuquerque, NM

St. Meinrad Theological Seminary, St. Meinrad, IN

            Prints and Drawings

Gay/Lesbian Center, Nashville, TN

            Paintings, Prints, Drawings “Queer Art History Lessons”

Hopkinsville Community College, Hopkinsville, KY

            Drawings

Atelier 21, Kesselhaus 5, Weil am Rhein Germany

            Digital Photographic Prints

Christoph Meriam Atelier, Basel, Switzerland

            Digital Photographic Prints

Flying Solo: Nashville International Airport, TN

            “Portrait of Dollie Patterson” Digital Photographic Prints   

Iona Print  Studio/Gallery, Provincetown, MA

            Cape Cod National Seashore. Digital Photographic Prints

Downtown Artists Cooperative Gallery, Clarksville, TN (January, 2006)       

            Cape Cod National Seashore. Digital and Photogravure Prints

Renaissance Center Gallery, Dickson, TN

“Portrait of Dollie Patterson” Digital Photographic Prints and video installation

Recent Professional Presentations

Southern Print Council, University of Tennessee, Knoxville

            Essay:  “Erotic Prints of Charles Demuth and American Moderns”

Southeastern College Arts Association, New Orleans, LA

            Essay:  “Survey of the Male Gaze in Western Graphics”

Santa Fe Community College, Santa Fe, NM

            Essay:  “Survey of the Male Gaze in Western Graphics”

Select List of Collections

Kunstmuseum, Leipzig, Germany

Visual Studies Workshop, Rochester, NY

Bell Telephone Laboratories, Lexington, MA

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA

The Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, MN

Austin Peay State University, Clarksville, TN

Oce Corporation, Amsterdam, Holland

Massachusetts College of Art, Boston

Southern Graphics Council Archives

Numerous private collections