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
SELECTED PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
American Craft Council
Arizona Designer Craftsmen
Dinnerware Cooperative Gallery
International Sculpture Center
Long Island Craftsmen's Guild
National Sculpture Society
Santa Cruz Valley Art Association
Southern Arizona Clay and Glass
Tucson Festival Society
Tucson Museum of Art
Tucson Museum of Art Craft Guild
SELECTED COLLECTIONS
Ansel Adam Collection
Cornell University
Dupont Collection
Harris Collection
Mint Museum of Art, North Carolina
TDI International, New York
Tucson Museum of Art
Howard Conant-Head of the University of Arizona Art Department
Bob McMillan-Head of the University of Arizona Art Department
Andrew Maas-Director of the Tampa Museum of Art
Geritt Cone-Curator Tucson Museum of Art
