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BRUCE CHAO
risd connection: BFA in Glass, 1973; MFA in Glass, 1975; Professor and Head,
Department of Glass
about his work: From sheet glass space
statements in the early ’70s to modular, welded constructions in the
’80s and “found window” abstractions in the ’90s, Chao has explored a
wide range of sculptural issues, using nature and windows as a
leitmotif. His travels to primordial, archetypal sites — to view the
oldest window in the world on a mesa near Santa Fe and the first known
room at a paleolithic site in China — have influenced the evolution of
his own heavily symbolic sculpture.
what the critics say: “Chao’s new emphasis on
framing, in contrast to his old use of suspension, is of great
significance in that it creates a pictorial — even
illusionistic — effect...[His works] have the mannerist ambiguity and
evocative power typical of postmodernist abstraction.” — art historian
and critic Donald Kuspit, Glass magazine
selected solo shows
Bannister Gallery, Rhode Island College, Providence, 1993
O.K. Harris Gallery, NYC, 1989
80 Langton Street, San Francisco, CA, 1982
Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha, NE, 1981
Mississippi Museum of Art, Jackson, MS, 1981
selected group exhibitions
The Glass Skin, traveling show in Japan, the US and Germany, 1997-99
Contemporary Art in Rhode Island, The RISD Museum, Providence, RI, 1994
Berg, on loan to DeCordova and Dana Museum and Park, Lincoln, MA, 1991-94
Glass Installations, American Craft Museum, NYC, 1993
Glassworks, Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, 1990
Glas ’86, Fortess of Asperon, Leerdam, The Netherlands, 1986
public collections
Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, NY
education
Rhode Island School of Design, MFA in Glass, 1975
Rhode Island School of Design, BFA in Glass, 1973
Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, 1969-71
awards/fellowships/residencies
Howard Foundation Fellowship, 2001-02
RISD Faculty Development Grant, 1998, ’94, ’88
NEA United States/Japan Creative Artist Fellowship, 1996
NEA Artist Fellowship Grant, Sculpture, 1990, ’81, ’76
MacDowell Colony, 1985
Pilchuck Glass Center, 1983
Ford Foundation Faculty Enrichment Research Grant and Leave, 1977
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