Ms. Lehrer’s work has been seen at the Chicago Cultural Center, the United Nations, the Smithsonian Museum, the Frye Museum, the de Cordova Museum and the Elmhurst Museum among many others. She has been a visiting artist and lecturer across the United States and Europe. Presently she is adjunct professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and will be a visiting artist at Northwestern University Department of Medical Humanities in 2012.
This new body of work explores portraits of friends in animal guises. Animal metaphors are some of the oldest elements of human language. The animal world reflects us as part of and separate from all other beings on the planet. We project our ideas of pride, cowardice, love, family, good and evil into animals, and then reclaim these concepts in altered ways. Mirror Shards looks at what animal metaphors allow us to experience. The ultimate concern is for the fracturing in progress as we damage the world of the animals themselves.
In addition to this work, the exhibition will feature a number of stand-alone portraits, including a two-year collaboration with graphic novelist Alison Bechdel to produce a drawing that marks the turning point in her own artistic career. A new documentary film about this project will screen December 1 at Access Living, 115 West Chicago Avenue.
Mirror Shards will open with a reception for the artist on Friday, Dec. 2 and the exhibition will continue through February 4. The gallery at 311 West Superior Street is open Tuesday through Saturday from 11:00-5:00 and by appointment. Interviews with Ms. Lehrer can be arranged and digital images are available for press purposes. For further information www.printworkschicago.com or 312-664-9407.