A wide shot of a ceramics studio, featuring students working with pottery wheels and other tools.

On This Page

MaryLou Zelazny

Professor, Adjunct

Contact

Bio

Adjunct Professor, Painting and Drawing (1990). BFA, 1980, School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Exhibitions: Museum of Contemporary Art, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago; Rockford Art Museum; Illinois State University; Bowling Green State University, OH; Herron Gallery, IN; Drawing Center, NY; Galleria Porta, Madeira, Portugal; Art Group, Frankfort, Germany. Collections: Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; Rockford Art Museum, IL. Awards: NEA Regional Arts Fellowship; Dorland Mountain Colony Residency, CA.

Personal Statement

Art made an early entrance into Mary Lou Zelazny's Chicago childhood thanks to her immigrant grandmother, whose deviously inventive Polish backwoods parsimony was made manifest in the tireless redesign of alley pickings, resale junk, and worn out furniture. This folk nursery apprenticed Zelazny to sculpture, tailoring, jewelry, lamp making, and upholstery, among other domestic experiments. These artistic experiences led her to the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where childhood memories of accumulation and decoration met the rigors of formalism, pop culture experimentation, and the masters hanging in the museum. These influences can be grasped in her early mixed media paintings and may be said to have more than a vestigial presence in her current work. The School has a significant place in her career. She has been on its faculty since 1990 and is currently Adjunct Professor in the Department of Painting and Drawing. While valuing her academic associations, she remains principally a studio artist and has a record of consistent production over three decades. Mary Lou has had numerous one-person exhibitions since the 1980's, most recently at the Carl Hammer Gallery in April 2014. She was the subject of a comprehensive retrospective at the Hyde Park Art Center in 2009. Her work has been exhibited in various galleries and museums throughout the United States.

A comprehensive 35 year overview is available at: marylouzelazny.com

Her 2014 show can be reviewed at hammergallery.com

 

Courses

Title Department Catalog Term

Description

Are you curious about creating figure drawings life size or larger?

This multi-level studio will introduce you to the exciting challenge of drawing the human form from observation on large supports while learning about drawing techniques spanning the pre-modern era into the present day. Students working with figurative subjects will be able to experiment with scale changes on 3? x 6? paper. Students who want to work even larger are encouraged. Formal points of departure are presented clearly through daily morning lectures and demonstrations, using a full array of examples from art history, contemporary art as well as frequent museum visits.

The class exercises begin with quick monochromatic sketches and progress to full color extended studies. There is one final project assignment. The majority of the required work is completed during class time. The large format allows students of all abilities to make significant improvements quickly.

Class Number

1663

Credits

3

Description

This multi-level studio will cover all of the various traditional methods of assembling cut paper into a complete work of art. Additionally, we will touch upon the use of unorthodox materials for 2D assemblage and bas-relief. The class will review historic and contemporary approaches, using them as an inspiration for projects. Individual as well as group instruction will provide a flexible educational environment, accommodating both the novice and accomplished collagist. Examples from the rich history of collage will be shown, as well as field trips to related exhibitions.

Class Number

1887

Credits

3

Description

This multi-level studio will cover all of the various traditional methods of assembling cut paper into a complete work of art. Additionally, we will touch upon the use of unorthodox materials for 2D assemblage and bas-relief. The class will review historic and contemporary approaches, using them as an inspiration for projects. Individual as well as group instruction will provide a flexible educational environment, accommodating both the novice and accomplished collagist. Examples from the rich history of collage will be shown, as well as field trips to related exhibitions.

Class Number

1599

Credits

3

Description

Figure painters have used photographs since its invention, using it as an efficient recording tool. This multi-level class seeks to examine the role photography plays as a source for subjects, while assessing its strengths and limitations as opposed to pre-photographic traditional methods. Students will learn how to select essential information from observation to deepen their use of photography, as well as sharpen their ability to recreate visual information from daily memory drawing exercises.

Students will work on painting projects focusing on three main themes; observation of the model, photographs, and recalled memory studies, culminating in an independent final project using all of the presented approaches. The concentration on blended visual inspirations helps students identify their strengths and fosters the development of their chosen subject matter. The class seeks to give students the tools needed to develop and sustain a body of work outside of the classroom environment.

Students complete six paintings in class, produce daily memory sketches, and submit one final project. Painting and drawing techniques are reviewed alongside each project, accommodating all levels of experience. Daily lectures and demonstrations clearly outline the technical approaches of each project. Examples from art history and contemporary art will be shown for each area of focus through the lectures and bi-weekly visits to view reference material in the Ryerson Library. Additionally, we will use the museum, the Joan Flasch Artists Book Collection and related local exhibitions for examples and research.

Class Number

1933

Credits

3