Classen-Sullivan show opens at Real Art ways tomorrow during Creative Cocktail Hour

Real Art Ways
56 Arbor St., Hartford, (860) 232-1006
Susan Classen-Sullivan: Love you more than life (corpse series)
Feb. 16—Apr. 1, 2012.
Opening reception during Creative Cocktail Hour: Thurs., Feb. 16, 6—8 p.m. Admission is $10/$5 Real Art Ways members.

Press release

Real Art Ways presents Love you more than life (corpse series), an exhibition by Connecticut artist Susan Classen-Sullivan, who creates human scale sculptures of frogs captured in a space between life and death, pleasure and pain, between the sacred and the profane.

An opening reception on Thurs., Feb. 16, from 6—8 p.m. will be held as part of Creative Cocktail Hour, Real Art Ways' monthly third Thursday gathering. Creative Cocktail Hour is from 6—10 p.m.; admission is $10/$5 Real Art Ways members.

Love you more than life (corpse series) began when Susan Classen-Sullivan discovered the small bodies of frogs splayed open on the damp road while walking around the woods near her studio in Hampton. During these walks she pondered her place in a cycle, as seasons change and things grow.

Classen-Sullivan initially rendered her found corpses as drawings. Their exquisite beauty amazed her. She described the posture of the bodies against the paper as, "they began to float, sometimes seeming to dance, always appearing to be in a state of ecstasy."

Classen-Sullivan's sculptures are frozen in a moment inhabiting an in-between space. By transposing the found corpses to human scale Classen-Sullivan raises questions about human perception of our lives, our existence and ourselves.

About Susan Classen-Sullivan
Susan Classen-Sullivan is the Professor of Visual Fine Art and Director of the Hans Weiss Newspace Gallery at Manchester Community College. She received baccalaureate degrees in Art and Literature from Eastern Connecticut State University, Art Education Certification from Central Connecticut State University and Masters from Wesleyan University. Classen-Sullivan has exhibited her work at museums and galleries throughout the Northeast. She recently was selected to participate in the Connecticut Contemporary Exhibition at the Wadsworth Atheneum, in Hartford CT, and as a fellow for the Aldrich Museum’s Radius program.

Also in the Galleries
Mark Williams: The War is Over
On view through April 1, 2012
An exhibition of brightly colored work by Mark Williams, who critiques in the form of toy soldiers, the introduction of militarism to young children.

Alix Lambert: Crime, USA: Hartford
On view through April 8, 2012
An exhibition, performance, and films by Alix Lambert, who explores the ubiquitous nature of crime.