ARTIST STATEMENT
My artwork is about life and the pulse of the American city and its people, expressed in drawings, mixed media, and prints. Most recently, I’ve stretched into three-dimensional forms such as water towers, billboards, and such, moving my prints and mixed media works into a new dimension. I see beauty and expression in black, white, and gray tones.
When color is needed I tend to mute it alongside snippets of strong contrasting hues. Composition, design, balance, and line are important elements in my work. I strive to capture glimpses that express the pace, energy, diversity, and many truths evident in a large city.
I ask the viewer to join me in reflecting upon and questioning: Urban – fascination with a line – frenzied marks – an explosion of glimpses – shadows – light – busyness – muted palette/scrubbed colors – the energy of the landscape – architecture – vital? – unreachable? Implied street life – haunting emptiness – senses of place – ambiguity/disorientation – the individual? – the crowd? Whose perspective? – which rhythm?
ABOUT THE ARTIST
BettyAnn Mocek is an artist, arts advocate and educator in her native Chicago. She is Professor of Art at Concordia University Chicago since 2002. Mocek has also been Chair and Co-Chair of the Art Department and the Gallery Director of Concordia’s Ferguson Art Gallery. Mocek received the terminal degree of Master of Fine Arts (M.F.A.) at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis and a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) with Honors in Art from Carthage College, Kenosha, Wisconsin. She was a recipient of the Carthage College Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award. Mocek was also awarded the Chicago Artists’ Coalition Service to the Visual Arts Award in recognition of her many years of advocacy on behalf of Chicago artists and her role in spearheading and directing/co-directing the Chicago Art Open.
Exhibition highlights include: Exhibition of Ten Chicago Women, Gallery of Contemporary Mosaics, Chicago; Chicago Artists Interpret Shakespeare, 4th Presbyterian Church, Chicago; Coronado Print Studio Gallery, New York, NY from a portfolio of prints entitled: Superstitions I & II; Urban Spaces, Tall Grass Arts Association Gallery, Park Forest, IL; Observations, A Solo Exhibition Inspired by a Sabbatical in New York City, Concordia University Chicago; Ten Chicago Women/Fifteen Years, Bridgeport Art Center, Chicago; Women’s Caucus for Art National Exhibition, New Century Gallery, New York, NY; Santitos (Patron Saints) and Day of the Dead Print Portfolio Project Traveling Show, Chicago; Collaborative Vision: The Poetic Dialogue Project, Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago; Two commissioned sculptural works for “Suite Home Chicago,” an outdoor exhibition of painted fiberglass ‘street furniture’ throughout downtown Chicago that was developed by Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs Public Art Program. Her work has received Best of Show at the distinguished Silvermine Guild National Print Biennial in Connecticut.
Mocek’s work has also been shown at the Alexandria (Louisiana) Museum of Art; the San Diego Institute of Art; California State University; and in Washington, D.C. in conjunction with the National Museum of Women in Art. Her works are in numerous public and private collections, including The Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing, China; Sears Tower Sky Deck, Chicago; Fairmont Hotel, Chicago; Chicago United, Inc.; Northwestern National Life Insurance, Minneapolis; Oakton Community College, Des Plaines, IL; and the University of Minnesota Art Museum. Several of BettyAnn’s works are displayed in the Chicago Society of Artists’ book, The Legacy Continues CSA, and in The Chicago Art Scene, a book by Ivy Sundell that highlights selected Chicago-based visual artists.
Mocek is a member of the Board of Directors of the Chicago Society of Artists since 2005. From 1998 to 2005, Mocek was the President of Skyline Art Studios, Inc., a company that leased out and managed fine art studios. BettyAnn served the Chicago Artists’ Coalition (CAC), a not-for-profit artist’s organization as a staff employee, board member, and volunteer for over 20 years.
© BettyAnn Mocek