Seraphin Gallery proudly announces the opening of Depth of Field, an exhibition featuring work from Michael Morrill's ISIS and Linea Terminale series and Christopher Smith's nude sculptures and wall reliefs. The exhibition will run from October 24 – November 30, with an opening reception on Friday, October 24, from 6 – 8pm.

Working in the broad discipline of contemporary abstraction, Morrill’s canvases revel in the mystery and magic of chiaroscuro, the universal and centuries old aesthetic dialectic of Western painting.  Interactions and transitions between light and dark coalesce in the intricately stratified compositions of his abstractions.  Patterned fusions of geometry and gesture impart form and expression; weaving the seemingly disparate influences of structural Minimalism and the spirited emotionalism of mid-century Abstract Expression.  Refined color dynamics, reflection and absorption of light, shadow, and surface subtlety ground Morrill’s practice in the vortex of contemporary art and the depth of art history.

Christopher Smith works with the nude as he realistically renders the human form using ancient form and composition. He joins the archaic with the modern to create beautiful sculptures and reliefs. When discussing his work, Smith states, ". . . When I observe people in social gatherings and private settings I continually see the past traditions of figurative sculpture assert themselves through the poses, attitudes, and physiques of my contemporaries. With the past present all around me, I investigate the ancient forms and methods of depicting the body and spirit along with notions they were meant to communicate. . . While I model the forms from direct observation of the naked model, a gradual change occurs to the exterior form where it no longer is a strictly mimetic process, but an inherent abstract formality, a past contained in the bones of the idea, which begins to direct the composition and the aesthetics."

Michael Morrill earned his BFA from School of Art and Design, Alfred University and his MFA from the School of Art, Yale University.  He currently teaches painting in the Studio Arts Department at the University of Pittsburgh.  Morrill has exhibited in solo and group exhibitions nationally and internationally.  His work is in numerous private and permanent collections including the Carnegie Museum of Art and the Grable Foundation in Pittsburgh, and Bayer AG in Leverkusen, Germany.   

Christopher Smith received his BFA from the University of Michigan in 1984 and has shown his work in the Woodmere Art Museum, Fleisher Art Memorial, the National Sculpture Society and Abington Art Center in Jenkintown, PA. His work can be seen in the collections of the Seven Bridges Foundation in Connecticut, the Woodmere Art Museum, and Brookgreen Gardens in South Carolina.