Elmhurst College displays paintings of Ellen Lanyon
Often identified with the Chicago Imagists, Ellen Lanyon's surrealist "dreamscapes" combine plants, animals and everyday objects into compositions that reflect her own private mythology. A gift of eight paintings from the Lanyon's estate were given to Elmhurst College in 2014.
Elmhurst College will exhibit the entire body of work Lanyon bequeathed to the college beginning Saturday, Nov. 4. The exhibit is a onetime opportunity to view all of the paintings in one venue; due to limited space, after this exhibit only individual paintings will be displayed in the permanent collection at the A.C. Buehler Library.
A public reception, featuring a panel of artists and close friends who will discuss and celebrate Lanyon's life and art, will be 2 to 4:30 p.m. Nov. 4 in the Barbara A. Kieft Accelerator ArtSpace, in the 200 block of West Park Avenue, Elmhurst. The panelists include:
• Lynne Warren, curator, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago;
• Phyllis Bramson, Chicago artist, professor emeritus, University of Illinois at Chicago; and
• Richard Lanyon, brother of Ellen Lanyon, scientist, author, retired director of the Chicago Water Reclamation District.
The moderator is Suellen Rocca, an artist and the curator and director of exhibitions for Elmhurst College.
The fall art exhibition of Lanyon's work closes Saturday, Nov. 18. For information, contact Rocca at (630) 617-6110 or srocca@elmhurst.edu.