The son of research ecologists and a student of zoology until his mid-twenties, Chew has a strong predilection for cataloguing and classification. He has consistently created interlocking groups of works. These series range from his first print editions to a succession of simulated postage stamps to his recent production of rugs, embroidery, and wood carvings. Chew has chosen not to earn a living through teaching, grants, or reliance upon art galleries. Instead, as he develops each series, he also evolves innovative strategies for its distribution and sale.

Chew's prints of the early and mid-1970s are his first mature work. His training in printmaking at the University of Washington with the influential teacher Bill H. Ritchie provided a basis for exploratory collographs, which used Elmer's glue as a medium. One example, Red Message (1976), is an abstracted homage to the Chinese leader Mao Tse Tung (a figure Chew no longer considers a hero). The color Xerox print Video Faces (1976) commemorates a staged archaeological dig of the previous year, done near Seattle on Vashon Island, in which he elaborately enacted the future discovery of video art. The high technology he was then using in video tapes (produced with several other University of Washington graduates) and in computer- assisted imagemaking is sardonically viewed as quaintly archaic. These early semi-abstracted images soon gave way to illustrative representation and pictorial tales.

A collector and creator of postage stamps since childhood, in 1975 Chew placed himself among a global group of artists who concoct their own postage stamps. While their objectives are varied, all create miniature art that both mocks and replicates the world's most ubiquitous means of printed communication I . Chew's diminutive, serial works of art incorporate such philatelic conventions as souvenir sheets, first-day issues, and stamp sets. They cover a variety of topics and obsessions interconnected by dry, humorous narratives. Released from 1975 to 1986, Chew's perforated stamp editions were incited by breakthroughs in copying technology. He adapted a three-pass color Xerox process to reproduce in various hues painted, collaged, and later, computer-based original graphic work. Issued individually or in sheets of four to thirty, the stamps were sold by subscription. The original art for Chew's stamps is secure in a Seattle bank safe-deposit box; it is publicly exhibited for the first time now. While these stamps remain the work for which Chew is most widely known, they are only one aspect of his varied oeuvre.

Near the end of the 1970s Chew turned to a new format, the table- and desk-top still life. Recreated from his immediate working environments, these simulations of work areas range from full-scale assemblages such as Desk for the Study of the Curious (1979) to recent mixed media drawings such as How to Make Up Your Mind (1987). His Desk for the Study of the Curious was titled in response to his uncertainty about the zoological identity of the animals to the right of the desk. Chew's creative process and his multiple sources of inspiration are the ultimate subject of all these cluttered arrang ements. Essaying a staple subject of art, Chew's still lifes indicate the particular influence of two artistic mentors, New Yorker magazine cartoonist/artist Saul Steinberg and California draftsman, painter, and sculptor William T. Wiley. Chew dates the specific emergence of his table-top scenes to a visit to the 1979 Steinberg retrospective at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York. But Wiley's work, which has influenced a large number of West Coast pictorial punsters, was even more revelatory for Chew. All Chew's still-life compositions, whether inspired by Steinberg's desk-top views or Wiley's wordy watercolors of crowded studio spaces, base artistic inspiration on straightforward observation and representation.

Chew's first forays into still life were followed in 1980 and 1981 by a series of well-designed, poster format collages dealing with the unlikely topic of torture. With an imagery that parlayed personal pain and masochistic guilt into art, these works documented a depressing period of marital difficulty for Chew. While he was given several opportunities to show his work during this time, he had achieved little economic success. However, his next major sculptural object, Ralph Doid, City Planner (1981), restored his art to a more cheerful and clearly comical intent. The work was commissioned for the offices of the Seattle Arts Commission, where it is usually on view. It is one of Chew's most complex and convincing inventions. The fictive city planner is credited with Seattle-based architectural fantasies ranging from an Oriental obelisk in Elliott Bay to a fish-shaped trolley that would astonish and please even the comic monument builder Claes Oldenburg or the innovative architect Frank Gehry.

Stairway of Success and Failure (1982) was Chew's next work of art to assume the form of an elaborate museum or science fair display. This free-standing installation amalgamates diverse artifacts and data in a spoof on grants to contemporary artists and artists' perilous economic circumstances. The pieces pointed wit cloaks the genuine financial need and personal loneliness Chew was suffering at the time. These concerns are even more poignantly addressed in collateral mixed media collages of a Philippine mail-order bride and a prayerful beseachment to the sainted Child of Prague (which used the face of his daughter Zena).
 

In the early 1980s Chew's enthrallment with computer-produced art was aided by his introduction to the IBIS illustration software. Chew turned to the art of the past as he exploited this creative tool of the future. In jealousy Theory (1983) he traced illustrations from Janson's History of Art onto the computer screen. In his parody of the Judgment of Paris he pitted the rotund Venus of Willendorf against the willowy Botticelli Venus and a feminized neoplastic abstraction by Piet Mondrian. In 1984, reminded of textiles by the tufted fuzziness of these computer graphics, Chew began translating computer images into rugs. He was pleased by the idea 0 placing a work of art on the floor and of using imagery from ancient traditions. In Peking Man Wardrobe (1984) he jousts with a multi-leveled reference to clothing a skeletal, prehistoric being. Also, as Chew delights in the confusion about his name's possible Chinese origins (he is, in fact a white Westerner from Illinois), he particularly enjoyed making a new image of an extinct, and now controversial, Asian human. Twenty-five more rugs, some picturing magnified versions of his postage stamps, have now been fabricated. These rugs and related embroideries have been created by gifted weavers in Nepal, India, and China, overseen by Chew during his journey there in 1987 with his daughter (and aesthetic cohort) Zena.

Having ceased issuing stamps in 1986, Chew embarked on a commemorative group of collages, embroideries, drawings, and low-relief sculptures. These works catalogued examples of his stamps and illustrated how productive and imaginative his activity in this area had been. He soon moved on to experiment further with still-life imagery in alternately studio-bascd or computer-derived works fabricated by Chew himself or Asian carvers and weavers. Chew's recent table-top still lifes close in on just a few objects from his material-laden work areas. Employing more conventional draftsmanship and carving, he enlarged what had been small details into whole compositions, as in Ant & Goat (1987) and Dancing on Rembrants (sic) Bones (1987). Exotic souvenirs of recent travels show up in these still lifes, which also reflect the brighter palette he now prefers.

Such cycles of activity give great range to Chew's artistic production; they transform a selective retrospective into an exhibition with the diversity of a group exhibition. Mixtures of conventional and technologically advanced subjects and media, Chew's results reveal an energetic and careful study of the curious.

Patterson Sims
Curator of Modern Art
Seattle Art Museum
 
Checklist of the Exhibition
Unless otherwise noted, dimensions are in inches; height precedes width and depth. All works courtesy of the artist and Davidson Galleries, Seattle, unless otherwise noted.
A selection of paper ephemera and original art for stamps dating from 1975-86 is included in the exhibition.
 

1. Living Things Visit the Crab Nebula, 1972  Drypoint 17 3/4 x 9 3/4  Collection of Bill H. Ritchie  2. Red Message, 1976  Collagraph 20 x 26  Collection of Zena Chew  3. Red Message CX, 1976  Color Xerox 43 x 33  4. Video Faces, 1977  Color Xerox 18 x 24  Collection of Bill and  Evelyn Zurow  5. Hermit of Patagonia, 1978  Color Xerox 29 x 23  Collection of Edward Maurer  6. Desk for the Study of the Curious, 1979  Pencil on paper 30 x 40  Collection of SeaFirst Bank  7. Desk for the Study of the Curious, 1979  Mixed- media assemblage 8' x 10' x 5'  8. George Eastman, 1979  Color Xerox 14 x 81/2 x 5 (3 pieces); 7 x 10 (1 piece)  Collection of Candace Kern  9. Prehistoric Post Office, 1979  Drypoint 24 x 36  Collection of Laura Mae Baldwin  10. Red Ball Desk, 1979  Watercolor on paper 15 x 20  Collection of Bill and Evelyn Zurow  11. Medieval Massage Parlor, 1980  Mixed media on paper 36 x 24    12. Medieval Massage Parlor, 1980  Mixed media on paper 36 x 24  Collection of Sharon Gilbert  13. Sacrifice (of the Prehistoric P.O.), 1980  Mixed media on paper 50 x 38  Collection of Jim Olson  14. Torture by Squid (Over Bainbridge Island), 1980  Mixed media on paper 48 x 221/2  Collection of David Sucher

15. Child of Prague, 1981  Mixed media on paper 23 x 29  Collection of Zena Chew  16. Doid's Dilemma, 1981  Mixed-media assemblage 45 x 36 x 5  Collection of Dr. and Mrs. Martin Haykin    17. Ralph Doid, City Planner, 1981  Mixed Media assemblage 7'x 8'x 4'  Seattle City Light I% for Art Portable Works Collection  18. Torture by Tickets, 1981  Color Xerox and mixed media on paper 495/8 x 333/8  Long-term loan and promised gift of Anne  Gerber, Seattle Art Museum 122.1985  19. Lilia 21 Philippines, 1982  Mixed media 23 x 29  Collection of Debbie Cornell and Dan Ranniger  20. Stairway of Success and Failure, 1982  Mixed media assemblage 8'x 8'x 8'  21. Stamp World, Where Artists Are Slaves, 1982  Lithograph 48 x 35  Collection of Drs. Fred Tobis and Carla Greenbaum  22. Desk for Making Fossils, 1983  Pencil on paper 19 x 261/2  Collection of E. Tracy  23. Jealousy Theory, 1983  Pencil on paper 30 x 42  Collection of Laura Mae Baldwin  24. Peking Man Wardrobe, 1984  Knotted wool on cotton warp 6'x 8'  Seattle City Light 1% for Art Portable Works Collection  25. Stamp World Tree of Life, 1984  Wool embroidery on cotton 6'x 4'  Collection of Eric Smith and Carol Poliak  26. About Evolution, 1985   Mixed-media assemblage 60x48x45   Collection of Neil and Mary Wechsler  27. Stamp Store II, 1985  Mixed media on paper 44 x 30  Collection of Rhonda Levitt and Charles Cowan

28. Artozoic Scene, 1986  Silkscreen 7 x 23  Collection of Kay Rood  29. Fig. 3, 1986  Wool embroidery on cotton 6'x 4'  Collection of Robert Kaplan  30. Fig. 3,1986  Silkscreen 23 x 17  Collection of Kay Rood  31. Ontogeny Recapitulates Philately, 1986   Mixed media on paper 40 x 26  32. Rosetta Envelope, 1986  Wool embroidery on cotton 9' x 8'  Collection of Karl and Barbara Krekow  33. Stamp Tree of Life, 1986  Mixed media on paper 48 x 20  Collection of Bill and Melissa Goldberg  34. Ant & Goat, 1987  Acrylic on carved wood 12 x 15  Collection of Camilla Nowinski and Alex Eyre  35. Dancing on Rembrants (sic) Bones, 1987  Acrylic on carved wood 12 x 15  Collection of Betsy Borrow  36. Maa Puja, 1987   Acrylic on paper 16 x 20  37. Maa Puja, 1987   Copper and mixed media 17 x 16 x 3  38. Mies van der Rohe vs. the Ionic Order, 1987   Knotted wool on cotton warp 5'x 8'  39. Tantric Story 1, 1987  Cotton embroidery on cotton 67 x 17  40. The Thorny Problem, 1987  Mixed collage on paper 44 x 33

Bibliography

Ancona, Victor. "Video Art in the Northwest."
     Videography, October 1977.
Appelo, Tim. "The Inscrutable Mr. Chew." The
     Weekly, March 1, 1981.
Beers, Carole. "One of a Kind Rugs." Pacific,
     April 12, 1987.
Campbell, R. M. "Discard Logic to Enjoy Carl
Chew's Wry World." Seattle
    Post-Intelligencer, October 14, 1979.
 "Carl Chew's Work is Well Crafted"
    Seattle Post-Intelligencer, September 30, 1977.
 Connell, Joan. "Welcome to the Extinct World of the Inscrutable C. T. Chew."
    Bellingham Herald, February 4, 1983.
 Farley, James G. [David Milholland]. "The Apocrypha of C. T Chew."
    Clinton St. Quarterly, June 1983.
 Frank, Peter. "Postal Modernism, Artist's Stamps and Stamp Images."
    Art Express, May/June 1981.
 Glowen, Ron. "Fiction and Fetish."
    Artweek, September 20, 1980.
 _. "Four Questioning Engagements."
    Artweek, February 26, 1983.
 Goethals, Cathy. "Painting at the Speed of Light."
    Everett Herald, June 24, 1984.
 Guenther, Bruce. 50 Northwest Artists, SanFrancisco: Chronicle Books, 1983.
 Hackett, RegIna. "Oh, What Seattle Might Have Been!"
    Seattle Post-Intellgencer, February 15,1981.
_. "Artist's Xerox Stamp Sheets are for Munches of Madcap."
    Seattle Post-Intelli gencer, October 24, 1983.
 Kendall, Sue Ann. "Carl Chew at Rubin/Mardin "
    Images and Issues, Summer 1982.
Kurosaki, Akira. "New Techniques."
    Bijutso Techo (Japan), November 1979.
 Larson, Kay. "Studio: Fine View."
    Voice, September 17, 1980.
 Loevy, Diana. "Notes from the Underground."
    Audio- Visual Communications, November 1977.
 Scigliano, Eric. "The Latest in Exotica Art from Hometown Klein and Chew."
    Argus, September 12, 1980.
 Smallwood, Lyn. "Drawing Power." Pacific Northwest Magazine, March 1985.
 Taylor, Barbara. "The World on a Desk."
    Artweek, October 16, 1979.
 
 

Biography

Selected One-person Exhibitions and Installations

1984 4 Windows: A Peekshow, Center on Contemporary Art, Seattle
1983 Le Extinction des Arts, Whatcom Museum of History and Art, Bellingham, Washington
1982 Visible Means of Support, Rubin /Mardin Gallery, Seattle
1981 Ralph Doid: City Planner, Seattle Municipal Building
1980 Atom Bomb Party, Roscoe Louie Gallery, Seattle Medieval Massage Parlor, Davidson Galleries, Seattle
1979 Prehistoric Post Office, Davidson Galleries, Seattle
1978 Eight West Coast Printmakers, The Brooklyn Museum
1977 C. T Chew, Davidson Galleries, Seattle, Video Dig, and/or, Seattle

Selected Group Exhibitions

1987 High Tech/High Touch: Computer Graphics in Printmaking, Pratt Institute Manhattan Gallery The             Computer as Drawing Tool, American Art Company, Tacoma 1986 Artwork/Working Art, Bellevue Art Museum, Washington Mixture: Notion & Substance, Oregon School of Arts and Crafts, Portland C. T Chew and Dennis Lockwood, Davidson Galleries, Seattle
1984 The New Revolution in Prints, Davidson Galleries, Seattle The Northwest Collection, King County Arts Commission, Seattle Compufair, Tacoma Community College 1983 Gene Baro Collects, The Brooklyn Museum, Drawing, Hodges/Banks, Seattle
1981 Cyanotypes, Erica Williams/Anne Johnson Gallery, Seattle Centro Documentazione Arti Visive, Castel San Giorgio, Italy Portopia 181, Port Island, Kobe, Japan
1979 Electroworks, International Museum of Modern Photography, George Eastman House, Rochester, New York (traveling exhibition)
1977 Ritual Objects, Bumbershoot Festival Seattle Thirty-four Prints from Seattle -Six Triangle Artists, Visual Arts Center, Anchorage Printmaking: Seattle, Davidson Galleries, Seattle (also 1976) Northwest'77, Seattle Art Museum Miami* University Print Show, Oxford, Ohio (award) Miami Dade Exhibition, Florida (award)
1976 Footprint, Davidson Galleries, Seattle Thirty Years of American Printmaking, The Brooklyn Museum
20th National Print Exhibition, The Brooklyn Museum (award) Seattle Prints, The Print Club Philadelphia
1975 Los Angeles Printmaking Society, Los Angeles

Collections

The Brooklyn Museum
International Museum of Modern Photography, Rochester, New York
Seattle Art Museum
Seattle City Light Portable Works Collection
University of Washington, Seattle
Whatcom Museum of History and Art, Bellingham, Washington

The artist's assistance with every aspect of this exhibition and publication is acknowledged with gratitude. This exhibition and publication were realized with the help of Liz Spitzer, Administrative Secretary, and Vicki Halper, Assistant Curator of Modern Art.

Prepared in conjunction with the exhibition C.T. Chew, this is the fourth brochure in volume five of Documents Northwest: The PONCHO Series. The exhibition is presented with the support of grants from PONCHO and the National Endowment for the Arts.

@ 1988 Seattle Art Museum
Photos by C. T. Chew

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