Francine Seders Gallery: GAIL GRINNELL

GAIL GRINNELL

Born in Richland WA in 1950, Gail Grinnell received her BFA from the University of Washington in 1988. She started to exhibit her work in 1982. Gail layers and collages fabric as others use paint. Her studio is full of works in process hanging to dry from a clothesline. She presents the assembled parts hanging so that light can play through the transparency of the materials. Drawing has remained her main studio occupation since 2005. She has increased her vocabulary of materials to include sheer fabrics such as silk and spun polyester. These collaged fabrics are strong enough to be cut into the shape of the drawings.

Gail’s last solo show (“Bitter Love”) at Francine Seders Gallery, Seattle, WA was in 2006. In 2005 the Drawing Center in New York selected her slides for its “Viewing Program” and a piece of her work was included in a print exhibition at the Shenzhen Fine Art Institute in Shenzhen China. Gail was awarded residencies at Fundacion Valparaiso in Mojacar, Spain for October 2007 and the Ballinglen Arts Foundation, Ballycastle, Ireland for February/March 2008. She was awarded an Artist Trust GAP grant in 2008.

Her most recent solo show was in May of 2009 at the Lorinda Knight Gallery in Spokane WA and in August of 2009 Gail installed “Lightly Here” in the front window of the Bellevue Art Museum.

She accepted a residency at the Jentel Foundation in Wyoming in January of 2010 and a two month return Fellowship at the Ballinglen Foundation, Ireland in September and October of 2010.

March 2011