Childish Things

Artists create for fame, for money, for no other reason than to do something with those clever hands of theirs. But the end result is always the same: In the making, they reveal something about themself. Mary Sprague has created a corpus of works that show flashes of her true self, but in her new double feature, Mary Sprague: Works in Clay and A Little Wooden, she does so in an entirely new fashion. Leaving behind her usual markmaking and drawing this time, Sprague opts for sculpture in clay and wood. In A Little Wooden, the material comes from her own history; using wooden objects she saved from her childhood and her family's past, Sprague reshapes nostalgia and history into a present-tense expression of where she is now. Looking back perhaps, but still forging ahead -- making, striving and spotting something new on the horizon that catches her boundless fancy. Mary Sprague: Works in Clay and A Little Wooden open together Thursday, September 12, at the Duane Reed Gallery (4729 McPherson Avenue; 314-361-4100 or www.duanereedgallery.com). Sprague's work remains up through Saturday, October 26, and the gallery is open Tuesday through Saturday.
Tuesdays-Saturdays. Starts: Sept. 12. Continues through Oct. 26, 2013