Christopher Willey: Community

Christopher Willey has been around the block. As a child, he moved from place to place. As an art student he settled at the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design, but he also studied at the Burren College of Art in Ireland, the Studio Art Center International in Florence, and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. This nomadic lifestyle seems to have led directly to his second solo show, "Community." The exhibit is composed of thousands of tiny clay houses laid out like a Stuart Little-size replica of the subdivision he was raised in. The approximately 10,000 white porcelain clay homes spread across the floor look simultaneously like stars forming and expansive and puzzling constellations—or like blank dominoes waiting for the nudge that will topple them all. Willey also ups the tear-jerk factor on the exhibit by marking significant places from his youth—he notes the garage in which he got his first kiss and the place he broke his father's fishing rod. Willey moved again this year. This time he's relocated to San Francisco, where he is pursuing his master's degree.
Dec. 11-30, 2007