BELLEVUE, WA.- Bellevue Arts Museum presents the first major retrospective of internationally‐known, Seattle‐based jeweler Mary Lee Hu, on view February 7 ‐ June 17, 2012. Featuring more than 90 exquisite earrings, rings, brooches and neckpieces, drawn from both public and private collections all over the world, Knitted, Knotted, Twisted & Twined: The Jewelry of Mary Lee Hu traces this artist’s evolution from her early experimental designs of the 1960s to today’s creations full of light and movement. A much‐anticipated hardbound catalogue, produced by Bellevue Arts Museum, will be released and nationally distributed in mid March.
Using wire the way hand weavers use threads, Hu has blazed a trail both as artist and innovator, exploring the nexus between metalsmithing and textile techniques over the past 40 years. Her graceful and apparently effortless creations, formed by intricate twining, twisting and knotting, investigate both the possibilities and limits of wire as they fuse fiber art and jewelry, structure and pattern, light and line.
Hu’s work is included in major national collections such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Museum of Fine Arts Boston. “We’ve been collaborating with more than 40 institutions and private collectors over the past two years to bring together the first comprehensive survey of Mary Lee Hu’s dynamic and remarkable career,” says Director of Curatorial Affairs/Artistic Director and curator of the exhibit, Stefano Catalani. “It’s an immense opportunity for our visitors and members to be up close to the work and life of one of the most celebrated jewelry artists of our time.”
Born in Ohio, Mary Lee Hu now resides and works in Seattle. Introduced to metalsmithing in high school, she proceeded to earn her BFA from the Cranbrook Academy of Art (MI) and MFA from Southern Illinois University, both in Metalsmithing. Most recently, she taught at the University of Washington for 16 years as a Professor of Art until her retirement in 2006. She has received numerous honors such as being inducted into the National Metalsmith’s Hall of Fame (2008), the Twining Humber Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement from Artist Trust (2008) and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Seattle Metals Guild (2006). Hu has also received three National Endowment of the Arts Craftsman Fellowships and was elected to the American Crafts Council College of Fellows. Her work has been featured in numerous solo and group exhibitions and can be seen in both private and public collections, such as the Art Institute of Chicago (IL), Metropolitan Museum of Art (NY), Museum of Fine Arts Boston (MA) and the Victoria and Albert Museum (UK).
