Collection: BILL CRANE

Bill Crane (b. 1963) has practiced at Interact since we opened in 1996, having one of the longest running tenures at our studio. In the last 20+ years, Crane has developed a massive body of work composed largely of ink drawings, ephemeral found object sculptures and installations, and acrylic paintings.

To share the studio with Crane is to become a part of his work. In densely filled drawings, explosive fields of color, and loosely rendered figures, he observes friends and loved ones – often referencing scenes from Interact, where he has long found inspiration. Visions of the Hulk, Superman, and Batman are added for good measure.

Crane, who is Deaf, uses a combination of American Sign Language and unique signs to communicate. His decades-long career as an artist has always expanded on these modes of expression, each piece a novel site for connection. Crane enlists studio mates in the creation of his sculptures and installations, directing them in aspects of the build. In these largescale works, sometimes extending from floor to ceiling, directive gestures between artists – a pointing finger, a nodding head – are synthesized in layers of cardboard, papier, mache, or paint.

Crane was an artist in residence at Interact Gallery leading up to the exhibition. He was accompanied by Fiber Arts Specialist Soph Munic, who is also his advocate and studio assistant.

Over the course of the month, Crane took over the gallery. His first act was to cover half the walls with a hypnotic shade of chartreuse. Then he painted his name alongside a smiling face.

Throughout Crane's residency artists from Interact's Writers' Workshop responded to the in-progress installation with poems and short fiction, culminating in a limited edition zine. Their work records intimate moments in Crane's drawings, paintings, and sculptures, but it also takes on a life of its own. In their lines of poetry and prose, we find another layer of exchange between Crane and fellow contemporary artists. Like Crane's work, their writing explores the depths of portraiture, immortalizing something ephemeral – a residency, an artist, a friend.

We are thrilled to present Crane's solo exhibition and retrospective and extend our deep gratitude to Bill Crane for sharing his incredibly abundant, generous, and exuberant work.