With a background creating sculpture through welding, Dennis Lee Mitchell turned his welding torch onto a 2D paper surface and discovered a new way of drawing. Mitchell’s medium is smoke. Using carbon/soot as a drawing tool, Mitchell delicately applies this medium to the surface of paper. The resulting works can evoke natural or abstract forms striking a balance between representational and the ephemeral. Mitchell sees art as the universal language. The dialog that results from viewers engaging in and questioning this unique art form serves to connect and break down barriers, while also providing a beautiful and compelling visual experience. SOLO EXHIBITIONS2024 Racine Art Museum, Racine, Wisconsin Zolla/Lieberman Gallery, Chicago, Illinois William Havu Gallery, Denver, Colorado Tayloe Piggott Gallery, Jackson Hole, Wyoming2023 “Playing with Smoke, Jerald Melberg Gallery, Charlotte, North Carolina2022 Tayloe Piggott Gallery, Jackson Hole, Wyoming2021 “Recorded Traces” Zolla/Lieberman Gallery, Chicago, Illinois “Dennis Lee Mitchell” William Havu Gallery, Denver, Colorado “Infinite Musings” Tayloe Piggott Gallery, Jackson Hole, Wyoming2019 “Smoke Remains,” Zolla/Lieberman Gallery, Chicago, Illinois2018 “Smoke,” Jerald Melberg Gallery, Charlotte, North Carolina2017 “Smoke Theory” Zolla/Lieberman Gallery, Chicago, Illinois “Smoke Drawings” William Havu Gallery, Denver, Colorado, 2015 “Smoke on Paper” Todd Weiner Gallery, Kansas City, Missouri 2014 “Smoke Drawings” William Havu Gallery, Denver, Colorado2013 “Dennis Lee Mitchell Smoke Drawings,” C. Grimaldis Gallery, Baltimore, Maryland2012 “Earth and Fire,” Patraidas Contemporary, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania2011 “Distillation,” Dubhe Carreño Gallery, Chicago, Illinois 2009 “Origin,” Alcoma Gallery, Athens, Greece 2008 “Human Nature,” Dubhe Carreño Gallery, Chicago, Illinois “Material Transformation,” Kemper Art Gallery, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, Illinois2006 “Sense of Origin,” Clarke House Museum, Chicago, Illinois “Source,” Dubhe Carreño Gallery, Chicago, Illinois 2005 “Manifest,” Dubhe Carreño Gallery, Chicago, Illinois2004 “Sculptures,” Dubuque Museum of Art, Dubuque, Iowa “New Works,” Dubhe Carreño Gallery, Chicago, Illinois GROUP EXHIBITIONS2023 Sohn Fine Art, Lenox, MA The Summer Show, Jerald Melberg Gallery, Charlotte, North Carolina 50th Celebration, William Havu Gallery, Denver, Colorado “It happened one night,”, Tayloe Piggott Gallery, Jackson Hole, Wyoming2022 William Havu Gallery, Denver, Colorado Zolla/Lieberman Gallery, Chicago, Illinois2019 Neptune/Brown Gallery, Washington D.C.2018 Heather Gaudio Gallery, New Canaan, Connecticut2016 U.S. State Department, Art in Embassy Exhibition, U.S. Embassy, Ankara, Turkey, (February)2015 “Two Person Show”, Perimeter Gallery, Chicago, Illinois U.S. State Department, Art in Embassy Exhibition, Curated by Sara Tanguy, U.S. Embassy, Ankara, Turkey2014 “New Media Exploration,” University of St. Francis, University Art Gallery, Fort Wayne,Indiana2013 “Mighty Small,” Patraidas Contemporary, Ogden, Utah2012 “Dennis Lee Mitchell/Olivia Petraides/Lisa Sambor,” Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art, Chicago, Illinois “We Find Our Way,” Parlor Gallery, Asbury Park, New Jersey2011 “Sculpture Today: New Forces, New Forms,” Frederick Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park, Grand Rapids, Michigan2010 CAA Seoul 2010, Kepco Art Center, Seoul, South Korea The Chicago Art Loop Open, Chicago, IL2010 NCECA Invitational, Moore Galleries, Moore College of Art, Philadelphia, PA “Trompe L’Oeil,” John Natsoulas Gallery, Davis, California2009 “Considering Spring,” Pacini Lubel Gallery, Seattle, Washington “Perspective,” Function Art, Chicago, IL The 5th World Contemporary Ceramic Biennale, Icheon-city South Korea2008 “The Leaf and the Page,” Illinois State Museum, Chicago, IL “Revisions,” Zolla/Lieberman Gallery, Chicago, IL Trompe L’Oeil, John Natsoulas Gallery, Davis, California2007 Cheongju International Craft Biennale, Cheongju City, Chungbuk, South Korea, Honorable Mention “Botanical,” Santa Fe Clay, Santa Fe, New Mexico “Sculpture Invasion,” Koehnline Museum of Art, Oakton Community College, DesPlaines, IL “Contemporary,” Aldo Castillo Gallery, Chicago, IL Art XIII, Couturier Gallery, Los Angeles, California 21st International Juried Exhibition, Visual Arts Center of New Jersey, Summit, NJ “Match,” Dubhe Carreño Gallery, Chicago, Illinois2006 “Ingrained Passion,” Function + Art, Chicago, Illinois Krasl Biennial Sculpture Invitational, Krasl Art Center, St. Joseph, Michigan Rockford Midwestern Biennial, Rockford Museum of Art, Rockford, IL “30 Ceramic Sculptors,” John Natsoulas Gallery, Davis, CA “Nature/Culture,” Santa Fe Clay, Santa Fe, New Mexico Chicago Sculptors Biennale, Flatfile Galleries, Chicago, IL Biennale, Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Fort Wayne, IN “People of the Mud: A Look at Chicago Ceramics,” Chicago Tourism Center, Chicago, Illinois SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY2023 Northern Virginia Magazine, June 2023, “Playing with Fire” pages 49-53 Art & Antiques, September/October 2023, “Up in Smoke” page 342022 Whitefish Review, Volume 14, Issue 1, Summer/Fall 2022, Dennis Lee Mitchell, Untitled (3204), page 762021 Denver Art Review, Smoke Drawings by Dennis Lee Mitchell at William Havu Gallery, Denver, Colorado Washington Post, Biennial Survey Celebrates Mid-Atlantic Artists Working in Variety of Mediums, Sunday, 10/31/20212019 Washington Post, “Review of Smoke Drawings by Dennis Lee Mitchell at Gallery Neptune & Brown, Washington, D.C.2018 Donald Kuspit, Dennis Lee Mitchell’s Smoke Drawings2016 “Cinder There Is: Surrealism and the Smoke Drawings of Dennis Lee Mitchell,” H. Peter Steeves, Philosophy Department, DePaul University, Chicago, Illinois Baltimore Sun, “Review of Smoke Drawings by Dennis Lee Mitchell at C. Grimaldis Gallery,” Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore City Paper, “Review of Smoke Drawings by Dennis Lee Mitchell at C. Grimaldis Gallery”, Baltimore, Maryland2012 Donald Kuspit Essay, “Dennis Lee Mitchell’s Smoke Drawings and Related Works” Victor M. Cassidy, Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art Catalog Essay, Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art, Chicago, Illinois Northwest Passage, Review of Exhibition, Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art, Chicago, Illinois2011 Paul Klein, “Dennis Lee Mitchell,” Paul Klein Art Letter Victor M. Cassidy, “Dennis Lee Mitchell,” Chicago Art Magazine 2009 “Adventures of the Fire,” World Ceramic Biennale, Icheon-city, South Korea 2008 Margaret Hawkins, “Dennis Lee Mitchell Natural Fragments,” Ceramic Art and PerceptionAlan Artner, Dennis Lee Mitchell, Review, Solo Exhibition at Dubhe Carreño Gallery, Chicago Tribune, March 21, 20082006 John Natsoulis, “30 Ceramic Sculptors 2006,” John Natsoulis Press2005 Bridgette R. McCullough, Review, Solo Exhibition at Dubhe Carreño Gallery, Time-Out ChicagoElaine Levin, “I Have Always Been Driven with Desire for the Straightforward Truth of the Natural World,” Ceramic Art and PerceptionGlen R. Brown, Review of Solo Exhibition at Dubuque Museum of Art, AmericanCeramics, 14/42003 Glen R. Brown, “Dennis Lee Mitchell’s Microcosm of Transformation,” Solo Exhibition Catalogue, Dubuque Museum of Art, Dubuque, Iowa Tarkassis, Kostas, “Dennis Lee Mitchell,” Kerameiki Techni PUBLIC COLLECTIONSThrivent Financial Collection, Minneapolis, MinnesotaRacine Art Museum, Racine, WisconsinIllinois State Art Museum, Chicago, IllinoisUkrainian Institute of Modern Art, Chicago, IllinoisFrederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park, Grand Rapids, MichiganGrand Valley State University Collection, Grand Rapids, MichiganUtah Museum of Fine Arts, Salt Lake City, UtahDaum Museum of Contemporary Art, Sedalia, Missouri Arizona State University Art Museum, Ceramics Research Center, Tempe, ArizonaDeloitte & Touche Collection, Chicago, Illinois Museum Boymans-van Beuningen, Rotterdam, The NetherlandsUniversity of Evansville, Evansville, IndianaNortheastern Illinois University, Chicago, Illinois Illinois Collection for the State of Illinois Center, Chicago, Illinois SELECTED PRIVATE COLLECTIONSAnne Finkelman, Chicago, IllinoisFrank Paluch, Oak Park, IllinoisLindsay McDonald, Chicago, IllinoisChristopher & Beverly With, Washington D.C.Svend Ollei, Ambassador, DenmarkSara Sivright, Minneapolis, Minnesota Larry Bakin, Arlington, VirginiaHyang-Lim Han, Director, Hanhyanglim Gallery, South KoreaPaul Klein, Chicago, IllinoisWilliam Lieberman, Chicago, IllinoisKostas Tarkassis Collection, GreeceHector Mavridis Collection, Greece GRANTS AND AWARDS2018-19 Art Bank Grant, D.C., Commission on the Arts, Washington, D.C.2016-17 Pollock/Krasner Foundation Grant2016 On site Lectures, U.S. Art in Embassy Program, Ankara, Turkey 2016 Art Bank, D.C. Commission on the Arts2015 Art Bank, D.C. Commission on the Arts 2014 Art Bank, D.C. Commission on the Arts 2004 Illinois Arts Council, Special Assistance Grant 1977 National Endowment for the Arts, Crafts Critic Fellowship Grant1975-6 National Endowment for the Arts, Craftsmen’s Fellowship Grant EDUCATION1971 Master of Fine Arts in Ceramics, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona1969 Master of Arts in Ceramics, Fort Hays Kansas State University, Hays, Kansas1968 Bachelor of Arts, Fort Hays Kansas State University, Hays, Kansas