Steven Dobbin: Not Otherwise Specified    Jun 17 - Jul 22, 2005

June 17 - July 22, 2005 with an artists' reception on June 17th from 6-9pm.

Gallery hours for the exhibition are Mon. 9am-4pm, Thurs. 9am-6pm, Fri.-Sun. 11:30am-8pm at the gallery's home- 293 Grand St, in the Williamsburg Section of Brooklyn.

Steven Dobbin is a sculptor who uses his pieces to reflect his " concern with the emotionally disturbed students which I teach and for their uncertain futures. The consequences of tragic circumstances and the impact of personal choices on the lives of others is explored through figurative vessels, shelters, icons and altars."

Mr. Dobbin received his fine art degrees from Indiana State University, the University of Southern California and George Washington University. His sculptures have appeared in both group and solo exhibitions in California, Washington, D.C. , Maryland and New York as well as the Artists' Museum in D.C., the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, the Pasadena Amory Center for the Arts in California, Occidental College in Los Angeles, California State University, the University of Maryland, RX Arts and Ch'i both in New York and the Millennium Art Center in D.C. He has a permanent installation entitled "Labyrinth" at the Phillip Morris School in Maryland. His work has been published in the Frederick Gazette, the Baltimore Sun, The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times.

Mr. Dobbin recently moved from teaching at a private school for at risk youth to a public school setting where he is working with other types of disabled youth. In both cases the students and their environment affect his own sculpture. He is disturbed by the school systems nomenclature for youths with a variety of "emotional" disabilities as "not otherwise specified" disabilities and from this phrase took the title of his current exhibition. The works within the exhibition deal with issues which this category of student faces daily- poor housing, racial segregation of schools and school groups, guns in their environment, poverty, and the " no child left behind" ruling which most often leaves this group of at risk students behind. He utilizes materials that are, for worse, components of their environments- lead, copper, brass and enamel paints to create his mixed media sculptures. The resulting sculptures are either wall reliefs or three-dimensional structures that ask the viewer to examine these pertinent but often overlooked issues.

The installation at Chi in the "Not Otherwise Specified " exhibition will run from June 17th - July 22, 2005 and Mr. Dobbin will be on hand at the June 17th reception to further discuss the work.