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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Eileen Rhodes, Gallery Owner

eyerhodes@gmail.com

312.907.9323

www.blancchicago.com

CHICAGO NATIVE FINDS HOME AGAIN IN NEW ART EXHIBIT

BLANC Gallery is pleased to present “Homecoming,” an exhibition featuring New York artist,and Chicago native, Dr. Raymond A. Dalton, on display August 3 – September 21, 2012. An opening reception will be held Friday, August 3 from 6pm to 9pm at Blanc Gallery, 4445 S. King Drive, Chicago, IL 60653. 773.952.4394. This event is free and open to the public.

For this series, Ray Dalton has created nearly 20 original photo montages. As source material he used several hundred of his own photographs from nearly 5 decades of travel and documentation. Ray brings to life old and new elements of Chicago through many layers of images from around the globe. As not only an artist but also an art scholar, Ray is quick to note the subtle but important difference of photo montage and collage; the former being a process of making a single image from a compilation of other photographs and the former as an assemblage of many materials including photography. Artists like Romare Bearden and Hannah Hoch are perhaps most well known for their use of montage as a primary medium.Ray's “Homecoming” series brings Bronzeville's cultural legacy to vibrant new life through the eyes of an artist who has personally witnessed its many transformations.

The images depict timeless scenes of city activity that are a part of our collective memories—jumping rope on hot summer days, spirited card games, sultry dances between lovers. As a little boy growing up on the south side of Chicago, Raymond Dalton, 70, spent many a day at the Metropolitan Funeral Home (now the site of Blanc Gallery) celebrating the homegoing of his relatives. After more than50 years, he is now returning to this same space, a container for so many personal memories, for a first solo exhibition of artworks in Chicago. Dalton states, “Good .home' company keeps coming back again into each other's lives no matter how little or great the time lapsed between.Homecoming is a state of nourishment that sustains us so that we flourish.”Ray Dalton was born and raised on the south side of Chicago and graduated from DuSable High School.

He earned his bachelors and masters degrees from Illinois State University and a Ph.D.from Purdue University. His ground breaking research on effective recruitment and retention of African American architecture students at the collegiate level led to over 30 years of academic service at both the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) and Cornell University. He was responsible for record numbers of minority students enrolling and graduating from these top institutions before his retirement in 2009. Ray has exhibited work in New York and continues to travel extensively throughout the world.“Homecoming,” is on display August 3 – September 21, 2012.

Join the artists for a reception on Friday, August 3 from 6pm to 9pm at Blanc Gallery, 4445 S. King Drive, Chicago, IL 60653.312.907.9323. Light refreshments will be served. An artist talk and closing reception will be held during the run of the exhibit. For the most up to date information, visit: www.blancchicago.com or call 773.952.4394. This event is free and open to the public. Street parking available free of charge.* *