Art Tue Feb 09 2010
Hamza Walker, Image courtesy of the School of the Art Institute
On February 5, it was announced the $100,000 Ordway Prize would be awarded to Hamza Walker, the Director of Education and Associate Curator at The Renaissance Society at the University of Chicago. In 2001, The New York Times named him one of the most influential American curators. The New Museum describes the prize as, "acknowled[ing] the contributions of a Curator/Arts Writer and an Artist whose work has had significant impact on the field of contemporary art, but who has yet to receive broad public recognition. Nominees for the Ordway Prize are midcareer talents between the ages of forty and sixty-five, with a developed body of work extending over a minimum of fifteen years." Walker curated a solo show of Chicago-based photographer Anna Shteynshleyger which is on view at The Renaissance Society until this Sunday, February 14.
— Whitney Stoepel /
Art Tue Feb 09 2010
Martin Parr from his series, Playas
Stephen Daiter Gallery recently moved to 230 W. Superior and the first show in their new space features the amazing Martin Parr. Parr's supersaturated color photos with blazing flash can be slightly grotesque. Photos of food or tourists or fellow Brits, Parr's camera always seems to tease its subjects a bit. Some of Parr's work will also be featured in the Art Institute's In the Vernacular exhibit, up until May 31. Jeriah Hildwine has some good photos on Art Talk Chicago.
— Whitney Stoepel /
Art Tue Feb 09 2010
Hollis Sigler's Expect the Unexpected opened on January 30th at the Chicago Cultural Center, alongside relative newcomer, Angel Otero's Touch with Your Eyes. The side by side Chicago artists allow viewers both pride in the past and anticipation for the future of the Chicago art scene.
Sigler, who actually began her artistic career in strict realism, grew into her own with the striking colors, scratchy strokes, and child-like rendering of reality, evident in this sixty work series from 1981-2001. Her style was evidently impacted by Chicago's Imagist movement- a "faux naïve" craze that gripped the city in the 1960's, starting with Jim Nutt and his clan of Imagists. Sigler's crude depictions of femininity, life, and death, allow the viewer to experience her frustration and anguish- primarily relating to her fight against breast cancer. Sigler passed away in 2001 after battling her disease since diagnosis in 1985. Her work stands as a testament to her strength in the shadow of suffering, and her rapturous ability to incite discussion around the issues she addressed.
Hollis Sigler's Expect the Unexpected can be viewed through April 4th in the Sidney R. Yates Gallery of the Chicago Cultural Center.
— Britany Robinson /
Feature Mon Feb 08 2010
Chicago's comprehensive history of community organization and social justice make it an optimal city for arts-based not-for-profits. The first inception of arts education began in Chicago at Jane Addams's Hull House in the late 1800s and in the past few years, education was one of only two job sectors to experience growth (the other was healthcare). Everything suffers in a weak economy and when it is difficult for people to meet their most basic needs, the arts can become a second priority. Chicago arts-based not-for-profits like Open Books and Marwen are reviewing their business plans, reevaluating their spending and committed to providing a creative haven for underserved youth.
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— Whitney Stoepel /
This Saturday, recently relocated OhNo!Doom gallery hosts the 'Torn Pages' group show, a series of artist/writer collaborations focusing on imagined children's tales and the illustrations they've inspired. I spoke with art blogger and show curator Josh Lucas, and we touched briefly on the themes behind the show as well as Chicago neighborhoods, fairy tales, and the trials and rewards inherent in running a large group show.
"The Following are Pages Torn from our Most Favorite Imaginary Books", takes place on Saturday, February 13th, 2010, and runs through the end of the month. OhNo!Doom gallery, 1800 N. Milwaukee Ave., 6-10pm.
What's the Torn Pages Show all about?
The Torn Pages show is about a few things. Bringing people together who don't normally work together. in the creative world people tend to congregate together in what they do. writers will have readings, artists have shows, etc. but they rarely do things together. I believe the things that connect people are more powerful than the things that make them different. The creative process, and act, is a very beautiful and personal thing. And at the core, it's that feeling, and need to do so that every artist understands.
It's also about that feeling you got reading a story as a child. And wanting to get back to that place. The full show name expresses this "the following are pages torn from our most favorite imaginary books", it's about that story you always had in your head, or maybe just an image. But it was yours and now we get to share those things with the public.
How did the idea/theme happen? How were the artists picked?
The idea for the show was just a quick thought at first. My girlfriend was telling me about a story she was working on, and as she was telling me about it I saw it in my head, illustrated by a friend of mine. So i sat on it for a month or so and then started sending out emails to see if it would work. And it just kind of evolved from there.
The artists and writers were picked from names I'd seen around, and a few people I already knew. My girlfriend suggested some great people. I also got some help from Jason over at "Orange Alert": http://orangealert.net/blog he sent me some great suggestions. I got really lucky with the people who are now the lineup for the show.
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— Rose Lannin /
Theatre Sun Feb 07 2010
I've often heard it said that Chicago's theatre scene lacks a strong avant-garde presence, that it can play things too safe, too simple. It's true that Chicago doesn't boast companies as committed to the radical avant-garde experiments of New York's Wooster Group or Richard Foreman's complex Ontological-Hysteric Theater, but there's plenty of boundary-pushing non-traditional fare lurking along Chicago's storefront scene to please those looking for more than just a good story.
Last night I attended Trap Door Theatre's excellent American premiere of Minna, a play by British author Howard Barker. Barker, the architect of the indigestible Theatre of Catastrophe, is a superstar in Europe where his plays are produced readily and lavishly, but his work is rarely seen in the States. Barker seems like a perfect fit for Trap Door, who are committed to producing challenging and obscure works, often by European authors, but they aren't the only Chicago company right now to take a chance on one of his plays; a few weeks ago I posted my review of Oracle Theatre's unhinged production of Barker's The Castle. For perhaps the first time ever, Chicago theatergoers can see not one, but two productions of Barker's work on the same weekend. I can't imagine another time in the foreseeable future where this will happen.
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— Randall Colburn /
Photo: hulu.com
Chicago's Deon Cole has enjoyed a successful career in the stand-up comedy scene, and he even parlayed that success all the way to the [now defunct] "Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien."
Cole served as a staff writer during the show's short run; however, for TV Guide Magazine columnist Bruce Fretts, the end of the "Tonight Show" should mark a new beginning for the comic.
According to Fretts, NBC should be "snapping up the uproarious Cole" and even suggests that he should have a show of his own.
What do you think? Should Deon Cole have his own show?
— LaShawn Williams /
Art Sat Feb 06 2010
Adam Eckberg, Saturday Night, 2009
Chicago-based photographer Adam Eckberg's show, In the Between, closes today at Thomas Robertello Gallery but if you missed it, don't worry. Eckberg's work is also featured in the Elements of Photography exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary Art and Bad at Sports has posted a great interview with him.
— Whitney Stoepel /
Art Sat Feb 06 2010
Photo by Bernard Colbert
The Flat Iron Artists Association and the Wicker Park/Bucktown Chamber of Commerce kicked off their 2010 Inaugural season of First Fridays with Now You See It, Now You Don't. The concept involved using the walls of the Flat Iron Building at 1579 N. Milwaukee as canvas and then ceremoniously painting over them with white paint. This spectacle speaks to idea of art as something that come and goes, evolves and doesn't last forever. Some artists involved with the mural were Sebastian Napoli, Kelly Jensen, Matthew Morgan and George Berlin. The opening reception began last night at 6pm and the murals were painted over 10pm. Visitors were invited to wander in to all the studios housed in the Flat Iron Building and treated with the familiar cups of wine and veggie plates. I spoke with artist Scotie Cousin who mentioned this would not be last time this performance would occur.
If you'd like to learn more about the artists involved or the project, visit the Now You See It, Now You Don't Blog.
— Whitney Stoepel /
Art Fri Feb 05 2010
The studio of an artist is a visceral, messy and sometimes chaotic fortress of solitude. It's what one would imagine another's inner-most covert thoughts to be, personified into empty paint buckets of brushes, heaves of ripped canvas, macabre pilings of wooden figures, twisted mannequin body parts and presumably meaningless sketches and blueprints. It's horrifying. It's flawed. It's humorous. It's one of those "whoh buddy, too-much-information" moments. But above all it's human.
Production Site: The Artist's Studio Inside-Out is the Museum of Contemporary Art's latest exhibition connecting the artist with the observer. Here, running February 6 through May 30, it's not the product of an artist's endeavor being presented, but the studio as subject matter. Curator Dominic Molon lead the media preview of the exhibit featuring large installations, films, video projections, photographic light-boxes, life-sized fabrications of artist's studios--some literally ripped off their studio walls, sculptures, performance pieces and evolving canvases explained the display as a being a timely exhibition during the current economic downturn, a "reorientation of our celebration of conspicuous consumption that we've seen as a more central topic of aesthetic discourse [and that it] shows a deeper and more serious consideration of production."
While the exhibit displays numerous artists' studios from all over the world and many from Chicago, here are some of the highlights of Production Site.
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— John Lendman /
Film Fri Feb 05 2010
If you're presently in college, or have graduated within the last five years, there's a good chance that you've had a friend forward you one of the Derrick Comedy videos. These NYU grads were responsible for viral favorites such as Bro Rape and Blow-job Girl, and since graduating the members of the troupe have found success in film, television and literature.
The members of Derrick may each be busy with new endeavors, but they still are constant collaborators, and the latest product they have to show for their efforts is Mystery Team, the group's first feature film. The group produced the project themselves, and are now in the process of rolling it out in screenings across the country before releasing it on DVD. The film is showing this weekend at the Music Box and the members of Derrick will be on hand for a Q&A following the screening.
Tickets can be purchased online for the shows which are February 5th and 6th at midnight at the Music Box Theatre (3733 N. Southport)
— Dyan Flores /
Column Fri Feb 05 2010
From Paris with Love
The action genre should be kissing director Pierre Morel's feet for adding a little fire and insane fun back into its tired ass. Working for and under the production guidance of Luc Besson for several years (he's also set to direct the reboot of Dune), Morel directed two dynamite-in-your-pants fun movies, District B13 and last year's surprise hit Taken, with Liam Neeson. Both films seemed intent on making their action sequences feel as unrehearsed and unchoreographed as possible. The results are some of the most raw and shocking fight scenes I've seen in a long time. With his latest work (from a screenplay by Adi Hasak from a Luc Besson story), Morel takes his organic style adds a layer of crazy in the form of a bald John Travolta, playing the ugliest of ugly American operatives who enters the City of Lights and blows most of it up.
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— Steve Prokopy /
Blog Wed Feb 03 2010
Image Courtesy of dailyradar.com
Jennifer Hudson's meteoric rise from Chicago's South side to Hollywood really is the stuff dreams are made of. From her days as a contestant on "American Idol" to her Academy Award-winning turn in 2006 in Dreamgirls, Hudson has continued on the road to a burgeoning career in movies.
But even rising starlets have to hit a bump in the road; for Hudson, the "bump" comes via Winnie Mandela, ex-wife of former South African president, Nelson Mandela.
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— LaShawn Williams /
Art Wed Feb 03 2010
Vermeulen's "Moby Dick: Standing the Mast-Head," image courtesy of Packer Schopf
Timothy Vermeulen's new paintings are based on specific texts from Moby Dick, and currently showing at Packer Schopf Gallery. Tim's figures, and his use of perspective that is just off enough to keep you just unsettled, is reminiscent of the early Northern Renaissance painters, think Hieronymus Bosch and Giotto, but very contemporary. There are lots of things about Tim's work that make each piece not only inviting but engaging, one is his understanding of color and how it effects mood, another is his odd sense of space, as each painting seems to open up to the room. The way he skewed the perspective in the piece made me feel as if I were being enveloped and the paintings became much bigger than their modest 13.5 X 17.5 size.
Each piece was part of the Moby Dick narrative but Tim would place himself in these paintings, participating and exploring as both an onlooker and a participant. His presance in the paintings allowed me to involve myself in the storytelling, reexamining my place in a world in flux. Tim's paintings are brave and confident and this show is not to be missed, unfortunately you only have until February 13 to see it.
There will be a special reception for the College Art Association Convention on Friday, February 12, from 5 to 8pm, which will also host a book release of Words for Paintings by Jason Lahr, whose paintings are also currently on view at Packer Schopf. Don't forget to visit the downstairs gallery while you are there, ventriloquist dummy portraits by Gene Hamilton tie this three person show together quite gracefully.
— MartinJon /
Art Wed Feb 03 2010
Almost every day I discover a new cellphone artist. It started with the iPhone Therefore iArt show last month, and hasn't stopped since. Remember when people were complaining about how digital photography allows "just anyone" to be an artist? Now, cellphone cameras allow anyone to be an artist, at any time, without even requiring the forethought of bringing a camera with you when you leave the house.
Sure, this means we're all going to be exposed to even more crappy art. But every once in a while, we'll run into some nice stuff that is beautiful in its spontaneity, like Jeremy Edwards' From the Pocket photos and Sarah Best's Daily Photos series, which will be exhibited at Antena Gallery in Pilsen, opening on February 19.
Photo by Sarah Best
— Kelly Reaves /
