Attention art lovers! The holiday season has arrived and we’re inviting you to celebrate in an artsy way. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to take advantage of terrific holiday prices on fine art all over Chicago for every budget! Give the lasting gift of art to a loved one or treat yourself this holiday season.

Chicago Gallery News is offering you a special insider guide on where to find this season’s specials.

Galleries Maurice Sternberg

This well-known gallery has 25 beautiful paintings starting at just $2,000.  Visit their space in the John Hancock Center at 875 North Michigan and enjoy an arty getaway when you’re in the hustle and bustle of Michigan Ave.

galleriesmauricesternberg.com  

Don Southard  

Nicholas Kilmer 

Project Onward

Friday, December 9, 12-5; Saturday, December 10, 10-4

This program at the Chicago Cultural Center is hosting a Holiday Sale and Portrait Slam, selling original artwork, hand-painted ornaments, decorated cards, and creating customized portraits (artists are willing to work from photographs too).

www.ExploreChicago.org

Roy Boyd Gallery

Dec 11 + 12, 1-6pm

The gallery is opening up their storeroom for you!

Ann and Roy from Roy Boyd Gallery will be displaying work that has been shown in the gallery over the past few decades –some works will be familiar + others a surprise-stop by for this unique peek! Royboydgallery.com

Chicago Urban Arts Society

Dec 18, 12-5pm

CUAS has last minute holiday shoppers covered - they’re hosting the Windy City Artist Alley, where artists, printmakers, illustrators + DIY artists who work in all genres and styles will set up, ready to fill your last minute shopping needs. It’s a great opportunity to check CUAS’s new space too at 600 W Cermak Rd.

chicagourbanartsociety.org

J2 Gallery

The gallery is offering a 20% discount off all limited Edition Reproductions by L. Lee Junge. And there’s no need to wait in line-order online at j2gallery.com and get free shipping using the promo code: LT0C9P

Additionally, photographer, David Mayhew is offering high quality limited Edition photographs both framed and unframed beginning at $110! Call 773-227-7900 for more info. 

L. Lee Junge 

David Mayhew 

Illinois Artisans Program Holiday Art Spree

December 14-16,10-3:30

Meet 20 artisans, learn about their craft, and purchase one-of-kind pieces at the 3-day Holiday Art Spree at the James R. Thompson Center, 100 W. Randolph at the Clark/Lake El Stop.  See an assortment of work from hand-woven table settings, printmaking, glass, paintings, and jewelry!  kschneider@museum.state.il.us

Explore more art online and stay up to date on art events throughout the year at Chicagogallerynews.com  

   Krisanne Johnson  

Glass Curtain Gallery presents Black Gossamer, a group exhibition opening November 17^th where several artists are exploring black identity.

Glass Curtain Gallery comments, “An anxiousness exists among people of color because there is still an expectation to "perform," explain and react to one's Blackness in society, maybe even make excuses for it, both within and outside "black" culture. One outlet utilized to express this dichotomy is through dress.”

“This exhibition showcases the work of black contemporary artists who use and draw inspiration from clothing, fashion, textiles and fabrications to explore and uncover recent revolutions in black identity.” (Class Curtain Gallery)  

 Wangechi Mutu 

Black Gossamer exhibits an impressive collection of work from several artists, including New York based Kenyan artist, Wangechi Mutu. Mutu’s work has been shown in venues such as: the Tate Modern, Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art, New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York, MOMA, P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, and at the Royal Academy in London.

Other artists include: Aisha Bell, Sheila Bridges, Myra Greene, Marlon Griffith, Krisanne Johnson, Kalup Linzy, Ebony G. Patterson (colum.edu/Student_Life/DEPS/)

Black Gossamer will include multiple opportunities to attend gallery talks and hear from some of the artists as well as curator, Camille Morgan. See below for a list of corresponding events.

Marlon Griffith, LOUIS (from the Powder Box School Girl series), 2009 

Located at 1104 S. Wabash on the 1^st floor of the historic Ludington building at Columbia College, Glass Curtain Gallery exhibits emerging and mid career artists. By presenting museum-quality exhibitions, workshops, and visiting artist lectures, Glass Curtain acts as a catalyst in the dialogue for students in the arts. 

Ebony G. Patterson 

For more information about the exhibition click here 

Exhibition Programming

November 17: Opening Reception 5:00-8:00pm

November 18 : "Taboo Fashion and Chameleon Identities" Gallery Artist Talk with Artists Aisha Bell and Ebony G. Patterson, 11-12:30pm

November 22: Critical Encounters Cafe Society discussion with artist Myra Greene and Curator, 4-6pm

February 1: Closing Reception - African American Heritage Month Kickoff Celebration, 5:30 - 7:30pm

As one of the largest collaborative artistic efforts ever across Chicago, The Soviets Art Experience has joined together twenty-six art museums throughout the city. The showcase is 16 months long and features numerous artists and their works in response to a communist Soviet Union. The events began in August of 2010 and end in January 2012, so be sure not to miss the remaining few months. These exhibitions present powerful imagery and propaganda from this period and help to create an understanding of what it was like. It includes art, dance, concerts, lectures, and classes that are created and put on by numerous prominent artists.

The Mary and Leigh Block Museum is one among many participants and their Views and Re-Views: Soviet Political Posters and Cartoons exhibition shows us a post-Cold War assessment through posters, cartoons, and photomontages. It is on view now and will run through to December 4th. The exhibition examines these images and the meaning behind stylistic tendencies that are often times suggestive and reinforcing a government message.

The David and AlfredSmart Museum’s Vision and Communism exhibition presents the work of Soviet artist Viktor Koretsky whose emotionally-charged images vividly depict controversies and issues from this time of turmoil. This exhibition opens on September 29 and will be on view until January 22nd. The Smart Museum’s Film Studies Center is also presenting footage by Aleksandr Medvedkin who documents tumultuous events from 1968-1969. These films can be seen on October 12th, 19th, and November 2nd at 7:00 pm at the Film Studies Center. The Smart Museum is also host to another exhibition associated with the Soviets Art Experience, Process and Artistry in the Soviet Vanguard, on view now until January 22nd. This exhibition features works by Gustav Klucis and Valentina Kulagina, and shows a rare look at the creative processes that created the iconic Soviet propaganda.  From preparatory drawings all the way to mass produced posters, you can see the stages and progression of these art forms into a political message.

This amazing collaboration demonstrates how Chicago artists and art institutions can come together to present a conjoined depiction of a dim time in history. Through the images and other infused mediums this powerful experience will leave you wanting more. Please check out this site for remaining exhibition dates and events going on throughout the remaining months.

Fall brings about many changes: changing of the leaves, the cold weather, and as you all guessed by last week’s busy opening schedule, of course new exhibitions for galleries. One art destination not far from the city is the Elmhurst Art Museum, an architecturally significant facility that focuses on contemporary art in the suburb of Elmhurst. Starting on September 16, and currently showing until December 31^st, the museum is presenting four new exhibitions for the fall. Three artists represented by Chicago galleries, artist Matt Woodward (Linda Warren Gallery), Glenn Wexler (Zolla/Lieberman Gallery), and Firat Erdim (Roy Boyd Gallery) are exhibiting their new works, with architecture as a lose but underlying theme. The Art Center is also concurrently presenting their new collection additions in a separate exhibition.

Matt Woodward’s The Tremendous Alone is a collection of immense drawings about architecture and the way in which it becomes a powerful memory, which creates a perception of how we view a given time and place. Six vast drawings fill the gallery space in an intuitive view of the artist’s personal memory. Woodward’s intent to push past the architecture into a suggestive place of life and death creates an overall thought provoking and visually stimulating experience.

Glenn Wexler’s multi-media exhibition Stillness in Motion is based on the in-between spaces of nature and the developed world, all seen through the lens of an urban setting. The collection includes structures lit from within, wall text, and photographic images that all pertain to the close proximity of architecture and its relationship to land and cityscapes.

 The architectural and sculptural work in Firat Erdim’s The Arbor looks at the transformation of objects and places between states of nature, raw material, construction and ruin. Erdim takes standard wood planks and uses them to create structures that comment on the states of arrangement and deterioration.

Collection Highlights: New Acquisitions is made up of the new 18 works that are being added to the Museum’s collection. The generously gifted works add to the contemporary art collection and speak to the current culture. The exhibition includes works from Jerry Cargill, Helen Maurene Cooper, Mark DeBernardi, and many more. Come check out these four fabulous exhibitions and revel in their creative excellence.

When: September 16- December 31, 2011

Where: Elmhurst Art Museum

http://www.elmhurstartmuseum.org/current-exhibitions.html

Stop by Perimeter Gallery this evening for the opening reception of Keiko Hara’s exhibition of new paintings and works on paper.  Hara’s colorful, abstract work includes mixed media and collage, monotype prints, oil paintings, and works on paper.

The reception will run from 5-8pm, today - Friday, March 18, at the gallery located at 210 W. Superior (60616).  The exhibition will run through April 16. 

Perimeter Gallery has been located in the heart of Chicago's River North Gallery district for 28 years.  The Gallery features contemporary Painting, Sculpture, and works on paper by midcareer and emergent artists as well as master works in Ceramics and Fiber arts.

For more information on the artist and artwork, visit her website http://www.keikohara.com/index.html

Keiko Hara, Space Sukumu-Sky 17, Monotype print with collage and hand work/Triptych, 20 x 46 inches, 2011