<html><head></head><body>Entering its eleventh year as a leading international art fair, EXPO CHICAGO, The International Exposition of Contemporary and Modern Art will host 170 leading international exhibitors for its 2024 edition in Navy Pier’s Festival Hall, presented alongside one of the highest quality platforms for global contemporary art and culture.&nbsp;The exposition draws upon the city’s rich history as a vibrant international cultural destination, while engaging the region’s contemporary art community and collector base. The 2024 edition of EXPO CHICAGO will present various programs and events throughout Chicago during EXPO ART WEEK (April 8–14, 2024).&nbsp;Following are some programming highlights to watch for both onsite and throughout the city this April.– GV&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419359/k5fayiguooqaigyo3o4f.jpg"><figcaption>Chance the Rapper. Photo: Courtesy of Keeley Parenteau.</figcaption></figure>Presented in partnership with the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC), /Dialogues brings together leading curators, artists, designers, and arts professionals for a series of panel discussions. A keynote discussion with Chance the Rapper, Asma Naeem Ph.D. (Baltimore Museum of Art) and Nate Freeman (Vanity Fair) on hip hop and its contributions to contemporary art takes place Thursday, April 11, 7-8pm.&nbsp;Throughout the run of the exposition, visitors attending /Dialogues programs and film screenings will be able to lounge within the Soho House Snug, a community area provided in collaboration with Soho House Chicago.View the full <a href="https://www.expochicago.com/programs/dialogues">/Dialogues lineup here.</a>&nbsp;*<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419360/h5lccyps6zkixavm9yi0.jpg"></figure>New Monuments | Chicago by Brendan Fernandes is a public intervention at the General John Alexander Logan Monument in Grant Park and part of <a href="https://www.expochicago.com/programs/in-situ-outside">IN/SITU Outside</a>. Envisioned as the first in a series of interventions engaging monuments internationally, it features a sculptural installation composed of scaffolding surrounding the monument, marking the space as “in transition”; a durational performance on April 12 from 7:00–10:00pm; and public hours on April 10–13 from 11:00am–5:00pm, during which audiences are invited to respond to Fernandes’ prompt about their visions for new monuments. Responses will be displayed to illustrate this communal moment of self-expression, social engagement, and critical dialogue around the history and current state of monuments in Chicago, and beyond. &nbsp;Performance on April 12 from 7:00–10:00pmPublic hours on April 10–13 from 11:00am–5:00pmLogan Monument in Grant Park, S. Michigan Ave &amp; E. 9th St.&nbsp;*<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419360/suo28knji8xtbs1ag1sf.jpg"><figcaption>Charles Arnoldi, Ellipse II, (2020), Edition of 30, Wood Block. Sheet Size: 129cm × 115cm. €3,750.00</figcaption></figure>Exhibiting as part of <a href="https://www.expochicago.com/exhibitors/expo-editions-books">EDITIONS + BOOKS</a> at EXPO this year, Stoney Road Press was established in Dublin in 2001 and is known for collaborating with Irish and International artists in the production of fine art prints, exhibiting them at international art fairs with the assistance of Culture Ireland.Editions + Books showcases a cross-section of established and emerging artists. From limited editions to publications, the exhibitors offer a diverse array of print media and object-based practices that span across photography, sculpture, and monographs, and other multiples.&nbsp;*&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419361/h5tvjlxrne4uu4jlnkpd.jpg"><figcaption>OVERRIDE | A Billboard Project, 2024. Judy Ledgerwood, Jaywalking, 2022. Courtesy of the artist and Rhona Hoffman Gallery.</figcaption></figure><a href="https://www.expochicago.com/programs/override">OVERRIDE</a> | A Billboard Project is a citywide collaborative public art initiative between EXPO CHICAGO and the City of Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE)&nbsp;in collaboration with the Chicago Digital Network&nbsp;to exhibit artwork on all CDN billboards and&nbsp;City Information Panels "CIPs" in the Central Business District from April 1—21, 2024. Participants included both emerging and established artists from Chicago and around the world. Placing artwork within this public context and the broader presentation of billboard advertising, OVERRIDE takes its name from industry terminology referring to the continuation of an outdoor advertising program beyond a contracted period. Fully integrated into the language of advertising and local familiar signage, each of the works included within the OVERRIDE program present the opportunity for local and international artists to intercept and push the boundaries of how visual culture is disseminated in our increasingly image-based environment.Building upon the City of Chicago and DCASE’s longstanding commitment to public art, OVERRIDE provides EXPO CHICAGO a key opportunity beyond Navy Pier&nbsp;to showcase works by leading international artists in neighborhoods throughout the city.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419362/m20djbmu6vqumkvplxeb.jpg"><figcaption>Eddie Martinez, Half Stepping Hot Stepper and Untitled, on-view April 5–August 25, 2024 at Compass Rose | Navy Pier as part of <a href="https://www.expochicago.com/programs/in-situ-outside">IN/SITU Outside.</a></figcaption></figure>&nbsp;&nbsp;For tickets <a href="https://www.tix123.com/tickets/?code=EXCH24&amp;_gl=1*1lv5t2k*_ga*MTI1Njc3OTk3NS4xNzA5MDA2OTQ2*_ga_9F4GPT8QEV*MTcxMTcyNTM0OC4yMi4xLjE3MTE3MjUzNzQuMzQuMC4zMjk2ODE5NTc.&amp;_ga=2.59521325.1691843750.1711725349-1256779975.1709006946">click here</a>Hours and tour times are below.&nbsp;VIP PREVIEWTh, April 11 | 12:00noon – 9:00pm – By Invitation OnlyOPENING NIGHT OF EXPO CHICAGOTh, April 11 | 6:00–9:00pm&nbsp; –&nbsp; Limited AvailabilityGENERAL ADMISSIONFriday, April 12 | 11:00am – 7:00pmSaturday, April 13 | 11:00am – 7:00pmSunday, April 14 | 11:00am – 6:00pmTOURSGuided tours led by museum educators and other arts professionals. 60 minutes. +$30Friday April 12 @ 1:00pm and 3:00pmSaturday April 13 @ 1:00pm and 3:00pmSunday April 14 @ 1:00pm.&nbsp;• Also: Art Encounter’s International Highlights tour explores work by leading artists from Europe, Asia, South America, and Africa as well as New York and Los Angeles. 90 minutes. +$40&nbsp;<a href="https://www.expochicago.com">EXPOCHICAGO.COM</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

When the Fair Comes to Town: EXPO Chicago and Beyond

<html><head></head><body>&nbsp;<figure class="image image-style-side"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419359/qkm1lpyxkbom2yzu3auv.jpg"><figcaption>The spring/summer 2024 cover of CGN featuring art by Salvador Andrade Arévalo&nbsp;</figcaption></figure>I don’t know what I would do without lists. When it comes to meeting CGN’s deadlines or navigating the logistical obstacle course that is raising two children, lists keep me focused and comforted by organization. I am always updating my lists, segmenting themes, using up notepads and Post-Its, crossing things off or starring critical follow-ups.&nbsp;I find listmaking essentially task-oriented, but that’s where it ends. For instance, I love nothing more than a weekend without to-dos that leaves time for my family and me to make spontaneous plans and discover something new. My thoughts about lists made me consider how magazines and websites have long leaned on publishing their own lists as a way to boost sales, from the top 100 songs of all time, to the 10 best things to do in two days. Lists may offer choices among an overwhelming array, but they can end up obscuring the rewarding discoveries you may find if you let yourself explore on your own. Especially because CGN is focused on supporting and engaging with a creative community, we aim to be a circular resource, not a linear one, a guide that shows you but does not dictate.&nbsp;When I went to summer camp as a kid we heard, “There are no rules, just guidelines.” And there are no rules or lists in this issue of CGN either. We feature 80 pages of insights and information, guided by our seasonal calendars and arts listings – in no particular order (other than sometimes chronological or geographic). There are too many upcoming art events to count, as of press-time, with more added throughout the summer.&nbsp;In this issue, in addition to dozens of exhibitions, we preview the return of EXPO CHICAGO, as well as shows by artists like <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2024/3/plastics-and-flowers-the-art-of-salvador-andrade-arevalo">Salvador Andrade Arévalo</a>, whose work you will want to know. Read how veteran artist <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2024/3/phyllis-bramson-and-david-leggett-brewing-something-new">Phyllis Bramson</a> is shaking things up and exhibiting alongside a younger counterpart, David Leggett. Lucca Colombelli shares his big plans for his gallery Povos. Artist Suzette Bross details how her organization is bringing artists into Chicago Public Schools. We also highlight how Millennium Park has transformed Chicago’s modern reputation as a center for art since its opening 20 years ago.As you explore art this season–at art fairs, after hours, auctions, solo exhibitions, benefits and more–consider the advice of collector Sundeep Mullangi, “If you’re interested in collecting art, no matter who you are, there is an entry point for you.” Enjoy this issue and go out and find what’s on your list, if you even make one. Give yourself credit that you can discern what it is that you like and would like to follow. &nbsp;– Ginny Van Alyea, CGN Publisher&nbsp;To subscribe to CGN and receive a copy of the spring/summer magazine by mail please <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/magazine">click here</a>.&nbsp;Read our spring cover interview <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2024/3/plastics-and-flowers-the-art-of-salvador-andrade-arevalo">here</a>.&nbsp;</body></html>

Spring 2024 Publisher's Letter 

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419346/oiq7rpi3lr9opix7ac5r.jpg"></figure>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419346/slzobnjp8ssgt0omotdr.jpg"></figure>&nbsp;By GINNY VAN ALYEAThe Museum of Contemporary Photography's (MoCP) annual benefit DARKROOM took place last month on February 29 – Leap Night 2024. &nbsp; Leap Night proved to be a record-breaking year for MoCP with 400 people in attendance and $325,000 raised. Hosted at the Columbia College Student Center in the South Loop, the purple-lit evening offered VIPS and all attendees a chance to bid on an impressive variety of artworks and experiences for the <a href="https://mocp.us5.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9e4250b7536dc23e9352b28ee&amp;id=f27f772860&amp;e=d76e1da35a">auction</a>, sponsored by Freeman’s | Hindman.&nbsp; The evening honored two Chicago icons for their contribution to the city&nbsp;and beyond. MoCP honored its esteemed colleague, professor, and distinguished artist&nbsp;Dawoud Bey the Silver Camera Award. VIP ticket holders were treated to an engaging conversation between Mr. Bey and MoCP Executive Director Natasha Egan. Bey also received an actual silver camera - an Argus c3 rangefinder Leica, the same camera he had in 1979. Bey shared with guests that the gift of the Leica was "completely and totally unexpected. My life as a photographer began with a little rectangle brick of a camera. This is a wonderful completion of a moment."&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419347/kdqhzdo5n5q4xq8jyrii.jpg"><figcaption>Dawoud Bey and his silver camera</figcaption></figure>*Artist, designer, and cultural provocateur Jason Pickleman and JNL Graphic Design was MoCP's DARKROOM Honoree, with JNL cofounder&nbsp;Leslie Bodenstein accepting the award after sharing a video tribute of JNL's outstanding design work from over the years. In particular JNL has designed much of MoCP's signature materials, just one of the many, many ways Pickleman has supported the arts community and its institutions through award-winning design. Bodenstein had the crowd cheer into her phone so that Pickleman, who was at home due to his health, could hear the enthusiasm in the room as his award was presented.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419348/zpu0zcocfhuc6h8i4kxy.jpg"><figcaption>Lelie Bodenstein holds the phone up for the crowd to cheer for Jason Pickleman</figcaption></figure> Eszter Borvendeg and Lincoln Schatz co-chaired DARKROOM along with this year's <a href="https://mocp.us5.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9e4250b7536dc23e9352b28ee&amp;id=e5c4fd2ac9&amp;e=d76e1da35a">Benefit Committee.</a> Event proceeds support MoCP exhibitions, education, and community engagement programs. The public is invited to continue supporting this year’s DARKROOM with a gift to MoCP through this <a href="https://mocp.us5.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9e4250b7536dc23e9352b28ee&amp;id=e0d2e388fe&amp;e=d76e1da35a">link</a>.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419349/fefppjhvdtxlw1x4gwga.jpg"></figure>&nbsp;Photos by Julie Lucas, Columbia College Chicago Staff Photographer.&nbsp;</body></html>

MoCP's 2024 Leap Night DARKROOM Honors Dawoud Bey and Jason Pickleman

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419359/lc5yiulndtzrkqueiojn.jpg"><figcaption>Above: Left: David Leggett, High Vibration Plates Only, 2024, acrylic, collage, and felt on canvas, 28 x 22 in / 71.1 x 55.9 cm. Right: Phyllis Bramson, Basic Truths about Romantic Conditions, 2023, mixed media, collage, and paint on paper, mounted on panel, 48 x 36 in / 121.9 x 91.4 cm</figcaption></figure>By JACKIE LEWISArtists Phyllis Bramson &amp; David Leggett have collaborated at ENGAGE Projects this spring to exhibit Double, Double Toil and Trouble! With a familiar title served up from the cauldrons of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Bramson and Leggett visually recontextualize the phrase through their individual usage of collage, shared comedic relief and maximalist painting.&nbsp;Bramson shared with CGN, “It was my idea to show with David Leggett. I had seen his exhibitions when he used to live in Chicago. Now he is in Los Angeles. I felt people know a lot of my work; I wanted to shake things up!”&nbsp;The exhibition calls on and highlights taboos and dares to platform subjects that are usually kept out of sight or only superficially examined. Leggett’s paintings recycle media familiar to the masses, with his work highlighting the importance of humor in dealing with the reality of mundane life. Through hyper-modern collage aesthetics and traditional symbolism, Leggett touches on themes from hip-hop to art history, sexuality, racial divisions and the self.Considering Leggett’s work, Bramson says, “I find his work to be elegant, well composed and tightly crafted, and I certainly try to do the same. We both use irony, humor and ‘inappropriateness’ – David uses Fat Albert and Black Bart to craft a narrative, and I utilize Orientalism, which I can trace back to my childhood.”“I take many of my cues from standup comedians,” Leggett explains, “which I listen to while in my studio. Humor and the use of color are two tools that I employ to bring the viewer in.”Bramson, whose résumé has a few decades on Leggett’s, wields comedy as well, as she is a self-described “painter-comedian”. She admits, “In the studio I don’t practice good behavior. I maim. I raid. I give myself freedom.” &nbsp;It’s the intersection of bold commentary on every day life and collective memory that makes Double, Double, Toil and Trouble! a unique chance to witness a visual conversation between two artists at different stages in their careers. For Bramson, “We have a fair amount in common, yet still are quite different. David’s bite has sharper teeth! So while we are not to be looked at as all that similar, we both have something to say about the human condition, collaging and sharing the use of specific ideas about ‘beauty’.”Mar 22–Apr 27 • ENGAGE Projects • 864 N Ashland Ave. (60622)<a href="https://www.engage-projects.com">engage-projects.com</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;This preview is featured in the spring/summer issue of CGN, out April 1, 2024. To subscribe to receive a print magazine by mail please <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/magazine">click here</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

Phyllis Bramson and David Leggett: Brewing Something New

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419339/quftvjiz6tnkivc5zljc.jpg"><figcaption>Kaima Akarue It took a long time to get here Collage</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.msichicago.org/explore/whats-here/exhibits/black-creativity-juried-art-exhibition/gallery/general/">Black Creativity Juried Art Exhibition at MSI</a>For 50 years, the Museum of Science and Industry has hosted the nation’s premier exhibition of African American art. The Juried Art Exhibition is a pillar of the Museum’s Black Creativity program, which showcases African American achievement in a variety of scientific, artistic, and technological fields. Each year, the Black Creativity Juried Art Exhibition presents more than 100 works of art from professional and emerging Black artists from throughout the U.S. There is a general category, Works by Black artists age 18 or older, and a teen category, Black artists under 18 OR in grades 9-12.The Museum of Science and Industry’s annual Black Creativity program invites students, teachers, families and the public to explore the legacy of rich contributions and achievements made by African Americans while encouraging deeper interest in science and technology among youth.This longest-running exhibition of African American art has been displayed annually at MSI since 1970. Black Creativity Juried Art Exhibition features paintings, drawings, fine art prints, sculpture, mixed-media, ceramics and photography by African Americans, including youth artists between the ages of 14 and 17. See dynamic works from both professional and amateur African American artists from around the country.This exhibition&nbsp;is now open through April 21, 2024 and&nbsp;is included in Museum Entry.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419340/l7adlmhwl7k2ey956srz.jpg"><figcaption>David Shrobe, Gathering, 2023. Oil, acrylic, charcoal, ink, wood laminate, painted canvas, flocking, wool, printed acrylic, sandpaper, and wood furniture parts on joined wood panels. 78 x 59 x 1 1/2 in</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.moniquemeloche.com/exhibitions/216-david-shrobe-natural-sovereignty-opening-reception-saturday-february-3-4-7pm/press_release_text/">David Shrobe: Natural Sovereignty</a>February 3—March 16 at moniquemelocheOpening reception, Saturday, February 3, 4-7pmThrough assemblage, collage, drawing, and painting, the works on view draw from oral histories, family portraits, and online archives to present the vitality of family life among Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) communities. Pulling from the past to project new possibilities of the future, Shrobe considers the backyard and garden as an extension of the home and a site of sustenance, survival, and resistance.Natural Sovereignty is the last body of work created in the artist’s longtime studio in Harlem, NY. Next month, the artist will vacate his studio in the apartment that has housed his family for nearly a century. Slices of the domestic materialize through found objects such as tabletops, doors, molding, mirror frames, wood flooring, and textiles. The artist collects these objects over long periods of time–often found within the surrounding blocks near his building–filling every corner of his studio.&nbsp;Inspired by bell hooks’ reflection on photography, several of Shrobe’s assemblage paintings are drawn from turn of the century photographs of Black and Indigenous Americans, representing autonomy for people of color and a declaration of their presence. The camera and photography, as described by hooks, offered African Americans a way to empower themselves through counterhegemonic representation and offered the possibility of immediate intervention. <a href="https://www.moniquemeloche.com/exhibitions/216-david-shrobe-natural-sovereignty-opening-reception-saturday-february-3-4-7pm/press_release_text/">Read more...</a>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419341/btg5srtn2uu9thenxwkx.png"></figure><a href="https://www.mahoganygallery.com/wisconsinblackartexpo3">The Wisconsin Black Art &amp; Culture Expo</a>The annual Wisconsin Black Art &amp; Culture EXPO is the state's largest celebration of black artistic contributions to Wisconsin and the world. A two-month long series of events, the celebration features a variety of community collaborations to kick-off Black History Month. There are many events planned, from receptions to talks to a gala at UW–Parkside on February 10. Mahogany Gallery in Racine, WI, the organizer of the EXPO, is hosting a four-part viewing and discussion series called <a href="https://www.mahoganygallery.com/eventscalendar/black-in-latin-america-viewing-amp-discussion-part-1-c3sfw-6x4nn">Black in Latin America.</a>&nbsp;Last year the EXPO supported over 20 black owned businesses, infused thousands of dollars into the Racine economy and brought visitors from across the US to southern Wisconsin.&nbsp;Participating venues include&nbsp;<a href="https://www.uwp.edu/">UW-Parkside</a> <a href="https://www.mahoganygallery.com/">Mahogany Gallery</a> <a href="https://www.abhmuseum.org/">America’s Black Holocaust Museum</a> <a href="https://www.ramart.org/">Racine Art Museum</a> Hot Shop Glass Lemon Street Gallery&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419342/rmnalwywj2re6vzr416e.jpg"></figure>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/freedom-square-the-black-girlhood-altar">Freedom Square: The Black Girlhood Altar</a>During the uprising and global pandemic in 2021, A Long Walk Home's Chicago-based artists Scheherazade Tillet and Robert Narciso created The Black Girlhood Altar. The Black Girlhood Altar is a multimedia, artifact-based, video, and object-based artwork to create sacred spaces and honor the lives of Black girls and young Black women who have gone missing or been murdered. As a mode of urgent healing – weaving together commemoration and advocacy – the Black Girlhood Altar is built on years of engaged work in Chicago and taking on national prominence. This temporary monument traveled through various neighborhoods in Chicago before being exhibited at Chicago Cultural Center.On view through March 10&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419342/dn3lhj2o0la7y19h5kms.png"></figure>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/bending-light">Bending Light</a>An exhibition at the South Side Community Art Center, Bending Light,&nbsp;invites you to experience color not just as a visual spectacle but as a powerful conduit for reflection and dialogue. Echoing curator and artist Paul Branton, What does it truly mean to be colored in America? This question approaches theories of color, in relation to identity and the rich pigments found in nature; they serve as the palette for this artistic inquiry and the profound implications of this label. The artists explore its impact on Black identity, potential, and the intricate interplay between societal perceptions and individual existence.&nbsp;Beyond their aesthetic appeal, the works are a celebration of the language of color, offering a poignant exploration of the unique challenges, triumphs, and complexities of Black life.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419344/urodh8svlxlmzfvbebh3.jpg"></figure>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/faith-ringgold-american-people">Faith Ringgold: American People</a>This career-spanning survey of artist Faith Ringgold opening in the Griffin Galleries ends this month at the Museum of Contemporary Art. This is Ringgold’s first solo presentation in Chicago.With a career that spans six decades, artist, author, educator, and organizer Ringgold is one of the most influential cultural figures of her generation. This major retrospective presents a comprehensive assessment of the artist’s impactful vision, which bears witness to the complexity of the American experience.&nbsp;“Faith Ringgold: American People is an overdue examination of an iconic artist whose work has been underseen in Chicago,” Manilow Senior Curator Jamillah James says. The exhibition will also further contextualize Ringgold’s continuing impact on art history through the inclusion of works from the MCA Collection by artists who were influenced by Ringgold or explore similar themes in their work.On view through February 25 at the MCA&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

Area Exhibitions to Visit During Black History Month 2024

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419333/ppptmxgu7ddqlaqnbcls.jpg"></figure>&nbsp;DIY Valentines: A Maker EventFeb 10, 2024, 10:00am–12:30pm. At the Newberry – Ruggles HallCalligraphy evolved into a fine art practice in the mid-20th century, and it continues to be reimagined by artists today. To keep the art of beautiful lettering alive, it must be practiced.Join us and the Chicago Calligraphy Collective for an interactive and family-friendly event focused on expressions of love and care. Enjoy demonstrations of different forms of lettering and related arts – origami, paper embossing, gilding, and more – and try your hand at making your own Valentine projects. This event is open to writers and makers of all ages. Enjoy free hot chocolate, coffee, and treats as you circulate.<a href="https://reg.learningstream.com/reg/event_page.aspx?ek=0057-0014-e561b6e0687c4e368b3be5aaf82bce05">Advance registration required.</a>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419334/guncbrqyyjmcbmlr6ndu.jpg"></figure>&nbsp;Tea and HappinessPAGODA RED has partnered with THE ROOF CROP &amp; VOLITION TEA to create PAGODA RED Tea. With hand-picked single origin Zhenghe red tea leaves, freshly grown eau de cologne mint&nbsp;and healing hyssop flowers, the blend has subtle anise and&nbsp;orange undernotes. A $98 limited edition, they've paired the tea with their favorite infuser and&nbsp;a hand-painted porcelain double happiness tea leaf jar to convey warmth, joy &amp; love.<a href="https://www.pagodared.com/t/gifts?utm_source=Pagoda+Red+Master+List&amp;utm_campaign=a373f3ea08-20240131_ValentinesTea&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_term=0_d5a5331306-a373f3ea08-106923209&amp;goal=0_d5a5331306-a373f3ea08-106923209">Details</a>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419335/pi1lo9vrgomdwdkhmpnh.jpg"></figure>&nbsp;At the MCA Shop, Create or Dine in the Name of LoveFrom keychains to mirrors to candles and pins you never knew you (or a loved one) needed, the MCA Store has an abundance of red, pink and anatomically-correct hearts for sale this season. They're also having member discount days in leading up to Valentine's Day, so shop for now, or save for later. <a href="https://mcachicagostore.org/collections/valentines-day?page=1">Visit the MCA Store</a>And you can attend the <a href="KIDO Chicago is back this Family Day with a full museum takeover featuring quilt-inspired activities from Faith Ringgold’s book Tar Beach and story quilts as well as music, art-making, and storytelling.">Family Day | Love is Love</a> on February 10, 11am-3pm. KIDO Chicago is back this Family Day with a full museum takeover featuring quilt-inspired activities from Faith Ringgold’s book Tar Beach and story quilts as well as music, art-making, and storytelling.And you can dine at <a href="https://mcachicago.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=c24ba7c5a91cefd699dc985e1&amp;id=5d18a9b91f&amp;e=95b957c616">Marisol at the MCA&nbsp;</a> on Valentine’s Day for $100 per person for a 4-course experience.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419336/jpbwjuznpxq6lm3rqun0.jpg"></figure>&nbsp;A Love Supreme at Elmhurst Art MuseuemEAM's love-themed exhibition just opened, so here's your chance to go see the exhibition with a loved one.&nbsp;A solo exhibition by Norman Teague, <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/a-love-supreme">A Love Supreme</a> is inspired by legendary jazz musician John Coltrane, with an adjoining intervention in Mies van der Rohe’s McCormick House by Chicago-based BIPOC designers. Teague uses Coltrane’s album “A Love Supreme” as a personal, cultural, and spiritual touchstone to consider design influences from his life-long home in Chicago, exploring how the power of bold improvisational jazz and unapologetic Black aesthetics have expanded the minds and inspired creative communities of color.You can even attend a <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/family-day-a-love-supreme-valentine">love-themed family day</a>, where visitors are invited to create Valentine’s Day cards inspired by the sights and sounds found in EAM's current exhibition. With drawing and painting, visitors are asked, “Which of your muses will you send your Valentine to?”&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419337/xsqczfvfqnzblrfmhjgq.jpg"></figure>Pistachio's Valentine's Day EventOn Saturday, Feb 10, from 12 – 5pm you're invited to go downtown and visit Pistachio's to celebrate love. Pistachio's is offering $10 off permanent jewelry's. You can enjoy a complimentary glass of wine and get a custom fit bracelet to match your partner or friends.&nbsp;Permanent jewelry is sterling silver, gold fill, and 14k solid gold chains that are custom fit to your wrist size and then welded together – so they never come off (unless you want them to, of course).&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/valentine-s-day-event">Details</a>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419338/tv0tmehuqhgbdonugwtx.jpg"></figure><a href="https://driehausmuseum.org/programs/detail/for-your-eyes-only-vintage-valentines-with-a-secret?mc_cid=0c0aa2b497&amp;mc_eid=d1db3f815c">For Your Eyes Only — Driehaus Museum Vintage Valentines with a Secret!</a>Wednesday, February 76:00-7:30 PM <a href="https://46316.blackbaudhosting.com/46316/For-Your-Eyes-Only---Vintage-Valentines-with-a-Secret">BUY TICKETS&nbsp;</a>$50 General Audience || $45 Members || $40 Students which includes materials and toolsIn this workshop, you’ll learn how to create a very special homemade valentine (or galentine—or palentine!). Inspired by a 19th century craft adapted from much older Japanese paper arts, these valentines are card and envelope in one, and contain secret compartments that may be used to hide additional messages. After first creating a model or sample, you will construct a Valentine that conceals its contents and reveals them when opened like a magical flower.Materials and basic tools will be provided, and we will be using scissors, ruler and/or right angle, and bone folder (or other folding tool like a letter opener, wooden spoon, tongue depressor). If you have favorite tools, feel free to bring your own.Note: The entrance for this program is 50 E. Erie, the Driehaus Museum’s security entrance.&nbsp;</body></html>

Local Inspiration for Valentine's Day Creating and Gift-Giving

<html><head></head><body>While it's not the day before Christmas, our e-commerce dominated retail world seems to be sending out new frantic emails every 10 minutes. A few of them are actually helpful, so we have come up with a slightly last-minute, very local little gift guide for the art lover in your life. Or just go ahead and treat yourself by supporting a local gallery or artist!&nbsp;Happy holidays!– CGN&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417531/o9kegyct6dujjvgnigzk.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/print-subscriptions">1. A copy of the BRAND NEW 2024 CGN Arts Guide</a>Subscribe here for $25 a year and we will mail the guide to you as soon as we can. We rely on the post office, so we can't guarantee date delivery, but the art is good all year long!&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417532/kadjb5tuvmcmhsixy3mw.jpg"><figcaption>BuyArt Tee $60</figcaption></figure><a href="https://www.hebrubrantley.com/hebrubrandstore">2. Hebru Brantley Art Merchandise</a>Hebru's art is in demand but his line of clothing, puzzles and even wrapping paper is much more affordable!&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417532/rbfofwshfxe1ajvszfa6.jpg"><figcaption>Oblivion 2. $400</figcaption></figure><a href="https://shop.chicagotruborn.com/collections/2023-holiday-showcase?syclid=cltll6m5ji7s738v6sog&amp;utm_campaign=emailmarketing_148670939394&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_source=shopify_email">3. Art from Chicago Truborn</a>Chicago Truborn's Holiday Showcase features affordable art – most of which is under $500 – as well as other items like pins, sticker packs, candles and other "stocking stuffers" available in store. There may just be something for everyone. The show is up through January 4, but shop now to get your gifts in time for the holidays.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417533/taey4ppkpvywl12fkkqu.jpg"><figcaption>"Changing Seasons 2C5", 5x7, encaustic on wood panel, special holiday price $280</figcaption></figure><a href="http://www.danaddington.com/addingtongallery/">4. Small Encaustic Works from Addington Gallery</a>Throughout December Addington Gallery is presenting a group of NEW small works at a special price point of $180 - $480 by noted encaustic artist Paula Blackwell. This holiday offering featuring these special prices will only be available through the end of December.Paula is known for her mysterious encaustic paintings that seem to open up into evocative vistas of atmospheric space occupied by trees, water, and glowing skies. This small group of paintings have been created for the holiday season, and will be available to ship out on a first come first-served basis.To reserve a piece contact the gallery at <a href="mailto:danaddington@sbcglobal.net">danaddington@sbcglobal.net</a> or text 312.664.3406 and let us know them the number and title of the selected piece.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417534/zmrsvrlis3h6bn5fihhj.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/sona-holiday-boutique">5. SoNA's Holiday Boutique&nbsp;</a>Just in time for the holidays, a special section in the Gallery Annex is ready with holiday items in a wide range of prices. Coasters by <a href="https://mgcp02.engage.squarespace-mail.com/r?m=6553eb3f1d818e2189ab0202&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fsonachicagoart.com%2Fjillkolker%3Fss_source%3Dsscampaigns%26ss_campaign_id%3D6553c700aa12dd695d8775ee%26ss_email_id%3D6553eb3f1d818e2189ab0202%26ss_campaign_name%3DSpecial%2BEvents%2Bto%2BCelebrate%2B%25E2%2580%259COf%2BEarth%2Band%2BSpirit%25E2%2580%259D%26ss_campaign_sent_date%3D2023-11-14T21%253A49%253A02Z&amp;w=6329dce92f1476025db9c9e7&amp;c=b_6553c700aa12dd695d8775ee&amp;l=en-US&amp;s=EOUTqM4T9XLnGuKxLySQHBEqXZg%3D">Jill Kolker</a> and <a href="https://mgcp02.engage.squarespace-mail.com/r?m=6553eb3f1d818e2189ab0202&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fsonachicagoart.com%2Fsharonbladholm%3Fss_source%3Dsscampaigns%26ss_campaign_id%3D6553c700aa12dd695d8775ee%26ss_email_id%3D6553eb3f1d818e2189ab0202%26ss_campaign_name%3DSpecial%2BEvents%2Bto%2BCelebrate%2B%25E2%2580%259COf%2BEarth%2Band%2BSpirit%25E2%2580%259D%26ss_campaign_sent_date%3D2023-11-14T21%253A49%253A02Z&amp;w=6329dce92f1476025db9c9e7&amp;c=b_6553c700aa12dd695d8775ee&amp;l=en-US&amp;s=3kgw5bcAUks91InbqyLUiG213A4%3D">Sharon Bladholm</a>, prints by several of the artists (including Sharon’s beautiful watercolors), mini-paintings on cute little easels by <a href="https://mgcp02.engage.squarespace-mail.com/r?m=6553eb3f1d818e2189ab0202&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fsonachicagoart.com%2Ftomrobinson%3Fss_source%3Dsscampaigns%26ss_campaign_id%3D6553c700aa12dd695d8775ee%26ss_email_id%3D6553eb3f1d818e2189ab0202%26ss_campaign_name%3DSpecial%2BEvents%2Bto%2BCelebrate%2B%25E2%2580%259COf%2BEarth%2Band%2BSpirit%25E2%2580%259D%26ss_campaign_sent_date%3D2023-11-14T21%253A49%253A02Z&amp;w=6329dce92f1476025db9c9e7&amp;c=b_6553c700aa12dd695d8775ee&amp;l=en-US&amp;s=e4ZedUswpDu82Wnz_6Vn57PAUX0%3D">Tom Robinson</a> and <a href="https://mgcp02.engage.squarespace-mail.com/r?m=6553eb3f1d818e2189ab0202&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fsonachicagoart.com%2Floralynkumlin%3Fss_source%3Dsscampaigns%26ss_campaign_id%3D6553c700aa12dd695d8775ee%26ss_email_id%3D6553eb3f1d818e2189ab0202%26ss_campaign_name%3DSpecial%2BEvents%2Bto%2BCelebrate%2B%25E2%2580%259COf%2BEarth%2Band%2BSpirit%25E2%2580%259D%26ss_campaign_sent_date%3D2023-11-14T21%253A49%253A02Z&amp;w=6329dce92f1476025db9c9e7&amp;c=b_6553c700aa12dd695d8775ee&amp;l=en-US&amp;s=YMJSNFuKUyu-7S2Bs-ghDFu_PmA%3D">Loralyn Kumlin</a>, greeting cards by <a href="https://mgcp02.engage.squarespace-mail.com/r?m=6553eb3f1d818e2189ab0202&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fsonachicagoart.com%2Ftitabrady%3Fss_source%3Dsscampaigns%26ss_campaign_id%3D6553c700aa12dd695d8775ee%26ss_email_id%3D6553eb3f1d818e2189ab0202%26ss_campaign_name%3DSpecial%2BEvents%2Bto%2BCelebrate%2B%25E2%2580%259COf%2BEarth%2Band%2BSpirit%25E2%2580%259D%26ss_campaign_sent_date%3D2023-11-14T21%253A49%253A02Z&amp;w=6329dce92f1476025db9c9e7&amp;c=b_6553c700aa12dd695d8775ee&amp;l=en-US&amp;s=p3wyjH9FUuLxuqUesFT7wYqdzig%3D">Tita Brady</a>, books by Tita and Sharon, Mark’s book, Making Space, beautiful jewelry in the gallery by artists <a href="https://mgcp02.engage.squarespace-mail.com/r?m=6553eb3f1d818e2189ab0202&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fsonachicagoart.com%2Fmelissafinelli%3Fss_source%3Dsscampaigns%26ss_campaign_id%3D6553c700aa12dd695d8775ee%26ss_email_id%3D6553eb3f1d818e2189ab0202%26ss_campaign_name%3DSpecial%2BEvents%2Bto%2BCelebrate%2B%25E2%2580%259COf%2BEarth%2Band%2BSpirit%25E2%2580%259D%26ss_campaign_sent_date%3D2023-11-14T21%253A49%253A02Z&amp;w=6329dce92f1476025db9c9e7&amp;c=b_6553c700aa12dd695d8775ee&amp;l=en-US&amp;s=zA93sSkyvXn_eDpfRPIvrKkIWPc%3D">Melle Finelli</a> and <a href="https://mgcp02.engage.squarespace-mail.com/r?m=6553eb3f1d818e2189ab0202&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fsonachicagoart.com%2Fchristyklug%3Fss_source%3Dsscampaigns%26ss_campaign_id%3D6553c700aa12dd695d8775ee%26ss_email_id%3D6553eb3f1d818e2189ab0202%26ss_campaign_name%3DSpecial%2BEvents%2Bto%2BCelebrate%2B%25E2%2580%259COf%2BEarth%2Band%2BSpirit%25E2%2580%259D%26ss_campaign_sent_date%3D2023-11-14T21%253A49%253A02Z&amp;w=6329dce92f1476025db9c9e7&amp;c=b_6553c700aa12dd695d8775ee&amp;l=en-US&amp;s=1oMGv5KwgiGcR73hwctQk8gHg4o%3D">Christy Klug</a>, and more. Additional items from other artists are being added for this special holiday offering.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417535/m7r5pmjds7llcfpc9qkv.jpg"><figcaption>Double Happiness Jar (!) $68</figcaption></figure><a href="https://www.pagodared.com/t/gifts">6. Pagoda Red Offers Gifts Big and Small</a>Many of Pagoda Red's pieces are carefully sourced from the other side of the world and can make any home feel unique. For gift-giving this year they have a dreamy list of items - large and very small - that can be treasured anywhere and for years to come.&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

Last Minute Holiday Art Gift Guide

I know I am not that nice to be around when I’m on a magazine deadline. I pull all-nighters, I drink too much coffee and eat old Halloween candy, and I get testy about last minute surprises and running out of time. Ever since I started working at Chicago Gallery News in 2002 I have known that no matter what comes up, even a pandemic, every issue always gets done. This 2024 Arts Guide was produced largely on the go – at hockey practices, in urgent care waiting rooms, in the car, even at Chuck-e-Cheese – and it was done on time. Once the guide is finally off to the printer I say thank you to everyone who put up with me and try to step back, rest and recharge so that I’ll be glad to do it all over again in a few months. I truly am grateful for everyone’s patience during deadline time as I push through the long hours and rounds of edits in order to make sure that CGN continues to be a means of support and visibility for the many galleries, museums and artists within our community. Thank you!&nbsp;This 8th edition of the CGN Arts Guide is our largest to date, both in the page count and the number of galleries and art spaces listed. We count over 110 spaces, and 24 are new to CGN for 2024.&nbsp;We refreshed our district maps, incorporated the auction houses into our neighborhood sections, and doubled-down on our district colors and QR codes (someday those will surely date us like the FAX numbers we used to list back in 2002).&nbsp;Within the guide there are many galleries that have been in business for decades alongside several opening their doors for the first time. Each space listed–from Sheboygan, WI to Grand Rapids, MI to Logan Square and Hyde Park–makes a difference for artists as well as in the local community. They can make a difference for you and me too because each gallery or museum has the ability to translate a part of the world for each person who walks in the door. Hopefully there are many spaces and artists you will encounter in 2024 that will compel you to spend time engaging with art, whether around the corner or across state lines. I know art can be a way of recharging after a big deadline, or at any time.&nbsp;Thank you for making 2023 a great year for CGN and for our art community, and I hope you can enjoy the end of this season as we hope for peace and joy in the next.&nbsp;Happy new year!&nbsp;– Ginny Van Alyea&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/print-subscriptions">SUBSCRIBE TO THE GUIDE HERE</a>2024 Arts Guide cover artwork: Christina Ramberg, Untitled (torso with leaf), c. 1980, acrylic on masonite, 15 x 11 1/2 in. Courtesy of the Estate of Christina Ramberg and Corbett vs. Dempsey. <a href="https://corbettvsdempsey.com">corbettvsdempsey.com</a>&nbsp;

CGN Publisher's Letter: 2024

<html><head></head><body>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419307/kgigrym3osrwki8e3hni.jpg"></figure>&nbsp;In 2023 we spoke with many artists, shared updates and insights from industry leaders, covered civic news and art community milestones, shared happy announcements as well as sad news about closures and passings. As we close out one year and begin a new one, we look back at what we covered in CGN these past months. The new year's events and exhibitions will be here before we know it, and we wish you wonderful and restful holidays as we recharge and look ahead to more art and inspiration in 2024.&nbsp;Happy new year!&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419308/qevvjxjicivtdlvnw1wj.jpg"><figcaption>Installation view of The Observers featuring John Opera at DOCUMENT, 2023. Image courtesy of the artist and DOCUMENT, Chicago, IL.</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2023/1/in-search-of-art-between-5-000-10-000">In Search of Art Between $5,000–$10,000</a>January 2023By Bianca BovaBuying art—despite what the instagram art market “gurus” that seem to proliferate by the day would have you believe—is not a privilege reserved for the moneyed few. Certainly if your ambition is to own a Gerhard Richter or a Claude Monet (or, for now, an Anna Weyant), you will be boxed out unless your checkbook, your existing collection, and your connections all pass inspection. If your ambition is to simply build a meaningful collection of works that reward you for living with them, that remains achievable.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2023/1/in-search-of-art-between-5-000-10-000">Read more...</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419309/pixxeu1hovi0togfs9mv.jpg"><figcaption>Anna Kunz, UNSEEING GREEN, 2021, 66” x 60,” acrylic on canvas. photo: Dario Lasagni NYC &nbsp;</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2023/3/the-many-colors-of-anna-kunz">The Many Colors of Anna Kunz</a>By Alison ReillyApril 2023Throughout Anna Kunz's 20 years as Associate Professor in the Art and Art History department at Columbia College, she mentored many young artists as they began their careers. As part of her legacy, Kunz generously established a scholarship called the AK Prism Award. “For ambition and kindness, my initials - AK,” she told me. She explained that she wants to use her work as an artist to help others.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2023/3/the-many-colors-of-anna-kunz">Read more...</a>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419310/jqoniysi1jqmmkswnp3k.jpg"><figcaption>Pritzker Director Madeleine Grynsztejn&nbsp; &nbsp;</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2023/4/mca-director-madeleine-grynsztejn-on-chicago-as-flash-point-and-flashlight">MCA Director Madeleine Grynsztejn On Chicago as Flash Point and Flashlight</a>By Anna DobrowolskiApril 2023Madeleine Grynsztejn is a leader on a mission. Since starting her tenure at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago in 2008, Grynsztejn has been committed to presenting art ‘you don’t yet know you love.’&nbsp;Today as she enters her 15th year as MCA director, she says she is ready to prove that contemporary art is entering a golden era, and Chicago is its crucible.<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2023/4/mca-director-madeleine-grynsztejn-on-chicago-as-flash-point-and-flashlight">Read more...</a>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419311/gqjpdwjmhp3nxjomsqug.jpg"><figcaption>Richard Hunt at work in his Lincoln Park studio. Photo courtesy Richard Hunt Studio. &nbsp;</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2023/4/hard-at-work-at-87-richard-hunt">Hard at Work at 87: Richard Hunt</a>By Anna DobrowolskiApril 2023Encountering Richard Hunt’s monolithic sculptures around Chicago is much like running into an old friend, someone you recognize no matter how much time has passed. Hunt’s large-scale public works are out in the elements, soaring into the skyline. Each one signifies you’re in the presence of something distinctly from Chicago, with characteristics that mirror the city’s famed architecture – structures are imposing yet delicately rendered, sturdy but changeable, familiar as well as innovative, raw but refined.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2023/4/hard-at-work-at-87-richard-hunt">Read more...</a>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419312/sm6ed8lkaql3ag43g1mv.jpg"><figcaption>Diasporal Rhythms home tour guests on a visit to collector and Diasporal rhythms co-founder Patric McCoy’s South Side home. &nbsp;</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2023/4/preserving-art-from-the-african-diaspora-diasporal-rhythms-celebrates-its-20th-anniversary">Preserving Art from the African Diaspora: Diasporal Rhythms Celebrates its 20th Anniversary</a>By Jackie LewisApril 2023When art collector Patric McCoy spoke with CGN 10 years ago, he shared the story of how a collecting group based on the South Side of Chicago had started a decade prior. Diasporal Rhythms, he explained, represented a different concept of collecting in Chicago, “Our organization is charged with how to redefine the term ‘collector.’ In America it has this meaning of being wealthy, private, academic - having the magic ability to know the future value of something. That’s what the majority of people in this country believe. We’re saying none of that has to be true.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2023/4/preserving-art-from-the-african-diaspora-diasporal-rhythms-celebrates-its-20th-anniversary">Read more...</a>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419313/ka44acmbtepbpw5ahaqm.jpg"><figcaption>Lieberman is pictured in a room in his new home with the following works: Left: Leslie Wu, top; Jim Lutes, bottom; Above ceramics: Herbert Murrie, left; David Lozano, right; ceramics by William Lieberman, Bottom: Glenn Wexler</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2023/4/the-art-dealer-as-collector-and-connector-william-lieberman">The Art Dealer as Collector and Connector: William Lieberman</a>By Ginny Van AlyeaApril 2023When I spent an afternoon this winter with William Lieberman, owner of Zolla/Lieberman Gallery, it was not to discuss his role as an art dealer. Instead, it was to see his personal collection, which he had recently installed in his new Streeterville condo overlooking Lake Michigan. Lieberman had just moved from a house in East Ukrainian Village and was eager to highlight hundreds of works in a fresh setting. Taking in the abundantly-filled walls, I asked him how he chose the art that he lives with, knowing that every day at the gallery he strives to build other people’s collections.<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2023/4/the-art-dealer-as-collector-and-connector-william-lieberman">Read more...</a>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419314/ns1zq9zkjtoq0dk81phm.png"><figcaption>Felix Gonzalez-Torres,“Untitled”, 1995, Billboard &nbsp;</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2023/6/felix-gonzalez-torres-untitled-1995-billboard">Felix Gonzalez-Torres “Untitled”, 1995, Billboard</a>By Jason PicklemanSpring 2023A horizontal black and white photo of an evenly gray sky depicts a bird flying left to right, its wings outstretched, up and down. The bird is a black silhouette—elegant, formal, and free.As seen in Chicago Transit Authority’s underground subway and on its elevated passenger train platforms, the image is located amidst conventional advertising billboards. Unlike its neighboring images that advertise legal services or fast food restaurants, the image of the flying bird is bare of any text, or any explanation. No logo. No copy. No text. Just the image of the bird, flying.<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2023/6/felix-gonzalez-torres-untitled-1995-billboard">Read more...</a>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419315/ksqqhaz6fzip7foqvc5p.jpg"></figure>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2023/6/arc-gallery-at-50">ARC Gallery at 50</a>By Jackie Lewis&nbsp;Summer 2023It is no small thing to make a gallery last for five decades, and this year ARC Gallery &amp; Educational Foundation is turning 50.<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2023/6/arc-gallery-at-50">Read more...</a>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419316/oycc8ortpjyinpzsa2op.jpg"></figure>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2023/8/light-over-light-petra-bachmaier-and-sean-gallero-of-luftwerk">Light Over Light: Petra Bachmaier and Sean Gallero of LUFTWERK</a>By Alison ReillySeptember 2023In advance of their exhibition Light Over Light opening at <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/organizations/volume-gallery">Volume Gallery</a> in West Town this November, I spoke with Petra Bachmaier and Sean Gallero, who make up the artistic duo, Luftwerk. The two generously shared insights about their history as artistic partners, their process for designing large-scale interventions at architectural icons like Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater and Farnsworth House, and how they have moved from using electric to ambient light in their installations.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2023/8/light-over-light-petra-bachmaier-and-sean-gallero-of-luftwerk">Read more...</a>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419317/xdbmmd7ngmmo2w3hamqm.jpg"><figcaption>Ruth Duckworth, Earth, Water, Sky, 1967–1968, Ceramic mural, 400 square feet, covering four walls and the ceiling, Located in the entrance to the Henry Hinds Laboratory for Geophysical Sciences, The University of Chicago, Presented to the University in honor of Jane H. Sherr by the Leonard J. Horwich Family. Photo by Michael Tropea. © Estate of Ruth Duckworth.</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2023/9/a-transcendant-sculptural-legacy-ruth-duckworth">A Transcendant Sculptural Legacy: Ruth Duckworth</a>By Mary DeYoeSeptember 2023In the documentary from the early aughts by Karen Carter, Ruth Duckworth: A Life in Clay, the octogenarian artist says “I don’t think everyone has a destiny. It’s more haphazard than that.” This rings true for an artist whose sculptural work demonstrates a deep fascination with nature, geomorphology and the interconnectedness of the natural world as a whole.<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2023/9/a-transcendant-sculptural-legacy-ruth-duckworth">Read more...</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419318/fh2d1drssash0t5mnmjh.jpg"><figcaption>Left: Marmalade Promenade, Geoffrey Todd Smith; Right: Plastic Surgeon, Nicole Eisenman. &nbsp;</figcaption></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2023/9/building-a-next-gen-collection-zach-smith">Building a Next Gen Collection: Zach Smith</a>By Bianca BovaFall 2023To visit the home of an art collector for the first time is to ask to be surprised. Even more personal than the simple questions of taste and of what someone chooses to live with, there is the intimate question of how they live with art. When collector Zach Smith welcomed me into his family’s Chicago home, I found myself enthralled by the answers to both.<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2023/9/building-a-next-gen-collection-zach-smith">Read more...</a>&nbsp;#Read all of CGN's interviews and <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news">features here.</a></body></html>

2023 End of Year Wrap-Up

<html><head></head><body>By CGN StaffThe holiday season is upon us, and there are many ways to add some art and creativity to your gift-giving this year. Below is a round-up of some unique sources to take advantage of while also supporting local galleries and museums.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2023/11/art-filled-holiday-events-and-sales">Read Part I: CGN's Art-Filled Holiday Events and Sales</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419307/hzfpxpvrq7ilt95wkk3t.jpg"></figure>• Artisan Gift Sale Christmastime at Fine LineOpening: Thursday, Nov 30, 2023 6 – 9&nbsp;pm Nov 30 – Dec 5, 2023<a href="/organizations/kavanagh-gallery-at-fine-line-creative-arts-center">Kavanagh Gallery at Fine Line Creative Arts Center&nbsp;</a>The Artisan Gift Sale at Fine Line Creative Arts Center opens Thursday, November 30, at 6 pm.&nbsp; There will be holiday decorations, pottery, hats, scarves, pictures, jewelry, cards and much more for sale.&nbsp; This year over 70 artists are participating in this fantastic one-stop holiday shopping experience. This event runs for six days and is set up throughout Fine Line's Kavanagh Gallery and adjoining studio. The space will have a fantastic range of items to suit all budgets. No matter who you are shopping for you are bound to find something for everyone on your list at this year’s Artisan Gift Sale.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419308/qazsy8693lfwomvcxskq.jpg"></figure>• <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/the-intuit-store-opening-weekend-celebration">The Intuit Store: Opening Weekend Celebration</a>Friday, Dec 1, 2023 6 – 8&nbsp;pm<a href="/organizations/intuit-the-center-for-intuitive-and-outsider-art">Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art</a>The Intuit Store will host its opening weekend celebration in tandem with West Town's December First Friday and Sip &amp; Shop happy hours! Shoppers are invited to peruse the store's varied art products created by self-taught artists. Shop during opening weekend celebration and receive 20% off your purchase!&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419309/triecp90hhguv4ocbowa.png"></figure>• <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/ukrainian-institute-of-modern-art-winter-makers-market">Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art Winter Makers Market</a>Dec 2 – 3, 2023<a href="/organizations/ukrainian-institute-of-modern-art-uima">Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art (UIMA)</a>This December UIMA hosts their third Maker’s Market for creators of all backgrounds, experience levels &amp; mediums.This market will platform emerging &amp; established creators to sell their work, grow their business, and join our community. It will be a celebration of all the forms that art takes!&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419310/zupspxb8xd9qfoaj5f3w.jpg"></figure>• <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/santa-saturday">Driehaus Santa Saturday</a>Saturday, Dec 2, 2023 8:45&nbsp;am – 2&nbsp;pm<a href="/organizations/richard-h-driehaus-museum">Richard H. Driehaus Museum</a>Join Santa&nbsp;in our Front Parlor, share your Christmas wish list, and take selfies with jolly old St. Nick. This magical, family-friendly event will fill up fast so make sure to book early.Driecember is here with Santa’s annual visit to the Driehaus Museum! Join him in our Front Parlor, share your Christmas wish list, and take selfies with jolly old St. Nick. This magical, family-friendly event will fill up fast so make sure to book early.Time slots are 15 minutes each. The first begins at 8:45 am and the last one is at 1:45 pm. There will be no Santa visits between 10:15-10:30 and 11:30-12:00pm so Santa can feed his reindeer.<a href="https://driehausmuseum.org/programs/detail/santa-saturday?mc_cid=7f2b5664f3&amp;mc_eid=d1db3f815c">Tickets</a>The museum is also holding <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/drie-cember-holiday-pop-up-concerts">several pop-up concerts</a> in December. &nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419311/srf3pgcmtcdxobviqyws.jpg"></figure>•<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/first-look-2023-fine-print-party"> First Look: 2023 Fine Print Party</a>Tuesday, Dec 5, 2023 6 – 8&nbsp;pm<a href="/organizations/museum-of-contemporary-photography-mocp--2">Museum of Contemporary Photography (MoCP)</a>Join us on Tuesday, December 5 from 6-8 pm at MoCP for <a href="https://mocp.us5.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9e4250b7536dc23e9352b28ee&amp;id=62d6876f97&amp;e=62775191de">First Look: 2023 Fine Print Party</a>!&nbsp;Printed especially for MoCP by some of the most innovative photographers working today, the sale of editioned Fine Prints directly supports artistic and educational programs. Join MoCP’s Museum Council and staff, artists, and photography enthusiasts for a public unveiling of four new prints by Marshall Brown, Shannon Bool, Jess T. Dugan, and Tom Jones at&nbsp;<a href="https://mocp.us5.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9e4250b7536dc23e9352b28ee&amp;id=326e3e5cae&amp;e=62775191de">First Look.</a>Each of the artists will have their specific artwork&nbsp;added to MoCP’s permanent collection through the&nbsp;<a href="https://mocp.us5.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9e4250b7536dc23e9352b28ee&amp;id=794422206c&amp;e=62775191de">Fine Print program</a>. This year’s prints, along with some editions from previous years, will be available for sale at the event. You can also view and purchase&nbsp;previous editions by more than 70 artists, at <a href="https://mocp.us5.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9e4250b7536dc23e9352b28ee&amp;id=9bc6b4b4bf&amp;e=62775191de">shop.mocp.org/collections/fine-prints</a>.Early bird ticket(s) $35; $45 at the door. Click on <a href="https://mocp.us5.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9e4250b7536dc23e9352b28ee&amp;id=a5de9f335e&amp;e=62775191de">this link</a> to purchase your tickets.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419312/bs63kikjol4pbkchzidb.jpg"></figure>• <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/little-but-bold-holiday-salon-exhibit-of-small-works">Little, but Bold! Holiday Salon Exhibit of small Works</a>Opening: Saturday, Dec 9, 2023 6 – 9&nbsp;pm On view through Jan 26, 2024<a href="/organizations/chicago-sculpture-international">Chicago Sculpture International (CSI)</a>Little, but BOLD! Is in celebration of all things unmonumental. Often flying under the radar, small things have the special ability to bridge private and public spaces. Within the sculpture field, there has been a projected narrative that bigger is better. We are here to assert that small things can hold the same importance as the largest monument.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419313/lmpftovdujhuzzjgyupb.png"></figure>• <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/winter-walk-empty-bowls-holiday-party-cccbf946-b9d8-435d-b340-a17438337b81">Winter Walk, Empty Bowls, Holiday Party</a>Saturday, Dec 9, 2023 3 – 8&nbsp;pm<a href="/organizations/nathan-manilow-sculpture-park">Nathan Manilow Sculpture Park</a>Spend time at theNate enjoying seeing the art in a new light (or less light but still lovely winter light) while also raising money for a good cause.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419314/lfb6psxd5mp3u271ch25.jpg"></figure>• <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/family-day-holiday-party">Family Day: Holiday Party &nbsp;</a>Saturday, Dec 16, 2023 1 – 4&nbsp;pm<a href="/organizations/elmhurst-art-museum">Elmhurst Art Museum</a>The Elmhurst Art Museum’s annual Family Day: Holiday Party kicks off this year with hands-on art activities inspired by Picasso: Fifty Years Later, hot cocoa, cookies, and a visit from Santa. Families are invited to visit the exhibition and make holiday cards inspired by Picasso’s cubist techniques and colorful paintings.Through Picasso: Fifty Years Later, the Elmhurst Art Museum is participating in the worldwide Picasso 1973-2023 Celebration, timed to coincide with the 50th anniversary of Pablo Picasso’s death in 1973.&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

Part II: CGN's Art-Filled Holiday Events and Sales

<html><head></head><body>By GINNY VAN ALYEAHalloween is almost here and Dia de Los Muertos is also upon us. This weekend offers some spooky art and ghoulish inspiration. The spirits are out and so is the art. Below is our wrap up of festive exhibitions and art events taking place around Chicago this holiday!&nbsp;Trick or treat!&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419292/sdvysdhrjvnjfxgxdqyd.jpg"><figcaption>Martha Gabriela Driessen, Mayra y su vestido (Mayra and her Dress), Guanajuato, México, 2021, black and white digital photograph / fotografía digital blanco y negro, 17" x 22", courtesy of the artist</figcaption></figure><a href="https://nationalmuseumofmexicanart.org/events/dia-de-muertos-living-presence">Día de Muertos, Living Presence</a>Thru December 10National Museum of Mexican ArtThe museum's 37th annual Day of the Dead exhibition remembers the thousands of people who died in the February 2023 earthquakes in Turkey and Syria. The exhibition will also memorialize women around the world who have been violated, disappeared or murdered, with a large installation by 18 local artists. This year the Mexican community lost distinguished artists and dear friends whose lives and work we will also celebrate.&nbsp;With flowers, food and drinks, we await the return home of loved ones who no longer walk this Earth. The living presence of loved ones is felt on the Day of the Dead (November 1 and 2) by offering them what they enjoyed in life. This ancient tradition, with Mesoamerican and Spanish roots, unites Mexicans on both sides of the US/Mexico border as they create ofrendas and altars in homes, cemeteries, galleries, and museums to celebrate their lives. Curated by Dolores Mercado and Gustavo Herrera• Also taking place at the museum October 28: <a href="https://nationalmuseumofmexicanart.org/events/dia-de-los-muertos-xicago-3">Join us on Saturday, October 28th</a> as we celebrate Día de los Muertos by transforming the Museum and its surroundings into a beautiful space to remember our loved ones. On this special day, guests can enjoy ofrendas created by community members, live musical performances, art activities, and a large illuminated ofrenda projected outside of the museum.• Then next weekend: <a href="https://nationalmuseumofmexicanart.org/events/dia-de-muertos-love-never-dies-ball">Día de Muertos: Love Never Dies Ball</a>, November 4, 2023, 6:00 pm&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419293/mtbt4kixzuj9ufxmsbbn.png"><figcaption>Photo: Nathan Keay, © MCA Chicago &nbsp;</figcaption></figure><a href="https://visit.mcachicago.org/events/streeterville-dog-halloween-party-2023/">Streeterville Dog Halloween Party 2023</a>October 28, 9-11:00 amMuseum of Contemporary Art&nbsp;From the Queen of England to a furry taco, from Dorothy and Toto to dinosaurs from Jurassic Bark, over 250 doggies and frequently their people, will don their most elaborate costumes for the 34th annual Streeterville Doggy (And Kitty) Halloween Costume Party and Parade, on Saturday October 28th, hosted at the MCA Sculpture Garden! It will be a pawsitvely fun morning where everyone is a wiener. Registration is recommended.The Doggy Parade kicks off at 9:30 AM and will be judged by 2nd Ward Alderman Brian Hopkins and Streeterville resident Maureen Schulman, who will award prizes to every pawtcipant.Have a kitty at home? Upload pics of your feline friend to the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/streetervilleDoggyHalloween">Facebook event page</a> to enter the Virtual Cat Costume Content.<a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/36th-annual-streeterville-doggy-and-kitty-halloween-party-tickets-695536086157?aff=oddtdtcreator">Register Here</a>Taking place in the <a href="https://mcachicago.org/about/locations/anne-john-kern-terrace-garden">Kern Terrace Garden</a>. Enter through the MCA's back gate bordering Lake Shore Park.This is a free event, but registration is recommended. Leashes and/or carriers are required.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419294/zjsffguhizx7arscneaw.jpg"><figcaption><a href="https://www.artic.edu/artworks/93798/picture-of-dorian-gray">Picture of Dorian Gray, 1943–44,</a> Ivan Albright</figcaption></figure><a href="https://www.artic.edu/events/5789/teen-studio-workshop-halloween-block-prints">Teen Studio Workshop: Halloween Block Prints</a>October 28, 1:00–3:00The Art Institute of ChicagoThis spooky season, take inspiration from the work of Caravaggio, Ivan Albright, and other Art Institute horror icons to experiment in block printing. You’ll join teaching artist Jose Casales for lessons on image transferring, carving, and inking your own block prints to share with friends and family.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419294/cjtjwohgwdz4tgn6bn1c.jpg"></figure><a href="https://events.uchicago.edu/event/225050-1?mc_cid=5421424877&amp;mc_eid=d57bd5477e">Logan Center Ofrenda</a>Oct 30–Nov 6Logan Center for the ArtsIn celebration of Día de los Muertos, the Reva &amp; David Logan Center for the Arts present an altar about remembering and honoring. A chance to connect the living world with the invisible one, we invite visitors to place images of their loved ones who have transitioned, leave delicious foods and satisfying drinks they took pleasure in, and gift toys to the children who couldn’t stay with us long. All the little trinkets that brought joy to our furry friends while alive also have a space here.Empty picture frames on the altar are available for anyone to use. Include completely sealed food items, fresh flowers, knick-knacks, and un-opened drinks. Incense may be left, but it cannot be burned. Donate any items you feel comfortable leaving out to the public.The marigolds and butterflies will help guide our people here. Our love and tributes will return them full and whole till next year.&nbsp;</body></html>

Spooky and Festive Events for the Season

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419286/kboq9uso5bmqqidczvbl.jpg"><figcaption>AIC Lion</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;By Ginny Van AlyeaHalloween can be enjoyed in many ways beyond trick or treating, and one distinctly artistic way to celebrate this year is to attend the 9th annual Arts in the Dark Halloween Parade, a family-friendly happening presented by <a href="https://luma8.org">LUMA8</a> (Light Up My Arts), an independent not-for-profit that strives to elevate Chicago as a focal point of artistic innovation to enrich the lives of its citizens and create economic impact. The parade takes place at night and features unique floats, spectacle puppets and all forms of creative performance.&nbsp;The co-founder and artistic director of Arts in the Dark Halloween Parade is former Commissioner of Cultural Affairs, Mark Kelly. Kelly shared, “I am very excited to have the League of Chicago Theatres, in partnership with BandWith Chicago, leading the parade,” this year. On some of the specific featured groups, he commented, “Reinvent Ability and their wheelchair dancers will join over 40 dance organizations, while several striking IATSE film locals will remind us of their importance to the cultural life of our city. The amazing creative life of our city is truly captured in this playful and singular event.”Arts in the Dark came about when Sharene Shariatzadeh, the then Executive Director of the Chicago Cultural Mile organization, was tasked with producing a Halloween parade and she contacted Kelly because of his work leading the&nbsp; Columbia College Wabash Arts Corridor initiative. Kelly remembers, "Having thought for many years about the creative potential of Halloween for Chicago’s arts community, the question struck me like a thunderbolt." Within 24 hours he had prepared a vision statement proposing a Halloween parade celebrating Chicago’s cultural landscape and declaring Halloween as the artists' holiday. The rest of the plans came together just as quickly, with the Chicago Cultural Mile board endorsing Kelly's plan and Kelly and Shariatzadeh forging a partnership as co-founders of what began as "The Halloween Gathering" and shifted a few years later to the "Arts in the Dark" parade, produced by LUMA8, the company Shariatzadeh founded in 2017. Kelly is currently the Artistic Director and a Board Member of LUMA8.*This year the celebration takes place Saturday, October 21, from 6–8pm in the Loop. Attendees are urged to arrive early to find a good spectating spot and attend a pre-Parade candy giveaway starting at 5pm featuring HARIBO’s Goldenbear (that's a gummy bear) and more. Of course creative costumes are definitely encouraged; many attendees come dressed in their own colorful and creative costumes to join in the festive fun while watching the parade of participants celebrate Halloween as the “artists’ holiday”. Parade members include participants from major cultural organizations, inspiring youth programs, and aspiring artists in every field. Named ‘One of the best Halloween celebrations in the world’ by UK-based Wanderlust magazine – this dazzling production annually delights an audience of 50,000+ gathered along historic State Street, from Lake to Van Buren Streets.This year’s parade holds a record number of applicants, with a selection of approximately 90 arts organizations participating. Families can expect to see well over 4,000 parade participants with virtually every neighborhood in Chicago represented. Colorful costumes, masks, installations, lighting, fire, acrobatics, puppetry and spectacle, dance moves and choreography, music, theatrical performances, street arts, circus arts, and cultural traditions will fill State Street.A parade could take place any time of year and for a range of holidays, but the timing of late fall, and the choice of Halloween is key. Says Kelly, "This is a time which is embedded deeply within the history of human culture as we acknowledge that light is fading and darkness looms, a time when we don masks and costumes, wrestle with our mortality, engage the spirits, take on personas, and seek playful connection with each other. Halloween is the great American holiday with little of the weight which comes from our holidays framed with religious, nationalistic and family expectations."As the parade nears a decade in existence, Kelly says he thinks that several key ideas are fundamental to its success. "Chicago is a world cultural capital," he explains, "but it lacks a special moment when it celebrates the breadth and depth of its cultural landscape. We encompass film, museums, schools, theater, music, dance, the visual arts, architecture, design, teaching artists,&nbsp;literature and so much more. We are a universe of creative practice invisible to ourselves and to the larger world. Arts in the Dark creates a celebratory moment in which we come together in playful solidarity and expand and excite our audience’s imagination about who we are and how important we are to the vitality of our city." "With Mardi Gras and Carnivale as our North Star," he says, "we seek to build a mission driven and curated parade that brings artistry, creativity and performance to the street. There will be no waving politicians, traditional beauty queens, or sponsorship floats in our parade. Bringing together a mix of masks and costumes, light and fire, theater, music and dance, an array of puppets and spectacle, circus arts, and ethnic cultural traditions, we will create a sense of collective joy for our audience and our performers."&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419288/qpc8mdqot3x2vrypbnxs.jpg"><figcaption>Rogue Llama, 2022. Raf Winterpacht Photography</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;* This year marks the parade’s inaugural bilingual emcee, Spanish-speaking WGN-TV journalist and co-anchor Lourdes Duarte, who will provide commentary on the parade from her staging between Monroe and Adams Streets.&nbsp; This year’s parade will feature close to a dozen Mexican contingents, many of which choose to represent their cultural heritage by showcasing the traditions surrounding Dia de los Muertos. Noteworthy as well are the remarkable contributions of Chicago’s Black cultural organizations and traditions to the parade. A wide array of ethnic and cultural traditions will be represented as well, including Brazilian, Columbian, Irish, Indonesian, Peruvian, Caribbean, Jamaican, Polynesian, and Indigenous groups.Chicago’s diverse dance community will be well represented with a selection of 40 dance organizations including Reinvent Ability dance group and their wheelchair dancers, The Joffrey Ballet, Forward Momentum Chicago, Ballet Folklorico de Chicago, Astronaut Flee, Trinity Dance School, Aztec Dance, and more. Dance genres will include footwork, tango, hip hop, house, stepping, clogging and ballet. And this year, audiences can expect a collection of 12 marching bands and drumlines and several music ensembles. Select music groups include everything from the South Side Jazz Coalition to the Lakeside Pride Music Ensembles. The parade showcases a variety of music genres including hip-hop, jazz, gospel, opera, Mariachi, house, pop, steel pan, rock, punk and more.For Kelly this creative coming-together is an important work in progress. "While we speak proudly of Chicago’s cultural landscape, we also recognize that we are divided by race and class and further divided by genre, neighborhoods, the lack of resources, and the grind of our daily work. Arts in the Dark recognizes these fissures but also seeks a moment when we all come together to celebrate our collective ethos."&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419289/wwt3pfqpf3y4wfdll6de.jpg"><figcaption>Ballet Folklorico Xochitl girls in a line, 2019. Distract Your Face Photography</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;LUMA8 President &amp; CEO Sharene Shariatzadeh shared that her company will provide over $70K in grants to parade groups who might not otherwise be able to participate.&nbsp;“Our priority is to ensure that Arts in the Dark is a true reflection of Chicago’s diverse cultural and ethnic community,” she says. “Thanks to the support of our sponsors and a 2023 Chicago Presents Grant from the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE), we are able to offer the assistance that allows organizations from every corner of Chicago to celebrate together in the heart of the city.”Arts in the Dark is presented by LUMA8 and the City of Chicago. And Halloween also wouldn't be halloween without candy. Apparently Chicago is known as the ‘Candy Capital of North America.' In recognition of this sweet title, the parade is co-sponsored by two giants of the candy industry: Barry Callebaut, the world’s leading manufacturer of high-quality chocolate and cocoa products, and HARIBO, the world's leading manufacturer of gummi products. The event also has Major Support from the Chicago Loop Alliance, is produced in partnership with DCASE and is a proud recipient of a 2023 Chicago Presents Grant. Additional support is provided by Choose Chicago, Harris Theater for Music and Dance at Millennium Park, and William Blair.&nbsp;For more information visit <a href="http://www.artsinthedark.org/">www.artsinthedark.org</a>&nbsp;#&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419290/vwca4rwqcar5jkv6zqhr.jpg"><figcaption>2022 Dancers</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;</body></html>

Arts in the Dark 2023: An Artistic Way To Celebrate Halloween

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419252/u0x4ii9xx6obrfytqqft.jpg"><figcaption>John Currin (American, b. 1962) Stamford after Brunch,&nbsp;2000 oil on canvas 40 × 60 in. Art Institute of Chicago Gift of Edlis Neeson Collection</figcaption></figure>By BIANCA BOVAI have the privilege of working in a museum. The Art Institute of Chicago occupies in my life the role of the definitive museum, by virtue of being the first that I experienced as child and a space that has served as the backdrop to many moments of significance personally and professionally in my adult life. I am lucky in this regard, if, at the moment, in no other.&nbsp;In a refrain echoed by many of my colleagues, I readily confess to spending less time in the museum's galleries than I should, considering I am already in the building. When my life was beset by bad circumstances last winter, for the first time I made a concerted effort to spend more. I have long held the belief that there are no novel experiences. In the whole unrecorded history of humanity, someone else has undoubtedly encountered just the set of circumstances one finds themself in, albeit arriving there by different means. Likewise, I believe in the canon of art history there is bound to be something that speaks to every human experience; something that reflects it, or that it can be hung on, or pinned to. This is, after all, an argument for why we have museums in the first place, or at the very least, why we collect art. A collector says they “fell in love” with a piece or that they “saw it and just had to have it.” It’s possible that what they saw was dollar signs, or that there is some degree of compulsion at play not dissimilar to the compulsion a gambler feels walking by a blackjack table. It is more in line with my experience, however, that it is a matter of seeing something that calls up some interior aspect of oneself–though, in the heat of that moment, it is seldom clear what aspect–that is the real driver. This abiding belief defines for me, more than any other, the work I do for a living as work worth doing. In an encyclopedic museum like the Art Institute, one generally not need to look too far, either.&nbsp;&nbsp;*&nbsp;I began my intentional exploration, as a matter of habit more than anything else, on the second floor of the Modern Wing. There are works there that I have long been in the thrall of, and they now held the promise of stability at a time when I felt the floor perpetually slipping out from under my feet. It was comforting to know I could go up to gallery 296 anytime I wanted, and there, in the same place on the same wall, unchanged would be my favorite work in the whole museum, John Currin’s Stamford After Brunch (whatever judgment that admission earns me I welcome as entirely fair). I know the contents of the Modern Wing 200’s more or less by heart. I have given tours of them. There’s the de Kooning, there’s the Pollack, there’s the Frankethaler, there’s the Mitchell. Old friends. There’s the Robert Gober, perfect and sad and hopelessly attractive, and the Cady Noland that never fails to cause a certain populist shame to rise to the surface. I began going with regularity up to gallery 293 to gather a piece of candy or two from Untitled (Portrait of Ross in L.A.), hoarding them in my desk drawer. After all, what is there to know about the bedfellow relationship between love and grief that can’t be gleaned from Félix González-Torres?&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419253/wmlyep5utfaol6tlxhdq.jpg"><figcaption>Félix González-Torres, Untitled (Portrait of Ross in L.A.). Photo by Bianca Bova.</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;In moments of uncertainty there is always the temptation to return to the well. For me, at the bottom of the well reside an unfortunate pair, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Edward Hopper. When I realized the impact of wandering the Modern Wing 200’s was less the salve I had hoped it would be, I changed route and wandered in the American Art galleries instead. This development only lasted two days, during which Isamu Noguchi’s impossible aluminum Miss Expanding Universe sent me ricocheting back to Ruth Page’s Sex essay, an undated and diary-ish account of her marriage to Thomas Hart Fisher and her affair with Noguchi, and perhaps the most clear-eyed view of the politics of love in the art world ever committed to paper.&nbsp;Hopper, in turn, dragged me back to the ground, where in the expansive quietness of his work was the bitter confirmation that everything has a price, and proof of the resolve that I was willing to pay it. I also at this time picked back up The Crack-up, a book with a sort of damned quality about it. Curious in that it is both by and about Scott Fitzgerald in turns, it is full of aberrant details that require a depth of familiarity with his oeuvre and his life to grasp that verges on being too much to ask of the general readership. It remains a deeply formative volume for me, but one that I was quickly reminded did not contain any examples of how to handle being in crisis that were not, categorically, cautionary tales.&nbsp;When the art and writing of the 20th and 21st centuries failed me, I turned to art historical criticism by contemporary critics. Over one weekend I revisited Jerry Saltz’s essay on Sandro Botticelli’s La Derelitta, a gut-wrenching piece on a work of art unseen in person by its author, as good an argument for the validity of secondhand consumption of art as it is for the overwhelming power of the works that go undiminished by it. I followed this up with an account of the late Peter Schjeldahl’s legendary tours of the Frick Collection, which included a description of Jean-Honore Fragonard’s The Progress of Love (Love the Avenger) (c.1790), a startling painting that depicts a winged cherub, aloft, with a dagger raised and ready to be plunged into the white dove that, mid-flight, is grasped by the cherub’s other hand. Here, I remember thinking, is a painting I can get behind. It caught me off guard in a way I found pleasing, spoke to me in the way I wanted to be spoken to in that moment; it succeeded where all of the other works I had been desperately seeking connection to had, for the first time, failed.&nbsp;&nbsp;*&nbsp;My grasp of art history preceding the 20th century is thinner than I care to admit. I could not, even now, off the top of my head accurately provide the temporal parameters of the Renaissance, Mannerist, Baroque, and Rococo periods with any accuracy beyond a reasonable certainty that I have named them here in the correct linear order. My relationship to historical European art derives entirely from being Sicilian and also Roman Catholic. I remember with great clarity the gold-framed print of Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper that hung over my grandmother’s kitchen sink when I was a child. In the house where I grew up, a terracotta bas relief of an angel presided over the strings of dried herbs and pepperoncini next to the pantry cabinet, while an elaborately painted and feathered model of a Sicilian cart (replete with horse) had pride of place on a shelf all its own. And the defining piece of decor in my parents’ bedroom was an extraordinary hand carved marble wall rosary. As such, in my adult life, alongside the contemporary art I collect, for many years there could be found in my apartment a retablo of St. Gertrude nailed to the wall, in order to keep the rats at bay. Ex-votos, statues, and gilded prints of saints come and go from the altar that occupies half of my bar as-needed. These objects have been to me something closer to furniture than to art, as they are, in their way, functional.&nbsp;Nevertheless, the next time I ventured into the Art Institute, I headed to Painting and Sculpture of Europe, chasing the high of the Fragonard. The department consists of a network of smallish galleries with jewel-toned walls, interconnected and accessed by narrow, dimly lit hallways. Situated at the heart of the museum’s original building, the warmth and richness fulfills every cliche of what a great museum is supposed to look and feel like. I walked through, my historical ignorance relieving me of the preoccupations that had informed my other late afternoon jaunts.&nbsp;What gratified me about these works was that their complexity was somehow not at odds with their lack of ambiguity. In Jacob Jordaens' The Temptation of the Magdalene (c.1616), an animalian figure is seen emerging from the shadows of the background and into the light, waving two fistfulls of snakes above the exhausted Magdalene’s head. It is, the label explains to us, “a menacing symbol of evil.” The label does not, however, elaborate on the skull she holds tenderly in her lap, as a brothel owner and an angel battle for her soul.&nbsp;Where conceptual art invites us into a set of circumstances and asks us to evaluate them, the art in Painting and Sculpture of Europe seemed only to ask that I bear witness to it. Tintoretto’s Tarquin and Lucretia (c.1578-80) stops time as pearls fall under foot from Lucretia’s broken necklace, and statuary topples in her struggle against Tarquin. This is, emphatically, not a painting of the revolution that led to the establishment of the Roman Republic, though it depicts the events that set it off. Terrifyingly, it demonstrates that it is possible to distill even something so historically momentous down to a single moment of cataclysm. As someone waking up every day wracked with the thought How did my life come to this?, the painting seemed to dispel in one fell swoop the notion I was clinging to that bad luck is so vast and random that it must be indefinable. Here, it answers: this is how.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419254/xkprclqdqklrdj02ktwq.jpg"><figcaption> Bartolomeo Manfredi (Italian, 1582-1622) Cupid Chastised,&nbsp;1613 oil on canvas 69 × 51 3/8 in. Art Institute of ChicagoCharles H. and Mary F. S. Worcester Collection</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;If these were minor revelations, it was Bartolomeo Manfredi’s Cupid Chastised (c.1613) that rocked me back on my heels. It depicts the god of war beating Cupid for causing his affair with Venus, as Venus tries in vain to intervene. It is a shockingly violent painting. Similar to Fragonard’s cherub and dove, the absence of bloodshed and the depiction of the drawback of a weapon–rather than the moment of impact–allows the image to maintain a strange and dramatic visual grace. Fragonard’s title, however, steers us quickly towards a brighter question: what does it mean for love to avenge against peace? Manfredi by contrast does us no such favors. Such is the brutality of Cupid Chastised that on my first viewing of it, my instinct was to look away, as though I might see the first blow land if I looked too long. Cupid, blindfolded, with wings pressed to the floor and an open mouth that suggests the catch of his breath, is one of the most striking figures I have ever encountered in a work of art. He is a portrait of vulnerability and comeuppance.What unnerves me most of all about these works–and compels me to revisit them often–is the awareness that all art is contemporary art, insofar as all art is the art of its own time. When confronted by the peculiar charm of Fragonard’s cherub, the radical humanity of Manfredi’s cupid, or even the ineffable weirdness of Cornelis Cornelisz van Haarlem’s Venus, Cupid, and Ceres (c.1604) (also on view in Painting and Sculpture of Europe–and acquired, suitably, in 2020), there is the sense not of a historical continuum, but of something less rigid bridging the chasm of time. I would perhaps sleep better if I could convince myself that the true vitality of these works has been inevitably lost to the passage of centuries, if I could reduce them to academic objects for further study. I know that I am better served by the inability to do this, that it would be a disservice to the work and to myself not to acknowledge the aphorism they affirm: Ars Longa Vita Brevis. Art is long, life is short.&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

Wandering Through Art History In Pursuit of Solace and Hope 

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419235/yhl2k9qpcrqtvkvt1zna.jpg"><figcaption>Derrick Adams's Fun Time Any Time in Polk Bros. Park. Photo CGN.</figcaption></figure>By GINNY VAN ALYEAAt the start of summer I found myself at Navy Pier purely for family adventure and not to spend days walking Festival Hall during an art fair. As it was a cold, windy day we weren't able to enjoy the outdoors for long – we spent 30 minutes playing a &nbsp;wet, quick round of Putt Putt golf, and having paid for parking and determined to get our money's worth, we set out to see Chicago's number one tourist destination as tourists in our hometown.Before heading indoors from mini golf, we walked into Polk Bros. Park, at the west end of the Pier. Thanks to EXPO CHICAGO, the annual rotation of public art installation, part of <a href="https://www.expochicago.com/programs/in-situ-outside">IN/SITU Outside</a>, gives any visitor to the Pier a reason to come back to see new art long after EXPO ends in April. Derrick Adams's Fun Time Any Time was still on view when we visited (it came down after June 25) and the shiny black unicorns were unoccupied. It fell to my family to show other onlookers that the art could, in fact, be interactive and fun. Adams's quartet of magical creatures are also vehicles for leisure as well as cultural understanding. Both adults and children took turns riding the glossy, rainbow-maned unicorns, with my seven year-old son looking like he was training for the Triple Crown.The Navy Pier of today is, thankfully, a far cry from the tired, worn, heavily carpeted Pier of the late '90s and 2000s. A major overhaul, unfortunately timed right around the pandemic, managed to update and refresh all the surfaces and spaces and to also introduce new destinations. The food court is still the food court, and throngs of people still gobble up Garrett's Popcorn and overpay for branded souvenirs and tchotchkes, but the overall look is light and airy and sleek. This may be a tourist destination but it is a modern, very Chicago-style one.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419236/iyjtdsecyndjvrwr2nwc.jpg"><figcaption>Hebru Brantley's Flyboy. Photo CGN</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;After a little lunch (at Harry Caray's – not modern but still fun) we found ourselves standing outside the entrance to the Chicago Children's Museum. We hadn't visited the museum in about 6 years, but now that my children are 7 and 9, and familiar with hand sanitizer, they were desperate to go inside, so off we went. There was much more to do for older children than I remembered, and the art on display, as well as the many creative activities, was prominent. Outside the museum on the south side of Navy Pier near the tour boat docks, we had seen one of Hebru Brantley's towering Flyboys installed, a kid dressed as a hero and ready to take off or at least make some art. Inside the museum Hebru himself could be seen, at the entrance to the art lab in a display explaining the benefits of getting messy and expressing your ideas on paper. A selection of completed art studio works by children are on installed in a glass case nearby. I personally enjoyed seeing a visual artist positioned as an inspirational super star rather than an athlete or movie star.&nbsp;At the entrance to the art studio, an illuminated sign quotes Hebru Brantley in both Spanish and English,&nbsp;<blockquote>"From Kirby's Clubhouse to Sky Studio, my hope is that in these spaces, you will feel free to immerse and express yourself in all sorts of creative ways."</blockquote>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419237/opqlxfw8eakdmylum5q4.jpg"><figcaption>The Art Studio. Photo CGN.</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419238/actoavl725kiibr8bljd.jpg"><figcaption>An animated sign in English and Spanish welcomes visitors to the Art Studio. Photo CGN.</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419239/u4irbdlp22n1whjp3czq.jpg"><figcaption>Works by artists at the Art Studio. Photo CGN.</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;*&nbsp;Just down the walkway from the art studio is a climbable sculpture available to kids and adults alike, as long as you don a helmet. Titled Cloud Buster, the structure by Kevin Winters is built out of steel, wood, wire, rope, acrylic, fiberglass and artificial turf. Winters was inspired by the structure of the particle accelerator complex at Fermilab in suburban Batavia, IL. Bringing art, design and physics together, Winters has created a dynamic playground in the sky through which to expend energy of another sort. After all, young visitors to the museum can be expected to stay still for only so long, even when they're making a mess in the art studio.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419240/abyhxn25htxchjumajbz.jpg"><figcaption>Kevin Winters's Cloud Buster. Photo CGN.</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;A visit to any museum wouldn't be complete without having to exit through the gift shop (you also enter the museum here), but in addition to browsing toys and t-shirts for sale, you notice several handwoven, patterned sculptures suspended from the museum entrance's ceiling. Helpful signage visually identifies each work and which group of children created it. Some were crafted at the museum – collaborations between visitors and resident artists – while many others were made by local school groups. 200 visitors, community center members, students, and professional artists were invited to contribute to the collection. Each spinning work is made of yarn and is a tactile exploration of color, layering and storytelling - many resemble traditional Native American God's eyes that watch over and engage these bright, hopeful young minds that pass in and out of the Children's Museum in the heart of a busy city. These parting images from the museum are a reminder that art isn't always right in front of us on the wall, it is often above and all around us, waiting to be explored or even created.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419240/txvbwoiphbv5cetanmhf.jpg"><figcaption>Woven creations at the entrance/exit to the museum. Photo CGN.</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;#&nbsp;The Chicago Children's Museum Offers Free Family DaysIn 2023: Last Thursdays from January – May and September &amp; October!In partnership with Navy Pier, Chicago Children’s Museum guests can enjoy five fun-filled activities for families and children (ages ten and under) on the last Thursday of each month from January through May and two additional days of activities in September &amp; October. Free admission to Chicago Children’s Museum.&nbsp;No pre-registration is required. $10 discounted parking at Navy Pier with validation.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chicagochildrensmuseum.org/family-days">Details here.&nbsp;</a>&nbsp;</body></html>

Artistic Discoveries at the Chicago Children's Museum 

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419272/b0ocnv99gjxvfj8aozxm.jpg"><figcaption>Ruth Duckworth, Earth, Water, Sky, 1967–1968, Ceramic mural, 400 square feet, covering four walls and the ceiling, Located in the entrance to the Henry Hinds Laboratory for Geophysical Sciences, The University of Chicago, Presented to the University in honor of Jane H. Sherr by the Leonard J. Horwich Family. Photo by Michael Tropea. © Estate of Ruth Duckworth.</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;By MARY DEYOEThis fall the Smart Museum of Art at the University of Chicago presents the monographic exhibition: Ruth Duckworth: Life as Unity (September 21, 2023–February 4, 2024). The show focuses on the artist’s sculptural work, and features nearly 60 objects made between 1966–2005, some of which are on loan from close friends of the artist and have never been publicly exhibited.&nbsp;In the documentary from the early aughts by Karen Carter, Ruth Duckworth: A Life in Clay, the octogenarian artist says “I don’t think everyone has a destiny. It’s more haphazard than that.” This rings true for an artist whose sculptural work demonstrates a deep fascination with nature, geomorphology and the interconnectedness of the natural world as a whole.“Like many women working in craft media at the mid-century, Ruth Duckworth (1919–2009) did not receive the critical consideration her work merits,” said Laura Steward, Curator of Public Art. “This exhibition and accompanying catalogue are the result of the growth of ‘eco-criticism’ in the field of art history. This novel critical framework allows us to center the artist’s relationship with the natural world, which in Duckworth’s case was profoundly influenced by the ‘Satellite Era’ and her engagement with geophysical sciences at UChicago.”&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419273/zwvhakjmhbhyuapenbmh.jpg"><figcaption>Ruth Duckworth, Untitled (Wall Sculpture), 1970, Porcelain, 33-3/4 x 17-1/2 x 5-1/2 inches, Courtesy of the Estate of Ruth Duckworth and Salon 94. © Estate of Ruth Duckworth.</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;In 1964, Duckworth came to Chicago after receiving an invitation to teach at University of Chicago’s Midway Studios. She planned to stay for only one year, but instead made Chicago her home. She lived in the city until her death in 2009. Although widely known as being a “British studio potter” (she attended art school in England to escape Hitler’s Germany, and lived there for nearly two decades before coming to the United States) her childhood in Hamburg and life and career in Chicago played important roles in shaping this artist.The title of the exhibition derives from a quote by Duckworth, which evocatively captures the range of scale in which the artist worked as well as the common thread throughout her career. “I think of Life as a unity. This includes mountains, mice, rocks, trees, women, and men. It’s all one big lump of clay.” From the magnitude of the mountains to the tiniest of creatures, Duckworth saw them as all connected. It is fitting then, that in addition to the exhibition, two of Duckworth’s massive murals will be available to the public for viewing throughout the exhibition. Clouds over Lake Michigan, originally commissioned in 1974 by Dresdner Bank for its Chicago office and was recently gifted to the University by Cboe Global Markets and installed at the Joseph Regenstein Library on the UChicago campus, and Earth, Water, Sky, commissioned in 1968 for the Henry Hinds Laboratory for Geophysical Sciences. Both works are huge, and are in contrast with her sculpture, much of which can easily be held in one’s hands.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419273/fuf830z4dmooiz1lux4d.jpg"><figcaption>Ruth Duckworth, Untitled, 1972, Stoneware, 17-1/4 x 19 x 3 inches, Smart Museum of Art, The University of Chicago, Gift of Margaret Fisher, 1967.24. © Estate of Ruth Duckworth.</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;With Life as Unity, Steward readdresses much of the artist’s work through the lenses of “eco-criticism” - focusing, in part, on new approaches of the natural sciences and environmental perspectives and activism of the 1960s. The exhibition draws connections between Duckworth and key figures at the University of Chicago and in Hyde Park such as Laura Fermi, who founded the Hyde Park committee for Cleaner Air and Professor of Meteorology Tetsuya “Ted” Fujita, whose photographs of clouds Duckworth first encountered when working on the commission Earth, Water, and Sky.&nbsp;When one enters the exhibition, they are met with nearly 30 objects in stoneware and clay – earthy-hued abstracted figures (some birdlike), vessels, pots, and nearly translucent porcelain sculptures&nbsp; – the majority of which, like much of Duckworth’s pieces, are untitled. As the artist explained “titles pin people down [...] I want them to have their own ideas.” The presentation is punctuated by murals and wall sculptures many of which illustrate the influence of geomorphology on her work. Indeed as a result of the Satellite Era, Duckworth was able to view images from space of weather patterns. In the documentary, while standing in front of Clouds Over Lake Michigan she points out just some of the many different types of clouds she sculpted on the surface.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419274/kfhdwwj0flbi06mcd00q.jpg"><figcaption>Portrait of Ruth Duckworth inside of Earth, Water, Sky, undated. The University of Chicago Archival Photographic Files, apf1-05879. Photo courtesy of Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library.</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;Ruth Duckworth: Life as Unity shines a light on an artist with deep roots in Chicago and the UChicago community. Duckworth saw herself as “a survivor.” She said, “I survived Hitler, being a refugee, being poor several times in my life, being depressed - I have survived. I’ve had accidents that should have killed me and they didn’t.” She is undoubtedly survived by her own large body of work that, for us and for future generations, fortunately continues to reveal new threads of interconnectedness. It is, afterall, “all one big lump of clay.”*In conjunction with the exhibition the Smart Museum presents a series of free programs from tours, kiln crawls, and musical performances to family days and scholarly talks featuring faculty from UChicago’s Department of Geophysical Sciences and the Divinity School.&nbsp;The accompanying catalogue features an introduction by exhibition curator, Laura Steward as well as essays and contributions by Abigail Winograd, Jack Schneider, and Kendra Thornburgh-Mueller. The catalogue is also fully illustrated with images of all the works in the exhibition, including new documentation of Clouds Over Lake Michigan in its new home in the 1st floor reading room of the Joseph Regenstein Library.&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://smartmuseum.uchicago.edu/exhibitions/ruth-duckworth-life-as-a-unity/">Ruth Duckworth: Life as Unity</a>Smart Museum of ArtSeptember 21, 2023 - February 4, 2024&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

A Transcendant Sculptural Legacy: Ruth Duckworth

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419272/sj3s3bsp433nu2zsgwrn.jpg"><figcaption>Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio. The Cardsharps, about 1595. Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, Texas.&nbsp;</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;Two of the Italian master’s rarely loaned works are on view the Art Institute of Chicago this fall.&nbsp;Visitors to the Art Institute have a rare opportunity to view a stunning pair of paintings by Caravaggio, on loan from the Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, Texas and the Detroit Institute of Arts. The works, dating from 1595 and 1598, rarely travel, so this trip to Chicago is a special journey. At The Art Institute they will be accompanied by 16th century groupies, if you will, known as Caravaggisti, or followers of Caravaggio. Since there are only seven Caravaggio paintings in collections in the United States, this is a rare opportunity to view the innovation and influence of Caravaggio’s work in person without springing for a plane ticket to Italy. Don’t miss the chance to see the drama and eternal beauty of these remarkable works up close. Then perhaps consider how influential they were in their own time as well as centuries later.&nbsp;&nbsp;Among Friends and Rivals: Caravaggio in RomeSept 8–Dec 31, 2023The Art Institute of Chicago&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419273/sllhzuzbxiioucun5d9q.png"><figcaption>Martha and Mary Magdalene, about 1598Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio. Detroit Institute of Arts, gift of the Kresge Foundation and Mrs. Edsel B. Ford</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419274/qa7cxvtxwznfbjdbblhx.png"><figcaption>The Resurrection, c. 1619-20, Francesco Buoneri</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;</body></html>

City Highlight: Caravaggio in Chicago

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419272/pt1q0eizji2mbvhrzs6u.jpg"><figcaption>Vito Acconci and Judith Kirshner in&nbsp;Maze Table, 1985. Courtesy of Rhona Hoffman Gallery.</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;By BIANCA BOVAChicago’s place in the commercial art world has always eluded easy categorization. You can find as many people who insist its relevance is ironclad as you will those who insist it is little more than an afterthought in flyover country. As time and the tides of the market have shifted, both have been true in turn. While Chicago’s galleries may not operate competitively with, say, New York in terms of real estate (Gagosian’s Chelsea location alone occupies 25,000 square feet), or with London in terms of historical pedigree (Colnaghi, Est. 1760) its defining merit is its galleries’ highly individualized programs.There are the galleries which have for decades served as tent poles for the Chicago art world–beginning with Rhona Hoffman, its doyenne. The gallery’s artist roster reads like the table of contents of a twentieth century art history book: Sol LeWitt, Gordon Parks, Jenny Holzer, Gordon Matta-Clark, Vito Acconci. There is also a prominent Chicago streak: Michael Rakowitz, Amanda Williams, Judy Ledgerwood, Richard Rezac, Julia Fish. Few are the galleries (and fewer are the dealers themselves) who endure long enough to restage significant works, as Hoffman did in exhibiting Acconci’s Maze Table, first in 1985-86, and then again in late 2022. This dual model of developing the careers of the brightest artists working, while also maintaining a commitment to their practices long enough to introduce their canonized works to a second generation is, quite simply, art dealing in service to its highest purpose. It’s also not a bad way to make a living.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419273/no76zbrxlysje1nbqxjn.jpg"><figcaption>GRAY at 60, Gray Chicago, 2023. Courtesy, Gray Chicago/New York. Photo: Jim Prinz</figcaption></figure>Richard Gray is another name that looms large in Chicago’s commercial history. The gallery’s recently mounted anniversary exhibition, GRAY at 60, included works by sixty artists who have shown with the gallery (or whose works the gallery has specialized in) since opening its doors on East Ontario in 1963. Representing over a century of art making, the exhibition rivaled a museum show in its scale and scope.&nbsp;Despite this grandiosity, GRAY’s program is so well-defined as to leave a kind of signature on art collections it has helped to build.&nbsp;In a recent New York Times profile on winemaker Maggie Harrison, it was noted that Harrison, now in her fifties:“Grew up in a suburb of Chicago,” and that her parents’ “passion was collecting art. The walls of their otherwise unremarkable house were crowded with canvases by David Hockney, Alex Katz and Chuck Close. A large painting of a heart by the artist Jim Dine hung in Harrison’s bedroom.”&nbsp;Is there any question what gallery her parents were clients of?&nbsp;Reaching such milestones as Rhona Hoffman and Richard Gray have first requires surpassing other, smaller milestones. MICKEY, as well-appointed a gallery space as you will find anywhere (unsurprising given that it is the work of Dirk Denison Architects), has just reached one, celebrating five years of operations on Grand Avenue last month. As evidenced by MICKEY, a summer group exhibition, a survey on view until September 10th that includes a work by every artist the gallery has shown since opening its doors, the program there is, in a word, wild. It seems distinctly possible that the only straight line that can be drawn through the work of Michelle Grabner, Michael Madrigali, Paul Heyer, Leonardo Kaplan, Chloe Seibert, and Zach Meisner is gallery owner Mickey Pomfrey’s almost alarmingly keen eye. Pomfrey is, after all, one of the first dealers to have shown the work of art star Puppies Puppies (Jade Guanaro Kuriki-Olivo), albeit under the auspices of an earlier space, Courtney Blades. The highly refined strangeness of MICKEY’s program is perhaps only rivaled by the highly refined strangeness of the gallery’s informal, in-house wine program. Ask director Tim Mann to recommend a bottle before your next dinner party; you won’t regret it.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419273/bbu8eyxfs3rsflcowsfe.jpg"><figcaption>Five years of MICKEY installation view, Courtesy of MICKEY, Chicago</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;This hyper personalized approach to programming a gallery is not a new concept. A look over the exhibition history at Dan Devening’s gallery, Devening Projects (one of the first spaces to make the move to Carroll Street in West Town) shows a veritable who’s-who of the last two decades in the Chicago art world. While it’s no surprise to see names like Nathaniel Robinson, Richard Rezac, Jin Lee, Peter Fagundo, and Christine Tarkowski on the roster, it’s often a curiosity to see when in their careers Devening mounted these shows. What’s more fun is to see the names of dealers, curators, and other industry figures who maintain their own practices as artists crop up, including Jason Pickleman, Aron Gent, and Sterling Lawrence. Add to this Devening’s impressive CV as an artist himself, and his long tenure as a member of the faculty of the School of the Art Institute, and you’d be hard-pressed to find someone more professionally embedded. Bearing this all in mind, it would serve collectors attracted to young talent well to keep an eye on the emerging artists like Zander Raymond, Maggie Crowley, and Jacqueline Surdell that show with Devening.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419274/r4ssxnnexiafo8fq7t55.jpg"><figcaption>&nbsp;Jacqueline Surdell, Score! installation view at Devening Projects. Photo by Ian Vecchiotti courtesy of the artist and Devening Projects &nbsp;</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;These are, of course, homegrown examples of why Chicago’s market has sustained. Long is the list of great galleries that had their genesis in Chicago and later expanded–Feature, Richard Feigan, GRAY, and Document, to name a few–and rightfully so. In more recent years, Chicago has also become an attractor of galleries established in other markets. Mariane Ibrahim Gallery moved operations in 2019, closing its original headquarters in Seattle in favor of relocating to Chicago. Having subsequently expanded to Paris in 2021 and Mexico City in 2022, bypassing the opening of any additional domestic spaces, it seems Chicago serves the gallery’s American market more than sufficiently.&nbsp;With the recent acquisition of EXPO Chicago by Frieze, and the rampant speculation surrounding the likelihood of a significant uptick in the blue chip art market in the city it might bring, one wonders if Chicago will increase in desirability as location for future outposts of other galleries with established global footprints. Perrotin? LGDR? Gagosian? A girl can dream.While there is much to be said about the economics (macro and micro) of the art market, and the geographic and political boundaries that have a way of regulating it (or not), at the end of the day, there is no greater force or factor that defines a gallery than the vision of its founder, and the program they build. Chicago is rich in these legacies. Taking into account the view from this moment, it appears it will be for generations to come.&nbsp;</body></html>

The Gallery Continuum: Reviewing Spaces Standing the Test of Time

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419272/q6tiiaa5gaatj61qv9cb.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.facebook.com/NationalMuseumofMexicanArt">National Museum of Mexican Art Unveils New Mural Created with Chicago Bulls</a>The Museum's youth initiative, Yollocalli Arts Reach unveiled a new mural in partnership with the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/chicagobulls?__cft__[0]=AZU_Mst33WCbFpRyJaboY1zrgoZm9W2hYU6Ojwe4-cu1StyxfVlBemNRJZrPO1FrCmpTd-lLPztqjmYjtqT5ice7Bd54Uqa9J0ejcC30Uw4DF51qBfJRNWwa2vNdNLfztAATdtAClOUsre6d9uB4hkPkyOUnwaAXiRZ_ywkhwwIPfEhYpQhf_L3BA8uY0KQqD-aKDhrFaxbY0Kv3AW3Q7v7U&amp;__tn__=-]K-R">Chicago Bulls</a>! Youth from Yollocalli’s Street Art Program participants spent the summer alongside their teaching artist, Mario Mena designing and painting a mural with an uplifting message that celebrates Mexican culture. The mural is located at 1859 W. 19th St.&nbsp;<a href="https://blockclubchicago.org/2023/09/11/new-lakeview-master-plan-calls-for-wider-sidewalks-safer-crossings-and-more-public-art/?utm_source=Pico&amp;utm_campaign=369f678aa1-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2023_09_11+Morning+List+3&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_term=0_-cbdb1cc15c-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D&amp;mc_cid=369f678aa1&amp;mc_eid=9fac193df8">Plans for Lakeview Arts Include Art Spaces Called 'Alleries'</a>With a new master plan, neighborhood groups are hoping to improve Lakeview and Roscoe Village by adding more art and advocating for projects that cater to pedestrians.&nbsp;Throughout the past year, the Lakeview and Roscoe Village Chamber of Commerce surveyed more than 700 residents and 65 business owners to develop a master plan that will help guide development for the next decade.&nbsp;One way neighbors hope to add more public art to the area is by turning alleys into art galleries, called “alleries,” particularly along Lincoln Avenue. Planners envision business owners would donate their back walls to display art and allow the alley space to be used for community events.Via Block Club&nbsp;<a href="https://rivernorthdesigndistrict.com/podcast/?fbclid=IwAR3DT3UWDYJ7pl6rAgw8imrlSRVlLkodormbzbHmFyk95K2kn-uUePkP55g">RNDD Releases Latest Art and Design Podcast&nbsp;</a>A new episode of Design District is out now. In this episode of Design District, RNDD sits down to chat with Cristina Dordas, National Commercial Sales Manager at Roca Tile USA, Jennie Bishop, Principal and Founder of interior design firm Studio Gild and Zach Pruitt, Design Channel Manager of JC Licht. Listen in as we talk about trends in wall surfaces.<a href="https://rivernorthdesigndistrict.com/podcast/?fbclid=IwAR3DT3UWDYJ7pl6rAgw8imrlSRVlLkodormbzbHmFyk95K2kn-uUePkP55g">Listen here</a>&nbsp;<figure class="image image-style-side"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419273/k7tdeq70xg3cof54kprd.webp"></figure><a href="https://fineline.org/pages/the-great-orb-hunt?fbclid=IwAR3pGexRKjkL6YOxcm4zJmvS50KMLvNe8Qm_GiNdb_WBbFVaqHfw7AoMqVA">Fine Line Creative Arts Center Hosts 'Orb Hunt' for Art Objects</a>Fine Line Creative Arts Center has teamed up with the Forest Preserve District of Kane County on an Orb Hunt in the forest preserve, hiding hand-crafted glass and ceramic orbs on the grounds at Fine Line and at LeRoy Oakes Forest Preserve.Visitors are invited to walk or bike around both locations and find one of these orbs. If&nbsp;you are lucky enough to find an orb, it's yours to keep,&nbsp;but we ask that you only keep ONE orb please.&nbsp;If you find another orb, leave it where it is to be found by another seeker.&nbsp; &nbsp;</body></html>

CGN Art World Recap: 9/12/23

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419242/vy3eebrebwj9kumgjbrn.jpg"><figcaption>RNDD Members in front of an Art Walk vignette.</figcaption></figure>By CGN STAFF &nbsp;Fine art and residential design are symbiotic. An industry group that has managed to conjure the magic of design and art for a decade is the River North Design District. With more than 90 members, and even a podcast, RNDD has been serving the designer community as well as partnering with area galleries and artists since its founding in 2013.&nbsp;RNDD member Doug Van Tress says, “Golden Triangle was on board from the beginning. RNDD is the only group that brings every one together – the big showrooms, the small shops, the designers, the contractors and artisans. Now we share, learn and show. And we have really great parties. We have a good time together, and the world of beauty is fun and interesting.”&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419242/ifhvdimllbo5alzsr4wt.jpg"><figcaption>A Golden Triangle vignette.&nbsp;</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;The collective interest of the art and design world is a tide that lifts all boats. Oscar Tatosian, President Oscar Isberian Rugs Inc., is another member and advocate of Chicago’s place atop the global creative landscape. “RNDD brings together creative, passionate and enterprising people,” he says, “beautifying homes and offices while reenforcing Chicago as a World-Class leader of design. I’m proud and optimistic for our City.”The most visible, and anticipated, embodiment of RNDD’s commitment to design and art is the annual River North Fall Gallery Walk. This year the walk, presented by Daniel Kinkade Fine Art, takes place on September 8 in 19 locations throughout River North, and features 26 artists and 17 designer vignettes.&nbsp;The walk is free and open to the public, except for the after party (hosted by LG Group). Showrooms have extended hours on September 8. Vignettes are on display until October 10. Details, maps and tickets at <a href="https://rivernorthdesigndistrict.com">rivernorthdesigndistrict.com</a>Guests looking to make a weekend out of it can also take advantage of a special discounted rate at the nearby <a href="https://rivernorthdesigndistrict.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=e0870a7816f3dc842c7b94542&amp;id=7c7f6b1dcb&amp;e=25d5172d25">21c Museum Hotel</a> too!&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419243/vjuyewgo6ez7fvdwx77g.jpg"><figcaption>RNDD member duxiana’s The Sculptor’s Residence apartment exhibition in Stockholm, Sweden featuring sculptures and ceramics by nicholas shurey and sofia tufvasson.</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

At The Intersection of Art and Design: RNDD at 10

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419252/qe5snd2rkhkatkdtd2ob.png"><figcaption>The fall 2023 Issue of CGN, featuring Luftwerk on the cover</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/print-subscriptions">Subscribe to the print edition of the fall 2023 magazine&nbsp;</a>&nbsp;By GINNY VAN ALYEAThe beginning of September in the art world is akin to New Year’s Eve. This time of year I feel a little wistful to see the days get shorter as the light fades on summer, but I am excited to see the sparks of a new season. The end of August is, hopefully, a time to take a few days off before school and work ramp up again. Galleries typically close for vacation and then spend Labor Day installating the fall shows. When September dawns, the gallery-going public is reenergized and ready to attend a whirl of cultural and social events after a summer reset. Make sure to see all that is ahead on CGN's packed <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events?filter=upcoming">calendar of events</a>.While I am always sad to see summer come and go too soon, this issue reflects what CGN is looking forward to in the remaining months of 2023.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2023/8/light-over-light-petra-bachmaier-and-sean-gallero-of-luftwerk">Our cover feature</a> is an interview with artists Petra Bachmaier and Sean Gallero, the duo behind Luftwerk, about their upcoming exhibtion, Light Over Light, coming to Volume Gallery in November.&nbsp;After years of working with electric light, Luftwerk has shifted to embracing and sculpting ambient illumination. Their exhibition will open just as the fall days grow darker as we head into winter.&nbsp;Collector Zach Smith had a light-bulb moment with a remarkable painting at the Art Institute several years ago, and he’s been pursuing art for his collection ever since. Bianca Bova’s interview with Smith shares a lot of advice for other young and future collectors.&nbsp;A recent multi-site installation of works by Felix Gonzalez-Torres was intended to provide enlightening encounters with the public. Jason Pickleman shines light on what can happen when art is exhibited outside of museum or gallery walls, as Gonzalez-Torres’s subtle, grayed images provide a contemplative refuge admist blaring sounds and screeching lights of CTA platforms.&nbsp;Ruth Duckworth: Life as Unity, an exhibition coming to the Smart Museum this fall, looks at the work of a woman who considered herself a survivor above all else. Duckworth overcame many challenges throughout her life that are unimaginable for most people. For her there was always light at the end of the tunnel. Her work means that light will never be entinguished.Art in these pages–and well beyond–is shining brightly. We are so fortunate to bask in its glow. I hope that you find time to enjoy fall in the art world as well as precious time with friends and family. May everyone get a little more light under the sun before it fades into 2024.–GV&nbsp;Note: Our feature articles and interviews from the Fall 2023 issue of CGN will be posted on chicagogallerynews.com in the coming weeks.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/print-subscriptions">To subscribe to the print edition please sign-up here for $25/year.</a> You will also receive the 2024 CGN Arts Guide and the Spring 2024 magazine out in April.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

Publisher's Letter: Fall 2023

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419242/puxqo3ugen33pafs8qkg.jpg"><figcaption>Courtesy The Suburban</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;By BIANCA BOVAJason Pickleman began painting in the 1980’s. His earliest body of work, the Prefix and Suffix paintings, addressed the plasticity of language and its inherent relation to visual abstraction. The works served as formal investigations as well, with the artist noting, “At the time I was making these works, I really just wanted to know what paint does. I was very much involved in the Chicago-base Conceptualist group, many of whom were using language in their work and that influenced me in making this series…at the same time, I was beginning my career as a graphic designer, and developing an interest in typography.” Some forty years on, Pickleman is still producing paintings that ask us to consider the ambiguity of language; to pay attention to its implicit and explicit meanings; to consider the significance of its form.&nbsp;Making time for JOY, currently on view at The Suburban, consists of nine new works derived from various iterations of the logo for the dishwashing detergent brand Joy, originally conceived of in 1949 by the legendary American designer Donald Deskey. Pickleman isolates the logo, then treats it as a material, splitting, flipping, and wrapping it, while faithfully maintaining the integrity of its original form. Rather than coming across as a manipulation of Deskey’s work, the works read as an homage.&nbsp;There is an inherent Pop quality to the logo itself, and to Pickleman’s treatments of it. Two works on outdoor-rated vinyl, ULTRA ULTRA JOY JOY JOY (black on white) and ULTRA ULTRA JOY JOY JOY (white on black) radiate a compulsive energy, while YO JOY (mottled; blue O) has a sly playfulness and irresistible graphic kitsch about it, while also showcasing Pickleman’s masterful paint handling.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419243/rm6ljukhqryqdr129b6x.jpg"><figcaption>Courtesy Bianca Bova</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;Two diptychs, JOY DIVIDED (green O, diptych) and JOY DIVIDED (blue O, diptych), each bear the logo bisected vertically across two canvases, separated by an approximately two inch gap. While no less visually buoyant than the other works in the series, these two pieces hint at what the logo belies. Consider the environment in which we might naturally encounter it: the epicenter of the home, the kitchen counter. The divide in the logo transgresses the notion of domestic bliss the brand name implies, the way a smile stretched too thin conveys displeasure more explicitly than the absence of a smile; not authentic joy, but a performance of joy for the sake of appearances. What would the neighbors think?&nbsp;JOY FLIPPED (full color) and JOY FLIPPED (white on black), each featuring mirrored iterations of the logo, are perhaps the most ambiguous paintings in the series. The result is an undeniably mask-like form, talismanic and uncanny. It could be interpreted as a cave painting as easily as a death mask, calling to mind Pickleman’s Icons series (which includes <a href="https://www.sculpturemilwaukee.com/jason-pickleman">Hand Heart</a> (2021) and <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2020/society-for-contemporary-art-collectors-sale/hourglass">Hourglass</a> (2020) among others), and his talent for inviting reassessments of the enduring symbols of humanity.Centered on the salon-style main wall of the exhibition is the most diminutive and most stunning of the paintings, BLUE JOY. Utilizing a version of the logo from the 1990’s, the letterforms dynamically fill the volume of the canvas, the “J” and the “y” wrapping cleanly around the outer edges. This single gesture is Pickleman at his best as an artist, intervening with extraordinary precision while respectfully maintaining the source material, to deliver a work that is unmistakably his own. It is the heart of the exhibition.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419244/hhria2jpathkegikr8lw.jpg"><figcaption>Courtesy Bianca Bova</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;The only quasi-sculptural work, SILVER JOY, hangs on a separate wall, apart from the paintings. Composed of silver acrylic letterforms that seem to float on their mounts on gesso board, its reflective surface captures, at turns, the viewer, the space, and the companionate works in the exhibition. Few are those who can resist playing in its presence, striking a pose, snapping a selfie, or simply feeling the need to move around the work to get its full effect. With irresistible charm, it brings Pickleman’s dictum to “make time for joy” into practice.&nbsp;Tucked in a corner of the gallery on a pedestal is one final work, though one not found on the checklist. It consists of a framed sheet of Parapaque with the Joy logo cut out, alongside the logo’s three corresponding pantone swatches, with two registration marks drawn in. When asked about it, Pickleman acknowledged that he wanted to underscore the graphic design roots of the work, and added, with a grin, “I wanted to see if I still knew how to do it, too.”&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419244/rzik8qu05yvoh13kwadg.jpg"><figcaption>Courtesy The Suburban</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;Pickleman, of course, was the proprietor of the studio JNL Graphic Design for over 30 years, having only recently closed his doors. His notable clients (including museums, artists, restaurants, hotels, and galleries) are too numerous to name. That Pickleman chose to respond to the work of Deskey is made all the more intriguing when his own career is considered. Along with Joy, Deskey was also responsible for the now-iconic logos of Crest toothpaste, Tide laundry detergent, and Jif peanut butter, sympathetically, among Pickleman’s most well-known commercial designs is the logo and packaging for the wildly popular popcorn brand Skinny Pop.&nbsp;Once, as he gamely accompanied me on an errand in my favorite grocery store, Devon Market, Pickleman remarked on his dislike of grocery shopping.&nbsp;“Someone designed every item in this store. There are so many decisions sitting on these shelves,” he lamented.&nbsp;Making time for JOY pays respect to those decisions, to the designers and artists whose legacies surround us. For Suburban owner Michelle Grabner to invite Pickleman to exhibit this body of work in a gallery whose previous exhibitions include those by Luc Tuymans and Wade Guyton places him squarely where he belongs: in the canon of great contemporary painters who have devoted themselves to excavating the residue of daily life to illuminate its most intimate corners.&nbsp;Making time for JOY is on view through August 31st, 2023 at The Suburban, 723 S. 5th Street, Milwaukee, WI. For more information visit <a href="http://www.thesuburban.org">thesuburban.org</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

Making time for JOY – An Artist's Exhibition Pays Tribute to Design

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419193/bho2fzobfud8b3eb9ifz.jpg"><figcaption>Pictured: The founding members of ARC Gallery were Dalia Alekna, Jan Arnow, Gerda Meyer Bernstein, Judy Lerner Brice, Ellen Ferar, Imfriede Hogan Lagerkvist, Maxine Lowe, Mary Min, Kay Rosen, Civia Rosenberg Gina Rosenblum, Sara Skolnik Rosenbluth, Laurel Ross, Myra Toth, and Monika Wulfers. Image from the 2nd Annual Members’ Exhibition.</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;&nbsp;By JACQUELINE LEWISIt is no small thing to make a gallery last for five decades, and this year ARC Gallery &amp; Educational Foundation is turning 50. To celebrate the history of one of the country’s oldest co-ops of its kind, ARC has a fall exhibition planned, as well as opportunities to invite the art community and the general public to ensure its next 50 years.&nbsp;Recently we spoke with current ARC president Cheri Reif Naselli, who contacted ARC founding member Gerda Meyer Bernstein – the main force for the formation of ARC (Artists (in)&nbsp;Residence&nbsp;Chicago) five decades ago. Not long after her own 100th birthday in January of this year, Gerda shared some recollections with Cheri about ARC's founding and said she was compelled to start ARC because at the time, there were no places around Chicago for women to show their work. "I felt there were huge things we could accomplish together."&nbsp;When Gerda first started what would become ARC, she gathered a group of just 7–10 artists. Some came and went, Gerda remembers. She says there were good memories but it was a fair amount of trouble starting at the time, because there was not a lot of strong interest that matched her own. Today Gerda is still making art and she plans to have work in ARC's 50th Anniversary Show planned for this fall.&nbsp;*ARC was first opened in 1973 at 226 E. Ontario, across from the original location of the Museum of Contemporary Art. Started by a group of women artists when there were a lot of changes were happening around the country, local artists were starting to form their own galleries and build a thriving art community in Chicago. Today ARC is based in the vibrant West Town neighborhood. In the ‘70s, amidst a climate of ending sexism and conformity, ARC provided a professional exhibition space for women artists who were left out of the mainstream art scene and the commercial gallery system. Women across the country were compelled to overtly challenge the dominance of men in the art world, and in society, through art. The gallery, still operated as a cooperative nonprofit run by its women-led membership, continues to maintain strong links with its legacy of feminist art leadership through the cultivation an inclusive and welcoming space for exhibitions, workshops, and discussion. Via the women-run space, ARC exhibits work by artists of all genders.&nbsp;ARC is the only surviving, not-for-profit, women’s cooperative gallery in the Midwest and has exhibited the work of over 6,000 unique artists from around the globe. Exhibition opportunities for innovative and emerging artists exist today to an extent unheard of for women 50 years ago. ARC’s current and ongoing commitment gives exposure and support to countless artists through mentoring and by donating exhibition space to underserved regardless of gender-identity to help subsidize the costs of solo exhibitions.&nbsp;To publicly celebrate ARC Gallery will mount a 50th Anniversary Exhibition showcasing artwork from past and present gallery members. Current exhibition dates to plan for are September 28-October 21, 2023, with an opening during West Town Art Walk on September 29. Exhibiting artists will lead discussions at a special reception and speak about their art and the impact that ARC has had on their career and life. ARC also plans to host a lecture led by art historian Johanna Gardner-Huggert on the past 50 years of feminist art. Additionally there will be a panel of representatives from several female-run spaces and art historians discussing the future of feminist art titled “The Next 50.” Dates are still to be determined as of press time, so please check <a href="https://arcgallery.org">arcgallery.org</a> and CGN’s calendar for updates.#</body></html>

ARC Gallery at 50

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419235/cgyzmawulabjxvarwbrv.jpg"><figcaption>Felix Gonzalez-Torres, “Untitled”, 1995, Billboard. Dimensions vary with installation. One of multiple outdoor billboards installed along the CTA lines as part of Forecast Form: Art in the Caribbean Diaspora, 1900s–Today. Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago (MCA), Chicago, IL. November 2022–April 2023. © Estate of Felix Gonzalez-Torres, courtesy of Felix Gonzalez-Torres Foundation. Above: As seen at the Chicago Avenue CTA Red Line Station &nbsp;</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;As seen on Chicago Transit Authority Rail Platforms&nbsp;By JASON PICKLEMAN&nbsp;A horizontal black and white photo of an evenly gray sky depicts a bird flying left to right, its wings outstretched, up and down. The bird is a black silhouette—elegant, formal, and free.As seen in Chicago Transit Authority’s underground subway and on its elevated passenger train platforms, the image is located amidst conventional advertising billboards. Unlike its neighboring images that advertise legal services or fast food restaurants, the image of the flying bird is bare of any text, or any explanation. No logo. No copy. No text. Just the image of the bird, flying.Conceived by the artist Felix Gonzalez-Torres in 1995 as a multi-sited installation beyond gallery and museum walls, Chicago’s recent installation heralds and introduces the exhibition Forecast Form: Art in the Caribbean Diaspora, 1900s–Today at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago (MCA). As noted by the curator of the exhibition Carla Acevedo-Yates, with Gonzalez-Torres’ work out in the city “the exhibition begins before one enters the museum.” 67 reproductions of the image are presented at over 22 CTA stations (often with more than one on display at each platform).&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419236/barckch52xezegsbsqjl.jpg"><figcaption>The fourth floor of the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, at the entrance of the exhibition Forecast Form: Art in the Caribbean Diaspora, 1900s–Today.</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;Measuring 60” W by 48” H, the images are printed and mounted on rigid cardboard, and then slipped into a standard billboard frame. To prevent theft, each image is stapled randomly, though unobtrusively, to the backing of the frame. As of this writing, none of them have been pilfered.&nbsp;“Untitled”, 1995, Billboard was located at the following CTA stations:&nbsp;35th-Bronzeville-IIT (Green)Adams/Wabash (Loop)Belmont (Brown, Purple, Red)Cermak-Chinatown (Red)Cermak/McCormick Place (Green)Chicago (Red)Conservatory-Central Park Drive (Green)Fullerton (Brown, Purple, Red)Garfield (Green)Garfield (Red)Grand (Red)Harold Washington Library-State/Van Buren (Loop)Howard (Purple, Red, Yellow)Logan Square (Blue)Loyola (Red)Merchandise Mart (Brown, Purple)O’Hare (Blue)Roosevelt (Red)Rosemont (Blue)Sox-35th (Red)State/Lake (Loop)Western (Brown)Western (Orange)&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419237/hweaskye6p6idacxddgt.png"><figcaption>Felix Gonzalez-Torres,“Untitled”, 1995, Billboard</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;According to the artist, the installation of the images should be exhibited in mostly diverse neighborhoods—a description accommodated by the list above. “Allowing the image, freed from the walls of the art institution and their interpretive sway, to become part of the landscape itself, thus creating the potential for more private and unmediated encounters with the work,” writes Acevedo-Yates.The billboard presentation of the black and white image of the flying bird, “Untitled”, 1995, Billboard was the last work that Felix Gonzalez-Torres conceived before he died of AIDS-related illness on January 9, 1996. As far as I can tell, the billboard(s) were not exhibited within his lifetime. It has subsequently been exhibited many times, all over the world. A partial list would include presentations in Sweden, Ghana, Stockholm, Hong Kong, Mexico, and Italy. In the U.S., the work has been seen in New York and Texas. All posthumously.Birds, of course, are migratory creatures; and migration is very much a part of our global humanitarian strife. Yet birds are merely hungry creatures and live irrespective of boundaries and fences. They fly and land wherever they can or want. In that sense they are emblems of freedom and independence. A poetically charged icon for any artist.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419238/hqhxpnvqysbcthbcmyu2.jpg"><figcaption>“Untitled”, 1995 as seen on the CTA randomly placed next to a conventional advertisement. &nbsp;</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;The image that comprises “Untitled”, 1995, Billboard comes from a series titled on the Felix Gonzalez-Torres Foundation website as “Birds in Sky.” Uniquely similar, they all feature a gray sky with most often a single bird in flight. The range of clouds within many of the photos can vary considerably, as can the tonal quality of the sky. The image seen on Chicago’s transit system is one of the few whose sky/cloud/background is a remarkably neutral, even gray. The bird’s silhouette is almost perfectly symmetrical, with wings, head, and beak all clearly distinguishable.Beyond the billboard presentation, “Birds in Sky” works have been produced on many substrates and in many media: as a C-print jigsaw puzzle in a plastic bag, 1989; on paper (poster-size) and presented as stacks on the floor, free for the taking, 1992/1993; and printed as a bound 12-page booklet, “Untitled” (Passport #II), 1993, again stacked on the floor for the taking, as seen at the Renaissance Society at the University of Chicago in the 1994 exhibition Traveling.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419239/gkstmmiy6rlpjmclcnh5.jpg"><figcaption>The loading dock door on Chicago Avenue, the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago.</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;It should be mentioned that two additional installations of “Untitled”, 1995 are on display at the MCA proper: one on the MCA’s loading dock door off of Chicago Avenue, and another before greeting visitors outside the exhibition’s galleries on the MCA’s fourth floor.What attracts is the serenity of the image—it has a quiet peacefulness. And when seen on the subway next to the loud scream of colorful commercial advertising, a strangely calming and meditative effect. It is so odd to see an image on the street that isn’t selling or advertising. It is a gift.&nbsp;<blockquote>Hope is the thing with feathers—That perches in the soul—And sings the tune without the words—And never stops—at all—&nbsp;Emily Dickinson</blockquote>&nbsp;</body></html>

Felix Gonzalez-Torres  “Untitled”, 1995, Billboard

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419224/jummsju43zcntjg32sc1.jpg"><figcaption>Andy Warhol, Campbell's Soup cans, 1969 from a portfolio of two screen prints on paper, 28/250. Bank of America Collection</figcaption></figure>By GINNY VAN ALYEA &nbsp;<figure class="image image-style-side"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419225/x2c0pbeympqiv3dd5gef.jpg"><figcaption>Robert Mapplethorpe (American, 1946-1989), Andy Warhol, 1986. Gelatin silver print, 5/10. Bank of America Collection</figcaption></figure>Andy Warhol Portfolios: A Life in Pop/Works from the Bank of America Collection opened last week in suburban Glen Ellyn at the Cleve Carney Museum of Art. Typically this is the time of year when the museum opens its annual major exhibition to draw art collectors, supporters and others west of the city to this mighty museum that is part of the College of DuPage.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theccma.org/warhol">The Warhol Exhibition</a> includes 94 works from from the Bank of America Collection on loan through Bank of America’s Art in our Communities program. Spanning multiple floors and even spilling into an exterior courtyard/lawn space, there are over 11,000 sq. ft. of interactive experiences including a Biographical exhibit, Video installation, 150+ photos taken by Warhol, Children’s Print Factory, Studio 54 experience and a Central Park-inspired outdoor space where you can sip your coffee in a special Warhol exhibit themed tumbler.&nbsp;The core of the exhibition is the collection of Bank of America, but all around the works displayed in the museum's main gallery space there are biographical sections that discuss the span of Warhol's life and the arc of his phenomenal career, from his childhood in Pittsburgh to when he encountered inspirational artist contemporaries like Claes Oldenburg, to why he started Interview magazine (to curry favor and proximity with celebrities) to what led him to create The Factory. Along the way helpful wall-stickers accompany text and illustrate timelines and decades. Some works of art have also been created by artists living today who continue to be inspired by Warhol, such as a tower of Brillo-like boxes and a wall installation of famous residents of DuPage County (Tom Skilling, Jim Belushi, and Jeopardy's James Holzhouer, among many others) that is part of <a href="https://www.theccma.org/warholdupageevents">The DuPage Warhol Pop Art Challenge</a>The children's section is also back. I enjoyed this area with my children when we visited the Frida Kahlo exhibition two years ago. There is no end to the inspiration here and there are lots of fun art materials just at the right level for a creative child.&nbsp;The exhibition is up until September 10, and there are dozens of related programs and talks taking place throughout the summer, both at the museum and in the area.&nbsp;Tickets, programs and additional information may be <a href="https://www.theccma.org/warhol">found here.</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/warhol2023/">#Warhol2023</a>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419226/sxqduwehze3sdctxn4rh.jpg"><figcaption>At the start of the exhibition a section explores Warhol's childhood and the impact of many factors and institutions, such as his family regular attendance at church, where the religious imagery and bold colors used in various Biblical scenes may have influenced Warhol's later use of color. He also greatly admired the actress Shirley Temple and pored through celebrity magazines himself as a child when convalescing.</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419227/ewmlmpbhfbdtuv5ft4k0.jpg"><figcaption>Todd Irwin, Silkscreen on board, 17" × 17" × 14", 2023. Heart and Bones Signs Hand painted Boxes, 17" × 17" x 14", 2023. These original sculptures created by Todd Irwin and Heart and Bones Signs are contemporary responses to Warhol's Brillo Box sculptures.</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419228/r3s0wceyrwp8gajrbfzu.jpg"><figcaption>Various covers of Interview magazine, which Warhol founded in 1969 and led until his death in 1987. Celebrity interviews were usually unedited.</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419229/y4rstqjwxzyfvjeholue.jpg"><figcaption>A view of Flowers, 1970 (left) and Sunset I–IV, 1972 (right)</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419230/xdpk8rgt5q6nubopfeof.jpg"><figcaption>Keith Haring (American, 1958-1990), Andy Mouse, 1986. Portfolio of four screenprints, 28/30. Bank of America Collection. "It's like treating him [Warhol] like he was part of American culture, like Mickey Mouse was. That he himself had become a symbol, a sign for something complete, universally understandable. He sort of made this niche for himself in the culture. As much as Mickey Mouse had." – Keith Haring</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419231/gsquwvhbjr8yizjequjd.jpg"><figcaption>Ten Portraits of Jews of the Twentieth Century, 1980. Portfolio of ten screenprints on Lenox Museum Board, 127/200. Bank of America Collection. The Ten Portraits of Jews of the Twentieth Century portfolio was Warhol's first collaboration with Ronald Feldman Fine Arts. In most instances, Warhol would simultaneously render the same subject matter on canvas and paper. For each of these series, the artist and his dealer would amass long lists of possible items for inclusion and would then whit tle them down to the ideal number of ten images. Warhol referred to his Ten Portraits of Jews of the Twentieth Century series as the "Jewish geniuses" project. Ranging from the well-known Gertrude Stein and George Gershwin to the relatively obscure Louis Brandeis and Martin Buber, these portraits were based on preexisting images.</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419232/srcigm0dqhihtuujatqc.jpg"><figcaption>Geoff Bevington, DuPage Pop Art Challenge 2023. In the spirit of Andy Warhol's fascination with fame, celebrity, and icons we challenged each town in DuPage County to identify the four most famous people in their community. &nbsp;Bevington then created digital Warhol-style portraits based on photos that were provided, and they were blown up into murals to be proudly displayed in their respective region. Each area used different criteria, some chose home-town heroes, other veered to historic founders, and some went for fame, but all resulted in civic pride through public art.</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;</body></html>