<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419193/fivmlhraplvl04xnxaap.jpg"><figcaption>Diasporal Rhythms home tour guests on a visit to collector and Diasporal rhythms co-founder Patric McCoy’s South Side home.</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;By JACQUELINE LEWISWhen 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. Particularly in our community on the South Side, we have to be the first voices.”This year Diasporal Rhythms is marking 20 years of exhibiting and preserving art from the African Diaspora for the people of Chicago, and they have plans to celebrate in a big way.&nbsp;Founded in 2003 Diasporal Rhythms is the result of a spirited panel discussion at the South Side Art Center’s Collector’s Forum regarding the need to expand the appreciation of contemporary art to include the artists of the African Diaspora. Founders McCoy, Daniel Parker, Carol Briggs and Joan Crisler saw a need to create more equitable opportunities and a space for Black artists to showcase their art and access further opportunities. In the years since Diasporal Rhythms has consistently worked to provide programs and opportunities that amplify the voices of Black artists and collectors, all while providing a platform for art enthusiasts of all levels to engage learn, and network.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419193/aey8qicwfn7igx5ccuco.jpg"><figcaption>A collector describes the art in her home on a Home Tour</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;Kate Lorenz, the former Executive Director of Hyde Park Arts Center sums up 20 years of impact in Chicago:“Diasporal Rhythms has helped create a deep, vast, and authentic network of reciprocal support and admiration between artists and the community that defies categorization. As mainstream arts organizations and philanthropic organizations are called on to address racial justice and embrace community as part of their mission and work going forward, there is much to learn from Diasporal Rhythms.”Diasporal Rhythms will present Perspective 2023 at Navy Pier to commemorate their anniversary. Perspective occurs yearly but this year’s edition will specifically honor and celebrate 20 years. It will run from October 6, 2023–January 31, 2024. An auction fundraiser is planned for October 15 &amp; 23, and an Intimate Spaces Home Tour for October 7 &amp; 8.Tickets and details are at <a href="https://diasporalrhythms.org">diasporalrhythms.org</a>#&nbsp;</body></html>

Preserving Art from the African Diaspora: Diasporal Rhythms Celebrates its 20th Anniversary

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419198/q7v7zkxx5zxxvjmzwq3g.png"></figure>&nbsp;By BIANCA BOVAFlatfiles have an inherent allure. There is a certain kind of person (often, unsurprisingly, art collectors) that tend to own them, that treat them as pieces of domestic furniture. Expensive, heavy, and sporting an industrial appearance incompatible with a substantial array of interior design aesthetics, their presence signals that their utility is so necessary, so practical to their owner, as to be worth the trouble. To own a flatfile is to be envied, at least in certain circles.&nbsp;The archivists, the registrars, and the simply nosy among us know the thrill of sliding open their drawers. Their pristine steel exterior, evocative of the golden age of downtown offices and high-heeled secretaries, just as often gives way to perfect organization as it does belie something far more exhilarating and chaotic. This is, after all, where the things loved sufficiently to be preserved, but which, for reasons of taste, vanity, or simply capacity, haven’t received the honor of being put on display are housed. To dig in the flatfiles is to peer into the psyche of their owner.&nbsp;Flatfiles are never merely storage. When a gallery maintains them, art dealers make their own equally telling promises: I just had to have this in my inventory. This is a great work, I just haven’t had the right exhibition for it. Come and see this, I’ve been saving it to show to the right collector. Being granted access to them becomes a quietly coveted marker of status, a nod to the deserving nature of those being led into the back room.So when a gallery builds a not insubstantial part of their program around keeping well-stocked flatfiles, it's worth taking note; and when they mount an exhibition that frees the work from the drawers and lets it live (at least for a little while) on the walls, as the Chicago gallery <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/organizations/goldfinch">Goldfinch</a> has done with their recently mounted and simply titled exhibition A Flatfiles Show, it's certainly worth having a look.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419199/l5jdmvbuycsjyegexkss.png"></figure>&nbsp;Goldfinch’s Flatfiles Program began in 2017, the year following the gallery’s opening. The program stocks work across painting, drawing, collage, printmaking, photography, mixed media, and (rather unconventionally) also includes modestly sized sculpture. The available works on paper range in scale, with dimensions varying from 4.3 x 6.8 inches to 40 x 38 inches. Pricing comes in at no less than $200 and no more than $1,500, a deliberate scale that gallerist Claudine Isé notes is, “geared towards beginning collectors, art consultants, and anyone looking to find contemporary artworks that are accessibly priced.”&nbsp;Unfortunately, the flatfiles are not open for perusal during gallery hours. Rather, interested viewers must browse an online database on <a href="https://website-artlogicwebsite0761.artlogic.net/store/artworks/">Goldfinch’s website</a>, and prearrange for works to be pulled for viewing at a private appointment. This makes the current exhibition, which is hung salon-style with new works rotated in each week, all the more pleasurable to stroll through. Nearly every artist included in the Flatfiles Program has work on view in the show, from the more established (Cameron Harvey, Kuras &amp; MacKenzie) to the emerging (Madeline Galluci, Mara Baker).&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419201/c1higfhw9ukr4igcoya8.png"></figure>&nbsp;By taking this broad approach, the show offers not just an opportunity to browse works viewers might not otherwise see in person, but provides a capsule version of what the gallery is about. The hand of the artist is almost always visible in the works in A Flatfiles Show; the works themselves often come across as cerebral or abject, delicate without crossing into decorative. Taken as a whole, it's a keener, more condensed version of Ise’s vision for the gallery’s overall program.&nbsp;To that end, it’s worth making your way to the space not just for the Flatfiles show, but to see two additional exhibitions currently on view, that exemplify the tenets of the gallery just as well: Irene Wa’s survey of ceramic sculptures and drawings that spring from the Mexican artist’s recent study of diphonic singing, Crisálida de sal and Sarah Leuchtner’s striking installation of three new sculptural drawings, Sequential Escapes. All three exhibitions promise great rewards for time devoted to close looking, and a worthwhile way to spend a Sunday afternoon.&nbsp;View Goldfinch's CGN listing <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/organizations/goldfinch">here</a>#</body></html>

Affordable Treasure in the Flatfiles at Goldfinch

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419193/zhz2wmvrfvc0o1l9z4pe.jpg"><figcaption>The Spring/Summer 2023 Issue of CGN.&nbsp;</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;By GINNY VAN ALYEAEvery morning Lin Brehmer proclaimed on the radio, “It’s great to be alive.”We each understand that life is short, but we feel it acutely when we lose someone or when time seems to move too fast. In January Brehmer, DJ here in Chicago at WXRT for decades, died. His death from cancer was one of too many recent reminders that what he said on air every day is indeed worth remembering. I listened to him on the radio for half my life. Lin was known for staying out late at concerts until the wee hours and then waking up practically in the middle of the night to go back on the air at 6am. He loved music, art, literature, the Cubs, and Chicago. He had lots of friends. I admired him so much. His time was too short, but he made it count.&nbsp;&nbsp;*&nbsp;So what can we recommit to doing while we’re here for such a short time? Looking through past issues of CGN, I came across a <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2016/8/collector-jason-pickleman-s-creative-life">2016 interview</a> with designer, artist, collector and all-around art lover Jason Pickleman, who said then that art is a kind of memory device. Art can remind us of the past, and it can outlast our short time on earth. He admitted then to buying almost everything for his collection at first sight. If it piques his interest, he buys it immediately. He does not hem, haw, think, or research. He abides by a sort of “seize the art” motto. His words are also a reminder to enjoy art as well as life. Life is short. Art lasts longer.&nbsp;In this spring issue, we record how fast time flies. EXPO is 10. ARC Gallery is 50. Richard Hunt is 87. We aim to capture stories about working to make a difference through art. Each person we interviewed expressed a gratitude for being part of this community as well as a wish to creatively give back to it, either by creating, celebrating or collecting art every precious day.&nbsp;William Lieberman is both a dealer and a collector committed to supporting living artists. Artist <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2023/3/the-many-colors-of-anna-kunz">Anna Kunz</a> talks about depicting relationships through color and her pride of being from Chicago all her life. MCA Director Madeleine Grynstezjn makes the case for Chicago’s gift to the art world right now. We also share insights from five art world leaders who are each making new things happen in 2023 and beyond.&nbsp;Through the end of the summer there are anniversaries to celebrate, road trips to take and exhibitions to explore, hopefully with someone you’re close to. Maybe you will stay up a little later and wake up a little earlier to do it all. Through art we have the opportunity to glimpse the past, make new memories and make each day count.&nbsp;Happy spring. It’s great to be alive.&nbsp;#This letter is from the Spring 2023 issue of CGN. More stories from the print magazine will be posted online in the coming weeks. To subscribe to the print edition <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/print-subscriptions">please click here.</a>Note: the Spring cover features art by Anna Kunz: The Tide, 2021, 66” x 60”, Acrylic on canvas. photo: Dario Lisagne NYC&nbsp;</body></html>

Spring 2023 Publisher's Letter: It's Great to Be Alive

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419183/ijmptmz6lazrfysszyzy.jpg"><figcaption>Candida Alvarez, Zip Me Up, Courtesy of James Prinz Photography</figcaption></figure>right: art by Ivelisse JiménezTwo Chicago-based artists have been commissioned to create new works at <a href="https://www.fashionoutletsofchicago.com/TheCollection">THE COLLECTION: Where Art Meets Fashion</a>, a multifaceted contemporary art program located in an unconventional setting: within Macerich’s Fashion Outlets of Chicago in suburban Rosemont, IL. On site are 19 permanent commissions as well as a rotating exhibition series. Other artists with work on site to date include Daniel Arsham, Derrick Adams, Matthew Hoffman, and more.&nbsp;The program’s latest site-specific installation is a two-story abstract mural by Puerto Rican-American artist Candida Alvarez. “Much like clothes in the closet that we love and pull out to wear from time to time, ‘zip me up’ is a return to, and remix of, an earlier painting of a dahlia flower that lived on a Chicago rooftop,” said Alvarez. “This commission by Fashion Outlets was a wonderful opportunity to dive back into my own archive and remix this painting to give it a bold, evocative new life.”&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419184/wqmuuuaalklduiyh2z3n.jpg"><figcaption>More rose than crimson by Ivelisse Jimenez. &nbsp;Courtesy of James Prinz Photography</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;A new rotating exhibition, featuring sculptural works by Puerto Rican artist Ivelisse Jiménez, is also now on view. “Fading Through Gradations” will fill THE COLLECTION’s three rotating exhibition cases through May 2023. Playing upon the experience of color and its afterimage as an element that produces constant change for our eyes, Jiménez’s works speak to the transformative space of process and the transitory merging of traces.&nbsp;</body></html>

Where Art Meets Fashion: The Collection's New Commissions

<html><head></head><body>There is no shortage of love and heart-themed art in the world, and we're leaning into the sweetest of days by sharing the following works of art with you today on Valentine's Day!&nbsp;XO<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419167/pkkswqchesks4sfowsfr.webp"><figcaption><a href="https://tonyfitzpatrick.co/collections/store/products/the-heart-of-chicago">Tony Fitzpatrick</a>, The Heart of Chicago Poster</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419167/tci3crszpyypbouz1snt.jpg"><figcaption>Margaret Wharton, Valentine, 1978, chairs in snow. <a href="https://jeanalbanogallery.com/artists/margaret-wharton/">Jean Albano Gallery.</a></figcaption></figure>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419168/jtlwwylx4jms5rhjdc5t.jpg"><figcaption>SAORI AND MOSSIMO HOLDING HANDS, AMALFI, ITALY, 2007archival pigment print 20” x 20”. &nbsp;<a href="http://loucksgallery.com/artists#/rodney-smith/">Anne Loucks Gallery</a></figcaption></figure>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419169/gfw0xsn2gntzpdjcelb5.jpg"><figcaption>The National Museum of Mexican Art's Gift Shop, <a href="https://national-museum-of-mexican-art.square.site">The Tienda Tzintzuntzán</a>, has an array of unique gifts perfect for your best friend or loved one.&nbsp;</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419170/geobmwpixf3q3gobgqzz.jpg"><figcaption>James Tissot, How Happy I Could be with Either,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.expressiongalleries.com/19th-century-artists/tissot"> Expression Gallery of Fine Art</a></figcaption></figure>&nbsp;</body></html>

Happy Valentine's Day to Art Lovers

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419155/jxk46iqxdjct90heymof.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;By 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. Determining an overall budget for collecting and a spending ceiling for individual acquisitions is a practical first step, as this will be invaluable in determining where you can realistically expect to acquire work.&nbsp;If your range falls at $5,000–$10,000, the good news is that most mid-size galleries will have some work in their inventory that fits in your budget. The work you acquire will have a reasonable likelihood of appreciation, and you will be supporting a living artist whose career you will have the pleasure of following for years to come.&nbsp;If you plan to buy from galleries, the first order of business is identifying what galleries in the appropriate tier of the market have a program that suits your interests. By way of recommendation, in my view the best gallery in Chicago is DOCUMENT, led by its founder Aron Gent and gallery partner Sibylle Friche. The smartest, chicest program in town by a mile, it encompasses energizing young artists like Kiah Celeste and Gordon Hall alongside artists whose careers have grown during their tenure with the gallery including John Opera and Sara Grenberger Rafferty, while still creating opportunities for experimentation by established artists like Barbara Kasten, and space for market darlings like Paul Mpagi Sepuya. The start of the year also marked the opening of a second DOCUMENT location in Lisbon, Portugal, one of the most undeniably intriguing market expansions of a gallery its size globally.&nbsp;You might also get into the habit of browsing fundraising auctions. It has become increasingly common in the past few years for institutions and nonprofits to partner with both major houses (Sotheby’s, Christies, Phillips) as well as independent platforms (Bidpal, Artsy, and once upon a time, Paddle8). Oftentimes the works in these auctions have expansive value ranges, with some lots starting bidding at under $1,000 and others starting bidding at over $100,000. Depending on where the auction is administered and by whom, as well as the nonprofit status of the beneficiary, you may also find that the price you pay remains lower than in a traditional auction, as buyer’s premiums and some taxes may be waived. Doing your due diligence will pay off in this area.&nbsp;If you have social relationships with artists, or you are interested in one sufficiently enough to request and be granted a studio visit, you might also acquire works directly from an artist’s studio. Pricing may be more discretionary in this area. That said, I do not condone acquiring works directly from artists when it is done to intentionally circumvent their galleries. Art dealers work incredibly hard and bear the burden of ever-increasing overhead, and they do not deserve to be cut out of sales in the name of anti-market moral righteousness or by cheapskate collectors. Proceed with caution.&nbsp;Art fairs are another area of the market that is often miscategorized as inaccessible to collectors with modest budgets. When attending major fairs, be on the lookout for young gallery and emerging artist focused segments; Art Basel’s Statements section, or EXPO Chicago’s EXPOSURE section, for instance. Smaller fairs–frequently held as satellites to major fairs–like those put on by the New Art Dealers Alliance (NADA) are often excellent, and you’ll find the dealers are apt to engage in conversation and invest time in getting to know new collectors in this setting.&nbsp;If your budget and individual acquisition ceiling hew closer to $5,000 and under, editions can be an excellent entree into collecting. Editioned artwork is typically priced at a fraction of the market value of primary artwork by the same artists (take note, this is naturally reflected in its value retention and appreciation as well). Editions may be available through an artist’s gallery, through nonprofit organizations (often as a fundraising endeavor) or through publishers.&nbsp;Printed Matter’s current catalog is a reputable and expansive resource for this type of acquisition. It includes works from such art historically important artists as Lawrence Weiner, Jenny Holzer, and Sterling Ruby beginning at a couple hundred dollars. Their overall inventory of editioned works ranges from as little as $5 (a snap-bracelet by Taiwanese artist Son Ni) to $15,000 (a print by Richard Prince). If you’re in New York, a browse around their primary location in Chelsea or their publication-focused second location on St. Mark's Place can make for a satisfying afternoon, and you’re unlikely to leave empty-handed.&nbsp;“I don’t have a budget for acquiring art” is one of those beguiling phrases that contains a polarity when invoked by those at the very top of the market and those at the very bottom. For those in the latter category, don’t despair. If you have a sufficiently developed eye and are willing to put in the legwork, there are always thrift stores, garage sales, and church rummage sales. I’ve come across works by Richard Haas, Peter Sarkisian, and Morris Barazani in just this fashion. It doesn’t happen often, but when it does, you get a thrill and a bargain.&nbsp;For the more intrepid, there are also the depths of internet sale-by-owner sites. A habitual 2am trawler of the “art” categories on eBay and Craigslist myself, my sleepless efforts have yielded everything from a Sophie Grinbarg painting bearing labels from inclusion in a 1937 exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago, to a full mint-condition Meissen Porcelain Monkey Band, to a print of a tiger–from an edition of 100!–released by Tony Tasset at the age of 12 (of the aforementioned, I only acquired one, but a desire to maintain some pretense of financial responsibility and good taste prevents me from revealing which).&nbsp;There is a great deal of art in the world, and always more being made. Paying attention, learning your own taste, and knowing your place in the market remain a solid foundation for building a collection that, at any price point, can hold great personal and artistic value.&nbsp;#&nbsp;Completely new to collecting? Have a very modest budget? Start here:• <a href="https://hi-buddy.org">BUDDY</a>A storefront offering editions, publications, and art from predominantly Chicago-based emerging artists, located on the ground floor of the Chicago Cultural Center.&nbsp;&nbsp;• <a href="https://www.saic.edu/life-at-saic/campus-life-and-involvement/student-art-sales">SAIC Biannual Art Sales</a>We all have those friends who purchased work from Sterling Ruby’s graduate studio, and later sold it to put their kids through college. If you have a great eye, you might acquire work by an artist you will never again be able to afford. At the very least, you’ll be supporting the next generation of artists.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

In Search of Art Between $5,000–$10,000

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419162/cnozwwdjtczyds22fvvi.jpg"><figcaption>Aron Packer</figcaption></figure><a href="https://www.potterauctions.com">Aron Packer Joins Potter &amp; Potter Auctions</a>Potter &amp; Potter Auctions announce that Aron Packer has joined the company as a Director and Specialist for the company's Fine and Outsider Art department. This department was recently established after Potter &amp; Potter's successful debut December, 2022 Fine and Outsider Art Sale which realized $155,000. With Packer's appointment, the company plans to grow its art offering into several premier events per year, establish in-house expertise and thought leadership, and be top of mind for collectors and sellers looking to buy or deaccession quality fine and outsider art and related materials.<a href="https://www.potterauctions.com">Potter &amp; Potter</a>, founded in 2007, is a Chicago area auction house specializing in paper Americana, vintage advertising, rare books, playing cards, gambling memorabilia, posters, fine prints, vintage toys, and magicana&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419163/htgkn0wav9flvkptdfro.jpg"><figcaption>Daniel Greene and Gail Kern Paster</figcaption></figure><a href="https://www.newberry.org/news/daniel-greene-to-depart-the-newberry-gail-kern-paster-named-interim-president-and-librarian">Newberry Library Director Change</a>The Library announced that Daniel Greene, President and Librarian of the Newberry since 2019, will depart the library for the US Holocaust Memorial Museum this spring. Gail Kern Paster, a Newberry Board member since 2013 and Director Emerita of the Folger Shakespeare Library, will become interim President and Librarian while the Newberry conducts a national search to fill the position.&nbsp; “We are grateful to Daniel Greene for all he has done to advance the Newberry’s mission during his time as President and Librarian,” said Robert&nbsp;Holland, Chair of the Board of Trustees. “Under his leadership, the Newberry has navigated the challenges of the pandemic while pursuing new, innovative ways to serve its many audiences. Dr. Greene departs the Newberry after guiding the library on a path to expanding its role as a civic and cultural institution in the city of Chicago.”&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419164/mfjzin5slc9iqrez3fqp.jpg"><figcaption>From Children of War at UIMA</figcaption></figure>UIMA Releases 6 Digital Prints from "Children of War"Due to popular demand, the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art has released 6 digital prints of works featured in “Children of War,” which are for sale here: <a href="https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fuima-chicago.org%2Fchildren-of-war-sale%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR1QAbFDK25heor9V-xlYfiwh2Sv6CerkCqkQwfsDxxrpa8JyBDti9pnZ4Q&amp;h=AT0Anegx_cN-bJcfBIIG4s4FQU-TpvIRpR1Q7b2R79rOFTMon3FsY2gnEwsMfTSGS4HO3lpHgC-C2s3rHIqr6_8nNd36NQCQ5wHyqnKLxxA4raFgkpnmfNC7bYgkI98UtZtDCGQ&amp;__tn__=-UK-R&amp;c[0]=AT0r9j2tNivrUjlZz4rSvUj7iyZ1-yzxPbmgqvBTdi1xC5GnfHQhqoXFn2xz47JelK5mY_Mi-fP8JQiD7467hCn1HCjDis3pczC9iei8ke6ynx8c59dqZrPBkaPI4-u9eDgPrbbGytmZJq97mIx_OXIkG81dkWhcykhubgolB6ExniNJTWLayHTNA7fblce_ViC-ZJghZHfD64-u8Vc">https://uima-chicago.org/children-of-war-sale</a>Customers receive a secure link to the file lasting 24 hours after the first download.Proceeds of the sales of these works will be earmarked for the expansion, supplies, and facilities hosting the Art Therapy Project facilitated by Nataliia and Yustyna Pavliuk. Portions of the proceeds will also be going to Lviv Oblast Children’s Clinical Hospital for the Protection of Women and Children, Lysenko Street 31, Lviv Ukraine, Львівська обласна дитяча клінічна лікарня Охматдит.&nbsp;</body></html>

CGN Art World Recap: 1/26/23

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419155/wowkvz6n7ktm6duvoadk.png"></figure>&nbsp;By CGN StaffThe MCA's latest exhibition Forecast Form: Art in the Caribbean Diaspora, 1990s–Today opened in November and runs through April 2023.&nbsp;Taking the 1990s as its cultural backdrop, <a href="https://visit.mcachicago.org/exhibitions/art-in-the-caribbean-diaspora-1990s-today/">Forecast Form: Art in the Caribbean Diaspora, 1990s–Today</a> is the first major group exhibition in the United States to envision a new approach to contemporary art in the Caribbean diaspora, foregrounding forms that reveal new modes of thinking about identity and place. It uses the concept of weather and its constantly changing forms as a metaphor to analyze artistic practices connected to the Caribbean, understanding the region as a bellwether for our rapidly shifting times.The museum asks visitors and online shoppers to immerse themselves into Forecast Form by shopping the collection, ranging from luxurious scarves, colorful stationery, beautiful jewelry, and more! Items feature art and designs from artists such as Candida Alvarez and Firelei Baez.<a href="https://mcachicagostore.org/collections/forecast-form?utm_source=MCA+General+List&amp;utm_campaign=b65a24b745-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2022_11_16_09_16_COPY_01&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_term=0_-614c1bc232-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D&amp;mc_cid=b65a24b745&amp;mc_eid=95b957c616">View items here</a>&nbsp;</body></html>

MCA Store's New Collection Inspired by Forecast Form 

<html><head></head><body>By GINNY VAN ALYEAMy seven-year old son thinks it’s fun to sit on my lap and use my computer, currently to browse for LEGO sets, while I am on deadline. When I was working on this edition of CGN's 2023 Arts Guide, he looked at a page spread and asked why I had to make the magazine again if I’d already done it last year. (He also asks why I have to stay up so late.) I explained that every year we have to update information from the year before. In a 168-page book filled with details, it’s important to stay current. Happy with my answer, we played spot-the-difference in these CGN pages and delayed LEGO shopping a little longer.So much changes in a year–particularly in children, of course, but also the communities we spend time in. In our fall 2022 issue we spoke with many local art leaders, who each shared what the energy of <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2022/10/where-were-you-in-the-80s">Chicago’s 1980s art scene</a> was like when CGN began as a four-page guide to the exhibitions and openings of 16 galleries in a single neighborhood, River North.&nbsp;In 2023 galleries continue to migrate to, or open in, new locations throughout the city; amidst an online world, physically relocating in proximity to other galleries fosters new art centers. West Town has established itself as a robust art district in just a few years. Creativity also thrives in Pilsen, Bridgeport, Ravenswood and Logan Square. We welcome galleries and museums from all corners of the city, as well as Wisconsin, Southwest Michigan and, for the first time, Iowa. CGN’s history is definitely in Chicago, but I’m thrilled to follow this regional art expansion and appreciation that came out of our pandemic-grounding. It’s wonderful to be able to travel and explore the world once more, but there is so much art and creativity to enjoy close to home too.We celebrated <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2022/9/cgn-turns-40-charting-four-decades-of-art-and-changes">CGN’s 40th anniversary</a> this past fall, and this is the 7th edition of our annual Arts Guide. Introducing the guide was a big change for us in 2017. Now it feels familiar. I think when updates are done correctly, you may not even spot the difference, it just seems like something’s always been there, just right. Though formats, schedules, information, addresses and details may change over time, the search for understanding in art is ongoing and constant.&nbsp;I often think about how to best balance history, legacy and change at CGN. So far, that has been to remain in print and continue to serve as a consistent publication of record, while also maintaining a comprehensive digital means of following art. CGN will always aim to be a positive and informative resource for collectors, artists, galleries, students and others who love art. We strive to keep up with the changes and cover the best of what’s happening in Chicago, and well beyond.&nbsp;Please enjoy this 2023 issue of CGN’s annual Arts Guide. Like each one before, it is the best one yet, but there are more to come.<h3><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/magazine">SUBSCRIBE HERE</a></h3>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419147/ynldzwmkljhb85lhuvb6.png"></figure>&nbsp;2023 CGN Arts Guide Cover artwork: Amanda Williams, Detail of What black is this you say?—“You thought getting Obama elected meant you could take a break from blackness”—black (08.09.20), 2020. Oil and mixed media on wood panel, 60 x 60 inches. Image courtesy of the artist and <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/organizations/rhona-hoffman-gallery--2">Rhona Hoffman Gallery</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

CGN Publisher's Letter: 2023

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419134/etnyubnmohoijj6tt4ik.jpg"><figcaption>The Weaving Mill Rug</figcaption></figure>BUDDY<a href="https://hi-buddy.org">Buddy</a>, located on the first level of the Chicago Cultural Center, supports more than 200 local artists and small manufacturers selling Chicago-made art, objects and more. This year, the Buddy Store offers special, bespoke holiday gifts from Chicago makers for every shopping list, including the Pizza for Everyone cookbook from Crust Fund Pizza, a Loop Tote from Buddy MFG and Neatline Cartography, Hand Carved Wood Bowls and Utensils from Anne Farlee and Potato Candles from Luba Mendelevich. Buddy’s store hours are Tuesday to Sunday from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. For the 2022 Holiday Season, Buddy will present “Ornaments for All,” its second annual one-of-a-kind ornament show featuring work from more than 30 Chicago artists from November 18 to December 31, with an opening reception scheduled for Tuesday, December 6 from 5:00 to 8:30 p.m.  &nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419135/frbgjj7jcvhr9odnnpj9.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/33rd-annual-international-small-print-exhibition-holiday-sale">33rd Annual International Small Print Exhibition &amp; Holiday Sale</a>Chicago Printmakers Collaborative's annual art party takes place from Dec 3– Jan 31, with a grand Opening Party&nbsp;weekend on Dec 3&nbsp;&amp; 4, from 11am-7pm. <a href="https://chicagoprintmakers.com/print-making-gallery-chicago/">Dozens of artists</a> are featured and you can also see artists at work on the presses.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419135/sj81mfffq44ubjmwlrk2.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/organizations/randolph-street-market-festival">Randolph Street Market</a>This European style art, antiques, vintage, global goods and makers market has been featured by Travel &amp; Leisure, Architectural Digest, USA Today, Goop, UK Guardian as ‘Top US Antique Markets’ and by BizBash and TimeOut one of ‘Chicago’s Top Festivals’ – with continuous live music, great foods, amazing people watching and SENSATIONAL TREASURES, this beloved shopping experience is a mecca for interior designers, fashion stylists, hollywood set decorators, fashionistas, collectors, travelers and fun lovers from around the globe!!Taking place indoors in Plumbers Hall on Randolph Street: Dec 17 &amp; 18, 10am–5pm&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419136/mlhysgnxvebfm5rknwga.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/maker-s-market">Maker’s Market</a>This December, The Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art hosts its second 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! Dec 10 and 11.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419137/jcgcn9qg3t2z1ckekqzr.jpg"></figure><a href="https://fineline.org/pages/christmastime-at-fine-line-holiday-show">Artisan Gift Sale - Christmastime at Fine Line</a>The annual Artisan Gift Sale is one of the major events for Fine Line Creative Arts Center.&nbsp; Fine Line is home to a diverse community of highly skilled artists, which is reflected in the full range of items at this sale this year. Here you will find many one-of-kind items you will not see anywhere else, as well as the more traditional items such as handwoven scarves, pottery, jewelry and seasonal decorations.&nbsp; No admission fee and lots of free onsite parking. December 1-6.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419138/zvmax64aq4cscyazapeu.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/third-fridays-in-bridgeport-7cd89e6a-38e2-49be-ac6d-3b4f8cd10cbb">Third Fridays in Bridgeport and Alma Fine Art and Interiors</a>Friday, December 16Pop in during Third Fridays in Bridgeport to view 70+ artists in a 9,000 sq. ft. industrial loft. Stop by our next door neighbor, Marz Brewing, for some refreshment.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419138/mkjk37xvbtl2svcyuddv.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.saintkatearts.com/events/holiday-marketplace-2022">Saint Kate Arts Hotel Marketplace</a>Experience and enjoy the holiday ambiance of Saint Kate while interacting and connecting with local artists and vendors! You'll find more than 100 of the Milwaukee area's finest artists throughout the hotel, from the ARC Theatre and lobby area on the 1st floor to the Simone Ballroom on the 2nd floor. Holiday Marketplace is the ideal place to find perfect gifts for friends and family, all while taking in the sights and sounds of local music and art.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419139/b5gafsxyncyyybyweuxv.jpg"></figure>Ox–Bow<a href="http://www.ox-bow.org">Ox-Bow School of Art and Artists’ Residency</a> will host their first Winter Artists Market at Ox-Bow House. This seasonal event will feature artists from the local region and across the country. The initiative supports Ox-Bow’s desire to lift up the work of both local Artists and Alumni.&nbsp;Launching November 26 on Small Business Saturday, the Winter Artist Market will be open Thursdays through Saturdays, 11:00-6:00 p.m until December 17.The ongoing event will take place at Ox-Bow House, the organization’s downtown Douglas programming space. Entrance to the Winter Market is free of charge, though donations for the organization are always welcomed.&nbsp;The market will maintain a regional invitation to Artists, while also expanding to include Alumni of Ox-Bow. Alumni on an international level have been invited to apply to participate. On select weekends, attendees of the Winter Market can also expect the much revered Culinary Team at Ox-Bow to provide cocoa, cookies, and even cocktails to enjoy while they shop. A special Young Collectors area will be available at the market for patrons ages 2-12 to purchase gifts at youth-friendly prices.&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

2023 Winter Art Markets for Holiday Shopping

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419118/r6dhsixtehhsaci9jk3m.jpg"><figcaption>Prevent WWIII - Marcos Raya &nbsp;</figcaption></figure><a href="https://blockclubchicago.org/2022/10/12/chicago-public-art-group-celebrates-50th-anniversary-with-exhibition-documentary-screening/?fbclid=IwAR36wlSWLMr5C34x5MkJCrB5EiwZYySvyssLgJci917-zlPMZS1uIQWxo2Y">Chicago Public Art Group Celebrates 50th Anniversary With Exhibition, Documentary Screening</a>The Chicago Public Art Group is celebrating is 50th anniversary with an exhibition this month and other events.The group — which connects dozens of artists around Chicago so they can create public art such as murals — will have an exhibition titled “Our Passion’s Humanity” on display through Oct. 26. It will host a showing of the documentary “Pioneering Women Muralists of Hyde Park” 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Chicago Art Department, 1932 S. Halsted St., and a Bronzeville mural virtual tour starting 6 p.m. Thursday.Via Block ClubCGN note: <a href="https://chicagopublicartgroup.org">CPAG's 50th Anniversary Gala is Oct 22</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/13/arts/design/war-photography-addario-capa-icp-sva.html">Has War Changed, or Only War Photography?</a>Lynsey Addario began taking war pictures when the United States invaded Afghanistan in 2001. Only two-thirds of a century had elapsed since Robert Capa documented the Spanish Civil War. But to go from the exhibition of Capa’s Spain photos at the International Center of Photography to the Addario show at the SVA Chelsea Gallery is to traverse not just time and geography but a profound shift in sensibility. Capa’s pictures express his belief in war as a conflict between good and evil. In our time, which is to say in Addario’s, unwavering faith in the justice of one side has perished, a casualty of too many brutal, pointless, reciprocally corrupt wars.Via NYT&nbsp;<a href="https://news.artnet.com/art-world/the-public-can-now-access-the-statue-of-libertys-crown-after-two-and-a-half-years-and-14-flights-of-stairs-2189999?utm_content=from_auctions-registration&amp;utm_source=Sailthru&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=US%204%3A30%20p.m.%20afternoon%20newsletter%20for%2010%2F12%2F22&amp;utm_term=US%20Daily%20Newsletter%20%5BAFTERNOON%5D">The Public Can Now Access the Statue of Liberty’s Crown, After Two and a Half Years (and 14 Flights of Stairs)</a>For the first time in more than two-and-a-half years, the <a href="https://www.nps.gov/stli/index.htm">Statue of Liberty</a> is opening its <a href="https://www.nps.gov/stli/planyourvisit/visit-the-crown.htm">crown</a> to visitors, offering a unique glimpse of the sculpture’s structural underpinnings, as well as a sweeping bird’s-eye view of New York Harbor.Via Artnet&nbsp;<a href="https://blockclubchicago.org/2022/10/13/chicago-based-artist-michiko-itatani-explores-efforts-to-understand-the-universe-in-new-wrightwood-659-exhibition/?fbclid=IwAR2DTAArSWUN2xJXUU5192g_J-GTbhV1Fq-obceEF4v5pEzo8l51ddTaOds">Artist Michiko Itatani Explores Efforts To Understand The Universe In New Wrightwood 659 Exhibition</a>More than 60 paintings and drawings showing local artist Michiko Itatani’s efforts to understand the universe are now on display at Wrightwood 659.The “Michiko Itatani: Celestial Stage” exhibition features dozens of Itatani’s signature oversized paintings juxtaposed with her drawings the size of typing paper. It’s on display through Dec. 17 at Wrightwood 659, 659 W. Wrightwood Ave.Via Block Club&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

What We're Reading: 10/13/22

<html><head></head><body>By GINNY VAN ALYEAIn the 1980s when CGN was founded, throughout the decade not only did the number of galleries explode, but a groundbreaking, international art fair in Chicago was a game changer that would impact the city and region’s cultural life for years. Amidst all the energy and international attention, many of today’s art world leaders were just getting started.When I arrived at CGN in 2002, 20 years after the magazine was founded, there were still many references to ‘in the ‘80s,’ around the office and in galleries. Considering that much of what exists in Chicago and the Midwest’s art community today was built on what was happening four decades ago, for this anniversary issue I wanted to share some first–hand recollections of what life and art in Chicago was like when CGN began. Those I spoke to remember it as a critical time of art creation, experimentation, collecting, excess, and some fun. It’s a privilege to be able to record these memories now for the decades to come.&nbsp;&nbsp;*<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419118/u1m5y2roodsls72qqmeu.jpg"><figcaption>David Hockney and Richard Gray, 1984, at the opening of David Hockney: New Work, at Richard Gray Gallery, Chicago.</figcaption></figure>PAUL GRAY – GRAY“Chicago has been a fertile environment in which to grow a gallery. When my father Richard first opened the gallery in 1963, the community of serious, active collectors of Contemporary and Modern art already included such luminaries as Shapiro, Horwich, Bergman and Alsdorf who, together, only a few years later helped found the MCA. Among the already established contemporary galleries were Goldowsky, Frumkin, Feigen and Fairweather-Hardin. The Arts Club had, since early in the century, been presenting artists like Brancusi, Léger and Dubuffet to American audiences for the first time. By 1980, when Art Chicago was first held, the combination of artists, galleries, museums and collectors attracted nearly 100 exhibitors from around the world and quickly doubled in size along with the gallery scene.&nbsp;I joined [Richard Gray Gallery] in 1982 as a new generation of collectors including Manilow, Edlis and Elliot were building now-legendary collections. That decade saw the art world begin to globalize as events like Art Basel and Art Chicago inspired collectors and dealers to broaden their horizons. American and European collectors still dominated the market, but Japanese buying and several dozen new contemporary museums emerged around the world as powerful influences on the market. &nbsp;It matters where a gallery is located, but in truth, no ambitious gallery lives by the local market and this has been true forever. Look at the Art Institute’s world famous Impressionist collection–mostly acquired by Chicago collectors from European artists and dealers. Some of the greatest collectors make their homes and fortunes in places where there are few galleries and a compelling program draws its followers from wherever they are. I believe that we have never seen more than 1/3 of our annual business done with local collectors and in most years it is closer to 20%. This isn’t a criticism of Chicago. The same holds true for galleries in New York, London and elsewhere. Part of the excitement of collecting is discovery and learning, and this drives us out into the world in the search. &nbsp;The most profound changes I’ve experienced in Chicago and the art world at large during the past 40 years have come recently–primarily in the past decade. In 1980–in spite of a diverse population, the presence of one of the great art schools in the country and the many artists living and working here–you might have been able to name two Chicago artists of color, and possibly no women, who’d achieved something of a bold-face name reputation. Economic viability as an artist was totally out of reach for them. Our gallery was just one of the significant art world players whose overwhelmingly white male program had for decades helped make this true. Today almost every one of the many famous artists from Chicago is Black and most are financially thriving. The Board of the Art Institute is chaired by a Black woman, and the Guggenheim’s Deputy Director and Chief Curator Naomi Beckwith is another whose career was shaped, in large part, at Chicago’s MCA. The contributions being made by groundbreaking artists– such as Amanda Williams and Torkwase Dyson, Kerry James Marshall and Theaster Gates, among many, many others–will change forever how we understand art, ourselves and our world. This provides a sense of adventure second to none we’ve experienced, or perhaps even imagined.”&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419119/f5dkez5kmrwv3kckrcgc.jpg"><figcaption>Rhona Hoffman in her gallery in 1986, located at the time in River North. Photo: Chicago Tribune.</figcaption></figure>RHONA HOFFMAN – RHONA HOFFMAN GALLERY&nbsp;“The Chicago art world in the 1980s reflected the era. It was exciting, optimistic, and also successful in terms of business.There were wonderfully intelligent collectors who thought about many things and who were particularly interested in the art of their time. They read about art, bought the art, talked about the art with each other. Furthermore they supported the Chicago galleries, and most of the museums in the city with their money and with their presence.”&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419120/bgsanuvvnvxset6bftsu.jpg"><figcaption>Gallery partners Bob Zolla and Roberta Lieberman on the cover of the Chicago Tribune’s Style Section in 1988.</figcaption></figure>WILLIAM LIEBERMAN – ZOLLA/LIEBERMAN GALLERYIn the ‘80s I started working at the gallery part-time. Back then there were hundreds of people–collectors, artists, critics–who would show up on weekends. My mother, Roberta Lieberman, was doing these fabulous shows in that space with artists outside of Chicago. She would go to New York to get these major shows and fill the space with really interesting work. Nobody else in Chicago had this kind of space yet: 10,000 square feet, tall ceilings, and freight elevators. We could do anything. You didn’t have to go to New York, you could come to River North.There were a lot of interesting people around the neighborhood at that time, everyone from Bill van Straaten doing fabulous print shows, to critics like Dennis Adrian and Franz Schulze. My mother would send [her partner] Bob Zolla to sit in front of the MCA to wait and get curators to come over to the gallery. They would! Then my mother and Bob would make these elaborate lunches for them.Phyllis Kind’s gallery was really amazing. She had the vision with the Chicago Imagists. Man, people were buying so much work by Roger Brown, Jim Nutt and Ed Paschke.&nbsp;I learned a lot, from everyone from Donald Young to Mary Jane Jacobs. I was still making pottery then at Northeastern Illinois University and also teaching it at Loop College, which turned into Harold Washington. This is just what I can remember. There are so many bits and pieces. A lot was happening at a time when I was young and wanted to take it all in.&nbsp;&nbsp;CARL HAMMER – CARL HAMMER GALLERYChicago Gallery News and I share a similar history regarding the number of years we’ve both existed. My gallery opened in 1981 and was located in the 620 N. Michigan Ave. gallery building, which housed a lot of the big names in Chicago at the time (Richard Gray Gallery, H&amp;H Modern, Phyllis Kind &amp; others). Most of the building consisted of established galleries, so it was a great place for me to start out, despite my size and experience.The gallery’s name, when opened, was Hammer and Hammer/ American Folk Art. It was there that I bumped into the amazing Lee Godie, who saw the area as a prime place to sell her work. Though it was a small space, the location provided an exhilarating view of the Chicago fine arts scene, let alone being a short distance from the Michigan Ave. bridge over the Chicago River. I was still teaching high school, and each day I would beat it down to the 620 location from Evanston after I was finished teaching for the day. The activity of Michigan Ave. made the 620 building always buzz with traffic and interaction between the galleries. I was quite disappointed when (later) the bigger, better-known galleries at that time started relocating to a strange, out-of-the-way location called River North before I moved there myself. It was a very memorable beginning to my gallery’s history.&nbsp;FRANK PALUCH – PERIMETER GALLERYOur gallery opened around 1982. We were in the building that eventually burned in1989 [in the River North Fire.] It really had been a scene.&nbsp;I think now, the world is just different. People see art differently and they want everything to be like their Amazon experience. It’s got to be a question for galleries of how do they give some of that experience to clients? I guess some of the answer continues to be the dominance of the art fair.&nbsp;I remember when Mark Lyman worked with John Wilson at Art EXPO. Mark was a potter, and he knew he wanted to start an art fair that highlighted works that otherwise weren’t widely shown in that setting: fine contemporary craft. He called it New Art Forms, before it eventually became SOFA. There wasn’t anything else like it, and it just added to the strength of the Chicago art fair scene.We closed the gallery a few years ago, but at Perimeter I didn’t think of the work we showed as craft necessarily, it was all art to me. I can’t tell you how many calls I get now from people saying David Zwirner and Larry Gagosian are showing ceramics now. Even Theaster Gates, he’s conceptual but he’s a sculptor. All that art is getting the attention it deserves.”&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419120/trdwqym2aaerfpxrao2a.jpg"><figcaption>Helen Dunbeck, Lynne Warren and Jason Pickleman attending the Randolph Street Gallery benefit in 1989</figcaption></figure>JASON PICKLEMAN &nbsp;– JNL DESIGNRandolph Street Gallery was the center of my ‘80s art life. I saw every exhibition, and was in the audience of many—often interminable—performances. Because there was no internet (and thankfully no email!) we relied on word of mouth, hand-posted flyers, and just showing up to find out what was going on. Not far away in River North, I didn’t realize that seeing Jeff Koons and Richard Prince at Feature, or Barbara Kruger at Rhona Hoffman Gallery was going to be a foundational art experience. But they were. And how I wish I could go back in time—and buy work from all of them!&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419121/jie1arnptxjtxef96ybr.jpg"><figcaption>Somewhere in the 80s... Sally Schwartz (far left) with two friends and Tony Karman (far right)</figcaption></figure>SALLY SCHWARTZ – FOUNDER, RANDOLPH STREET MARKET“What I probably remember most during the 80s in Chicago was having some seriously crazy times with friends who worked for John Wilson [founder of Art Expo], from Tom Blackman to Tom McCormick, Tony Karman, Terry Karpowicz, and the parties. There were great parties, and then after parties at blues clubs around Chicago. Jason Pickleman’s dance moves were center stage! It was a time of conspicuous consumption, lavish food, Cristal Champagne, and big shoulder pads. People were buying art like crazy. I spent most of my time at Smart Bar, Metro, Exit, Limelight, and seeing great live jazz on Lincoln Park West.When I think of what’s different now, the city art scene isn’t just in River North, it expanded to Pilsen, Bridgeport, Hyde Park, West Loop and throughout the suburbs. It seems like every town or neighborhood has an art center and art feels bigger than back then.”&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419122/ustslyo6myghqjcytrws.jpg"><figcaption>The River North Fire, April 1989. Photo: Jim Skrabel</figcaption></figure>TONY KARMAN – FOUNDER, EXPO CHICAGOThe Chicago International Art Exposition launched in 1980 and brought the art world to Chicago at the pre-renovated Navy Pier. The Rotunda, now called the AON Ballroom, hosted the leading galleries with others stretching throughout the east end and into the two pier sections that were later removed. At the time, I was working with the Lakeside Group, the producers of the exposition. I have many memories of rushing to cover artwork with plastic when birds and storms passed through the many holes of the old sheds. Talk about old Navy Pier to a dealer that did those fairs, and they wax poetic about that time. Ask me, and I remember the hectic scrambling and frustration. &nbsp;The Museum of Contemporary Art was on Ontario, with the popular Inkwell bar nearby, the Arts Club of Chicago was further west across Michigan Ave., and Lew and Susan Manilow’s loft above the legendary Randolph Street Gallery was (for this not-well-travelled young man) my vision of what SoHo in New York must be. River North was the epicenter of the gallery district, and the streets were consistently packed with crowds during Friday night openings. Galleries were located throughout the neighborhood, with a concentration located in a one-square block historic Louis Sullivan designed warehouse that was across the street from the Green Door Tavern. Sadly, a fire broke out in April of 1989, destroying the building, the nine galleries that were located inside and irreplaceable artwork that was estimated at $50 million. That moment literally, and figuratively, gutted our “Chelsea” moment but sparked a new wave of galleries pioneering the West Loop.Upon reflection as a young 20-something living in a very small studio on Division and Astor, the city seemed much smaller and the nightclub circuit served as an important way to connect to friends. Clubs like Limelight and OutTakes flourished in River North; Shelter and China Club were located in the “outlying” working district called Fulton Market, and Northside clubs like Metro, Smart Bar, Neo’s were also always in the mix. Outside of the club circuit, I was always in River North and Lakeview, and I loved Pilsen and Hyde Park to get away.Now, I remember life as oddly wonderful pre-internet, social media and cellphones. You had to rely on serendipity, in-person meetings, your pocket calendar, phone calls and answering machine messages to connect. Handwriting was still important, and everyday computers were just starting to be used. Most important, we were simply out more exploring museums, galleries, restaurants, film and music throughout the city. It was not better or worse, just different. Despite all that has changed and shifted over the last 40 years, Chicago remains consistent, rich with diversity and creativity while offering much to those that want to explore. &nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419122/gqmn70jryj0bpoe5radb.jpg"><figcaption>Gary Metzner’s student ID from 1984&nbsp;</figcaption></figure> GARY F. METZNER – SOTHEBY'SSenior Vice President: Head of Office&nbsp;In 1986-88, “A lot was going on. I was staying busy getting my Masters in art history at the University of Chicago, while also working part time at Hokin Kaufman Gallery, which was where Rosenthal Fine Art is now on Superior street in River North.”&nbsp;TONY FITZPATRICK – ARTISTI started my career in the East Village in NYC. The 80’s were the decade that first afforded me a chance to make a living at what I did, but I don’t have a lot of nostalgia for it. The 80’s were cynical, avaricious and careerist to the point of being revolting. In New York I didn’t understand the “Order“ of things. Chicago was not much different, though not nearly as high-stakes.I was a rube in this setting–happy to be able to support myself, but I bristled at the gate-keepers, “critics”, taste-makers, and worst of all dealers; who expected us to come “hat-in hand”, demonstrating&nbsp; an obsequious brand of fealty. I wasn’t playing. I opened my own galleries and concentrated on artists whom I thought were undervalued.The 80’s did us no favors. Good riddance to the Limelight, Parachute pants, and MTV haircuts. That said, Chicago is the place I love the most in the world. It is the story that keeps beginning.&nbsp;</body></html>

Where Were You in the '80s? 

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419113/bkwg2d2m9wlhttq9cjoi.jpg"><figcaption>Pictured on the wall of the author’s apartment: found signs hung as a diptych.</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;By BIANCA BOVAThe art you love and the art you wish to live with—the art you are capable of living with—are not promised to be the same. I learned this working as a gallery officer at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago about a decade ago. I was posted in Warhol and Marisol, an exhibition examining foundational works in the museum’s permanent collection by the two luminary artists. The small space was filled with sculptures and paintings that continually rewarded the sort of slow, deliberate looking that long days working on the museum floor allowed for, and I was genuinely happy with the assignment. One work by Marisol in particular, Andy, a portrait of Warhol that included a worn-out pair of his shoes, delighted me above all else. The bodily immediacy of the leather, retaining a broken-in contour of the artist’s feet lent, for me, a sense of sacredness to the space.&nbsp;One evening, working an overnight shift, I was surprised to find myself hesitating to enter the exhibition, suddenly overcome by uneasiness. Its locus was another Marisol sculpture, Self-Portrait. Self-Portrait features seven heads, some bearing partially-cast faces, and a disproportionate number of limbs and breasts distributed across a long, shared block of a body. It also contains an element that may be interpreted as a sort of profane counterpoint to the sanctity I saw in Andy’s shoes. The sculpture’s materials list has the startling inclusion of “human teeth,” which are indeed visible in at least one of the heads’ open mouths. A member of the preparatory staff had shared with me an (unconfirmed) piece of trivia, that Marisol had, unaided by a dental professional, extruded some of her own teeth for incorporation in the work. Alone in the dark with the sculpture, my only thought was: How could this have come from a private collection? Who has the equanimity to encounter pulled teeth in art on the way to the bathroom, in the middle of the night?&nbsp;Until that late night encounter with Self-Portrait, I had never given the motivations of art collecting any serious thought; but from then on, it has remained for me a point of obsession. When you look past mere personal taste, there is a spectrum of collecting practices, ranging from the rigid policy of “40 artists and 100 works” famously adhered to by mega-collectors Stefan Edlis and Gael Neeson, to the more freewheeling approach I got to know during my years in the orbit of Lawrence &amp; Clark, the beloved Chicago collection gallery. Add to these the oft-cited 30/30/30 rule: that when building a collection, one should hedge their bets and aim for 30% of the art to rise in value, 30% to retain a stable value, and accept that 30% may lose value. Regardless of the theories and formulas and forecasts collectors may rigidly adhere to, one prevailing principle seems universally true: you don’t choose the art, the art chooses you.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419113/ed85hcucoyygwoimpcgc.jpg"><figcaption>An editioned print by Jeremy Deller</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;Despite or in spite–I don’t know which–of my preoccupation with collecting, I decided from the start that I would not buy art myself. In what I’ve come to think of as a kind of payoff for not having any life outside of the art world, as well as a testament to the astonishing generosity of artists, I have somehow still managed to build a modest collection. Two paintings, by Sarah Leuchtner and Michelle Grabner, hang on the wall above my bed, mirroring the pillows below and their suggestions of bodies, while an early typographic work in stainless steel by Jacqueline Surdell occupies the floor between the windows and the radiator. In the dining room, which doubles as my home office, a large-scale photograph by Alan Cohen depicting the Illinois–Wisconsin border occupies the most prominent wall. Prophetically, the work was obtained on a long-term loan from a friend’s private collection shortly after I moved into my current apartment, and well before my curatorial practice came to include working remotely to produce several large exhibitions in Milwaukee. Also in the dining room hangs a collage by Jason Pickleman. Bestowed upon me as a gift on my 30th birthday, it is work that I had openly coveted for years, since my first visit to his studio, and which I can hardly believe I now have the privilege of living with. Flanking one side of the front door are two found lawn signs advertising bankruptcy liquidation services, hung as a diptych; visually compelling in their own right, they also serve as a daily tongue-in-cheek reminder of my own professional relationship to the affairs of auctions. On the other side hangs an anonymous black and white photograph of a woman bathing while her laundry dries above her, a era–less image that feels totemic of my twenties. On my bookcase among the exhibition catalogs is a small print by Matthias Neumann, an artist I have admired and worked with since I was a teenager, and a minimalist ceramic ghost by Polly Yates that was thoughtfully delivered to me in the thick of the pandemic, “for company,” under the pretense that you’re not alone if you have a ghost in your house.&nbsp;Notably, none of the above works were acquired from a gallery–most came straight from the artists’ studios. Many are from exhibitions jointly mounted, particularly memorable studio visits, or gifts on occasions of personal significance. And for a long time, I was certain that art collecting would remain for me an incidental practice.That changed on the last day of this year’s edition of EXPO CHICAGO. I was in an upstairs office chatting with an acquaintance about her and her wife’s art collection, when the conversation turned to a work on the show floor by an artist we both admired. I admitted that, uncharacteristically, I had been considering acquiring the work for several months, by which I meant I’d been torturing myself about spending a relatively modest sum of money on something that I wanted, but could not convince myself there was any reason I should own. At her urging–and with about 25 minutes left before the fair closed–I walked down to the booth to view it again. While I was deliberating its merits, another work in the booth caught my eye. It was a small Xerox copied monochrome on silver paper, an editioned print by the British artist Jeremy Deller.&nbsp;The print features an enlargement of an excerpt from the classified ad section published in The Guardian on Valentine’s Day 1996. Entitled 14/2/96, the ad itself was originally commissioned from the artist by curator Matthew Higgs, as part of Imprint 93, Higgs’ experimental mail art-focused publishing venture that was active in the mid-1990s. The print was produced under the auspices of Gavin Brown’s Enterprise, and released by Printed Matter on the occasion of an archival exhibition focused on Imprint 93, which Printed Matter produced in partnership with Whitechapel Gallery in 2018. At the time, I knew none of this. All I knew was that I vaguely recalled Jeremy Deller was a recipient of the Turner Prize at some point, that the print cost more than the work I had come downstairs to look at, and that I absolutely had to have it. It now hangs above my nightstand.&nbsp;“Once you start buying art, you’ll never be able to stop,” is something I have been told, verbatim, by every serious art collector I know. A member of the newly converted, I believe them. The exhilaration of acquisition unfolds across time from the heat of the moment when you recognize that a work belongs in your collection, through the anxiety of availability, the gravity of transaction, and finally the perpetual satisfaction of seeing the work on your wall day after day. The greatest collectors are those who allow themselves to be guided by these forces, and the greatest collections those which are allowed to flourish as a record of a life well-lived in the art world.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419114/amatyrbrrng4ttblo1pm.png"></figure>&nbsp;</body></html>

Notes on Collecting: A Young Collector Shares Her Serendipitous Acquisitions

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419113/w4rlltuwzp0zgvz0g8zz.jpg"><figcaption>Joan Blaeu, Pernambco North (Praefecturae Paranambucae pars Borealis, una cum Praefectura de Itamaraca), 1662 edition. Engraving with hand coloring on paper. Museum Purchase through the Robert and Sonia Carringer Art Acquisitions Fund, Art Acquisition Fund, and funds given by Maureen Warren and Allison Hansen. &nbsp;</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;By JACQUELINE LEWISPolitical cartoons and memes and misinformation are not modern inventions. Though fake news and political satire seems like a product of today’s fraught newscycle, this type of media is grounded in the 17th-century Dutch Republic, and you can witness the proof this fall, when Krannert Art Museum explores these themes through their collection of Dutch Political Prints in <a href="http://kam.illinois.edu">Fake News &amp; Lying Pictures: Political Prints in the Dutch Republic</a>, an exhibition highlighting the visual strategies that early modern printmakers used to record historical events as well as comment on political leaders and policies, artistically executing sometimes subversive strategies to form general consensus as well as action.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419113/en7bnewicxcugrdu3lrt.jpg"><figcaption>Jan Wierix, The Shield of Wisdom (Le Bouclier de la Sagesse), ca. 1577. Engraving on paper. Museum purchase through the Robert and Sonia Carringer Art Acquisition Fund.</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;The exhibition displays over 100 prints and illustrated books, each full of allegories, satires, cartoon strips, maps, portraits, and newsprints from Krannert’s collection as well as national and international loans. The prints in particular depict scenes of Dutch naval power, trade, crime, war, and even the relative independence of their women. Laid out in six distinct sections, the exhibition explores the continuity and development of tactics and themes used to picture political beliefs and events, including: Dutch Lions and Other Political Animals (animal satire); Founding Fathers/Fallen Fathers (murdered politicians); Spoils of the Seas (Dutch East and West India Companies, seafaring, naval warfare) and more.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419114/cs5dbai2n0z1doijm7ls.jpg"><figcaption>Theodor de Bry, Pride &amp; Folly, from Design for Richly Ornamented Dish with Medallion, 1577-1578. Engraving on paper. Museum purchase through the Robert and Sonia Carringer Art Acquisition Fund.</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;The Dutch Republic, with its increasingly diverse ideas stemming from the flow of refugees and global trade, cultivated the perfect climate for this rise in political imagery. The decentralization of the United Provinces led to an inability to censor media and chronic infighting amongst various groups. Differing opinions and unprecedented artistic freedom led to this new form of expression, and as a result printmakers subverted artistic conventions from the past to create imagery full of puns and visual humor that utilized satire and parody to inform their viewers and lead them to take action. This highly visual form of media meant that even those who were illiterate could remain informed about current events and criticisms through the prints.After recently acquiring over 100 new pieces, Krannert Art Museum holds one of the best collections of Dutch political prints outside Europe, works which are primarily held in private collections or libraries. Krannert’s public exhibition of a wealth of visual political commentary allows us to observe how the past may still influence how we see our present.#&nbsp;<a href="http://kam.illinois.edu">Krannert Art Museum, University of Illinois, Champaign, IL</a>Exhibition on view thru December 17, 2022&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419115/owdrf4gnxtdnvvobo1ex.jpg"><figcaption>Romeyn de Hooghe, Arlequin sur l’Hyppogryphe a la Croisade Lojoliste. Armée van de Heylige Ligue voor der Jesuiten Monarchy, 1689. Engraving and letterpress on paper. Museum purchase through the John N. Chester Fund. de Hooghe the Propaganda Master&nbsp; has been called arguably the most important political printmaker in seventeenth-century Europe). &nbsp;</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;</body></html>

Fake News & Lying Pictures: Krannert Art Museum's Extensive Collection of Dutch Prints Reveals  a History of Creative Liars

<a href="https://www.christies.com/about-us/press-archive/details?PressReleaseID=10647&amp;lid=1">Christie's Launches Entirely New Department Devoted to Streetwear</a>Via PR &nbsp;Christie’s is thrilled to announce Department X – Sneakers, Streetwear &amp; Collectibles, a new department focused on this emerging collecting space, led by a team dedicated to auctions and private sales. Department X offers rare collectibles across a number of genres - music, fashion, art, and sports history – bringing the best of this exciting category to a new generation of collectors.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/23/arts/design/documenta-15.html?action=click&amp;algo=identity&amp;block=editors_picks_recirc&amp;fellback=false&amp;imp_id=10496306&amp;impression_id=41afbdc0-3bb1-11ed-b4c1-c165bc0acf4b&amp;index=0&amp;pgtype=Article&amp;pool=editors-picks-ls&amp;region=ccolumn&amp;req_id=144678003&amp;surface=home-featured&amp;variant=0_identity&amp;action=click&amp;module=editorContent&amp;pgtype=Article&amp;region=CompanionColumn&amp;contentCollection=Trending">The World’s Most Prestigious Art Exhibition Is Over. Maybe Forever</a>It began with a calumny, it ends with a crack-up.Twice a decade, for exactly 100 days, the world of culture turns its eyes to this midsize German city for Documenta, a giant exhibition whose intellectual ambitions and hefty budgets have ensured its reputation as the world’s most prestigious show of contemporary art. This year’s edition got off to a dreadful start in June, when its most prominent artwork, an agitprop mural incorporating unmistakable antisemitic caricatures, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/21/arts/design/documenta-antisemitism.html">had to be withdrawn</a> amid national outcry. The 15th Documenta now comes to a close on Sunday — not before another controversy that has seen artists, scholars and politicians trade accusations of antisemitism and racism, harassment and incompetence.Via New York Times&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/26/style/andres-valencia-art-paintings.html">Six-Figure Artworks, by a Fifth Grader</a>The contemporary art world has had more than its share of young talent, but it’s tough to recall an artist who has generated as much early-career recognition as Andres Valencia.In the last year, he has gone from a relative unknown to a bona fide art phenomenon. His surrealist-style paintings were acquired by deep-pocketed collectors like Tommy Mottola and Jessica Goldman Srebnick during Art Basel Miami Beach. In June, he had a solo exhibition at the Chase Contemporary gallery in SoHo, where all 35 works were sold, the gallery said, fetching $50,000 to $125,000.&nbsp;<a href="https://news.artnet.com/art-world/charities-act-museums-repatriate-2182298">A New U.K. Law Gives Museums Unprecedented Power to Deaccession Art and Repatriate Objects in Their Collections</a>A new law in England and Wales will give national museums significantly more power to deaccession works and make progress on restitution cases.The Charities Act 2022, which is expected to come into force this fall, allows charities—including national museums—to dispose of objects where there is a compelling moral obligation to do so. Museums had previously been limited by the National Heritage Act 1983.Via Artnet&nbsp;

What We're Reading 9/27/22

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419113/tcrq4qxife1ka6uesoxi.jpg"><figcaption>Keith Haring, Self Portrait. Photo: Jason Pickleman</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;By Jason PicklemanOn November 22, 2019, a flat-bed trailer delivered a 30-foot tall sculpture to Chicago’s lakefront. Keith Haring’s iconic work, titled Self-Portrait, would, in two short days, be assembled and installed and act as visual anchor to a new memorial public park: AIDS Garden Chicago. Just east of Lake Shore Drive, and just south of Belmont Harbor, the artwork’s arrival was nothing short of a miracle. For a city known for its public art, the stealth addition to our Picasso, our Calder, and our Miro (not to mention our Kelly, Kapoor, Oldenburg, Ono, Serra; our many Hunts, di Suvero, and over-looked LeWitt) was reason for celebration. Then, the pandemic arrived. The Park was closed. Fences went up. The Lake was off limits. Chicagoans were put on lockdown. And the just-installed Haring stood silent guard along an eerily quiet stretch of what had, until recently, been one of the busiest roadways in all the city.Self-Portrait’s torso, limbs and head measure 7¾-inches thick, and are finished in a glossy, grassy green with a linear aliphatic polyester urethane—an airplane-grade exterior paint. The sculpture is set back but visible from LSD. It is approached from the west by a series of winding concrete walkways, positioned 110-feet away from the concrete embankment that separates Lake Michigan from the Park. The sculpture can also be approached easily from the east via the lakefront. Black metal benches and an oval lawn surround the sculpture.&nbsp;Prior to 2003, and specifically in the ‘60s, ‘70s, ‘80s, and ‘90s of the previous century, the area was referred to as ‘the Belmont Rocks’ and was a popular public gathering place for Chicago’s gay communities. Haring, whose short creative life was filled with both political outcry and childish joy, died of AIDS-related complications in 1990 and is often set up as emblematic of his era. Thus the choice of a Haring sculpture to stand as the artistic face of AIDS Garden Chicago is on-point, if obvious.But obvious doesn’t come easily. The acquisition of Self-Portrait was fraught with logistical hurdles: from financing to construction, a multitude of conflicts could have, and almost did, derail the project. It is testament to 44th Ward Alderman Tom Tunney, art dealer Dennis Rosenthal, Chicago Parks Foundation Executive Director Willa Iglitzen Lang, and Manager of Art Initiatives at Chicago Park District Michael Dimitroff that the project was successfully realized.AIDS Garden Chicago is the brainchild of Alderman Tunney. Originally conceived in 2003 when the Army Corps of Engineers deemed the Lake Michigan shoreline that contained the Belmont Rocks to be in need of renovation to safeguard against further erosion, the razing of the Rocks sparked the idea for a permanent memorial to the AIDS epidemic. Taking nearly 20 years, the project had its stops and starts. The financial crash of 2008 nearly killed the project, as did COVID-19 in 2020. Tunney’s persistence is Chicago’s gain.&nbsp;The sculpture is commanding. Depending on one’s proclivities, the depicted faceless figure is either marching, stomping, playing, or protesting. People will see whatever they want within the reductive humanoid form. Haring, in his brief career, excelled at both direct messaging and vague graphic suggestion. To wit, someone suggested to me that the right out-stretched arm of the green figure, when seen in profile, resembles an erect penis. You see what you are ready, or want, to see.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419114/omk73tl2atadnyzy3xgw.jpg"><figcaption>The sculpture as seen in profile</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;Self-Portrait is dated 1989. According to Rosenthal, a small, cardboard maquette by Haring was used as the model for the sculpture, which was fabricated in Rhode Island by Amaral Custom Fabrication—a vendor recommended by the Keith Haring Foundation. ACF, as Amaral is often abbreviated, has produced more than 400 sculptural works assigned to Haring. Self-Portrait, itself, has been fabricated in multiple sizes. My research indicates a 2-foot tall version exists (in an edition of 10, with 2 APs), as does a 4-foot version (in an edition of 7, with 2 APs), an 8-foot version (in an edition of 5, with 1 AP), as does a 12-foot version (in an edition of 3, with 1 AP). And now a 30-foot version in, I’m told, an edition of 1 (without an AP). Along with Haring’s name, the date “1989”, and a cryptic circle within which is drawn “+” (a graphic symbol deployed by Haring on many of his signed works), ACF has placed its own lower-case initials on the circular base of the sculpture—a well deserved signature of communal authorship.According to my crack-pot analysis, the figure leans forward at a 75-degree angle from the ground, necessitating an incredibly complex internal engineering that is all but invisible in the finished work. The reductive and planar simplicity of Self-Portrait is one of the sculpture’s greatest accomplishments. The left leg, torso, downwardly curving left arm, neck, and oddly rounded head all reside on a single plane. The sculpture’s right arm, arching up most phallically, creates a modest seam to the vertical plane of the torso, the intersection of which is technically visible by two bolts in the underside of the arm. The figure’s raised right knee appears to be secured similarly, although I’m sure the architecture of the figure’s internal structure belies a deeply impressive, although unseen, set of joinery.&nbsp;ACF is known for their quality workmanship. The smoothness of their finished surfaces is often cited as the pinnacle of the craft. Roy Lichtenstein has been quoted as greatly admiring the spectacularly slick outer layers that ACF produced for many of his large-scale brush stroke sculptures. Claes Oldenburg is noted as being the first visual artist to commission ACF’s services. Lore has it that Oldenburg showed up with a small maquette for his (now) iconic Spoonbridge and Cherry (Minneapolis Sculpture Garden) and asked if Paul Amaral could produce it to a grand scale. At the time Amaral was only producing custom aluminum racing boats, not sculptural objects. In an oft quoted response with prophetic implications, and no hint of irony as to what the future was to bring, Amaral replied to Oldenburg, “What’s a maquette?” [ed note: A maquette is a sculptor’s small preliminary model or sketch]. Amaral, the master ship builder, knew nothing at the time of contemporary art. All of that changed with Oldenburg’s visit. Amaral caught the art bug and (mostly) ditched the boats. His Rhode Island-based shop now fabricates work for artists such as Jeff Koons, Richard Woods, and Hank Willis Thomas, among many others.&nbsp;----------------------------“It is hard to control the thing once it has come out and entered the world. But only I can bring it to the world. The world doesn’t want these things and doesn’t need these things, but when they are here, they are here. Their importance all comes from what other people do with them. If these things are put into a situation they add something to it.”—Keith Haring, 1982As quoted in Keith Haring Journals, Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition, ©1996, page 103.----------------------------&nbsp;Haring noted, before he died, that Self-Portrait was to be a steel sculpture. A 30-foot steel sculpture leaning at an odd angle presents an enormous engineering challenge, so much so that ACF recommended that the sculpture be made of polished and painted aluminum joined to an internal steel armature: aluminum AND steel—thus honoring Haring’s technical description. The engineering conversations around this issue nearly ended the project. Paul Amaral told me that the hidden engineering of Self-Portrait is one of his finest contributions to the sculpture’s realization.The logistics of transporting a sculpture so large and heavy were also significant. Examination of road load-limits and bridge heights (with the occasional police escort) were necessary to bring the work half-way across the U.S. Even the location of the work, just off the lakefront, proved an engineering challenge with issues of ground water and extreme wind projections off Lake Michigan influencing the final site. Lawyers, engineers, and politicians were all instrumental in realizing the sculpture. It is probably safe to say that Haring had little of this in mind when he created his small cardboard version.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419115/wgy70upefgiqgexexyuz.jpg"><figcaption>Clockwise from top left: Detail of installation hardware and construction (Nov 22, 2019); a detail of the figure’s extended right arm and up-lifted right leg creating the only visible seams, along with a detail two exposed bolts (lower left): lower right: haring signature, date, personal insignia and “ACF” fabricator’s initials</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;Questions of ownership inevitably come up when discussing public art. Who owns Self-Portrait? The City of Chicago? The Chicago Park District? The Chicago Parks Foundation? AIDS Garden Chicago? I’ve received conflicting answers, but my money rests on the Chicago Park District as the final custodian. That said, the Chicago Parks Foundation was instrumental in securing funding for the project and is in the process of securing ongoing operating funds, with a Board in development, to keep AIDS Garden Chicago tidy and Self-Portrait in perpetual good shape.&nbsp;Questions of cost float around as well. No one would give me a straight answer as to what Self-Portrait cost, or what it is worth. A 12-foot tall version sold at Christies in 2014 for $785,000.00. A person connected to the art trade suggested to me a number north of five million dollars, and maybe even closer to ten, as a realistic value for Chicago’s 30-foot version.Costs and headaches aside, it’s worth asking what does public art do? It can commemorate. Self-Portrait does that. It can demarcate or activate space. Self-Portrait does that as well. It can decorate or animate. Self-Portrait certainly does both. Some art world snobbery might suggest that displaying a Haring sculpture at AIDS Garden Chicago is an obvious choice, an easy choice, and one that leaves the potential of a more avant-garde, or more risky, artwork on the table. I say PHOOEY. As any designer knows: Sometimes you need to play to the crowd. The iconic quality of the marching green figure screams HARING to many, and joy to most.As of this writing, Self-Portrait does not have a conventional plaque noting its creator, materials, date or size. A testament to Haring’s genius is that one may not even be necessary.#&nbsp;For more information visit <a href="https://www.aidsgardenchicago.org/design">AIDSgardenchicago.org</a>&nbsp;</body></html>

Sculpture Report: Keith Haring’s Self-Portrait

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419113/nwuwvbcyjvplowmd5d2w.jpg"></figure>By GINNY VAN ALYEAI am a person who prefers objects with a past. I always have. So I have watched with delight, and a little panic, as droves have started to snap up furniture and things that were once deemed unstylish or witheringly described only as “brown.” Supply chain issues and staffing shortages have led to all sorts of maddening limits on sourcing furniture, but the renewed attraction of older furniture and objects is more than just what you can find right now: beneath their surface the appeal of antiques–as well as the best vintage furniture–is in the design and workmanship, borne from utility, resourcefulness, or simply pride of skill. Inherent character, combined with a story, can truly make a particular piece–whether table, chair, cabinet or light fixture– special, and therefore worthy of admiration and ultimately collecting.&nbsp;This October, <a href="https://www.chicagoantiquesartdesign.com">The Chicago Show: Antiques &amp; Art &amp; Modern</a>, renamed and reimagined and produced by Dolphin Promotions, is returning to a fall timeslot at theMart, just in time to meet the moment and making a splash in the process.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419114/ohsszv9minokfgs4cada.jpg"><figcaption>Furniture from Arica Hilton's FLOW collection debuting at The Chicago Show</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;At a time when prices for nearly everything second-hand (and instantly available) are soaring, The Chicago Show presents an opportunity for design fans old and new to participate in a gathering that is part trade show but also part treasure hunt. The show brings together over 60 premier national and international dealers of fine antique furniture, jewelry, silver and decorative and fine arts, from ancient to 20th century. Spread throughout theMart’s 7th floor, the event is the largest antiques and modernism fair in the Chicago area. This year there will be a concentration on 20th century design, focused on mid-century modern, with the return of Studio Sonja Milan (Chicago) and Glen Leroux Antiques (Connecticut), along with the addition of Modern State Atelier (Chicago) and The Art of Time (Versailles, France and Pembroke Pines, FL). There will also be pieces that are new. Debuting at the show is the Arica Hilton Collection® called FLOW, a line of limited edition bespoke furniture by Arica Hilton of Hilton-Asmus Contemporary (Chicago), which pays homage to the mid-century Modernist movement and was sparked by a painting series of Hilton’s.&nbsp;*<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419114/xqfvppohbvwuhympy5ib.jpg"><figcaption>Left: Alessandra Branca; right: Bronson van Wyck</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;Event Chairs Suzette Bulley, Beth Hughes, Keevie Silvay and Heather Webster are planning a not-to-be-missed benefit preview party with honorary chair and internationally recognized interior designer Alessandra Branca on the evening of October 6, 2022. Attendees will enjoy cocktails, hors d’oeuvres and an exclusive opportunity to be among the first to see and shop the world-class collections before the show opens to the general public. Branca is sure to make her mark on the fair, partnering on SHOP THE SHOW, where those who purchase a higher-level ticket can shop early with Branca herself, as well as splashy event planner Bronson van Wyck, Master of Celebrations and also a featured guest for Thursday evening’s opening night gala. Vogue called van Wyck “The Wizard of Oz of party planning.” His 2019 book is titled Born to Party, Forced to Work: 21st Century Hospitality. Proceeds from gala tickets benefit the programs and patient care initiatives supported by The Woman’s Board, such as the COVID-19 Relief Fund and the study of collaborative mental health care in Northwestern Medicine’s primary care clinics in Chicago.&nbsp;On Friday, the public opening day of the fair will feature a keynote luncheon and lecture with both Branca and van Wyck. Guests of the show will be able to learn about antiques and design in multiple ways, through expert-centered programming as well as in-person access–the first opportunity in quite some time–to many of the finest examples of period furniture, jewelry and objects available in the market today.Art fair exhibitors, and the pieces they bring, must be vetted, with prices set and usually only the very best examples making the trip from a dealer’s home base. An antiques fair like this one is a showcase compressed into little square footage over the course of a weekend. First impressions are critical, you never know what you will find, and a lot of it isn’t as Instragram-worthy when compared to more contemporary cousins, but it’s important to take your time and look closely at what each booth offers, particularly those that have small items on display. Don’t forget to try on the jewelry!&nbsp;*&nbsp;Though they may be old in years, antiques don’t stay the same. Pieces and periods that are considered popular are a moving target. Quality is always sought-after, but buyers now are open to mixing styles, textures and scale, while solid pieces meant for every day use can be updated with contemporary fabrics and finishes. From the ‘80s into the early 2000s you bought a ticket to an antiques fair to see the best of the 17th, 18th and 19th century. After the turn of the millennium more pieces from the middle of the 20th century, still classified as vintage and not actually antique, captured the tastes of a younger audience of buyers. In fact the popularity of vintage and modernism almost ran antiques out of mind for awhile. Ultimately while fair organizers and dealers continue to chase younger disposable income, there is thankfully still a balance of both antiques and modern as a new collecting base grows up and becomes educated about older furniture, art and design. It doesn’t hurt that antiques are also very sustainable, something scores of dealers have long known, but their message has only recently begun to sink in. Antiques are downright on-trend now in ‘grandmillennial’ circles.&nbsp;It can take awhile for people to get the message some times. Generations, in fact.&nbsp;#&nbsp;The Chicago Show: Antiques &amp; Art &amp; Modern runs October &nbsp;6–9, 2022 at theMart.&nbsp;&nbsp;• Opening Night Party – Thursday, October 6– VIP Shop the Show with Alessandra Branca: 4:30–6pm– Opening Night Party, Presented by HINDMAN: 6–9pm– Young Collectors After Party: 8:30–10pm&nbsp;• Keynote Design Lecture and Luncheon – Friday, October 7– With Alessandra Branch and Bronson van Wyck: 11am–1:30pm&nbsp;• Additional Design Events– Designer and Trade Breakfast: Friday, October 7, 8–10am– Lecture and Tea: Saturday, October 8, 2–3pm. CHRISTIE'S CONVERSATIONS: Celebrating the Legendary Ann and Gordon Getty Collection to be sold at CHRISTIE'S October 20–23&nbsp;Information and tickets at <a href="https://www.chicagoantiquesartdesign.com">chicagoantiquesartdesign.com</a>&nbsp;<h3>A Closer Look</h3>Of the 60 participating dealers in The Chicago Show: Antiques &amp; Art &amp; Modern, many are traveling to Chicago from around the world–from Florida and California to London. Below are a couple notable ones to watch.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419115/vpmuhvirj6qckaogv9c3.jpg"><figcaption>Left: Martha Walter, Tuck’s Point Massachusetts; Right: Kyu Hak Lee, Degas Dancer at the Barre, &nbsp;c. 2018. Courtesy Guarisco Gallery Washington DC</figcaption></figure>Guarisco Gallery – Washington, DCGuarisco Gallery’s collection includes Impressionist, Academic, Modern and Contemporary paintings and sculptures, with works by artists such as Renoir and Cassatt.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419116/ngtql7x2con7w0euojr7.jpg"><figcaption>Nally Jewels presenting Van Cleef &amp; Arpels earrings</figcaption></figure>Nally Jewels – New York CityNally Jewels is a 4th generation jeweler located in New York City, catering to a wide clientele with a focus on “one of a kind” estate and signed jewelry pieces.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419117/kf7mdswjuxol0jk727aj.jpg"><figcaption>Cizhou Vessel, Yuan Dynasty (271-1368 CE) &nbsp;</figcaption></figure>TK Asian Antiquities – VirginiaThis Williamsburg, Virginia–based gallery specializes in ceramics, jewelry, furniture, textiles, metal and more.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419117/qlebcdyprhxmrkvei04u.jpg"><figcaption>5 piece blue and white garniture set, Kangxi period, 1622-1722. Imperial Fine Books and Oriental Art</figcaption></figure>Imperial Fine Books and Imperial Oriental Art – New York CityWoman-owned and operated, Imperial is an established leader in the fields of collectable, rare and fine books as well as fine quality Chinese ceramics and works of art. Leather-bound sets and fine bindings span all fields. A vast selection of fine Chinese art covers a range of various dynasties, in particular Ming and Qing.&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

A Chicago Fair's Fall Return: A New Generation Appreciates Antiques +  Modern Design

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419107/f5mgkx946jkqw5gb8ets.jpg"><figcaption>Just a few of CGN's 120 issue covers to date. Top row: The Sept–Dec 1991 cover of CGN in its slim format; The Spring 1994 issue was the first ‘large format’ edition, featuring Richard Gray Gallery artist Antony Caro; Vedanta Gallery (now Kavi Gupta), 1998, when the West Loop was a new gallery destination; Rashid Johnson at G.R. N’Namdi Gallery, 2002; Second row Carrie Secrist Gallery, 2004; Catherine Edelman Gallery/Julie Blackmon, 2008 (Ginny Van Alyea’s 1st issue as publisher); McCormick Gallery, ; Ed Paschke Art Center, 2014; Bottom row: Women in the Arts; 1st issue of annual CGN Arts Guide, 2017; Monique Meloche Gallery/Ebony G. Patterson, summer 2020; Tony Fitzpatrick, fall 2021</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;By GINNY VAN ALYEAIn the early 1980s Natalie van Straaten was running a gallery with her husband, William van Straaten, in an up-and-coming neighborhood. Fortified by a Journalism degree from the University of Michigan, Natalie was a sort of “gallery mother” and natural organizer serving the changing needs of a small, but rapidly growing, community of peers in Chicago. She founded the Superior/Huron Gallery News as a means of centrally promoting local art openings. It didn’t take long for the art guide to expand and evolve alongside the spaces it listed, ultimately becoming Chicago Gallery News, the publication of record that today has covered four decades of local and regional culture and art history.&nbsp;&nbsp;*&nbsp;I started working with Natalie in late 2002. A few months before graduating from Hamilton College that year with an English major and art minor I decided I wanted to work in publishing. Hamilton’s career office, and perhaps a little divine intervention, connected me to alumna Tracy van Straaten, a Chicago-native who was then overseeing PR for children’s books at a major publishing house in New York. When I decided to move to Chicago after graduation, I let Tracy know, and she connected me to her mother, CGN founder Natalie van Straaten. She hired me sight-unseen to work for her four days a week until I figured out what I wanted to do. I was thrilled.&nbsp;Natalie took me under her wing, a 22 year-old with no job experience, other than as a camp counselor and canoeing instructor. Soon I was immersed not only in the local art community but in Chicago itself. Four days a week turned into five years, chatting in the basement office at 730 N. Franklin in River North, working on each issue of CGN and running the Chicago Art Dealers Association. Mostly we traded stories and had a terrific time, me with a front row seat to Chicago’s art world, from the friendliest dealers and most eccentric interns, to watching the drama of a storied art fair’s devastating implosion and rapid rescue in real time. I loved CGN’s mission to be supportive of the artistic and cultural community as well as informative and reliable for the general public. Our work was never just one thing, and no day was ever the same. It was all of it.&nbsp;Natalie and I used to talk about any number of topics while working to publish three print issues a year and familiarize ourselves with CGN’s first website. This 40th anniversary issue is a chance to revisit some of the conversations and history lessons I received from 2002-2007 as well as review changes that have taken place, both within CGN as well as the art world at large, since I became publisher 15 years ago.&nbsp;Natalie always said that she would write a book someday about the history of the art world in Chicago, and I hope she still does. In the meantime, as always, it continues to be a privilege to record in these pages this important history of a creative community in one of the world’s cultural centers.&nbsp;*&nbsp;Ginny Van Alyea: Please share how CGN first came to be as well as what it was first titled.&nbsp;Natalie van Straaten: In the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, several galleries were making a mark on Chicago’s small but mighty art scene. The city of course had long been regarded as a center of international culture, thanks in large part to the reputation of the Art Institute of Chicago and its school, not to mention its architecture bonafides and theater reputation.&nbsp;But the commercial art scene was still small at the time. By the early 1980s that relatively small scene would phyiscally need more space. What quickly followed some notable gallery moves was a publication created to share with the public all that was happening in area galleries. That four-page guide to the galleries and their openings eventually became Chicago Gallery News. It’s been 40 years and nearly as many changes, but the CGN of today comes from the Superior/Huron Gallery News of 1982.&nbsp;&nbsp;GV: What was the energy like in Chicago at that time?&nbsp;NvS: It was 1981, and the entire art world was coming to the city! The 1st Chicago International Art Exposition at Navy Pier was the magnet, and there was now a dynamic art gallery community eager to welcome them. The energy was infectious; established galleries were discovering loft spaces in a new district that gave them extraordinary space for large-scale works of art; new galleries were popping up; and a couple of visiting galleries were so impressed with Chicago when they came to see “Art Expo” that they made plans to move here.Within a year, 16 galleries opened within a block of one another. A local art critic called the new district 'SuHu' (Superior and Huron streets were the geographic center). Of that original 16, only two galleries remain today in Chicago all these years later: Rhona Hoffman (originally Young Hoffman) and Zolla/Lieberman (now directed by William Lieberman, the second generation). The original list is on the front over of the first issue issue cover (pictured below).&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419108/zahea2r9dx5t7mohwwyl.jpg"><figcaption>The CGN of today comes from the Superior / Huron Gallery News, published first in the winter gallery season of 1982/83 &nbsp;</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;GV: How did you come to publish the first gallery guide?&nbsp;NvS: The galleries agreed their new community needed a printed guide to celebrate and publicize their exhibitions, locations and coordinated opening nights. I was in a unique position of being a freelance writer on art-related subjects and a co-owner of one of the 16 Galleries in the new Superior/Huron district (which later became River North). I offered to put the guide together and the galleries shared the expenses of printing and distribution. The Superior/Huron Gallery News was born!As the publication grew, I established the guide and magazine as my own business, expanding it beyond its original mission.&nbsp;GV: Obviously the term 'SuHu' didn’t stick, for the magazine or the neighborhood.&nbsp;NvS: Very quickly, what became the River North Gallery District grew, ultimately housing more than 65 galleries within a two-block radius. And the Gallery News grew with them. The publication included so many exciting exhibits that drew casual art enthusiasts as well as serious collectors, that galleries in other Chicago neighborhoods wanted to be included. So the publication became The Chicago Gallery News to expand its coverage and celebrate all the art throughout the city and beyond. Maps, art services, and news items were added–and by the mid-1990’s the slim “guide“ turned into a full-color magazine.&nbsp;GV: Was there anything else out there that you were aware of that was like CGN?NvS: Art Now Gallery Guide was the closest thing to CGN, but they weren’t local, and it was hard for them to keep up-to-date with what was going on, especially as so many new galleries opened in those early years. And we were more than a guide. We were the information center for the galleries–we helped coordinate opening nights, led gallery tours, and served as an interface with the rest of the city, especially the international art fairs.&nbsp;GV: “The art fair” at the time was of course Art Expo. That seemed to really ramp up the boom in the local art scene.&nbsp;NvS: The CIAE (Chicago International Art Exposition) or Art Expo was transformative for the Chicago art community and gallery scene. The art world came to Chicago and they were wowed. John Wilson’s idea of a U.S. art fair at Navy Pier was brilliant. The rotunda; the views; the welcoming city with great restaurants, hotels and culture made Chicago an international destination. And there had been nothing like it in the United States. &nbsp;After a few years, inevitable problems, politics, and egos challenged the fair. Other organizers staged simultaneous events to compete with it, and a new fair, Art Chicago, took over under the leadership of Tom Blackman. That, too, eventually faltered, and the current EXPO CHICAGO under Tony Karman continues to draw the art world to Chicago annually. CGN has continued to coordinate gallery events in conjunction with the art fairs and has long been an art concierge of sorts for visitors.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419109/egftcgwcrdmfq3ky1qd9.jpg"><figcaption>The Fall 1983 issue of the Superior/Huron Gallery News listed area galleries and their seasonal exhibitions. &nbsp;</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;GV: How did you decide to print three times a year?NvS: Our printing schedule was guided by gallery activity.&nbsp; September was the opening of the big fall season; January was the next big coordinated time after the holidays and New Year. April celebrated the annual Art Expo, and most galleries mounted special exhibits for local and international visitors. Summers were relatively quiet with lots of “group exhibitions” and vacations.&nbsp;GV: CGN has had to adapt at an even more rapid pace, it seems, in the past couple of years, particularly due to the twin forces of the pandemic as well as online viewing and consumption. I think you and I talked years ago about how chicagogallerynews.com would become like a fourth issue. I laugh when I remember when the website was brand new, and we would put all the current issue information online and into the listings, and then it would sit there for 3–4 months before we’d change any of it again.&nbsp;NvS: Well, you have added tremendously to the scope of editorial coverage in print as well as online, and you’ve expanded to include national and international art news. Plus CGN now sends twice-weekly newsletters and uses social media to reach readers much more often.&nbsp;&nbsp;GV: CGN’s gallery coverage has continued to expand over time to accomodate more spaces in various neighborhoods, even beyond Illinois. I think the digital presence is a double edged sword. It’s essential, but it’s also replaced some in-person engagement the long-time dealers still miss.&nbsp;What have been some other notable changes?&nbsp;NvS: Chicago Gallery News did recognize changes in technology along the way, first adding FAX numbers, then email addresses and gallery websites in its listings. It has managed to stay a print resource as well as become a comprehensive online presence that is constantly updated. Another major update I saw you do was to replace the slower winter issue with the annual guide, starting in 2017.&nbsp;There have been so many funny stories and memories, but the most important change was when young Ginny Berg came seeking a job with photography or children’s books!&nbsp; After 5 years you took the reins and brought it into the 21st century.&nbsp;GV: Thank you! It’s always felt like it was meant to be. I still draw on many of the lessons you taught me. Most of all I try to keep up CGN’s position of support and optimism, which I think is extra important today, and in the future.#&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/print-subscriptions">Please consider subscribing to CGN for $25 for 3/issues a year&nbsp;</a>&nbsp;</body></html>

CGN Turns 40: Charting Four Decades of Art and Changes

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419101/zw6a7gfjofe3pvmtqqk9.jpg"><figcaption>From left: CGN publisher Ginny (Berg) Van Alyea, Nancy Berg, Chuck Berg, founding CGN publisher Natalie van Straaten, John B. Hirsch. pictured at CGN's 25th anniversary party at the Arts Club, fall 2007</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;By GINNY VAN ALYEAFor CGN’s 40th anniversary issue, in addition to being the publisher, I feel especially like the steward of a vital resource that has withstood time and many tests–expanding throughout the booming 80s, going lean after the 2008 recession, introducing an annual guide in 2017, rebounding following a pandemic, and building a solid reputation and many, many relationships over the course of four decades.&nbsp;An anniversary is a time to look back as well as forward, and this issue tries to do that in celebratory ways that are both personal as well as reflective of CGN’s history.&nbsp;It’s been a priority of mine, especially in recent years, to continue to print CGN, despite seeing other publications slash their schedules or abandon print entirely. One reason I see this as so important, especially for a magazine covering visual art, is that each issue is one you can hold in your hand, dog-ear, annotate, stash away and reread. We’ve preserved our own art history in these pages for all these years. How could we stop now?&nbsp;&nbsp;*&nbsp;<figure class="image image-style-side"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419101/xz1b4iyw16yxciuxrgzm.jpg"><figcaption>The Cover: The fall 2022 cover reflects our 40th anniversary. Usually we feature an artist or work of art but we chose a solid red as a nod to our ‘ruby’ anniversary. See past CGN covers in our article about CGN's history.&nbsp;</figcaption></figure>There is always more to write about and share. In this issue Alison Reilly interviews Barbara Kasten, who at 86 is still creating inspiring and innovative work. Jason Pickleman reports on a the installation of the long-awaited lakefront AIDS Garden sculpture by ‘80s icon and AIDS activist Keith Haring. Bianca Bova takes a personal view of art collecting at a time when many wonder what the next generation of collectors will be drawn to. Sara Dulkin of Chicago Truborn discusses her model for selling art in person, online and via social media in the name of making art not only affordable but accessible. And we hear from Hindman team members about four-decades in business, as well as an upcoming fall auction of works by the overlooked-no-more Surrealist artist Gertrude Abercrombie.&nbsp;Of course we are fortunate to hear from CGN founding publisher Natalie van Straaten, who passed the torch to me 15 years ago when CGN turned 25. In this issue we also share some really wonderful and enlightening recollections and photos from many who have been in the arts as long as CGN, or even longer. Read Where Were You in the ‘80s? for a trip down memory lane.In the midst of an anniversary, we’re thrilled to fully welcome <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events?filter=upcoming">a fall art season</a> that frankly feels, well, like a fall art season should! It feels good to celebrate and be a part of so much, and this energetic return of shows and events this season makes me especially thankful for the exciting years before I arrived at CGN, and of course the years since. Challenges included, we wouldn’t have gotten here any other way.&nbsp;Thank you, and happy anniversary to all of us!&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Note: We will be posting articles and interviews from the 40th anniversary issue online in the coming weeks.&nbsp;Please consider <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/print-subscriptions">subscribing to the print edition today for $25/year</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

Fall 2022 Publisher's Letter: 40 is the New 25

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419101/zdoicaj26vins8h28mu1.jpg"></figure>By Anna Dobrowolski&nbsp;Art auctions have a reputation for high-dollar headlines and cinematic cameos. You know the trope: something old and all-but forgotten is, with a final paddle raise and the help of a fast-talking auctioneer, someone’s ticket to early retirement. While that can’t always be the case (sadly), these auction fairytales remind us to pay more attention to our possessions. At Hindman, they have spent the last four decades doing just that.&nbsp;<figure class="image image-style-side"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419102/oz7fgtfguxfl4v3yaoy7.jpg"><figcaption>Jay Krehbiel</figcaption></figure>In 1982, Leslie Hindman opened the doors to her eponymous auction house on Lake Street in Chicago’s West Loop. It grew to be one of the largest auction houses in the country. In 2018, Leslie Hindman Auctioneers and Cowan’s Auctions merged, and Hindman formed, with Jay Krehbiel at the helm.&nbsp;Today Hindman Auctions’ operations are spread across 13 cities, holding over 140 auctions a year and looking towards a future in an increasingly global and digital market.Despite Hindman’s physical presence across the country, Jay Krehbiel, Co-Chairman &amp; Chief Executive Officer at Hindman, has not lost sight of the importance of digital technologies and reach in the auction world. In September, as a prologue to anniversary celebrations, one of their headlining shows will be a&nbsp; single owner, single artist auction of Chicago’s surrealist painter Gertrude Abercrombie. A strong digital presence will ensure that the sale of Laura and Gary Maurers’ Abercrombies will reach as many potential collectors as possible.Krehbiel, who first got involved at Hindman through watching Leslie conduct her business, officially partnered up with her six years ago. He has since taken Hindman’s digital expansion to a far greater level. “Leslie was always thinking about introducing technology into auctions, a tradition bound, tradition-based industry. That’s something that she had been working on for a long time. Hindman was early to put their auction catalogs online, and what I try to do now is supercharge that. When the pandemic hit, we were in a much stronger place to continue business as usual,” he says.According to Krehbiel, there are ways to tech-enable this business, but there’s no such thing as being fully remote in the auction room. Behind the scenes, the team handles every object in order to analyze its condition and present it to future buyers as accurately as possible.&nbsp;&nbsp;*&nbsp;When I called Zachary Wirsum, Director and Senior Specialist for Post War and Contemporary Art, he was at Hindman’s Lake Street headquarters, taking a break from curating the Cool for the Summer sale—the third in the summer series inspired by a pop song. Queueing Demi Lovato, the show channeled ‘cool’ with sizable abstracts and some household names such as Jeff Koons’ Puppy Vase; Salvador Dalí’s Venus with the giraffe; and Jane Hammond’s Love Laughs (1973). At the same time, Wirsum is looking ahead to the fall. He and Joe Stanfield, Hindman’s Vice President and Senior Specialist for Fine Art are co-head of sale for Casting Spells: The Gertrude Abercrombie Collection of Laura and Gary Maurer on September 28. Before the auction they will show the Maurer collection in Milwaukee and New York–both to expose more people to her work, and to pay tribute to the artist’s own roaming spirit and the friends she made along the way.When the Hindman team is not actively sourcing art for an upcoming auction, art usually arrives from the ‘triple D’s’—death, divorce, and debt—or, more recently due to the pandemic, ‘deaccession and downsizing,’ explains Wirsum. It depends on the individual or institution.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419102/xp67sctkrtncgqh6nyoz.jpg"><figcaption>Andy Warhol, Goethe, 1982 screenprint, signed and numbered AP 3/22 in pencil. Property from the Carmen S. Holeman Trust, Indianapolis, Indiana. Price Realized: $81,250. Offered in Hindman Auctions’ May 12, 2022. Prints &amp; Multiples auction</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;Not all art arriving at the auction house involves stories of loss. Some buyers spend their whole lives pursuing their passion for collecting. Corbin Horn, Vice President and Senior Specialist of European Furniture &amp; Decorative Arts, adds, “For people who are working to build up their collections, they consider selling a way to ‘trade up.’ When building a collection, many people don’t realize that you can’t just buy things at once. You have to spend your life buying, selling and trading up in terms of quality,” Horn says.“One of the things we talk about at Hindman is that we believe that everyone is a collector at heart. These objects inspire people,” says Krehbiel. “If you don’t know where to start, everyone will tell you to start with what you love. The inspiration you have for the objects, and the passions you develop for the objects, will drive your curiosity forward and encourage you to learn more about the makers and their stories. So, buy what you love. It seems trite, but there’s truth to it.”While the business is art and object driven, it’s people driven as well. Alyssa Quinlan, Chief Business Development Officer, tells me that her favorite part of the job is making connections with people and hearing stories, from a WWII fighter pilot to someone who has lost their spouse and sharing their stories through their art. “When people bring us the things they collected, it’s another chance to take a moment to reflect on how wonderful they were. There’s a lot more to it than looking at objects on their own. The emotional aspect and curating those collections means hearing their stories.”&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419103/jr7pfln5rtqsyi59y1ra.jpg"><figcaption>Ed Clark, Creation, 2006, acrylic on canvas, signed Ed Clark, titled and dated (verso) 72 x 84 inches. Property from the Collection of Dominic Pangborn, Grosse Pointe, Michigan. Price Realized: $740,000. Offered in Hindman Auctions’ May 11, 2022. Post War &amp; Contemporary Art auction</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;Stories about what can show up at auction can also become fairytales. Here are a few recent ones the Hindman team members shared with CGN:Jay Krehbiel: In 2019, we were honored to bring works to market for the Cranser family from St. Louis. They had, among other great things in their collection, two Calder Stabiles. We sold one for $1.9 million and a smaller one for $432,500. It’s exciting for everyone to sell big dollar items.Famously, there was a 17th c. Chinese bowl from a North Shore Collection. The final price tag was $1.5 million, which was surprising, considering it was used as a bowl for car keys.Joe Stanfield: There is one particular work of art I tend to go back to from maybe 12 years ago. A colleague and I drove to western Illinois and discovered what was, at the time, an unknown trove of watercolors by Wassily Kandinsky, just buried in a closet at this home. We took 60–70 unframed works on paper. We contacted one of the scholars in New York to authenticate the art, which were then flown to Paris and reviewed by a committee. It ended up being sold for $450,000.Corbin Horn: The most unusual work of art that comes to my mind is an Andrew Clemens (American, 1857-1894) sand bottle that sold for $956,000. Clemens was a little-known Iowa artist who was deaf, and he made pictures formed by compressing colored grains of sand inside chemists’ jars. Remarkably, he made these works of art without glue and using only homemade tools. There are a few collectors in the U.S. who pursue these very aggressively. We have handled several Clemens bottles over recent years, and we have one (maybe two!) more coming for sale this fall.&nbsp;&nbsp;*&nbsp;Fairy tale or not, there’s no crystal ball to predict the outcome of an auction. So, what happens when a work of art simply doesn’t sell? It doesn’t mean that the previous owner had poor taste; sometimes it boils down to pure luck and timing.&nbsp;“If on the day of the auction there just isn’t a buyer for an object, we either reoffer it for sale or return it. The auction industry is fascinating because the market is the global economy; different buyers are just there on different days,” says Krehbiel.Delivering unfortunate news is a large part of the business, Stanfield tells me. “Most of us, including myself, think the work that we own is great. We are sentimental, especially with inherited things. I understand why people are disappointed. One of the handy things about auctions is that it is a fair market and the sales are transparent. We are able to pull up global data showing where the art is selling, and for how much.” The added transparency helps stymie disappointments and manage expectations before bringing a work into the auction room.Technologies and tastes are bound to change over time. What ensures that an auction house like Hindman lasts is looking towards and embracing the future.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419104/ugvpq8ojnnxgybbwee7c.jpg"><figcaption>Gertrude Abercrombie, Solitude, 1942. oil on masonite, signed Abercrombie and dated (lower left), 20 1/2 x 40 1/4 inches. Estimate: $120,000 -$180,000</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;Under Gertrude Abercrombie’s SpellA surrealist by any other name — known as ‘Mid-century jazz witch’ and Chicago’s Queen of Bohemia, painter Gertrude Abercrombie has long enchanted artists, writers, and musicians. To collectors Laura and Gary Maurer, who are offering up their entire collection of 21 paintings in September, she is simply known as “Gertrude.”Abercrombie’s biography reads better than fiction. She was born in Austin, Texas, in 1909 but often traveled due to her parents’ careers at a traveling opera company (her mother, Lula Janes, was a prima donna). When Gertrude was four, the Abercrombies lived in Berlin until the outbreak of WWI. Forced to return to Illinois, they eventually settled in Chicago, where Gertrude would go on to study Romance languages and later work as a commercial illustrator designing gloves for Mesirow department store. It wasn’t until taking on commissioned work by the WPA in the 30s, however, that she decided to pursue art full time.By then, she was a Hyde Park local, forging her own style in a studio on Dorchester Avenue near the University of Chicago campus. Walking past the heather-bricked row house today, you would not know this was where the magic happened–I didn’t. Those walls have heard the piano-tuning, rants, and laughter of musical giants: Dizzy Gillespie and Sonny Rollins, Pearl Bailey, Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, and Max Roach. Where’s the commemorative blue plaque, “Gertrude Abercrombie (1909-1977) Artist, Friend, ‘Good Witch’ lived here”? Wrong Hyde Park, I regret to say.Surrounded by music and a lively cast of writers for most of her life, Abercrombie channeled her idiosyncratic artistic rhythm in easel paintings. Though Abercrombie never affiliated herself with any formal movement in modern art, she was labeled a ‘magical realist’ for her references to the otherworldly. Her subjects ranged from evocative, stark landscapes to still lifes with cats, owls, crystal balls, and shells. It’s unsurprising that surrealism’s vocabulary seeped into interpretations of her work–indeed, when she first saw the work of René Magritte, she called him her ‘spiritual daddy’ for sharing that same tendency for the absurd, illogical and dream-like–but her style remains a personal, psychological enigma. In essence, she painted from the reality she was most familiar with.&nbsp;She painted self-portraits most frequently throughout her oeuvre and at various stages of her life. Her choice of subject matter, and the puzzling approach to them, earned her the title of ‘witch.’ (Who amongst women deviating from the norm - much less putting paint to it - hasn’t been suspected of sorcery?) In a 1977 interview with Studs Terkel, she mentioned that she was used to the moniker, once confessing to a group of children calling her a witch that she was ‘one of the good ones.’ Looking at her work, it’s impossible not to believe her. That was certainly the case for Laura Maurer.&nbsp;&nbsp;*&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419105/adlvafkiwsfiqocmwd2p.jpg"><figcaption>Gertrude Abercrombie, Self and Cat (Possims), 1953, oil on canvas, signed Abercrombie and dated (lower left) 34 x 24 inches. Estimate: $300,000-$500,000</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;Laura Maurer describes herself as “the kid who dreamed about being locked in a museum after closing time and living among all of that great art.” She knew art would always be a part of her life—a fact that her husband, Gary, understood was non-negotiable.She first encountered Abercrombie’s work in the ‘90s on a trip to negotiate contracts in Springfield, IL. With time to spare, she walked over to the Illinois State Museum, which had Abercrombie’s paintings on display. There, Maurer had the museum to herself. &nbsp;“Mesmerized doesn’t even come close,” she tells me over the phone, “It was love at first sight.” Through library searches, she found out that Robert Henry Adams Gallery had more Abercrombie paintings available. “I went up to Robert Adams, and said, ‘I’ll take it.’” The painting in question: Abercrombie’s Solitude. In this moonlit landscape, a woman is mid-gait, walking along a gray footpath amongst sparsely spaced trees. Behind her, a white cat glances back towards the distant forest. “While Laura fell in love at first sight, my appreciation [for Abercrombie] developed more gradually,” Gary Maurer adds. “After I spent some time with the painting, I found myself wondering, what was she thinking or going through at the time.” Both agreed that Solitude would be the start of their collection.For the Maurers, searching for Abercrombie in local art fairs, estate sales, auctions, and galleries decades-long search was just as exciting as the acquisition. One of their most memorable discoveries was finding her self-portrait–which, at 34 x 24 inches, remains one of her larger works. “When we found her self-portrait with Possim, it was better than a million photographs. Much of her work was her searching for herself. Occasionally she would appear and become recognized as an element in some of her work. When this self-portrait became available, it spoke to her inner life and what she thought of herself.”The thrill of discovery propelled the Maurers’ decades-long quest for Abercrombie’s work. So, how does one part with a collection after so many years?&nbsp; “It was time for these works that have lived with us over the years to be with other families or institutions so that they can live with Gertrude, like we have, for the last 30 years,” says Laura. &nbsp;&nbsp;*&nbsp;Preparing for a sale such as this takes a village of experts and specialists who are able to first authenticate the art, write detailed condition reports, set the starting price points and of course bring it to a wide market of interested buyers.&nbsp;Chicago-based <a href="https://hindmanauctions.com">Hindman</a> will be handling the sale of the Maurers’ beloved pieces this fall, while at the same time celebrating the auction house’s 40th anniversary.&nbsp;#</body></html>

Hindman Celebrates Four Decades in Chicago & Beyond

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419091/aurlurr4tdygulis6kd3.jpg"><figcaption>Image credit: James Prinz</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;By GINNY VAN ALYEAThe <a href="https://www.chicagobotanic.org">Chicago Botanic Garden</a> is a favorite suburban escape for my family. We even love the drive, knowing that in just 30-40 minutes we can escape the city and end up in a verdant wonderland of plants, sculpture and suburbanites on bicycles. My own children love to run through the rose and English gardens in particular.&nbsp;This spring/summer CBG is commemorating its extraordinary growth over the last five decades and marking its 50th birthday in 2022 with Flourish: The Garden at 50, running through September 25. Members, visitors, and program participants are invited to celebrate 50 years of the Garden connecting people to the natural world. In particular they are invited to admire the art specially commissioned to make this anniversary. Participating artists include Edra Soto, Faheem Majeed, Patrick Dougherty, Luke Jerram, and others.&nbsp;“What began as an ambitious vision to have Chicago’s own public garden is now 28 gardens and four natural areas in Glencoe, 16 community garden and farm sites in Chicago and Lake County, and dozens of conservation and restoration research sites around the country,” said Jean Franczyk, the Garden’s president and chief executive officer. “We are thankful to all who have shown up for nature, supported our conservation mission, and inspired us to keep imagining a future where people and planet thrive.”<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419091/nysdn3xmfigg3shnsrbr.jpg"><figcaption>The Rookery by Patrick Dougherty—Chapel Hill, NC</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;Flourish: The Garden at 50 features a series of Garden-wide experiences. Ten nature-inspired art installations from Chicago, national, and international artists have been created specifically for the Glencoe campus and Windy City Harvest’s Farm on Ogden, connecting people with nature in new ways. Splashes of gold-hued plants have been incorporated into the seasonal designs of the display gardens. Additionally, attendees will be invited to engage with interactive stories taking them back in time and transporting them to an imagined future for the Garden and pop-up events that will surprise and delight.“The Garden is thriving due to the commitment of our members, visitors, and program participants over the last 50 years,” said Jodi Zombolo, associate vice president of Visitor Events and Programs. “We are excited for everyone to join our joyous birthday celebration.”&nbsp;Flourish: The Garden at 50 is open daily during the Garden’s general hours, which change seasonally. Visit <a href="http://www.chicagobotanic.org/flourish">chicagobotanic.org/flourish</a> for more information.&nbsp;Some trivia and surprises shared by the Garden:• Did you know that more than one million visitors now come to the Garden each year? Or that in 1972, that number was 20,000?• The gardens have been designed with splashes of 50th anniversary gold throughout. Think of it as your own treasure hunt and find the gold plants.• Every other weekend through September you are invited to engage in interactive, celebratory pop-up events. All activities are included with membership or general admission ticket, from Chicago Human Rhythm Project to an all-woman Mariachi serenade. View the calendar <a href="https://www.chicagobotanic.org/flourish/popups">here</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419092/pfzdwgz8m09vsmmg0dct.jpg"><figcaption>Of Earth and Sky by Luke Jerram—Bristol, UK and Keli Stewart—Chicago, IL &nbsp;</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;About Chicago Botanic GardenThe <a href="http://chicagobotanic.org">Chicago Botanic Garden</a>, one of the treasures of the Forest Preserves of Cook County, is a 385-acre living plant museum featuring 28 distinct gardens and four natural areas. With events, programs, and activities for all ages, the Garden is open every day of the year. Located at 1000 Lake Cook Road in Glencoe, IL, the Garden is smoke free. Opened to the public in 1972, the Garden is managed by the Chicago Horticultural Society, accredited by the American Association of Museums, and a member of the American Public Gardens Association (APGA).&nbsp;</body></html>

Chicago Botanic Garden Turns 50 and Celebrates with Art

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419090/tk4ysgxehvo6phbhhpgm.jpg"><figcaption>Photo: Dan Piotrowski</figcaption></figure>By ANNA DOBROWOLSKIOn days where joining friends for a meal isn’t an option, and the effort of cooking for one is better spent calling for takeout, eating alone can seem a chore, rather than an event. Reserving a ‘table for one’ at a Michelin-starred restaurant rarely enters the realm of possibilities; even less so is taking a snack to an art gallery. In Lincoln Park, Chef Tomaska and his team at <a href="https://www.esmechicago.com">Esmé</a> curate a world where you can have your art and eat it, too.For the uninitiated, the Lincoln Park restaurant received a Michelin star in April 2022 less than a year after its opening on August 18th, 2021. Located on the tree-laden corner of Webster and Clark, Esmé’s open windows and modern exterior welcome art and food lovers for a feast for the senses.&nbsp;Chef Jenner Tomaska and partner Katrina Bravo came up with the food-art tandem by listening to artists talking about their work. “I’m interested in the story of how and why an artist decides to create. Working in the kitchen, [as a chef] you remove yourself from the conversation a lot of the time, but I like the conversations that happen when people come together and discuss a piece,” Chef Tomaska tells me.&nbsp;Esmé's current menu is inspired by Chicago-based multimedia artist Courtney Shoudis. I recently had the chance to speak with the creatives on scene.&nbsp;*<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419091/izdst6pe94tdv6vhtv4s.png"><figcaption>Photo: Dan Piotrowski</figcaption></figure>Before working in painting and sculpture, and new media such as film, Shoudis worked in fashion and design. She is currently working on a new painting for her series ‘The Passing of Time’— a collection of paintings which renders seasons passing while waiting for her partner’s final immigration interview into America. At first, Shoudis created these paintings to grapple with long distance and the confusion spurred by immigration processes that have been backlogged by the pandemic. “I naïvely thought that it would be six months. Now, I am working on the 13th season,” she says. “It’s at the point where it is just madness. The reason I wanted to visualize it was to cope.”&nbsp;Shoudis and I moved our conversation from the bar into the main dining area and gallery space, into an area by the west entrance with tabletops designated for amuse bouches. In our periphery, Shoudis’ untitled female nudes brush against Cubist traditions with their delineating figures and flattened, color blocked forms. “I thought about pulling [the women] apart, reconsidering them from the female viewpoint and experience. In this work I’m trying to understand these different stages of life through the body, and I'm trying to figure out how much of that has been seen before me as well as who I am.”&nbsp;As we orbit around the sculptures, we see the angular silhouette of a woman on her knee, then standing up and being strong again. The lines echo the sculptures and the tabletop female sculptures, which Shoudis had designed specifically to function as a serving plate for the subsequent bites. She has long been interested in the use of women’s bodies in art, using her own practice to point out, and then reconsider, these trends in a new light. “With the tabletop sculptures, I played with the idea of objectifying women even further,” she points out, as I watch guests pluck appetizers off the structure.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419092/wi7z118nu5roxq8mdzrs.jpg"><figcaption>Photo: Sandy Noto</figcaption></figure>In the main dining area there are four canvases with colors exploding across the canvas. Their impressionistic fluidity contrasts against the geometric sculptures.&nbsp;“I have never shown these two bodies of work in the same space,” says Shoudis. For her, Seasons has been a personal odyssey in which she draws from various texts. “I never know what will trigger the next season,” she says. One painting with controlled, deep purple daubs across the raw canvas is Shoudis’ reflection of Ophelia’s desperation in Shakespeare’s Hamlet. In Mayakovsky and the Passing of Winter, she mentions an affinity for a line from Frank O Hara’s poem “Mayakovsky:”&nbsp; “It may be the coldest day of the year, what does he think of that? I mean, what do I? And if I do, perhaps I am myself again.” In another, she meditates on the falling of cherry blossoms.*Sitting down with the work of art is one part of the story. My friend Nancy had flown in from New Orleans for the weekend and – in a herculean Human Race effort, hailed an Uber straight to Esmé to join me for our 7pm dinner reservation (I resigned from eating alone, here). Our very first bite was a reconstructed Cheeto,™ with its puff shell and orange cheese powder staining our fingers a la nostalgia. Each bite, like each of Shoudis’ season, carried a new impression – bittersweet, smoky, acidic – and each platter arrived with another story. For instance, a savory puff pastry was served on a gossamer origami plate (“Lips”<a href="https://www.instagram.com/polyscene/?hl=en"> Polly Verity</a>). One meal was delivered on a zoetrope–it disappeared quickly so that I could spin the plate and witness birds in flight. As a preamble to dessert – the grand finale– smoke emerged out of a marbled head on a platter.&nbsp;*<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419093/f7qr5tq9yf4tfhaflzq1.png"><figcaption>Photos: Anna Dobrowolski</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;After the feast, I asked the Chef about the process of creating a menu inspired by art and some of its challenges. Says Tomaska, "Esmé was conceptualized to lead with art and community first, so in many ways we flipped the construct of a restaurant on its head, reverse engineering the process of creating a menu. It's exciting to create in this way, but also presents challenges in terms of the frequency with which we are making menu changes and switching out the artwork, something we embrace because of our dedication to this mission and goal to utilize our space to be a platform to shine a light on the individuals who contribute to Chicago's creative culture. We've been fortunate that we have been embraced by the community and take the care to explain the vision for what we are doing as we are guiding their meal at the restaurant.”&nbsp;When I told Tomaska I could appreciate the mission to give back as well as give a platform to artists, he responds that there is more to come. “The next collaboration will be with <a href="https://www.kitchenpossible.org/">Kitchen Possible</a>, a local non-profit dedicated to empowering kids to make amazing things happen in their lives through lessons learned in the kitchen. The menu will be inspired by those life lessons with a portion of proceeds benefiting the organization.”&nbsp;Check out Esmé at <a href="https://www.esmechicago.com">esmechicago.com</a>You can find Courtney Shoudis on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/courtneyjean/?hl=en">Instagram</a>&nbsp;at or on her <a href="https://www.courtneyshoudis.com/">website.</a>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419094/vzai75aiocfztr0rs29e.jpg"><figcaption>Photo: Sandy Noto</figcaption></figure></body></html>

Esmé: Where You Can Have Your Art and Eat it Too

<html><head></head><body>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419059/yu9olr4g0tpvdspbsi8q.jpg"><figcaption>A view into Emery Blagdon’s The Healing Machine at JMKAC's The Art Preserve. Photo: CGN</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;By GINNY VAN ALYEAWhen I asked myself last winter where I should travel for a weekend away with my husband and children, I didn’t think about somewhere with an average temperature of 75°. I thought about heading to Kohler, an art-filled village in Sheboygan, WI just a couple hours drive from Chicago.How did this sleepy Midwestern town by Lake Michigan become a center for art and design? Curious to know, I was happy to book an off-season room at The American Club, located half way between Milwaukee and Green Bay, in the heart of Kohler. Originally built as a dorm to house Kohler factory employees in 1918, The American Club, as it is known today, has been a five-star, five-diamond destination resort hotel since 1981, and it is just one of many Kohler company success stories. Located in the center of a campus that is home to four of the world’s best golf courses, one of the world’s best spas, nine restaurants and much more, the building itself, listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1978, is a testament to how a company has stood the test of time by continuing to innovate, with quality and creativity at the center of everything.&nbsp;*The name Kohler is synonymous with plumbing, specifically: toilets, sinks and fixtures. A hotel stay at The American Club means as a guest you can “test-drive” Kohler products–a genius approach to brand-building. It was tempting to not even leave the hotel itself, but we were there for art. While exploring the campus I notice the very same materials utilized to make Kohler fixtures have been incorporated into various contemporary sculptures scattered around the grounds. Installed adjacent to the pool were over a dozen, glazed vitreous China waves by Natalie Clark. Tiny, colorful fish by Carlos Alves also swam among the pool deck's white wall tiles. An expressive cast iron figure, by Steve Bradford/Martha Heavanston, was placed along the path into the tennis center. Each work I saw was by an artist who had been a resident of the John Michael Kohler Arts Center's Arts/Industry program. These weren’t works purchased to furnish a resort, they were a permanent investment in artists made real, showcasing the visions artists bring to life when given meaningful support and access.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419060/jgblhztl4aubasn4a5do.jpg"><figcaption>At the Kohler Design Center. Photo: CGN</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;Not all the art on view was installed around the resort. The Kohler Design Center is a destination in its own rite, and it’s open to the public, as well as members of the design trade. Here, Kohler fixtures, including cast iron bathtubs, commodes and pedestal sinks are artfully displayed–including on the center’s famed “Great Wall of (vitreous) China.”&nbsp;The basement of the Design Center features a museum about the Kohler family along with an overview of the Arts/Industry residency program, which was conceived in 1974 by former John Michael Kohler Art Center (JMKAC) Director Ruth DeYoung Kohler II. The program is both unusual and obvious, in an ‘A-ha!’ kind of way.&nbsp;Arts/Industry offers artists time and space to focus on the creation of new work while in residence at the Kohler Co. factory in Pottery and /or Foundry. They are not limited by their medium–experience with clay or metal are not prerequisites. Much of the residency is technical, but what may begin as utility can spur creative thinking, and maybe a little bit of magic.&nbsp;*<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419061/upgn7ygforladi0odjqv.jpg"><figcaption>Cynthia Consentino’s The Women’s Room. Photo: CGN</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;After visiting the Design Center we drove a couple of miles to the John Michael Kohler Art Center, an art space founded in 1967 that hosts extensive programming and exhibitions. At the front desk the staff reviewed photography protocols with us and then made a point of encouraging me to stop into each washroom on site. I was glad they did. In the late 1990s, JMKAC commissioned six artists to design, create and install the tiles, plumbing, and other components of the art center's bathrooms, using these immersive hybrids of public and private space to convey the belief that art can rouse you from routine. Cynthia Consentino’s The Women’s Room is super girly – a physical top ten list of feminine stereotypes depicted in over 120 glaze paintings: lacy undergarments, hats, shoes, bras, stockings, jewelry, and handbags.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419062/sgg5bllllwiy0hefjnon.jpg"><figcaption>Matt Nolen: The Social History Of Architecture. Photo: CGN &nbsp;</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;On the other side of the Center, entering Merrill Mason’s Filling and Emptying you are greeted by grooming objects that have been cast in iron and tucked into marble nooks: perfume bottles, delicate gloves, fragile hand-mirrors and combs, each blackened and weighted like they could be effective weapons, if they weren’t used to prep for a fancy dinner party. These spaces, usually private and reserved for necessity, challenge not only the idea of objects and places we take for granted but also what a center for art can offer its artists, as well as the visiting public.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419062/fo5twi75yifiasfboe1v.jpg"><figcaption>Merrill Mason’s Filling and Emptying. Photo CGN</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;*While the focus of the Arts/Industry program is innovation today, another separate area of focus I discovered at JMKAC was the preservation of overwhelmingly expansive but undoubtedly mind blowing world of art environments, folk architecture, and collections by self-taught artists. An incredible number of such environments have been preserved and now conserved and publicly displayed, thanks to the work of Ruth Kohler, who led JMKAC and pioneered its focus on Art Environment builders. Ruth died in late 2020 and was instrumental in providing the leadership and vision that has brought JMKAC to a preeminent position in the field of art environments. In 1983 when Ruth encountered the life’s work of Wisconsin artist Eugene Von Bruenchenhein, just two weeks after he had died, she was compelled to find a way to bring the prolific artist’s body of work to be seen in its entirety. It was a tall order, but soon after the Arts Center acquired 6,000 objects, including paintings and bone sculptures, marking the beginning of the Arts Center’s commitment to artist-built environments. It is one thing to seek out the best representations of an artist’s work, acquire them and make individual pieces part of a museum collection. It is another to track down, transport and reinstall thosands of expressions of an artist’s mind.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419063/mp5dj4pbwlitejtn5kcw.jpg"><figcaption>Bernard Langlais: Live and Let Live On installation view at JMKAC. Photo CGN.</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419064/ghi7paefwzpxalr4bye7.jpg"><figcaption>Loy Bowlin’s The Beautiful Holy Jewel Home. Photo: CGN</figcaption></figure><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419065/wbdqsofmopxhtu02dwmr.jpg"><figcaption>Loy Bowlin, portrait. Photo: CGN</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;Following last summer’s opening of an extention of the JMKAC, The Art Preserve, a three-story space that is the world’s largest collection of artist-built environments, the Foundation’s efforts make it a national leader in the preservation of and respect for these collections. There has been a lot of attention on “immersive” art experiences recently, but so much of that has been virtual, digital or just made for Instagram. At The Art Preserve, you’re invited to immerse yourself in the artist’s world, where you can see wild visions in-person: Loy Bowlin’s The Beautiful Holy Jewel Home from McComb, Mississippi is wallpapered in glitter and construction paper reminiscent of Moroccan tile; Von Bruenchenhein’s gold-painted chicken bone thrones are displayed, along with hundreds of the artist’s paintings; dozens of Dr. Charles Smith’s concrete and tile figures make up a sort of miniature army. Complementing The Art Preserve itself is the center’s website, which provides additional context as well as images of the artist sites as they originally existed.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419066/x3ggkz0mtjecmyndl05n.jpg"><figcaption>Made from tiny bones, this is one of dozens of sculptural miniature thrones made by Eugene Von Bruenchenhein. Photo: CGN</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419066/ycbf5xjcc74mex7kh2he.jpg"><figcaption>A partial view of Ray Yoshida’s home collection. Photo: CGN</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;I marveled at not just the obsessions of these individuals but the sheer scale of the institutional effort it must have taken to make these tableaux available to the public. It’s a one-of-a-kind experience to wind through Ray Yoshida’s recreated home and see his work, and that of his famous students–Roger Brown, Gladys Nilsson, Karl Wirsum and Jim Nutt–alongside Native American Kachinas, African masks, wooden figurines and folk art that influenced the Imagists. All of this is presented without typically verbose explanations, only identifications–another sign that this is an altogether different place with entirely different art.&nbsp;*In 36 hours I completed a crash course on the Kohler family’s remarkable impact on industrial design and contemporary art. My experiences at Kohler were cohesive as well as disparate: an education on the large-scale weathered wood friezes of Bernard Langlais and his life in Maine followed a showroom viewing of a tower of sinks and toilets in every color. I played tennis in the morning and in the afternoon wandered through Emery Blagdon’s The Healing Machine at The Art Preserve. What began as a family getaway left an impression. Here, art informs everything and will continue to for generations, thanks to the success the Kohler Company and the Kohler Foundation are paying forward. &nbsp;&nbsp;Publisher's note: This version of the article has been updated since it was printed in the summer 2022 issue of CGN to clarify that the Kohler Foundation and Kohler Company are separate entities from the John Michael Kohler Arts Center. The Kohler Foundation is a generous supporter of the JMKAC and its Arts/Industry program.&nbsp;</body></html>

Kohler: Preservationists of Art and Design

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419077/uouhuioksfr8jt7gpdez.jpg"><figcaption>Adam Brooks; 'Freedom Wall'; 1994; enamel on vinyl, publicly-sited installation, Chicago, IL, USADimensions: 72 feet x 15 feet 6 inches.</figcaption></figure><a href="https://www.facebook.com/AdamBrooksIOTO">River North Freedom Wall by Adam Brooks Will Soon Disappear</a>Artist Adam Brooks posted on Facebook last week about the coming disappearance of his public work of art that perhaps millions of Brown Line commuters have viewed and wondered about for decades: "Nothing lasts forever, and thus the 28-year run of my ‘Freedom Wall’ project, on the side of the 325 W. Huron building in Chicago, will soon be coming to an end, as the parking lot in front of the building is being developed, and once this building is constructed, ‘Freedom Wall’ will be entombed between this new structure and the existing one. These are the final weeks to see it in person while it is gradually obscured by the impending construction."&nbsp;He thanked Rhona Hoffman, Buzz Ruttenberg, and Henry Landan for their critical roles in realizing the project back in 1993-94 and offered to share a booklet he produced in conjunction with this project in 1994 and send a PDF version, which includes an essay by Susan Snodgrass, as well as a complete listing of all of the names collected, and those who submitted them. E-mail <a href="mailto:adambrooks9@gmail.com?subject=Freedom%20Wall&amp;body=Via%20CGN">adambrooks9@gmail.com</a>The artist says he's looking at ways to create an updated version.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419078/qockfzs4olze1bsokxdx.gif"></figure><a href="https://mailchi.mp/northwestern/studentacquisition2022?e=64540e863b">Block Museum Student Associates select work by Michael Koerner as 2022 Student Acquisition</a>The Block Museum of Art and the 2021-2022 Block Museum Student Associates (BMSA) cohort are pleased to announce the acquisition of photographic prints&nbsp;Blue DNA#1205L – #1201R (2021), Worlds #0318 (2020), and The Beast Diagnosis #8942 (2019) by Illinois-based interdisciplinary artist Michael Koerner.&nbsp;Koerner’s work&nbsp;explores his family history and genetics through small tintypes, using photographic chemistry to assimilate the bursts and biochemical fallout from the atom bomb. The selection is the third annual Block Museum student-led acquisition to the collection, succeeding the 2021 selection of Leonard Suryajaya’s <a href="https://northwestern.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=904f932038284b4d9eea69636&amp;id=e2e5470d92&amp;e=64540e863b">Quarantine Blues</a> (2020) and the 2020 selection of Myra Greene’s <a href="https://northwestern.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=904f932038284b4d9eea69636&amp;id=3f32fc0cf4&amp;e=64540e863b">Undertone #17, #23, #51</a> (2017-2018). Over the 2021-2022 academic year, BMSA researched potential acquisitions with the&nbsp;primary goal of collecting around the theme of “Earth” while also seeking work that would complement the museum’s collection, connect to the mission, and coincide with curriculum across Northwestern University.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419079/d5mxhplfsacc9bbrwe5l.jpg"><figcaption>Inspired by the city’s St. Patricks’s Day traditions as well as notable sites and sights like Chicago’s Lakefront Trail, baseball fields and the oldest L line , Color Factory's &nbsp;custom green ball pit is a joy whether you’re 2 or 200.</figcaption></figure><a href="https://colorfactory.co/chicago/">Color Factory Opens in Chicago Soon</a>Within each Color Factory location, visitors are invited to experience the joy of color through interactive installations, immersive rooms, and carefully curated moments. The website describes that Color Factory collaborates with artists, art institutions, nonprofits, and brand partners to tell compelling stories that make life just a little more joyful. In Chicago Color Factory will be located on the lower level of Willis Tower, inspired by (some well known) aspects of the city. Edra Soto is one locally-based artist who will be participating.&nbsp;<h3>&nbsp;</h3></body></html>