<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419113/plmoizzy0aaej99idfua.jpg"><figcaption>Sara Dulkin. Photo by Candice Cusic</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;By JACQUELINE LEWISThousands of people see Sara Dulkin in her gallery. Dulkin touts that she actively posts multiple times a day <a href="https://www.instagram.com/chicagotruborn/">@CHICAGOTRUBORN </a>as a way to promote artists as well as genuinely engage with her clients, fans and (more than 21K) followers. When she’s not posting Instagram reels, making clever time lapse videos, or cheekily rolling her eyes about how easy and affordable it is to buy art, she’s running an in-person space, an online storefront and a mural consultancy. Before social media consumed a large part of her day, Dulkin forged a relationship with Chicago as a city through its street art.When I asked Dulkin, who opened Chicago Truborn in West Town years years earlier than other galleries did, how she decided to start the gallery she said it was in order to create a space for art in which she personally felt comfortable and where the art was affordable, a mission she continues today.&nbsp;CGN: Tell us about how Chicago Truborn came to be?Sara Dulkin: When I was a 20-something Columbia College student graffiti and street art helped me to better understand and connect with the city. The gallery itself arose because, as I was learning about art and attending galleries for the first time, I felt extremely intimidated in that particular type of space. Also when social media was just beginning, I was paying close attention to the tags and wheatpastes going up in Chicago. I became more familiar with what the artists creating them were doing and I was able to connect in person. Suddenly I was watching artists paint and getting an inside look at the entire process and culture. It didn’t take long before I realized graffiti and street art really wasn’t being represented here and honored in a gallery setting. At the same time I wanted to create a space that made sense for people like me – those who want to collect art, within financial reason!&nbsp;In 2011 when I first started Chicago Truborn we were vending at street festivals and pop-up shows, utilizing other retail spaces. I used that time to meet artists and grow a collector base. In 2013 the gallery became an official brick-and-mortar storefront. The rest is history.&nbsp;&nbsp;CGN: Chicago Truborn has been considered a sort of “anti” gallery. Can you explain what that means?SD: The term “anti-gallery” was actually meant to encapsulate a feeling of community and inclusivity. In all of my previous experiences in galleries–whether it was self-inflicted or otherwise–I felt unwelcome (and often still do!). In most cases I barely even got a welcome nod, let alone any information on the exhibit. And I definitely couldn’t afford anything.&nbsp;“Anti-gallery” is representative of a space that’s inviting and accessible–one that goes against standard norms. It’s everything a “traditional” gallery isn’t. No white walls, no price sheets, no pretense. Just come on in, enjoy yourself and fall in love with some art. We offer prints from $25, smaller artisan collectibles, even pins and sticker packs starting at $10. On average pieces here are going to be in the $350–$1,500 range. I really stress affordibility, and it’s one of Chicago Truborn’s core values. We have a special section on our website dedicated to art under $150.No matter if you’re looking for a massive focal piece or just a small starter work, I want to help.&nbsp;CGN: You have coined the phrase, “Become a Collector.” Do you have stories about new collectors where that term really made an impact?SD: I have countless stories of first time customers who’ve evolved into die hard collectors. Over the last decade many, if not most, of my customers have similar stories to mine where they felt they could never afford art in galleries or, in some cases, had never visited one. It’s the most rewarding experience to be an integral part of someone’s journey as an art lover and a collector. It typically starts with something small, like a print. From there, via social media or frequent visits, our collectors are able to learn more about the artists they like while at the same time figuring out what they want their collection to look like. Price points become a bit less intimidating once a collector learns about the person and process behind the artwork. No matter what the entry point is, the result is they can’t wait to build their collection. &nbsp;One story is about a Chicago collector who was vacationing in Mexico and got talking with a woman about a shared love of art and a subject that coincided with a show we were having. Through this encounter, a piece was purchased and shipped to Calgary to a new friend and collector. Word of mouth is just as valuable as an actual sale. This story really resonated with me and I am so grateful for the loyalty of my collectors.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419114/ml7roaouesmvm1nvqj72.jpg"><figcaption>A work by JPO &nbsp;</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;CGN: Do you find that most of your sales are in person or virtual? How does Chicago Truborn handle both experiences for the collector?SD: Throughout the last decade, the majority of our sales were in-person at the gallery. Opening nights are historically the busiest time for us. Of course since the pandemic everyone had to a pivot a bit. I’ve always been dedicated to building an online presence via social media, while also providing a seamless, easily navigated, online storefront. If you’re not providing your collectors the ability to purchase work online that’s clearly a missed opportunity. Before COVID we were 70/30 in-person/online, and now I would say we’re 50/50. I love the surge in online business. It’s incredible that this small gallery ships pieces all over the world. Utilizing social media continues to be a large part of my success; I can’t emphasize enough the importance of speaking to and connecting with your client base directly in that way.&nbsp;CGN: How has your day to day business adapted since the onset of the pandemic?SD: One common denominator between any small business who is lucky enough to have survived the pandemic is that, yes, changes were made! I started producing virtual openings immediately upon news of the shut downs. Our first virtual show was April 2020. I had my exhibitions already scheduled for the year, and my artists had worked so diligently creating all the work. I was determined to find a way to show it. By utilizing Matterport technology we were able to do a 3D scan of the gallery and provide an online experience that opened our doors to collectors all over the world. Viewers can actively participate in an exhibit however and whenever they see fit, zooming in on specific pieces, “walking” around the installation spaces, and even purchasing art through the tour. After two years I still continue to produce a virtual tour for each show (in addition to in-person). I’ve even received feedback from out-of-town artists who become interested in working with me solely based upon discovery of our virtual shows.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419114/c0wbtfvyd40y5s7mozl2.gif"><figcaption>The exterior of Chicago Truborn, with the mural by Eelco Van Den Berg</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;CGN: Tell me about Chicago Truborn’s work with so many muralists and local public art projects.&nbsp;SD: Seeing as Chicago Truborn is dedicated to exclusively showing the work of street and graffiti artists, mural production has been a very natural progression. My artists love to paint big walls, and I love to make it happen. As a collector myself, I find it exciting to love a piece of public art and then be able to collect a piece or version of that artwork for my home. I’ve curated and produced dozens of murals over the last decade in Chicago. Our murals–some ephemeral, many permanent–can be found all over the city, from West Town and Lakeview to Evanston, Berwyn and beyond. One of my favorite murals can be seen on the facade of the gallery itself. In 2017 Eelco Van Den Berg painted a three-story piece on the building; it is still one of my favorite pieces in the city. I see people stopping to photograph it every single day.&nbsp;CGN: What are some of the differences between managing gallery exhibitions and murals?&nbsp;SD: Both are extremely hands-on, of course. The exhibitions in the gallery are always different, but the recipe is the same. I have a schedule and a groove that works for me. I know when I’ll be prepping the walls, when I’ll be hanging the work, when I’ll prepare the online catalogue. &nbsp;When I’m preparing for a mural, there is a recipe too, but there are different factors at play. We’re examining wall textures and looking out for safety hazards like traffic and electrical lines. I’m arranging lifts and large amounts of paint –we’re usually battling with some type of extreme weather, from rain and snow to brutal heat. We’ve done it all. I’ve learned that there is no forcing anything, and that flexibility is the key to success.At this point I have years of experience working with corporate entities as well as neighborhood groups and private commissions, and no wall is too big, or too small.&nbsp;&nbsp;CGN: What is next for Chicago Truborn?SD: I’m so pleased to share that Chicago Truborn’s 9 year anniversary show takes place this September. Although the gallery began in 2011, the actual storefront wasn’t opened until 2013. The anniversary show will feature nine artists near and dear to Chicago Truborn – artists who have played a significant role in our past, as well as a few who have debuts with the gallery in 2023. The opening spans two days, September 23 and 24, and coincides with the West Town Art Walk. Everyone can find details and a show lineup on our website and social media.&nbsp;Chicago Truborn • 1741 W. Chicago Ave. (60622)&nbsp;<a href="http://chicagotruborn.com">chicagotruborn.com</a><a href="https://www.instagram.com/chicagotruborn/">@chicagotruborn</a></body></html>

Chicago Truborn: Sara Dulkin is a Dealer on a Welcome Mission

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419113/cq5zbhxxoyo7w4mmwfdv.jpg"><figcaption>Barbara Kasten &nbsp;</figcaption></figure>By ALISON REILLYAs an accomplished artist with more than 50 years experience, Barbara Kasten is used to traveling back and forth to Europe for her work. But during these past two years, due to the pandemic she stayed close to home in Chicago. Fortunately, she had the space to create a home studio, and when it was safe, she started working again at her Mana Contemporary studio. This fall there are plenty of opportunities to see the fruits of her labor. She has two solo exhibitions opening: the first on September 15 at Sammlung Goetz in Munich and the second on November 4 at <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/barbara-kasten">DOCUMENT</a> in Chicago.&nbsp;CGN: Could you tell me about the show at DOCUMENT? I know you are still working on it.&nbsp;BK: I’m working with Aron [Gent] on a new body of work, and it has to go through a lot of experimental phases to be where I want it to be. I can’t tell you exactly what it’s going to be except there will be unique pieces printed on linen or canvas, I’m not sure which one at the moment. It’s something that I actually entered into photography to do, back in the ‘70s. I really was looking for photography to be a tool in my painting practice. At that time, people weren’t thinking that way, but I started working with photograms&nbsp;and cyanotypes, because it was still a painting process. Everything I’ve done since has been either a combination of painting, sculpture or some sort of interdisciplinary gesture, because I’m not trained as a photographer, and I don’t think of myself as a photographer. I use photography, but I use it like you’d use a brush or paint. I think that is evident when you look at the 50 years I’ve worked.&nbsp;&nbsp;CGN: Were you trained as a painter?&nbsp;BK: Yes, more as a painter. In my graduate days at California College of the Arts (at the time it was California College of Arts and Crafts), I was in textiles and fiber, but I used that as a material to make sculptures– again, not a traditional kind of fiber approach but one where I used the materials of a discipline in an entirely different way than was intended.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419113/yk1jtiibd8dbjm49d4hx.jpg"><figcaption>Barbara Kasten, PLAN 1-B, 2022. Archival pigment on raw linen, 56 1/8 x 42 1/8 in (142.6 x 107 cm). Courtesy of the artist and Bortolami, NY. &nbsp;</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;CGN: Right. I was looking at some of the photos of the sculptural chairs that you wove. Those are pretty incredible.BK: I did those when I was on a Fulbright scholarship. That’s an indicator of what I was thinking when I was doing textiles. But then I made some photographs–called diazotypes–they look like cyanotypes but are really a blueprint that architects used. In fact, I did a book on those, when I had my show at the Graham Foundation in 2015. They published all the images I created in a book. We just called it The Diazotypes. It was limited edition, which completely sold out and really surprised me, because now it’s going for like $500, who knew! But it was an important step along the way for me. I never really did anything with figures, this was an abstraction of a figure to go along with the abstract chair.&nbsp;&nbsp;CGN: With a few exceptions your work has been abstract through and through.&nbsp;BK: Right. We are creating a book with Skira, an Italian publisher. Stephanie Cristello is the producer/designer/editor of the book. It features only the sculptures and videos that I did from 2015 to 2020.&nbsp;And so that’s in conjunction with the upcoming exhibition at DOCUMENT.&nbsp;CGN:&nbsp;Some of your works are photographs of installations that you’ve done. When you approach an exhibition, is documentation important to you?BK: No, maybe that needs to be clarified. I don’t make installations to photograph per se. I work in a three-dimensional, sculptural manner and use that as the subject matter of the photographs. It’s not intended to be a documentation of an installation.&nbsp;They’re joined together by the interaction of my creating something in space and then stepping out of that role to go behind the camera and record that space on a flat plane. The word “documentation” is true, but it’s not true, which is kind of like my work. Is it real or not real, you know?&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419114/fi0vhvytsp7ofkbsjvd1.jpg"><figcaption>Barbara Kasten, SHIELD IV, 2022&nbsp; Cyanotype on raw linen, steel, 24 1/2 x 24 1/8 x 4 in (62.2 x 61.3 x 10.2 cm). Courtesy of the artist and Bortolami, NY.&nbsp;</figcaption></figure> &nbsp;CGN: Did you grow up wanting to be an artist? Was it something in your childhood that you thought about?BK: Yes, I’d say pretty early on. I grew up in Chicago. This is my home town. I went to a Catholic school, and there was a nun who was a painter and within the church she had a great reputation for painting. She wasn’t an art teacher, she just happened to be teaching second grade. She took notice of me, and I started taking art lessons through her tutelage. She instilled this concept in me of being an artist, because I came from a really normal, middle class family, and I didn’t have any dreams based on family history of being an artist.&nbsp;So she really instilled that. I’d say since second grade I thought of myself as an artist, because she told me I could be.&nbsp;&nbsp;CGN: You went to a Catholic school in Chicago—was that through elementary school and high school?&nbsp;BK: Yes, both. I went to a Catholic, at the time, girls school. My dad was a policeman, and he was shot on duty. He was injured, so he went on a medical leave, and then my parents decided to move to Arizona for his health. I was already out of high school, and I said you’re not moving without me, I’m coming!&nbsp;That was my move out of Chicago.&nbsp;In 1959 I finished at the University of Arizona, and then I went to California for grad school, with a lot of time in between. In 1998 I came back to Chicago at the invitation to teach at Columbia College. I had been in New York for almost 20 years, and I didn’t expect to leave, but the circumstances were that my elderly mother was by herself and my brother was here. Family circumstances and this job offer made it possible. In New York, I was living off the sales of my work.&nbsp;CGN: How long did you continue teaching?&nbsp;BK: I taught at Columbia from 1998 to 2010. I was mostly involved in the graduate program there. And of course, my work was different from that of most of the photography faculty and the direction of the program, but that’s what the chair wanted—somebody to work in a different way—so it was actually a very great experience. In fact, I’m still in touch with some students that I taught in my very first year. I just had my 86th birthday, and a couple of students from my first class celebrated with me. I made good friends, and I had a better time teaching than I thought I would.&nbsp;&nbsp;CGN: I’m interested in how you source the industrial material for your work. I’m also wondering how your access to those materials has changed over the years.BK: I like going to hardware stores (before they grew into big box stores like Home Depot.) When I was in LA I lived near Venice and&nbsp;the boat industry. I would go poking around in different places to look at the apparatus the [boaters and builders] used–there were pulleys and wires and things like that that they used for the sails and such. I would take those and make some sort of sculpture. Not to replicate anything like a sailboat, or any identifiable thing, but as a material.&nbsp;Different materials became really important to me. I did a lot of cyanotypes, and I found a fiberglass screen that was used to keep bugs out of windows, and I used that to create flat forms that then could be manipulated into three-dimensional forms. In using that I began to see all the possibilities when light is used with screen material. I could get different layers of moirés with different lights and shadows. Again, it’s a matter of being curious about materials and hanging out and looking in places where you might find something unique. It was also the time of the light and space movement. There was a lot of plastic around, and people working in resin. I never poured in any resin, but I did use plastic. Once I find the material that has possibilities I really push looking into all it can produce. It’s a curiosity with materials.&nbsp;Maybe that’s why I don’t do any digital work. I really have to have a hand on whatever it is that I’m creating. It’s not just a visual, it’s definitely my being in the set, my moving and touching and manipulating, it’s more of a sculptural energy than it is a visual one. You can do all these things on the digital screen but it’s a different experience.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419115/ayqe8oqwkygrfakpamld.jpg"><figcaption>Barbara Kasten, Figure/Chair: 12, 1973, Diazotype, 16 x 20 in &nbsp;</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;CGN: Yes, that’s interesting. I didn’t realize that, but it makes sense given your interests. Could you talk about your relationship with theater and performance? It seems like it’s been important to you to collaborate with performers or bring that aspect into your work.&nbsp;BK: It was really more inspired by the Bauhaus than it was by any real desire to work as a collaborative effort with performers. That came about because, in the Bauhaus, they accepted so many different disciplines and forms. [Oskar] Schlemmer made wonderful, very bizarre costumes—I love that kind of thing. I was moving in those three-dimensional environments, and it became a static image. I wanted to move away from that into something where motion was added. One step leads to another and so that’s how the video pieces came into play. Just like I used the sculpture in front of the view camera to make an image, I actually incorporate a kind of sculpture in the set of the video. The video is not just a projection on the wall, it actually is an extension of the image into the space. And I incorporate sculptural elements into it.&nbsp;&nbsp;CGN: At this stage in your career, what are your goals? What are hoping to achieve with your work?BK: I hope I live long enough to do some more work! I did have a modicum of acknowledgment and reputation back in the eighties in the photo world but it turns out that the ICA Philadelphia show (Barbara Kasten: Stages) and the examination that the curator Alex Klein gave to my work opened up the eyes of a lot of public and curators.&nbsp;That’s why the book–Barbara Kasten: Architecture &amp; Film (2015–2020)–is interesting to me because I’ve really developed a lot of ideas that I had when I was younger but I didn’t have the opportunity to show. Unless you can put the work out there—if it stays in your head or in your studio, it’s not the same growth. I’m fortunate to be recognized enough to have opportunities and to still be healthy enough to be making art.&nbsp; &nbsp;CGN: That’s great. And to have that recognition during your lifetime and be able to grow and learn from it.BK: For me it’s not the recognition as much as the ability to grow. I did a public mural in Toronto right before COVID. Those are things I always wanted to do but that’s an expensive project; you don’t get to do those things unless you can prove that you can or people will take a chance with you. That’s the best part about getting old and still working—lots of opportunities.&nbsp;#&nbsp;This interview appears in the Fall 2022 40th anniversary issue of CGN. To subscribe in print <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/print-subscriptions">click here</a>.&nbsp;</body></html>

After 50 Years Barbara  Kasten Still Finds a New Perspective  

<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

<a href="https://chicagoarchitecturebiennial.org/news/features/announcing_the_cab_5_artistic_team">Chicago Architecture Biennial Announces Floating Museum to Lead Artistic Team for CAB 5</a>The Chicago Architecture Biennial (CAB) is excited to announce&nbsp;that the Chicago-based collective Floating Museum will take the helm as the artistic team of CAB 5, the fifth edition of North America’s leading architecture and design exhibition, opening September of 2023. Co-directed by Jeremiah Hulsebos-Spofford, Faheem Majeed, Andrew Schachman, and avery r. young, Floating Museum is a collective of artists, designers, poets, and educators focused on building connections between art, community, architecture, and public institutions. Under Floating Museum’s artistic direction, the Biennial will continue to push its exhibition and program model to prioritize presenting innovative ideas that imagine and shape the future of architecture and design.Key image: Floating Museum on the Chicago Riverwalk&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chicagobusiness.com/politics/downtown-nascar-race-worries-chicago-museums?utm_source=breaking-news&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=20220915&amp;utm_content=article1-image">Don't shake the art, please: NASCAR race worrying Chicago's museums</a>Concern is rising fast among Chicago’s big downtown museums about the impact of Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s planned NASCAR race next Fourth of July weekend&nbsp;on their operations and safety.The city’s Sports Commission says in a statement that any concerns will be resolved in upcoming meetings. But it’s been weeks since the cultural institutions first met with the city and Chicago Park District to air the issue, and they’re still awaiting promised details about which streets will be closed for how long and whether there will be any risk to priceless but fragile objects in the Art Institute from vibrations and loud noises from racing stock cars.Via Crain's Chicago&nbsp;<a href="https://onmilwaukee.com/articles/calatrava-returns?utm_source=OnMilwaukee.com+Newsletters&amp;utm_campaign=78c097bbbc-EMAIL_DAILY_DIGEST&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_term=0_ecd5e3eef5-78c097bbbc-200932933">Calatrava returns to celebrate 20th birthday of his Milwaukee masterpiece</a>We call the Milwaukee Art Museum’s Quadracci Pavilion “The Calatrava” so much that it’s perhaps easy to forget that Santiago Calatrava is a living, breathing person.Twenty-one years after the opening the striking pavilion – the Spanish architect’s first building in the United States – Calatrava returned to Milwaukee on Wednesday for a 20th anniversary moment delayed by the pandemic.Via OnMilwaukee&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chicagobusiness.com/residential-real-estate/frank-lloyd-wright-house-near-racine-sale">Frank Lloyd Wright house near Racine for sale for first time ever - Owner was also owner of Perimeter Gallery</a>A house that Frank Lloyd Wright designed in 1954 for a member of the family that owned Johnson Wax is for sale for the first time since it was built.The low-slung six-bedroom house, part of which is cantilevered over a bluff beside the Root River in Mt. Pleasant, Wis., came on the market Saturday at $725,000. By Sept. 13, the listing agent, Anthony Veranth of Re/Max Newport Elite, already had about a dozen showings scheduled.Via Crain's Chicago&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

CGN Art World Recap: 9/20/22

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419113/cjlmn67f6fcmkbftoznz.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/mary-rousseaux">Connie Noyes &amp; Mary Rousseaux</a>Opening: Thursday, September 15, 5 – 7&nbsp;pmgallery 1871 (Chicago Art Source Gallery)&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419113/be91v59al0239gjmtmee.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/new-works-by-michael-hedges">New works by Michael Hedges</a>Opening: Thursday, September 15, 5 – 7&nbsp;pmMcCormick Gallery&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419114/jvaa1uxgl5lfwvqbs9ic.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/parallels-and-symmetries">Parallels and Symmetries</a>Opening: Friday, September 16, 7 – 10&nbsp;pmBridgeport Art Center&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419115/muoswhrvv9wwxvyvqpdz.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/the-magnetic-north-east-paintings-drew-harris-solo-exhibition">The Magnetic North Paintings. Drew Harris Solo Exhibition</a>Opening: Friday, September 16, 7 – 10&nbsp;pm33 Contemporary Gallery&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419116/sjwqdiiu65j02mteq1mp.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/sam-stewart">Sam Stewart, Daisy Chain</a>Opening: Friday, September 16, 5 – 8&nbsp;pmVolume Gallery&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419117/htipiddp9uyxjqcpuoc8.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/landscape-of-entanglement-azadeh-hussaini">Landscape of Entanglement: Azadeh Hussaini</a>Opening: Friday, September 16, 5 – 9&nbsp;pmOliva Gallery&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

New Exhibitions September 15 - 18 (Part 1)

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419113/wmlyjwaji8w2vcizgxvq.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/jessica-labatte">Jessica Labatte: Knee-deep in the cosmic overwhelm</a>Opening: Friday, September 16, 5 – 8&nbsp;pmWestern Exhibitions&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419114/pibjmgspufo4wal9v8rd.png"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/zachary-a-design-end-of-summer-party-and-new-product-preview">Zachary A. Design end of summer party and new product preview</a>Opening: Friday, September 16, 6 – 9&nbsp;pmZachary A. Design&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419114/psyycxfvgs5dzuink1jn.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/boris-osterov">Boris Osterov: Welcome To the Party</a>Opening: Saturday, September 17, 5 – 7&nbsp;pmBert Green Fine Art&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419115/su4p1wlmxknwsrqhuacg.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/raeleen-kao-270cdfb7-31de-4774-a98d-4ab39621931e">Raeleen Kao: Vital Signs</a>Opening: Saturday, September 17, 5 – 7&nbsp;pmBert Green Fine Art&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419116/aoafjqpszdojmhwmnsvm.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/gordon-hall">Gordon Hall: Turn Back</a>Opening: Friday, Sep 16, 2022 5 – 8&nbsp;pmDOCUMENT&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419117/eklwa4hg4m5duu3xowca.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/peter-lenzo-sculptures">Peter Lenzo: Sculptures</a>Opening: Sunday, Sep 18, 2022 2 – 3&nbsp;pmTerra Incognito Studios&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

New Exhibitions September 15 - 18 (Part 2)

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419107/jgmj7mo2hmiqxo9llzdn.jpg"><figcaption>Chris Levine,&nbsp;Lightness of Being (2004). Photo courtesy of Sotheby's London. &nbsp;</figcaption></figure><a href="https://news.artnet.com/art-world/three-things-about-chris-levines-famous-portrait-of-queen-elizabeth-ii-2119652?utm_content=from_artnetnewsbar&amp;utm_source=Sailthru&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=Sunday%209%2F11%20AM&amp;utm_term=Daily%20Newsletter%20%5BALL%5D%20%5BMORNING%5D">Think You Know the Queen? These 3 Facts About Her Most Famous Portrait Will Make You Think Again</a>In terms of art history, Queen Elizabeth II is undoubtedly one of the most captured visages of our time. She has sat for more than 200 official portraits and been snapped in photographs by countless photographers. While images of the royal family are smattered across contemporary media, royal portraiture is, itself, an ancient art: Monarchs since the days of ancient Egypt have sent their likenesses to the farthest corners of their empires, and to foreign dignitaries as well, in highly choreographed propaganda campaigns. In England, courtiers often commissioned commemorative paintings to underscore their devotion to the ruler, particularly in the first Elizabethan era.&nbsp;Via Artnet, June 2022&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/queen-elizabeth-ii-paintings-photographs-portraits-11662760389">How Queen Elizabeth II Used Art to Shape Her Image</a>Queen Elizabeth II was one of the most visually scrutinized and recorded people in history, and she shrewdly used that to manage her image over her 70-year reign—even though a handful of artists sought to subvert it.&nbsp;When Britain’s longest-serving monarch died Thursday, she left behind a museum’s worth of photographs and painted portraits. London’s National Portrait Gallery catalogs at least 1,000 images of the queen in its collection, nearly all reflecting the way she wanted to be seen as a modern-day royal.Via Wall Street Journal&nbsp;<a href="https://hyperallergic.com/759540/bird-photographers-of-the-year-2022/">Bird Photographer of the Year Winners Capture Feathered Wonders</a>Despite much Internet speculation to the contrary, birds exist. If you can’t find proof of this by looking out your window, the results are in for the 2022 Bird Photographer of the Year awards, and these bird images should set the controversy to rest. From purple-crested Turacos that appear to be kissing or maybe fighting (or both?) to peacefully sleeping penguins and curious owlets, this year’s honorees have captured moments in avian life that also speak to us, their human admirers.Via Hyperallergic&nbsp;</body></html>

What We're Reading 9/13/22

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419107/lwv35c1oodzinuv4fpvc.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/citing-black-geographies">Citing Black Geographies</a>Opening: Friday, September 9, 5 – 7&nbsp;pmGRAY West Town&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419108/epvtbmthxr4y1q2gvj9x.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/richard-anuskiewicz-the-final-works">Richard Anuszkiewicz: Interconnections - The Final Paintings - 1986-2020</a>Opening: Friday, September 9, 5 – 8&nbsp;pmRosenthal Fine Art, Inc.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419109/fzgq5rmmnoxpo6h5fadj.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/doug-delind-genesis">Doug DeLind: Genesis</a>Opening: Friday, September 9, 5 – 8&nbsp;pmVale Craft Gallery&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419109/whkyic3rknmvxapz0o1o.png"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/small-neon">Small Neon</a>Opening: Friday, September 9, 5 – 8&nbsp;pmKen Saunders Gallery&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419110/fsfuwfkcjdzsajgwviby.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/neil-goodman-through-a-different-lens-new-sculptures">Neil Goodman: Through a Different Lens, new sculptures</a>Opening: Friday, September 9, 5 – 8&nbsp;pmCarl Hammer Gallery&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419111/mk070snq4mkojev3yfuw.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/zack-wirsum-going-hard-in-the-paint-water-based">Zack Wirsum: Going Hard in the Paint (Water Based)</a>Opening: Friday, September 9, 5 – 8&nbsp;pmJean Albano Gallery&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

New Exhibitions September 9 (Part 2)

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419107/fiwvy1u6q0irsem4da9q.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/saic-faculty-sabbatical-triennial">SAIC Faculty Sabbatical Triennial</a>Opening: Friday, September 9, 5 – 8&nbsp;pmSAIC Galleries&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419108/pup2zsqcdhedan51gbkm.png"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/spencer-hutchinson">Spencer Hutchinson</a>Opening: Friday, September 9, 5 – 8&nbsp;pmARC Gallery&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419109/po9l8itudayi1dgeozpg.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/solo-s">Solo(s)</a>Opening: Thursday, September 8, 6 – 8&nbsp;pmDePaul University Art Museum (DPAM)&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419110/vlytu8shfmdtdusts6zt.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/autumn-maximum">Autumn Maximum</a>Opening: Friday, September 9, 6 – 9&nbsp;pmMu Gallery&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419110/thae6xodvgeocbhywu9z.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/robin-denevan-new-encaustic-paintings">Robin Denevan: New Encaustic Paintings</a>Opening: Friday, September 9, 5 – 8&nbsp;pmAddington Gallery&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419111/fjaxsxktsxraibatvxvh.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/william-blake-a-great-battlefield">William Blake: A Great Battlefield</a>Opening: Friday, September 9, 5 – 9&nbsp;pmGallery Victor Armendariz&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419112/h1bp9tpuxzabdhluuo1f.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/john-fraser-00c9b6d0-10f2-4c33-9cce-67b138485804">John Fraser</a>Opening: Friday, September 9, 4 – 7&nbsp;pmZolla / Lieberman Gallery&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

New Exhibitions September 9 (Part 1)

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419107/ssl9vrpgj5nxhnlkbh7v.jpg"></figure>&nbsp;Via PRRago/Wright is pleased to announce that Chicago auction house <a href="https://toomeyco.com">Toomey &amp; Co.</a> will join the brand, building on the company’s continued momentum and growth in the industry. As with Rago/Wright’s 2021 partnership with LA Modern Auctions (LAMA), Toomey &amp; Co. will maintain its name while all four houses work together to share technology, expertise, and marketing efforts. Based in the suburb of Oak Park, IL, the Toomey &amp; Co. office and galleries will relocate to Wright’s Chicago headquarters at 1440 W. Hubbard St. in the fall of 2022.“The business I began 40 years ago has evolved significantly in the last four decades, and we’re proud to be embarking on an exciting new chapter, which we are confident will benefit our brand as well as the industry and its clients,” says John Toomey, President of Toomey &amp; Co. “Joining forces with Rago/Wright expands our ability to serve our clients, extends our competitive advantage, and positions us for future growth,” Founded in 1987, Toomey &amp; Co. is a leading and trusted presence in the art and design markets. Now under the leadership of LucyToomey and John Walcher, Toomey &amp; Co. offers several auctions per year with departments including early 20th century and modern design, fine art, jewelry, silver, and timepieces.A renowned specialist in objects of the Arts &amp; Crafts Movement, John Toomey will join David Rago, who is a preeminent authority in 20th century decorative ceramics and design, in a formidable merging of knowledge and talents. Bolstering Rago/Wright’s capacity in this field, this new partnership perfectly complements Wright’s focus on Modern design, strengthening the combined brand’s ability to offer strategic opportunities for buying and selling works from a wide range of eras and movements.Further, Toomey &amp; Co. specialist Riley Humler will contribute to the reputation that Partner David Rago has built for Rago/Wright as a leading auction house for early 20th century American ceramics and art pottery. With more than 30 years of auction experience, Humler is President of the American Art Pottery Association, has appeared regularly on Antiques Roadshow, and, in 1991, curated and sold the Glover Collection, considered the most important sale of Rookwood pottery to date.“Joining forces with John Toomey and Riley Humler is a decades-long dream,” says David Rago. “With this merger, we are launching an American Arts &amp; Crafts team unlike any other in the industry.” Rago/Wright Partner Suzanne Perrault echoes the sentiment, “It is incredibly exciting to grow our expertise and expand our repertoire. We are delighted to finally come together with Toomey &amp; Co. and to collaborate in 20th century design.”Richard Wright will remain in his role as CEO of the combined company, which will continue to offer curated auctions of art, design, ceramics, glass, jewelry, and watches with bespoke digital presentations and state-of-the-art bidding technology. The knowledge and experience of Toomey &amp; Co.’s team will broaden the combined brand’s service to buyers and sellers on an expanded national and international scale, and will consolidate reputable sources for an even stronger voice in the art and design market.“Through the merger with Toomey &amp; Co., we are delivering on our vision to combine the strongest independent auction houses with a shared database and web platform,” says Wright. “Our combined expertise, client service, and technology is unrivaled.”So far in 2022, with a team of 95 across Chicago, Lambertville, New York, and Los Angeles, Rago, Wright, and LAMA have presented 44 auctions with sales totaling more than $60 million, setting world records in multiple categories. Rago/Wright has an exciting fall schedule, including their first auction with Toomey &amp; Co. in October.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419108/hkspnhsoai3dwjdad45z.png"></figure>About Toomey &amp; Co.Toomey &amp; Co. Auctioneers is considered one of the premiere specialty auction houses in the country and has been conducting auctions since 1987. In addition to carefully curated Art and Design auctions, they have featured collections from Governor Jim Thompson, selected works from the Roy and Sarita Warshawsky Collection, The Paul and Terry Somerson Collection, and, most recently, The Ira Simon Collection to benefit the Art Institute of Chicago, with many rare and notable examples of art and design from the Art Nouveau, Aesthetic Movement, Arts &amp; Crafts, and Art Deco periods. Since rebranding in 2018, Toomey &amp; Co. has nearly doubled annual sales.About RagoRago auction was founded in 1984 by David Rago, the preeminent expert in the field of American ceramics and art pottery. With more than five decades of experience handling 20th and 21st century works, David Rago and Suzanne Perrault are nationally recognized experts appearing frequently on PBS’ Antiques Roadshow. Rago handles a broad range of material and its close proximity to New York makes it a favorite destination for many East Coast collectors.About WrightRichard Wright founded Wright auction in 2000. An innovator and pioneer in the auction world, The New York Times called Wright the “maverick of design.” Wright is known around the world for its creativity and quality of presentation. From the sale of the iconic Four Seasons Restaurant interior to Marcel Breuer houses, Wright has successfully produced hundreds of auctions of art and design.About LA Modern AuctionsLA Modern Auctions was founded in 1992 by curator and trusted consultant, Peter Loughrey, and was the first auction house to specialize in the selling of 20th century modern art and design.Together, Peter and Shannon Loughrey quickly established their firm as a trusted authority in the fields of art and design offering quality, vetted material at a variety of price points.&nbsp;</body></html>

Toomey & Co. Auctioneers Joins Rago/Wright

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image image-style-side"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419107/eqjeg99a1rma3mfvsxls.jpg"><figcaption>Photo of Vanja Malloy by Katie Carmickle</figcaption></figure><a href="https://news.uchicago.edu/story/vanja-v-malloy-appointed-dana-feitler-director-smart-museum-art?mc_cid=5be3c3cfc7&amp;mc_eid=a6ad3ea4a5">Vanja V. Malloy appointed the Dana Feitler Director of the Smart Museum of Art</a>Vanja V. Malloy, an accomplished museum director, curator, scholar and community builder, has been appointed as the Dana Feitler Director of the Smart Museum of Art, effective Oct. 1. She will lead the University of Chicago’s fine arts museum and its exhibitions, public and arts education programs, and student and faculty collaborations.Via Smart Museum PR&nbsp;<a href="https://www.artic.edu/articles/981/i-paint-pictures-too-kerry-james-marshall-on-paul-cezanne">I Paint Pictures Too!: Kerry James Marshall on Paul Cezanne</a>I am driven by some of the same ambitions Cezanne expressed when he exclaimed his desire to “make of Impressionism an art that is solid and durable, like the art of the museums.”Via the Art Institute of Chicago websiteKey image: Portrait of the Artist with Pink Background, about 1875. Paul Cezanne. Musée d’Orsay, Paris, donation de M. Philippe Meyer, 2000. © RMN-Grand Palais / Art Resource, NY. Photo: Adrien Didierjean&nbsp;<a href="https://www.thechicagoshow.net">The Chicago Show Returns this October, with a New Name and Boldface Honorary Chairs</a>After a two-and-a-half-year hiatus, the Chicago Show – formerly the Chicago Antiques + Art + Design Show put on by Dolphin Productions – welcomes the return of nearly 60 premier national and international dealers of fine antique furniture, jewelry, silver, and decorative and fine arts, from ancient times to the 20th century. The Woman’s Board of Northwestern Memorial Hospital is planning a series of events to celebrate the art and antiques show’s return to Chicago, including 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.The following day will feature a lunch and lecture with Branca and the evening of October 7 will see the debut of a Young Collectors Night with special guest and event party planner extraordinaire Bronson van Wyck. Additional events will take place throughout the weekend of the show, October 6-9. For the most up-to-date schedule of events with ticket pricing, visit&nbsp;<a href="https://www.thechicagoshow.net/">thechicagoshow.net</a>.&nbsp;</body></html>

CGN Art World Recap: 9/6/22

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419107/d8fgf2iqqaeknfh8acyg.png"><figcaption>Claire Ashley,&nbsp;Raging Expletives,&nbsp;acrylic and spray paint on tyvek,&nbsp;2022, Oak Park, IL. &nbsp;</figcaption></figure>Via PR Chicago, IL. Over&nbsp;100&nbsp;artists nationwide are participating&nbsp;in the relaunch of ART-IN-PLACE (AIP), &nbsp;a collaboration between <a href="https://cortneylederer.us15.list-manage.com/track/click?u=209edfd3257df90385f531e52&amp;id=210472d8d8&amp;e=a71d7765a5">CNL Projects</a>&nbsp;and <a href="https://cortneylederer.us15.list-manage.com/track/click?u=209edfd3257df90385f531e52&amp;id=bee967ec22&amp;e=a71d7765a5">Terrain Exhibitions</a>&nbsp;September 1-October 15, 2022. AIP invites&nbsp;artists to display a&nbsp;public&nbsp;performance or artwork in&nbsp;response to the violence epidemic in the United States.Over two years after the first iteration, ART-IN-PLACE continues its efforts to bring people together and call us to action through the experience of public art.&nbsp;This summer, our teams at CNL Projects and Terrain Exhibitions once again felt compelled to respond to the state of our country. We invited artists to consider the relentless, ongoing violence epidemic —not only overt gun violence, but the continued multifaceted violences of anti-Blackness and racism, transphobia and homophobia, gender-based violence, violence and harm done to Disabled people, and the exploitation of the environment.&nbsp;ART-IN-PLACE provides a structure to amplify artists' voices in public space around&nbsp;these urgent, complex topics. We look to public art as a tool to engage us in thoughtful dialogue, community connection, and much-needed action to promote change. We are using art as a means to reclaim our human rights.Artists of&nbsp;any medium and experience level were invited to respond to the current state of our country by exhibiting an original work of art or performance in public. Over one-hundred&nbsp;artworks/performances are displayed outside a home, on a lawn, from a window visible to the public, or through an artist-formed partnership with a local business across the globe.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419108/f5dyvw5v8tg68rcdg74e.png"><figcaption>Mayumi Lake,&nbsp;Onomatopoeia ( Ladies U/Nite #1),&nbsp;33 (H) x 45(w) x 2(D),&nbsp;Pigment print on canvas, Acrylic paint, glitter, and wood, 2022, Austin Neighborhood, Chicago &nbsp;</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;The ART-IN-PLACE initiative began with three goals in mind:&nbsp;<ul><li>Create opportunity to connect artists with each other around a collective action;</li><li>Use art as a way to build community for people walking around the area; and&nbsp;</li><li>Serve as a catalyst for conversations&nbsp;in response to the violence epidemic&nbsp;using art and performance as a tool to drive impact.</li></ul>Artists across the country were invited to submit to ART-IN-PLACE and represent all skill levels—from hobbyists to trained professionals. Participating artists documented their installations locally and shared images with organizers digitally. While a majority of the 100 submissions came from Chicago neighborhoods, the project’s organizers were pleased to have participation outside of the country, including in Ireland and Jamaica.&nbsp; The spotlight on local artists creates an immediate platform for communities to engage with art and to use it as a lens through which to understand culture, especially a culture in crisis, while the international participation points to the interconnected and global nature of our struggle.&nbsp; Final images have been published at<a href="https://cortneylederer.us15.list-manage.com/track/click?u=209edfd3257df90385f531e52&amp;id=a8f297f9d3&amp;e=a71d7765a5"> www.artinplace.net</a>.&nbsp; The organizers intend&nbsp;to partner with a local political organization to print a series of postcards featuring a selection of the exhibited works to make available for purchase and/or distribution&nbsp;locally to use as a platform to encourage folks to vote in the midterm 2022 elections. &nbsp;Original artwork is available for sale with proceeds benefitting participating artists and organizations identified by each artist.&nbsp; Visit&nbsp; <a href="https://cortneylederer.us15.list-manage.com/track/click?u=209edfd3257df90385f531e52&amp;id=ba05d47e5b&amp;e=a71d7765a5">www.artinplace.net</a>&nbsp;to view all participating artists and to learn more about the project. &nbsp;<a href="https://cortneylederer.us15.list-manage.com/track/click?u=209edfd3257df90385f531e52&amp;id=cf4b88c3c9&amp;e=a71d7765a5">View 2022 Artists</a>&nbsp;</body></html>

Over 100 Artists Part of Relaunched Art-in-Place

<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/hh4mv1vanrlxff7np68h.jpg"><figcaption>David Hockney. 5th March 2020, No. 2. © David Hockney.</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;David Hockney: The Arrival of Spring, Normandy, 2020Two years ago—at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic—the ever-versatile and inventive artist David Hockney traveled to France with the express intention of capturing the emergence of spring.&nbsp;The Art Institute of Chicago&nbsp;Thru Jan 9, 2023<a href="https://www.artic.edu/exhibitions/9705/david-hockney-the-arrival-of-spring-normandy-2020">artic.edu&nbsp;</a>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419101/exuy60fszfrxmf3c3xnx.jpg"><figcaption>Yinka Shonibare at Frederik Meijer Sculpture Gardens in Grand Rapids, MI</figcaption></figure>Yinka Shonibare CBE: Planets in My HeadThis exhibition presents works by Shonibare from the past three decades, many of which have never been shown in the U.S.&nbsp;Frederik Meijer Sculpture Gardens&nbsp;Thru Oct 23&nbsp;<a href="https://www.meijergardens.org">meijergardens.org</a>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419102/qfiifggk11xwd9cmhifh.jpg"><figcaption>Tavares Strachan, Meleager, 2022. Oil, enamel and pigment on acrylic; two panels, 84 x 84 x 2 inches (213.4 x 213.4 x 5.1 cm)</figcaption></figure>Citing Black GeographiesCiting Black Geographies presents the work of 15 artists —including Dawoud Bey, Amanda Williams and Rashid Johnson— whose practices examine “black space”—a term describing the topographies, zones, scenes, and structures that portend black cultural experience.&nbsp;GRAY, West Town.&nbsp;Sept 9–Oct 27<a href="https://www.richardgraygallery.com">richardgraygallery.com</a>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419103/om2ncgkkpxns47uygk2r.jpg"><figcaption>Sentrock</figcaption></figure>Sentrock: The Boy Who Wanted to FlyThe exhibition features new work by the rising artist that reveals for the first time the origin story of his distinctive Bird City&nbsp;Saint character, which appears in prominent murals in Chicago and other cities.&nbsp;Elmhurst Art Museum&nbsp;Sept 9–Jan 15, 2023<a href="https://www.elmhurstartmuseum.org">elmhurstartmuseum.org</a>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419104/lreo40stinwiqkfc8b7g.png"><figcaption>Raheleh Filsoofi</figcaption></figure>Raheleh Filsoofi: Debated NarrativeBorn in Iran, living in the United States, and working in between, Filsoofi contemplates the psychological effects of marginalization and the occupation of geographic and socio-political liminal space. Filsoofi’s work oscillates between the literal and figurative concepts of land, ownership, and border.&nbsp;ENGAGE ProjectsSept 10–Oct 15engage-projects.com&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419105/mdhbdgedzgh5w0dnzfic.jpg"><figcaption>Suzanne Jackson</figcaption></figure>Suzanne Jackson: Listen’ N HomeThrough a selective representation of pivotal works from the past 20 years, as well as a newly made monumental installation, the exhibition presents Jackson’s turn to environmental abstraction, marking the territory and trajectory of her late-life breakthrough paintings.&nbsp;The Arts Club of Chicago&nbsp;Sept 14 – Dec 23<a href="https://www.artsclubchicago.org/exhibition/suzanne-jackson/">artsclubchicago.org</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419105/xehd5gixwxdy5tlm6c7m.jpg"><figcaption>Michiko Itatani</figcaption></figure>Michiko Itatani: Celestial StageChicago-based American artist Michiko Itatani (b. 1948, Osaka, Japan) has grappled with the mysteries of the universe in her work throughout her prolific career.&nbsp;Wrightwood 659Oct 1–Dec 17<a href="https://wrightwood659.org">wrightwood659.org</a>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419106/ww93qxbojmdbbhds3m4v.jpg"><figcaption>Courtesy Randolph Street Market</figcaption></figure>Randolph Street Holiday MarketsThree markets take place this fall, in the West Loop and on Chicago’s Magnificent Mile!Sept 24-25, Nov 12-13, and Dec 17–18. 10am–5pm&nbsp;<a href="https://randolphstreetmarket.com">randolphstreetmarket.com</a>&nbsp;#&nbsp;To view CGN's full calendar <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events">click here.</a>&nbsp;To subscribe to our free newsletters, <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/contact/newsletter">click here.</a>&nbsp;</body></html>

The Season's Highlights: Fall 2022

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419107/ged5hkoqqqynk1tqeumq.webp"><figcaption>Photo:&nbsp;National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; portraits by Amy Sherald (L) and Kehinde Wiley (R) &nbsp;</figcaption></figure><a href="https://www.chicagobusiness.com/politics/obamas-official-portraits-set-white-house-unveiling-after-trump-snub?utm_source=breaking-news&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=20220831&amp;utm_content=article1-readmore">Obama Portraits Coming to White House After National Tour</a>President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden will host former President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama next week for the unveiling of their official White House portraits.The Sept. 7 ceremony, which the White House announced Wednesday, is typically an occasion for a president to honor his immediate predecessor. But Obama’s unveiling did not occur during Donald Trump’s presidency, given the animus between the two men.&nbsp;Via Crain's&nbsp;Art Design Chicago Returns This Fall<a href="https://artdesignchicago.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=267a08a7bec1f099f2207f0ac&amp;id=cb25267494&amp;e=ed2e5b3048">Art Design Chicago Now</a> is a series of public conversations and digital storytelling amplifying the voices of Chicago's diverse community of makers―past and present. Featuring archivists, academics, artists, and curators, Art Design Chicago Now programs deepen understanding of the essential role the city’s creatives continue to play in shaping the now, in Chicago and beyond. Programs include Sustainable Sustenance on September 13, 7:00 PM at 6018North, Chicago Murals: An online Discussion with Artists Meg Duguid and Bernard Williams on September 14, 6:00 PM, and Pilsen Mural Tour with Sam Kirk September 18, 11:00 AM or 1:00 PM at16th Street and Paulina Street&nbsp;<a href="www.hydeparkart.org/gala">Hyde Park Art Center hosts its 83rd Annual Gala in November</a>Hyde Park Art Center hosts its annual Gala that activates its entire building on Friday, November 18, from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m., with an after party that goes till midnight. The lively event is packed with hands-on art activities, performances, open studios, art auctions, and a DJ set, offering a unique and interactive experience while benefitting the art center’s various programs supporting Chicago art and artists.Art Center Director of Development, Aaron Rodgers, says: “This year’s Gala celebrates Open Arts, the Art Center’s groundbreaking contribute-what-you-can model launched in 2021 that removes financial barriers to arts education for artists of all ages and stages. We are also toasting Chicago art, artists, and the people who love them with an evening full of art experiences, personal connections, and fun. We are especially excited to bring back the vibrant after party, returning for the first time since 2019. Support generated from Gala will make 2023 programming possible, including major solo exhibition Casas/Islas by Edra Soto and other initiatives.”The Gala is co-chaired by Rachel Conant, Laura Letinsky, Kim + Jim Taylor, and Satannia + Sylvester Williams, with funds raised to deepen the impact of the Art Center’s programs for Chicago art and artists, including exhibitions, residency programs, free public programming, Artists Run Chicago funding for independent art spaces, Open Arts and other educational programs, and more. Hyde Park Art Center’s Gala 2022 is presented by Lead Sponsors Rachel Conant and Julie and John Guida of The Guida Family Foundation.&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="http://www.hydeparkart.org/gala">www.hydeparkart.org/gala</a>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419108/j23apmppnfrbpxjiqyd8.png"><figcaption>Art by Judy Ledgerwood</figcaption></figure>Judy Ledgerwood Partner Exhibition Event at University Club of ChicagoTuesday, September 20, 2022&nbsp; University Club of Chicago | 76 E.&nbsp;Monroe St. <a href="https://expochicago.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=feab88d1702b05fff44372e88&amp;id=3ac2ac5701&amp;e=b25d02ccd1">Tickets $25</a> –&nbsp;Limited Spots AvailableThe University Club of Chicago will showcase a solo presentation of paintings and ceramics by Judy Ledgerwood, in partnership with&nbsp;Rhona Hoffman Gallery. For this exhibition, Ledgerwood’s selection of work was inspired by the architectural elements present throughout the Club’s historic gothic skyscraper – the quatrefoil.In contrast to an architectural quatrefoil, Ledgerwood’s forms take shape through the imperfect gesture of her own hand. Within the canvases, subtle and bold color interactions collide, curving lines zigzag and droop, paint drips off, and edges become fluid.&nbsp;Chicago-based painter and Assistant Professor of Painting and Drawing at Illinois State University, Andreas Fisher joins Ledgerwood to discuss the work on view as well as speak to her larger art making practice.&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

CGN Art World Recap: 8/31/22

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419107/yctwzu3ajvj74y5ull4v.png"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/fake-news-lying-pictures-dutch-political-prints">Fake News &amp; Lying Pictures: Political Prints in the Dutch Republic</a>Opening: Thursday, September 1, 5 – 7&nbsp;pmKrannert Art Museum, University of Illinois&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419108/ea0idoz91cdt2rsqxikj.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/ellen-berkenblit">Ellen Berkenblit: Umberville</a>Opening: Thursday, September 1, 2022 6 – 8&nbsp;pmCorbett vs. Dempsey&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419109/am51jfgam9c0ulu3hn1b.png"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/thank-you-goodbye">Thank You Goodbye</a>Opening: Friday, September 2, 2022 6 – 9&nbsp;pmEpiphany Center for the Arts&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419110/tsstrsac11kilto6cdbb.png"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/forward">Forward</a>Opening: Friday, September 2, 2022 5 – 9&nbsp;pmLily Pad | West&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419110/gbqtldd1vzm9corek66o.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/helene-smith-romer">Helene Smith-Romer</a>Opening: Saturday, September 3, 2022 5 – 8&nbsp;pmStola Contemporary Art&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

New Exhibitions September 1 - 3

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419101/dcngdvok7ussph1oj7hj.jpg"><figcaption>&nbsp;Chicago Design Through the Decades by Chicago Design Archives – Photo courtesy of Art on theMART &nbsp;</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;Via PR<a href="https://artonthemart.com">Art on theMART</a> continues to celebrate The City of Chicago's Year of Chicago Dance with artists&nbsp;Yuge Zhou and&nbsp;Jasmin Taylor.&nbsp;Enjoy this never-before-seen footage below of each artists' upcoming works that will debut on the façade of one of Chicago's most iconic buildings, theMART.&nbsp;"As a large-scale, centrally-located platform, Art on theMART is a new kind of stage for performing artists and shows the world the breadth and&nbsp;depth of Chicago's creative talent."– Cynthia Noble, Executive Director, Art on theMART&nbsp;Love Letters, Yuge ZhouLove Letters is a video projection by Chinese-born, Chicago-based artist Yuge Zhou that portrays a lively courtship dance between two urban dwellers searching for each other through a labyrinth of colorful geometry with growing curiosity, electricity and affection.Choreography:&nbsp;Hannah SantistevanPerformers:&nbsp;Rebecca Huang and Joffrey dancer Xavier NunezComputational Animation:&nbsp;Mary Franck and Patrick SteppanSound: Ori Zur&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419102/jw6pjs2d4o36c26l0ahh.png"><figcaption>&nbsp;Chicago Design Through the Decades, Daria Tsoupikova – Photo courtesy of Art on theMART &nbsp;</figcaption></figure>Trap Moulin Rouge, Jasmin TaylorTrap Moulin Rouge by Jasmin Taylor, in co-production with Motion/Pictures Dance Project, takes audiences to Chicago's South Side to showcase the vibrant Black culture and dance that emanate from it. Taking sonic and aesthetic inspiration from the 2001 film "Moulin Rouge," Trap Moulin Rouge combines classical, R&amp;B and jazz melodies with a variety of dance styles with the aim of creating and promoting equity in Chicago through the performing arts.Co-producer: Motion/Pictures Dance ProjectAssistant Composer: Atticus LazenbySound: Friends of Friends Recording (Book Mende and DeAnna Doersch)Design: India Wilson and Icy Nails&nbsp;The Art on theMART Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit created to advance Art on theMART's mission to provide free access to compelling and contemporary moving-image artwork projected onto the façade of theMART. The Foundation's objective is to expand funding for artist commission fees and other art production costs.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

Art on theMART Fall 2022 Program Announced

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419107/te3gymsi2pg0jvigq4tn.jpg"><figcaption>Image: Scott Fortino,&nbsp;Jenner School, Alphabet,&nbsp;1998</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;Via PRAs students head back to school at Columbia College Chicago and beyond, education remains a primary pillar of the museum’s focus.Museum of Contemporary Photography is providing <a href="https://www.mocp.org/education/schedule-a-visit.php">educational resources</a>, including custom print viewings, educational guides, and more.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mocp.org/education/exhibition-tours.php">Exhibition Tours</a><a href="https://www.mocp.org/education/tours-and-print-viewings.php">Collection Print Viewings</a><a href="https://www.mocp.org/exhibitions/2020/10/mocp-education-brochure.pdf">Read MoCP's brochure on School &amp; Teacher Programs here</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419108/ol1nn3nxfpyhoksnmv9a.jpg"><figcaption>James Iska,&nbsp;First Day of School, Hans Christian Anderson Elementary School, from Changing Chicago, 1988.</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;The Museum of Contemporary Photography aims to promote a greater understanding and appreciation of the artistic, cultural and political implication of the photographic image in our world today. As a college art museum with a teaching mission, the museum provides a wide range of educational opportunities for students, educators, and the general public including: public programs, free docent-led museum tours, viewings of works from the museum’s collections, community engagement initiatives, and curricular resources for educators.&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

MoCP Announces Back To School Educational Resources

<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><a href="https://files.constantcontact.com/db846255701/23d81380-19c7-4d48-aad6-17733d5236b9.pdf?rdr=true">Passing the Torch – Sculptor to Sculptor</a>Pigment International made a very special visit to iconic sculptor Richard Hunt’s studio in the Lincoln Park neighborhood of Chicago. There we witnessed three generations of Black sculptors connect. Delaware based sculptors Aaron Paskins and his wife Gina were visiting as part of their attendance at the Fellowship Open in Milwaukee. They were joined by Sand Robinson, member of the Board of Trustees of the Milwaukee Art Museum (MAM) and former president of the African American Art Alliance (AAAA) and art consultant Don Roman.Via Pigment International&nbsp;<a href="https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-chicago-gallery-scene-overlooked">The Chicago Gallery Scene Is often Overlooked—It Shouldn’t Be</a>Several cities leap to mind when discussing contemporary art galleries in the U.S.: Los Angeles, with its recent influx of East Coast spaces opening West Coast outposts. Palm Beach, as growing populations and support for the scene have turned seasonal locales into year-round ventures. New York, always ubiquitous. But Chicago seems perennially overlooked.Via Artsy&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419101/w2fst3vgnpc2uduo6p0e.jpg"><figcaption>The Pritzker Archives and Memorial Park Center (10475 12th St., Somers) is set to finish construction in December; Photo courtesy of Pritzker Military Museum &amp; Library</figcaption></figure><a href="https://www.milwaukeemag.com/a-legendary-architects-last-design-is-being-built-in-wisconsin/">A Legendary Architect’s Last Design Is Being Built in Wisconsin</a>Helmut Jahn wanted to create a new landmark.&nbsp;The legendary postmodernist architect – known for the James R. Thompson Center in Chicago, among many other buildings – was tapped by the Pritzker Military Museum &amp; Library to design a new storage facility in 2018. Pritzker’s Chicago home was running out of room for its collection of over 100,000 military artifacts and was looking to an open site northwest of Kenosha to expand.&nbsp;&nbsp;Via Milwaukee Magazine&nbsp;</body></html>

What We're Reading 8/25/22

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419101/iyqa1yuzhtxhsbxtf3ri.jpg"></figure>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/capturing-louis-sullivan-what-richard-nickel-saw-august-26-through-february-19-2023">Capturing Louis Sullivan: What Richard Nickel Saw</a>Exhibition begins August 26Richard H. Driehaus MuseumFocusing on Adler &amp; Sullivan’s Chicago buildings of the 1880s and early 1890s, the exhibition will explore the firm’s architecture through the lens of Nickel’s photography, which provides a detailed record of these buildings and, in particular, Sullivan’s signature ornamentation. The exhibition will highlight the integral role Nickel played in preserving Sullivan’s legacy—the photographer’s work is all that remains of many of Adler &amp; Sullivan’s major buildings—while ultimately losing his life in an effort to salvage artifacts during a demolition.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419101/k2nxodufz5povw80q9f3.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/world-that-awaits">World that Awaits</a>Opening: Friday, August 26, 6 – 10&nbsp;pmMu GalleryA group exhibition that includes work by Chicago-based artists Kayla Anderson, Scott Kemp, Sofia Diaz Fernandez, Cody Norman, Jungwoo Lee, and FÁTIMA, curated by Amay Kataria.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419102/p9ye4yjvcphdagwk0idf.jpg"></figure>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/nick-cave-and-jack-cave-the-color-is-a-fashion-exhibition">Nick Cave and Jack Cave: The Color Is: A Fashion Exhibition</a>Exhibition begins August 27The DuSable Museum of African American HistoryIn partnership with the MCA Chicago and the groundbreaking retrospective exhibition “NICK CAVE: FOROTHERMORE,” which is currently on view at the MCA until October 2, 2022.&nbsp; This is the first time that these works of art will be installed publicly and the DuSable is the first museum in the world to ever exhibit Nick Cave’s or Jack Cave’s “fashion art.”&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419103/siy8xafewpufvrtrhnn7.jpg"></figure>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/zen-blues-visual-ponderings-mixed-media-cyanotypes-by-colleen-steenhagen">Zen Blues &amp; Visual Ponderings. Mixed Media Cyanotypes&nbsp;by Colleen Steenhagen</a>Opening: Saturday, August 27, 6 – 9&nbsp;pmBlue Moon GalleryColleen's current collection of mixed media art is built upon cyanotypes created from found materials and negatives. With her long history of photography, she has been drawn to the cyanotype process of developing images with the use of the sun in her own back yard in place of a darkroom within the confines of a building.&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

New Exhibitions August 26 & 27

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419101/brtsqkdwh8evtrdxtdx6.png"></figure>Via PRThe Chicago Monuments Project (CMP) Advisory Committee released its final report, synthesized from a comprehensive, community-focused engagement process over the past year or more — the first of its kind in a major U.S. city. Thousands of Chicagoans from diverse communities contributed to this conversation on the city’s public monuments through several modes including surveys, live discussions and free-response public feedback submitted via <a href="http://link.mediaoutreach.meltwater.com/ls/click?upn=jd8-2BsLkKeKzJJH-2F5YciLh8sfr5LTTKWIM6bd94IhkrYCQ1vgIKwNDhzS9APcqT9jjxps_BYLPtpUivDHORxxkVXshLCRT3wjV7CgXbLJWP9J5MP9LJ6jv7-2Bb0c97UF1yE1XeiKasl3Q0KHAlfCn9N7XONZksYe5OIXa5kf5eLUqZODuRSP9aq4SJ-2B49W0jH0wJ361i16ryG-2B6zGsCP-2B3aeL3idfpMpxdsVAUMKbFeDmiql6IbUF6a9DGmXwmRVIL0QHVt1oUuktxYG4n1LAs21dSLBL7TYVq9E8q-2B0dhF0A1nPkmS18OOYMe59BPhJlDiRUQ8QnaY0cPBvpMMaflJz5boxWV09HbEOLkIQSiDc2RkBHvSUzDBzzQfS-2Fm5pce9svUeo2KoklervfYuB1-2FNcDH0pxN2a8f9DpxMUxhg3RLUd8sjCZLQgeRMjQ4MDJw0hFfA0Sr7GSE2x92xqblEjE1NNA-3D-3D">ChicagoMonuments.org</a>. The recommendations overwhelming conveyed the public’s desire for the creation of new monuments that memorialized Chicago’s true and complete history. As a result, DCASE is supporting the creation of eight new works each with a $50,000 planning grant, in addition to ongoing programs and investments to help diversity the collection.Leading the effort was the Chicago Monuments Project Advisory Committee, a group of community leaders, artists, architects, scholars, curators, and city officials, who dedicated their time, experience, and expertise. This broad coalition engaged with a wide range of communities and world views to ask questions and bring the perspectives required to do this work on behalf of all Chicago’s people. The committee began its work in Fall 2020, conducted outreach throughout 2021 and compiled analysis and recommendations in Spring and Summer 2022.CMP Co-chairs Mark Kelly and Bonnie McDonald shared, “As Co-chairs, we proudly submit our report for consideration. The committee recommends interventions, ongoing program investments, funding of new public art projects and the development of curriculum and engagement programs for youth, teachers and docents. We believe the report’s ideas and recommendations will strengthen our City as our public art collection becomes more honest about our history and far more inclusive regarding who is represented and what stories are told. To our knowledge, we had one of the most engaging processes among many cities also grappling with the topic of their problematic monuments. We wish to thank and acknowledge the work of the committee members in doing so; this was a labor of love on the part of our community and is proof of what is possible when we listen to each other.”Since the launch of the Chicago Monuments Project, the project has engaged thousands of individuals through its hotline and website, <a href="http://link.mediaoutreach.meltwater.com/ls/click?upn=Fx6ZlfogyykExOP4a2vWQ8Wo6HEowryPWd6OEYKkPlRNjkQ-2BJSO-2Bw5Q1orVDDW2ZEm1b_BYLPtpUivDHORxxkVXshLCRT3wjV7CgXbLJWP9J5MP9LJ6jv7-2Bb0c97UF1yE1XeiKasl3Q0KHAlfCn9N7XONZksYe5OIXa5kf5eLUqZODuRSP9aq4SJ-2B49W0jH0wJ361i16ryG-2B6zGsCP-2B3aeL3idfpMpxdsVAUMKbFeDmiql6IbUF6a9DGmXwmRVIL0QHVt1oUuktxYG4n1LAs21dSLBL7TYVq9E8q-2B0dhF0A1nPkmrRs5-2BYaTU6gTslj87j9CnTMQbJetbCXQBFFhjpqOKFuXxB86y2ueNadOnUlngBksp11gmccZifwCCy0ovFte1y3VMb6ij86GIqDbKNELviWYiCcfyd-2Bdt3ibh35trCFGnjTMOB9gzIWH9WEI3QkQId5LpWtFlp8yOLI7sgV8giQ-3D-3D">ChicagoMonuments.org</a> — and dozens of virtual and in-person neighborhood programs were hosted by committee members, national experts, and local community organizations.&nbsp;Ken Lum, Chief Curatorial Advisor of the Monument Lab and participant in one of the CMP engagement series shared, “The Chicago Monuments Project is an ambitious democratic exercise, unprecedented in scope by any large American urban center, to grapple with the fullness of omissions regarding Chicago's monumental landscape and public works system of representation.”&nbsp;Treatments for Monuments Under ReviewCMP has carefully deliberated and reflected on the extensive, passionate, and wide-ranging public opinion offered. The report offers specific treatment recommendations for the monuments under review, including taking the monument down, modifying the monument by commissioning another artwork and/or adding additional signage. Among the various reasons that an artwork or monument may require action to be taken by the City are: the work does not fit with the City’s mission, goals and objectives for the Chicago Public Art Program; the work presents a threat to public safety; providing security for the work requires too many resources; acknowledgement of significant deleterious information about the monument and what or whom it represents; in addition to other criteria outlined in the <a href="http://link.mediaoutreach.meltwater.com/ls/click?upn=jd8-2BsLkKeKzJJH-2F5YciLh8sfr5LTTKWIM6bd94IhkrYCQ1vgIKwNDhzS9APcqT9jr8NN_BYLPtpUivDHORxxkVXshLCRT3wjV7CgXbLJWP9J5MP9LJ6jv7-2Bb0c97UF1yE1XeiKasl3Q0KHAlfCn9N7XONZksYe5OIXa5kf5eLUqZODuRSP9aq4SJ-2B49W0jH0wJ361i16ryG-2B6zGsCP-2B3aeL3idfpMpxdsVAUMKbFeDmiql6IbUF6a9DGmXwmRVIL0QHVt1oUuktxYG4n1LAs21dSLBL7TYVq9E8q-2B0dhF0A1nPklAoYE2H13FjbqvtGjF1-2FZgmt-2F9H1hxva0-2BtrpnA3pXVygVN6cCT7Rit3oIyi1KXQpKX8sKCp94Kg8uwEpnNTrLT55MJkYO1-2B2w1YTBSz3ZKjqqES4TiYuGaBhW3T3SahwNNX6wBXOHgMylvc63sRh3h1U399CuWVkjWN54kbiOcw-3D-3D">full report</a>.&nbsp;There is much work to come before any of these recommendations will be finalized and implemented. While the City works through the recommendations, which will require time and the involvement of various City agencies, CMP recommends that signage for all work currently on display be updated.&nbsp;New WorkAs part of its engagement process, CMP released a call, “Reimagining Monuments: Request for Ideas,” to solicit proposals from individual artist and community groups that rethink the place, purpose, and permanence of monuments in our public spaces. In addition, DCASE and Parks commissioned a number of demonstration projects through their public art and grant programs that signified the potential for new types of monuments that highlight diverse approaches and stories. A number of key action items emerged across proposals and demonstration projects, including engaging and interpreting the City’s existing public art collection; achieving greater visibility for American Indians; reexamining Chicago’s history, considering unsung people and underrecognized stories; and prioritizing programs led by or engaging youth.&nbsp;In the near term, the City will award $50,000 planning and implementation grants toward the development of eight new projects, which will add—permanently or temporarily—to the City’s collection and memorialize events, people or groups that historically have been excluded or underrepresented. Among the new works awardees are:<ul><li>The Greater Chatham Initiative for a Mahalia Jackson memorial</li><li>Artists and community groups for a monument to historic events and people that have shaped the Latina/x experience in the Pilsen neighborhood</li><li>The Mother Jones Heritage Project</li><li>Community organizations working to create a monument to honor Jean Baptiste Pointe du Sable and Kitihawa, his wife and a local Potawatomi woman</li><li>Artist Patricia Nguyen and architectural designer John Lee for the Chicago Torture Justice Memorial concept</li><li>The Chicago Race Riot of 1919 Commemoration Project</li><li>A Long Walk Home, for its “Visibility Project” proposal centering on Black women and girls</li><li>A community-led monument to victims of gun violence in Chicago</li></ul>&nbsp;Public Engagement ProcessThe CMP conducted extensive public engagement efforts throughout 2021 to gain feedback on the monuments under review, begin a dialogue about who and what has not been memorialized and solicit ideas and recommendations for future monuments. Engagement modes included:<ul><li>Open-ended public feedback form on the CMP website; online speaker series examining key issues around Chicago’s monuments</li><li>Community-based groups presenting virtual public discussions on specific monuments</li><li>“Drop-in” virtual discussion sessions with CMP advisory committee members and DCASE staff</li><li>Virtual conversations with eight community stakeholder groups: African American, American Indian, Italian America, Latinx, leadership of culturally specific organizations, disability, historic preservation and youth</li><li>American Indian representation developed in partnership with Chicago American Indian Community Collaborative (CAICC)</li><li>Solicitation of project ideas from individual artist and community group for the development of new monuments that rethink the place, purpose and permanence of monuments in our public spaces.</li></ul>“This report looks to the future and recognizes that this is just one phase in an ongoing process. Just as we are reconsidering the permanence of the monuments themselves, the recommendations included in this report are not the final word on the complex, ever-evolving issues related to justice, public space and our shared history. The CMP does not intend for the interventions suggested here to preclude later actions that might further correct or expand the narratives in our public spaces. We will continue to engage with Chicago residents in an honest and sincere effort to build a more diverse and representative public art collection that this city and its residents deserve,” shared DCASE Commissioner Erin Harkey.#&nbsp; #&nbsp; #&nbsp;The project had four main objectives, including:<ul><li>Cataloging monuments and public art on City or Park District property;</li><li>Appointing an advisory committee to determine which pieces warrant attention or action;</li><li>Making recommendations for new monuments or public art that could be commissioned; and</li><li>Creating a platform for the public to engage in a civic dialogue about Chicago’s history.</li><li>&nbsp;</li></ul>Read the full report, compiled by Metris Arts Consulting, at <a href="http://link.mediaoutreach.meltwater.com/ls/click?upn=jd8-2BsLkKeKzJJH-2F5YciLh8sfr5LTTKWIM6bd94IhkrYCQ1vgIKwNDhzS9APcqT9j1-QU_BYLPtpUivDHORxxkVXshLCRT3wjV7CgXbLJWP9J5MP9LJ6jv7-2Bb0c97UF1yE1XeiKasl3Q0KHAlfCn9N7XONZksYe5OIXa5kf5eLUqZODuRSP9aq4SJ-2B49W0jH0wJ361i16ryG-2B6zGsCP-2B3aeL3idfpMpxdsVAUMKbFeDmiql6IbUF6a9DGmXwmRVIL0QHVt1oUuktxYG4n1LAs21dSLBL7TYVq9E8q-2B0dhF0A1nPkmLEH9S2dqgryEko7ONOr7dW2OByTP67hptfvvoOm10TgnXlb6s-2Bw-2F1VPGoj6IraSIQBTOTL9TQ6ptmFrypXlS8G94XrlSStI-2FxvJfENABAEZnztU0GaL9kmw0zxCdvENWL5bODYDtMlPKD6Ea-2FZpYLEIroxAKVQ1kmSxH-2BXK3gbA-3D-3D">ChicagoMonuments.org</a>.&nbsp;</body></html>

Chicago Monuments Project Advisory Committee Releases Its Final Report

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419101/u0j2xas8walicgxbauea.jpg"><figcaption><a href="https://www.saichicago.org/exhibition/pritika-chowdhry-unbearable-memories-unspeakable-histories">Unbearable Memories, Unspeakable Histories</a>, South Asia Institute Chicago (until 10 December)</figcaption></figure><a href="https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2022/08/12/india-and-pakistan-independence-75-years-exhibitions-to-see-around-the-world">India and Pakistan turn 75: exhibitions on independence and partition to see around the world</a> &nbsp;As the nations of India and Pakistan celebrate 75 years of independence—and commemorate the act of partition that brought them into being—cultural institutions are hosting exhibitions and artistic interventions to mark the moment. These provide not only educational information on an important period of history, but also a chance to reflect on the state of both nations today. In doing so, artistic responses can help us to consider partition as an ongoing process; an act that is continually reperformed and still shapes the futures of both countries.Featured is Chicago's own South Asia Institute (<a href="https://www.saichicago.org/exhibition/pritika-chowdhry-unbearable-memories-unspeakable-histories">Unbearable Memories, Unspeakable Histories</a>, South Asia Institute Chicago (until 10 December))&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/art-and-medicine-intersect-in-new-york-city-hospitals">Art and medicine intersect in New York City hospitals</a>It's one of the largest public art collections in the country, and it's not where you might expect to see it. Artwork in New York hospitals aims to heal patients and healers.Via PBS Newshour&nbsp;<a href="https://news.artnet.com/art-world/howard-carter-stole-king-tut-tomb-artifacts-2161023">The Archaeologist Who Discovered King Tut’s Tomb Almost Certainly Stole Artifacts From It, a New Book Reveals</a>Howard Carter achieved lasting fame for his discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun in 1922. Now, a century later, the archaeologist’s legacy may be tainted as new evidence confirms long-held suspicions that he stole from the pharaoh’s final resting place.“The&nbsp;whm amulet you showed me has been undoubtedly stolen from the tomb of Tutankhamun,” Alan Gardiner, a philologist who helped translate the site’s hieroglyphs, wrote to Carter in a previously unpublished 1934 letter. The letter will be published in full for the&nbsp;first time in the forthcoming book Tutankhamun and the Tomb that Changed the World.Via Artnet&nbsp;<a href="https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/architectural-digest-alter-photos-lindemann-barnett-looted-artifacts-1234636671/">Architectural Digest Altered Photos to Edit Out Allegedly Looted Artifacts from Billionaire’s Daughter’s Home</a>Architectural Digest appears to have scrubbed evidence of ancient Khmer artifacts from photos depicting the luxurious San Francisco home of Sloan Lindemann Barnett and husband Roger Barnett, a&nbsp;Washington Post investigation revealed Monday.The photos, which appeared in the January 2021 issue, show numerous empty pedestals in Lindemann Barnett’s courtyard. However, the&nbsp;Post found photos on the website of the couple’s architect, Peter Marino, that showed the pedestals actually held numerous Khmer artifacts that the Cambodian government has said were looted from the country years ago.Via Artnews&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>