<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419059/bij2zm7ylqt8jqnvtspu.jpg"><figcaption>Charmed – 2016, Featuring seven of the most important women artists working today: Laurie Simmons, Shirin Neshat, Barbara Kruger, Cindy Sherman, Rachel Feinstein, Mickalene Thomas, and Wengechi Mutu. Each was asked to conceive a charm that considers both her personal history, and her vision as an artist. 18k gold with 7 unique charms. 8 in diameter. Limited ed. of 50 bracelets. Price upon request. Photo by Victor Prado.&nbsp;</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;By GINNY VAN ALYEAPrior to the pandemic, museums were popular high-end party venues. The money brought in by hosting exclusive events fattened the bottom line, but as we know, that bottom fell out during COVID. Extracting income from less volatile sources (art on the walls, or even in storage) gives museums new ways to sustain operations while also sending their brand home with visitors and patrons. No longer is the cheap canvas tote bag where culture-signaling ends. Today’s art retail can go decidedly high-end as well as on-trend. Anyone remember the rush for Kerry James Marshall’s MZ Wallace collaboration a few EXPOs ago? Nick Cave has done his own <a href="https://mcachicagostore.org/collections/nick-cave-forothermore/products/nick-cave-mz-wallace-tote">exclusive version</a> for his show that just opened at the MCA. Hebru Brantley and Virgil Abloh also did their own capsule collections and pop-ups at the museum.&nbsp;Museum gift shops are now just the beginning.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419060/mp14nzxmayzx13tgnbtu.jpg"><figcaption>The exclusive, limited-edition MZ Wallace × Nick Cave Truth Be Told Large Metro Tote Deluxe is inspired by Cave’s thought-provoking public artwork of the same name along with his immersive Soundsuit sculptures. The tote is rendered in his vibrant mixed-media prints and is accompanied by three accessory pouches in complimentary prints. 100% of the proceeds support educational programs at the MCA and Facility Foundation. $325 before member discount.&nbsp;</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419060/v33vfm9ahygwpygbhr4c.jpg"><figcaption>Swap out your ladies luncheon Hermès for the&nbsp; conversational Orkideh Torabi (Iranian, b. 1979) Peach House Scarf, $160.00 at the MCA&nbsp;</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419062/oetcifgu5fvsmkefvmdk.jpg"><figcaption>Edie Fake, Mural 2 Silk Scarf, $160 at the MCA</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;In Chicago the award-winning MCA Store offers a second floor for browsing 40-pound art tomes, but you may just leave out the ground floor with a cashmere and modal scarf exclusively designed by Orkideh Torabi in hand. Edie Fake, Mickalene Thomas and Christina Quarles all do scarves too.&nbsp;The Art Institute has <a href="https://shop.artic.edu">two gift shops</a> – one at each entrance, ensuring you really can’t escape without the temptation to buy some clever, classic museum-store find, like an Edward Hopper puzzle, a vibrantly hued flower vase, a cheeky t-shirt, socks, or, of course, posters, postcards and magnets featuring the museum’s famous bronze lions.&nbsp;<a href="https://shop.driehausmuseum.org">The Richard H. Driehaus Museum</a> offers period-specific and giftable items, like a tiny brass ornament featuring the Nickerson Mansion’s historic facade, as well as of course neck ties and other textiles reflecting the art, architecture and social mores of the period known as the Gilded Age.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419062/usvlhqttxrddz711ygog.jpg"><figcaption>Georges Seurat, A Sunday on La Grande Jatte—1884 Socks, the Art Institute of Chicago, $16.00 &nbsp;</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;*Something else entirely more attention-getting–and usually also exceeding your average gift shop tab–has been the increasingly prominent, and often very “must-have,” artist/brand collaboration. These partnerships, which are intentionally more creative kismet than department store sales, move what used to be a unique or editioned actual work of art into the wearable, retail realm.&nbsp;Artnet shared in a March op-ed that companies like Artistory, founded only in 2020, is both licensing museum designs and works of art to brands and creating the merchandise being sold, vastly scaling up the revenue institutions (largely nonprofits) can draw from their collections and exhibitions, both in the short and long term.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419063/l5r1viluckcqssi7zt9l.jpg"><figcaption>Anxious Men series. Gold Signet Ring by Rashid Johnson — 2020. 9k gold ring with 1 ruby and red enamel. Edition of 25. Size 19 x 24mm. $10,000. Photo by Thomas Kletcka.</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;Though museums own most of the world’s most famous works of art, and therefore the most widely marketable, contemporary artists are also getting involved in the creation of new, commercial forms of their own art. <a href="http://www.lizworks.net">LIZWORKS</a>, founded by Liz Swig, lists 14 artist partners, from Laurie Simmons to Robert Longo and Cindy Sherman, each designing limited edition jewelry, from pendants and rings to cameos and charm bracelets. Swig, who has recently teamed up with Chicago-born Rashid Johnson on a line of jewelry based on his Anxious Men series, shared with CGN, “There does seem to be a lot of attention on creating shopping experiences in museum gift shops right now. What brought me to creating the collections I do is I see them as mini sculptures and an extension of the artist’s body of work.” These works also give back, in Johnson’s case, where 100% of the artist’s proceeds will be donated to The Black Mental Health Alliance and Prep for Prep.Whatever you think of art in its gift-shop form, or even as a contemporary costume jewelry, it’s clear that artists and museums are thinking outside the box in new and meant-to-be-seen ways. You never used to be able to take your Kruger (or Sherman or Johnson) out around your wrist or&nbsp; neck, but now art can be an accessory while still being art. The right partnerships can make pieces (more) accessible as well as appealing – in price and wearability – to new audiences in endless places.&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

Gift Shop Coveting: Branded Artistic Collaborations Banish the Impulse Buy

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419059/gkhkshsv4p7ctvecpko1.jpg"><figcaption>Front cover and spine, THE CLIP-ON METHOD, 2021, Courtesy: Cady Noland, Rhea Anastas and Galerie Buchholz.</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;By JASON PICKLEMANTHE CLIP-ON METHOD by Cady Noland is the most significant artist book to be published by a living artist within generations. If you want to know why, keep reading. If you don’t, unsubscribe.Measuring 8.5 by 11 inches, the standard size 2-volume book belies its complexity with a format that appears to be generic, but is in truth much more. Comprised primarily of black and white reproductions of Noland’s work and related texts selected by the artist, the book acts as archive, overview, reader and syllabus.&nbsp;THE CLIP-ON METHOD’s two volumes can be picked up and read in any order: back to front, front to back, start in the middle. Doesn’t matter. The net result is the same. The volume with the words “Cady Noland” on the spine is 306 pages; the volume with “THE CLIP-ON METHOD” on it’s spine clocks in at 290 pages. Both books commence their page numbering (their pagination) with the cover, an uncommon design-sleight-of-hand. Within the body of each book, page numbers appear only on the left hand pages, always in the lower left hand corner; 3/8-inch from the left trim and 1/2-inch above the bottom trim—an elegant proportion. They, along with most of the original body copy, are set in an innocuous typewriter-like font.&nbsp;THE CLIP-ON METHOD, simply put, is a book made from photographs of Noland’s artworks, often shown within their first installations and, one would assume, arranged by the artist—an important distinction that adds both subjective gravity and artistic personality to each page layout. Noland’s primary materials are on display throughout the book (fencing, pipes, poles and rails; aluminum walkers, crates, and metal baskets; newspaper clippings, flags and beer cans) and are seen aggregated, arranged and assembled, equally menacing and left akimbo. Leafing through these pages feels like viewing Noland’s work through her eyes alone, on the artist’s terms: resolutely displaying the way her abject materials add an unnerving energy to the rooms in which they are installed. There is an experiential energy to the reproductions and texts, as scale and placement on the pages shift with a seeming disregard for rules or grids. The layout sings of an artist’s voice, not a designer’s voice.&nbsp;Physically, the two soft cover volumes feel hefty, weighty in the hand and lap. The body of each book is printed on a dull-finished paper, most likely an 80# text weight sheet with decent opacity that appears to be around 94%. The covers of each book utilize what feels to be an 18pt C1S cover weight sheet. The front cover has a soft, supple feel compared to the uncoated feel of the inside-front and inside-back covers. Both back covers are blank—indicative of an elegant reserve common to both volumes.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419060/qiqv3th2x0jkqypphmzs.jpg"><figcaption>Cady Noland, Untitled, 1994, as reproduced on pages 208-209 in THE CLIP-ON METHOD, 2021. Courtesy: the artist, Rhea Anastas and Galerie Buchholz.</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;As Noland’s artwork can sell in the millions, and as this book is presumably an artist/publisher-funded venture, the production team could have afford anything in terms of printing: case bound hard cover, head and tail bands, pasted end sheets, fly sheets, inserts, fold outs, die cuts—you name it, they could have afforded it, and yet all such bibliographic extravagances are not to be had in THE CLIP-ON METHOD. Still, the book is luxurious.One of the most interesting stylistic decisions of the books’ design is that artwork reproductions exist without an image caption near them. All caption citations are combined at the back of each book, and are listed across a 2-page spread in vertical columns delineated by date, title, page number, and location—in that order. All artwork titles are presented in ALL CAPS, with any lengthy two-line title indented 1/2-inch on its second line. The same indentation rule applies to the location citation when needed. As this list traverses across the gutter of the book and onto its facing page, horizontal alignment is of paramount importance. To wit, the printing and bindery by Graphius in Ghent Belgium is second to none. If you need an art book printed, call them, but be prepared for no response, as my inquiries to them regarding certain printing specifications of THE CLIP-ON METHOD went unanswered. &nbsp;It’s not unusual for an art book to note its print run within its colophon. My inquiries into this number also proved futile, thwarted by the publishers’ democratic impulse to remove the idea that the books’ print run become precious. Released in 2021, THE CLIP-ON METHOD is already on its second printing and costs $65 USD; the same price as the sold-out first printing. My guess is the second printing may not even note “second printing”: a move to deincentivize re-sale, price hike, or covetousness. Kudos to the publishers Rhea Anastas, Robert Snowden, and the artist herself.The meat of any art book are the reproductions of the artwork, and THE CLIP-ON METHOD delivers with abundance. In total, 168 images of Nolands’ art are reproduced; but uniquely only 9 are printed in color. Again, for an artist that can presumably afford anything, this can only be read as a conceptual hedge, like hiding a royal flush with only a single card showing. Instead of this appearing as a deficit, the black and white reproductions come across as original testament. I’m told the black and white images were printed with two black inks, giving them a depth and tonal evenness despite their apparent economy of reproductive means. When a color reproduction is introduced, it’s almost startling.Over her exhibition career, Noland participated in the photography of many of the works, and a considerable number in THE CLIP-ON METHOD are shown in-situ. Many are shown multiple times, from various angles, and not necessarily placed chronologically within the book(s). Noland’s work at the legendary New York gallery American Fine Arts is, for example, presented 17 times. Had this number been doubled I wouldn’t have minded, nor probably noticed. Each photograph bears witness to sculpture as historic documentation while acting as forensic evidence. Some of the photos are “bad”: blurry or off center. A few are turned 90-degrees. Some of them are a bit dark and with an excessive grit or grain. Some of the images are reproduced to show their physical source: 35mm slide, 4x5 transparency, lab print, or existing offset reproduction. The sequence of the images was arranged by Noland and, since they unfold devoid of strict chronology, rely on an intuitive visual rhythm wherein graphic or conceptual presence supersedes annual sequentiality. An image from 1989 might, for example, be followed by one from 1995 and then followed by one from 1988, then 1999, then 1993, then 1989 etc. What is strange is that this bouncing chronology is generally unnoticeable: that is, unless like me, you find yourself psychotically flipping to the back of each book to reference dates and locations. With scant regard for chronology, the layout invites an experiential immersiveness. The sequence and scale of the reproductions rely on few design rules: relying instead on the artist’s intuition to guide the reader through an encounter with the materials which, as mentioned, are often shown in their first presentation. I’ve been told the layout was done analog, by hand, by Noland herself. Only in the late stages of the layout was the project given to the designer Will Holder for re-composition within Quark Express, an unusual, and now uncommon, choice in digital layout software for book production.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419060/dkpg4k6tjzuruewjwwlw.jpg"><figcaption>(Left) Cady Noland, Press Czar, 1990; (Right) Untitled 1991-92, as reproduced on the covers of THE CLIP-ON METHOD, 2021. Courtesy: the artist, Rhea Anastas and Galerie Buchholz. &nbsp;</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;One of the most extravagant design gestures within THE CLIP-ON METHOD is the unconventional use of blank pages as frequent pauses to the design narrative. Not only might an image on the left-hand page face off with a blank right-hand page, but a subsequent 2-page spread might contain no text, no image, no page number whatsoever: nothing at all. This is the sort of design move that only an artist can get away with. Designers may try to rationalize the use of “negative space”, but only an artist can in negating space create drama and reprieve in service to the framing and focus of image and content. Thank you for nothing.Beyond the images, both volumes contain significant re-prints of existing texts: some by Noland, like her “NOTES FOR 1989 SHOW” and her “Towards a metalanguage of Evil” (the latter in both English and Spanish); and others reproduced via full page scans that look as though the books &nbsp; from which they came were plopped down on a photocopier, with any grime on the glass transferred and repeated. Along with the many installation reproductions, the nine reprinted sociological essays cast a shade of paranoia, manipulation, and since this is Noland, the despoiling of the American project—from corporate industries’ disregard for product safety (the explosive Ford Pinto) to the administrative blind spots of minority recruitment in higher learning (Stephen N. Butler, to whom, along with Noland’s mother Cornelia Ries, this book is dedicated). Texts entitled “Night as Frontier”, “Freak Shows and Talk Shows”, and “Paranoid Style”, might even act as surrogate titles to Noland’s artwork. Truth be told, these essays are a heavy slog, and require a concentration in direct proportion to the immediate gut-punch of Noland’s artworks. The reproduced book covers for each essay might even be construed by some as de facto Nolands.It’s been well noted that Cady Noland’s artworks exude an unrelenting cavalcade of menace from what appear to be store bought or cast-off items. The artworks invoke a sense of violence, deviance, and degeneracy; power, control, and manipulation; anxiety, paranoia, and aggression—not always in that order. Yet, the artist states that the works are not risky or subversive. To my mind, if they are anything, they are uniquely American. We get what we deserve: aluminum walkers as sculpture; metal railings as prison bars; walls of Budweiser as a stand-in for America herself and the arenas of her spectacle. The 2-volume collection is the perfect vehicle to contain such an inventory: an artist’s archive more than a catalog raisonné. And for those of us with our ears to the ground, the inclusion of three images dated 2021 reproduced on pages 182-83, 196-97, and 208-09 of the “Cady Noland” volume offer a ground shift for those unaware of any work from Noland dating post-1999. When I inquired, I was told “these are drawings reproduced in the books’ pages, their published form is a work.” Which brings me back to why THE CLIP-ON METHOD is such a remarkable book. Not only does the work present an archive of materials, but it notes that the archive is alive and growing, as every living artist’s work should. Few artists within the last fifty years have so poignantly dreamed, and damned, the United States of America as vociferously as Noland. THE CLIP-ON METHOD is a great book because it is true to itself. The book does not try to be like other art books by other artists; it is a book about Cady Noland, by Cady Noland, and it looks like a Cady Noland. Artists: take note.&nbsp;</body></html>

Book Report: THE CLIP-ON METHOD

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419059/esq2azgaazjf0aqxijjr.png"></figure>Via PRChicago Artists Coalition is thrilled to announce the recipients of the 2022 MAKER Grant for Chicago-based visual artists <a href="https://news.chicagoartistscoalition.org/t/i-l-cukuthd-dledja-r/">D. Denenge Duyst-Akpem</a> and <a href="https://news.chicagoartistscoalition.org/t/i-l-cukuthd-dledja-y/">Ashley Houghton</a>.&nbsp;Duyst-Akpem and Houghton have each been awarded an unrestricted grant of $3,000 for their commitment to socially-conscious work and working outside of traditional forms. MAKER Grants are funded by Chicago Artists Coalition and OtherPeoplesPixels.CAC would like to thank the jurors for their work in this year's MAKER Grant review: <a href="https://news.chicagoartistscoalition.org/t/i-l-cukuthd-dledja-j/">Anthony Stepter</a>, Assistant Director of MUSE, University of Illinois at Chicago, <a href="https://news.chicagoartistscoalition.org/t/i-l-cukuthd-dledja-t/">Emilio Rojas</a>, Multidisciplinary Artist, and <a href="https://news.chicagoartistscoalition.org/t/i-l-cukuthd-dledja-i/">Mary Patten</a>, Visual Artist and Associate Professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. CAC is also grateful to the <a href="https://news.chicagoartistscoalition.org/t/i-l-cukuthd-dledja-d/">OtherPeoplesPixels</a>for their generosity in supporting Chicago artists.&nbsp;Image Credit: D. Denenge Duyst-Akpem (left), and Ashley Houghton (right)&nbsp;</body></html>

Chicago Artists Coalition Announces 2022 MAKER Grant Recipients

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419059/nl9hrlyasrtigzkfihfa.jpg"><figcaption>Pictured: <a href="https://www.americansforthearts.org/by-program/networks-and-councils/public-art-network/public-art-year-in-review-database/14-movements-a-symphony-in-color-and-words">“14 Movements: A Symphony in Color and Words”</a> by lead artist Mat Tomezsko, commissioned by Mural Arts Philadelphia. Photo by Steve Weinik.</figcaption></figure><a href="https://www.americansforthearts.org/news-room/art-in-the-news/new-study-highlights-how-the-arts-make-streets-safer">New Study Highlights How the Arts Make Streets Safer</a>Can art improve roadway safety? A report released in March by Sam Schwartz Consulting in partnership with Bloomberg Philanthropies examined the impact of art in the streetscape by comparing historical crash rates and real-time behavior of motorists and pedestrians at 22 “asphalt art” sites before and after the projects were installed, with illuminating results.The <a href="https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fbit.ly%2F3uzQXLF&amp;data=04%7C01%7Cdandersson%40bloomberg.org%7Ccb6088e9da594986173908da207dc64a%7C411991d20760424f9834fb81e52d7293%7C0%7C0%7C637858021848833231%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000&amp;sdata=6zEPf4QGPZTL5JnfRg97mLJdvRbQWbZV6EO%2FECMOs7k%3D&amp;reserved=0">Asphalt Art Safety Study</a> is the latest addition to Bloomberg Philanthropies’ <a href="https://asphaltart.bloomberg.org/">Asphalt Art Initiative</a>, which began in 2019 with a how-to guide for communities to install artwork in streetscapes, sidewalks, and crosswalks. The safety study aimed to research the safety impact of public art installed in streets. Examples of asphalt art include intersection murals, crosswalk art, painted plazas, and sidewalk extensions.Via Americans for the Arts&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2022/05/10/warhols-blue-marilyn-195m-christies-new-york-ammann-collection">Warhol's Blue Marilyn sells for record-smashing $195m at Christie's auction of Swiss dealers' collection</a>Powered by an iconic, dazzling and record-breaking Andy Warhol portrait of screen siren Marilyn Monroe, which sold to the US dealer Larry Gagosian for $195m, the collection of the late Swiss art dealing siblings Thomas and Doris Ammann reached $273m ($317.8m with fees) at Christie’s New York on Monday night. Pre-sale expectations ranged from $284m-$420m, indicating in part the tumbling effect of a brutal day on Wall Street and across other financial markets.Via the Art Newspaper&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/theater/ct-ent-kinetic-light-disability-dance-wired-mca-20220428-mzpgaobsqfgy5lkkdqjmiqaqyy-story.html">Wheelchair aerial dance at center of ‘Wired’ at the MCA, a performance that centers disability</a>Alice Sheppard does not shy away from a challenge. In devising her latest dance, “Wired,” she and her Bay Area disability arts company Kinetic Light had to first write the rule books for wheelchair aerial dance.Kinetic Light’s mission is to create art that centers disability. Sheppard and the rest of the company are disabled artists who make work for disabled performers. Key to that vision are questions and advocacy around access — who “gets” to dance and who “gets” to watch or experience art? Since the company’s founding in 2016, Sheppard’s work consistently explores the intersections of disability, race and gender. “Wired,” premiering May 5-8 at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, is no exception, though it’s the first of Kinetic Light’s growing catalog to incorporate aerial dance.Via Chicago Tribune&nbsp;<a href="https://www.milwaukeemag.com/this-documentary-is-going-to-change-the-way-we-look-at-art-criticism/">This Documentary Is Going to Change the Way We Look at Art Criticism</a>After a decade of work, local&nbsp;art critic, journalist, filmmaker and occasional&nbsp;MilMag writer* Mary Louise Schumacher is just months away from completing her documentary exploring the ever-changing world of art criticism.&nbsp;With the interviews and research for the most part done, the finish line is in sight – it’s just final touches and <a href="https://seedandspark.com/fund/outofthepicture#story">fundraising</a> from here forward.&nbsp;Schumacher started her documentary out of a place of concern, because when newsrooms started seriously slashing budgets in the 2000s, art critics were among the first to go.&nbsp;Via Milwaukee Magazine&nbsp;</body></html>

What We're Reading: 5/11/22

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419053/axppk9wyfxivlu6uvrfo.jpg"><figcaption>Paul Cézanne. Bathers (Les Grandes Baigneuses), about 1894–1905. The National Gallery, London, purchased with a special grant and the aid of the Max Rayne Foundation, 1964. &nbsp;</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;By JACQUELINE LEWISPaul Cézanne has been widely considered the father of modern art, perhaps the G.O.A.T. of his accomplished peer group, as Claude Monet and Camille Pissaro called him the “greatest of us all.” Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse later affirmed the sentiment.&nbsp;An upcoming retrospective of Cézanne’s art at the Art Institute of Chicago will delve into the 19th century artist’s mind, dissecting his creative practices and highlighting why they remain so vital more than 100 years later.Cézanne’s artistic process sought to answer the question of whether or not an artist could create art by utilizing only one sensation at a time – sometimes color, then technique or subject. He wanted to understand what happened by working in a singular focus. Was the art truer, more visceral? These were novel considerations that led Cézanne to develop his own deliberately nonlinear process, which led to the birth of the Modern Art movement and also gained him the eternal reputation as “artist’s artist.”&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419054/bzkyxfss86nxdp5iaidk.jpg"><figcaption>Paul Cezanne. Still Life with Apples, 1893–94. The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles. &nbsp;</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;Curated by the Art Institute of Chicago’s Gloria Groom and Caitlin Haskell, with the Tate Modern’s Achim Borchardt-Hume and Natalia Sidlina, the exhibition features an astounding 90 oil paintings and 40 watercolors acquired from public and private collections, and it’s the first major Cézanne retrospective in the U.S. in more than a quarter century. It’s the first exhibition on Cézanne organized by the Art Institute in more than 70 years. To support this staggering presentation, Cézanne includes a technical distillation of the artist’s process, supported by a collaboration amongst current Art Historians, artists and conservators, illuminating Cézanne’s position as a giant of art history for our own time.May 15–Sept 5, 2022&nbsp; •&nbsp; <a href="https://www.artic.edu/exhibitions/9288/cezanne">The Art Institute of Chicago</a>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419054/pkc9wiqc9f8gvrrblzm1.jpg"><figcaption>Paul Cezanne.&nbsp;Montagne Sainte-Victoire with Large Pine, about 1887. The Courtauld Gallery, London, © Courtauld Gallery / Bridgeman Images. &nbsp;</figcaption></figure></body></html>

An Artist's Artist: Paul Cézanne

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419059/wl7xvfy909vzxrxed8vt.jpg"><figcaption>Sungi Mlengeya, Mdada, 2020, Acrylic on canvas, 59 1/10 × 55 1/10 in &nbsp;</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;By ANNA DOBROWOLSKIPicture being so close to a piece of art—no white-gloved museum guard barking at you to step back—that you could almost smell the coconut. Just by pointing a finger at the wall, an artist appears, espresso in hand, ready to answer your questions. This is not a fever dream, or a pitch for the next “immersive art experience,” but the home and art collection of Chris Craft.&nbsp;Craft is a tech entrepreneur by day, and a self-professed ‘amateur’ art aficionado by calling. Though Craft considers himself a novice art collector, his collection is already outgrowing his Ravenswood home.&nbsp;*&nbsp;When I visited Craft at on a January morning, he was drinking coffee with Jabari Jefferson, a mixed-media artist from Washington D.C. As any Chicagoan could attest, a bleak mid-winter visit signals a true friendship.&nbsp;“Jabari’s like a brother to me.” Craft says when he introduces the artist of The Library Series. “He was just teaching me about some art techniques. It’s how I like to learn about art.” It’s not unusual for Chris to talk about artists as though they are a part of the family. Each painting features a character, or a personal history, which anchors him to a specific moment in his life.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419060/eyhfbcpaumcl00ui8ls2.jpg"><figcaption>Artist Jabari Jefferson (left) and collector Chris Craft seated in front of a painting by Jefferson</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;The three of us talked about how artistic talent, and by extension objects, gets passed down as we made our way to the piece that started it all: a sculpture by his father. “I started collecting as a tribute to him.” In 2017, he remembers visiting the Art Institute for the first time after his father died. While there he gravitated towards pieces by Matisse and Braque, colloquially known as ‘Picasso’s competitors.’ He stopped when he recognized Caravaggio by name rather than reputation. “That’s my stepbrother’s middle name!” he thought. Suddenly the fraternal association convinced him that art had always been a part of his story, and he realized he wanted to actively add to it.&nbsp;One of Craft’s first acquisitions, and the first painting that greets us in his living room, is Sungi Mlengeya’s Mdada. For the uninitiated, Mlengeya is a Tanzanian self-taught artist, whose mastery of minimalism and striking contrast is unparalleled. Mdada, the cool woman in the portrait, wears negative space well, making any viewer feel under-dressed. She seems at home in the Craft residence, as do his other 150+ pieces.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419060/sgxqsllxyxoqdayabecv.jpg"><figcaption>Kajahl Benes, Alchemist, 36 x 48 inches, Oil on canvas over panel, 2021</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;Across the hall we encounter Kajahl Benes’ Alchemist. The painting’s sculpted protagonist looks like he is carved out of onyx. He is caught in a moment of pensive illumination, interrupted only by Craft leaping onto the desk to point out the lustrous sheen of the painted robes.&nbsp;Craft’s energy and appreciation for art and its history is contagious. When I ask him about his approach to collecting, he admits that he is still learning. Guided by intuition, this makes his collection more intimate– refreshingly less ‘branded,’ or motivated by boosting one’s portfolio. Yet it is still both business and personal.&nbsp;If Craft is drawn to a piece or believes in its message, he makes the effort to get his name on endless waiting lists for art (these days, getting an organ transplant might seem easier than acquiring a coveted artwork). “I love living with art; it’s my own personal and emotional album,” he tells me.&nbsp;Deeper into his home, Craft’s basement feels like an exclusive club. It’s also where we enter the ‘un-curated’ part of the house (the guest room has an 83”x 68” in painting by Aplerh-Doku Borlabi titled Tomboy. Doku’s ‘tomboy’ is literally made from coconut.) Here, we play the-floor-is-lava around an unfurled canvas that was just delivered—it’s a painting by London based artist Richard Mensah titled Hold On, part of his Why We Resist series. Mensah visually juxtaposes the 1968 Olympics medal ceremony in Mexico City with a cotton plantation.&nbsp;My gaze moves from overseer on horseback to police car, cotton fields to polypropylene surgical face masks littered on the ground. Among them, I can see a poster of Breonna Taylor, captioned “Say Her Name,” that echoes a page from yesteryear.&nbsp;As we move from the background to the foreground - past to present - the focus ends up on a young girl. Like Delacroix’s Liberty Leading the People, she charges ahead on her scooter, raising a Black Barbie donning Nigerian colors instead of a French flag. Her black sock quotes a new iconography that athlete John Carlos sparked when he took off his shoes at the Olympic ceremony. One wonders: if history is written by the winners, then who are the illustrators? Craft’s basement holds some of the answers.*<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419061/eznjgwrvbrcqu9soau0f.jpg"><figcaption>Collector Chris Craft seated in front of Contemporary Ghanaian artist Aplerh-Doku Borlabi’s&nbsp;Tomboy, 83” x 68”, coconut sheath and oil on canvas, 2021 &nbsp;</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;Though Craft has had an eye towards preserving history through art for awhile, in recent years, it became important to him to find art that speaks to the times we are living in now. “I do not want these stories to be lost,” he says. His way of holding himself accountable and keeping the conversation going was to found the&nbsp; Black Collectors Guild, a network of collectors interested in supporting emerging artists while also helping each other navigate the nebulous world of art collecting. From conversations that have come out of the group’s time together, Craft has been able to fill his walls with work by artists such as Max Sansing, David Aplerh-Doku, Solomon Adufah, and Anthony Akinbola, to name a few. It is important to note that though Craft is refining his interests and building his art network, his tastes continue to evolve. At one point, he recalls, he was drawn towards bright colors and textures, seeking out Akinbola’s weavings of durags into artwork and Sansing’s saturated designs that can rupture monotony. Ismael Kateregga’s Nakawa Market Corridor even offered a kind of visual escape for Craft during a time when actual travel was not possible. “I wanted to be there [in that painting],” he explains.&nbsp;*As we wrap up our tour, Chris points back to Jabari’s Response of the Navigator (Library Series, 2021) and A Bright Future, They Say (Library Series, 2016-2018). Jabari says he had almost forgotten about the Bright Future piece, as it was a painting he worked on B.C. (before COVID). Each of these pieces seem to offer a snapshot retrospective of the artist’s own trajectory as he moved away from repetitive painterly strokes in favor of incorporating textiles, texts, and found objects. A morning spent discussing art felt familiar after so much time mostly isolated from others. Here a collector’s basement ends up being more than a place to look at art or entertain. It has becomes a place to leaf through books on African Art and debate where artists will go next. Here, fortunately, is where the man wearing white gloves waves you over for an opportunity to really get to know the art, an artist, and all the stories behind the scenes.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

Chris Craft: A Collector Discovers Friends and History Through Art

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419053/u01fe6ugsfewb4ukw7rp.jpg"><figcaption>The northern facade of the Museum building, as viewed from Stony Island Avenue. Credit: The Obama Foundation.</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;By JACQUELINE LEWISAfter several years of will-they, won’t-they updates widely in the press, the Obama Presidential Center finally broke ground in Jackson Park on Chicago’s South Side in September 2021. Though still early in the construction process, plans for the Center and its promised programs herald an exciting cultural and artistic addition to a part of the city that often receives less development and attention than North Side neighborhoods.&nbsp;Most notably the Center's architecture is designed to embody ascension: the building appears to move upward towards the sky, symbolizing Obama’s own grassroots movement that started with little and ultimately made him the first African American President of the United States. The Center’s shape visualizes hands coming together to honor all of the hands that shaped America and now the Center itself. On the side of the main building a portion of one of Obama’s speeches will be visibly carved, with words honoring those who crossed the Edmund Peters Bridge in Selma, Alabama, highlighting their strength and courage in a new time and place. The Obama Center's ambitious goal, made real through its physical structure, is to tell a full story of America, including the voices of the unheard.&nbsp;*Barack Obama has said, “Part of what makes Chicago a world-class city is its cultural and artistic institutions.” The Obama Foundation has made it a goal to include Chicago artists in the creation of the Center, notably commissioning a sculpture by Richard Hunt, who was born in nearby Woodlawn and raised in Englewood. At age 86 Hunt continues to be a prolific titan of Chicago art. Hunt’s sculpture for The Center, titled Book Bird and depicting a bird breaking joyfully out of an opened book, will be placed in the Library Reading Garden outside of the new Chicago Public Library branch on the Obama Presidential Center campus. ‘Book Bird’ will depict how reading and learning allows readers to enter new places and fly free, according to the Center's website. Hunt states that the sculpture “encapsulates the progress one can make through reading and studying” and it will help visitors find their own wings to The Obama Center and well beyond.More information about plans for the Center may be found <a href="https://www.obama.org/the-center/">here</a>.&nbsp;</body></html>

Sneak Peek: The Obama Presidential Center

<a href="https://www.chicagobusiness.com/nonprofits-philanthropy/theaster-gates-arts-incubator-breaks-ground-grand-crossing">Theaster Gates' arts incubator breaks ground in Grand Crossing</a>Rebuild Foundation, an arts and culture nonprofit founded by artist Theaster Gates, broke ground on a new arts incubator on the city’s South Side.Rebuild has raised over $7.6 million from private investors and other organizations to begin the $10.35 million renovation of the former St. Laurence elementary school for the new 40,000-square-foot space. Rebuild bought the school in January 2016 after the site was slated for demolition.Via Crain's&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wbez.org/stories/73-million-effort-to-save-lincoln-parks-north-pond-begins-thursday/3b256471-526b-4101-9949-292b1dabcd0d">A $7.3 million effort to restore Lincoln Park’s North Pond is underway</a>Lincoln Park’s <a href="https://www.chicagoparkdistrict.com/parks-facilities/lincoln-park-north-pond-0">North Pond</a>, constructed in the mid-1880s, has slowly been filled with sediment runoff — making it only a few feet deep in some places. But thanks to fundraising efforts, there will soon be more water in the pond, along with other improvements.The <a href="https://lincolnparkconservancy.org/">Lincoln Park Conservancy</a> raised more than $7 million to restore the pond, and work began last week and is scheduled to continue into fall.Via WBEZ&nbsp;<a href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/city-hall/2022/5/2/23054224/christopher-columbus-statues-monuments-project-grant-arrigo-park-protests-sposato-onesti-lightfoot">Lightfoot hints strongly at ignoring expected recommendation to permanently sideline Columbus statues</a>Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Monday hinted strongly that she plans to ignore a controversial recommendation from her own monuments committee to permanently sideline statues of Christopher Columbus in Grant and Arrigo parks and remove the Balbo Monument in Burnham Park.Lightfoot said she has not yet officially received the volatile suggestion. She expects to get it soon and plans to “take a look at it.”Via Chicago Sun Times&nbsp;<a href="https://classicchicagomagazine.com/chicago-scots-celebrate-scottish-heritage/">Chicago Scots Tour City Museums with CEO of National Trust for Scotland</a>On his first trip to Chicago, Phil Long was delighted. Walking around the city, he declared “it’s a city that is very rich in extraordinary buildings…and has a strong sense of what’s visually important.” Architecture and design are Phil Long’s passion. As the Chief Executive of the National Trust for Scotland since 2020, he has responsibility for a full range of Scottish heritage from the craggy peaks of the northern Highlands to the sophisticated Charles Rennie Mackintosh-designed Hill House. On their first stop in a four-city U.S. trip, Long and his wife Annie Campbell Long enjoyed a full range of Chicago’s architecture and artistic offerings, organized by the Chicago Scots, his enthusiastic hosts dedicated to all things Scottish and Illinois’ oldest nonprofit organization.The tour of Chicago included a packed schedule on Monday, April 5, when the Art Institute, the Driehaus Museum, and the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) were on the agenda. Chicago Scots President and CEO Gus Noble, Chicago Scots Board of Governors member Ginny Van Alyea, and Kirstin Bridier, Executive Director of the National Trust of Scotland, USA, accompanied the Longs.Via Classic Chicago (top image via Libett Richter)&nbsp;&nbsp;

What We're Reading: 5/4/22

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419059/jqioyqrykjmvakslqabf.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/marcos-bontempo">Marcos Bontempo</a>Exhibition Begins May 6&nbsp;Carl Hammer Gallery&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419060/ntxkj0umzdpjo7dna8i7.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/new-paintings-by-michael-hoffman">New paintings by Michael Hoffman</a>Opening: Friday, May 6, 5 – 8&nbsp;pmAddington Gallery&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419061/blkybd4y25uhdmhaxrvv.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/threaded-together">Threaded Together</a>Opening: Friday, May 6, 5 – 9&nbsp;pmAlma Art &amp; Interiors&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419062/qpoazxipcrikptpaxvwy.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/hama-woods-enjoy-the-silence">Hama Woods "Enjoy the Silence"</a>Exhibition Begins May 7Vertical Gallery&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419063/jo8a4tfyabqnp9ssfxre.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/nelson-armour-28-days">Nelson Armour: 28 Days</a>Opening: Saturday, May 7, 4 – 7&nbsp;pmPerspective Photo Gallery&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419064/roz5qdhjkmx0gyegxreh.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/laitnoamerica-in-chicago-exhibition">Laitnoamerica in Chicago</a>Opening: Saturday, May 7, 6 – 9&nbsp;pmDragonfly Gallery&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419064/hlmsjpt2d2pmnvbstwlh.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/rahmon-olugunna">Rahmon Olugunna</a>Opening: Saturday, May 7, 5 – 8&nbsp;pmStola Contemporary Art&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419065/kmfhjip7iqzq7mcpzv4s.png"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/opening-night-reception-2022-school-of-art-design-bachelor-of-fine-arts-exhibition">2022 School of Art + Design Bachelor of Fine Arts Exhibition</a>Opening: Saturday, May 7, 4 – 6&nbsp;pmKrannert Art Museum, University of Illinois&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

New Exhibitions Start May 5-7 (Part II)

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419053/jt85x5uiqea4dsdbmjey.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/vidvuds-zviedris-new-works">Vidvuds Zviedris: New Works</a>Exhibition Begins May 5McCormick Gallery&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419054/okwkvkja6fypwtwf49ht.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/david-klamen-life-trophies">David Klamen: Life Trophies</a>Opening: Thursday, May 5, 5 – 7&nbsp;pmGRAY West Town&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419054/upbrhfv1gfo37zzq5d35.png"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/moga-modern-women-daughters-in-1930s-japan">Moga: Modern Women &amp; Daughters in 1930s Japan</a>Exhibition Begins May 6Wrightwood 659&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419055/c1yjjhrgavhliovc715j.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/carley-schmidt-mfa-thesis-exhibition-78fceb48-4f7f-4571-a650-e6f6330cdc1a">Carley Schmidt: MFA Thesis Exhibition</a>Opening: Friday, May 6, 6 – 9&nbsp;pmTandem Press&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419056/gfp6d7ybloh3y8palvie.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/michael-rakowitz-the-monument-the-monster-and-the-maquette">Michael Rakowitz: The Monument, The Monster, and The Maquette</a>Opening: Friday, May 6, 5 – 7&nbsp;pmRhona Hoffman Gallery&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419057/kwzjufbppxe96qzhjf2m.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/spring-show-opening">Urban Garden</a>Opening: Friday, May 6, 5 – 8&nbsp;pmVale Craft Gallery&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419057/tdhs7w553cjjsxxqyjwv.png"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/gut-by-alexander-utz">GUT by Alexander Utz</a>Exhibition Begins May 6International Museum of Surgical Science&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419058/cq0feto7d23xlqcedozj.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/circuition">Circuition</a>Opening: Friday, May 6, 6 – 10&nbsp;pmMu Gallery&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

New Exhibitions Start May 5-7 (Part I)

<html><head></head><body>This spring and summer the City That Works will be working it, bringing back what we haven’t had in two years, and in other cases starting from scratch to deliver art fairs, markets and special events to get you out of the house.– CGN&nbsp; &nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419053/imfoajra8vd6wpseuesk.jpg"><figcaption>Kenny Nguyen, Eternal Thread Series No. 4, at Alma Art and Interiors</figcaption></figure><a href="https://www.facebook.com/Alma-Art-Interiors-101686555682040/">ALMA ART &amp; INTERIORS</a>Dealer Kimberly Oliva turned lemons into lemonade last fall when Intersect Chicago (formerly SOFA CHICAGO) was cancelled. She drew on her own art history, connections and experience in the vintage market to come up with Alma, Art &amp; Interiors, a large-scale exhibition that combined the sensibility of a living room with the prestige of new art. Bringing the spirit of the home to the gallery, Alma features&nbsp; artists from Chicago and around the world in dozens of mixed media vignettes.&nbsp;A grand opening for Threaded Together is set for Friday, May 6. Alma has been extended through at least summer 2022.&nbsp;• 3636 S. Iron in Bridgeport&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419054/atw9agvndvzq5xgncp7x.jpg"><figcaption>Randolph Market returns outdoors in the West Loop</figcaption></figure><a href="https://www.randolphstreetmarket.com">RANDOLPH STREET MARKET</a>After an almost 3-year hiatus Randolph Street Market returns to its West Loop location this summer, taking place both outdoors and indoors. The beloved mega-treasure hunt was put on hold first in 2020 due to COVID, and then in 2021 in light of construction at Plumber’s Hall. They were able to open markets a few summer weekends in Michigan as well as host weekend Holiday Pop-Ups downtown in Chicago on Michigan Ave. In 2022 once again the market will offer “continuous live entertainment, food, booze &amp; BIG FUN,” says founder Sally Schwartz.&nbsp;Jul 30/31, Sept 24/25, Nov 12/13, Dec 3/4, 10/11, 17/18&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419054/ilxlkdevmjwfd4fmj0b0.jpg"><figcaption>57th St Art Fair in Hyde Park</figcaption></figure><a href="https://www.57thstreetartfair.org">57TH STREET ART FAIR</a>Mary Louise Womer, a silversmith artist from Kansas City, was the visionary behind Hyde Park’s 57th Street Art Fair back in 1948. Due to studio space constraints, she took advantage of local streets that weren’t busy, stringing wires from trees and along fences of 57th Street where artists could hang their works. 51 artists, many of whom were students at the Art Institute and the Institute of Design, each paid 50 cents to participate for the weekend. Today, up to 200 artists from all over North America set up shop on 57th Street the first full weekend of June, attracting over 20,000 visitors annually •&nbsp;June 4/5, 2022&nbsp;</body></html>

Big is Back: What Once Was Lost in 2020, We Now Have Found in 2022

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419036/zkiwuymwn0gotiwgmmsw.jpg"><figcaption>Candida Alvarez in her Baroda, MI studio. Photo by Sarah Ayers, studio manager.&nbsp; &nbsp;</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;By ANNA DOBROWOLSKI&nbsp;Who’s afraid of Picasso? Many artists love to hate him—his audacity, controversial personality, and, we daresay, knack for abstract have earned him a spot in the “one-name-only” hall of fame. Candida Alvarez, through her dazzling configurations, shows us that associating Picasso with mosquito bites is just one way to upend the canon.As we learn in a recent conversation with Alvarez, Picasso is yet another source to be reckoned with, and further proof that to survive as an artist we don’t always need to start from scratch. Sometimes we just need to scratch the surface.*New normal is a funny thing. I caught Alvarez adding colorful daubs to a canvas (I, a floating head on her screen, and she, wearing a yellow apron speckled with paint). This is the first year in her new studio after an impressively productive and fruitful year. In February 2021 she was granted the Foundation of Contemporary Art’s Helen Frankenthaler Award for Painting (2021). On September 22, 2022, she will be honored, alongside Chicago art-dealer Monique Meloche, at Chicago Artists Coalition, <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/work-in-progress">Works in Progress: Radiance and Reunion</a>. Add to the accolades her recent appointment as F.H. Sellers Professor in Painting at the School of the Art Institute and it’s a wonder how she does it all.“Why did I suddenly move to Michigan?” She says, “I listened to that voice that said ‘Girlfriend, you need to be here.’”&nbsp;By “here” she means a 2,500 square foot barn-turned-studio with lots of natural light, replete with a library, quotes by Frida Kahlo, Rainier M. Rilke, and John Cage, house plants she brought from Chicago—and paintings of course.One observation from the move was the change in color-scape, and how it makes a cameo on her canvases in surprising ways: “I’m surrounded by a lot of brown, lately, from all the trees and mud. There’s even a hops farm and a prairie next door. I’ve been living in the city for so long that the move was a huge transition. The chatter you usually hear in the city disappears.” Since listening plays a major part in her practice, she uses the change in volume to muse over the artists she invites onto the canvas. “I spend a lot of time listening to them instead, and searching for patterns.”*<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419037/kqkkl2pcdghm9dzihzem.jpg"><figcaption>Candida Alvarez, Stand, 2020-2021, acrylic polymer paint with glitter and uv-cured ink on canvas 80 x 60 x 2 in, 203.2 x 152.4 x 5.1 cm. Courtesy of the artist and GAVLAK</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;Alvarez is currently working on a new painting, in all its kaleidoscopic glory, for her son. “I just finished putting some bling on it.” Next to it are a couple of paintings from Pica Pica, a series loosely based on Picasso. Several paintings from her Pica Pica series will be on view at Monique Meloche Gallery’s booth at EXPO CHICAGO in April.“I grew up looking at these dead artists, who seem to follow me around like ghosts,” she tells me. “I started bringing Picasso into the studio because he was someone I have looked at for a long time—everybody knows him. Because it was 2021, I thought ‘Wow. In 1921, Picasso painted Three Musicians.’ I could either love Picasso or hate him. Actually, he makes me itchy. Hence the name of my series, Pica Pica— from me pica (it itches)— because I was getting bit by mosquitoes. But also because I wanted to figure [the painting] out.”To do so, she uses a range of sources such as personal photographs, drawings, and famous paintings. “I have cultivated a way of working where I can source from the history of painting and weave in what is in front of me in the present,” Alvarez explains. “Lately I’ve been inviting Bob Thompson to the canvas, but I find inspiration in everything: Matisse, Kahlo, Piero della Francesca are just a few of the artists I’ve worked with.”&nbsp;After she manipulates or distorts her reference she is then able to fully dive into the process. “I might enter a painting with a certain color palette in mind, but it might change in order to achieve that harmony. It’s like alchemy.”Painting on this scale requires the meticulousness demanded of Paint by Numbers—except that in this case the artist is responsible for both lines and colors. “There’s a membrane that gets pierced. It begins with a drawing that is added to, or taken away from. The drawing is a holding pen for the liquid,” Alvarez reveals. Due to the complexities of each piece–and each one comes with a unique set of challenges–Alvarez tends to focus on one piece at a time.&nbsp;*&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419038/kducqbefwghendhmvxjp.jpg"><figcaption>Candida Alvarez, Pica, Pica 5, 2021 acrylic on linen 20 x 20 in.50.8 x 50.8 cm. Courtesy Monique Meloche Gallery, Chicago</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;Alvarez compares the end result to a palimpsest: an unearthed, multilayered, vellum-y object harking back to medieval history. Her Palimpsest series emerged from that fascination with transparent layers and traces of what lies beneath the surface. She recently finished showing these “chatty abstractions that mix and remix themselves” in GAVLAK Gallery in LA.“I wanted to work with a series of ten drawings that I had done two years ago, and bring them together. I looked at words that were ten letters long and came across ‘palimpsest,’ which is a beautiful word all about process. It has multiple histories. Painting is like that for me. I assemble it from a Rolodex of images that I cut and paste, not in a collage-sense, but by shifting shapes by adding and taking away from them. I don’t hold on to an ideal, I just love the process of finding, searching, and witnessing the painting become itself.”Having worked with a myriad of materials, from vellum for drawings, watercolor pencils and acrylics on gessoed linen, to PVC plastic hung from aluminum frames, she explains that, with each layer she learns how the materials react to each other. She seeks balance between the base material, which sometimes peeks out from under matte, subdued shapes, pops of pigment, undirected lines, or bling of course.&nbsp;“I used oils in the past, but over time I really loved acrylics. You just needed the paint, the brush, the bucket. I loved that it was fake, that it was plastic. It was not beautiful. But I loved the rawness of the material.”*&nbsp;Alvarez always suspected she would become an artist. As a student at Fordham university, she was mesmerized by the oversized portfolio her friend was carrying for drawing classes. “It was settled, I was going to take art classes, too.”Through the encouragement of some of her professors, such as Jack Whitten, she abandoned her tiny paintings in favor of larger, more robust works. This cemented her decision to return to Yale and later Skowhegan. “I just fell into it and never stopped. I can’t believe I’ve been doing this for a long time.”One of the most impactful experiences was producing artwork at the then PS1 Residency. “I was affiliated with Museo del Barrio in Upper Manhattan in the ‘70s. It was glorious because it was full of Latinx artists. It was the first time that I encountered real collaboration, in that we could work on something together.” The collaborative spirit finds its way into her teaching as well as her practice.“I have been teaching at the Art Institute for over 25 years, and I find that it brings contemporariness and conversation to the canvas. When you are in collaboration with others, the conversation becomes another way of being present. In the same vein, it helps us be critical.” Otherwise, painting can be a solitary endeavor.Alvarez moved to Chicago in 1998 to take up a teaching position at SAIC and has since become a community staple. One of her first shows in the city was through Hyde Park Art Center, Mambomountain in 2012. In 2017, she was commissioned by the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE) to create paintings to be displayed on Lower Wacker Drive.However, in a manner of months, she experienced a tremendous set of losses. Before the exhibition Here at the Chicago Cultural Center closed, her father died. Three months later, Hurricane Maria swept across Puerto Rico, leaving her to worry about how to reach her mother and sister.&nbsp;“I was born in Brooklyn, but my parents were from Puerto Rico. It is an interesting thing, because while we are Americans, they were first and foremost Puerto Ricans. In New York we became ‘Nuyoricans.’ In a way that absence makes the longing deeper, there’s a kind of romanticism about it, a connection to a place even when you aren’t on that land.”While the hurricane brought these connections to the surface, Alvarez was always invested in the process. So, she wanted to create work that stood on its own. It was during this period that she created Air Paintings, or paintings “with little feet,” as she calls them. &nbsp;When she set out to create the paintings, she realized she didn’t have to work from scratch. “I was able to use the proofs from the Chicago Cultural Center, and work on top of them. Air also became this material I had to consider. I thought about airplanes and the passage from Puerto Rico to Chicago. The whole idea that a lot of them had to rely on planes to see family.”For Alvarez that was a turning point. Gathering shapes from that painting, and embracing the flexibility of the material in order to make something that you can almost see-through.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419039/sdpkj7ha40pzc2y7pdmo.jpg"><figcaption>Candida Alvarez, Mary in the Sky with Diamonds, 2005 Acrylic and enamel on canvas 72 x 84 in. 182.9 x 213.4 cm, Courtesy of Art Institute of Chicago &nbsp;</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;“I love to laugh,” she explains. “You have to keep yourself alive! You can’t take yourself so seriously. I like to be the person who is flexible, who can move at the drop of a hat.”“For people who trust themselves,” says Alvarez, “who have the courage to be themselves, doubts and risks are all part of the process. You have to be willing to take the risk. There is no manual. Plus, there is a mystery to the kinds of processes that choose us.”In 2022, Chicago Artists Coalition will honor <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/work-in-progress">Candida Alvarez and Monique Meloche</a> during its annual fundraising event in September. Candida’s work will be featured in the Museum of Contemporary Art’s upcoming Forecast Form: Art in the Caribbean Diaspora, 1990s - Today (Nov 19, 2022–Apr 23, 2023). If you are in New York, her work in no existe un mundo poshuracán: Puerto Rican Art in the Wake of Hurricane Maria will be on view at the Whitney Museum of Art Nov 23, 2022–Apr 2023&nbsp;More information about Candida Alvarez and her work may be found on her <a href="https://www.candidaalvarez.com">website</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

Catching up with Candida Alvarez

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419053/ofblnrx7szfkjji3aqgv.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/rodger-bechtold-and-mary-jo-o-gara-painted-short-stories">Rodger Bechtold and Mary Jo O’Gara: Painted Short Stories</a>Exhibition Begins April 29Anne Loucks Gallery&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419054/rtdbgdgntp4denxyeqrg.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/gina-litherland">Gina Litherland: Braids of the Past</a>Exhibition Begins April 29Corbett vs. DempseyAll the characters in Litherland’s luminous paintings inhabit liminal spaces, whether they’re lodged inside a tree trunk, on a penumbral coastline, or mysteriously hovering a few feet above the ground. Hers are ecologically-minded images, but they’re rooted in a unique vision of our shared planetary and symbolic atmospheres.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419054/ixkjpucwt6r0yhzvlacn.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/exhibition-in-partnership-with-mercy-housing-lakefront">Key Change</a>Opening: Friday, April 29, 5 – 7&nbsp;pmWeinberg/Newton GalleryWith photographic and painted depictions of homes, the exhibition initially positions housing as a place that can be abandoned – sometimes, unjustly stolen. Architectural collage demonstrates housing as a temporal exercise in which influences and precedents engage in dialogue with future spatial thinking. Silent home movies and idiosyncratic sculpture subsequently suggest that housing is a productive place in which intimate moments, lifelong memories, and nurturing meals are made and shared.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419055/fcsswhe4galb4qdzzzbu.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/fiber-fashion-feminism">Fiber-Fashion-Feminism</a>Opening: Friday, April 29, 7:30 – 9&nbsp;pmThe Art Center Highland ParkFiber-Fashion-Feminism is a deftly curated exhibit of fiber artists from all over the country. Curator Caren Helene Rudman reached out to some prominent names in the genre, notably Anne Wilson, a Chicago-based artist in the Art Institute of Chicago Art Institute’s Fiber &amp; Material Studies Department and a leader in the field. Each of the nine selected artists, Nneka Kai, Jennifer Markowitz, Laura Morrison, Marty Ornish, Maria Pinto, Nirmal Raja, Katrin Schnabl, Yana Schnitzler, Ginny Sykes, bring a unique perspective to the work.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419056/ko41ivfbbhrkbicsmrrw.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/kelly-boehmer-growling-stomach">Kelly Boehmer: Growling Stomach</a>Opening: Friday, April 29, 5 – 8&nbsp;pmARC GalleryBoehmer’s soft sculptures display a tragic sense of humor. Using art history as a starting point she creates tension and anxiety through sewing the work by hand, with raw, anxious stitches of red thread. Her old sculptures are cut up and are incorporated with upcycled taxidermy to make new work.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419057/rbxih7wcjgn4j1rbs1jt.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/john-heliker">John Heliker: Drawings of the 1930s and 1940s</a>Exhibition Begins April 29Corbett vs. DempseyThis rare exhibition of the artist's work is drawn from a small collection of works on paper from a prime period early in his career, when he was drawing and sketching actively alongside Social Realist contemporaries including William Gropper and Ben Shahn.&nbsp; Like those artists, Heliker was politically active on the left, and starting in the late 1930s he made drawings published in&nbsp;New Masses, the Marxist magazine, and joined the WPA Federal Art Project as an easel painter.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

New Exhibitions Start April 29–30 (Pt. 1)

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419053/unfuyxermqngdbsoizl9.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/aranda-lasch-with-terrol-dew-johnson-bundling">Aranda\Lasch with Terrol Dew Johnson: Bundling</a>Opening: Friday, April 29, 5 – 8&nbsp;pmVolume GalleryDesign studio Aranda\Lasch have collaborated with renowned artist and basket weaver Terrol Dew Johnson of the Tohono O’odham Nation for over a decade. Their collaboration stems from the commonalities of algorithmic techniques, repetition and ciphering used in both computer-generated design and Tohono O’odham basket weaving. They approach basket construction as a framework for experimentation and expression, sharing knowledge and tradition; and as a medium of exchange that bundles various materials and voices together.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419054/hiqmkat3cnf7un8ogr3z.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/michael-pellew-no-life-till-kings-county">Michael Pellew: No Life Till Kings County</a>Opening: Friday, April 29, 5 – 8&nbsp;pmARC GalleryMichael Pellew’s never-ending love affair with pop music and rock-and-roll returns to Western Exhibitions with over 200 drawings of album covers from his favorite artists presented as cassette tape inserts, free-standing paintings of rock stars, and drawings of Pellew interviewing stars about cassette tapes and classic rock.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419054/ka6otmi5qhdvqdqq8as3.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/meryl-levenstein-found-my-footing-on-the-forest-floor">Meryl Levenstein: Found My Footing on the Forest Floor</a>Opening: Friday, April 29, 5 – 8&nbsp;pmARC GalleryMy work is contemplative. It is therapeutic. Each stitch and decorative detail is thoughtfully placed. While I work, I am ridiculously focused and not easily distracted. The work is slow and deliberate and hell on my hands. But I am happiest when I am designing my scepters, because I do not fret about the world and my role on the planet while I am sewing and sharing. Instead, I feel strong and optimistic about being present in this messed-up era. The repurposed branch reminds me that I, too, am noble enough and mindful enough to live my life boldly.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419055/uoshz8beubtiehdddscj.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/bed-stuy-to-chi-artists-from-land-studio-gallery">Bed-Stuy to Chi: Artists from LAND Studio &amp; Gallery</a>Opening: Friday, April 29, 5 – 8&nbsp;pmWestern ExhibitionsFounded in 2005 and located in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, LAND is a unique nonprofit day-habilitation program that teaches life skills through the modality of art, nurturing the talents of participating artists, while integrating individuals into the community of contemporary art.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419056/ydlrxbbuqvkrvkstxrma.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/kiah-celeste">All the best, Kiah Celeste</a>Exhibition Begins April 30DOCUMENTLife today, in 2022, remains as bewildering as ever, yet All the Best, Kiah Celeste makes a compelling argument for coming down from the digital clouds and experiencing what Albers would call “the adventure of being close to the stuff the world is made of.”&nbsp;In the half-dozen sculptures Celeste created for the exhibition, material is the adventure, evidence of a tactile thinking that can excavate aesthetic pleasure from the rubbish heaps of contemporary industrial culture.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419057/zab1lyx6e2ix6d1ffegv.png"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/corrine-slade-araceli-zuniga-embodiment">Corrine Slade &amp; Araceli Zuniga: Embodiment</a>Exhibition Begins April 30FLXST Contemporary&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419057/bi7kipamlm3qu5aa6g1i.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/nyeema-morgan-the-set-up">Nyeema Morgan: The Set-up</a>Exhibition Begins April 30PATRON&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

New Exhibitions Start April 29–30 (Pt. 2)

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419036/htzqq3h9bof4jsr4a1jn.jpg"><figcaption>from ChiArts Kerfuffle!&nbsp;</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;This spring and summer there are openings to attend and art fairs to wander, but this season of reopening also means the return of parties that benefit your favorite arts groups and causes. Many area arts organizations and institutions moved mountains to keep their valuable programs going throughout the pandemic. Now they're asking for your support while you can also join in the fun. There are lots of events planned that will make supporting good causes reason to celebrate and to catch up with fellow art lovers in person.&nbsp;Check out the <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events?category=galas-special-events">full list of benefits and galas here</a> - updated regularly!&nbsp;– CGN&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://theartcenterhp.org/spring-benefit-2022/">Common Thread: 2022 Spring Benefit</a>Friday, April 29Benefitting <a href="/organizations/the-art-center-highland-park--3">The Art Center Highland Park</a>TACHP's annual spring benefit is first and foremost a showcase to celebrate 62+ years as the premier home of arts and culture on the North Shore. It also has the added purpose of raising potentially 10% of the organization’s income for the year.&nbsp;This year’s event, <a href="https://track.robly.com/ad168851-f011-46d9-9fb2-c905880ac24f8bddd3094870260065b75412537464cf">Common Thread</a>, is a return to live celebrations. Along with a fashion show, passed food, cocktails, and the return of DJ Tess handling the music, it will include the opening of the exhibit, Fiber-Fashion-Feminism, featuring fiber artists Maria Pinto, Laura Morrison, Ginny Sykes, Nirmal Raja, Yana Schnitzler, Katrin Schnabl, Marty Ornish, Nneka Kai and Jennifer Markowitz.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/artea-and-spring-market">arTEA Party</a>Saturday, April 30 and Sunday, May 1Benefitting <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/organizations/evanston-art-center--3">Evanston Art Center</a>A fundraiser for the Evanston Art Center will consist of donated handmade mugs by local artists and EAC students with local refreshments. Each ticket holder will receive their choice of donated mug and refreshments from local businesses.&nbsp;There will be handmade one-of-a-kind works from over 20 local artists for sale on Saturday, April 30 and Sunday, May 1. Works include paintings, drawings, jewelry, ceramics, and mixed media.&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://www.elmhurstartmuseum.org/events/25th-annual-art-in-wilder-park/?utm_source=AIWP+lists+combined+with+EAM+Mailing&amp;utm_campaign=4f70caafc0-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2020_03_24_08_17_COPY_01&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_term=0_194c5dc994-4f70caafc0-374609273&amp;mc_cid=4f70caafc0&amp;mc_eid=9f943455be">25th Annual Art in Wilder Park</a>Saturday, April 30 and Sunday, May 1Benefitting <a href="/organizations/elmhurst-art-museum">Elmhurst Art Museum</a>Elmhurst Art Museum and RGL Marketing for the Arts partner to host joint 25th anniversary celebrations for the 2022 edition of Art in Wilder Park, which will feature over 100 Midwest artists, along with events and exhibitions at the Elmhurst Art Museum. Both days (April 30 &amp; May 1) are presented in festival style with one of a kind Art, Food Vendors, and Kid’s Court activities including hands-on activities for families hosted by various community organizations&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/chiarts-foundation-s-annual-benefit-kerfuffle-2022">ChiArts Foundation's Annual Benefit – KERFUFFLE! 2022</a>Tuesday, May 3Benefitting <a href="/organizations/chi-arts-the-chicago-high-school-for-the-arts">ChiArts –&nbsp;The Chicago High School for the Arts</a>The ChiArts Foundation’s spring benefit and presentation Kerfuffle! raises funds to support The Chicago High School for the Arts’ tuition-free, pre- professional arts conservatories, serving 600 students form all of Chicago’s 50 wards.Celebrate ChiArts’ five conservatories with performances, artwork, poetry stations, and more. Guests will enjoy a cocktail reception, dinner, and opportunities to explore various performance exhibits throughout one of Chicago’s most unique venues, Epiphany Center for the Arts in the West Loop.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/crystal-ball">Crystal Ball</a>Saturday, May 14Benefitting <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/organizations/chicago-art-department-cad--2">Chicago Art Department&nbsp;</a>CAD is proud to announce the return of the Crystal Ball, celebrating the Magic of Community. CAD will recognize its 18th year as a non-profit arts organization, with a mission to provide space and resources for socially minded artists to grow their practice while questioning the city we live in.The event will bring together CAD resident artists, partners, and supporters to celebrate in-person for the first time since 2019, including alumni artists who will showcase work in a Silent Auction. The event will also feature artist interventions that celebrate bright futures through live tarot, crystal gazing, and magic. The space will be transformed into a magical oasis by CAD Resident artist and Crystal Ball Curator, Jane Georges, who will be creating immersive experiences for guests to enjoy. On display in CAD’s Main Gallery will be Everything Must Go, an exhibition featuring the works of Chicago-based multidisciplinary artist Jeffrey Michael Austin, best known for their uncanny and illusory sculptural installations.&nbsp;<a href="https://mcachicago.org/calendar/2022/05/artedge-nick-cave-the-color-is">ArtEdge Gala: Nick Cave: The Color Is</a>Saturday, May 21Benefitting the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) and taking place at the <a href="https://www.dusablemuseum.org/">DuSable Museum of African American History Roundhouse</a>ArtEdge, Chicago’s premier gala, builds upon the MCA’s legacy of unforgettable events dedicated to celebrating contemporary art in Chicago. In 2022 the MCA celebrates renowned artist Nick Cave and the highly anticipated debut performance of The Color Is at the DuSable Museum of African American History Roundhouse. Presented on the occasion of the MCA exhibition Nick Cave: Forothermore, The Color Is features original fashion design, dance choreography, and a one-night performance by legendary Labelle.Proceeds from this event will support the MCA’s collaborative efforts to provide a platform for living artists, in pursuit of a creative and diverse future.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/darkroom-benefit-auction-and-party">DARKROOM</a>Thursday, June 2Benefitting the <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/organizations/museum-of-contemporary-photography-mocp--2">Museum of Contemporary Photography (MoCP)</a>DARKROOM is the Museum of Contemporary Photography at Columbia College Chicago's (MoCP) annual benefit auction and party, which will be held at the Columbia College Chicago Student Center, 754 S. Wabash.&nbsp; &nbsp; Photography enthusiasts will enjoy hors d'oeuvres, drinks, and music while perusing auction items by celebrated contemporary artists, including work by Alec Soth, Dawit Petros, Alice Hargrave, Natalie Krick, Zora J Murff, Bob Thall, Dave Jordano, Doug Fogelson, and more. The benefit auction, which is presented by Sotheby’s, will remain open online for a week following the event. &nbsp; Longtime MoCP supporters Lawrence K. and Maxine Snider will be honored during the evening for their contributions to the museum.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/visionary-ball">Visionary Ball</a>Thursday, June 2Benefitting <a href="/organizations/intuit-the-center-for-intuitive-and-outsider-art">Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art</a>Intuit's Visionary Ball at Salvage One, 1840 W. Hubbard Street, unites the worldwide community of artists, art appreciators and advocates for Intuit. All proceeds support the museum’s ability to offer accessible outsider art exhibitions and programs to students, teachers and audiences around the world.The cocktail event will be hybrid: in-person celebrations will take place at Salvage One in Chicago, which is an indoor and outdoor venue and antique store; friends from afar can participate in the livestreamed 30-minute program beginning at 7 p.m. central on Zoom. ﻿&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/2022-artbash-starry-night">2022 ArtBash: Starry Night</a>Saturday, June 25Benefitting <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/2022-artbash-starry-night">Lubeznik Center for the Arts</a>.&nbsp;Taking place at the Bluechip Casino Hotel SpaJoin Lubeznik Center for the Arts and our emcee, Mary Ann Bergerson Ahern from NBC 5 News Chicago, as we reach for the stars and help support our mission of integrating art, education and community to provide access to compelling exhibitions and programs that explore contemporary ideas. Your support ensures everyone has access to the arts!Cocktails &amp; dinner • Silent auction • DancingNo black tie –Keep it casual and wear something that sparkles like the stars in the night sky!&nbsp;<a href="https://nationalmuseumofmexicanart.org/events/gala">Gala de Arte</a>Friday, May 13Benefitting <a href="https://nationalmuseumofmexicanart.org/events/gala">National Museum of Mexican Art</a>Taking place at the Sheraton Grand HotelEvery year, the Gala de Arte is critical in generating funding that ensures our city continues to boast a world-class museum – one of the most significant Mexican art museums in the U.S., and the only AAM accredited museum in the country dedicated to Mexican Art.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.artencounter.org/kaleidoscope">Kaleidoscope: Annual Spring Gala &amp; Art Auction</a>Thursday, May 12Benefitting <a href="https://www.artencounter.org/kaleidoscope">Art Encounter</a>Taking place at the Greenhouse LoftOur annual spring gala, Kaleidoscope, supports Art Encounter’s broad menu of programs in the community, which include educational programs for public school students, hands-on workshops for residents of senior living facilities and neuro-diverse adults, and transformative, large-scale murals for the general public. Join us this May at the beautiful Greenhouse Loft in West Lakeview for refreshments, cocktails, a wine raffle, an art auction, and more.&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

This Spring's Art Parties and Benefits

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419053/rdp4qyv52msbid66zkyh.jpg"><figcaption>The Other Art Fair</figcaption></figure>By CGN Staff<a href="https://www.theotherartfair.com/chicago/">The Other Art Fair</a> took place last <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2021/9/the-other-art-fair-returns-to-chicago-this-weekend">September</a> in Chicago and it is back already this weekend, taking place April 21-24 on Fulton Market.&nbsp;Presented by Saatchi Art, The Other Art Fair is billed as the leading artist Fair to discover and buy art directly from the very best emerging artistic talent.&nbsp;Founded in London, UK in 2011, annual and biannual editions take place across the globe in Brooklyn, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, London, Melbourne, Sydney, and Toronto.Over 100 artists from across the globe as well as in Chicago are participating. There will also be a large scale mural custom made by All Star Press artist JC Riviera at the entrance to the fair.&nbsp; VIPs can get a free drink, courtesy of BOMBAY SAPPHIRE® upon arrival and food is back, now that COVID allows the show to say goodbye to last year's restrictions. And as far as the art and programs, visitors can see a range of installations and exclusive print drops by the likes of AMFM, Arts of Life and Pigment International. You can also have your portrait done by artist Anna Marie Tendler on site and snag an exclusive comic print for $50 by the creators of Love Man, David Krueger and Ben Marcus, &nbsp;thanks to TOAF's charity partner, Chicago's own Arts Of Life.&nbsp;Enjoy the fair!&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

The Other Art Fair Is This Weekend

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419053/itfp5l59zlewor9fs5l7.jpg"><figcaption>Stamp courtesy of USPS</figcaption></figure><a href="https://www.wbez.org/stories/shel-silverstein-forever-stamp-dedicated/6be02a24-2fab-4b05-a47c-ae21ef2fc971">There’s a new stamp honoring Chicago-born Shel Silverstein</a>The children’s book author and Playboy illustrator Shel Silverstein was not known to be particularly studious during his days attending Darwin Elementary School in Chicago’s Logan Square.Instead, he had a tendency to doodle, officials said Friday at a ceremony hosted by Chicago Public Schools and the United States Postal Service to unveil and dedicate the Shel Silverstein Forever Stamp.Via WBEZ&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/politics/ct-abraham-lincoln-presidential-library-museum-legislation-20220419-xoser5cc7vakznshjedupy5aam-story.html?utm_source=newsletter&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=Daywatch&amp;utm_content=911650455797#nws=true">After long being mired in politics, Lincoln museum has ‘potential to be incredibly great’ under restructuring plan</a>Ever since it opened late and over budget in 2005, the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield has been regularly beset by problems tied to the historically transactional nature of Illinois politics.Via Chicago Tribune&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wbez.org/stories/the-chicago-reader-is-in-jeopardy/eb7e037e-a576-4855-8e3c-aa13fa282e6f">The Chicago Reader is in jeopardy after a dispute between staff and a co-owner</a>Transitioning to non-profit status is in peril, and if that doesn’t happen, popular alt-weekly the <a href="https://chicagoreader.com/">Chicago Reader</a> will not have the funds it needs to continue paying staff. The union is saying this fate could be avoided if co-owner Leonard Goodman signs documents allowing the transition to non-profit to continue.Via WBEZ&nbsp;<a href="https://art.newcity.com/2022/04/20/much-ado-about-small-things-the-return-of-barely-fair-chicagos-tiniest-international-art-fair/">Much Ado About Small Things: The Return of Barely Fair, Chicago’s Tiniest International Art Fair</a>The long-awaited return of Barely Fair—Chicago’s tiniest international art fair—was brimming with spectacle. Arriving at Vernissage on a bustling Friday evening in April, one might assume that the interminable line of people led to the bar. Not so. The string of partygoers—libations already in hand, abuzz with anticipation—were queued to see the art. Visitors patiently waited to enter a diminutive gallery that offered even smaller attractions: thirty miniature art fair booths produced at 1:12 scale of the white cubes familiar to the international art circuit.&nbsp;Via Newcity&nbsp;</body></html>

What We're Reading: 4/20/22

<a href="https://mcachicago.org/publications/blog/2022/announcing-the-d-daskalopoulos-collection-gift">MCA receives ‘one of the most impactful donations’ ever</a>We are excited to announce the donation of a significant body of important contemporary artworks gifted to us by MCA Trustee, Dimitris Daskalopoulos. The gift featuring 100 works jointly held between the MCA and the Guggenheim is one of the most impactful donations to our collection in the MCA’s history. Each work in this trove reinforces and clarifies our institutional values, especially our longstanding commitment to supporting bold artistic experimentation. These works will enrich our collection, bolster strengths in our current holdings and fill existing gaps. Among the major artists whose work will be entering our collection for the first time are Ghada Amer, Karla Black, Paul Chan, Robert Gober, Sarah Lucas, Alina Szapocznikow, and Rebecca Warren.Via MCA PR&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ox-bow.org/oxbow-house">Ox-Bow House</a>Ox-Bow School of Art, located in Saugatuck, Michigan, announces Ox-Bow House, a place for fellowship, education and art, in the neighboring city of Douglas, Michigan. &nbsp; Ox-Bow House is a pilot project by Ox-Bow School of Art, a 112-year old, independent summer art school that has been welcoming artists from around the nation and beyond to West Michigan since its founding in 1910. Ox-Bow’s classes, workshops, residencies, and public programs are developed in-house by a professional staff of artists, curators, and educators. With a vibrant community of nationally and internationally respected artists on their campus each year, Ox-Bow House seeks to extend this resource to the public through a diverse menu of programs throughout the year.&nbsp; &nbsp;Via PR&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chicagobusiness.com/it-hits-market/mies-van-der-rohes-former-chicago-home-sale">Mies van der Rohe lived here. You could be next.</a>The Pearson Street co-op unit where the giant of modern architecture lived for most of his three decades in Chicago is coming on the market in a week.Via Crain's Chicago Business&nbsp;<a href="https://artonthemart.com/programming/">Art on theMART to Project Works by CPS Students</a>Art on theMART is adding a new projection to their previously announced Spring Program that will feature artwork from eight soon-to-graduate Chicago Public Schools (CPS) seniors. The artwork for the projection, consisting of self-portraits, was collected in conjunction with CPS’s All-City Visual Arts program. Following a selection process, eight CPS seniors who submitted to the All-City High School Visual Arts Exhibition were selected to have their work featured on the façade of theMART. Students’ artwork was selected based on a score given for technical skill, craftmanship, originality and student voice. The projection, officially titled Select Works from the CPS Class of 2022, will premiere April 22 at 8:30 p.m. following a brief speaking program, and will run twice nightly at 8:30 and 9 p.m. through May 4. &nbsp;Via PR&nbsp;<a href="http://www.weinbergnewtongallery.com">Weinberg/Newton Announces Key Partnership</a>Weinberg/Newton Gallery a non-commercial gallery dedicated to promoting social justice causes, is partnering with Mercy Housing Lakefront to present Key Change. Addressing the present-day housing crisis, Key Change will feature works by Gabrielle Garland, Tonika Lewis Johnson, Maymay Jumsai, Riff Studio and South Side Home Movie Project. Key Change is curated by Weinberg/Newton Gallery Director Nabiha Khan-Giordano and is presented in collaboration with Mercy Housing Lakefront. The exhibition will run from April 29 to July 16, 2022.Via PR&nbsp;

CGN Art World Recap: 4/14/22

<html><head></head><body>By CGN Staff<a href="https://www.expochicago.com">EXPO CHICAGO</a> returned this past weekend, featuring 140 galleries from around the world and crowds that turned out in droves. Thursday night's Vernissage preview saw steady crowds of well-dressed collectors, dealers and members of the art world. While art fairs were largely put on hold for much of the past two years, artists have continued to be busy and that productive creativity was on display this past weekend.&nbsp;There were thousands of works of art on view as well as dozens of lectures and topical programs. For CGN the fair was a chance to see colleagues and friends, to meet subscribers, share the new issue of the summer magazine and to observe the engagement of art in person again. We saw much of what others saw as we wandered the fair aisle by aisle, but what we took photos of was colorful, appealing and typically larger in scale.&nbsp;Here for you are some of our highlights of EXPO 2022.&nbsp;The fair will be back again next April.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419041/pcj5cti5lbkytwbmb2he.jpg"><figcaption>Stephen Eichorn installation in Carrie Secrist's booth&nbsp;</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419042/rmq9gxullbpeyeyjsa4y.jpg"><figcaption>Jose Lerma, Nino Mier Gallery</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419043/si94mnlcbseuqn3jchr2.jpg"><figcaption>A wall of Karl Wirsum works at Corbett vs Dempsey's booth</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419044/d4ethomoafedzxjqeypb.jpg"><figcaption>Sarah Zapata, A Famine of Hearing, 2016, Deli Gallery – IN/SITU at EXPO&nbsp;</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419045/nspfo9llvhe508ecuiqt.jpg"><figcaption>Zhuang Hong Yi, Blossom: Four Seasons, Rice paper and acrylic on canvas, 2021. Smith Davidson Gallery</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419046/f3jen8vuri45koqsu8mb.jpg"><figcaption>Dinh Q. Lê, Monuments and Memorials #11, cut and woven chromogenic prints and linen tape, 2021, P.P.O.W. Gallery</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419046/w8xrtne7xdmtazyieypg.jpg"><figcaption>Ebony G. Patterson at monique meloche</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419047/cxvr4rj8vwxuwjacc2h3.jpg"><figcaption>Asad Faulwell, Levitator, 2020, acrylic, pins and photo collage on canvas, Lawrie Shabibi&nbsp;</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419048/gtnrybu5mffixgfxu709.jpg"><figcaption>James Siena, Trectiuff, Graphite and acrylic on linen, 2020, Miles McEnery Gallery</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419049/nnhuncsyjnn03biv3jsp.jpg"><figcaption>Manolo Valdés at Ascaso Gallery</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419050/ddspzzztvbfpbtscqu0g.jpg"><figcaption>Left: Claude Viallat, acrylic on tarpaulin, 2016; right: a photograph by Laura Letinsky, DOCUMENT Gallery&nbsp;</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419050/nabskqwyia59ljuslnqy.jpg"><figcaption>Leon Polk Smith, Constellation U, paint on canvas, 1968, GRAY&nbsp;</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419051/galjplf1p4dxrrgxxnay.jpg"><figcaption>Anna Kunz, McCormick Gallery</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419052/alfvvfspgzyd41iy3c4e.jpg"><figcaption>Jackie Milad, mixed media on paper collages, 2021, De Buck Gallery</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

What We Saw at EXPO 2022

<a href="https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2022/04/08/expo-chicago-2022-latin-american-presence?utm_source=The+Art+Newspaper+Newsletters&amp;utm_campaign=2d16b66823-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2022_04_08_04_36&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_term=0_c459f924d0-2d16b66823-61117077">With strong showing by Latin American artists and galleries, Expo Chicago expands the definition of a regional fair</a>The description “a regional fair” can seem at best dismissive and at worst derogatory. <a href="https://www.theartnewspaper.com/keywords/expo-chicago">Expo Chicago</a>, with its wealth of international programming that sees galleries, curators, institutional directors and attendees from across the globe descend upon the Jewel of the Midwest, reimagines what it means to be regional.Instead of exemplifying an exclusive definition of the word “regional”, this year's Expo Chicago fair is very much inclusive and expansive. This fact is made clear by the fair’s <a href="https://www.expochicago.com/exhibitors/exposure">Exposure section</a>, which was curated Humberto Moro, the recently named director of program for the Dia Art Foundation. In organising the section, Moro focused his curatorial lens on Latin American galleries and artists that could, in turn, underscore issues like labour rights, social and environmental justice, and the influence of technology on the world, all of which should be considered global concerns.Via the Art Newspaper&nbsp;<a href="https://news.wttw.com/2022/04/05/frida-kahlo-s-personal-collection-photos-comes-pilsen">Frida Kahlo’s Personal Collection of Photos Comes to Pilsen</a>After touring worldwide for over 10 years and reaching nearly 1 million visitors, Frida Kahlo’s personal collection of photos has made it to Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood.The personal photo collection was rediscovered in the influential Mexican-born <a href="https://papersowl.com/discover/the-blue-house-frida-kahlos-private-universe">artist’s home known as La Casa Azul</a>. When Kahlo died in 1954 in her Mexico City home, her husband, Diego Rivera, locked some of her artworks and objects in a room. Fifty years later, that room was unlocked, and hundreds of unpublished photographs were discovered.Via WTTW&nbsp;<a href="https://news.artnet.com/art-world/mechanic-found-trove-artworks-connecticut-dumpster-may-worth-hundreds-thousands-dollars-2097396">A Man Pulled Some Unusual Art From a Dumpster, Thinking It’d Be Fun for Halloween Decor. It May Actually Be Worth a Scary Amount</a>Four and a half years ago, a mechanic pulled a trove of unidentified artworks from a Connecticut Dumpster, hoping to use them for Halloween decorations. But after some amateur sleuthing, he learned the pieces belonged to a once-prominent New York artist—and they may be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.The artworks, it turns out, were made by Francis Hines, a late, largely-forgotten Abstract Expressionist who made a name for himself wrapping canvases, sculptures, and even entire buildings in fabric before departing the New York art world for a quiet life in Connecticut.&nbsp;Via Artnet&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/11/arts/design/fearless-girl-statue-new-york.html">New York Lets ‘Fearless Girl’ Hold Her Ground, for Now</a>The popular “Fearless Girl” sculpture will continue to stand outside the New York Stock Exchange after city officials voted on Monday to extend the sculpture’s temporary permit for 11 months. This decision comes with the stipulation that the city, the owner of the sculpture and the artist return in six months with a process for deciding the artwork’s ultimate fate.Via NYT&nbsp;Key image: Hilary Swift for The New York Times

What We're Reading: 4/11/22

<a href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/2022/4/5/23011633/chicago-designers-theaster-gates-prada-dorchester-design-lab-program-artists-of-color">Theaster Gates, Prada create incubator to support designers of color</a>The Design Lab, a collaboration between Theaster Gates’ Rebuild Foundation and Prada Group, aims to uplift and invest in designers of colors in fashion, architecture and the industrial arts.“We spent a lot of time watching how many of the fashion houses in the design world and the museum institutions have been acknowledging and celebrating the contributions of Black artists and designers and people of color, but it felt like much of that has been marketing strategy,” said Gates, co-chair of Prada Group’s Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Council.Via Chicago Sun Times&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wbez.org/stories/expo-art-fair-returns-to-navy-pier-after-two-years/fcca5fc6-6abc-4671-8d1e-1d699105cb9f">Meet the curator on a search for Chicago’s next art star</a>When Jamillah James was tapped for the high-profile job of helping relaunch the Institution of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles in 2016, she arrived with a mission: to create space for emerging artists, especially Black and brown ones.Among the first places she searched was Chicago, where she had previously played the drums in an experimental band, dabbled in arts programming, and studied art history and theory at Columbia College.Via WBEZ&nbsp;<a href="https://news.artnet.com/market/expo-chicago-2022-2093135?utm_content=from_&amp;utm_source=Sailthru&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=US%20News%20Morning%204%2F8%2F22&amp;utm_term=US%20Daily%20Newsletter%20%5BMORNING%5D">Expo Chicago Lights Up for the First Time in Years, Drawing Dealers From Near and Quite Far</a>It’s been a lifetime since Expo Chicago—or at least it feels that way—which makes it just amazing to see the city’s bold&nbsp;Navy Pier filled out with&nbsp;collectors, gallerists, curators, and the like for fair’s 2022 edition.“It’s a good excuse to bring people to town to show how strong our galleries, museums, and universities are,” Aron Gent, director of local gallery Document, said at the fair’s Thursday vernissage.&nbsp;Via Artnet&nbsp;Key image: Theaster Gates. Photo credit: John R. Boehm&nbsp;

What We're Reading: 4/8/22

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419036/iykhd2uxyyucem3ykzhn.png"><figcaption>Image: mundissima/Shutterstock.com</figcaption></figure>By GINNY VAN ALYEAAfter consuming so much virutal content and aligning business practices to accomodate the shift to a more engaging and receptive online marketplace these past two years, which of these now entrenched vestiges will continue in 2022 and beyond? Many of the design and digital access features created in response to COVID’s immediate market limitations–online viewing rooms, for instance–now seem suited for the long term. Gallery clients, from the comfort of home, are able to ask galleries for custom decks to review specific artists or art that meets certain design parameters. Timed access for appointments or events creates just enough of a sense of urgency to spur collectors to show up and engage with art. In 2020 the virtual became necessary. In 2022 I sense it’s inescapable. As technology gets better faster and touches every level of our lives, it’s becoming inextricable from everything from entertainment to finance, to art. That is something we should pay close attention to. &nbsp;&nbsp;AN AUCTION REVEALED THE MARKETIt was just over a year ago, in March 2021, when Christie’s launched non-fungible tokens into the international art consciousness when it sold the first NFT, based purely on a digital work of art, ever offered by a major auction house for $69.3 million. “Everydays: the First 5,000 Days” by the artist Beeple was the the most-expensive NFT ever sold. The price was so shocking and the concept still so weird in many ways the sale itself didn’t seem real. Suddenly, art is not just available digitally. It is digital. Since the Beeple sale, NFTs have exploded beyond the auction house. What’s perhaps more eyepopping than a hammer price of more than $60 million is, as Christie’s shared on their website, the notion that NFTs have the potential to transform how we think about and establish creation as well as ownership, and not just of art but anything we can buy. The slipperiness of provenance and authenticity of physical art is moot with the symbiosis of digital art and its perpetual link to the blockchain.Sites like OpenSea and others specializing in crypto allow collectors and lookers to see what NFTs have been created (“minted”) and when, followed by when they have been sold and in what edition, and ultimately when they’re traded. Consider the value of this eight decades from now and what this chain could mean for any surprise sales or reappearances, particularly sinister ones such as from war time looting. &nbsp;“NFTs have proven to be a remarkable force in the art world,” says Gary Metzner, Sotheby’s Head of Office, Chicago, “opening up a whole new market for digital artists in such a short amount of time, while also providing a new avenue for established, more traditional artists to experiment in new forms.” Metzner elaborated on collector interest at Sotheby’s, “Since Sotheby’s first began NFT sales almost a year ago, we’ve seen a tremendous response from both digitally native collectors who are new to Sotheby’s, as well as collectors more accustomed to physical art. In a period of only about 8 months, Sotheby’s sales of NFTs hit $100 million, having never before explored this category; a remarkable feat for a 278-year-old auction house!”&nbsp;You’re only young once, which as we all know is its own major advantage. NFTs seem to live, for now, in the sandbox laboratory of contemporary artists (and of course celebrities)–undoubtedly because NFTs are a fresh, new medium. Many of the most active players are ones who speak the language of crypto art best, even if it’s outside the mainstream art market, much in the way street artists have been recognized and lauded in off-market circles long before they hang 3D art on white walls. NFTs are by no means limited to art. Says Metzner, “It is a very exciting time in the world of NFTs and the art market, as NFT application has only just begun, and there is much more to discover in how NFTs can be applied across a variety fields, like pop culture, entertainment, sports, and much more.”&nbsp;NFTS IN CHICAGOThis spring at EXPO CHICAGO will we see booths displaying monitors offering NFTs for sale at? Very likely. A /Dialogues panel titled Generative Art and NFTs, features artist and NFT evangelist Kenny Schachter. Schachter recently wrote on Artnet about teaming up with NFT designers to publicly raise money to benefit Ukraine through the launch of a collection entitled NFTUkraine and through NFT donations. He cited that in the first two weeks of the war against Russia, NFT sales had contributed $9 million in crypto currency, serving, also according to Artnet, as modern day war bonds.&nbsp;In general Chicago’s art community hasn’t prostrated to trends the way other cities’ have. Typically there is a wait-and-see appoach to anything that could seem flash-in-the-pan.&nbsp;Vertical Gallery owner Patrick Hull shared, “[Vertical hasn’t] yet participated in the release of a NFT, although we work with artists that have. I haven’t purchased a NFT -– I haven’t seen anything that I want to own -– but I actively follow the market. The industry is still in its early stages, so we will continue to evaluate if and when we will offer them.”Collector Tim Garvey, skeptical of the appeal of NFTs and value long term shared, “NFTs are a bit opaque to me; the notion feels cold and gimmicky. I don’t understand where the attraction lies – except to the sellers. I assume once this gold rush period is over, NFTs won’t hold much sway for the average collector or art-appreciator. The concept, as I understand it, has nothing to do with the underlying merit or impact of the work.”At least one gallery in Chicago’s Wicker Park–cheekily called imnotArt–is the city’s first brick and mortar space dedicated to NFTs, founded by a duo of collectors who opened a gallery to display the NFTs, first virtually, and now, physically once they began to build a collection.It doesn’t seem that long ago that curators and collectors were having conversations about how to maintain and conserve works such as video stills, some of which required periodic updates to new formats, for instance from VHS to DVD to thumb-drive. Will the named museum wings of the future even be built, or will they occupy future digital realms and metaverses of major institutions?&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419037/p7bj2h4fe5dzfvpxwd6t.jpg"><figcaption>Immersive Van Gogh at Lighthouse ArtSpace Chicago</figcaption></figure>IMMERSIVE ARTStand in front of a painting. Think about when it was painted, who painted it, the colors, the medium, the image. Just put yourself in it–immerse yourself–for more than 30 seconds. When the world started to open up again, albeit in fits and starts following the initial phase of life during COVID, business owners and event organizers needed to do something to get people not just out of the house but willing to put down money for tickets.&nbsp;What tickets did they buy? 2021 in Chicago saw the raging success, and some puzzlement of more than a few in the local art market, of Immersive Van Gogh, a show that sold hundreds of thousands of tickets for $40 and up. It was essentially a sunflower and star-filled light show, where on some mornings you could do yoga. Immersive Van Gogh, appealed to everyone who wanted to get out and see something new, but familiar, and very colorful. Because of its digital nature, the experience ran in multiple cities, even much smaller markets, simultaneously. When it finished its Chicago run, Immersive Frida took its place– pausing only for a special edition, Immersive Shevchenko: Soul of Ukraine, that raised over $200,000 for Ukraine. There will undoubtedly be more editions, running through the list of the world’s most famous, and licensed, artists.&nbsp;The addiction to buzzy, fast moving tech-art experiences has the potential to overshadow the real thing–the works that inspired today’s reimagined art in the first place. Though the temptation won’t go away, maybe some works are better left as they are. The digital is here and everywhere, but a summer without restrictions could mean that you can also buy a regular old museum ticket. Stand in front of a photograph or an installation for longer than you normally would. Put down your phone. See what happens. When no one else is looking.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

The Digital Overflow in Art: Viewing Rooms, NFTS and Immersive Experiences

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419041/xzanzdesbitjsmhrhp3d.png"><figcaption>Maryam Taghavi, Selva Aparicio, Azadeh Gholizadeh</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;Via PRArtadia is thrilled to share that Selva Aparicio, Azadeh Gholizadeh, and Maryam Taghavi are the recipients of the 2022 Chicago Artadia Award. Artadia is honored to partner with three foundations who have committed to supporting exceptional artists in Chicago with these $10,000 awards in their respective name. Selva Aparicio is the recipient of the Pritzker Pucker Family Foundation Artadia Award; Azadeh Gholizadeh is the recipient of The LeRoy Neiman and Janet Byrne Neiman Foundation Artadia Award; and Maryam Taghavi is the recipient of The Joyce Foundation Artadia Award. In addition to Aparicio, Gholizadeh, and Taghavi, this year's Finalists for the Chicago Award included Ashley January, Jeffly Gabriela Molina, and Judith Mullen. Solana Chehtman, Director of Creative Practice and Social Impact, The Shed, Christina De&nbsp;León, Associate Curator, Cooper Hewitt, Negarra A. Kudumu, Independent Curator, and Founder/Director, Art + Healing, and Robyn Farrell, Associate Curator, Art Institute of Chicago served as our Jurors for the Award. &nbsp;<a href="https://artadia.org/news/artadia-returns-to-expo-chicago-2022/">Artadia Returns to EXPO CHICAGO 2022</a>Celebrating our 2020-2021 Chicago Artadia Awardees<a href="https://artadia.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=473154334dd94da93b5b760bb&amp;id=9abba6a959&amp;e=46cd983d87">EXPO CHICAGO</a> April 7-10, 2022 600 E Grand Ave, Chicago IL 60611 Navy Pier Festival Hall | Booth #136 Artadia has been presenting Awards to artists living and working in Chicago since 2001. Twenty Award cycles have been subsequently held in the city, providing critical funds to over 80 Chicago-based artists. In partnering with EXPO CHICAGO Artadia is able to provide its Chicago Artadia Awardees continued recognition and visibility, as well as a platform to show new work. In participating at EXPO, Artadia visibly demonstrates the critical importance of providing financial support to artists as well as celebrating the high caliber of the artists in its network. Notable Chicago Artadia Awardees include Nick Cave (2006), Bethany Collins (2019), Theaster Gates (2008), and LaMont Hamilton (2015). At the 2022 EXPO CHICAGO, Artadia will be showing the work of Awardees <a href="https://artadia.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=473154334dd94da93b5b760bb&amp;id=f23e5d3194&amp;e=46cd983d87">Andrea Carlson</a>(2021), <a href="https://artadia.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=473154334dd94da93b5b760bb&amp;id=dda9c80213&amp;e=46cd983d87">Melissa Leandro</a> (2021), <a href="https://artadia.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=473154334dd94da93b5b760bb&amp;id=9f473cbf66&amp;e=46cd983d87">Eliza Myrie</a> (2020), and <a href="https://artadia.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=473154334dd94da93b5b760bb&amp;id=bc025315a9&amp;e=46cd983d87">Nate Young</a> (2021).Artadia is pleased to return to EXPO CHICAGO this April, featuring four of its Chicago Awardees from 2020-2021. This will be the fourth year that Artadia has participated in the fair. <a href="https://artadia.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=473154334dd94da93b5b760bb&amp;id=8b8e21e4fc&amp;e=46cd983d87">Visit our website to learn more about the presenting artists and their works.</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

Artadia Announces 2022 Chicago Awardees

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419041/tijndvkfmwhy4yqta1wr.jpg"><figcaption>EXPO CHICAGO, 2019 Vernissage. Image by Cory Dewald Courtesy of EXPO CHICAGO &nbsp;</figcaption></figure>By BIANCA BOVA&nbsp;This April <a href="https://www.expochicago.com">EXPO CHICAGO</a> returns to Navy Pier. It is set to be a substantial ninth edition, with 140 galleries representing 25 countries slated for inclusion. As is the case with most public experiences the pandemic forced onto hiatus over the last two years, the version that comes back will inevitably differ in some ways from its former self. The most notable difference, however–the fair being held in April rather than September–is not a radical departure from the old Art Expo, so much as it is a second kind of return.Founded by the print dealer John Wilson, the Chicago International Art Exposition–the city’s first contemporary art fair of note–premiered in the spring of 1980 at Navy Pier. The show established itself quickly, attracting 80 dealers and 10,000 visitors in its first year. In 1982, Wilson’s colleague Tom Blackman took the reins, steadily laying the groundwork for what would become Art Chicago. Under Blackman’s directorship this new fair ballooned to 220 exhibitors by the year 2000, and shortly thereafter it relocated from Navy Pier to Butler Field in Grant Park, where it was held in a purpose-built tent, still a novel choice of venue at the time. &nbsp;By 2004, however, its exhibitor list had begun to dwindle, and in 2006, days before the fair was to open, construction of the tent at Butler Field was halted and rumors flew about Blackman’s serious financial troubles. Overnight, the fair was relocated unceremoniously to the Merchandise Mart. Shortly thereafter, it was announced that Merchandise Mart Properties Inc. (MMPI) would buy the fair from Blackman.&nbsp;The following years saw Art Chicago subsumed in Artropolis,&nbsp; a five day long event at the Merchandise Mart that also encompassed versions of the Bridge Art Fair Chicago, The Intuit Show of Folk and Outsider Art, and The Artist Project Independent Artist Exhibition + Sale, among others. This carried on with variations until 2011, when MMPI announced it would no longer produce the event.&nbsp;In 2012 EXPO CHICAGO debuted as the latest heritor to the legacy of Chicago art fairs, under the directorship of Tony Karman. It swiftly redoubled Chicago’s reputation as a global contemporary art destination and brought the fair back to its former home, Navy Pier’s hanger-like Festival Hall (a slick space that subtly recalls the industrial charm of the “sheds” that still ran the length of the Pier in its earliest days as a fair venue). EXPO has been, from its inception, a well-rounded fair, introducing in its inaugural edition a robust selection of on-site programming with its /Dialogues series, and the presentation of a slate of curated large-scale installations with its IN/SITU program. In the years between its establishment and its postponement in 2020, EXPO swiftly attracted blue chip galleries (counting among its exhibitors the likes of Gagosian, David Zwirner, and Hauser &amp; Wirth), and grew to include sections of the fair dedicated to young galleries (Exposure), solo presentations of notable artists (Profile), and books and editions. It has become host to a Museum Directors Summit and a Curatorial Forum, the latter in partnership with Independent Curators International. It began a regular alignment with the Chicago Architecture Biennial in 2017, saw satellite fairs pop up (most notably NADA’s inaugural Chicago Gallery Invitational in 2019), and became the central event around which Chicago’s Gallery Week (and art world in general) orbit.&nbsp;EXPO didn’t disappear during the pandemic. Like many others, it maintained operations with online editions in 2020 and 2021 (a model which, while effective from a business standpoint, once led an art dealer from New York to confide in me that it made her “want to put a nail gun to [her] head.” A sentiment she was far from alone in). Naturally there was much speculation as to when it (and indeed, all art fairs) could resume normal operations. The April 2021 news that the fair would return in-person one year later was met with a collective sense of relief from the industry.For those of us who are members of the Chicago chapter of the art world, EXPO 2022 is set to be a kind of homecoming. A return to the old ways of being social and doing business. There is the strange summer camp aspect of being back together with the same 200 people that you only ever see in the context of the fairs, eight or ten times over the course of a year, in half a dozen cities spread out across the globe. Outside of the fair itself there is the ever-lengthening itinerary of dinners to attend and gallery hopping to do and cocktail hours at the homes of collectors to occupy your evenings. For a certain (younger) set, add to this a string of after parties and late night warehouse discos that keep you out until 2am, despite knowing you’ll be back on your feet in the lobby with a cup of coffee in hand, ready for another day on the show floor no later than 7am. There is the endless flow of gossip and mythic stories of affairs between dealers who only see each other at EXPO and Basel. And there is, as the most glorious kind of afterthought, the art.&nbsp;Art fairs belong categorically to the world of trade shows (anyone who tells you otherwise is being paid to, I promise), and the reality of their commerce means most of the works on view are destined for private collections. For every opportunity to round a corner and be suddenly, shockingly lovestruck when confronted with, say, a work by Janine Antoni at Luhring Augustine or an early Tom Wesselman at Tina Kim, there is a melancholic realization when you inevitably notice the accompanying red dots. When you pause to appreciate them, as you dash between your post and the Champagne counter, you are wishing the works a fond farewell; they may be gone and the booth rehung by the time you come back to refill your glass. In three days time, they could be anywhere. This, of course, only adds to their allure. In a quiet way, this experience–more than the thrill of closing a big sale, or of acquisition, or the familial nature of the event itself–is why many of us missed the fairs.&nbsp;So then, the return of EXPO Chicago is a joyful occasion, a lifting of the limitations of the last two years, a welcome reacclimation to a certain lifestyle. And moreover, it feels in keeping with the fair’s historically resilient nature. Through many owners and many iterations, through many venues and formats, Chicago has always held a space for the art world to gather, once a year, at the fair. This time it will be at EXPO.&nbsp;April in Chicago. Be here. Again.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.expochicago.com">Expochicago.com</a>&nbsp;</body></html>

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