News from Around the Art World: March 26, 2018
Graffiti cleanup 'blitz' ahead of Amazon visit wipes out street art in Chicago
A Chicago alderman is planning to introduce an ordinance letting property owners protect graffiti as art after a cleanup blitz near a site being pitched to Amazon claimed an unintended target.
A work by a French street artist on the side of Cards Against Humanity's headquarters was blasted away as the city dramatically stepped up graffiti cleanup near some proposed sites for Amazon's second headquarters in the lead-up to the company's visit to Chicago last week.
By Lauren Zumbach, LA Times
Ravenswood artist illustrates intricate portraits of Chicago homes
Chicago is known for its architecture, and while it’s easy to appreciate skyscrapers sometimes the worker’s cottages or bungalows are overlooked. A Ravenswood-based illustrator is making sure they don’t.
Phil Thompson, of Cape Horn Illustration, set out five years ago to create art that inspired him, which has evolved into crafting pen and ink artwork of Chicago’s unique residential architecture. His work has been featured on the sets of The Big Sick and Netflix’s Chicago-based show Easy.
“I just think the homes and buildings here have a staggering beauty to them. I grew up in the suburbs around homes trying to act colonial but aren’t. Chicago’s homes tell a story of American architecture finding itself post-Fire and pre-Depression and being made for the people—comfortable, practical, organic. I love it,” Thompson told Curbed Chicago.
By Sara Freund, Curbed Chicago
What is the most cultured city in the US?
When most people use the phrase “culture centre” in the US, they mean places like New York or Los Angeles—big coastal cities known for their museums, art galleries, theatres, performance spaces and events. But is that stereotype necessarily true? Are Manhattanites that much more likely to take advantage of the cultural feast at their doorsteps than exurbanites in Arkansas, who might have just one major museum to turn to? We looked at the 30 most visited museums in the US in our 2016 survey and found that, while places such as Chicago might have more museumgoers, residents of cities such as Minneapolis, Grand Rapids and Bentonville are more engaged with their local institutions.
By Helen Stoilas and Victoria Stapley-Brown, The Art Newspaper
Wo-manspreading at Corbett vs. Dempsey; Leaving an exhibition in knots
In a 2016 interview with “Inside\Within,” Chicago artist Margot Bergman said that she returned from working with found paintings to canvases exclusively of her own for two reasons. “One, I was missing painting, very much,” she says.
By KT Hawbaker, Chicago Tribune