<figure class="image"><img></figure>&nbsp;By FRANCK MERCURIO“I never really enjoyed going to galleries,” confesses Patrick Hull, 45, owner and director of Vertical Gallery. “I always felt like I’d walk in, and it wasn’t the right environment for me.”That all changed, however, when Hull became enamored with street art and began visiting galleries in San Francisco that featured the work of prominent urban artists. The vibe, for Hull, in these specialized galleries was different from those that sold more conventional art.“I found [the atmosphere] very approachable,” explains Hull. “You could go to the openings and meet the artists. It really spoke to me that they were allowing everybody to see their art—it wasn’t exclusive.”Hull is a former marketing VP for Birkenstock and Woodruff-Sawyer &amp; Co., and by all accounts, was tremendously successful in his previous career. But three years ago, he left the corporate world, bid farewell to his long-time home in San Francisco, and moved across the country to establish Vertical Gallery in Chicago’s Ukrainian Village neighborhood.Vertical features a constantly changing roster of urban and street artists, some of whom are just getting established and others with international prominence. It’s a mix that Hull felt was missing from the Chicago art scene.“Even though there were some galleries exhibiting this type of art [in Chicago], I didn’t feel like they were showing what I was seeing in London, Paris, New York, LA, or San Francisco,” explains Hull. “So, I decided to bring this hybrid of local, national, and international urban street artists here.”Since opening Vertical in 2013, Hull has shown the work of many well known artists, including Ben EINE, OAKOAK, Shepard Fairey, and StinkFish. Perhaps Hull’s most famous local artist is Hebru Brantley, whose public murals are popping-up around the city. Brantley has even designed shoes for Nike’s Jordan Brand.“Hebru is primarily a gallery artist, but he loves getting out on the street,” says Hull, referring to Brantley’s public murals. “He’s done graffiti before in the past, and then went into film, and now he’s a full-time artist. We did a very successful, sold-out solo show with him in June.”Which begs the question, how does one sell “street” art—a genre that is typically created for free for public consumption—within a gallery context?“Some of the artists we work with are definitely studio artists, like Hebru,” explains Hull. “While Ben EINE is a graffiti artist, he has a whole body of [outdoor public] work that he’s transformed to be shown in a gallery space.”“I wasn’t exactly sure how OAKOAK would interpret his art for the gallery space,” adds Hull, referring to the French street artist known for his clever public interventions featuring visual puns. “But I think it’s brilliant what he’s done with composition, making his art interactive within a frame.”Indeed, in OAKOAK’s recent solo show at Vertical Gallery, cartoon like figures physically bust through mats that surround his images. In other works, gargantuan movie monsters—including Godzilla and the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man—invade the ready-made landscapes of vintage French posters. Even though these smaller works are made for commercial consumption, they stay true to the intentions of OAKOAK’s signature public works.In addition to bringing street artists from around the world to Chicago, Hull also helps coordinate public commissions of their work here in the city. He’s connected to private building owners, as well as business and non-profit organizations, such as the West Town Chamber of Commerce and the Wabash Arts Corridor, who commission large-scale mural installations. Recently, Hull has helped facilitate public murals by Ben EINE, Never2501, and Hebru Brantley. Four more are planned for 2016, including murals by Collin van der Sluijs, Seth Globepainter, HERA, and a second by Ben EINE.“When I work with the artist, I try to find out what kind of space they want, scale-wise, and try to get some funding and get their work out there,” says Hull. “It’s great PR—I mean, a smart artist will definitely realize that ‘If I get a 240-foot-long mural, that’s going to mean a million people will see my work who never knew my work existed.’”April 2016 marks the third anniversary of Vertical Gallery, and Hull is planning a special group exhibition featuring three well-known artist duos: Jana and JS, Ella and Pitr, and Expanded Eye. An opening reception will take place Saturday, April&nbsp; 2, 6-10pm. Upcoming solo shows will feature Collin van der Sluijs, Greg Gossel, and HERA, perhaps the best known female street artist working today. All exhibition openings will incorporate Hull’s welcoming, accessible approach to visitors.“If you come to one of our openings, you will see a wide range of people in one room, and it’s really great,” says Hull. “I love that we can bring people together.”Vertical Gallery 1016 N. Western, Chicago (60622) <a href="http://www.verticalgallery.com">www.verticalgallery.com</a>

An interview with art dealer Patrick Hull

Dealer Patrick Hull’s Street Art Gallery

By&nbsp;Evangeline PolitisA holiday tradition at<a href="http://www.chicagogallerynews.com/institutions/loyola-university-museum-of-art-luma--2"> Loyola University Museum of Art (LUMA)</a> since 2009, Art and Faith of the Crèche: The Collection of James and Emilia Govan this year features more than 70 crèches. Running through January 10, the current exhibition has an emphasis on Latin America crèches and a special Crèche of the Year from Italy. Curated from more than 500 works donated to the museum by collectors James and Emilia Govan, the collection includes work created by artists from 100 countries illustrating how artists across the globe depict the Nativity scene.Commemorating Pope Francis’s recent visit to the US, the 2015 Crèche of the Year celebrates the great tradition of praesepe (crèches) in Italy. The terra cotta crèche depicts a dynamic scene as the three kings are greeted by a welcoming shepherd and an angel guides them toward the infant. Created by Sicilian artist Francesco Scarlatella, the work is a small masterpiece that honors Italian heritage. Since the mid-1980s, Scarlatella has devoted himself to creating crèches, and two of his pieces are in the collection at the Vatican Museum.This year will also be marked by a supplemental exhibition of 25 Latin American crèches, ranging geographically from Mexico to Brazil. Dating back to the late 15th century Latin America has been a hub of global exchange, a crossroads of trade between Europe, Africa, the Americas, and Asia. Despite the dominance of European styles, the artistic traditions of the pre-Columbian peoples still survive. Motifs and materials art subtly adapted from these diverse influences to create the distinctive regional and national styles seen in the western room of the exhibition.In a Guatemalan crèche by Erick Zamora, local saint San Hermano Pedro leads the Holy Family in procession. A pair of crèches, one by leading Mexican ceramicists Irene Aguilar, celebrates the country’s ancient custom of ceramic arts. The works’ materials also reflect local resources and traditions, ranging from coffee beans to bread dough.“The pieces in this year’s exhibition span from the colonial work by the Brazilian Avila brothers to folk art reflecting indigenous styles and devotional practices,” said Pamela Ambrose, director of cultural affairs at Loyola University Chicago. “Visitors will see how artists from Latin American cultures and across the globe depict the Nativity through their own cultural lenses that incorporate native clothing, art, and architecture.”The exhibition continues through January 10.Caption for above image: Josefina Aguilar, Mexico, n.d., painted clay and string, The James and Emilia Govan Crèche Collection

Art and Faith of the Crèche: The Collection of James and Emilia Govan at LUMA

Art and Faith of the Crèche: The Collection of James and Emilia Govan

Chicago Gallery News&nbsp;is sad to share the news that Sidney Block, co-director of Printworks Gallery for thirty-five years, passed away peacefully on Wednesday, November 25&nbsp;with his co-director and close friend Bob Hiebert at his side.&nbsp;

The gallery&#39;s 35th anniversary show, <a href="http://www.chicagogallerynews.com/calendar/return-of-the-exquisite-corpse-35th-anniversary-exhibition">The Return of the Exquisite Corpse</a>, opens this Friday, December 4. Plans for this special exhibition began two years ago, and the show&nbsp;will feature 35 works with contributions from 105 artists.

Sidney and Bob have been warm neighbors to CGN over the years in River North, and we&nbsp;congratulate the gallery&nbsp;on 35 wonderful years of business, terrific exhibitions, and true friendship.&nbsp;Our hearts go out to our dear friends at Printworks Gallery during this difficult time. Sidney will be missed by many.&nbsp;

A memorial service is pending.

<a href="http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/chicagotribune/obituary.aspx?n=sidney-block&amp;pid=176718120&amp;fhid=16222.">Obituary</a>

<img alt="" data-caption="&lt;i&gt;Sidney Block&lt;/i&gt;" data-rich-file-id="892" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/892/original/sidney-block.gif" />

Top image: December 2005 from the Chicago Reader&#39;s article, <a href="http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/the-odd-couple/Content?oid=920721">The Odd Couple</a>:&nbsp;

<blockquote class="pull-right">Bob Hiebert and Sidney Block have been in business together longer than many people have been married, and as with many couples their friends tend to think of them as inseparable--Sid and Bob, Bob and Sid. It&#39;s been 25 years since they opened Printworks, still the city&#39;s only gallery dedicated exclusively to works on paper--contemporary prints, drawings, artists&#39; books, and the occasional painting or photograph. For the past 15--five days a week, nearly every week of the year--they&#39;ve sat on opposite sides of a single desk in their cramped, 600-square-foot space in River North...</blockquote>

Sidney Block: A True Friend

By FRANCK MERCURIO

Known for its signature Santiago Calatrava-designed Quadracci Pavilion (2001), the Milwaukee Art Museum recently completed a major renovation of its two older buildings: the Eero Saarinen&ndash;designed War Memorial Center (1957) and the David Kahler&ndash;designed addition (1975). When the galleries reopen to the public on&nbsp;November 24, they will feature 2,500 works of art from a permanent collection of 30,000.

<img alt="" data-rich-file-id="882" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/882/original/7.jpg" />

The museum&rsquo;s director, Dan Keegan, oversaw the 14-month, $34 million renovation. &ldquo;We wanted to fundamentally change the visitor experience and showcase the collection like never before,&rdquo; explained Keegan during the museum&rsquo;s recent press preview. &ldquo;We wanted to match the beauty of the Calatrava addition with how we present the art itself.&rdquo;

The expansion allows for a more comprehensive display of the museum&rsquo;s encyclopedic collection, including the full narrative arc of American art from colonial times to the present day. It also presents opportunities for showcasing some of the museum&rsquo;s previously underplayed collection areas, such as photography, self-taught and folk art, and 20th century design.

<img alt="" data-caption="Tom Wesselman, Still Life #51, 1964" data-rich-file-id="881" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/881/original/6.jpg" />

The new installation begins with Tom Wesselman&rsquo;s&nbsp;Still Life #51&nbsp;(1964). This monumental painting&mdash;featuring an eight-foot-tall can of Pabst Blue Ribbon&mdash;greets visitors as they enter into the newly renovated Kahler-designed addition. The Wesselman serves as a tongue-in-cheek tribute to Milwaukee and a fitting starting point for the museum&rsquo;s re-installed Modern and Contemporary Art Galleries.&nbsp;

<img alt="" data-caption="Donald Judd, Untitled, 1981" data-rich-file-id="878" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/878/original/5.jpg" />

From here, visitors encounter a series of large, light-filled galleries featuring iconic works by the likes of Warhol, Wiley, and Judd, but also a number of impressive pieces by contemporary women artists, such as Claire Zeisler, Elizabeth Murray, and Cornelia Parker.&nbsp;Throughout the main level, several east-west &ldquo;all&eacute;es&rdquo; cut-through the new gallery spaces, providing views into other parts of the museum and glimpses of classic visitor favorites, such as Edwin Landseer&rsquo;s&nbsp;Jocko and the Hedgehog&nbsp;(1828).

<img alt="" data-caption="Georgia O'Keeffe, Poppies, 1950" data-rich-file-id="879" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/879/original/3.jpg" />&nbsp;<img alt="" data-caption="Nardo di Cione, Madonna and Child, ca. 1350" data-rich-file-id="877" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/877/original/2.jpg" />

The new 10,000-square-foot Herzfeld Center for Photography and Media Arts resides on the museum&rsquo;s lower level. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve never had a dedicated space of this scale,&rdquo; explains Lisa Sutcliffe, Curator of Photography and Media Arts. &ldquo;The idea is to create a broader context for understanding photography and other light based media&mdash;film, video, light installations&mdash;and show them together so visitors can understand them as part of a larger whole.&rdquo;

The Herzfeld Center&rsquo;s inaugural exhibition,&nbsp;Light Borne in Darkness, features nearly 180 works from the museum&rsquo;s extensive photography collection. Highlights include Edward Weston&rsquo;s breathtaking&nbsp;Bad Water, Death Valley&nbsp;(1938)&mdash;the first work of photography acquired by the museum&mdash;and an immersive installation by contemporary British artist Anthony McCall titled&nbsp;You and I, Horizontal (II)&nbsp;(2006).&nbsp;

<img alt="" data-caption="Stanley Landsman, &quot;Walk-in Infinity Chamber&quot;, 1968, wood, glass, lightbulbs and electric circuitry, " data-rich-file-id="880" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/880/original/4.jpg" />&nbsp;<img alt="" data-rich-file-id="876" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/876/original/1.jpg" />

The renovation also includes a new east fa&ccedil;ade that overlooks Lake Michigan and reconnects the Kahler-designed addition to the lakefront. Visitor amenities include a second entryway into the museum, a wine bar, and lounges with stunning views of the lake. The east end also contains the new Bradley Family Gallery, a 4,000-square-foot special exhibition space, currently featuring&nbsp;Sam Francis: Master Printmaker, an inaugural exhibition of the Abstract Expressionist&rsquo;s works on paper.

For more information about the Milwaukee Art Museum&rsquo;s renovated galleries, visit&nbsp;<a href="http://www.mam.org">www.mam.org</a>

&nbsp;

CGN reports the installation of the new galleries at the Milwaukee Art Museum 

A New View of The Milwaukee Art Museum

By MIA DIMEO

Now through January 10, 2016&nbsp;the <a href="http://www.chicagogallerynews.com/institutions/smart-museum-of-art">Smart Museum of Art</a> will celebrate a century of Expressionism with an exhibition of more than 80 pieces from the collection. Expressionist Impulses charts the style in its many forms through prominent movements spanning the twentieth century Die Br&uuml;cke (1905&ndash;1914), Der Blaue Reiter (1911&ndash;1914), New Objectivity (1920s) and Neo-Expressionism (1960&ndash;80s). Focusing on Germany and Central Europe, the exhibition includes artworks by George Grosz, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner and others working before WWI, mid-century abstractionists Joseph Albers and Hans Hoffman and later practitioners such as Martin Kippenberger and J&ouml;rg Immendorff.

<img alt="" data-caption="Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Dodo in the Studio, 1910, Pastel on paper. Smart Museum of Art, The University of Chicago, Gift of Paul and Susan Freehling in memory of Mrs. Edna Freehling, 2002.70." data-rich-file-id="857" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/857/original/smart-kirchner.jpg" />

The diverse list of artists presented under the Expressionist umbrella share a rejection of naturalism, and are bound by their impulse to create subjective worlds where color, line and form are used to achieve maximum emotion. Their work is often linked to political movements and Utopian ideas, but no one theme persists. Highlights include a bold-lined pastel portrait by Kirchner and a colorful oil composition attributed to Wassily Kandinsky.

<img alt="" data-caption="Max Pechstein, Head of a Girl, 1910, Oil on canvas. Smart Museum of Art, The University of Chicago, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Randall Shapiro, 1992.19." data-rich-file-id="858" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/858/original/smart-pechstein.jpg" />&nbsp;<img alt="" data-caption="Attributed to Wassily Kandinsky, Composition, 1914, Oil on canvas. Smart Museum of Art, The University of Chicago, Gift of Dolores and Donn Shapiro in honor of Jory Shapiro, 2012.51." data-rich-file-id="856" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/856/original/smart-kandinsky.jpg" />

Related exhibitions on view include To See in Black and White: German and Central European Photography, 1920s&ndash;1950s and Expressionist, New Objectivity, and Constructivist Prints, 1905&ndash;1925: Recent Acquisitions with photos and prints by Max Beckmann, Hannah H&ouml;ch and L&aacute;szl&oacute; Moholy-Nagy. Just in time for Halloween, programming also includes a screening of the 1922 Expressionist vampire film Nosferatu on October 26 complete with live organ accompaniment.

&nbsp;

For details please visit the Smart Museum <a href="http://www.chicagogallerynews.com/institutions/smart-museum-of-art">website</a>&nbsp;

&nbsp;

Top image:&nbsp;A screenshot of the 1922 film,&nbsp;Nosferatu

&nbsp;

The Smart Museum of Art celebrates a century of Expressionism

Expressionist Impulses: German and Central European Art, 1890-1990 at the Smart Museum of Art

By Khephra Burns

&ldquo;An artistically vibrant community, Chicago is emblematic of the creativity that exists wherever black people gather to express the joy and beauty of being black.&rdquo;

Opening October 29 and continuing through November 1, the Harlem Fine Arts Shown (HFAS) returns to Chicago. How could it not? Chicago rivals Harlem for its rich history as a center for African American creativity in the arts. While the Harlem Renaissance is widely celebrated for the flowering of art and literature that gave birth to a new black consciousness in the 1920&rsquo;s, another, less-well publicized, black renaissance began to flourish on Chicago&#39;s South Side in the midst of the Great Depression. It was led, one could argue, by painter Archibald Motley and grew to include such seminal figures as William Edouard Scott, Charles White and&nbsp;Eldzier Cortor, Elizabeth Catlett, Richmond Barth&eacute;,&nbsp;Margaret Taylor Burroughs (cofounder of the DuSable Museum) and others whose names today loom large in the constellation of African American masters.

Motley, who had been working since the 1920&#39;s, prefigured Alain Locke&#39;s &quot;New Negro&quot; in both the content and style of early works like Barbecue (1934) and The Liar (1936), in which he celebrated the surging vitality of inner-city black social life in a district now known as Bronzeville. It was Motley in fact who is credited with coining the name Bronzeville. As an artist, he was the first to focus on the urgency of black nightlife in paintings like Syncopation (1925) and Stomp (1927). &quot;Nothing like it had been seen in American painting,&quot; observed artist Romare Bearden.

<img alt="" data-caption="Archibald J. Motley Jr., Barbecue, c. 1934. Oil on canvas, 39 x 44 inches (99.1 x 111.76 cm). Collection of the Howard University Gallery of Art, Washington, DC. © Valerie Gerrard Browne." data-rich-file-id="854" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/854/original/web-barbecue1934.jpg" />

The Chicago-based progeny of the Motleys, Catletts and Burroughs include such noted contemporary artists as Dawoud Bey, Barbara Jones Hogu, Kerry James Marshall, Theaster Gates, Wadsworth Jarrell, Gerald Griffin and the late Allen Stringfellow.

As you might expect, given its wealth of talent and history, Chicago is home to a strong community of collectors, cultivated in no small part by the&nbsp;South Side Community Art Center (SSCAC), which celebrates its 75th Anniversary beginning in December of 2015.

<img alt="" data-caption="Gerald Griffin" data-rich-file-id="855" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/855/original/gerald-griffin-facing-the-rising-sun.jpg" />

Throughout the country, a burgeoning interest among African Americans in fine art that speaks to their history and culture can be credited to the greater exposure that has come courtesy of institutions like the SSCAC, art fairs and expos like the annual HFAS. Founded in 2009, the HFAS travels annually between Harlem, Martha&#39;s Vineyard, Atlanta, Washington, D.C., and now, for the second consecutive year,&nbsp;Chicago. It is a venue for the serious collector of works by artists of African descent, as well as a point of entry for the novice collector and the curious looking to see something of themselves rendered artistically on canvas.

For many the HFAS represents their first exposure to fine art reflecting the breadth and depth of the African Diaspora. It is the mission of HFAS to provide that kind of exposure to new generations in urban centers across the nation.

&nbsp;

The 2nd Harlem Fine Art Show takes place in Chicago October 29-November 1.

<a href="http://www.chicagogallerynews.com/calendar/harlem-fine-arts-show">Click here</a> for details about show hours, special events and tickets.&nbsp;

HFAS&nbsp;is the largest traveling African Diasporic art show in the United States. Since its inception in 2009, HFAS has had over 60,000+ visitors, traveled to 10+ cities as well as showcased 100+ artists and galleries

The Harlem Fine Art Show returns to Chicago 

HFAS Celebrates Arts in Chicago

BY GINNY VAN ALYEA

I took a weekend trip to Rockford recently, to visit family and to see the new Phyllis Bramson Retrospective at the Rockford Art Museum. My family had quite an adventure exploring the area, including the beautiful and serene Anderson Japanese Gardens, and making it out to the museum for this show really was a treat for all. &nbsp;

<img alt="" data-caption="Phyllis Bramson" data-rich-file-id="850" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/850/original/img-4521.jpg" />

Phyllis Bramson is well-known in the Chicago art community (and beyond) as she has been producing her distinctive work for decades. Seeing so many of her large paintings and unique constructions together in the elegant RAM space was a rare experience, and an enlightening one.&nbsp;The museum&#39;s main exhibition space, devoted to Bramson&#39;s work for Phyllis Bramson: In Praise of Folly &ndash; A Retrospective, 1985&ndash;2015, was larger than I expected, and the dark gray walls showed Bramson&#39;s paintings well, highlighting her bold use of color and the varied use of found materials.&nbsp;

<img alt="" data-caption="Reluctant Bride, 2008 60&quot; × 70&quot; mixed media and collage on canvas" data-rich-file-id="851" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/851/original/img-4524.jpg" />

The works in the show are from the second half of Bramson&#39;s career and they demonstrate her signature use of imagery - female images, Asian references and environments, and plenty of eroticisim and surreal scenes. The viewer takes a different trip with each work of art, following Bramson&#39;s use of collage, saturated colors, fantastic landscapes and juxtaposed childhood and fairytale references. &nbsp;

<img alt="" data-caption="Stories Before Bedtimes (tales of love), 2015 Sculpture/Objects: 21&quot; × 21&quot; × 12&quot; Scroll: 53&quot; × 21&quot; Mixed media" data-rich-file-id="849" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/849/original/img-4523.jpg" />

Bramson&#39;s sculptures, or scroll drawings, incorporate ceramic figures and teapots with more found materials and often Asian emboridery, as well as delicate paper materials. The images applied to the scrolls that bellow from below the teapots and characters lead viewers into another immersive experience. I wanted to know more about what each piece meant and what stories were told from one work to the next. My two year old daughter desperately wanted to touch each piece and have a tea party... For both of us Bramson&#39;s work is a complete experience that asks more questions than can be answered.

<img alt="" data-caption="Female-Lovemaking at the end of Springtime, 2006 Sculpture/Objects: 21&quot; × 18&quot; × 10&quot; Scroll: 82&quot; × 10&quot; Mixed media" data-rich-file-id="848" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/848/original/img-4522.jpg" />

In the lower level of the museum, many works from the permanent collection were on view, but a highlight was a collection of prints by Warrington Colescott. The artist&#39;s History of Printmaking series tells a tounge-in-cheek story about the art world through&nbsp;Colescott&#39;s active figures, suspended in conversation with one another while sending messages off the page to the viewer. Warrington Colescott: Collective Follies&nbsp;closed Oct. 18 but many other works are still on view at the museum this fall.&nbsp;

<img alt="" data-caption="Warrington Colescott, (American, b. 1921) The History of Printmaking: Picasso at the Zoo, 1978" data-rich-file-id="853" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/853/original/img-4526.jpg" />

<a href="http://www.chicagogallerynews.com/calendar/phyllis-bramson-retrospective">Phyllis Bramson: In Praise of Folly &ndash; A Retrospective, 1985&ndash;2015</a> in on view at the <a href="http://www.chicagogallerynews.com/institutions/rockford-art-museum">Rockford Art Museum</a> through January 31, 2016, The exhibition is&nbsp;organized by Rockford Art Museum, curated by RAM Curator Carrie Johnson. This exhibition and its related educational programming are sponsored by BMO Private Bank, and partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency and by the Armer Ahlstrand Charitable Foundation. All education programs are sponsored in part by Women&rsquo;s Art Board

Key image at top of page: Phyllis Bramson,&nbsp;Shipwrecked,&nbsp;1987,&nbsp;72&quot; &times; 96&quot; oil on canvas

Phyllis Bramson at the Rockford Art Museum and Warrington Colescott

Phyllis Bramson Retrospective at Rockford Art Museum

BY MARY DEYOE

House music, quilting, collaborative dance performances and architectural model-making are just a handful of the art forms you may experience during Chicago Artists Month. While there is no shortage of arts to discover throughout the year, what CAM has continued to do well for the past 20 years is draw our attention to neighborhoods, artists, and art forms with which we may be less familiar.

&ldquo;CAM seems to encourage a flurry of artistic production on top of what&#39;s already happening in Chicago,&rdquo; said CAM Featured Artist Victoria Bradford. &ldquo;It engenders cross-pollination of audiences across genre and geography. And it gives artists an opportunity to convene and communicate.&rdquo;

An initiative of the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, CAM features events that are independently produced by artists and organizations spread throughout the city&rsquo;s neighborhoods from Hyde Park to Humboldt Park to Edgewater. While CAM always aims to engage the city from all corners, this is particularly central to this year&rsquo;s theme &ndash; The City as Studio. The EL Train, front porches, abandoned structures and the space below the expressway all figure prominently among the 2015 Featured Events.

Vacancy at the Glass Curtain Gallery at Columbia College features work by artists and architects who use empty, abandoned spaces in the city to imagine new possibilities and to change the notion of &ldquo;empty&rdquo; to &ldquo;open.&rdquo; Under the Freeway, conceived&nbsp;by artists Connie Noyes and Marvin Tate was a one-night, clandestine event. In order to attend, guests were challenged to find their way to the location by completing tasks and following guidelines created by the artists.

<img alt="" data-caption="Under the El installation" data-rich-file-id="845" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/845/original/under-the-freeway-dining.jpg" />

&ldquo;I wanted people to wonder where they might be going for the night, said Noyes, much in the same way many displaced people do every night.&rdquo;

The evening included installations created by Noyes and a performance by cellist Lilianna Wosko. &ldquo;Wosko&#39;s cello added a classic energy and ambiance to the deeply-rooted, macro-society under a small part to the freeway,&rdquo; said Noyes.

<img alt="" data-caption="Installation by Noyes and Tate" data-rich-file-id="846" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/846/original/noyesinstallation1.jpg" />

Notable this year are the number of performances and workshops on the subjects of dance and music. Until recently Chicago Artists Month focused primarily on the visual arts. Coming on the heels of EXPO Chicago and in the midst of the inaugural Chicago Architecture Biennial, it is refreshing to see these other art forms take the stage.

Neighborhood Dances asks participants to record daily &ldquo;micro-dances&rdquo; from September 18-24, staged in front of buildings, residences and other architectural structures throughout the city. The performances are open to the public and each will yield a 15-second video. All of the videos will be combined, and, over the course of a week, workshopped and choreographed into a performance to be showcased on October 24 at Defibrillator Performance Art Gallery. &nbsp;This project was born out of an ongoing series by Victoria Bradford, who is a current resident at Defibrillator.

<img alt="" data-caption="Part of Neighborhood Dances" data-rich-file-id="847" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/847/original/img-3310.jpg" />

&ldquo;Every day I wake up, knowing that somewhere that day, someplace in the city, I&rsquo;m going to make a dance,&rdquo; said Bradford. &ldquo;This city is as much where I ask questions and take risks as where I perform.&rdquo;

&nbsp;

Chicago Artist Month runs from October 1 &ndash; November 15, 2015

For a complete list of events, visit <a href="http://www.chicagoartistsmonth.org">www.chicagoartistsmonth.org</a>

Highlights from Chicago Artists Month 2015

Chicago Artists Month 2015 - The City as Studio

BY ERIN CULLEN

In case there was any doubt that fall is the season for art, the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago is bringing back one of their most highly-anticipated and spectacular events on October 23. After a five year hiatus, the 17th iteration of the museum&rsquo;s Benefit Art Auction returns and seems to be bigger and better than ever.

Boasting both a silent and live auction led by Sotheby&rsquo;s Deputy Chairman Oliver Barker, the auctions together will feature more than 100 spectacular works of art by artists from all over the world including renowned and distinguished contemporary artists Takashi Murakami, Sterling Ruby, Alfredo Jarr, Doris Salcedo and Hugh Scott-Douglas, among others.&nbsp; Highlighting the auction, and in advance of his spring exhibition at the MCA, celebrated artist Kerry James Marshall is creating a special piece specifically for the live auction. Artist Nick Cave will also create a custom piece for the auction. From hanging installations to sculptures the event will have something for everyone.&nbsp;

One of the very special parts of the benefit is MCA&rsquo;s support for Chicago based artists. Theaster Gates, Jessica Labatte, Jose Lerma, Cody Hudson and Jennifer Reeder are among the talented group of Chicago artists who will have work featured in this year&rsquo;s Benefit Art Auction.

Each piece auctioned off supports the MCA&rsquo;s exhibits and public programs. A special preview will be held on Wednesday, October 21 at 6pm. A public online preview is currently available through Paddle8 and will be open to bidders through October 23. To purchase tickets or for more information on the Benefit Art Auction, visit <a href="http://www2.mcachicago.org/exhibition/benefit-art-auction/">mcachicago.org</a>

A preview of the upcoming Museum of Contemporary Art auction featuring work for sale by big-name artists

Paddles Ready – MCA Benefit Art Auction is Back!

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418548/zzxbal3vp2oyktkjk4ds.jpg"></figure>BY REBECCA WOANThis post is courtesy of Chicago-based Chartwell Insurance. Please visit <a href="https://www.chartwellins.com/">www.chartwellins.com</a> for more information about your art insurance needs.&nbsp;Art consignment can be generally described as a work of art being delivered by its owner —the consignor— to a specialist art vendor —the consignee— for the purpose of being sold at some time in the future. Vendors include art dealers and auction houses. Owners might prefer that the vendor actually purchases the work outright, but the consignment system provides owners with the professional services of the vendor, who should have an extensive client list of possible customers as well as a much better publicity and distribution system than owners could typically achieve unaided. Vendors usually do not charge owners for accepting works on consignment, making their money from a commission in the event of a sale.Cautionary tales from consignment:When it works as planned —and it typically does— consignment is a convenient way for owners of art works to have the works sold in an efficient and effective manner, and a low-cost method of providing art vendors with inventory. However, things can go horribly wrong.&nbsp;Art works can be sold by unscrupulous vendors without notifying the owner. When this is discovered the vendor may apologize profusely and remit the proceeds, but in the meantime has had access to those funds. Worse, the artwork may have been sold, the money spent, and the vendor is unable to pay the owner. This may constitute fraud and result in criminal prosecution, but that will be of little comfort to an owner who has lost both the art and the money.The artwork can be lost, damaged or even destroyed while under consignment. When that happens, a close reading of the consignment agreement —hitherto probably ignored by the owner— might reveal that the vendor no responsibility or limited responsibility for insurance. To make matters worse, the owner’s insurance policy might (and probably will) exclude losses arising while the work is on consignment.&nbsp;Practical considerations for consignment:• Art consignment is a common practice for the good reason that it benefits both parties to the agreement. However, artwork is frequently consigned and then ignored by the owners. Here are some basic considerations for owners contemplating consignment:•&nbsp;Before consigning artwork a seller should determine the most appropriate venue for sale, whether it should be a gallery, a private dealer or an auction house. Art consultants can assist with this decision, and Chartwell Insurance Services would be pleased to provide a list of consultants, from whom Chartwell receives no payment.•&nbsp;Consign with a reputable vendor. Find out if the dealer has any liens, lawsuits or pending judgments.•&nbsp;Demand a strongly written consignment agreement which includes your right to sell, a description of the work, the term of the agreement (typically no more than one year, and preferably for six months) an agreed upon sales price, the agreed commission split, when and how payment is to be remitted, and when the seller is to be notified of a sale.•&nbsp;Notify your insurer prior to the consignment.•&nbsp;Arrange for an inspection of the art every six months to ensure that the artwork has not been sold or damaged. In some instances consignors learned of sales of their art works years after the sale. If an actual inspection is not practical consider a “face-time” call to view the art.•&nbsp;Perfect your consignment rights by filing UCC (Uniform Commercial Code) financing statements. (A right is perfected by registering it with appropriate statutory authority so that it is made legally enforceable and any subsequent claim on that asset is given a junior status.) A UCC filing may not provide recourse when proceeds of a sale are not remitted but they will help prevent the seizure of artwork by creditors of a gallery. To protect privacy sellers may want to consider the use of an LLC when filing a UCC statement. The help of an attorney experienced in the art world is recommended.•&nbsp;Explore whether there is a possibility of an escrow account for a sale. An escrow account helps ensure that valid payment has been made and immediately distributes the sales proceeds to a seller. This is not customary, but some banks may agree.Chartwell Bulletins are produced by&nbsp;<a href="http://chartwellins.com/">Chartwell Insurance Services</a>&nbsp;an independent insurance broker specializing in the personal asset protection of high net worth individuals.&nbsp;Chartwell Bulletins address issues of general interest and since coverages vary by company and by state should not be taken as an interpretation of a particular policy or advice on any individual situation.To discuss this issue or others related to insurance, please contact&nbsp;Rebecca Korach Woan:&nbsp;312-645-1200 or&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chartwellins.com/contact/">rwoan@chartwellins.com</a></body></html>

Art Consignment: What is It and What to Look Out For

BY THOMAS MCCORMICK

What a spectacular day!&nbsp;

With weather that was literally picture perfect, Janis and I attended the annual Carts &amp; Cocktails event last&nbsp;Saturday at the&nbsp;Nathan Manilow Sculpture Park&nbsp;outside Chicago. The park is located on the campus of Governors State University, about 45 minutes south of downtown Chicago. This place is a true gem,&nbsp;and for those who have never been there &mdash; and that&#39;s most of us &mdash;&nbsp;MAKE THE TRIP! Over 30 large scale works of art&nbsp;are sited in the most gorgeous natural prairie setting, with rolling hills, lakes and wild life. You will be charmed and amazed.

<img alt="" data-rich-file-id="839" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/839/original/aeca04fb-39bc-4793-897a-300d6d3e425e.jpg" />

A highlight of the day was the rededication of two sculptures by Richard Hunt, (pictured above)&nbsp;getting a big hug here from me along&nbsp;with Janis and Chicago collector Jim Parker on the left.&nbsp;Large Planar Hybrid, 1973-74, is a&nbsp;cor-ten steel piece behind us that is now sited in conversation with another work,&nbsp;Outgrown Pyramid II, 1973, nearby. The two sculptures have recently been refurbished and moved to a new location in&nbsp;front of the school. This has been a big summer for Richard, one of the premier living American sculptors,&nbsp;who just turned 80 and is being showered with parties and accolades. He well deserves all this attention.

<img alt="" data-rich-file-id="838" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/838/original/f9d8a635-b198-4418-aab0-8c0bd5dcb62f.jpg" />

The first work encountered on our Champagne-infused golf cart tour of the park was John Henry&#39;s monumental (and I&#39;m talking big-assed) sculpture&nbsp;Illinois Landscape Number 5, 1976. The piece has recently been repainted a brilliant yellow and in the afternoon sunlight, it seemed to crawl across the landscape like some&nbsp;primordial&nbsp;creature stretching itself out against the lovely prairie backdrop. I don&#39;t know how long it is (a football field?) but this sucker is a really awesome!

<img alt="" data-rich-file-id="837" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/837/original/8a5d5037-d5e8-4f8a-b224-f5bba076002f.jpg" />

Another unbelievable work is Tony Tasset&#39;s&nbsp;Paul,&nbsp;2006. This is the first piece you see driving into the university, and your view of it is way out across a field where a 25 foot tall Paul Bunyan, looking exhausted, challenges your sense of perception. You know he&#39;s a long way off but he can&#39;t possibly be that large! Up close you see Tasset has given him the weary face of Michelangelo&#39;s Moses (notice one our our golf carts whizzing past for a sense of scale). We love Tony&#39;s sense of irony, humor and the way he&nbsp;messes&nbsp;with our heads!

Anyway, that&#39;s how we spent our weekend, hope your&#39;s was fun as well.

&nbsp;

<a href="http://www.govst.edu/Nathan_manilow_Sculpture_Park/">Nathan Manilow Sculpture Park</a>

<a href="http://www.thomasmccormick.com">McCormick Gallery</a>

Gallery owner Tom McCormick shares highlights from his booze-filled visit to the glorious south side Nathan Manilow Sculpture Park to see large-scale works of art by Richard Hunt, Tony Tasset and others

Carts & Cocktails 2015: A Spectacular Day at Nathan Manilow Sculpture Park

BY FRANCK MERCURIO

The fourth annual EXPO Chicago kicked-off Thursday at Navy Pier&rsquo;s Festival Hall. Billed as Chicago&rsquo;s International Exposition of Contemporary &amp; Modern Art, the fair includes an astonishing variety of works presented by some 140 galleries. The majority of these are well-established enterprises, often representing big-name artists and catering to serious collectors with deep wallets, though this year in particular we easily&nbsp;found many appealing works priced affordably&nbsp;as well.&nbsp;EXPO also promotes a selection of 30 younger galleries representing less-established artists. The &ldquo;EXPOSURE&rdquo; galleries feature a range of compelling works that suggest the future direction of contemporary art. The following are three &ldquo;must-sees.&quot;

<a href="http://www.aspectratioprojects.com/desire-holman#">Aspect/Ratio, Chicago</a> 
Booth 613

<img alt="" data-caption="Desirée Holman" data-rich-file-id="831" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/831/original/4c8121c9dcbbc96b-ardesireeholmansophont.jpg" />

Despite the ubiquitousness of video art in museum exhibitions, not many galleries present video. Aspect/Ratio is bucking the trend. Established by Jefferson Godard in 2012, the West Loop gallery features works by well-known and up-and-coming video artists. For EXPO, Aspect/Ratio presents Desir&eacute;e Holman&rsquo;s&nbsp;Sophont&nbsp;(2013), a visually rich work featuring costumed performers set against California landscapes. In the video, the Oakland-based artist explores modern-day society&rsquo;s willingness to accept &ldquo;fringe fantasies&rdquo; as fact&mdash;in this case, &ldquo;sophonts&rdquo; or fictional beings defined by their greater capacity for reasoning than humans. Complimenting the main work are drawings by Holman of the characters represented in the video. 
 
<a href="http://11rgallery.com/ARTISTS_new/Marsha%20Cottrell.html/">11R Eleven Rivington, New York</a><b\> 
Booth 614</b\>

<img alt="" data-caption="Marsha Cottrell" data-rich-file-id="832" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/832/original/unnamed-20copy-2.jpg" />

At first glance, the striking black and white works of Marsha Cottrell appear to be prints&mdash;but each is actually a unique piece. Represented by Eleven Rivington in New York, the Brooklyn-based artist designs her works on a computer using a series of layered images. She then runs a single sheet of paper through an electrostatic laser printer&mdash;over and over again&mdash;layering one image on top of another to create the final piece. It&rsquo;s a time consuming process that incorporates both digital and manual technologies, but the results are both ephemeral and haunting. In&nbsp;Interior 9&nbsp;(2015) the artist&rsquo;s layered gradations of printer toner capture an imagined &ldquo;view&rdquo; from a dark interior out to a light-filled exterior. 
 
<a href="http://www.louisbjames.com/?cat=22">Louis B. James, New York</a> 
Booth 732

<img alt="" data-caption="Matthew Kirk" data-rich-file-id="833" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/833/original/lbj-20expo-20copy.jpg" />

Who says painting is dead? New York-based Louis B. James gallery presents a vibrant selection of works by artists Nora Griffin and Matthew Kirk. But it is Kirk&rsquo;s large-scale &ldquo;drawing&rdquo;&nbsp;Absolute Calm&nbsp;(2011) that commands the most attention. Painting-like in its execution, the work features a complex composition of lines and symbols set against a dramatic black background. The variety of markings made by Kirk&mdash;using chalk, gouache, India ink, and pencil&mdash; allude to the Brooklyn-based artist&rsquo;s upbringing on a Navajo reservation in Arizona as well as to his adult life in New York City. Do the stepped lines that stretch across the paper represent an urban skyline or southwestern mesas? The formal ambiguity allows the viewer to decide.

&nbsp;

More info on EXPO may be found at <a href="http://expochicago.com">expo.com</a>, and additional images from CGN from EXPO weekend may be viewed on <a href="https://instagram.com/chigallerynews/">Instagram</a>.

EXPO 2015: a few must-sees

BY MIA DIMEO

<a href="http://www.expochicago.com/art-after-hours">Art After Hours</a><a href="http://www.chicagogallerynews.com/calendar/art-after-hours--3">,</a> happening Friday evening, September 18,&nbsp;lets Chicago galleries show their best stuff to those riding EXPO CHICAGO&rsquo;s art week wave. Exhibition and performance spaces around the city will have special events and extended hours from 6-9 pm, with free shuttles running between Navy Pier and multiple gallery districts. Listed below&nbsp;are a few highlights, from Michigan Avenue to Rogers Park,&nbsp;to&nbsp;try to catch while out and about in search of great art.&nbsp;

<img alt="" data-rich-file-id="828" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/828/original/art-after-hours-expo-chicago.jpg" />

<h4>&nbsp;</h4>

<h4>&bull; Far Out Females: Mid-Century Chicago Surrealism &nbsp;</h4>

<a href="http://www.chicagogallerynews.com/calendar/far-out-females-mid-century-chicago-surrealism">Mongerson Gallery</a>

<img alt="" data-caption="Gertrude Abercrombie, &quot;Countess Nerona on Chaise&quot; (1953, Oil on Masonite, 7 3/4 x 10 inches)" data-rich-file-id="829" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/829/original/abercrombie-countessnaroneonchaise-crop.jpg" />

Not far from the action on Navy Pier, the first in a series of exhibitions on Chicago-area 20th century artists, Far Out Females celebrates the work of Gertrude Abercrombie, Macena Barton and Julia Thecla, who created dreamy images in Chicago between the 1930s and the 1960s. Expect stark interiors, cats and other creatures and uncanny portraits.

&nbsp;

<h4>&bull; Shana Moulton: My life as an INFJ</h4>

<a href="http://www.chicagogallerynews.com/institutions/julius-caesar">Julius Caesar</a>

For more contemporary surrealism, go to Garfield Park&rsquo;s Julius Caesar. &nbsp;Shana Moulton, best known for her long-running performance and video series featuring her alter ego, &ldquo;Cynthia,&rdquo; will exhibit new work, confronting a range of anxieties with droll, psychedelic imagery.

&nbsp;

<h4>&bull; Theory of Forms</h4>

<a href="http://http://www.chicagogallerynews.com/calendar/theory-of-forms">Patron</a>

The inaugural show for this highly anticipated new space grapples with the Platonic philosophy of the same name through the voices of eleven artists working in sculpture, painting and installation.

&nbsp;

<h4>&bull; Nathaniel Mary Quinn: Back and Forth</h4>

<a href="http://www.chicagogallerynews.com/calendar/nathaniel-mary-quinn-imagining-space">Rhona Hoffman Gallery</a>

<img alt="" data-caption="Nathaniel Mary Quinn, June Bug" data-rich-file-id="744" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/744/original/junebug.jpg" />

Nathaniel Mary Quinn uses a clever illusion of collage, playing with style and proportion in his faces and figures in an effect that recalls the work of Hannah H&ouml;ch and Frances Bacon. In addition to a range of historic imagery and source materials, Quinn&rsquo;s upbringing at a Chicago public housing facility informs these intimate works. &nbsp;

&nbsp;

<h4>&bull; The Annual</h4>

<a href="http://www.chicagoartistscoalition.org/programs/annual">Chicago Artists Coalition</a>

Revamping and renaming its affordable art satellite exhibition, CAC&rsquo;s aptly named annual aims to connect emerging collectors with local artists. Claudine&nbsp;Is&eacute;&nbsp;and Alexandria Eregbu will curate works by Alfredo Salazar-Caro, Susy Bielak, Alejandro Figueredo Diaz-Perera, Chelsea Culp, Danny Giles, Esau McGhee and many more in CAC&rsquo;s West Loop gallery space.

<img alt="" data-caption="Susannah Bielak Ventifact: Breath Drawing 1, 2013 Blown pigment on watercolor paper 30&quot; x 20&quot;" data-rich-file-id="826" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/826/original/ventifactdrawing.jpg" /> &nbsp;<img alt="" data-caption="Macon Reed Incantation, 2015 Digital photographic print 41 in x 61 in" data-rich-file-id="823" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/823/original/02-incantation-1-.jpg" />

<h4>&nbsp;</h4>

<h4>&bull; La Palette: The Chicago Palette</h4>

<a href="http://www.chicagogallerynews.com/institutions/ed-paschke-art-center">Ed Paschke Art Center</a>

Connecting the head to the hand, neurobiologist Dr. Stephen Sheldon photographed the palettes of prominent Chicago painters for five years, gaining insight on the creative process. Photos of the palettes of Roger Brown, Michelle Grabner and Ed Paschke and other artists sit alongside their finished pieces, near the recreation of Ed Paschke&rsquo;s studio, on permanent display at EPAC.

&nbsp;

<h4>&bull; Joseph E. Yoakum: 1886 - 1972 Spiritual Unfoldments</h4>

<a href="http://www.carlhammergallery.com/exhibitions/joseph-e-yoakum">Carl Hammer Gallery</a>

Driven to recall scenes from his past (both real and imagined) by a voice in his dreams, self-taught landscape artist Joseph Yoakum&rsquo;s prolific catalogue was created only a decade before his death, beginning at age 76. These expressionistic vistas, or &ldquo;spiritual unfoldments,&rdquo; as he called them, continue to reverberate a curious and powerful energy. Tired of the art world? Enter here.

<img alt="" data-caption="Joseph Yoakum" data-rich-file-id="824" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/824/original/yokum.jpg" />

&nbsp;

More info on Art After Hours, including shuttle schedules and a list of participating art venues may be found <a href="http://www.chicagogallerynews.com/calendar/art-after-hours--3">here</a>.

Info on EXPO Chicago and EXPO ART WEEK may be found <a href="http://www.expochicago.com">here</a>.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

Image at top of page:&nbsp;Kiam Marcelo Junio, detail of&nbsp;Dona Nobis Pacem III (Kleshas), 2015,&nbsp;Archival inkjet print,&nbsp;24 in. x 36 in.

TGIF: Art After Hours During EXPO 

BY MARIA CAMILA VARGAS

While we celebrate Chicago artists all year long at Chicago Gallery News, Chicago Artists Month (CAM) officially&nbsp;takes place October 1&ndash;November 15, 2015. A program of the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE), CAM is a platform for independently-produced events that showcase the work of Chicago artists and creatives.

For its 20th anniversary this year CAM&rsquo;s theme is City as Studio. Hundreds of events are taking place in every neighborhood in the city, but below is a list of area galleries that are part of CAM events; this list also highlights area galleries that are showcasing work by Chicago-based artists. Be sure to check these shows out and see what our artists are up to.

Also, Chicago Gallery News is sponsoring its annual Chicago Artists Month gallery tour on Saturday, October 17 from 11am-12:30pm in River North. Check out our&nbsp;<a href="http://www.chicagogallerynews.com/art-services/free-cgn-saturday-gallery-tours">tour page</a> for details, but we will visit: Addington Gallery, Jennifer Norback Fine Art, Jean Albano Gallery and Berlanga Fine Art &bull; Photographs.&nbsp;

The full list of Chicago Artists Month events may be found on the CAM <a href="http://www.chicagoartistsmonth.org">website</a>.&nbsp;

Chicago Artist Month Openings featuring&nbsp;Chicago Based Artists

&nbsp;

<h4>&bull; River North</h4>

&middot;&nbsp;Addington Gallery, September 11&ndash;November 3, Sarah Rehmer: New Paintings

&middot;&nbsp;Jean Albano, September 11&ndash;October 24, William Harrison: Drawings

&middot;&nbsp;Berlanga Fine Art &bull; Photographs, October 16&ndash;November 14, Rosemary Warner: Black &amp; White in Color

&middot;&nbsp;Jennifer Norback,&nbsp;&nbsp;October 2&ndash;31,&nbsp;In The Studio (Group Show)

&nbsp;

<h4>&bull; West Loop + West Side</h4>

&middot;&nbsp;Rhona Hoffman, September 11&ndash;October 24, Nathaniel Mary Quinn

&middot;&nbsp;Linda Warren Projects, September 11&ndash;November 7, Nina Rizzo: You Are Here; and&nbsp;Doug Fogelson: Broken Cabinet

&middot;&nbsp;McCormick Gallery, September 19&ndash;October 31, Robert Natkin

&nbsp;

<h4>&bull; Pilsen + Pilsen East, Bridgeport + Hyde Park</h4>

&middot;&nbsp;Prospectus Gallery, September 11&ndash;October 17, Carlos Barbenera: Recent Prints

&middot;&nbsp;4art Inc Gallery, September 18&ndash;November 20, 2nd Annual Salon Style, Group Exhibition

&middot; Chicago Art District, October 1&ndash;November 15, Arts in the Park: The People&rsquo;s Studio,&nbsp;Group Exhibition

&middot; Crude Creatures Contemporary Art Gallery, October 9&nbsp;&ndash; November 2, The Death of Gallery

&middot;&nbsp;Uri-Eichen Gallery, October 9&ndash;November 6, Pilsen Stories

&middot;&nbsp;Cultura in Pilsen, October 10&ndash;November 1, Pink Line Dreams

&middot;&nbsp;Zhou B Art Center, October 16&ndash;November 11, Voluptuous Anarchy

&nbsp;

<h4>&bull; North Side + Bucktown + Wicker Park</h4>

&middot;&nbsp;Jackson Junge, September 11&ndash;November 1, Jason Hawk: Excerpts on a Fading Bloom;&nbsp;and Brian Morgan: Power, Politics and Pavement

&middot;&nbsp;ARC Gallery, September 30&ndash;October 24, Urban Threads

&middot;&nbsp;Morpho Gallery, October 16&ndash;November 1, Best of 2015 Emerging Artist

&middot;&nbsp;DreamBox Gallery, October 16&ndash;November 15, Proximity &ndash; Nearness in Space and Time

&middot;&nbsp;Galerie F, October 23&ndash;November 2, Jason Brammer: Fantasy Landscapes

&nbsp;

<h4>&bull; Michigan Ave , Loop + South Loop</h4>

&middot;&nbsp;Bert Green Fine Art, September 12&ndash;October 31, Morgan Sims: New Paintings

&middot;&nbsp;Mongerson Gallery, September 18&ndash;November 25,&nbsp;Far Out Females: Mid-Century Chicago Surrealism

&middot;&nbsp;The Fine Art Building / Gallerique, October 9&ndash;November 20, StudioScapes

&middot;&nbsp;MoCP, October 15-December 23, Grace of Intention: Photography, Architecture and the Monument

20th Anniversary of Chicago Artists Month

<img alt="" data-caption="From left to right, works by: Michiko Itatani, Indira Freitas Johnson, Vera Klement" data-rich-file-id="795" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/795/original/13.jpg" />

10 years have flown by. Loyola University Museum of Art (LUMA) opened at 820 N. Michigan Ave. in 2005 with a mission to explore the spiritual in art of all faiths and cultures and to present the work of artists advocating for social justice. LUMA celebrates its tenth anniversary this fall with LUMA at 10: Greatest Hits, on view through October 11, a reprisal of its most successful and innovative exhibitions.&nbsp;

<img alt="" data-rich-file-id="773" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/773/original/luma-.png" />

More than 50 artists will have works on display, including Edward Gorey, Georges Rouault, and Andy Warhol. Warhol&rsquo;s popular The Silver Clouds, comprised of floating helium-filled, pillow-like forms, will fill LUMA&rsquo;s largest gallery. Greatest Hits will also showcase 10 years of gifts to the museum, many of which are works by Chicago artists.

&ldquo;In 10 years, we have built strong roots in the community,&rdquo; said Pam Ambrose, LUMA founding director. &ldquo;We mount exhibitions visitors will not see at any other Chicago museum or gallery.&rdquo;&nbsp;

Warhol&#39;s Silver Clouds will certainly once again be a big draw. Made from Mylar, helium and fans, the work was first exhibited in a small room at Leo Castelli&#39;s eponymous gallery in NYC in 1966. Viewers then, and now, embraced the chance to interact with art. It&#39;s noted that &quot;many people have interpreted The Silver Clouds as a walk through Heaven. Warhol was a devout Catholic, so there is deep spiritual meaning&quot;&nbsp;imbued in the work for sure.<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/rZs-iW0PMrk" width="560"></iframe>.&nbsp;

&bull; October 9: Divine Decade: A Benefit Celebrating LUMA&rsquo;s 10th Anniversary

Exhibition and event details at <a href="http://www.luc.edu/luma">www.luc.edu/luma</a>

&nbsp;

Following is a selection of images from the anniversary exhibition.&nbsp;

<img alt="" data-caption="Pictured in foreground: Pemaron, 2014, by Andra Samelson, compact discs" data-rich-file-id="792" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/792/original/8.jpg" />

<img alt="" data-caption="Lewis Desoto, &quot;Paranirvana, Self-Portrait,&quot; Mixed media with painted cloth and helium, Edition 1/3" data-rich-file-id="793" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/793/original/9.jpg" />

<img alt="" data-caption="Rene Romero Schüler, &quot;Crimson, 2012&quot;, acrylic on canvas; sculpture also shown: &quot;Shadow&quot;, 2012" data-rich-file-id="786" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/786/original/4.jpg" />

<img alt="" data-caption="Dan Gunn" data-rich-file-id="789" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/789/original/5.jpg" />

<img alt="" data-caption="Georges Rouault, &quot;Les Ruines Elles - Memes Ont Peri,&quot; 1926" data-rich-file-id="791" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/791/original/7.jpg" />

<img alt="" data-caption="Theodore Gilbert Haupt, &quot;Mexico&quot;, 1952, oil on canvas" data-rich-file-id="794" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/794/original/12.jpg" />

<img alt="" data-caption="The LUMA collection of Neolithic Idols consists of more than 100 Kiliya-type, Thessalonian, and Vinča (modern-day Turkey, northern Greece, and Macedonia, respectively) sculptural objects and fragments. " data-rich-file-id="796" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/796/original/neolithics.jpg" />

<img alt="" data-caption="Janet McKenzie, &quot;Madonna and Child - Boundless Love,&quot; 1999, Oil on canvas" data-rich-file-id="788" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/788/original/2.jpg" />

<img alt="" data-caption="Creches from LUMA's collection" data-rich-file-id="790" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/790/original/6.jpg" />

LUMA at 10

The fall art seas

on got started this past Friday, September 11,&nbsp;around the city - many new exhibitions opened in area galleries and art spaces.&nbsp;<a href="http://www.chicagogallerynews.com/calendar?tag=opening-receptions">More openings</a>&nbsp;are coming up this weekend when EXPO begins, and especially as part of&nbsp;<a href="http://www.chicagogallerynews.com/calendar/art-after-hours--3">Art After Hours</a>, when dozens of galleries are open late around the city and free shuttles are operating between several districts. &nbsp;

We hit River North last weekend but are looking forward to getting out into the West Loop, Bridgeport and other neighbhorhoods this coming week.

Keep up with&nbsp;CGN&nbsp;on our website as well as on&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/ChiGalleryNews">Twitter</a>&nbsp;this week to plan your next art adventure. Please share your own openings images with us via Twitter and&nbsp;<a href="https://instagram.com/chigallerynews/">Instagram</a>.

<img alt="" data-rich-file-id="809" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/809/original/14.jpg" />

<img alt="" data-caption="Field Study at David Weinberg" data-rich-file-id="815" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/815/original/19.jpg" />

<img alt="" data-caption="Amy Casey at Zg" data-rich-file-id="811" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/811/original/15.jpg" />

<img alt="" data-caption="Amy Casey at Zg" data-rich-file-id="799" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/799/original/2.jpg" />

<img alt="" data-caption="Kate Breakey at Catherine Edelman" data-rich-file-id="798" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/798/original/3.jpg" />

<img alt="" data-caption="Kate Breakey at Catherine Edelman" data-rich-file-id="800" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/800/original/6.jpg" />

<img alt="" data-caption="Floriane de Lassée: How Much Can You Carry?" data-rich-file-id="807" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/807/original/11.jpg" />

<img alt="" data-caption="Young June Lew at Andrew Bae" data-rich-file-id="810" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/810/original/12.jpg" />

<img alt="" data-caption="Young June Lew at Andrew Bae" data-rich-file-id="812" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/812/original/16.jpg" />

<img alt="" data-caption="Andrew Bae (right) talking to a client" data-rich-file-id="804" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/804/original/8.jpg" />

<img alt="" data-caption="Zg Gallery" data-rich-file-id="803" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/803/original/5.jpg" />

<img alt="" data-caption="Kanako Togawa at Ken Saunders" data-rich-file-id="808" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/808/original/13.jpg" />

<img alt="" data-caption="Kanako Togawa at Ken Saunders" data-rich-file-id="805" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/805/original/10.jpg" />

<img alt="" data-caption="Thomas Scoon at Ken Saunders" data-rich-file-id="813" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/813/original/17.jpg" />

<img alt="" data-caption="Crowds at Berlanga Photography" data-rich-file-id="814" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/814/original/18.jpg" />

<img alt="" data-caption="Berlanga Photography" data-rich-file-id="802" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/802/original/4.jpg" />

<img alt="" data-caption="Steve Shapiro at Berlanga" data-rich-file-id="797" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/797/original/1.jpg" />

<img alt="" data-caption="Zolla/Lieberman Gallery" data-rich-file-id="801" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/801/original/7.jpg" />

<img alt="" data-rich-file-id="806" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/806/original/9.jpg" />

&nbsp;

Opening Shots: September 2015

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418546/bntuzrijyowqsswgxr4p.gif"></figure>By KEVIN NANCESince the mid-1970s, Rhona Hoffman has been a force in the Chicago art world and beyond—a fact enshrined last December by Vanity Fair magazine, which named her one of America’s 14 most important female art dealers.&nbsp;Known for showing a mix of formal and/or politically engaged work by artists at various points in their careers, Hoffman’s eponymous gallery has established a track record and reputation far larger than its relatively modest digs in the West Loop. If you’re an artist in Chicago, or one from elsewhere looking for a prime showcase in the Midwest, the Rhona Hoffman Gallery is high on your list. And if you’re a collector with an eye for the latest and greatest in contemporary art, you head to 118 N. Peoria Street.&nbsp;Chicago Gallery News recently caught up with Hoffman—who was working with her staff to prepare the gallery’s booth design for this fall’s EXPO CHICAGO—for an interview in her light-and-art-filled office. Here’s an edited transcript of our chat.&nbsp;CGN: Has your work as an art dealer been affected at all by you being a woman?RH: No, although with the exception perhaps of a Marian Goodman or a Barbara Gladstone or maybe a few others, generally the superpowers in the art world are men, both in America and Europe.&nbsp;&nbsp;You’re talking about people like Larry Gagosian?Gagosian, yes. But Hauser &amp; Wirth are even bigger. David Zwirner. They are eclipsing a number of bigger, male-owned galleries. The men tend to go for the big paintings, the big prices. But there are still very powerful women dealers all over the world. Paula Cooper is still there. Marianne Boesky’s becoming a big deal. In Europe, there’s Monika Sprüth. In São Paulo, there’s Luisa Strina. In fact, there are more women who are dealers than there are men who are dealers. But the price points are generally lower. I hate broad generalizations, but in great measure, women dealers tend to show art that sells for considerably less than the men. And what’s happening now—which is really horrifying—is that certain big galleries are waiting for the depth of the artist to be developed. As a less-monied gallery develops the artist—has shows, takes them to art fairs, takes care of them, brings them to the world, makes them popular—along comes Mr. Big Fish and says, “Come with me, little girl or little boy. I can make you even more popular.” It’s always been the case, but it’s happening more now.&nbsp;Have you been on the receiving end of that?Not yet. (Thinks about it.) Yes, I have, actually.&nbsp;&nbsp;You had an artist who was poached?I wouldn’t say poached. The Pace Gallery took on Robert Ryman, and I never really had another show since then. They seemed to be able to control that. And David Zwirner now represents Fred Sandback. I have an excellent relationship with the estate, so they’re not going to completely take it away from me. But I have less control over it than Zwirner does.&nbsp;&nbsp;In the case of Ryman, that was someone you had invested in, so to speak.Yes, yes. We’d been showing him since the late ’70s.&nbsp;This did not make you happy?Well, why would I like being run over? (Laughs.) I’m not a masochist.&nbsp;Getting back to the topic of women in your history as a gallerist: The Young Hoffman Gallery, which you started with Donald Young in the mid-’70s, was one of the first to show a lot of women artists, including Cindy Sherman, Barbara Kruger, Jenny Holzer, etc. Was there, and is there now, a preference on your part to show women artists?&nbsp;If so, it’s not conscious. We always picked work that we thought was challenging and interesting. I have to amuse myself, you know. I’m not here just to make other people happy. I have to take care of my ego as well. I have to come to work and feel good, and I like to back a good horse. You know, back in the late ’70s and early ’80s, the people doing the most exciting things were women. I’m a very political, socio-political animal, and I care about the world. The gallery is still split between artists who do formal work and people who are actively engaged in societal concerns. And the women were political. Barbara Kruger was political, for sure. Cindy Sherman, not so much. But they were doing interesting things. And then in the early ’90s, along came the African-American artists, who were doing work that intrigued me. I think it’s like no one having heard of [Jorge Luis] Borges or [Gabriel Garcia] Márquez. They just seemed to break upon the scene here, but they’d already had huge careers in South America. The same thing happens in the visual arts. You start seeing work that’s interesting to you, for a variety of reasons—including, always, the formal aspects. And that’s where you want the dialogue to be.&nbsp;&nbsp;But it wasn’t that you were making a special point of recruiting women artists, or African-American artists, for the sake of addressing some imbalance.Not at all.&nbsp;&nbsp;And that’s still true?Absolutely. In terms of African-American artists, we started Mickalene Thomas’s career. Now we have Deana Lawson, who has a show opening at the Art Institute on Sept. 5. We have Derrick Adams. Of the new artists we have taken on in the last couple of years, one is an African-American artist, Nathaniel Mary Quinn, who actually was raised in the Robert Taylor Homes in Chicago. You never heard of him. But you will.&nbsp;He sounds like a good story.Yes. He grew up poor. When he was 14 or 15, his mom died. Her name was Mary Quinn, so he took her first name as his middle name. He was very fortunate in that he had two teachers who took him under their wing and pushed him along at school, got him scholarships, things like that. He made it. Very smart, very verbal.<figure class="image"><img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/744/original/junebug.jpg" alt=""></figure>To what extent would you say your choices as a gallerist reflect your personal taste in art?One hundred percent.&nbsp;You wouldn’t take on an artist whose work you personally didn’t care for but thought might sell?Never.&nbsp;How would you describe the niche you’ve carved out as a dealer?Well, we’re a Midwest gallery. We largely sell in the greater Midwest, except for art fairs, where the world comes and you sell to anybody from anyplace. I don’t have a show of a New York artist and immediately sell it back to New York art collectors. Nathaniel’s show, for example, comes fresh from the studio, we open it without anything sold—although there are people in New York dying to buy some of the pieces—and Chicago goes first, and the Midwest. Then the rest of the world can go. That gives me an edge. I give the artist a bigger exposure than if he or she had shows only in New York.&nbsp;&nbsp;It seems like you used to do a lot of art fairs; now, not so much.I’ve cut back, yes. Now I’m just doing three, the Art Dealers Association show in New York, Art Basel Miami and EXPO CHICAGO. We went to Hong Kong for three years, we’ve done other fairs. But they’re very costly. And a lot of the work I sell at an art fair, I could sell anyplace. And you know, I don’t have a Picasso to pull out of the back room to cover the cost of a fair.&nbsp;&nbsp;How have the fairs changed the way you do business?What the fairs did was change the composition of your clientele. Now the collectors go to all the fairs and they know all the dealers. So they’re not going to come to you as a dealer and say, “Oh, I want to buy a this or a that, could you get me one?” They’re just going to go to a fair and buy one from whoever’s selling it. So everyone has the same clients now, mostly. Everyone can buy from everybody now.&nbsp;And that’s less satisfactory to you than the old way?Yeah, because there’s less conversation. [Chicago collectors] Jack and Sandy Guthman and I were together a while back, and we were reminiscing about what Saturdays used to be like in the good old days, the ’80s and ’90s. On Saturdays, collectors would come and sit around my office and we’d talk about art. Now everyone’s too busy. And the other thing that really is the bane of my existence is that everybody—well, not everybody, but so many people have art advisors. Of course, there are some really good ones. But you don’t have to go to school to hang out your shingle as an art advisor. Your information, your history, your ability to discern art is unknown. And they take people around and say, “Look at this, this is interesting.” I understand it to some degree, because people are busy, they’re working too hard. So you have someone now who makes money from you when you buy something through them, plus sometimes they get a stipend from the gallery. It’s interesting.&nbsp;People say the art world runs on reputation, and that goes for both artists and dealers.&nbsp;That’s a stupid generalization. The art world runs on a lot of stuff.&nbsp;But you do have a reputation.I know, I’m reading about it now. (Laughs.) I’m well-known for doing just what I said. And I’m known for doing it as long as I’ve done it. Starting in ’76, that’s a long way from there to here.&nbsp;I wonder where that places you on the list of longest-serving gallerists in Chicago? Near the top, I’m thinking.Well, there’s the Richard Gray Gallery. They were there since before me. Stanley Johnson. (Thinks.) Hmm. Wow. That makes me maybe the oldest living dealer really active in Chicago.&nbsp;&nbsp;There’s Ann Nathan—Oh, Ann, of course. She’s been around longer than I have. Maybe Carl Hammer?&nbsp;Well, what I’m getting around to, a little fearfully, is the fact that you’re at a point in your career when many people are considering retirement. Do you have thoughts along those lines?I don’t know. I just signed a new lease, but only for three years. I’ll think about it then. (Smiles.) The thing is, my job comes along with a really nice life. Not necessarily a lot of money, but a really nice life. I do for a living what I would do in my spare time. I have interesting conversations in this job. I don’t have to be the best friend of every collector who buys things from me, but I’m connected to a world that I’m really interested in, which is theoretical and intellectual. And we drink a lot and have a lot of fun. (Laughs.) So what am I going to do, stay home?&nbsp;Kevin Nance is a Chicago-based freelance writer and photographer&nbsp; Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/kevinnance1">@KevinNance1</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

CGN interviews Rhona Hoffman on 40 years in business 

Rhona Hoffman: 40 Years of Having Fun

By KEVIN NANCE

Art collector Helen Zell is one of those people who thinks best on her feet. Given the option of a sit-down chat or being interviewed while touring the modernist Streeterville condo she shares with her husband, businessman Sam Zell, she immediately chooses the latter. It&rsquo;s quite a trek, encompassing 18,000 square feet of space that contains some 800 objects, including major works by Ren&eacute; Magritte, Joan Mir&oacute;, Frida Kahlo, Max Ernst, Alexander Calder, Salvador Dal&iacute;, Remedios Varo, Giorgio de Chirico, Louise Bourgeois and a host of younger and emerging artists, along with ethnographic material and the occasional foray into Pop art.

Associated for two decades with the Museum of Contemporary Art, where she has held several positions including board chair, Zell is sleek and chic&mdash;her draping silver hair set off against an elegant all-black outfit&mdash;but entirely down-to-earth, her husky alto regularly erupting into laughter. Here&rsquo;s an edited transcript of our visit. &nbsp;

<img alt="" data-caption="Zell in the company of sculptures by Louise Bourgeois" data-rich-file-id="739" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/739/original/helen-zell-second-shoot-6.jpg" />

CGN: How did you get started with collecting?

HZ: The collection was originally conceived as a Surrealist collection. It was 18 years ago&mdash;Sam and I weren&rsquo;t even married yet&mdash;and we talked about collecting art. Over dinner one night, he looked at me and said, &ldquo;Do you like art?&rdquo; I said, &ldquo;Yeah, I like art. Like it a lot.&rdquo; Then, &ldquo;Well, what do you like?&rdquo; I said, &ldquo;Well, I like a lot of things. I&rsquo;ve been a museum-goer my whole life.&rdquo; He said, &ldquo;Well, I like Surrealism!&rdquo; I said, &ldquo;You do?&rdquo;&nbsp;

&nbsp;

You didn&rsquo;t know that at the time?

I didn&rsquo;t have a clue. I didn&rsquo;t know he was interested in art, let alone Surrealism.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

Am I correct in thinking that you, rather than your husband, take the lead in the collecting process?

That&rsquo;s right. When we first decided to do this, Sam looked at me and said, &ldquo;OK. You do all the work and I&rsquo;ll write the checks. It&rsquo;s really going to be fun.&rdquo; And that was it.

&nbsp;

So, you&rsquo;ve always been in the driver&rsquo;s seat.

Yeah. But he loves it. And takes great pride in walking around and learning about the collection. It&rsquo;s a really big part of what he likes to show people.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

And did you have a background in art when you started the collection?

Not really. I was always a museum-goer, but I never took an art history course. I was always a literature person, and I played the piano.&nbsp;

I was afraid to go to galleries. Terrified! Because they were so snooty. I lived in New York when I was young, and was horrified by walking into these places that were so quiet. Nobody talked to you - kind of looked down their noses at you. I was really uncomfortable and didn&rsquo;t feel like I belonged there.

&nbsp;

So the two Magrittes on the wall there are foundations of the collection?

Right. Also Dal&iacute;, Max Ernst, Yves Tanguy. Our criteria generally was the quality of the work&mdash;how it affected us. Did it intrigue us? Did it make our hearts beat a little faster?

&nbsp;

That&rsquo;s a good yardstick.

And pretty consistently, that&rsquo;s been true, whether it&rsquo;s Surrealism or work that has nothing to do with Surrealism. You have Magritte and you have these Mayan ceramic figures that are 2,000 years old, and you think, &ldquo;What do they have to do with one another?&rdquo; Well, maybe nothing.

&nbsp;

Maybe the connection is those African masks that inspired Picasso.

To me, it&rsquo;s about the way the artists express themselves. (Pointing to a piece.) That&rsquo;s by Gertrude Abercrombie, an American Surrealist from Chicago whom I had never heard of until Julie Rodrigues Widholm at the MCA did a collection show and revealed to me for the first time that there were a couple of Abercrombies in our permanent collection. She juxtaposed some of those pieces against more contemporary work and showed how they influenced one another. I loved the work and found out that we had a dealer in Chicago with access to it, so I went to Corbett vs. Dempsey and they found me an Abercrombie! That&rsquo;s the part I really love&mdash;the story, the hunt. Making connections, finding out I really love something that fits in with the other work that we already have, then going to find it. That&rsquo;s always fun.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

Well, &ldquo;eclectic&rdquo; is the word of the day.

It&rsquo;s actually not. If you look at a lot of collections today that are put together for hedge-fund guys and people who are into buying for the sake of having trophies on their wall, buying and selling. . . that&rsquo;s very different from what we&rsquo;ve done. We&rsquo;ve done what the collectors did once upon a time. They collected what they loved, and they took little side trips, had little adventures. I like to think I&rsquo;m an old-fashioned collector.

&nbsp;

It&rsquo;s not about buying and selling.&nbsp;

We never sell. We buy it and expect to eventually give it away.

&nbsp;

*

<img alt="" data-caption="A collection of objects in a sandbox—including maquettes, driftwood, seashells and other objects—from the studio of Lee Bontecou, recently acquired by Helen Zell in a special purchase via New York dealer Ann Freedman." data-rich-file-id="738" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/738/original/helen-zell-4.jpg" />

Next, we encounter a group of neo-primitive sculptures by Louise Bourgeois.

One of my favorite artists is Louise Bourgeois, who died a few years ago. There were originally about 50 of these sculptures, called &ldquo;Les Personnages,&rdquo; first exhibited together at MOMA in the &rsquo;50s. The group has been reassembled a few times, including once at the Guggenheim in New York. When you think of her work juxtaposed with Tanguy&rsquo;s, I think she has a Surrealist DNA. I just find them very compatible.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

They seem to have a relation to your ethnographic art.

Yes. Absolutely. They&rsquo;re like totems. That&rsquo;s the kind of thing that makes it all make sense for me.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

One of the sculptures has a mirror for a face.

My grandkids love that. It&rsquo;s like you become part of the piece.

&nbsp;

There might also be a reference to women carrying baskets on their heads.

Or it might be some strange figure with a whirlibird on his head. (Laughs.) Later in her life, she did some incredibly huge monumental spiders. One of them was in the Turbine Room at the Tate. Then she did some that were much smaller, like this one (points to a spider sculpture on a table). There are about five of these, and in this case she combined it with one of the little cloth figures she was making at the end of her life. I love this piece. You can say it&rsquo;s strange or tortured, but I like to think of it as a more powerful version of her&mdash;sort of stalking her prey.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

*

&nbsp;

In the hallway, Zell pauses in front of two paintings hung side by side, both featuring couples&mdash;the first very happy together, the second not so much.

These are two of the pictures that started the collection. We&rsquo;re at an art fair early on, and Sam zeroes in on this piece (of the happy couple). He says, &ldquo;Who&rsquo;s this artist?&rdquo; It was Dubuffet&mdash;early Dubuffet, from the &rsquo;40s, didn&rsquo;t look like his later work at all. And Sam said, &ldquo;I really like that piece.&rdquo;&nbsp;

&nbsp;

One of the faces looks like an Ed Paschke face.

Definitely, although Paschke wasn&rsquo;t working yet. Anyway, the couple looks very happy together. I think it&rsquo;s a classic example of, you know, you see something that resonates, because it means something for you.

&nbsp;

You were newlyweds.

We weren&rsquo;t even married yet. We were very happy and very romantic. It&rsquo;s also very colorful, and we both love color.

&nbsp;

(Pointing to the other painting): This is later in the relationship&mdash;darker, more serious

(Laughs): We still weren&rsquo;t married yet. Although I have to say, we&rsquo;re not dark, not very serious. Sam&rsquo;s one of the most upbeat people you&rsquo;ll ever meet. I&rsquo;ve learned a lot about optimism from him. Anyhow, the next year, there was another painting with another couple. This is Heinrich Campendonk, a German Expressionist.

&nbsp;

The piece has a Rousseau-like feel.

I see that. I think it also has some interesting references to sex.&nbsp;

As Sam will tell you, that&rsquo;s a big thing for him. Lots of naked ladies. Tits and ass! (Laughs.)

&nbsp;

*

&nbsp;

We turn the corner, where there&rsquo;s a large Roy Lichtenstein painting.

That was in the Lichtenstein retrospect at the Art Institute a few years ago, wasn&rsquo;t it? &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;

That&rsquo;s right. It was one of the few pieces in the show that wasn&rsquo;t owned by someone who wouldn&rsquo;t sell it.&nbsp; It was offered for sale by [New York art dealer] Larry Gagosian. (Cont. on next page...)

So when Sam and I fell in love with it, we were keenly aware that we could probably buy it.

&nbsp;

You bought it after having seen it at the Art Institute?

Right. I immediately contacted Larry&mdash;I knew him very slightly&mdash;and we started the dance, the negotiation, which lasted about three months.

&nbsp;

That&rsquo;s a long dance.

He&rsquo;s tough, but so am I. (Laughs.)

&nbsp;

I&rsquo;m sure you drive a very hard bargain.

It&rsquo;s just that I&rsquo;m tenacious. Sam would never&mdash;he would say, &ldquo;How much does the painting cost?&rdquo; The guy would tell him, and he&rsquo;d say OK and write a check. I cannot do that, because I&rsquo;m too familiar with the way the art world works.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

There&rsquo;s big markup.

They mark up their paintings with the idea that they&rsquo;re going to deal with you, negotiate. That&rsquo;s all part of the process.

&nbsp;

And you did get Gagosian to come down on the price?

Yeah. He finally broke down and sold it to me two days&mdash;or maybe a day and a half&mdash;before a big auction where the values of Lichtenstein went up 40 to 50 percent.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

So it wasn&rsquo;t a good move to sell when he did.

No. He should have waited. And I would have had to be satisfied with a worse price for me because of what happened at that auction. That&rsquo;s where the art market really influences what you&rsquo;re doing as a collector. I hate that part of it, but you must be aware of it.

&nbsp;

*

&nbsp;

We move to another large space down the hall, formerly a separate apartment which now houses the Zells&rsquo; photography collection and works by younger and emerging artists, many with a Surrealist bent.

A lot of the work in here is collected in tandem with institutions, especially the MCA and the Art Institute. If they&rsquo;re doing a show and want to collect the work&mdash;like this piece by Marlo Pascual&mdash;and I like the work, I buy it and promise it to the institution. It&rsquo;s a way of supporting the local museums and keeping work moving in and out of the space. It gives me the opportunity to be flexible without having to store things. I like to keep moving on.

&nbsp;

Do you think of this as a separate collection, or as part of a single collection?

It&rsquo;s one collection with two pretty clearly defined parts, but a lot of the young artists in here are influenced by Surrealism, so it&rsquo;s the perfect time to start mixing them together.

&nbsp;

This is an interesting piece (referring to a large panel covered with peacock feathers).

That&rsquo;s a Carol Bove, another artist I discovered through my association with the MCA. They did a show called The Language of Less, and she was one of the artists included. So I bought this from the show, and it will eventually go back to the MCA.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

We come to a collection of small pieces, including maquettes, driftwood, seashells and other objects, in what appears to be a sandbox.

This looks like Lee Bontecou.

It is! And it&rsquo;s actually one of my favorite stories. She did a show four or five years ago for Ann Freedman in New York, and I loved it, and was very interested in these three things called &ldquo;Sandpits,&rdquo; which were included in the exhibition to show how Lee works in her studio. They were not really considered works of art; they were just to show how she puts things together, experiments with shapes and forms. Well, I fell in love with this. I didn&rsquo;t want to buy one of the pieces of art&mdash;I have a lot of her art&mdash;but I really wanted to have this. I&rsquo;ve always been fascinated with her, I&rsquo;ve met her, spent some time with her. So I asked if I could buy this, and Ann said, &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think she wants to sell this.&rdquo;

&nbsp;

It&rsquo;s work product, essentially.

Exactly. It&rsquo;s a sandbox you play in to decide what you&rsquo;re going to make next. I said, &ldquo;Oh, Ann, just tell her I&rsquo;ll give it to the MCA! Beg her!&rdquo; (Laughs.) Months went by, and then Ann called me one day and said, &ldquo;She finally agreed to do it.&rdquo; So finally it arrives in a box&mdash;all the sand, in bags, and all the little objects, beautifully wrapped in tissue paper. I had Ann photograph the whole assemblage when it was in New York, so I made a grid and proceeded to put it all together. And it worked. Then Ann called me again and said that Lee had said, &ldquo;You know, she doesn&rsquo;t have to do it like I did it. She can do it the way she wants to do it.&rdquo; And I said, &ldquo;I thought I&rsquo;d start off the way Lee did it.&rdquo; (Laughs uproariously.)

&nbsp;

Kevin Nance is a Chicago-based freelance writer and photographer&nbsp; Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/kevinnance1">@KevinNance1</a>

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

Art collector Helen Zell is interviewed in CGN

Helen Zell’s Old Fashioned Approach to Collecting Contemporary Art

Fall is the season for art in Chicago. In addition to dozens of gallery openings each month, several international art fairs are coming to town, showcasing the best of what&#39;s happening in several areas of the contemporary art world. Below are details about three such fairs taking place from September-November.

<h4>&bull; EXPO CHICAGO</h4>

September 18-20 - Navy Pier

<img alt="" data-rich-file-id="781" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/781/original/expo-chicago-2.jpg" />

<a href="http://www.expochicago.com">EXPO CHICAGO</a> returns for its fourth year this September, boasting an exhibitor list of 140 international galleries and kicking off a major arts season around the city.

EXPO, together with Chicago Gallery News, presents one of fall&rsquo;s most energetic gallery nights during the fair: Art After Hours takes place on Friday, Sept. 18, 6-9pm. This city-wide open gallery night invites EXPO visitors and the community to experience the city&rsquo;s vibrant art scene, including galleries, alternative exhibition venues and performance spaces. Art After Hours is the cornerstone event of EXPO ART WEEK, highlighting the arts and cultural offerings in Chicago during the week of September 14&ndash;20.

Free shuttles will run all evening for AAH, as well as all weekend, from Navy Pier and stop in River North, West Loop, and in the Loop at SAIC. Details are at <a href="http://www.expochicago.com">www.expochicago.com</a>

Visit chicagogallerynews.com during EXPO for special on-site reports about special exhibitions, installations, news and more.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

<h4>&bull; HARLEM FINE ARTS SHOW</h4>

October 29-November 1, the Merchandise Mart

<img alt="" data-rich-file-id="775" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/775/original/kfgjh.jpg" />

<a href="http://www.hfas.org">The Harlem Fine Art Show</a> returns to Chicago for its second year, with many plans to build on 2014&rsquo;s growth. The show, part of a four-city tour that includes New York, Atlanta and Martha&rsquo;s Vineyard, is devoted to creating a platform for fine art of the African Diaspora.&nbsp;

A range of Chicago community-oriented events and programs have been arranged, including a Youth Empowerment Day and a Salute to Minority Owned Businesses Awards Reception. Details at <a href="http://www.hfas.org">www.hfas.org</a>

&nbsp;

<h4>&bull; SOFA CHICAGO</h4>

November 6-8 - Navy Pier

<img alt="" data-rich-file-id="782" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/782/original/sofa-chicago.jpg" />

<a href="http://www.sofaexpo.com">SOFA CHICAGO</a>, the world-renowned art fair dedicated to Sculpture, Objects, Functional Art and Design returns to Navy Pier November 6-8, for its 22nd year. On view will be museum-quality works of art from 70+ galleries.&nbsp;

New this year, SOFA unveils a revamped floorplan created by Chicago architects Cheryl Noel and Ravi Ricker of Wrap Architecture. The re-envisioned design will create a more open and cohesive show layout, allowing visitors to explore the fair in a more engaging way. Changes include a new, centrally located main entrance, as well as moving the popular Lecture Series to the show floor. Other changes include a second caf&eacute;, additional lounges, and a redesigned Partner Pavilion.

CGN also partners with SOFA to coordinate free shuttles between the fair, River North galleries and the MCA all weekend. See <a href="http://www.sofaexpo.com">www.sofaexpo.com</a> or www.chicagogallerynews.com for details.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

Top image: Sheila Hicks, from browngrotta arts, at SOFA Chicago

Fall’s Art Fair Trio

BY GINNY VAN ALYEA

Women in the Arts. This is a deep topic, and it&rsquo;s long been a much-debated flash point in the art world throughout art history and into modern times. While CGN is regularly devoted to generally promoting many facets of the visual arts in Chicago and in the region, for this fall&rsquo;s edition we chose to focus editorially on a few women leading our cultural community now.&nbsp;

The Chicago area has a rich history of women both working in and supporting the arts; after all it was Mrs. Potter Palmer&rsquo;s generous contributions to the Art Institute of Chicago that became the foundation of the collection that is world renowned today. Women were even taking architecture classes at the early School of the Art Institute back in 1889. Throughout our artistic history, women have made pivotal contributions.&nbsp;

<img alt="" data-caption="SAIC Architecture Students, 1889" data-rich-file-id="733" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/733/original/saic1889.jpg" />

We are home to organizations, such as Woman Made Gallery and ARC Gallery, devoted to supporting and providing women with creative opportunities and resources. Women like Suzanne Ghez, who solidified the international reputation of the Renaissance Society, and Ruth Horwich, who was an unwavering patron of multiple institutions, such as the Hyde Park Art Center and the Smart Museum, made indelible marks on our community that will last for decades. They are just two of scores of women who have been instrumental supporters of the arts.&nbsp;

<img alt="" data-caption="From left: MCA Dir. Madeleine Grynsztejn, photo by Nathan Keay; Chicago Architectural Biennial co-director Sarah Herda; Renaissance Society Dir. Solveig Øvstebø" data-rich-file-id="766" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/766/original/women-in-arts-2.jpg" />

Today many creative women in our midst are working as artists, gallery owners, museum directors, curators, critics, designers and architects. There are more than 45 women who own, lead or direct area galleries, art centers and museums listed in CGN. Interviews in this issue span generations, offering promises for the future while honoring the past. Gallery owner Rhona Hoffman, just one of the 45 mentioned above, has launched the careers of dozens of artists, male and female, in her four decades in business. Helen Zell has built one of the most significant art collections in the country from her enthusiasm for female artists like Gertrude Abercrombie, Lee Bontecou and Louise Bourgeois. Artist Cheryl Pope engages the public to work out conflict and address violence. Julie Rodrigues Widholm, Solveig &Oslash;vsteb&oslash; and Madeleine Grynsztejn are all young, female directors leading area art museums. Zo&euml; Ryan is a young curator turning the world&rsquo;s eyes on design while opening the Art Institute&rsquo;s first galleries dedicated to the subject. Naomi Beckwith is curating personal, thoughtful exhibitions at the MCA. Sarah Herda is one half of the team launching the first Chicago Architecture Biennial - a three month global event featuring projects and ideas by world super stars as well as local luminaries like Jeanne Gang.&nbsp;

We cannot forget that Chicago Gallery News was founded in 1982 by Natalie van Straaten and is currently owned by Publisher Ginny Van Alyea and run with help from Managing Editor Laura Mettam.

CGN wants to honor all women who pursue creative endeavors, be it starting a gallery, practicing as an artist, becoming a curator, or starting an art collection, and we hope to encourage everyone, men and women, to continue paving Chicago&rsquo;s cultural path.

<img alt="" data-rich-file-id="784" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/784/original/cgn-sept-dec-2015-cover-w.jpg" />

Top row: Dealer Rhona Hoffman; Collector Helen Zell.&nbsp; 
Middle row:&nbsp;Artist Cheryl Pope, photo by&nbsp;LaMont Hamilton; DePaul Art Museum&nbsp;Dir. Julie Rodriques Widholm; Far right:&nbsp;Studio Gang/Jeanne Gang&rsquo;s Aqua Tower (detail) in Chicago. 
Bottom row: Gladys Nilsson, Big School Picture; Little Paper Mural, 1992,&nbsp; Samuel T. Avery Endowment. Collection of Art Institute of Chicago; Museum of Contemporary Art curator Naomi Beckwith, photo by Paul Mpagi Sepuya; Art Institute of Chicago curator Zo&euml; Ryan.

Fall Cover Story: Women in the Arts

By MARY DEYOE

Chicago has a long history of innovation in architecture. A city of many firsts and many greats &ndash; the skyscraper, Mies van der Rohe&mdash; it has continued to push boundaries and lead the way in experimentation. It is fitting then for the city to present <a href="http://www.chicagoarchitecturebiennial.org">The Chicago Architecture Biennial</a>, which will be the largest survey of international architecture ever in North America.&nbsp;

Running from October 3, 2015 through January 3, 2016, and featuring work by more than 60 international participants with full-scale installations, exhibitions and programs, the Biennial provides a dynamic forum to explore the significant role that architecture plays in contemporary society, as well as for leaders in the field to put forth their visions and expectations for the future.&nbsp;

<img alt="" data-caption="The winning design for the Lakefront Kiosk Competition, Chicago Horizon, by Rhode-Island based Ultramoderne." data-rich-file-id="783" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/783/original/chicago-architecture-biennial-.png" />

The Biennial itself is spread throughout the city. The Cultural Center will act as the main hub, and other locations include Millennium Park, Water Tower Galleries, Stony Island Arts Bank, and The Graham Foundation, which along with The City of Chicago and BP, is a presenting partner. Sarah Herda, The Director of the Graham Foundation and a professor in the School of Architecture at UIC, is a Co-Artistic Director.

The theme for the Biennial&rsquo;s inaugural year is &ldquo;The State of the Art of Architecture,&rdquo; which was taken from a 1977 conference that brought together America&rsquo;s leading designers. The conference was organized by architect Stanley Tigerman, who is a member of the Biennial&rsquo;s international Advisory Committee along with architecture powerhouses Frank Gehry, Jeanne Gang and David Adjaye.

&ldquo;The state of the art of architecture is something that&rsquo;s indeterminate,&rdquo; said Co-Artistic Director, Joseph Grima, an architect, writer and editor based in Genoa, Italy. &ldquo;We left the title as open-ended as we could, in the hopes that future editions will be less referential to the past and more open-minded to the present.&rdquo;

<img alt="" data-rich-file-id="778" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/778/original/jeannegang-reverseeffect-creditstevehall.jpg" />&nbsp;<img alt="" data-caption="Top: Studio Gang’s Reverse Effect, photo credit Steve Hall; Bottom: Jeanne Gang, photo credit Kevin Miyazaki and Redux" data-rich-file-id="779" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/779/original/jeannegang-creditkevinmiyazakiandredux.jpg" />

Of course the title also opens the door to questions about the often blurred line between the disciplines of architecture and art, and that conversation will be on view at both the MCA and the Art Institute with exhibitions running concurrently with the Biennial.

Open through January 31, the MCA&rsquo;s Chicago Works: Ania Jaworska is the first in this series to present the work of an architect. Jaworska, who is a lecturer at both the School of the Art Institute and UIC, explores, often with humor and irony, the relationship between the built environment and society. The exhibition will feature two projects in process. The architectural elements &ndash; arches, gates, and signs &ndash; act, at once, as pieces of art as well as suggestions for what could be complete built structures. The viewer is left to accept the pieces as they are, as well as fill in the missing gaps.

Also on view during the Biennial is the first comprehensive museum survey of the work of British architect David Adjaye. The Art Institute&rsquo;s Making Place: The Architecture of David Adjaye runs September 19 through January 3, 2016, and focuses on Adjaye&rsquo;s unique approach to design. Adjaye, who was born in Tanzania and lived in Africa in his early childhood, is less concerned with establishing a signature style than focusing on the needs of each individual project. Adjaye designs emphasize a strong response to the history, local needs and concerns of an environment. His public projects can be found across the globe including in the UK, Ghana, Qatar, Russia and the US. With community always at the core of his work&mdash;Adjaye is interested in creating links between people and exploring the evolution of a place&mdash;it is fitting that Adjaye is a member of the Biennial&rsquo;s inaugural Advisory Committee as well as serving on the jury of the Lakefront Kiosk Competition.

One of the Biennial&rsquo;s most visible components, the Lakefront Kiosk Competition invited artists and architects from around the world to submit proposals for a new structure that would sit along Lake Michigan&rsquo;s shore. The jury reviewed over 400 submissions from more than 40 countries, and selected a design by Rhode Island-based Ultramoderne. Its design, Chicago Horizon, will be placed along the lakeshore in Spring 2016. Until then, it will be on display in Millennium Park with three other kiosks that will also ultimately be placed along Lake Michigan. These three designs are the collaborations between Chicago architecture schools and international architects.

In addition, the Biennial has partnered with more than 90 organizations in the city and region to offer public programming that will run for the entire three-month period.&nbsp;

&ldquo;The public nature of the event was one of our highest priorities,&rdquo; said Herda. &ldquo;Architecture is not only for architects. Everyone experiences architecture&mdash;whether good or bad&mdash;everyday.&nbsp; The public rarely has access to an architect&rsquo;s work until after a building is finished. The Biennial will offer a rare opportunity for the public to engage the ideas that shape the designed environment - the spaces they themselves live and work in.&rdquo;

The local partnerships, which include Theaster Gates&rsquo; Rebuild Foundation, also bring attention to the city itself. While the Biennial addresses global issues, it is keen to recognize the importance of its home. When architects, designers, artists, writers and a host of others arrive in Chicago between October and January, they will encounter not only the state of architecture, but the art of Chicago itself on display. 
 
All exhibitions and programs of the CAB are free and open to the public.

October 3-January 3, 2016

<a href="http://www.chicagoarchitecturebiennial.org">www.chicagoarchitecturebiennial.org</a>

The Inaugural Chicago Architecture Biennial opens in Chicago in 2015

The Inaugural Chicago Architecture Biennial 

There are myriad overlaps between art and design, and this fall local ties will be on display when the River North Design District (RNDD) participates for the first time in the annual opening of the fall gallery season on Friday, September 11. Many area design showrooms, scattered throughout River North, will be open until 10pm. Participating showrooms will also each exhibit work by a contemporary artist, even after the walk is over, until November 11.&nbsp;

&ldquo;This is the inaugural year for RNDD Gallery Walk. River North has one of the densest visual art gallery populations in Chicago, and our participation in this gallery night exemplifies how the design showrooms are partners in promoting visual art,&rdquo; says Lisa Bell, Marketing Manager from The Tile Gallery, who is chairing the event.

<img alt="" data-caption="Art by Chicago artist Lynn Basa" data-rich-file-id="774" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/774/original/lynn-basa-blue-02.jpg" />

The exposition is comprised of both emerging and established artists, including Lynn Basa, Sheila Ganch, Eric Gushee, Brenda Dawn Jones, Sally Ko, Rim Lee, Candace McGarry, Keiko Nemeth, Rubem Robierb, Phillip Schalekamp, Pamela Staker, Linc Thelen, Adam Thomas and Jennifer Webster.

Details posted on <a href="http://rivernorthdesigndistrict.com">www.rivernorthdesigndistrict.com</a>

River North Design District Participating in September 11 Gallery Walk

There was a lot of buzz when the long-awaited Bloomingdale Trail (AKA The 606) opened in June on the city&rsquo;s northwest side. Tremendous vision, planning and resources went into the design and implementation of the trail, but a common refrain from those involved is that the trail is meant to evolve the way Chicago neighborhoods do.&nbsp;

&ldquo;The integration of art, artists, and &lsquo;arts thinking&rsquo; into the re-design of the Bloomingdale Line forms the core of The 606 Arts program and establishes a new model for public art and infrastructure reuse,&rdquo; says lead artist Frances Whitehead. &ldquo;The Arts program converts an artifact of Chicago&rsquo;s industrial heritage into a laboratory for new creative practices...Reflecting the grassroots vision that The 606 become a &lsquo;Living Work of Art&rsquo;.&rdquo;&nbsp;

To become a part of future art projects visit <a href="http://www.the606.org">www.the606.org</a>

Image at top of page: On the 606 Trail: <a href="http://tselone.blogspot.com">Nino &ldquo;TSEL&rdquo; Rodriguez&rsquo;s</a> graffiti mural spelling out the street artist&rsquo;s name, &ldquo;TSEL&rdquo; with an Aztec serpent above. The piece is a combination of mixed street art colors and tribal elements. Most of TSEL&rsquo;s work combines his passions and cultural background.

606: A Living Work of Art

BY MIA DIMEO

Guarded by two bronze lions in a massive neo-classical building on Michigan Avenue, the one million square foot Art Institute of Chicago is the second largest museum in the country. More than 1.4 million people visit the museum annually to see its iconic works, including Picasso&rsquo;s The Old Guitarist or Grant Wood&rsquo;s American Gothic. But most visitors don&rsquo;t realize that the museum, and its collection, was spawned from a humble academic operation begun by a group of artists in 1866. Working in rented studios from plaster casts from antiquity, 35 artists called themselves the Chicago Academy of Design and created the first incarnation of what is known today as the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC).

Financed by membership fees and donations, the artists hoped to create a school and gallery akin to London&rsquo;s Royal Academy. After some initial success, the school&rsquo;s new five-story building was lost in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, plummeting the young school into debt. During the next decade, the school struggled through several iterations, acquisitions and titles before a board of trustees was formed to support and expand the institution as a cultural asset to the city, naming it the Art Institute of Chicago in 1882. A well-known banker and philanthropist, Charles L. Hutchinson, was elected to be the first director the same year, leading up to the World&rsquo;s Columbian Exposition. The city helped with the cost of a new building, and, lions and all, the fa&ccedil;ade we know today was completed in 1893, in time to host the Exposition&rsquo;s scholarly congress.

<img alt="" data-caption="Architecture classes at SAIC, 1889" data-rich-file-id="759" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/759/original/1889-architecture.jpg" />

In the early 20th century the museum continued collecting, acquiring European many Impressionist and Post-Impressionist masterworks, while the school focused on applied and fine arts courses. Notable alumni of the era included Georgia O&rsquo;Keefe, Archibald Motley, lvan Albright, Claes Oldenburg and Regionalists Thomas Hart Benton and Grant Wood. The addition of liberal arts courses in 1936 enabled SAIC to begin awarding Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees, and by 1940, SAIC had given its first Master in Fine Arts degree. Abstract painting, first taught post-war, in 1944, revealed a schism between the great value the museum placed on creating a civic house of treasures, and the present moment of experimentation in art making at the school. This was echoed at various points in the institution&rsquo;s history, and even today both arms operate largely separately, with their own executives and boards.

The later half of the 20th century brought new styles and ideas about art education. A wave of freethinking comic book-influenced artists, later known as the Chicago Imagists, met at SAIC in the1960s. Ed Paschke,&nbsp;Jim Nutt, Roger Brown, Christina Ramberg, Gladys Nilsson, Karl Wirsum and others made work celebrated still today as distinctively Chicago. At this time the school also adopted an interdisciplinary learning approach, still a core of SAIC&rsquo;s teaching philosophy. The development of a Film Center (now the Gene Siskel Film Center) and the first-ever Department of Art and Technology Studies followed in the early 1970s. &nbsp;

<img alt="" data-caption="Gladys Nilsson. Big School Picture; Little Paper Mural, 1992. Samuel T. Avery Endowment. From the upcoming Homegrown: The School of the Art Institute in the Permanent Collection exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago." data-rich-file-id="764" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/764/original/nilsson-big-school-picture-copy.jpg" />

Fast forward. The Art Institute has a flashy new wing, designed in 2009 by Renzo Piano, to house the museum&rsquo;s contemporary and modern collection. SAIC&rsquo;s campus occupies important historic spacees around the Loop, beyond Michigan Avenue, including the Alice R. Sharp Building, designed by Holabird and Roche and several floors of the Sullivan Center (formerly known as the Carson Pirie Scott building), making it the biggest combined museum and school campus in the country. SAIC students focus on Art Therapy, Fashion Design, Historic Preservation, Performance, Sound, Visual and Critical Studies and New Arts Journalism, beyond traditional fields like drawing and painting, sculpture and art history. Forward thinking artists, writers and designers make up SAIC&rsquo;s recent alumni list: Rirkrit Tiravanija, Tania Bruguera, Paul Chan, &ldquo;Dread&rdquo; Scott Tyler, Amanda Ross-Ho, Cynthia Rowley, David Sedaris, and David Hartt.

2015 has been a memorable year for the school. In May, SAIC awarded an honorary doctorate to Douglas Druick, Rhona Hoffman, Albert Oehlen, Janet Byrne Neiman and Kanye West, causing a frenzy of media attention. September marks SAIC&rsquo;s 150th anniversary and begins a yearlong celebration of events and programming, starting&nbsp; with a talk by cartoonist, author and alumnus Chris Ware, as part of the schools&rsquo; Visiting Artists Program. Coinciding with EXPO Chicago, September 17-20, SAIC will present a week of alumni events, including a block party and two EXPO /Dialogues lectures at the fair, Hans Ulrich Obrist: In Conversation with the Hairy Who and Celebrating 150: SAIC Alumni Panel, a reflection on the development of&nbsp;artistic practices and experiences in Chicago&rsquo;s art scene.

Civilization and Its Discontents: SAIC Alumni Exhibition, Selections from 1985&ndash;2015, curated by artist and faculty members Scott and Tyson Reeder and on view at the Sullivan Galleries, will features alumni from the last 30 years who have (in some way) changed the conversation within their discipline, highlighting the distinctive SAIC spark shared between them. In the same space, Outside Design Exhibition&nbsp;explores the turn in art and design towards biotechnology and ecological systems. The ends with a talk by artist Jeff Koons, who was influenced by the Imagists while living in Chicago, assisting Ed Paschke, and briefly attending SAIC.&nbsp;

Late this&nbsp;fall the Art Institute will open Homegrown: The School of the Art Institute of Chicago in the Permanent Collection on October 17, emphasizing the tie between the school and the museum. Curated by Mark Pascale, Homegrown includes 20 self-portraits by Ivan Albright, pieces by the so-called Monster Roster artists and a selection of more contemporary alumni works, creating a visual timeline of talent nurtured by the school and its faculty, 150 years old and counting.&nbsp;

Find a full schedule of Anniversary events through 2016 at <a href="http://saic.edu">saic.edu</a>

Top image:&nbsp;A student from the Sculpture program