artletter

Chicago Art Seen

2013-06-06T21:12:40Z

I realized this week that, as of this year, I've been immersed in the art world for 40 years. I guess it's what keeps me young, on my toes, engaged and learning. And in the last few months I've learned the difference between an Art Dealer and a Gallerist. I kind of feel that everyone else has known this all along. Oh, well. An Art Dealer is a person who is primarily interested in the transaction, the selling of a work of art. A Gallerist, on the other hand, embraces a higher calling, that of being interested in the art and in the artist's career. Of course, it still involves selling, but the emphasis is different.

I point this out because it has been a pleasure to watch Linda Warren's gallery grow to where she is now celebrating her 10th anniversary as a gallerist. Unequivocally she believes in her artists and goes to bat for them on a daily basis. She and her staff show and support artists they believe in. Sales are important, but there is much more. And such is the case with Conrad Freiburg who makes thoroughly engaging and unsaleable art, except for a few pieces. His large installations are often participatory joys - and a fabulous way to introduce kids to the thrill of art.

Playing on the notion of "kicking the bucket," the gallery is full of buckets that fill with steel balls as we pull, push, prod and propel these balls into who knows where until we hear them clunk in our proximity. Life, like Freiburg's materials, are fragile and fleeting, immediate and malleable. Lose yourself in his work. It's great to feel like a kid again.. Also on view are some pretty "fun" paintings by Eric Edward Esper depicting a broad array of Chicago tragedies. Sure, the Chicago Fire is there, but can you recall the rest? And since this is the galley's 10th anniversary there's a handsome selection of the gallery's represented artists on view.

John Buck's art at Zolla/Lieberman is the best of his I've seen. Always frontal and juxtaposing figuration with abstraction, this body has greater clarity and form. The psycho-physical nature of his work touches on personal and societal issues of how we move from one to the other, and maintain our integrity, while putting a good face forward, The virtuosity and abundant joy he gets from working with wood is apparent. And the show is beautifully installed.

I've been watching Jason Brammer for several years. The man is a magician with his hands. His talent is coupled with unique, a futuristic, steampunk, and ancient vision that addresses cosmology, mystery and beginnings. He's fun to keep an eye on because he's focused, hardworking and fleet, enabling us to voyeuristically marvel at where he's been and speculate about where this path is taking him. At Adventureland.

Firecat Projects is a gallery like no other. They exhibit many fine artists and never take a commissions, instead seeking sponsorship from collectors and benefactors who care about art and artists. And now they are embellishing that model by making the gallery occasionally available to fine art galleries from other cities who will mount their own exhibitions of their own artists, kind of like a one gallery art fair. This month it's Yard Dog from Austin, Texas, where there's a different aesthetic, but it's not a large leap from much of the art we see in Chicago; fresh, refreshing and a reflection on ourselves.

Thanks very much. Enjoy the art!
Paul Klein

Chicago Art; Migration, Transformation, Absence, Presence & a Damn Good List

2013-05-17T20:42:49Z

There are perks to having a press pass; like getting to preview exhibitions at the Museum of Contemporary Art with a small group, several curators, and the artist. Theaster Gates is a wonderfully intelligent artist, sensitive and fully capable of pushing paradigms across international borders. Homegrown Chicago, Gates is not the first Black artist to address core racial issues, but he brings new relevance to Migration;what goes, what stays behind, the passion of the heart, and the spirit of the artifacts that remain. Gates' work has grown to encompass the Migrations of multiple cultures as people move/flee in pursuit of a better life.

Swapping/juxtaposing remnants from one culture and inserting them into another, like abandoned abodes in Chicago and Germany touches so many. Here, we are a nation of immigrants and how we treat those who follow the paths of our ancestors says a lot. Gates' art is compassionate, heartfelt and universal. With passionate, referential objects, a full performance schedule and multiple videos, it's a victory lap for an artist whose trajectory is rapidly ascending - appropriately.

And this isn't the only show opening at the MCA. Think First, Shoot Later is a survey looking at mostly big, beautiful, photographs whose content is often not readily discernible. I'm pleased that there are 3 Chicago artists in the show.

In the ongoing MCA/DNA series, the museum looks at conceptual abstraction created in Chicago from 1986 to 1995. Key works by Tony Tasset, Gregory Green, Julia Fish, Buzz Spector and many more. Two decades after many of these artists dispersed and/or their art changed direction we see the best show of their work. I remember many of these pieces, their beautiful materials, typically simple straightforward compositions and complex ideas. This is a wonderful overview. I loved seeing it in the process of being installed, but it's obvious I need to go back.

The Presence of Absence, curated by Debra and Dave Tolchinsky, in a project sponsored by the Contemporary Arts Council, presents provocative works by 7 Chicago artists who delve into what should be there and isn't, or what isn't there, but whose presence is felt. I've never been to the Hairpin Arts Center, in a part of town I don't often get to. The space is gorgeous, the art solid, challenging, yet accessible. This is a wonderfully odd, powerful, thoughtful show with some weird hours, because much of the art looks better at night.

I knew Stan Rosenstock for decades. He was the man who sold high end light bulbs to art galleries. I was surprised to find out that he was a sensitive insightful photographer who documented much of the turmoil and angst that embroiled Chicago in 1968, from the Democratic Convention, to the protests that ensued after the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy. His impressive show at Eyeporium is either a poignant trip down memory lane or an education.

ExpoChicago was big news in its first iteration last September. The fair was a success because of the exhibitors love of Chicago and Director Tony Karman's charisma. The question for many was what would the second year look like. Did gallerists and dealers sell enough to want to come back? And now we have the answer. ExpoChicago has just released its exhibitor list for September 2013. There's a substantial return rate, with enough attrition to invite new and desirable exhibitors to participate. It's great news that the show is here to stay, with galleries and art worth travelling to see. I'm excited. Now I want to see some satellite fairs.

Lots of superb art to see,

Paul Klein

Really Good Art

2013-04-11T20:11:40Z

I've been waiting for the opening of Jun Kaneko's ceramic sculptures at Millennium Park. There are two powerful bodies of work on view. To the south are the dangos I've been familiar with, and exhibited, when I had a gallery. And on the north side of the park are the new Tanuki sculptures that are making their first public appearance. The new work has a playfulness that will engage a broader audience. I'm eager to see how the public interacts with them.

There's a gorgeous show of paintings by Thomas Nozkowski at Russell Bowman. I represented Nozkowski for a stretch during the 1980's. I have distinct memories about his home (an old church), car (a small station wagon with racks in the back for unfinished paintings so he could pull over and work on them while en route to or from Connecticut), and that he worked at Mad Magazine. The focus of these content full, abstract paintings and his unique engagement with his art make him and his art totally memorable. There is a purity here that is special and moves toward balancing the hyperbole in today's art world.

Sanford Biggers is a powerful artist whose work often presents a contemporary take on his cultural heritage. At Monique Meloche his large window presents century old quilts he has painted and embellished. These quilts may have been an Underground Railroad sign of a safe house. His beautiful and contemplative art acknowledges a deeper past and contextualizes its contemporary relevance. Also on view, in the gallery, are disarmingly beautiful and tough work by Kate Levant who investigates alternative uses of atypical materials in work that occasionally incorporates photographic images.

See you out there!
Paul Klein

3 Shows at the Art Institute

2013-03-18T03:20:24Z

Usually, when asked by artists what direction their art should take, I advise them to do what resonates, to do what they believe in and to be who they are.

When it comes to museums there are other issues. Museums' missions are skewed. Museums are typically funded from a combination of sources including, donations, membership and government support. Ostensibly they are about art, but mostly they are about their own survival.

Survival / success is determined by the museums' relationship to its audience. A museum cannot rely solely on a knowledgeable art audience. It needs more breadth, diversity, and inclusivity to satisfy its powerful appetite for support. This has a strong influence on what gets shown, which is why blockbuster exhibitions like King Tut or even Picasso show up more often than Gustave Caillebotte, Phillip Guston or Louise Bourgeois.

It's expensive to borrow art from foreign institutions. Crating, insurance and freight for special items can approach prohibitive, so drawing on one's existing collection and borrowing from the community significantly reduces expenses,

All of which explains a lot about the Art Institute of Chicago's Picasso show. It's convenient, facile and presents very little new about an artist we already know a lot about, but it's a name recognized by the public and it gets them in the door. You've probably guessed correctly that I found the show lackluster. There are some fabulous pieces to revisit and bountiful works on paper, many of which were conserved for exhibition - which I point out because it's always good when art gets properly taken care of.

I was more excited to see the Kara Walker show which was curiously hidden within the Modern Wing's permanent collection. Walker is a brilliant artist whose art is provocatively uncomfortable, addressing issues of race. For the past few years Walker has been pushing her medium, which used to focus on silhouette looking cut-outs, to include projections, video and drawing. The current show feels crowded and confused, with small framed works, cut-outs and large drawings all vying for attention. . Too much art is included. Too many different media are competing and the show lacks synthesis. Regardless, seeing some Kara Walker is better than seeing none. I'm curious on your take.

A third show at the Art Institute doesn't fair much better. They Seek a City: Chicago and the Art of Migration, 1910-1950 is a big, important subject, an understanding of which informs our relationship to Chicago and its influence on us. Each wave of immigrants was someone new to look down on. Eventually people were assimilated and one's' past became less meaningful than their present contribution. Unfortunately, the show doesn't adequately reveal the immigrant's experience as it shows mostly an array of unsyncopated images, often by significant artists, but not always with great examples of their work. I expected more and left disappointed. Maybe my expectations were out of line. To too large an extent this show was also drawn from the permanent collection and local resources. I've seen better shows not in Chicago about early to mid 20th century art in Chicago. Given our institutions and our collectors we should do better at presenting a show with the unfufilled potential this one had.

I look forward to seeing more good art. In the meantime, if you think the shows I've written about were much better than what I've suggested, I'd like to hear your opinion. I'd rather think they were good.

Warm regards,

Paul Klein

Bend, Fold, & Mutilate at the MCA's "Destroy the Picture"

2013-02-15T21:13:43Z

There's a new show that just opened at Chicago's Museum of Contemporary Art, curated by the legendary L.A. curator, Paul Schimmel. Destroy the Picture: Painting the Void is an exhibit that looks at the global redirection of art immediately after World War II, which reinforces the notion that the same good idea can happen in multiple places at once.

In an artistic response to the lingering end of the horror of war and the resulting realignment of global forces, artists around the planet began rupturing the sanctity of the picture plan by puncturing, tearing and slashing it. Or by throwing at, or attaching aberrant objects on it. Forcefully, this happened in Japan, Europe and the U.S. The word 'iconoclast' comes to mind.

The press preview opened with a dynamic recreation Saburo Murakami's son of his 1955 piece titled Entrance. All of us in the room were certain there was nothing behind the large gold painting but wall. Figuratively and literally, the artist(s) take the viewers through the picture plane and metaphorically entered a new world.

Even before he was a wunderkind discovery of Leo Castelli's, the young (mid 20's) Robert Rauschenberg was making groundbreaking, tactile art as see in this all black piece from 1952.

There are lots of subplots here; artists who were significant and faded (Alberto Burri), artists who mattered and then didn't (Salvatore Scarpitta), and artists who were innovate and lapsed into decorative (the American, Niki de Saint Phalle) who loaded globs of paint into plaster, affixed it to the canvas, and then shot it. And all of them, with their own innovative and concurrent alteration of the picture plane paved the way for so much art that has come since. (Almost all the pictures are small details of larger works, so I could share the surface activity with you.)

Do you notice that the radically new approaches to painting were happening on multiple contents? In Europe, Lucio Fontana was one of the first to puncture and then incise the canvas.

Yves Klein took huge torches to canvasand cardboard, with a fireman standing nearby. The first part of the video is fascinating. (Did any serious, innovative artist ever have more fun than Yves Klein?)

Salvatore Scarpitta made beautiful pieces with attachments that pulled at the picture.

Lee Bontecou came along in the early 60's and took the disruption to a new level, before she bowed out and took a long hiatus because of her fatigue from the art world's hyperbole. Powerful and significant, then all but forgotten, and now revered.

And at about the same time, in Japan, Kazuo Shirago took a wild boar, splayed it on a canvas, gloppily applied paint and ended up with a seductive result.

In a Klein Artist Works webinar last fall, Jason Middlebrook (who exhibited at the MCA a couple of years ago) explained the 3 C's: Content, Context and Craft. Where the 3 C's intersect is where Art happens, and I kept thinking about that in viewing this show.

I found this is a strong, meaningful, comprehensive, thought provoking exhibition.

Thank you,

Paul Klein

North and South: Strong Exhibits

2013-01-17T23:17:10Z

There's something about January. For the second year in a row I'm seeing outstanding exhibits when one might not expect any.

Terry Adkins, at the Block Museum in Evanston, playfully and provocatively tweaks our collective consciousness in his examination of African-American Culture and its history. This blockbuster exhibit soars on many levels. The first prerequisite for great art is that it stand on its own without the necessity of wall-labels or explanations. A second is that there's enough substance to enable the viewer to feel stimulated and wanting more. Terry Adkins delivers. Remote facets of major historical figures are examined and writ large, revealing insights, educating, provoking, inspiring and humoring. Jimi Hendrix was in the service. John Brown prevails and maybe, just maybe, Beethoven was a Moor.

On the South side, at the Hyde Park Art Center, Tom Torluemke has created a 170 foot wide mural / installation delving into life and death in the city, the mix of urban decay and societal ambition. Torluemke is a modern day Thomas Hart Benton. With a driving Midwestern aesthetic, he is familiar with, but ignores coastal trends, and focuses on the solidity and depth of his own experiences and perceptions. This makes him a powerful artist, and perhaps like Benton, one whose significant acknowledgement might not come until later.

Torluemke's exhibit opens Sunday afternoon. Adkins' opened a week ago.

Thanks very much,

Paul Klein

First Exhibits of 2013 Open

2013-01-09T21:49:49Z

Among the numerous excellent shows opening this weekend I saw several that were truly outstanding. At The Mission, Jeroen Nelemans, a somewhat recent transplant from Holland to Chicago, is presenting, fresh, intelligent, proud work. Working with historically Dutch content, like maps, tulip fields and Vermeer, he's reinterpreting his heritage, digitizing it, throwing in a little ambiguity, layering its meaning and delivering it. The colored neon tubes show us Dutch tulip fields and the reinterpretation of Vermeer portraits based on Nelemans' photographs of Dutch museums' lighting and ambiance surrounding their Vermeer presentations. I'm impressed.

The DePaul Museum has just opened a new and timely show titled Climate of Uncertainty, which addresses humans' relationship to the environment. There's plenty of strong, beautiful, thought-provoking, disturbing and important art on view. I was particularly pleased to see Sabrina Raaf's interactive device that measures ambient carbon dioxide in the room and draws a corresponding line on the wall - the higher, the more people are exhaling.

Aron Packer is opening 4 one-person exhibits. Two of them are with favorite artists of mine. I'm fascinated by the considerable depth and philosophical underpinnings of Andréa Stanislav's art and how that content manifests itself in her gorgeous pieces. One of my pet peeves has always been how so many museums are cookie-cutter replications of one another. Stanislav takes it a step further to include centers of commerce, chain stores, the flattening of the world and the resulting insult to individual and unique communities. And here's what the art looks like.

Lauren Levato is becoming one of Chicago's favorite daughters, drawing, collaborating, assisting and teaching other artists. In her new drawings she looks at herself with hybrid possibilities, while staying in touch with her poignant animal instincts and sympathies.

Bruce Riley's paintings are so much more seductive in person. What doesn't show in the photos is how dimensional these pieces are, with layer upon layer of paint floating in a deep resin field. How he composes these, building up the composition and keeps moving, is fun to examine and decipher.

Still at Packer, Deborah Backer's contemporizing of age-old techniques and content adds new insight into Zodiac considerations.

I love Vera Klement and her paintings, on view at Zolla/Lieberman. There are like symphonies, composed of different visual movements, that are splendid separately and magnificent when combined as a whole. For fifty something years she has been making art and she has never resorted to the 'greatest hits' syndrome that befalls lesser artists. She keeps growing, progressing, contributing to the dialogue, and making beautiful art.

Also at Z/L are new works by William Conger whose ostensibly abstract paintings are, to me, urban landscapes, examining the pulse, verticality and horizontal expanse of urban centers like Chicago, as various modes of transportation draw lines on the terrain and move towards the water of Lake Michigan and the flatness of the Plains.

I've become a fan of Perimeter Gallery's Paul Rinaldi, who makes luscious encaustic (wax) paintings. These want to be experienced more as individual works of art than a large installation. The works have a lot to give that gets compromised by seeing too many at once. They're on the lower level. Pick a couple to focus on and give them the time to reveal themselves.

Also at Perimeter, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed Jeff Aeling's work. I'm not usually a fine of virtuoso landscapes, but the quality of light and masterly execution distinguish these.

Catherine Edelman is presenting a less photographic show than normal, which reveals her dedication to the art of Holly Roberts who makes work inspired by the Southwest, addressing the desert, ecology, the human spirit and their interactions.

Thank you & Happy New Year,

Paul Klein

Picture Perfect in Miami

2012-12-10T00:30:57Z

I went to Art Basel Miami Beach, the granddaddy of American art fairs to connect with experts who'll be participating in future Klein Artist Works courses. And I also went to Art Miami, Context, Miami Project, Pulse, Scope, NADA, Untitled, Aqua and others.

Art Basel, Miami was magnificent; substantive, somber, less hyperbolic and filled with solid and expensive art.

The next day I began to take in some of the satellite fairs, like Art Miami, which I really liked last year. This year I found it uneven as they sought to fill the booths after quite a few galleries deflected to the new Project Miami, next door.

Context felt like it was part of Art Miami - no separate admission or entrance, but they told me it was a show if its own. I found it juvenile with few solid presentations.

Miami Project was new, with good galleries, good art, and wide aisles. I was impressed.

For a respite from the art fairs I went to look at more art in some private collections. I particularly like Martin Margulies and his collection, which is an extension of his personality; gracious, generous, adventuresome and accessible.

And I went to see the de la Cruz collection. They have a propensity for young up and coming artists and like to buy several examples of each.

All right. More good fairs. Pulse was fun. I don't love the layout, with dead-end aisles, or much of the art on view, but there's enough good stuff to make it worthwhile.

Two more excellent art fairs. I was dubious about returning to NADA. I didn't like it last year, but a collector I like said it was worthwhile, and except for how poor the 8 foot wide booths looked and the annoying, heavily wrinkled carpet that I tripped over more than once, there was some thoroughly competent, basically young, art.

Situated in a tent, right on the beach, one of my favorite fairs was Untitled, which was generated from a different premise. Curator, Omar Lopez-Chahoud, selected 50 galleries and up to 3 artists from each for inclusion in the fair. As a result there was greater cohesion and focus. Spaciously presented the show had a very strong 'feel good vibe' going for it and everyone there seemed genuinely pleased to be participating.

I'm surprised by how much good art I saw, how many wonderful people I spoke with, the overall quality of the shows I reported on and the number of pictures I posted. The economic impact on the city of Miami is significant. Some of the meals I enjoyed were outstanding and the generosity and passion of the people who live there and the dealers and artists I met was beautiful. Yes, it was excessive - appropriately so, for a city and an art market that are not prone to moderation.

Thank you very much,
Paul Klein

Three Strong Shows

2012-11-15T19:54:25Z

Opening tonight, in an attractive new space, in an area of the city that is serving more and more artists, is a strong group exhibit at the Bridgeport Arts Center. Anxious Object: Masterpiece or Junk was curated by Lelde Klamite and includes Bill Boyce, Mary Ellen Croteau, Sarah Barnhart Fields, Sharon Gilmore, Rita Grendze, Mike Helbing, Lisa Limas, Gary 'Hal' Link and Matt Runfola.

Art must transcend it's materials. What that means is that when you encounter the art, it is the art you see first and not the materials from which it was made. Several favorite artists are in the show and succeed beautifully. Rita Grendze is new to me and presents thoughtful and emotional work that confronts societal growth, and how information is conveyed in a changing world. Old, no longer appreciated, books are chromatically arranged as pages depart and information is redacted. Culture moves on. Artifacts remain.

Bill Boyce gets still stronger. Mary Ellen Croteau does magic with coral beds made from no longer recognized, discarded, plastic bags, Sarah Barnhart Fields brings remnants of a rural culture back to life, as does Sharon Gilmore, albeit more holistically Two of the most beautiful pieces I've ever seen of Mike Helbing's are on view; one large and wet, one small and also wet. Lisa Limas' elegant, diminutive homages to coral encourage us to pay more attention to the small, Gary "Hal Link is a magician and Matt Runfola makes gorgeous, distinctive pieces.

To an extent, all art is autobiographical. With Connie Noyes, whose multi-meaning'd show, No Relation, opens at Evanston's Noyes Cultural Arts Center on Sunday, the art is all about her; her life, loves, failures, successes, attitudes, sexuality, relationships and solitude. Noyes, who had been making extra-large paintings, broke her foot. While recuperating she returned to a former life of digitally altering photographic images, which she then loaded with the gloop and detritus she is known for.

Sarah Krepp's show opened at the Chicago Cultural Center a few weeks ago, but her work is so strong that I want to recommend it. What I find striking are the multiple layers of content, the beginning point being of tracing wind currents and flight patterns to generate natural flow lines. Imbued with a 'push me, pull you' balance of manipulating foreground and background, I love how she expands painterly issues as her art takes on greater dimensionality and movement.

Thanks very much,

Paul Klein

PS: Volume Gallery is more about architecture furniture and design, but sometimes they'll present a thoroughly kickass art exhibit like this installation by Charlie O'Geen and Frank Fantauzzi. (Checker Cab used to work out of this space.)

Art Blooms in the Fall

2012-11-01T21:54:10Z

I ran around like crazy trying to view all the good shows opening this weekend.

The exceptional photography dealer Catherine Edelman is celebrating her 25th anniversary in the business with a large exhibit of photographs from artists she's worked with over that period of time. It is a tribute to her that all the artists she asked to participate did, including those she hasn't worked with for some time. Old images, new images; the show is a treasure hunt and a testimonial of how much Edelman has accomplished.

Right across the lobby is the joyous work of Anna Joelsdottir at Zg Gallery. I've been a huge fan for years. I love the serious playfulness, vibrant colors and consistent competence of her work, particularly the 3-dimensional pieces that cascade like rainbows of water.

There are two worthy exhibits at Zolla/Lieberman. Phyllis Bramson's dynamic works on paper are psychological mysteries that draw on herself, her childhood, and her fascination with Asian culture. Seemingly playful, these complex works reveal themselves slowly (which is one of my requirements for truly good art) and allow us to discover her - and ourselves - over time.

Dan Mills, who was once a Chicago artist and is now the director of the museum at Bates has curated a show for Zolla/Lieberman that includes no artists I know. The work is all quite strong with a few exceptional pieces. It's a refreshing injection of capable work that slows me down to absorb and appreciate the different content and techniques.

Diana Guerrero-Maciá's work, at Threewalls, continues her look at the signs and symbols that have flooded our psyche and are an examination of the meanings we attribute to them. Removed from their familiar context and isolated in her subtly dimension hybrid textiles, Guerrero-Maciá confronts Arts & Crafts history, while propelling one's expectations about image making and painting. I want one.

Veranda8 is a nomadic gallery featuring artists from India. Presenting about 4 shows a year, they find beautiful spaces (this time at 401 N Racine) and present meaningful art that is new to me. Deepak Tandon's spiritual works are a mediation on unifying life forces, with images of veils of energy and flowing water.

At Monique Meloche, Justin Cooper builds intelligent sculptures out of unintelligent materials, sometimes based on word structures, phonics or meanings, but I like them for their formal qualities and pushing sculpture into new terrain because of those unusual materials.

Jason Brammer's career trajectory keeps rising, as does his exceptional ability to make an image do whatever he wants. From a very few feet away I think something is dimensional - or not - and invariably I perceived it wrong. At his best he makes images that hit weighty philosophical concepts like the notion that the earth, or a rotating disk is, by definition, moving slower and slower towards it's own center, which when reached, is not moving. At Jackson Junge, Brammer shows with Jason Hawk, whose beautifully elaborate sculptures address aspirations and mortality, and the painter Keelan McMorrow.

At Adventureland, Renee Robbins explores the fleeting pleasure of amusement parks with their lights, motion, and colors. Scaleless, the presentation of abstracted carnival stimuli engage our memories and imagination.

And then there's SOFA, at Navy Pier, which is always a presentation of exemplary craft and accessible art. There are numerous extraordinary pieces. I particularly responded to a vibrant Jun Kaneko dango, and the remarkably fresh, 40 year old June Wayne tapestries, that were recently exhibited at the Art Institute of Chicago.

I hope you get as much pleasure from these and other new exhibits as I have.

Thank you,

Paul Klein

The Populist, Butter President and Other Art Exhibits Opening this Weekend

2012-10-25T19:20:25Z

Industry of the Ordinary is a pair of artists who make art out of the seemingly mundane, and transform it into art that engages the broad public. Their show at the Chicago Cultural Center does just that. The viewers there include the non-art going public who respond audibly to the fun they have seeing the off-beat, high quality content on hand.

Now, Industry of the Ordinary is fabricating a new work of art. Have you ever been to a state fair and seen the huge butter sculptures of farm animals. Americana at its slippery best. With that as a precedent, Industry of the Ordinary has commissioned and transported Bob Kling to Chicago to render a bust of President Obama in butter, And what's a good work of art without a parade? Today, Friday the 26th, around noon, the butter bust of Obama will be loaded into a glass-doored cooler and paraded from 842 W Lake to the Cultural Center. One pothole and the butter could be toast.

Opening Saturday at Western Exhibitions is another timely, and politically motivated exhibit by Mark Wagner, who among other works has created portraits of the President and his opponent out of American cash money. The work is beautifully created in what must be a tough medium. Other pieces will be exhibited in voting booths.

Dietrich Wegner is a deliciously absurd artist who combines images seemingly whimsically. His flexible interpretation of an object's physicality or meaning enables him to combine those objects, and present us with warm incongruities that boggle as they entice. It is precisely this balancing act that provokes our imagination and memory, and sticks with us. At Carrie Secrist.

One of the things that I like best about Peter Drake's show at Linda Warren is that he memorializes his father's miniature lead soldiers by accurately rendering them in large scale paintings These are painstakingly detailed paintings presented with shelves for the toys and videos which activate the scene in the painting. There's a lot going on here. Give the show time to grow on you.

Our friends at Corbett vs.Dempsey are riding a nice trajectory. Having just returned from London's gloriously presented and equally successful Frieze Masters Fair, they are opening an exhibit with the ebullient Joyce Pensato. Combining pop culture, historical icons, passionate artifacts with her exuberant expressionist painting technique, it is clear that there may be no artist who has more fun in his or her studio than she does. For a good time see Pensato.

Thanks very much,

Paul Klein

ExpoChicago: GangBusters, Two

2012-09-20T10:38:40Z

I got to Navy Pier, the venue for the thoroughly excellent ExpoChicago, at least an hour before the reception for the donors supporting the Museum of Contemporary Art. It gave me an opportunity to stroll the fair and take photos with the finished booth installations the way the galleries wanted and the lighting now properly adjusted. So these are better photos than yesterday's.

And the people watching wasn't too shabby either! Don't miss this show.

Thank you,

Paul Klein

ExpoChicago: GangBusters

2012-09-19T02:52:46Z

I had the pleasure of previewing ExpoChicago while dealers and art installers were setting up their booths. This is the moment of supreme optimism, when everything might just work out as everyone has dreamed. And it just might.

Exhibitors not seen in Chicago in over a decade have returned with way better than the material they normally take to art fairs. Excellent newer and younger galleries are also participating, and the show does an exemplary job of including non-commercial presentations by local arts organizations.

Organizer Tony Karman teamed with star architect Jeanne Gang who designed a gorgeous layout, with three dazzling, silver, hanging elements that enliven the whole show and keep people from getting lost. Everyone is thrilled to be there. The show is about as good as it can be.

Don't miss this show.

Thank you,

Paul Klein

Art Work Ethic

2012-09-14T01:37:02Z

After the cacophony of last week's season opening exhibitions across the city of Chicago, there are three impressive, divergent openings tonight. Jacob Hashimoto, and all the artists in this ArtLetter, went to school in Chicago and were clearly imbued with the work ethic that distinguishes our artists from those elsewhere. Hashimoto's work is on view at Rhona Hoffman. Impressive vision and execution. Gorgeous work.

Laura Letinsky is beautifully pushing the photographic image forward. Known for her photos of the detritus left behind at dinner parties, her new work looks familiar, but is executed altogether differently. In her show at Valerie Carberry, she's combined flat elements pulled from magazines or of her own creation and composed them alongside real objects, yielding an image which at first glance looks 'true,' but beckons closer examination and engagement.

In some ways Rory Coyne is more 'classic.' He is in his painting technique and his knowledge of mythology. But in his show at FM Gallery, there is more on view. This is seductive work, with layered meanings. His model is his fiancée. They are both open and honest, and the passion and emotion Coyne brings to his muse and art are lusciously more complex.

Thanks very much,

Paul Klein

Old is New as the Fall Art Season Opens

2012-09-03T21:43:53Z

Here we go again. With a very limited number of exceptions, all Chicago galleries open their Fall Season this weekend. This is the weekend those who usually don't make it to the Friday night openings get out and get seen, All the galleries are putting their collective best feet out, the weather is right and the party flows from the street into the gallery and back out again. This is a wonderful time to see which galleries have moved, closed or up-scaled over the summer. The people are out en masse. The art is good. You might as well be part of the crowd. Here's what to anticipate:

Russell Bowman and Zolla/Lieberman are collaborating on a survey of the work of historic Chicago Imagist, Roger Brown's graphic, seminal, influential paintings. The exhibition is nicely divided between the two venues, with plenty of iconography, but fresh art.

For all the attention normally directed at the young and the new, there's a lot of 'old Chicago' opening this weekend. Gladys Nilsson was an original member of the Monster Roster. Her new work is on view at Albano Gallery.

Fellow Imagist and 'old school' Chicago colorful is being revisited, with new and luscious images by Robert Lostutter opening at Corbett vs Dempsey.

Terry Evans has been photo documenting the Midwest for decades. Her show at Catherine Edelman is also a survey, with images spanning decades.

Vivian Maier is actually the oldest (were she alive) of the older batch of Chicago artists opening this weekend, though her art was only discovered recently - this time showing at Thomas Masters.

I'm not sure what to make of all the "senior Chicago' art been on view. I like the diversity, but it's going to take more than one weekend of shows to suggest this could be a trend. Carl Hammer is showing new work by cartoonist/artist Chris Ware who is a mid-career Chicagoan. His ostensibly simplistic renderings are tightly composed, balanced and nuanced works of art.

Western Exhibitions has moved to a new and brighter space and opens with Geoffrey Todd Smith's sophisticated, patient complicated, color pattern compositions.

At Carrie Secrist, Anne Lindberg also creates labor intensive work using colored string to weave back and forth to create large, abstract, color field installations that intrigue and suck you in with their absent, or multiple, focal points.

At Robert Bills, Tom Berenz rounds out the strong push to color in his paintings that play between two and three dimensional space as he creates balanced, yet, disjointed compositions.

These are just the highlights of some of the shows opening this weekend. There's plenty of opportunity to discover art on your own. I'd be pleased to hear what resonates for you.

Thanks very much,

Paul Klein