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Art Letter (06/04/05) |
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I recently saw two remarkably different exhibits, one of which I thoroughly enjoyed and the other which left me shaking my head.
Not far away at Donald Young Gallery whose shows I thought I always liked I viewed Helen Mirra’s exhibit. I’ve never heard anyone not rave about her art (including Alan Artner reviewing the current exhibit), or a couple of years back at the Renaissance Society. As for me, both her Shows That Are Opening Soon: Given the timing of Memorial day, we have the start of the summer season tonight with a broad array of exciting shows. I’ve broken these exhibits down into 3 categories, listing those “I can’t wait to see” and moving through “yes,” to “not sure.” For the sake of full disclosure, none of the shows listed below have I seen, and I’m not going to pretend to review them from the press release. I’m just listing them in order of my fervor about seeing them.
Todd Pavlisko at Monique Meloche. Todd rocks. I’ve known him for years and it is great to see him getting attention from museums and galleries like Monique’s. His art is about the “art system” and pokes a fair amount of fun at me and you. If you like art about art like I do this show’s a winner and there is no doubt that Todd is on a hot career track. Fun to get on board while it is still early. Elyn Zimmerman at Skestos. (212 North Peoria, I think) Brand new gallery - first show ever. Accomplished, significant environmental artist, 2 great people. Stephanie Skestos worked at the Art Institute for years and is now suffusing her vision in River West.
Shows I Want to See: Manifest. outdoor fun with Columbia College. in the South Loop- June 3rd only - from 11 AM to 9:30 PM. This annual celebration focuses on the work of graduating students from each and every department on campus. Now in its 4th year, Manifest is a great start to the Chicago festival season, and an amazing way to celebrate the end of a dynamic school year. All events are free and open to the public. The University of Chicago's Committee on the Visual Arts presents Research and Development, the 2005 MFA exhibition.The annual exhibition, running June 9–25, moves to Little Black Pearl, one of the newest additions to the growing south side art community. The opening celebration on Thursday, June 9th, 6-10 pm will feature graduating MFA students Kate Baird, Michael Dinges, Ben King, Caroline Mak, Merry-Beth Noble, Julia Oldham, John Preus, Tara Strickstein, Lindsey Walton, and David Wolf.
Rong Rong & Inri at Julie Walsh Gallery curated by Wu Hung. Beautiful show and Julie rebuilds her walls for every exhibit. The gallery looks really good right now, and in my mind Julie is one of, if not the, most intelligent, creative, successful dealers in Chicago. Talk to her - she’s very real. Miguel Cortez is the director of Polvo - a great gallery on the south side and Miguel is making a big difference to and in the Chicago art world. Opening on June 17th is a show of work by Chicago talent Harold Mendez (I’ve shown Harold - he’s exceptionally good, growing and getting Steve Lacy, Zach Taylor and Jonathan Waterbury at Linda Warren Gallery. I like Zach Taylor’s the most, but you decide. Mess Hall presents Potluck and Presentation: Vienna-based artist Michael Blum presents his video work "17 Aandbloem Street." Potluck at 7:30. Presentation at 8:30 Shows I’m Not Sure About I wish the galleries (and museum) listed in this section had websites I could extrapolate from. Theoretically these shows have promise, but I can’t tell how good they’ll be. The Chicago Solutions Show: At ARC Gallery, curated by James Rondeau. James is getting out into the community. I appreciate that. That’s twice in this “article.” Impressive, but I do not know how good the material he was presented to curate is. A great curator with bad material cannot perform magic with a sow’s ear. Nevertheless the show portends to deal with “Works directed toward posing solutions to significant social issues. Sounds ambitious. The MCA mentions the paintings of Nathaniel Robinson in their monthly 12 x 12 show almost as an afterthought, preferring to emphasize “hot house sounds of Chicago's DJ Plez.” I think they have their priorities skewed. At Bodybuilder and Sportsman we have “MARK BOOTH- Panda Bear Insemination Team Picnic and Other Thought Formations.” ‘Nuf said. At Kavi Gupta Gallery there is Mystic Truths: Huma Bhabha, Yi Chen, Matthew Connors, And at Perimeter Gallery I hope to find beautiful pastel drawings by Kathleen Holder. That’s quite a bit of good art - things are not exactly slowing down here. I look forward to seeing you at the shows. Thanks,
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At 
with other works on paper by Geoffrey Smith, Brandon Heuser, Dan Rule and 
Works by Geoffrey Smith an
d Brandon Heuser are compulsive, masterful, personal drawings that quite differently explore shape, form and content from repetitious mark marking. Mistakes generate intent and we get to see not only the finished result but the process as well. But more than anything this show feels well curated with work that seems to dance with joy because it gets to play with the others in the show. The gallery is hard to find. The signage is poor. The space is rough. And in contrast the work shines.
shows left me shrugging my shoulders. I want art to be accessible. I want to be able to get something from the viewing. Here I have to read explanatory text before I comprehend much of anything and I find being compelled to do that elitist and pretentious. (On the other hand, if I want more knowledge once I already have an impression didactic information is a good thing.) Then I wonder how one of these would look hanging in my house and it just doesn’t do it. Hey, art is personal and she’s doing just fine without me. Let’s move on.
Sketchbook - not only art, but mostly theater - by 
better every time out) titled The Geography of War.
Sarah Nesbit , Mike Paré, Tal R, Zachary Wollard.