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Art Letter (07/15/05)

More galleries opening tonight than even I can scurry to.

It’s always a good day when you stroll into the fist gallery on your tour of a dozen and a half and the first thing that catches your eye you want to buy.  That was Cat Chow (born Catherine) at Saslow Gallery.  Of course I think her foray into abstraction with these new pieces is significant. I see growth.  I bought one.


Wonderful pieces at Ann Nathan Gallery too. Especially Bob Burdette who painstakingly hand renders what looks to be comic and billboard art - you know, the imbalance between awesome technique and downed down content, but fun.


William Keland at Perimeter. Good paintings.  More calming than I was up for today.

Another anomaly. This one is Richard Gibbons at Roy Boyd. Small tight torsos.  Good work - just not the aesthetic I associate with the gallery - but that’s fine.  Stir it up a little bit.

Zolla/Liberman had a couple of nice balancing exhibits. David Lozana has deceptively intelligent paintings in the main gallery and an exhibit of drawings in the smaller gallery.
 

Nice show of Virginia Poundstone at Three Walls.  An artist from NYC because of Chicago’s various “green,” ecology projects, with the intent of generating an organic large growing sculpture. This show documents and supports the idea in an effort to bring it to fruition.

Not opening tonight buy certainly worth seeing are these awesome drawings by James Drake at Rhona Hoffman.  Brilliant mark-making. Huge scale.  Wonderous stuff.

Upstairs at Peter Miller we have the obsessive sewing of Ai Kijima balanced with the light trove of found fabric from Chicago thriftshops.  They’re in a group show now but will be in a one-person show in a month.  Ask to see the back of the piece.

There’s a wall of tour de force, smiley, irreverent “paintings” by Mike Lash upstairs at Susan Geschidle Half the group I was with absolutely loved these.

At Aron Packer handsomely painted robotic forms measure ambient electric charges emanting from your and my body and make approrpraite reciprocating sounds.  Pretty fuzzy for slick.

Downstairs, next door Monique Meloche is opening a show called Girls of Summer.  It’s a fun show - summery - light.

Bernard Williams used to come into my gallery frequently.  Always something inteligent to say. Always observing. His paintings and sculpture have gotten better and better over the years.  This show at N’Namdi is evidence.

Carrie Secrist has a group show with one of Richard Hull’s beautiful paintings front and center.  I respect the risk and Richard Hull’s undertaking - moving aesthetically in new and brave directions, and I appreciate his success.


At Bucket Rider there is a beautiful drawing in situ by Maya Hayuk.  Special piece. Plenty of feeling and quality - conscientious.


On Michigan Avenue the Cultural Center has an informative show of award winners; recipients of grants from the Driehaus and Artadia Foundations - awards given to Chicago area artists.  A beautiful somber piece by Judy Ledgerwood.


And finally, like dessert we stopped at Corbett & Dempsey for a show that’s been up a week, with prices so cheap i thought they were typos. I was particularly taken by the work of Helmut Barnett.

Because I ran around to all these galleries with my son I chose to accompany him to the skateboard show where he wants to get new wheels, and there at Uprise was a kickass indoor mural/installation by Juan Chavez, Michael Genovese and Chris Silva. 

Thanks for making it here,
Paul