Summer 2020 Issue of CGN

CGN EBONY G. PATTERSON ANN NATHAN

THE THOMA FOUNDATION VERTICAL GALLERY

ART AND VIOLENCE

CHICAGO GALLERY NEWS MIDWEST GALLERIES AND MUSEUMS

ART LISTINGS + MAPS

SUMMER 2020

VERTICAL GALLERY Chicago’s premier urban-contemporary art gallery

Through May 23: 7-Year Anniversary Group Show

June 6 - 27: Joseph Renda Jr. “Biophilia”

July 11 - August 1: Collin van der Sluijs “A Garden of Trust”

Coming up August 8 - 29: Hebru Brantley “Editions”

1016 N. Western Ave. Chicago, IL 60622 | 773-697-3846 www.verticalgallery.com

Cadogan Tate Chicago We are delighted to announce that Cadogan Tate is open for business in Chicago, to service the city’s robust and vibrant art market. Offering a full complement of fine art services including; transportation, storage, installation, packing, crating, worldwide shipping and logistics.

Cadogan Tate Chicago 322 N Leavitt Street Chicago, IL 60612 312-766-9745

chicago@cadogantate.com

www.cadogantate.com Chicago | New York | Los Angeles | Miami | London | Paris | Cote D’Azur

© Nickolas Muray Photo Archive

FRIDA KAHLO TIMELESS Works on loan from the Olmedo Museum PRESENTED BY:

FRIDA2021.ORG

Explore theNate A collection of 30 master works of large-scale sculpture situated within 100 acres of walkable prairie landscape at Governors State University. govst.edu/sculpture

“Illinois Landscape No. 5,� John Henry. 1976. Nathan Manilow Sculpture Park at Governors State University

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Superb views

TEMPORAL PUERTO RICAN RESISTANCE mocp.org

Mari B. Robles Lรณpez Paro Nacional, julio 24, 2019

FACE TO FACE

MAY – OCTOBER 2020

ALSO VIEWABLE FROM HURON STREET WINDOW AND ONLINE

Featuring portraits by 75 artists

In the office: a sculpture exhibition with work by Josh Garber, Jay Strommen and Derek Walter

ZOLLA/LIEBERMAN GALLERY

325 W HURON • CHICAGO, IL • ZOLLALIEBERMANGALLERY.COM

Pictured from top row, left to right: Jay Strommen, James DeNoyer, Herb Murrie, Matthew Kellen, Bassim Al-Shaker, Frank Paluch, Shelly Rosenthal, Michael Goro, John Fraser, Brian Driscoll, Jim Carroll, Glenn Wexler, Mel Rosas, Megan Bonke, Herman Aguirre, Dean Czarnopys, Lynn Neuman, René Romero Schuler, Meredith Kopelman, Victoria Granacki.

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S O S O S O S O S O S O S O S O S O S O S O

Jennie C. Jones: Constant Structure on view through September

artsclubchicago.org @artsclubchicago

CHICAGOGALLERYNEWS.COM EXPLORE LOCAL ART CHICAGO • SUBURBS • MIDWEST

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EBO NY G. PAT TER SON ANN NAT HAN THE THO MA FOU NDATIO VER TICA N L GAL LER Y MAR CEL A TOR RES ART LIST ING S AND MAP S

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Tony Fitzpatrick, The Coming Of Locusts” (Fuck You Monster, I’m Not Afraid of You) 2020

T O N Y F I T Z PAT R I C K

N e w Wo r k s 2020 T h e D i m e • 1 5 1 3 N . We s t e r n Av e . , C h i c a g o W- S a 1 2 - 4 p m • 7 7 3 . 8 5 0 . 9 7 0 2 tonyfitzpatrick.co

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SUMMER 2020

THE SOUTH HALF OF MICHIGAN AVE OFFERS A CONCENTRATION OF CULTURAL DESTINATIONS, FROM MILLENNIUM PARK AND THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO TO INDEPDENDENT GALLERIES

28 CONTENTS 14 15

16

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12 | CGN | Summer 2020

ONLINE ART HIGHLIGHTS

New offerings from galleries and museums

ART LISTINGS: MAY–AUG

Galleries, museums, exhibitions, maps

FEATURES An Interview with Artist Ebony G. Patterson 26 28 The Perpetual Collector: Ann Nathan 32 The Thoma Art Foundation 35 Stuart Dyer’s Vintage Secrets 36 Vertical Gallery Goes Digital 38 Spotlight On Running A New Gallery 39 Views of the Times: Responses From Local Dealers 40 A Walk Through Logan Square 42 Marcela Torres on Artistic Violence

26

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: AT HOME WITH ANN NATHAN; TAKE A TOUR OF LOGAN SQUARE MURALS; ARTIST EBONY G. PATTERSON’S IMMERSIVE INSTALLATIONS

GALLERY HAPPENINGS

43

ART SERVICES + RESOURCES

PUBLISHER’S LETTER SUBJECT TO CHANGE

CGN PUBLISHER GINNY B. VAN ALYEA IN 1983.

PHOTO: NANCY BERG.

Chicago Gallery News was founded in 1982/1983 as a means of promoting gallery openings in the then-brand-new arts district of River North. From a group of 16, the number and locations of galleries exploded over the years. Friday night openings were the place to be.

That tradition continued until COVID-19 obliterated the familiar art rituals and gatherings we took for granted – art fairs, summer markets, gallery walks, artist talks, preview parties, end of year MFA shows – the cultural connectivity that powers the art scene has been put on hold.

Now all plans are subject to change. Physical proximity to art – not to mention other people – is harder to achieve, at least if it requires private admission or means being in a crowd. Digital ingenuity has constructed some virtual bridges for the time being, but the significance of in-person encounters, dialogues and exchanges cannot be replaced, or held off forever.

Adrift in the digital deluge, I’m in search of higher ground.

CGN is proud to be a resource to the arts community and its supporters during this time. We committed to printing this summer issue, despite great challenges, because I wanted to offer a life boat in order to ride out the storm. The magazine has always been a tangible testament to all the art alive here. I also wanted to think about something other than pandemic panic. So many of our dealers and artists are trying so hard to survive and adapt. In looking back as well as forward, I imagine a way out where CGN and our community can emerge whole.

CGN has digitally evolved over the decades, but we were founded in and con-

tinue in print. While we can reflect fondly on the early ‘80s we don’t need to go all the way back there. I predate CGN’s founding by a couple of years, so at that time I was excited to get my first bike.

Time and people move ahead, in spite of market crashes, fires, wars, recessions, and yes pandemics. We cannot be static.

Artists still make art. Dealers, curators and collectors will still connect. The creativity that endures must be recognized and supported.

With several weeks of lockdown behind me, so far, I’m looking ahead to what today will look like decades from now, when face masks and Zoom screenshots from 2020 will look as dated as that picture of Steve Jobs holding the first Macintosh computer does today. Photos of my family’s home stay will show us with long hair wearing weird white earbuds. We cannot avoid looking dated.

As we scramble to be digitally current and connected while we are physically apart, I am also learning, from artists like Ebony G. Peterson, whom we interviewed for this issue, the benefits of just being and tuning out the world. It makes me hopeful that the pendulum will swing towards a more deliberate, in-person, albeit less crowded, landscape when this is “over.”

We are learning so much about virtual possibilities in life and business, but maybe local galleries could be regarded as precious gathering places to connect in person and view art. We have had more than enough time on our screens. Maybe fairs will be less market-obsessed, devoted to gallery survival over notoriety.

Small businesses will be treasured over the mega and the convenient. The shifts that began long before COVID-19 – to art fair dominance, email overload and social media bingeing – could be a memory.

Of course all of this depends on the art market actually surviving the category 5 financial hurricane we are in. Our partner galleries and businesses need your support. Hold on to your interest in art and keep investing in artists. Stay with us to ride out the storm so that we can look back someday and remember the experience but be grateful for the hope, the innovation, and the change.

Founded in 1983 Chicago Gallery News is the central source for information about the area’s art galleries, museums, events and resources. CGN aims to be a clear, accessible guide to the region’s visual arts, as well as an advocate on behalf of the local cultural community.

Magazines are available by subscription. Complimentary issues are available in galleries, museums and art centers, the Chicago Cultural Center and at select hotels throughout the region.

Published 3 times annually: CGN Arts Guide / Summer / Fall © 2020 Chicago Gallery News, Inc. Publisher + Executive Editor Virginia B. Van Alyea Managing Editor + Business Manager Emily Ackerman Digital Content Coordinator Jacqueline Lewis Contributors Anna Doborowski Jacqueline Lewis Alison Reilly Riley Yaxley Interns Isobel Van Alyea Thomas Van Alyea Chicago Gallery News 858 N. Clark St., Ste. 204 Chicago, IL 60610 312-649-0064 chicagogallerynews.com Summer 2020 Vol. 35, No. 1 © 2020 ISSN #1046-6185 ON THE COVER:

CGN EBONY PATTERSON ANN NATHAN

THE THOMA FOUNDATION VERTICAL GALLERY MARCELA TORRES ART LISTINGS AND MAPS

Ebony G. Patterson, ...three kings weep..., 2018 (still), edition of 3, 3-channel digital color video projection with sound, 8 minutes 34 seconds. Courtesy of the artist and Monique Meloche Gallery.

SUMMER 2020

CHICAGO GALLERY NEWS

MIDWEST GALLERIES AND MUSEUMS

Summer 2020 | CGN | 13

GALLERY HAPPENINGS The nature of gallery openings has changed for the forseeable future. While we all adjust to the realities of social distancing, please keep in mind that galleries are not closed forever, and openings can still happen, though the way in which they are held and the manner in which we may attend them will change.

Openings usually take place the first night of a new exhibition. Galleries are adjusting practices in order to stay safe but also available. Some openings are happening virtually, while dealers are also offering to accomodate visitors by appointment as well as share digital previews. Many shows are viewable from the street through gallery windows.

Due to the tenuous nature of scheduling at press time, we have temporarily adusted this “Openings” page to feature a few planned highlights coming this summer. Please check Chicagogallerynews.com for daily updates, and sign–up for CGN’s weekly newsletters for highlights and schedules.

DISTRICT KEY: RIVER NORTH • WEST SIDE • SOUTH SIDE MICHIGAN AVE / LOOP • NORTH SIDE • SUBURBS/MIDWEST

MAY

CGN’S ONLINE SERIES OF VIRTUAL GALLERY TOURS HIGHLIGHTS VARIOUS DISTRICTS AND NEIGHBORHOODS TO GUIDE YOU THROUGH LOCAL GALLERIES AND MUSEUMS. PICTURED ABOVE: OLIVA GALLERY IN LOGAN SQUARE.

JUNE

JULY

Anthony Lewellen: Retrospect

Joseph Renda Jr. Biophilia

Chicago Noir

Interior Life

CHICAGO TRUBORN

VERTICAL GALLERY

OLIVA GALERY

FILTER PHOTO

July 10–August 1

August 28–October 3 Reception Sept 11

Opening virtually May 16

The Art of Jon Gnagy FIRECAT PROJECTS

On view starting May 22 *Please confirm

14 | CGN | Summer 2020

June 6–27

*Please confirm

*Please confirm

*Please confirm

TOUCH, A Virtual Exhibition WOMAN MADE GALLERY

On view starting June 5

AUGUST

Vibrant Mechanisms BRIDGEPORT ART CENTER

July 17–Sept 4 *Please confirm

ART ONLINE GRAY GALLERY VIEWING ROOMS The gallery launched new online viewing rooms in April 2020. Access is granted by providing your name and email. The first series spotlighted Jim Dine’s Botanical Drawings richardgraygallery.com/ viewing-rooms

JIM DINE, GRASS IN THIS VALLEY, 2014, CHARCOAL, PASTEL AND WATERCOLOR ON PAPER, 42 1/4 × 62”

SMART MUSEUM DIGITAL RESOURCES Museum staff gathered together resources—some newly created and some from the archive—for its community of students, scholars, caregivers, teachers, and life-long learners. The digital resource page offers hands-on art activities, teaching guides, a trove of artist interviews, virtual exhibition experiences, and more. smart.edu

VISITORS WALK INSIDE GU WENDA’S UNITED NATIONS: AMERICAN CODE IN THE EXHIBITION THE ALLURE OF MATTER: MATERIAL ART FROM CHINA.

HILTON ASMUS FOTO The gallery announced the official launch of their new and improved online store, featuring the works of renowned artists from around the world such as David Yarrow, Paul Nicklen, Cristina Mittermeier, Terry O’Neill, Julian Wasser and more.

You may browse and purchase work online. For every purchase made the gallery will donate a percentage of all sales to the charity of your choice. hiltonasmusfoto.com

TERRY O’NEILL, BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN ON SUNSET STRIP (SIGNED), LIMITED EDITION SILVER GELATIN PRINT. EDITION SIZE: 50

NATHAN MANILOW SCULPTURE PARK

By downloading Otocast, you can take a virtual tour of theNate, complete with photos of each largescale sculpture and accompanying text, and even recorded audio from many artists discussing their works. govst.edu/NMSP/

BRUCE NAUMAN, HOUSE DIVIDED, 1983, CAST CONCRETE

Summer 2020 | CGN | 15

ART LISTINGS SUMMER ‘20 WEST TOWN UKRAINIAN VILLAGE KINZIE CORRIDOR GARFIELD PARK ARC Gallery

1463 W. Chicago (60642) www.arcgallery.org 2020 Exhibition Openings occur on the following Fridays from 6–9pm: July 24, Sept 11

Circle Contemporary (Arts of Life) Chicago: 2010 W. Carroll (60612) North Shore: 1963 Johns Dr., Glenview (60025) www.artsoflife.org

Circle Contemporary aims to strengthen the local creative community by hosting year-round exhibitions with guest curators and artists. Arts of Life’s mission is to advance the creative arts community by providing artists with intellectual and developmental disabilities a collective space to expand their practice and strengthen their leadership.

Filter Photo

Line Dot Editions

May 22–June 20: Stephanie Taiber: An Inner Meaning; Almost Expressed June 26–August 15: David Johnson & Philip Matthews: Wig Heavier Than A Boot

Line Dot features a unique mix of local, national and international talents. The gallery also offers top quality secondary market artwork from Banksy, KAWS, Shepard Fairey, Takashi Murakami, Retna and others. Exclusive editions are released every month. The full inventory is available to view and purchase on the gallery’s website.

1821 W. Hubbard, Ste. 207 (60622) www.filterphoto.org

Gray Warehouse

2044 W. Carroll (60612) www.richardgraygallery.com Devoted to both contemporary and modern art, the gallery specializes in and represents a number of artists, including Jim Dine, Jean Dubuffet, Theaster Gates, David Hockney, Alex Katz, Joan Miró, Pablo Picasso, Jaume Plensa and Evelyn Statsinger.

Rhona Hoffman Gallery 1711 W. Chicago (60622) www.rhoffmangallery.com

Rhona Hoffman specializes in international contemporary art in all medias, and art that is conceptually, formally or socio-politically based. From its inception, the gallery has launched emerging artists’ careers.

Chicago Artists Coalition 2130 W. Fulton (60612) www.chicagoartistscoalition.org

Monique Meloche Gallery 451 N. Paulina (60622) www.moniquemeloche.com

Spring 2020: Nate Young Summer 2020: Chase Hall and February James

1709 W. Chicago (60622) www.parislondonhongkong.com

Curating world-class exhibitions, featuring works from luminaries of the 20th century as well as emerging and thought provoking contemporary artists, PLHK is an exclusive experience set to challenge and enhance the discourse of contemporary and 20th century art.

Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art (UIMA)

DOCUMENT

2320 W. Chicago (60622) www.uima-chicago.org

1709 W. Chicago (60622) www.documentspace.com

16 | CGN | Summer 2020

Matthew Rachman Gallery pairs modern design with contemporary art. The gallery presents rotating exhibitions, provides consulting services, and hosts philanthropic and private events.

Paris London Hong Kong

Chicago Truborn shows work from local and international artists - mostly those considered “street” or “graffiti” artists. With every exhibition, the featured artist paints two in store murals to coincide with their body of work.

Since 1987, Catherine Edelman Gallery has established itself as one of the leading galleries in the country devoted to the exhibition of prominent living photographers, alongside new & young talent.

1659 W. Chicago (60622) www.matthewrachman.com

One After 909 focuses on emerging and established Chicago artists as well as featuring international art.

1741 W. Chicago (60622) www.chicagotruborn.com

1637 W. Chicago (60622) www.edelmangallery.com

Matthew Rachmann Gallery

www.1after909.com

Chicago Truborn

Catherine Edelman Gallery

1023 N. Western (60622) www.linedoteditions.com

One After 909

CAC is a non-profit organization that supports contemporary Chicago artists and curators by offering residency programs, exhibitions, professional development and resources.

DOCUMENT specializes in contemporary photography, film and media based art. The gallery has organized more than 50 solo exhibitions and actively promotes the work of emerging national and international artists.

A note about exhibitions and summer events: the info here submitted by galleries is current as of press time, but as we all know everything is subject to change.

Chicagogallerynews.com is updated daily, and now more than ever galleries are always open online with many virtual offerings to enjoy.

Part of Intuit’s permanent collection: Martín Ramírez (American, born Mexico 1895–1963). Untitled (Horse and rider), ca. 1953. Graphite on pieced paper, 28 ½ x 24 in. Collection of Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art, Gift of Phyllis Kind, 2006.22.8

In existence for over 40 years, UIMA continues to offer a robust schedule of exhibitions, musical and literary events, films, and gallery talks.

Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art

Vertical Gallery

756 N. Milwaukee (60642) www.art.org

Intuit is a premier museum of outsider and self-taught art, art created by artists who are motivated by their unique personal visions and demonstrate little or no influence from the mainstream art world.

1016 N. Western (60622) www.verticalgallery.com Thru May 23: 7-Year Anniversary Group Show June 6–27: Joseph Renda Jr., Biophilia July 11–Aug 1: Collin van der Sluijs, A Garden of Trust August 8–29: Hebru Brantley, Editions

EN

Western Exhibitions

1709 W. Chicago, 2nd Floor (60622) www.westernexhibitions.com Western Exhibitions is a contemporary art gallery that shows thought-provoking, visually innovative artists who work across most media, with an emphasis on personal narratives and cosmologies; LGBTQ and feminist artists and issues; pattern, decoration and surface concerns.

WEST LOOP RIVER WEST Carrie Secrist Gallery’s online viewing room features Andrew Holmquist and runs through May 30. Featured are new works on paper and ceramics. Pictured: the artist in his California studio.

Volume Gallery

Kavi Gupta Gallery

835 W. Washington and 219 N. Elizabeth (60607) www.kavigupta.com

1709 W. Chicago, 2B (60622) www.wvvolumes.com

Artists represented include Firelei Báez, Inka Essenhigh, Beverly Fishman, Glenn Kaino, Manish Nai, Angel Otero, Roxy Paine, Devan Shimoyama, Jeffrey Gibson, Deborah Kass, Tony Tasset and Mickalene Thomas, among others.

Volume Gallery focuses on design and art, with a strong emphasis placed on emerging contemporary designers and artists.

Hindman

Weinberg/Newton Gallery 688 N. Milwaukee (60642) www.weinbergnewtongallery.com

Weinberg/Newton Gallery is a non-commercial gallery with a mission to collaborate with nonprofit organizations and artists to educate and engage the public on social justice issues.

1338 W. Lake (60607) www.hindmanauctions.com Hindman operates more U.S. salesrooms than any other firm and conducts over 100 auctions annually in categories such as fine jewelry, fine art, modern design, books and manuscripts, furniture, decorative arts, couture, Asian art, arts of the American West, and numismatics

WEST LOOP

GREEN

ELIZABETH

RANDOLPH

PEORIA

LAKE

RACINE

HINDMAN

ADA

WASHINGTON

FULTON

KAVI GUPTA #2

RANDOLPH ST MKT

LAKE

CHICAGO ARTISTS COALITION

CARROLL PAULINA

FULTON

CARROLL WOOD

KINZIE CORRIDOR

KINZIE

WOLCOTT

THE FRANKLIN

HALSTED

O

HUBBARD

KINZIE

GRAY WAREHOUSE KEN SAUNDERS CIRCLE CONTEMP.

WEINBERG /NEWTON

GRAND

GD

DAMEN

WESTERN

INTUIT

94

MONIQUE MELOCHE

• FILTER PHOTO • SPUDNIK PRESS

HUBBARD

CHICAGO

ARC

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D N

GRAND

CHICAGO CATHERINE TRUBORN EDELMAN • RHONA • VOLUME HOFFMAN • WESTERN • DOCUMENT EXHIBITIONS • PLHK

RIVER WEST

I-9

RA G

ERIE

MATTHEW RACHMAN

E

CHICAGO

WEST TOWN

KE

UKRAINIAN INST. OF MODERN ART

AU

AUGUSTA

W IL

UKRAINIAN VILLIAGE

LINE DOT

M

VERTICAL

• RIVER WEST • WEST LOOP • GARFIELD PARK

NOBLE

THE WEST SIDE

ASHLAND

• WEST TOWN • KINZIE CORRIDOR • UKRAINIAN VILLAGE

WASHINGTON

• KAVI GUPTA • MCCORMICK • CARRIE SECRIST

MADISON ADAMS

HARRISON

SUSANIN’S AUCTIONS

McCormick Gallery 835 W. Washington (60607) www.thomasmccormick.com

Jul 11–Aug 22: John Santoro: Let’s Talk About the Weather

Randolph Street Market 1350 Block of W. Randolph (60607) www.randolphstreetmarket.com

Please check website for future 2020 dates.

Carrie Secrist Gallery 835 W. Washington (60607) www.secristgallery.com

Established in 1992 the gallery features contemporary artwork by emerging and mid-career artists who work in a variety of mediums.

SUSANIN’S Auctions 900 S. Clinton (60607) www.susanins.com

Founded in 1993, SUSANIN’S is Chicago’s oldest independently owned auction house and one of the “World’s Top 100” auctioneers and appraisers of fine art, jewelry, coins, antique furniture, silver, decorative items, Asian works of art, mid-century design, and a variety of specialty categories.

Summer 2020 | CGN | 17

The gallery has exhibited a diverse roster of artists who have helped shape Chicago’s art scene since the gallery’s inception in 1986, including: Fletcher Benton, Gladys Nilsson, Hunt Slonem, the Estate of Margaret Wharton, Karl Wirsum, and Zack Wirsum.

Gallery Victor Armendariz 300 W. Superior (60654) www.galleryvictor.com

The gallery exhibits compelling contemporary art in a variety of media by both established and emerging artists. Focusing on figurative art, museum quality works of Realism and Studio Furniture, including that of renowned steel furniture maker Jim Rose.

HILTON | ASMUS ADDINGTON

SUPERIOR

ZOLLA / LIEBERMAN RICHARD NORTON

HURON

GOLDEN TRIANGLE HERITAGE AUCTIONS

Hilton | Asmus Contemporary 716 N. Wells (60654) www.hilton–asmus.com

Specializing in modern and contemporary paintings, works on paper, mixed media and sculpture with a special focus on photography. Featuring internationally known artists from United States, Northern Europe and the Mediterranean Region.

Alan Koppel Gallery 806 N. Dearborn (60610) www.alankoppel.com

Bruno Surdo, Freedom, oil on canvas, 50.5 x 113.5”.

At Gallery Victor Armendariz

The Golden Triangle 330 N. Clark (60654) www.goldentriangle.biz

Originally focused on Asian antiques, The Golden Triangle has evolved into an 18,000 square foot global design resource.

Carl Hammer Gallery

740 N. Wells (60654) info@carlhammergallery.com • 312–266–8512 www.carlhammergallery.com Carl Hammer represents both modern and contemporary art from the 20th and 21st centuries. The gallery’s reputation was established by its leadership for discovering and representing historically significant artists within the “Outsider” and self–taught genres.

Thru May 30: CJ Pyle: Crawling From the Wreckage

Heritage Auctions 215 W. Ohio (60654) www.ha.com

Heritage Auctions is the largest fine art and collectibles auction house founded in the United States, and the world’s largest collectibles auctioneer, with locations in New York, Dallas, Beverly Hills, San Francisco, Chicago, Palm Beach, London, Paris, Geneva, Amsterdam and Hong Kong.

18 | CGN | Summer 2020

DEARBORN

215 W. Superior (60654) www.jeanalbanogallery.com

JEAN ALBANO

POETRY FOUNDATION

CLARK

Jean Albano Gallery

VALE CRAFT

LASALLE

Addington Gallery focuses on dynamic contemporary painting, both abstract and representational, with many of the gallery’s artists staking their claim somewhere in between categories.

CARL HAMMER

WELLS

704 N. Wells (60654) www.addingtongallery.com

• RANGEFINDER/ TAMARKIN CAMERA • VICTOR ARMENDARIZ

FRANKLIN

Addington Gallery

CHICAGO

ORLEANS

RIVER NORTH

ALAN KOPPEL

For over two decades, Alan Koppel Gallery has played a leading role in introducing contemporary international artists to American audiences. In addition to organizing extensive solo and group exhibitions the gallery maintains an inventory of select primary and secondary works by leading artists from the major movements in 20th C. American and European Art.

John David Mooney Foundation

ERIE

MOONEY FOUNDATION

The Rangefinder Gallery at Tamarkin Camera 300 W. Superior, 2nd Fl. (60654) www.rangefindergallery.com

The largest Leica Camera showroom in the Midwest, and one of the largest in the world. Showcasing works from the Leica camera is a natural extension of our passion for the brand; the Rangefinder Gallery is dedicated to un-retouched film and digital photographs from the legendary Leica M camera.

Vale Craft Gallery 230 W. Superior (60654) www.valecraftgallery.com

Contemporary American fine craft objects and sculpture. Works in clay, fiber, metal, glass, wood and mixed media.

Spring/Summer: 20/20 Visions: group show of faces.

Visit our website for updates and e-commerce pages.

141 W. Kinzie (60654) www.mooneyfoundation.org

The JDMF brings to Chicago the very best international artists and architects. Solo exhibitions are featured at the International Currents Gallery in the Foundation’s three galleries, each 4,000 square-feet.

The JDMF also offers artist residencies.

Poetry Foundation 61 W. Superior (60654) www.poetryfoundation.org

Poetry is a place in Chicago, breaking the line between visual art and the written word.

Richard Norton Gallery 612 Merchandise Mart (60654) www.richardnortongallery.com

Founded in 2000 Richard Norton Gallery offers a diverse selection of notable American and European Impressionist and late Modern paintings, drawings and sculpture from the 19th and early 20th Centuries. They provide a wide range of services, including consultation, appraisal, consignment and purchase of artwork.

Laura Foster Nicholson, Green Convo, Hand woven textile, 23”H x 20”W. Part of 20/20 Visions at Vale Craft Gallery

Zolla/Lieberman Gallery 325 W. Huron (60654) www.zollaliebermangallery.com

By embracing a wide range of genres and artists, Z/L is able to offer a variety of work. Zolla/Lieberman Gallery is dedicated to providing personal attention to both the beginning and established collector, as well as other art professionals.

Visionaries + Voices at Western Exhibitions

The Rangefinder Gallery

Western Exhibitions

works from the legendary

camera

300 West Superior, Second Floor Monday-Friday 9-5:30 - Saturday 10-2 312 642-2255 rangefindergallery.com

June 5*–July 11 *Please confirm

August David Johnson & Philip Matthews: Wig Heavier Than a Boot

Peter Turnley

Filter Photo

Jun 26–Aug 15 *Please confirm

NEXT Studio Oh! JANE BARTHÈS

Ongoing

September

Big Bowl of Wonderful

by Jeff Garlin

John Santoro: Let’s Talk About the Weather McCormick Gallery July 11-August 22 *Please confirm

Summer 2020 | CGN | 19

MICHIGAN AVE, GOLD COAST

GRAY DELAWARE CHESTNUT

CHICAGO

Thru September: Jennie C. Jones: Constant Structure

MICHIGAN AVE MICHIGAN AVE

JOEL OPPENHEIMER

The Richard H. Driehaus Museum 40 E. Erie (60611) • www.driehausmuseum.org

The Richard H. Driehaus Museum explores the art, architecture, and design of the late 19th-century to the present.

HUBBARD KINZIE

Gray

Downtown: 875 N. Michigan (60611) Warehouse: 2044 W. Carroll (60612) www.richardgraygallery.com

ILLINOIS

NAVY PIER

WACKER

WASHINGTON MADISON

BERT GREEN

WABASH

MONROE

140 E. Walton (60611) www.hildtgalleries.com

ADAMS JACKSON VAN BUREN CONGRESS

International Museum of Surgical Science (IMSS)

HARRISON BALBO

Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago (MCA) 220 E. Chicago (60611) www.mcachicago.org

THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO

GRANT PARK

COLUMBUS

STATE

MILLENIUM PARK

Please check the gallery website for schedule and exhibition information as it is subject to change.

Exhibition catalogs and artist consignment is available for purchase online at imss.ecwid.com. Use code SOCIAL20 for 20% off your order plus free shipping.

GRAND

CHICAGO

Bert Green Fine Art

1524 N. Lake Shore Drive (60610) www.imss.org

OHIO

RANDOLPH CULTURAL CENTER

SAIC SULLIVAN GALLERIES

Hildt Galleries

THE ARTS CLUB

LAKE

Devoted to both contemporary and modern art, the gallery specializes in and represents a number of artists, including Jim Dine, Jean Dubuffet, Theaster Gates, David Hockney, Alex Katz, Joan Miró, Pablo Picasso, Jaume Plensa and Evelyn Statsinger.

8 S. Michigan, Ste. 620 (60603) • www.bgfa.us

ONTARIO

FAIRBANKS FAIRBANKS

R.S. JOHNSON FINE ART

ERIE

MICHIGAN AVE

78 E. Washington (60602) www.chicagoculturalcenter.org

HURON

DRIEHAUS MUSEUM

RUSH

Chicago Cultural Center

SUPERIOR

STATE

111 S. Michigan (60603) www.artic.edu

MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART (MCA)

PEARSON

201 E. Ontario (60611) www.artsclubchicago.org

The Art Institute of Chicago

HILDT

WALTON

DR

The Arts Club of Chicago

OAK

MUSEUM OF SURGICAL SCIENCE

OAK

RE HO ES LAK N.

MICHIGAN AVE GOLD COAST THE LOOP / SOUTH LOOP

PALETTE & CHISEL

DEARBORN

DOWNTOWN

• MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY PHOTOGRAPHY (MOCP) • SPERTUS INSTITUTE

SAIC Sullivan Galleries 33 S. State St., 7th floor (60603) www.saic.edu/exhibitions

645 N. Michigan (60611) www.rsjohnsonfineart.com

Museum of Contemporary Photography (MoCP)

The Sullivan Galleries bring to Chicago audiences the work of acclaimed and emerging artists, while providing the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) and the public opportunities for direct involvement and exchange with the discourses of art today.

The Palette & Chisel Academy of Fine Arts

MoCP is the world’s premier college art museum dedicated to photography.

Spertus Institute for Jewish Learning and Leadership

R.S. Johnson Fine Art

1012 N. Dearborn (60610) www.paletteandchisel.org

Founded in 1895 with a mission to teach and promote representational art, the academy continues that tradition today. The main floor of the mansion features beautiful gallery space for group exhibitions and sales.

Exhibits change roughly every two weeks.

20 | CGN | Summer 2020

Columbia College Chicago 600 S. Michigan (60605) • www.mocp.org

Joel Oppenheimer, Inc.

10 E. Ohio, Tree Studio Annex (60611) www.audubonart.com Joel Oppenheimer, Inc. offers an unsurpassed selection of antique and limited-edition fine art prints from the golden age of natural history art, archival framing, and nationally recognized art conservation and restoration services.

610 S. Michigan (60605) www.spertus.edu

Located in the lobby of Spertus Institute’s award– winning Krueck & Sexton-designed building, the Ground Level Arts Lab showcases work by contemporary Jewish artists or highlights from the Spertus collections of Jewish art and material culture.

NORTH SIDE

FOSTER CHICAGO PRINTMAKERS COLLABORATIVE

N CO

Chicago Printmakers Collaborative

LI

LINCOLN SQUARE

Featuring affordable fine art prints and works-on-paper by both local and international artists, CPC is Chicago’s longest-running fine art printmaking workshop, where visitors mingle with printmakers creating on the presses.

LAWRENCE

Eat Paint Studio

IRVING PARK

5036 N. Lincoln (60625) • www.eatpaintstudio.com

CLAR

94 0/

I-9

Gallery Studio Oh!

UPTOWN

DAMEN

MONTROSE

Thru Aug 31: 30 Artists / 30 Years (online exhibition) Gallery sales online. Curbside pickup or shipping available.

Hours may vary, visit our website or call for updates.

GALLERY STUDIO OH! HOFHEIMER GALLERY

LN

4912 N. Western (60625) www.chicagoprintmakers.com

RAVENSWOOD

RAVENSWOOD

EAT PAINT

RAVENSWOOD LINCOLN SQUARE

Gallery Studio Oh! is an artist owned studio space and art gallery run by Erwin Overes and Lisa Stefaniak.

Gallery Studio Oh! also gives the opportunity to other professional and emerging artists to exhibit.

K

ADDISON

4839 N. Damen (60625) • art-studio-oh.com

CORNELIA ARTS BUILDING

LAKEVIEW BELMONT

Hofheimer Gallery

ART DE TRIUMPH

2124 N. Damen (60647) • www.firecatprojects.org

Art De Triumph & Artful Framer Studios

2938 N. Clark (60657) • www.NancieKingMertz.com Featuring work by Master Pastelist Nancie King Mertz, who paints & instructs en plein air around Chicago & the world in oil & pastel. Open seven days a week, featuring Mertz’s originals, Giclee prints, cards & gifts, and expert framing.

WICKER PARK NORTH

• THE DIME • ADVENTURELAND

MADRON

Madron Gallery

Celebrating over 30 Years as a working art studio building! Established in 1986, the CAB is one of the largest all-artist-studio buildings on Chicago’s Northside, with open studios throughout the year

Wrightwood 659

DePaul Art Museum (DPAM) 935 W. Fullerton (60614) www.artmuseum.depaul.edu

Gallery 1871

1871 N. Clybourn (60614) www.chicagoartsource.com

GALLERY 1871

OLD TOWN

Cornelia Arts Building

1800 W. Cornelia (60657) • corneliaartsbuilding.com

HALSTED

ASHLAND

DAMEN

WESTERN

RACINE

N

LINCOLN PARK / LAKEVIEW OLD TOWN

UR

1740 W. Webster (60614) www.pagodared.com

O

PAGODA RED

JACOBSON WEIDNER

DEPAUL ART MUSEUM

YB CL

June 19–July 4: Franklin Pollard Solo Exhibition July 10–Aug 1: Chicago Noir Photography Opening reception: July 10, 5-10pm Aug 7–Sept 5: Frederick Nitsch

PAGODA RED

WRIGHTWOOD 659

LINCOLN PARK

E

3816 W. Armitage (60647) • Open Saturday 12–4 pm www.olivagallery.com

ARMITAGE

FIRECAT PROJECTS

KE

Oliva Gallery

OLIVA

BUCKTOWN AU ILW

Near Armitage Ave. and Damen Ave. www.jacobsonweidnerstudios.com

DIVERSEY

FULLERTON M

LOGAN SQUARE

Firecat Projects

Jacobson/Weidner Studios

CALIFORNIA

WICKER PARK / BUCKTOWN / LOGAN SQ

KEDZIE

Hofheimer Gallery opened in 2018 showcasing both contemporary and modern art with a focus on mid-career and established artists featuring primarily Chicago artists.

CENTRAL PARK

4823 N. Damen (60625) • www.hofheimergallery.com

1000 W. North Ave. (60642) 312-640-1302 www.madrongallery.com

659 W. Wrightwood (60614) www.wrightwood659.org Wrightwood 659 is a new exhibition space conceived for the presentation of exhibitions of architecture and of socially engaged art. It is designed by Pritzker Prizewinning architect Tadao Ando, who has transformed a 1920s building with his signature concrete forms and poetic treatment of natural light.

(Formerly Chicago Art Source Gallery) Summer 2020 | CGN | 21

18TH ST

CULLERTON

MORGAN

RACINE

PILSEN

HALSTED

19TH ST NATIONAL MUSEUM OF MEXICAN ART

ASHLAND

SOUTH SIDE

18TH ST

PROSPECTUS

CERMAK

19TH PL

Through June 7: Jeffrey Augustine Songco, Commercial Break June 27–July 26: Group Show: The Young and the Restless Aug 1–30: Group Show: Material Intentions

RT

O LP

Bridgeport Art Center 1200 W. 35th St. (60609) www.bridgeportart.com

HER

July 17–Sept 4: Vibrant Mechanisms Kinetic and Sound Art, co-curated by Lelde Kalmite and Marci Rubin. Opening reception Friday, July 17, 7–10 pm

FLXST THE ART GALLERY

ARC

BRIDGEPORT BRIDGEPORT ART CENTER

FLXST Contemporary

2251 S. Michigan Ave, Suite 220 (60616) www.flxst.co

CHINATOWN

MANA CONTEMPORARY

211 W. 23rd St. (60616) www.theart8.com

CHICAGO ARTS DISTRICT

A

N CA

The ART Gallery

PILSEN EAST

CULLERTON

WOMAN MADE GALLERY

BRIDGEPORT / PILSEN / CHINATOWN

26TH ST

Chicago Arts District 1945 S. Halsted (60608) www.chicagoartsdistrict.org

31ST ST

2nd Friday Gallery Nights, Monthly 6–10pm.

35TH ST

Woman Made Gallery

2150 S. Canalport, Ste. 4A3 (60608) www.womanmade.org June 5: TOUCH, A Virtual Exhibition July 3: HOME, A Virtual Exhibition August 7: PROCESS and MATERIAL

HYDE PARK / DORCHESTER HYDE PARK BLVD

Hyde Park Art Center 5020 S. Cornell (60615) www.hydeparkart.org

KE

LA

51ST ST

HYDE PARK ART CENTER

O SH RE

SMART MUSEUM OF ART

WASHINGTON PARK DUSABLE MUSEUM

DR

56TH ST RENAISSANCE SOCIETY

Univ. of Chicago, 5811 S. Ellis, 4th Fl. (60637) www.renaissancesociety.org

PLAISANCE

STONY ISLAND ARTS BANK

STONY ISLAND

DORCHESTER

LOGAN CENTER

WOODLAWN

MIDWAY

ELLIS

COTTAGE GROVE

MLK DRIVE

67TH ST

University of Chicago 915 E. 60th St. (60637) www.arts.uchicago.edu/logan/gallery

Renaissance Society

58TH ST

60TH ST

Logan Center Exhibitions

An independent contemporary art institution driven by an uncompromising commitment to artists and their ideas.

All exhibitions and events free and open to the public.

Thru June 28: Miho Dohi (view online)

Smart Museum of Art

Univ. of Chicago, 5550 S. Greenwood (60637) www.smartmuseum.uchicago.edu Visit The Allure of Matter: Material Art from China online at theallureofmatter.org

Stony Island Arts Bank 6760 S. Stony Island (60649) www.rebuild-foundation.org

22 | CGN | Summer 2020

SUBURBS + MIDWEST

Perspective Group + Photography Gallery, Ltd. 1310-1/2 Chicago Ave., Evanston (60201) www.perspectivegallery.org

Perspective Group and Photography Gallery is a not-forprofit 501(c)(3) cooperative of member artists. Its mission is to promote fine art photography in all its forms through exhibitions, lectures and community outreach activities.

EVANSTON The Block Museum of Art

July 2–26: Vicinity 2020.

Northwestern University 40 Arts Circle Dr., Evanston (60208) www.blockmuseum.northwestern.edu

Join us as we #MuseumFromHome. Explore highlights from the digital classroom. Browse video collections featuring full-length programs and unforgettable moments. Tune in to audio programs with recordings of lectures and conversations. Read essays and publications offering deeper insights into the Block’s projects.

Javier, Doug Haigh. Part of See My Story, a collaborative, community-based, multimedia project and exhibition planned for April 2020 at Perspective Gallery, which combined life-size portrait photography with personal stories in an effort to raise awareness of homelessness in Evanston.

Evanston Art Center

1717 Central St., Evanston (60201) www.evanstonartcenter.org • 847-475-5300 The EAC is a non-profit that inspires art education, exhibitions and expression for all. Our galleries exhibit contemporary artwork by emerging and established artists, and are committed to providing a venue for new artistic ideas and forms.

Space 900

Ice House Gallery

816 Dempster St., Evanston (60202) 847-834-1381 • space900gallery@gmail.com www.space900.org

Local artist gallery with First Saturday openings 5-7pm (please confirm). Now you can buy locally created art online: new store launched on our website April 2020.

SPACE 900 is an artists’ collective and exhibition space.

Founded in 1983, current core members are artists of multiple disciplines and mediums. The gallery provides core members and other artists exhibition opportunities.

Space 900 is available for rentals.

609 S. Blvd., Evanston (60202) www.icehousegalleryevanston.com

THE NORTH SHORE AND NORTHWEST SUBURBS The Art Center – Highland Park 1957 Sheridan Rd., Highland Park (60035) www.theartcenterhp.org

Although our physical galleries are closed, we continue to share the power of art virtually.

May 8-June 13: Art & Science: Olea Nova and Rajee Aryal.

June 19-Aug 1: Virtual exhibit: Visualizing in a New Light, Nature VS Nurture featuring an exhibit famil-E, art by the Elias family. Opening Reception: June 19, 5:30–8pm Aug 7–Sept 26: Biennial Voices & Visions, Standing on the Bridge Between Health and Disease, featuring Caren Helene Rudman. Sept 11, 5:30-8: Artist Reception

Art Post Gallery

984 Willow Rd., Ste. G, Northbrook (60062) www.artpostgallery.com • 847–272–7659 This lovely, upscale gallery features one of the largest inventories of original art in the Chicagoland area, including: Contemporary/Transitional/Traditional styles; Representing 125+ artists; Many large-scale paintings; Fine framing offered.

Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center 9603 Woods Dr., Skokie (60077) www.ilholocaustmuseum.org

Designed by renowned Chicago architect Stanley Tigerman, Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center, the third largest Holocaust museum in the world, honors the Survivors and victims of the Holocaust.

THE ART CENTER HIGHLAND PARK

ANN LOUCKS

ART POST

ILLINOIS HOLOCAUST MUSEUM

NORTH SHORE + EVANSTON

• BLOCK MUSEUM • EVANSTON ART CENTER • PERSPECTIVE • SPACE 900 • ICE HOUSE

Rodger Bechtold, Side Light, oil on board, 36” x 42”.

Exhibiting at Anne Loucks summer 2020.

Anne Loucks Gallery 309 Park Ave., Glencoe (60022) www.loucksgallery.com

Anne Loucks Gallery specializes in contemporary American painting, photography, and works on paper.

Celebrating our 20th year, the gallery curates six exhibitions annually and offers a complete range of art advisory, framing and installation services.

Summer 2020 | CGN | 23

WESTERN + SOUTH SUBURBS

Komechak Art Gallery (Benedictine University)

5700 College Rd., Lisle (60532) www.ben.edu/komechak-art-gallery/index.cfm SCHAUMBURG

O’HARE AIRPORT

ROSEMONT ST CHARLES

KAVANAGH GALLERY AT FINE LINE CREATIVE ARTS

N O R T H AV E .

The Komechak Art Gallery announces our Virtual Exhibitions. This new addition to our website furthers our commitment to broaden our connection to students and the community by broadening access to the Permanent Art Collection at Benedictine University.

Over the past 40 years, the late Fr. Michael E. Komechak, O.S.B. and Benedictine University have developed an expansive and eclectic collection of over 4000 pieces of fine and applied art which celebrates local, regional, national and internationally recognized artists.

ELMHURST

ELMHURST ART MUSEUM

• FERMILAB • WATER ST STUDIOS B ATAV I A

CLEVE CARNEY

R O O S E V E LT R D .

BROOKFIELD

GLEN E L LY N HINSDALE

COMPASSION FACTORY

E A S T W E S T T O L LW AY

LISLE

5 5 T H S T.

KOMECHAK ART GALLERY

• CHRISTOPHER GALLERY • SALON ARTISTS NATHAN U N I V E R S I T Y MANILOW PA R K

WESTERN SUBURBS Cleve Carney Museum of Art

CHICAGO HEIGHTS + PA R K F O R E S T

Elmhurst Art Museum

150 S. Cottage Hill Ave., Elmhurst (60126) www.elmhurstartmuseum.org

College of DuPage 425 Fawell Blvd., Glen Ellyn (60137) www.clevecarneygallery.org/

Original dates are subject to change based on effects from the coronavirus. Please check the museum’s website for any updates.

The Cleve Carney Museum of Art’s goal is to encourage the growth and understanding of contemporary and modern art through exhibitions and educational programming that cultivates a variety of perspectives.

Fermilab Art Gallery

The Compassion Factory Art Gallery + Studio

9210 Broadway Ave., Brookfield (60513) www.compassionfactory.com Located just 13 miles west of downtown Chicago, The Compassion Factory features rotating art exhibits every month. From photography, robots, kid shows to open submissions, we continually expand our diversity all while creating a sense of community and belonging with interactive art as well.

SOUTH SUBURBS

Kirk Rd & Pine St., Batavia (60510) events.fnal.gov/art-gallery Thru Sept 10: Imaging the Cosmos: Eric Coles

Kavanagh Gallery at Fine Line Creative Arts Center 37W570 Bolcum Rd., St. Charles (60175) www.fineline.org

Established in 1999, the Kavanagh Gallery in St. Charles is an open, light-filled space created for the presentation of a wide range of art. Each year the gallery displays six to seven shows of works by local and national artists and makers. These curated shows bring together established and up and coming artists, using all forms of media, in a wide range of price points. In addition to the traditional arts, high-end craftwork in textiles, ceramics, glass, wood, and collage are often featured. Sculpture, from the gallery-sized to the outdoor and monumental, is often part of our summer schedule.

Christopher Art Gallery at Prairie State College

202 S. Halsted St., Chicago Heights (60411) prairiestate.edu/christopher-art-gallery/index.aspx June 1-July 15: Stillness. Curated by Doug Stapleton our summer exhibition features an online exhibition in partnership with the Illinois State Museum with works in “still life” by various Illinois artists.

Robert F. DeCaprio Art Gallery Moraine Valley Community College Fine and Performing Arts Center 9000 W. College Pkwy., Palos Hills (60465) www.morainevalley.edu/fpac/artgallery

Nathan Manilow Sculpture Park Governors State University, 1 University Pkwy., University Park (60484) • www.govst.edu/sculpture

June 20: Summer Solstice Celebration* July 31: CSI 20 20 Artists’ Reception and Tour of theNate* August 13: Nate & Frank: Frank Lloyd Wright Bradley House event in Kankakee* September 12: Prairie Party* *All events subject to change. Please confirm in advance.

The Nathan Manilow Sculpture Park (theNate) is a collection of 30 master works of large-scale sculpture situated within 100 acres of prairie landscape. Located on the campus of Governors State University.

Salon Artists Gallery

294 Main St., Park Forest (60466) www.salonartistsgallery.com The Salon Artists Gallery prides itself on mentoring new artists as well as providing a co-operative stage for artisans featuring painters, photographers, potters, jewelers, woodworkers and glass artists.

Toomey & Co. Auctioneers 818 North Blvd. Oak Park, IL 60301 www.toomeyco.com

Toomey & Co. Auctioneers is a specialty auction house, considered one of the premiere auction houses in the country to sell 20th Century Art & Design since 1987.

We hold 4-6 carefully curated auctions a year that include Paintings, Prints, Drawings and Sculpture from the 20th and 21st Century, works from the Arts & Crafts movement, Art Nouveau and Art Deco Periods and MidCentury Modern Design.

24 | CGN | Summer 2020

GREATER ILLINOIS

WISCONSIN

Krannert Art Museum (KAM)

MADISON

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 500 E. Peabody Dr., Champaign (61820) www.kam.illinois.edu

MILWAUKEE ART MUSEUM LILY PAD WEST THE WAREHOUSE

WANTOOT GALLERY

Krannert Art Museum (KAM) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is the second-largest general fine arts museum in the state of Illinois. KAM’s global collection of more than 10,000 works of art from 4,000 BCE to the present is available through the museum website. During the closure, we will continue to foster learning through the collection, featuring content for students, families, researchers, and the broader community on the web and social media.

MILWAUKEE

MICHIGAN LAKE MICHIGAN

KRASL ART CENTER ST JOSEPH

ROCKFORD

SNITE MUSEUM

ROCKFORD ART MUSEUM

CHICAGO

MICH. CITY

NOTRE DAME

LUBEZNIK CENTER VALPARAISO

DEKALB

BRAUER MUSEUM

NORTHERN IL UNIV ART MUSEUM

MUNSTER

SOUTH SHORE ARTS

ILLINOIS INDIANA KRANNERT ART MUSEUM TARBLE ARTS CENTER

CHAMPAIGN The indoor gallery that houses Hive at the Krannert Art Museum is temporarily closed to the public.​The installation will continue as a work of public art that can be viewed from the exterior of the building.

CHARLESTON

Northern Illinois University (NIU) Art Museum Altgeld Hall, 1st Fl., West End, DeKalb (60115) www.niu.edu/artmuseum

Rockford Art Museum 711 N. Main St., Rockford (61103) www.rockfordartmuseum.org

The RAM Permanent Collection focuses on modern and contemporary art, photography, studio glass, outsider art, and regional art; exhibits change throughout the year. Rockford Art Museum showcases three to four feature exhibitions each year.

Educational programs include lectures and classes for adults, classes for children, and gallery walks for all ages.

Thru Sept 27: Sonic Disruptions: Buisch & Hogin

Tarble Arts Center

Eastern IL Univ., 2010 9th St., Charleston (61920) www.eiu.edu/tarble/ Located on the campus of Eastern Illinois University (EIU), the Tarble Arts Center (TAC) is a major arts resource for the people of east-central Illinois and focuses primarily on contemporary visual arts.

MICHIGAN Krasl Art Center

707 Lake Blvd., St. Joseph (49085) www.krasl.org Krasl Art Center offers high-quality contemporary art in the galleries, unique artist-made items in The Shop, ongoing studio classes, special events, and dynamic programs. KAC is free & open to the public.

WISCONSIN Lily Pad Gallery West

215 N. Broadway, Milwaukee (53202) www.lilypadgallery.com Lily Pad Gallery West provides the finest quality realism, naturalism, impressionism, and abstract works of art.

With over 300 works of art from 70 distinct artists, the gallery brings quality art from modern contemporary to art reminiscent of 19th century French and Dutch Masters.

Milwaukee Art Museum

700 N. Art Museum Dr., Milwaukee (53202) www.mam.org

Wantoot Gallery

236 High St., Mineral Point (53565) www.wantoot.com

The Warehouse

1635 W. Saint Paul Ave., Milwaukee (53233) www.thewarehousemke.org June 29–Sept 25: Storyteller: Works by William Kentridge Admission is free and open to the public. Please visit our website for more details.

INDIANA Brauer Museum of Art

Valparaiso University, 1709 Chapel Dr. Valparaiso (46383) www.valpo.edu/brauer-museum-of-art The Brauer Museum of Art has more than 5,000 works of American art and international religious art in its permanent collection and frequently more than 100 pieces on display at any time.

Throughout the year, the Brauer hosts temporary exhibitions in its main galleries. Admission to the museum and all its events is free.

Lubeznik Center for the Arts 101 W. 2nd St Michigan City, IN (46360) www.lubeznikcenter.org

Snite Museum of Art

University of Notre Dame 100 Moose Krause Circle Notre Dame (46556) www.sniteartmuseum.nd.edu/

South Shore Arts

1040 Ridge Rd., Munster (46321) www.southshoreartsonline.org

Summer 2020 | CGN | 25

EBONY G. PATTERSON’S ART THE INTERACTIVITY OF VISUAL APPEAL

EBONY G. PATTERSON . . . WHILE THE DEW IS STILL ON THE ROSES . . . , NASHER MUSEUM OF ART AT DUKE UNIVERSITY, FEBRUARY – JULY 2020. © EBONY G. PATTERSON. ALL WORK COURTESY OF THE ARTIST AND MONIQUE MELOCHE GALLERY, CHICAGO. PHOTO BY PETER PAUL GEOFFRION.

By ALISON REILLY “Be kind to yourself,” Ebony G. Patterson tells me as we end our conservation, “I have so many friends who are teachers, and when I talk to them, they feel like they’re working more now than they were before the moment of COVID-19. So much more seems to be asked of them. I was saying to a friend of mine yesterday that those days of absolutely nothing are very important. Take them when you feel them. Be kind to yourself.”

Patterson, an artist who has become known for her largescale, multi-layered, intricate installations, admits that she also needs to dedicate time to the act of self-care.

Before the stay-at-home order was in place in Chicago, she was working towards two upcoming exhibitions, one as part of the 2020 Liverpool Biennial and the other at the Contemporary Art Museum in St. Louis, which was scheduled to open in May. “I’m somebody who moves a lot,” Patterson says, “and in moving a lot, what happens when you’re asked to remain still? In a capitalistic system, we’re so used to doing that the act of not doing makes us feel guilty. There is value in recognizing that it is okay for you to just be. You don’t have to somehow find some kind of activity. You don’t have to behave as if everything is normal, because it’s not normal.

There’s nothing normal about this moment.”

Early in March, as her scheduled exhibitions were postponed, she was still able to work in her studio. “I was 26 | CGN | Summer 2020

going every day. I would get there about 10:30, I’d work all day until about 9:00, 10:00, and then I’d come home. My assistant, who comes a couple days in the week, we’d check in with each other. We both agreed that we were fine and that when the stay-at-home order came down that’s when we would shift gears and start working from home. Up until then, I was in the studio figuring out problems. I would listen to Jamaican radio in the morning, listen to a book, watch some Judge Mathis, and then go home.”

While many artists, galleries, and museums are searching for new ways to stay connected online, for Patterson, it was important to take a break from social media. “I found it to be incredibly triggering,” she admits. In a conversation about the difficulty she was having in shifting from working in the studio to working at home (and staying productive), a friend encouraged her to lean into the way that she felt.

“I’ve been trying to listen to myself, my body, my mind, rather than fighting it all. The first thing I did when I decided to lean into it was to just get off social media. I found it a lot easier to cope. But still, there are tough days, and I have to find ways to lean into those moments. That’s the honest-toGod truth.”

Patterson splits her time between Chicago and Jamaica, where she was born and maintains close ties with friends and family. “I live in a dual experience. While I’m watching what’s happening on the ground in the U.S., I’m also watching what’s happening in Jamaica. The differences in terms of the leadership, here nationally versus what was happening in this tiny but mighty country of mine, it

was like night and day.” But she has serious fears about the economic fallout of her home country, because of its dependence on outside resources, including the tourist industry, “Watching the shift in terms of borders shut down had me worried, and in many ways, it flashed me back to 2008.”

Her recent exhibition, …while the dew is still on the roses… opened in late February at the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, and while it is now closed to the public, she was able to attend the opening. In it, Patterson built an immersive environment for viewers by installing fabric wallpaper as a backdrop for her tapestries, sculptures, and portraits. Visitors walk through an enveloping garden-like space with poisonous silk flowers hanging from the walls and ceilings.

Patterson has been exploring the relationship between death and gardens for many years, notably in her 2015 exhibition Dead Treez. At that time, she notes, “I was thinking about bodies that were deceased—that had died violently. I was looking a lot at images that were circulating through social media, images of violence that were shared continuously. And I was thinking about the spaces that these bodies were often dumped, that somehow the land became a way of concealing the secret of some act of violence.

Quite often the body was a person of color, a working-class person.”

The interaction that Patterson develops with her audience is crucial to her work. For Dead Treez, she exposed viewers to a contained but dangerous landscape by creating poisonous gardens within several large vitrines, but for …while the dew is still on the roses… she wondered, “What if I could get the audience to walk through the grave? The garden as the grave—how could I present that experience within the show but also as a way of anchoring all the works within the exhibition? The larger work is the installation of the garden and then there are 13 individual works that rest within that.”

Visual appeal is key to the success of Patterson’s work.

Her shiny, glittery, decorated surfaces attract the attention of the viewer. “I recognize that we’re visual creatures first,” she says. “We like to look at pretty things. The prettier the flower, the more likely it will attract the bee. But what’s inside is what ends up holding the viewer. In many ways, the effectiveness of the surface and its tactility become a ploy to visually trap the viewer.”

EBONY G. PATTERSON . . . WHILE THE DEW IS STILL ON THE ROSES . . . , SPEED ART MUSEUM, JUNE 21, 2019 – JANUARY 5, 2020. © EBONY G. PATTERSON. ALL WORK COURTESY OF THE ARTIST AND MONIQUE MELOCHE GALLERY, CHICAGO. PHOTO BY SARAH LYON

EBONY G. PATTERSON, SWAG SWAG KREW FROM THE OUT AND BAD SERIES (2011-2015), DEAD TREEZ, MUSEUM OF ARTS AND DESIGN, NEW YORK, NOV 10 – APR 3, 2016. COURTESY THE ARTIST AND MONIQUE MELOCHE GALLERY, CHICAGO. PHOTO BY BUTCHER WALSH.

Beneath the superficiality of the exterior, Patterson embeds macabre objects, like a dismembered manicured hand or a lone high-heeled shoe. “Is it still beautiful? Is it?” she asks, “I never say it’s so simple. I’m still working on it.”

Recently, given the abrupt change of pace in her schedule, Patterson has been reflecting on her own work habits.

“The last two days, I kept saying to myself, you need to give yourself the same care you give to your work. You must learn to give yourself the same care. At the end of the day, what does it matter if you’re making all this stuff and the thing that makes the work happen is in total disrepair? I’ve been trying to learn that care.”

Summer 2019 | CGN | 35 Summer 2020 | CGN | 27

NATHAN HAS MADE MANY ARTIST FRIENDS THROUGHOUT HER LIFE, ONE OF THEM WAS THE REV HOWARD FINSTER. HERE NATHAN IS PICTURED WITH HIM ON A VISIT TO HIS GEORGIA STUDIO.

ART DEALER ANN NATHAN THE PERPETUAL COLLECTOR

By GINNY VAN ALYEA When I first started working for Chicago Gallery News in 2002, my daily errand visits to galleries near our River North office offered insights into the fabric of the city’s art community as well as one on one encounters with those who had played key roles in shaping its history. At the time, not all information was relayed digitally; hand deliveries of everything from magazines to maps to ad files were necessary tasks. Natalie van Straaten, CGN’s founder and my boss at the time, would ask me, after my visits, whom I had seen, and what impressions they had made on me: Who was kind and welcoming? Who may have been prickly or brusque? Many of my encounters had been shared by previous employees and interns. A telling factor as to the character of a dealer was often how they would treat the lowest person on the totem pole (me).

One of the most welcoming figures was Ann Nathan. By 2002 Ann had been in the art business for many years, 28 | CGN | Summer 2020

having opened her gallery in the 1980s, growing and expanding despite major challenges. Though she could have dismissed me as a young person who knew little about art or the area, she showed curiosity and was gracious with me. I found her to be a little bit of a mystery, but she was as intriguing and inviting as her expansive loft space on West Superior Street.

Ann Nathan Gallery closed in 2017, but Ann has not stopped working. Last fall I called her daughter Betsy, also a dealer in art and antiques at PAGODA RED in Lincoln Park, to ask if I could visit Ann at home. I was invited to join Ann and two of her daughters – Susan as well as Betsy – in October.

Though Ann did not know me as well as she once did, we ended up spending the better part of an afternoon revisiting her many stories while touring her vast, eclectic collection of art. Sitting together in her living room, overlooking Lake Michigan, it’s clear that art, in particular the way it connects Ann to creative people, has always kept her going and continues to today.

* Soon after I arrive for our meeting Ann draws my attention to a coffee table, a low, large, heavy piece. As we sip ginger tea, Ann points out that the table is all hand crafted, encouraging me to reach out and touch the top – made partially of concrete or cement and ceramic tiles, as well as the bottom – composed of wood. Measuring 4’ by 4’, Ann and her husband Walter commissioned the table from artist Michael Gross. It was the first table he ever made, and one of many works that the couple would collect, adding a functional piece to their home while also directly supporting an artist. “I liked it because it’s beautiful, and it works,” explains Ann. As Betsy looks over the table, she reminds her mom, “It has a date. You will see our dog at the time – Willy Smith – and see here, it says Walter and Ann.” Ann’s aesthetic preferences as well as practical criteria are evident in many of her home’s works of art and unique objects. When I ask how she began collecting art, together with her late husband, Walter, she remembers, “I loved it. We both did.” Their shared creative pursuit complemented a busy life managing dual careers as well as raising four children: Susan, Richard, Nina and Betsy.

Though the space was tiny, Ann’s own eclectic taste – even now her home is filled with a distinctly personal mix of handmade furniture from Africa alongside contemporary art, antiques and folk art – was well suited to a gallery program. She showed jewelry and ceramics – small, functional objects, and she had to be creative with every inch of space, including pedestals that opened up and doubled as storage space.

Eventually, a friend of Ann’s, Chicago real estate developer David C. “Buzz” Ruttenberg, encouraged Ann to relocate from the north side to River North, nearer to downtown. She made the move and remained there until the River North fire in 1989 forced her to close briefly. She reopened in a large ground floor space on Superior Street as Ann Nathan Gallery. Around the same time Ann and Walter also moved

from suburban Glencoe to downtown.

She summarizes, “We were ready for a change.” * In order to fully understand the origins of what set Ann on her art journey, we get up to go into Ann’s home office.

Betsy hints, “It will bring it to life when you’re in that room. You will really be immersed in that moment from the beginning.”

As we prepare to move rooms, Ann directs that I should take my ginger tea. She warns that the office could be a mess. It is not. In fact, it strikes me as amazing and transportive – a space that reveres her past and the artists who have been a part of it. At the center of it all is the art of Howard Finster, the Southern Baptist minister from Georgia whose own folk

NATHAN’S OFFICE TELLS THE STORY OF SOME OF HER EARLIEST COLLECTING

In the employment agency business for over 27 years, eventually running multiple agencies, Ann tired of that work. It was the ceramicist Ruth Duckworth who encouraged her to try her skills elsewhere when she suggested she move into a 200-square foot Ravenswood studio in the artist’s pickle factory. Ann opened Objects around 1986. It sounds like it was purely by chance that Ann’s gallery career came to be. Ruth mentioned to Ann, “You know what, I have a little room up at the top of the stairs that I don’t know what to do with. Why don’t you do something with it?”

Summer 2020 | CGN | 29

NATHAN’S LIVING ROOM DISPLAYS AN ECLECTIC MIX OF CONTEMPORARY ART, ANTIQUES AND FURNITURE. PICTURED ABOVE: ED PASCHKE; CENTER WALL: SANGRAM MAJUMDAR; RIGHT SIDE: ENRIQUE SANTANA

art sculpture garden contained over 46,000 pieces of art. One wall of the office is dedicated to Finster’s art, and hanging in the middle is a photograph from the 1980s of Ann with the artist, in Finster’s famous garden.

Susan explains, “This is really where it all began.” Up on the shelves are many carved, wooden, black figures, sometimes called Dancing Dans, that were collected one by one in junk stores. Ann interjects that they were not popular or even collected at the time, but they were considered primitive art, made by totally unknown artists. When I ask if these would be considered Outsider art, Betsy corrects me. “The Outsiders, even though they’re untrained, actually develop their own names in the world, they become known. And these artists are totally unknown.” Ann was taken with these innate efforts at expression, and they set her on a path of seeking out figurative art long before she would start her gallery.

30 | CGN | Summer 2020

As we identify the art on the shelves and walls in the office and end up back at the Finster wall, I get more of the story of how Ann first went down to find the eccentric artist. Ann first travelled to Georgia with Susan – probably in the early ‘80s – in a rented station wagon, which they filled with art and drove back to Chicago. “We had to [drive],” Says Susan. “How else were we going to get all the stuff back?” Ann would take her children with her on many subsequent visits – Finster used to say, affectionately, “Sister Annie’s here,” making her sound like a nun but perceiving her as a kind of angel, drawn to his created world. He believed his garden to be a holy place, with folk art as a medium to communicate God’s word. Ann was his divine visitor.

shelves today. She also sought out tramp art – works made by travelers out of cigar boxes and other things on hand. All over, says Betsy, they would hunt for objects that cost just 50 cents to two dollars. If she heard something could be found, she would go to that junk store and buy it, all along making connections with local sellers.

Before the gallery Ann had many art adventures with artists as well as her family. The beginning of it all seems to spring from her perpetual search for figures, like the ones lining the office

Wandering through the other rooms of Ann’s apartment, it feels like I’m along on a visit with old friends. Some of the most eye-catching pieces are also large in scale, filling the wide, high

* Ann forged partnerships with many artists over the decades, such as Jim Rose, another Wisconsin-based furniture artist, and she also came to showcase work by Outsider and self-taught artists like Lee Godie. A focus of the work in Ann’s home is on figurative art from many different periods as well as styles.

walls with colorful people and scenes. A distinctive painting of a crowded street at rush hour by Red Grooms from 1964 was the first major piece Ann and Walter purchased. Nearby is also a work by Jacob Lawrence, as well as a more recent silhouette piece by Kara Walker. Adding to the depth of the collection is a trove of African objects, figures and masks as well as various pieces from Asia, revealing how gloabal Ann’s taste is, spanning genres, mediums, time periods and cultures.

As we move from wall to wall Ann recalls a story of the time when she came across a pair of unusual, older tables during one of her excursions. Her first thought was that she should put them on hold and come back with Walter before deciding to buy them. “Well, there they were,” she recalls, “I went to a junk store and I saw them there and they were for sale and I said, ‘Would you hold these for me? My husband would have to see them.’ So I left, and on the way home I thought to myself, he’ll never go there. He’ll never go to look at them. So I turned the car around and I went back and bought them.” Since she had two of her children with her in her station wagon, she told them they’d have to make room for the new cargo. Susan adds, “We somehow or other had both tables in the car and we had to drive home with the back open, holding on.”

Years of acquiring such furniture as well as art has meant Ann developed a savvy habit of using clever storage – I notice that she has few tables. Instead she favors 19th century Chinese and Tibetan trunks, scattered wherever they are needed. In addition to complementing the eclectic art, they double as attractive hide-aways. I sense each piece of furniture and work of art has a purpose as well as a story behind it - discovered by Ann along the way through life and brought back home to live among a new family. A variety of scales, materials and periods all blend to comprise a warm home filled with characters who keep Ann company every day. In the dining room is a table made by ceramicist Arnold Zimmerman. Ann’s Kitchen cabinets are lined with a collection of moonshine jugs from Georgia. Additional folk art pieces hold many special glasses and dishes, and shelves display a collection of fish and bird decoys. * When we move into what was once Walter’s office, my attention turns to a couple of black and white photographs hung above one another on the wall. They are from a photo shoot with LIFE magazine in the late 1950s. Pictured are Ann and Walter with their three children – Susan, Nina and Richard (Betsy was not yet born). The photographer was Art Shay. Shay had been dispatched to cover a story about mothers who worked. “She was an anomaly,” explains Betsy,

THE NATHANS PHOTOGRAPHED IN THE ‘50S BY ART SHAY FOR LIFE MAGAZINE

“because women at that time did not work. And nobody could believe that a married Jewish woman was working, with three children at home.” Though they sent Shay to do the shoot, LIFE never actually ran the story, because they thought nobody would believe it.

Ann and Shay managed to reunite nearly 50 years later in Chicago, and Shay personally found the original photos of the Nathans and gave them to Ann. With the reconnection came a show of Shay’s work at Ann’s gallery.

Ann remembers thinking, “Let’s do it. Let’s have a show.”

By then Shay was in his 90s, but he was equally excited to work together again. The two were friends until Shay passed away in 2018 at 96.

It’s been several years since Ann closed her space in River North, but she continues to be active with the art closest to her every day. Though her children visit frequently they comment that on nearly every visit they notice that the art and furniture has been moved around within the apartment.

Ann enjoys exercising her curatorial skills each day in order to see things from a different perspective. Much like when she was in the gallery, things are taken out and put away, or they are displayed in new locations. Nothing has to remain the same. Just like in the ‘50s Ann is a woman who never stops working. She loves to observe and enjoy the art around her every single day.

Summer 2020 | CGN | 31

BEHIND THE ORANGE DOOR THE THOMA ART FOUNDATION BUILDS A COLLECTION TO SHARE WITH THE WORLD MARILYNN AND CARL THOMA WITH DANIEL ROZIN’S 2015 DIGITAL ANIMATION SELFISH GENE MIRROR, 2019. COURTESY OF THE CARL & MARILYNN THOMA ART FOUNDATION, PHOTO BY TIRA HOWARD.

By ANNA DOBROWOLSKI Tucked away in a warehouse in the heart of West Loop, the Orange Door hosts a mélange of Japanese woven bamboo baskets, 17th century Spanish colonial art, a sonar-activated windmill and a mirrored infinity chamber. It can take some effort to gain access to an eclectic art collection in the best of times: like an art speakeasy, the Orange Door, an exhibition space operated by the Carl & Marilynn Thoma Art Foundation, is typically open to educational groups, curators, and art aficionados by appointment only. In the middle of a pandemic, the barriers separating us from the collection just got lifted.

In early March I was able to connect with Carl and Marilynn Thoma to discuss how they first got into art collecting.

Since graduating Stanford business school in the 70s, the duo has amassed over 1,400 works of art, making them a fashionable power couple for whom art is not just business but a lifestyle. Carl Thoma leads a lucrative career with Thoma Bravo LLC, a private equity firm he cofounded in the 1980s; and Marilynn Thoma actively serves on the Boards of the Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Chicago Humanities Festival, and the Art Institute of Chicago. Together in 2014 they established the Carl & Marilynn Thoma Art Foundation, which is dedicated to visual arts and philanthropic pursuits. Today they continue to fund research into art scholarship, novel educational programs, and conservation efforts.

Orange Door first opened in Chicago out of necessity, as the Thomas needed a home base from which to make art loans nationally and internationally. Currently, some of the art they have collected is on loan at the MCA, Art Institute, and the Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago, with another 17 across the Midwest. In Santa Fe, New Mexico, they also run a separate facility called Art House, which houses one of the largest digital collections open to the public year-round.

32 | CGN | Summer 2020

Each year the Thomas utilize Orange Door’s space to curate an exhibition featuring new Digital Art acquisitions and select artworks from across their collections. In September 2019 they hosted “Infinity Clock: Artworks on Time” and “The Algorists: Historic Computer Art.” The latter highlighted software-assisted work (namely, computer drawings on paper) created by artists such as Peter Beyls, Jean-Pierre Hébert, Manfred Mohr, Vera Molnar, Frieder Nake, Roman Verostko, Harold Cohen, and Mark Wilson. It is quite a treat to interact with these digital installations in person: however, when galleries are shut down to the public and exhibitions are either postponed or cancelled, we turn to our screens to access and engage their work.

How do we experience and collect art today? In this interview, the Thomas discuss their journey into the world of art collecting in the digital age.

What set off the spark in 1975? As in, what was the first piece that started the Thoma collection before it became a foundation in 2014?

Marilynn and I were both just out of graduate school when we began to collect art. Our interest was heavily centered around California Impressionism and the Taos Society of Artists, leading us to purchase paintings by artists including Redmond Granville, Joseph Henry Sharp, and E. Martin Hennings. Today we continue to collect artwork from across the American Southwest—both historic and contemporary.

When you aren’t splitting time between Santa Fe and Chicago, do you have any favorite places or galleries you love to visit?

It is hard to narrow down the list, but three art spaces that we love to visit are Currents New Media festival in Santa Fe, Art Basel Miami, and the Prado Museum in Madrid.

What do you look for when considering a work of art to add to your collection?

At first it was a subjective decision—we buy what we like to look at. As we became more knowledgeable, we went deeper into a given period or movement and discovered ever more movements and artists. Because we make loans to museums, we also consider what a piece contributes to the history of art in general and how it might relate to other artworks.

How has your taste changed or solidified over the years?

We have always been decisive, and we have learned a great deal from a handful of seasoned advisors. Over the years, we have been increasingly drawn to works that embody color, strong compositional design, mastery of the medium, and historical importance. Through the Carl & Marilynn Thoma Art Foundation, we have also become increasingly dedicated to expanding scholarship and collection conservation.

Can you tell us more about those initiatives and collections? How do they challenge or shape our perspectives?

We support initiatives and collect works of art that encourage reflection, demonstrate innovation, and encourage deeper questions. For example, in 2019 the Foundation’s inaugural Bold Initiatives grant was given to the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago to support their OPEN HOUSE initiative. They are taking bold steps to enable greater visitor engagement. This includes making the museum accessible to

all facets of the community—not just those who live nearby, who have visited a museum before, or who feel comfortable in such a space. We are helping to fund an onsite educator whose job centers around visitors: understanding their needs, asking questions, helping them to grow and learn in a conducive environment. This commitment to making art more accessible is mirrored in our public exhibition space Art House in Santa Fe, which presents highlights from our collection of Digital Art to a community with deep and rich cultural and artistic histories. We aim to bridge the gap between something familiar, like landscape painting, and something new. And we encourage visitors to ask questions about the art and dive deeper into how these connections across time and place affect them.

Many of the digital works in your collection incorporate some kind of interactive element. I’m intrigued by some featured pieces such as Rafael Lozano-Hemmer’s Please Empty Your Pockets, Jennifer Steinkamp’s Bouquet 1, Guillermo Galindo’s American Dream Flag / Bandera del sueño americano, or Lynn Harshman Leeson’s Deep Contact. In these examples the viewer is engaging with the subject through a screen, which seems to be one of our primary options when looking at art lately. What makes these installations significant today?

These pieces are all very different, but what unites them is that each artist pursues an innovative technological idea to completion. In some of the examples you cite, the artists are at the forefront of digital art. Never before have such complex programmed works been viewable within art

MARINA ZURKOW, MESOCOSM (WINK, TX), 2012, REAL-TIME GENERATIVE SOFTWARE ANIMATION ON MONITOR. © MARINA ZURKOW, COURTESY OF THE CARL & MARILYNN THOMA ART FOUNDATION, RENDERING STILL

BY BITFORMS.

EMILIA AND ILYA KABAKOV PICTURED WITH THE MIAMI RENDITION OF THE SHIP OF TOLERANCE ON THE WATSON ISLAND WATERFRONT IN 2012 IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE MIAMI CHILDREN’S MUSEUM AND ART BASEL MIAMI BEACH. PHOTO: JENIA FRIEDLYAND. COPYRIGHT © THE SHIP OF TOLERANCE

Fall 2019 | CGN | 51

Margo has taught us a great deal about modern and contemporary art and Japanese bamboo sculpture. She works closely with some of the foremost scholars and advisors in the field of Japanese bamboo, whose research has informed the scope and shape of our collection. As a gallery director, she has also provided a view into the inner workings of the art market.

Do you notice a shift between people wanting to own art and people wanting to experience it?

How do you think millennials and younger generations will go about art collecting?

JAMES TURRELL, URSA MINOR, MEDIUM ELLIPTICAL GLASS, 2019, LED LIGHT, ETCHED GLASS, SHALLOW SPACE. © JAMES TURRELL, COURTESY OF THE CARL & MARILYNN THOMA ART FOUNDATION, PHOTO BY PACE GALLERY

galleries. This represents a major shift in the experience of art, including interactivity.

How does your digital and electronic art collection speak to the idea of artmaking in a time where everything seems so readily accessible? Can you talk a bit about the shift into collecting Digital and Electronic Art? My business is rooted in investing in new technologies, so collecting digital and electronic art came naturally. Our Digital Art collection mirrors my interest in systematic approaches, scientific thinking, innovation, entrepreneurship, and technology that shifts the trajectory of human experience. Over the years, I’ve found myself considering the role that new technologies play in the evolution of artistic creation and how the artworks we collect inspire an expansion in our understanding of media in contemporary culture.

Which piece is your most recent addition? How does it connect to the others?

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Our most recent acquisition is James Turrell’s Ursa Minor, Medium Elliptical Glass from 2019. He is a key figure in the Light and Space movement. It never seemed practical to own one of his seminal works from the 1960s, which are complicated to re-create. The piece that we acquired uses LEDs with a computer program to simulate the effects of the artist’s enchanting Skyspaces.

Yes—and this is due in part to the fact that it is not necessary to own a work of art to connect with it and explore it from the comfort of your home. While nothing compares to experiencing an artwork in person, it is easier than ever to research and access art through online sources. More artworks are available to be seen as pieces in museum storage become uploaded and shared.

Today, artistic masterpieces have the power to impact broad audiences: scholars advancing study of the field, casual observers perusing our collections online, emerging collectors looking for inspiration. Collecting art and sharing it with the world ensures its preservation for future generations to enjoy.

ART COLLECTING: A FAMILY AFFAIR From your perspective, how has the practice of art collecting changed?

Over the past five decades, collectors have seen an increase in the number of opportunities to purchase. Almost daily, we receive digital images of pieces that are on the market. This increase in opportunity to purchase is especially true with digital artwork, which, like prints, may come in multiple editions.

According to a 2017 interview in Albuquerque Journal, your daughter, Margo, is in the art business, too.

What have you learned from her in terms of art and business?

Above: An unassuming exterior doesn’t disclose its remarkable contents.

designer. During this time, I started acquiring vintage pieces to use as design inspiration. After working in fashion for 15 years and moving to Chicago, I decided to turn my passion for vintage into a business and started Ladybug Vintage.

We have talked to a lot of art collectors over the years for CGN – often it’s a long time before they even realize they have a collection. Please talk about what it means to buy things that you love with an eye for selling them to someone else.

I have always bought what I love, whether its vintage jewelry, vintage clothing, art or antiques – now I continue to do the same thing on a bigger scale. I find if I stay true to what I love, the pieces I acquire work together even if from different eras, creating a cohesive collection that appeals to my buyers.

STUART DYER’S GAME OF CHANCE PHOTO BY FRANK ISHMAN

By GINNY VAN ALYEA Stuart Dyer is an old soul, who has had an eye for hunting treasure for as long as she can remember. More than 10 years ago she turned her personal passion into a full time profession when she founded Ladybug Vintage. She shared some of her own secrets of sourcing and collecting with CGN. Please tell me how you came to do what you do? What were some of your earliest creative inspirations and influences?

I started Ladybug Vintage in 2009. It is a vintage jewelry and accessories business which focuses mostly on the international glamour and country club chic eras of the 1960s and 1970s.

From as far back as I can remember, I have been an avid fan of vintage. My interest started when I would spend time with my grandmother on Sundays. She had a huge jewelry box filled with vintage costume and real jewelry pieces, and I would spend hours trying everything on. I never got tired of it! I also loved watching old movies with her from the 1940s through the 1960s, and I quickly became obsessed with the clothing and jewelry featured in the films. My interest in vintage expanded further when I would accompany my mother to flea markets and antique shows where she would look for British antiques and Chinese export pieces. I wanted to collect something too, so I would look for things I could afford with my allowance. No one really wanted Vintage clothing and costume jewelry then.

After college, I moved to New York City, took night classes at Parsons School of Design and then worked as a clothing

Are there any secrets to finding a vintage treasure among a lot of...junk? Do you have favorite sources or sites?

I think the secret is experience. I have been acquiring vintage for so long I can usually rather quickly spot what I am looking for.

When I arrive at a booth at a flea market, I’ll scan the space to get a sense of what is there, and then focus. Since I mostly look for jewelry and accessories, I start where smaller pieces are kept.

My favorite sources always change. It is a game of chance. One time I could go to a thrift shop and find a treasure trove, and the next time I go back find nothing. The same can be said about the other places where I like to search, such as auctions (both live and on-line), flea markets and antique malls. I look for vintage wherever I happen to be, even when travelling.

I know you have an art history background and I read that you are also a life-long lover of antiques.

I am! I have many collections. In addition to vintage jewelry and accessories, I collect mid-century modern furniture, vintage Limoges dishes, antique botanical prints, colorful 1960s and 1970s graphic art, Murano glass and paperweights.

Are there certain designers or categories you recommend new collectors, or anyone with a level of interest in vintage clothing and jewelry, should look to collect?

I recommend that people collect what speaks to them and what they find beautiful or interesting, because the value of things comes and goes. I suggest you do research to develop an eye for what you like and become familiar with signature pieces, designer’s marks, etc. That being said, high-end designer pieces from Hermes, Chanel, Dior and Gucci, tend to hold their value.

What are some challenges to being a professional ‘collector’?

The biggest challenge is to not become a hoarder – ha! Besides that, I find that it can be a challenge to buy things that are only in good condition, are of high quality, and to truly stick to pieces that I love. I have learned the hard way not to buy something just because it is a bargain.

Summer 2020 | CGN | 35

A SCREENSHOT SHOWS VERTICAL’S 7TH ANNIVERSARY SHOW’S VIRTUAL WALKTHROUGH

VERTICAL GALLERY’S DIGITAL EMBRACE

HOW PATRICK HULL SEES ART ONLINE LONG TERM

By GINNY VAN ALYEA Dealer Patrick Hull, like so many of his colleagues, had been preparing for an upcoming exhibition for months. Vertical Gallery’s 7th anniversary exhibition was set to open Saturday, April 4. By mid-March it was becomming very clear that plans would have to be suspended or changed significantly.

The gallery’s Saturday night openings on Western Ave. are consistently popular – in COVID-19 terms, they’re crowded.

So Hull made a decision to come up with a 3D virtual exhibition in 48 hours and launch a digital preview for his collectors. He told me, “I feel like I missed two days of my life, but during these difficult times I’m trying to find new ways for collectors to experience our gallery, especially for our anniversary!” Hull got it done. He sent the collector preview on April 1 and within two days, he says, he had sold over half the show before releasing it on the gallery’s website for the April 4 “opening” as planned. I asked Hull to share insights on how he put together his digital plan and how he thinks it will continue to be useful to the gallery and its artists long term.

Please share some background on what prompted you to dive into launching a digital preview and virtual opening for your latest anniversary show?

We’ve published work for sale on our website since we 36 | CGN | Summer 2020

opened seven years ago, so launching digital previews with the ability to purchase artwork online was not new for us.

We tried virtual walkthroughs twice before, in 2016, but it did not work out quite the way I wanted. I’ve always kept it in the back of my mind to try again: we have collectors around the world, and I wanted to give them another way to view work. But there were issues with the overall 3D quality, and it takes a lot of extra planning to get it done in time for an opening.

When the quarantine went into effect in Chicago [in March], I knew people would not be able to visit the gallery for a while, but I still wanted them to see our 7-Year Anniversary Show, so I called my friend with the 3D camera and asked him to come over and try what we did years before again.

We’d learned quite a bit about the best way to use the 3D technology the first time around — such as spacing of the camera photos; gallery lighting — so we had a great starting point. I am really pleased by how this new walkthrough turned out. You can see it on verticalgallery.com What were your primary goals for approaching this new frontier?

Purchasing artwork online can be a difficult decision. Our primary goal was to give collectors the closest experience to seeing a show in person — i.e., the ability to walk around

and look at artwork from various angles, just as you would in the gallery. We still have conventional static images on our website, but the 3D walkthrough offers a more interactive viewing experience and a more accurate feel of what a piece looks like in person. It really helps to understand the scale of the work.

We also wanted to show our artists that we are still working hard on their behalf.

Many of them have seen projects and commissions postponed or cancelled, and we wanted to maximize this exhibit’s potential to help them sell their work.

Do you think you’ll use this approach even after the public can return to the gallery some day?

Yes! The response has been great.

We’re already planning a walkthrough for our next show in June, featuring Chicago artist Joseph Renda Jr. We will evaluate it on a show-by-show basis moving forward.

What has surprised you the most?

Maintaining both the physical space and the virtual space is definitely keeping me busier than expected! In the days since the physical space closed, phone and email inquiries have doubled. We also

VERTICAL GALLERY FROM THE STREET

have had many more inquiries from outside the Chicago area, and we’ve been asked for more detailed images on specific works as a result of the 3D view. We’re learning about other new technologies as well, and will be trying some new video projects in the future.

I think you’ve set a standard for how local galleries can approach this time and survive in spite of it, but I also think you’re giving the public as well as artists dynamic new means of engaging with art.

Can you share some collector as well as artist responses to what you’ve done?

Thank you! I appreciate that. It’s a challenging time for everyone.

Our artists have been very supportive and pleased with our approach.

Many of our artists are showing in Chicago — and some in the USA — for the first time. In fact, when we planned this exhibit, many agreed to show with us because we could introduce their work to a new market.

It’s unfortunate that people cannot experience the show in person, but I feel that we’ve given artists and collectors the next best option. We are very excited to re-open and have people back in again, and we sincerely appreciate everyone’s support during this time.

PATRICK HULL

Summer 2020 | CGN | 37

NEW GALLERY SPOTLIGHTS Challenges: Hannah believes that marketing and media are extremely important for any business, especially in today’s climate. “Marketing is always changing and you really have to self educate to stay on top of it.” Ice House’s team overcomes this ever evolving situation through a solid team of employees that seamlessly blend imaging and public presentation.

Coming together as this community also lessens the stresses of running a new business.

THE NAME “ICE HOUSE GALLERY” IS DERIVED FROM THE HISTORY OF THE BUILDING - IT ORIGINALLY SERVED AS A COLD STORAGE FACILITY FOR MASSIVE BLOCKS OF ICE, WHICH WERE DISTRIBUTED THROUGHOUT THE SURROUNDING AREA.

By JACQUELINE LEWIS In the middle of the most challenging market circumstances, I talked to two galleries in Chicago that are both practically brand new businesses. The owners of both Ice House Gallery and FLXST Contemporary were both candid about what it takes to open and successfully run a new art gallery as well as how to meet obstacles head on. The directors of both galleries allowed us a peek into their experiences by answering questions about successes and difficulties and gave sage advice to anyone considering opening their own art space.

Successes: “Staying open for any small business, let alone an art business, is a major accomplishment!” Through flexibility and by listening to the community’s needs, Ice House has survived and thrived. They are now updating the gallery space to look more sleek, while adding a professional stage for live performances. They are also expanding their programming with Art Maker’s Outpost. This is a new space for creative workshops that will utilize recycled materials from the community.

Tipping Point: “It’s happening right now!” While the new renovations shift the gallery towards a more “high-end” vibe, Hannah believes that Ice House is entering its next phase to become an established fixture in the Chicago area art scene.

Advice: “It’s not easy, but that’s okay! Art is a fluid world and you have to find your niche. You really have to devote yourself to your vision, but listen to your artists and patrons to ensure you’re opening a space that can fill gaps in your art community.”

ICE HOUSE GALLERY Gallery Owner and Director Hannah Litvan opened Ice House Gallery to support, connect and celebrate all things art in Evanston. The gallery is multifaceted. They currently offer community classes and exhibitions while continuing to expand their programming.

Why: Hannah noticed that the Evanston area art scene was in need of a gallery that catered to local artists. She desired to create a space for local artists of all levels to showcase their work and gain gallery experience.

Background Planning: Before opening, Hannah networked and developed relationships with local artists and other art spaces in order to cultivate some buzz around Ice House’s grand opening! Of course, there was a lot of background administrative work to even reach that point. Originally, the gallery was looking to find a smaller space but after finding this larger, current location, Hannah saw this as an opportunity for future expansion. Ice House can now grow beyond its original vision based on the space’s evolving needs.

38 | CGN | Summer 2020

ARTIST JEFFREY AUGUSTINE SONGCO’S SPRING 2020 EXHIBITION, COMMERCIAL BREAK, WAS PUBLICLY POSTPONED BUT DID TAKE PLACE ON FLXST CONTEMPORARY’S WEBSITE

FLXST CONTEMPORARY FLXST Contemporary is a fine art and photography incubator located in Chicago. Jan Christine Bernabe, the Chief Creative & Operations Director, launched the gallery in June 2019.

The gallery holds evocative and uncompromising shows full

of emerging and mid career artists. FLXST primarily focuses on diasporic, im/migrant artists, LGBTQ identified artists and artists of color based in Chicago.

DEALER Q&As

Why: When working in academia, Jan taught and wrote about persons of color and LGBTQ artists. After, she independently curated shows for the same demographic. This experience demonstrated a need to open a commercial gallery space specifically for these historically underrepresented artists. They deserve a legitimate, real place in the art market and FLXST expands this often ignored space within the Chicago community.

During this time of COVID-19 social distancing, we figured this would be as good of a time as any to reach out to local gallerists and ask them to share their thoughts on the current times, best business practices, and career history. You can access the full series of interviews online at chicagogallerynews.com Below are some recent highlights.

Background Planning: Jan admits that there are many challenges when opening a gallery. She had to successfully manage the business, fiscal, and curatorial sides simultaneously. Galleries are not just fun art spaces, but legitimate businesses that need municipal and state permits and licenses to run. To receive help with some of these business matters, Jan consulted with a small business mentor at the LGBT Chamber of Commerce. She also made sure to create a solid exhibition program and move forward the help of a trusted gallery assistant.

“Our artists are still hard at work. This is their full time job - this is our full time job - the show must go on. We are all feverishly trying to support the businesses we know and love.”

– Sara Dulkin, Chicago Truborn

Besides business logistics, Jan has also built solid partnerships based on trust with new contemporary artists.

Challenges: Staying fiscally afloat and covering expenses like operational costs are challenges that FLXST has had to overcome. Unfortunately, money does dictate how most art institutions must approach programming and that is no different for FLXST. That being said, Jan says that being patient with sales and being frugal without compromising quality is helping FLXST grow. They may not be able to enter large art fairs or hire an extensive staffing team yet, but they are creative with what they have.

Successes: Though simply keeping the gallery open is a success in itself, a few moments really stand out in Jan’s memory. Last fall, Harvard University acquired four Robert Jamore prints from the FLXST’s collection and it understandably caused a jolt of affirmation. FLXST has also had the opportunity to work with many talented, emerging artists like Laura Kina, Jason Dunda, Yasmin Spiro, Jeffrey Augustine Songco, and Oli Rodriguez amongst others.

Tipping Point: FLXST is working towards becoming established. It could be right around the corner, but Jan would rather focus on the “now” rather than the “what ifs” of the future.

Advice: “Every potential gallery owner should understand what they’re getting into and to have the confidence and creativity in navigating any of the challenges that will come their way.” Jan advises anyone who is thinking about opening a gallery to truly consider all the expenses involved.

You must be prepared to cover start up costs and other financial issues that will most likely arise. Unless you are independently wealthy, this could be very difficult. Consider consulting a business advisor and always diligently follow the art market as a whole!

SARA DULKIN

“When I turned 50 my wife, Janis Kanter, said: ‘Get a gallery or don’t get a gallery, but stop talking about it!’”

– Tom McCormick, McCormick Gallery

TOM MCCORMICK “As an artist and as a gallery owner, I want to connect art to people’s daily lives. When they least expect it, depressed by a long winter, I want people to look up and see a painting that cuts through the noise and busy sameness of the day.”

– Emily Rapport, Eat Paint Studio

“I have a very grassroots organization and exhibition schedule.

Community continues to still be key.

Support your artists and they will support your gallery.

– Kimberly Oliva, Oliva Gallery

EMILY RAPPORT

KIMBERLY OLIVA

Summer 2020 | CGN | 39

A WALK THROUGH LOGAN SQUARE GREETINGS FROM CHICAGO MURAL - LOGAN SQUARE, CHICAGO

By JACQUELINE LEWIS As the gallery landscape continually changes and expands its traditional borders Logan Square has become its own bustling art hub. The neighborhood’s thriving art scene is young and fresh, with galleries devoted to living artists and maintaining active art spaces.

Logan Square is easily accessible from the Blue Line. For those who prefer driving, street parking is usually available as well. Once you are in Logan Square, it’s easy and fun to peruse the entire neighborhood to experience all that it has to offer.

Let’s start with a quick tour of a few noteworthy galleries: COMFORT STATION Comfort Station is just south of the Logan Square Blue Line station on Milwaukee Avenue. In 2010, Comfort Station set up shop inside of a historic building. The gallery operates in conjunction with the Logan Square Preservation nonprofit.

Since then, Comfort Station has been entirely volunteer run and received its own nonprofit status in 2016, continuing its mission to host public, community driven programs.

40 | CGN | Summer 2020

A vibrant, multidisciplinary art space that exists to help local artists and the Logan Square community, Comfort Station, throughout the past decade, has consistently demonstrated the connections that occur at the intersection of art and everyday life.

GALERIE F You’ll find Galerie F a bit further south on Milwaukee Avenue. A platform for local and national emerging artists, Galerie F puts on monthly exhibitions and also hosts community drawing events. In addition to their in studio projects, Galerie F runs mural projects that are visible throughout Logan Square and the Greater Chicago Area.

With art available for purchase both in person and online, the gallery is a useful resource for those interested in street art, gig posters, and art prints, along with other miscellaneous collectibles. Their style is hip and new, spotlighting street art styles.

POSITIVE SPACE STUDIOS Heading west on Fullerton you will reach Positive Space Studios, founded to build and foster a diverse community of artists from all levels. It is a multimedia space for those who are inspired to create and publicly share their work.

Anyone with passion and energy for art can rent event or

Chicago Sun-Times Mural Guide: guides.suntimes. com/street-art/ logan-square/

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Prints of the mural pictured on the opposite page available from $24.95 at greetingstour.com/shop

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From beginners to professionals, all artists are welcome to display engaging art here, as long as it challenges viewers. The goal of Extra/Basic Studio is to develop a more critical understanding of the possibilities that exist within art. Check out this space and join the conversation next time you are in the area.

More resources: logansquarist.com /2019/04/30/murals-in-logan-square/

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Loop back north towards the Blue Line CTA stop and you’ll find the final gallery on this tour (but by no means the last artistic space in Logan Square). Extra/Basic Studio is a public space for artists to display their art in a lowkey setting. Extra/Basic creates an open dialogue between the viewers and the artists that includes feedback, sharing, and deeper discussion.

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EXTRA/BASIC STUDIO (EXTRA PROJECTS)

Murals evolve and space is often needed and repurposed, which gives you another reason to visit Logan Square again and again.

•

Recently, the space has shown Gina Hunt’s exhibition Signal and Heather Mekkelson’s Reverse Prophecies which drew crowds from all around Chicago. When coming to see 65GRAND’s newest exhibition, check out the colorful mural outside, since that’s always changing as well.

Another graffiti-like tag is currently over Moda Italia (2950 W. Fullerton).

li/Sun-Times

At the southern end of Logan Square you will find 65GRAND, a contemporary art space run by Bill Gross featuring a rotating exhibition schedule. The space is open, with natural lighting and white walls, perfect for displaying its collection of paintings and sculpture. Some of the artists on view include David Corbett, Jasmine Justice, and William Staples.

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65GRAND

You Are B e a uti ful L

Oliva Gallery is the culmination of Kimberly’s background and her love for Logan Square. Originally selling jewelry and artistic pottery from the Victorian and Edwardian eras, Oliva has since expanded.

Today the gallery offers work by contemporary artists as well as 20th century fine art and design plus lighting, home decor and costume jewelry.

Underneath the Fullerton Blue Line stop there is a Halloween themed mural.

This evocative image of a beautiful green witch on a pumpkin blends seamlessly into a colorful graffiti tag.

As murals can be painted over or altered, see this before it is gone forever.

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If you walk a bit further south you can visit Oliva Gallery. Gallery owner Kimberly Oliva is a veteran of the Chicago market scene with expertise in merchandising, design, and selling antique collectibles.

When she moved into her 1890’s era Logan Square home, she immediately found herself drawn to preservation and neighborhood advocacy.

Logan Square is home to a vibrant, diverse street art scene. Almost everywhere you look there is public art, especially murals, ranging from the well known You Are Beautiful tag, to intricate scenes, to more classical graffiti font.

an

OLIVA GALLERY

STREET ART

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studio space here. Positive Space believes that unbridled creation leads to a stronger community. Visit this space for good vibes, new exhibitions, workshops, and events that cultivate connection in Logan Square and beyond.

Summer 2020 | CGN | 41

MARCELA TORRES WANTS US TO EXPERIENCE VIOLENCE

INSTALLATION IMAGE OF AGENTIC MODE. IMAGE CREDIT: JONATHAN BAGBY.

By RILEY YAXLEY The first time I meet Marcela Torres, I make a complete fool of myself. For our interview, we meet at The Clayton, a cigar lounge in the West Loop. I have never been to a cigar lounge and feel overwhelmed following Marcela around the cramped, glass humidor. We stop to let a group of three businessmen squeeze in front of us and, after admitting that I know nothing about the various cigar options, she chooses one for me. We sit at a small, round table in the corner of the lounge and Marcela demonstrates how to properly light a cigar using the matches the host gave us.

“You want to hold it at a little bit of angle,” she says, and takes a drag from hers. I forget to regularly smoke my cigar during the interview, allowing the smoldering embers to die out, and attempt to relight it several times with my dwindling supply of matches. After the fourth or fifth time, Marcela graciously fetches a torch lighter from the host and offers it to me. “Here. This might be easier.”

A colleague invited me to attend Marcela’s second professional cage fight at Joe’s Live in suburban Rosemont in early March. I wasn’t able to make it to her fight, but

42 | CGN | Summer 2020

nonetheless I was introduced to Marcela’s work and was intrigued by her use of martial arts as a way to explore the “mental space of fear” that makes violence possible.

During the past year, I have spent a significant amount of time writing and thinking about whether or not art can affect change, specifically as a way to achieve justice for marginalized communities.

Marcela has been performing Agentic Mode, a 45-minute movement performance incorporating Muay Thai martial arts, literature, and oral history, for the past two years.

Most recently, she performed for EXPLODE! Queer dance: Midwest at Northwestern University, and she was scheduled to perform at the Rose Wagner Theater in Salt Lake City and at The Momentary in Arkansas this spring, until the COVID-19 pandemic upended public events for the foreseeable future.

When I ask Marcela about her process of recreating violence in a gallery setting and how she avoids removing violence from its very real contexts, she pauses before cautiously answering, “I do want people to have intense experiences, but I also want it to be a ‘slow consensual experience.’”

Agentic Mode is structured into five segments based on Jeff Cooper’s “Color Codes” of awareness (the code

was originally four colors used to describe one’s mindset during a lethal confrontation: white, yellow, orange, and red.)

The “Color Codes” allow her to achieve this gradual, immersive experience, beginning with the white section of the performance, which represents being unaware or inattentive. Here the gallery is brightly lit and Marcela performs a dance that demonstrates elements of Muay Thai form, showing how the martial art can be used for selfdefense and as a way to inflict violence.

She also reads a series of monologues in between repetitions of the dance, reciting for her audience: “The combatant was not an isolated individual: his actions were taken on behalf of the nation, a hierarchical military establishment, and an intimate, interdependent platoon—this was what distinguished martial combat from murder...”

The intensity builds as the performance enters the red section, which represents a definitive lethal threat. Marcela, her voice a riotous shout, recites from memory the lyrics of American hip hop duo Mobb Deep’s “Survival of the Fittest.”

“There’s a war goin’ on outside no man is safe from. You could run but you can’t hide forever...”

The use of the song shifts the audience’s attention to how urban communities may often be forced into survival mode to act in different ways.

Cooper’s “Color Code” becomes a means of understanding how living in a constant state of fear – whether orange or red –causes people to act with a different code of ethics than other communities living under white or yellow.

Marcela takes off her tan, desert camo pants and wraps them around the body bag. She cradles it for a minute before crawling towards the crowd, dragging the bag behind her. She rubs her sweaty body against audience members. Some back away, their panicked, repulsed expressions detectable in the dark.

Others gently touch her shoulders or back. Eventually, she finds a lap to sit in, asking to use their cell phone as a light so that she can read a final text.

When I ask Marcela about this portion of the performance, she says “meekness or asking for help can be really disgusting to people.” Our instinctive reactions as audience members are revealed. Do we offer assistance or comfort? Do we revile her? Do we look for a way to escape? We have lost control of the situation.

During this monologue, Marcela alludes to the title Agentic Mode, exploring how individuals can commit gruesome, horrific acts on behalf of a nation exploiting nationalistic beliefs to trigger them to act in primal self-defense.

Next comes the yellow section – alert, but still relaxed, no immediate threat. The lighting changes. Marcela creates hand symbols and movements referencing guns and fight techniques before the room goes dark for the orange section, where an immediate potential threat is acknowledged.

“I wanted [the audience] to feel a little trapped,” Marcela says about the dramatic lighting change. At this point, viewers are likely feeling unnerved, perhaps a little claustrophobic at just how close they are to the unfolding performance. Marcela begins punching the boxing bags she built herself. They are embedded with microphones and attached to loop and reverb pedals that record and distort each strike to form a cacophonous soundscape that reverberates through the gallery.

PERFORMANCE STILL OF AGENTIC MODE AT EXPLODE! QUEER DANCE: MIDWEST. IMAGE CREDIT: AL EVANGELISTA.

Bathed in crimson light, Marcela straddles the vaguely human-shaped body bag, walloping it over and over again. She hits it for as long as she can while the uproarious, looped sounds continue to ricochet throughout the gallery, reaching a deafening crescendo.

The room goes black and the sound continues for several moments before disappearing completely. The last section of the performance has begun.

The relentless pace and length of Agentic Mode feels like an exercise in endurance, intended to exhaust both Marcela as well as her audience.

However, Marcela adds that the shape of her work has also been determined by career pressures. She jokes she wasn’t getting as much gallery attention earlier in her career, explaining how she realized she needed to make a performance “at least 30–40 minutes to be on the bill by itself.” She adds that there must be objects incorporated as well in order to call it an exhibition.

Summer 2020 | CGN | 43

“Oh my God, my performance is beating me up,” she says about the experience, laughing. ”But, I asked this person, ‘Please, beat me up.’”

In order to make a work about violence, she wanted it to be real – something that the audience could feel. During her fight, Marcela experienced the instinctual fear she has aimed to recreate with Agentic Mode.

Curious about how the experience will influence Marcela’s work, I ask her a question in this vein and take a last puff of my cigar.

After two hours, I am getting better at relighting it, besides accidentally starting a small blaze in our ashtray by dropping a still lit match into the heap of used matches.

Marcela begins to talk and pauses, taking a moment to consider what she’s going to say.

“I think a fight can be art, but I don’t want people to think of [my fight] as art because it takes away from the art that’s already there.

This is a martial art people study their whole life for.”

Our conversation comes back to my original question: How do you create artwork about violence that helps audiences understand violence as a lived reality?

OCTAGON RING AT JOE’S LIVE IN ROSEMONT, ILLINOIS.

Marcela is insistent, “I strive for performance to be a really technical machine. I don’t want to be thought of as only a performance artist. I also want to be considered an athlete, a theorist, an educator.” To me, the faint, discolored bruises on her face from the fight a few nights prior remind me that she is challenging herself in a different way than other artists do.

She shyly admits to feeling like an imposter in the fight community that she has borrowed inspiration from and expresses an earnest desire to understand what it means to be a member of that community.

“I lost the fight”, she says sheepishly, adding quickly that it made her realize, “Maybe I’m finally doing the thing I said I was. Having somebody that strong trying to hurt me, I couldn’t fall back on my plans or training. Instead, I used my instincts.” Despite her loss, Marcela explains how terrifying it was to have a person taller and stronger than she more or less attempting to kill her.

44 | CGN | Summer 2020

“Performance, the idea of making something experiential, is the only thing you can really

do.” Marcela speculates, “You’re explaining it in a way that hopefully doesn’t shove it down their throats like ‘We die every day.’ Maybe that’s the only way you can understand, because you’re still making the choice.”

I think again of her describing Agentic Mode as a “slow consensual experience.” Violence is rarely consensual. Like Marcela putting herself in a fighting cage, where she could get seriously harmed, to understand what it feels like to be a part of the fight community, her audience chooses to witness her performance—trusting Marcela to make them experience the mental space of fear that makes violence possible.

“It’s a sport. It’s over. She just wanted to win,” Marcela says soberly, sitting back in the leather armchair.

Her observation, while strikingly succinct, is perhaps the best answer to my questions. We can watch Agentic Mode unfold, allow it to unsettle us and help us understand our instinctual, bodily responses to situations of fear, but it is simply a performance. It ends. Marcela has posed the questions about violence that she wanted to. We have to choose to find the answers.

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