Iconic Chicago artist Tony Fitzpatrick has created an installation piece for the reputable steakhouse Keefer’s Restaurant in downtown Chicago.  The piece will be showcased on the large illuminated cove in the main dining room of the restaurant, and unveiled tomorrow, during the restaurant’s open house celebrating their ten-year anniversary.  

Keefer’s prides itself on being a local and independent restaurant with local and independent art, and it’s a place we, as Chicagoans should be proud to call our own.  Over the years, Keefer’s has drawn attention and praise for its fine cuisine of fresh steaks and seafood from food critics and associations all around including The Food Network (Best of Chicago for Steak), The Michelin Guide and Playboy Magazine, just to name a few. 

When the owners decided to add a mural to their space, there couldn’t have been a better artist for the job.  Fitzpatrick is a childhood friend of Chef John Hogan - Keefer’s original Chef since their opening a decade ago.  Though the initial idea was for a mural that would depict a more literal, graphic portrayal of Chicago’s history of stockyards, butchers and the working class, Fitzpatrick envisioned something different that would highlight Keefer’s unique brand.  

Fitzpatrick’s piece, The Necklace of Stars, was conceived as an adornment to the circular dining room wall, which he associated with a woman’s neckline.  Each star holds a different meaning, such as The Fire Star, which depicts an image of fire – more specifically, the Chicago fire.  Fitzpatrick says its about the rebirth and rebuilding of Chicago Burnham and Sullivan in several short years; “since Chicago never gives up, it rolls up its sleeves and gets to work.” 

Tony Fitzpatrick, Star for Red Bird; Naked City Star

Tony Fitzpatrick is a Chicago artist whose works are in numerous public collections, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, The Art Institute of Chicago, and the Museum of Contemporary Art.  He began as a printmaker, and now focuses on drawing and collage pieces, loaded with Chicago references.  Read more here.  Fitzpatrick’s association and inspiration from the city makes this piece special for the restaurant and can be appreciated by all Chicagoans, or at least Chicagoans at heart.

The installation is a fitting addition to the restaurant for their ten-year anniversary, and will be unveiled at the anniversary party being held on Tuesday, November 1st.  Join Keefer’s for their open house, which will include complimentary champagne, small bites, and great music.  Space is limited, so please RSVP to 312.467.9525.

Keefer’s will continue celebrating their ten years in Chicago with month-long deals for lunch and dinner all through November.  Click here to learn more about Keefer’s, their November specials, and their anniversary event.

For all you red / brown / purple line riders, north side residents, DePaul academics and others who have been observing the drawn-out building process of the new home of the DePaul Art Museum, their opening day is nearly (finally) here!  It’s been interesting watching the building process from the outside (mostly from the train on my daily commute), and I’m anxious to explore the inside of the museum, and their outstanding Chicago-themed opening exhibition, Re: Chicago. 

The brand new $7.8 million museum building is located right beside the Fullerton “L” stop at 935 W. Fullerton, just steps from the CTA station, in a much more prominent location from its previous home a few blocks away on N. Kenmore.  The handsome building, boasting 15,200 square feet and three-stories of space for class use, programs, events and exhibitions, is over twice the space of the previous museum building.

Photo courtesy of DePaul University

“For our students and our community, direct access to the arts is an essential component of education,” said Rev. Dennis H. Holtschneider, C.M., president of DePaul.  “Our new facilities for theatre and music will offer audiences an opportunity to see tomorrow’s performers in the making, and the new museum will let visitors, art and artists interact in novel ways.  Art encourages the exploration of ideas in visual form and encourages new ways of thinking.  That’s what a university is all about.”

Photo courtesy of DePaul University

Re: Chicago, the inaugural exhibition in the new facility examines the careers and artistic reputations of Chicago artists, spanning a timeline of over a century.  Exhibited work was chosen by asking leading figures in Chicago’s art world (critics, scholars, collectors) to name a famous artist - or one they felt should be famous.  Museum visitors will be able to put their two cents in too.  Next to the artwork will be a short explanation by the nominators explaining why they made their choices.  Visitors are then encouraged to give their input in repose to the work and its being chosen, on computers that will be available for use in the galleries. 

“We wanted to explore how reputations are made, and also to give attention to how art is seen and talked about,” said Museum Director Louise Lincoln, who also serves as curator of the show.  “People understand art in a lot of different ways.  If you’re a collector, you see it differently from how a scholar would see it.  It’s all about the interaction between the viewer and the work.  This seems obvious, but it is rarely addressed in exhibitions.”

“The exhibition certainly has some surprises,” Lincoln said. “But the list of who’s included is complex, and I like that. Some choices were really unexpected – like Margaret Ianelli, a wonderful graphic designer from the early 20th century, who was not only a female in a man’s world, but was also mentally ill. I’m thrilled she’s in the show.  Another unconventional choice was Nick Cave, whose ‘sound suits’ alter the body in radical ways.”

Stop by the new museum building when it opens to the public on Saturday, September 17 and enjoy a grand opening open house from 2-5pm, with a panel discussion featuring the catalog authors and conversations with artists in the galleries.  Stay tuned throughout the duration of the show, through February 2012, for news on additional events, programs, tours and a film festival. 

DePaul University Art Museum

935 W. Fullerton, Chicago (60614)  |  Free and open to the public

Ralph Arnold (American, 1928-2006), Who You/Yeah Baby, c. 1968, Oil and collage on canvas

Suellen Rocca (American, born 1943), Dream Girl, c. 1968, Oil on canvas

Tony Fitzpatrick, The Winter Tiger, 2010, Archival pigment print

Tony Fitzpatrick is a man who's seemingly everywhere, and this weekend while in New York for the Verge Art Fair, he's getting some nice press from the New York Times style magazine, T (also a familiar name for the artist.)

The magazine gets a few choice quotes from Fitzpatrick, and includes an unmistakeable image of one of his signature collages, featuring one of his favorite subjects, a standing fish.  The artist's well-praised play, This Train, showed in Chicago in 2010, first at The 16th Street Theater in Berwyn, and then at Steppenwolf Theater in Lincoln Park. This Train's next stop is a little further from home, in Brooklyn.  Now, New York is taking notice.

The article may be found here, but be sure to grab the magazine this weekend. My only question is how did this end up in the style magazine rather than say, the arts section... Though perhaps that's still to come this summer.  Let's hope.

Many Chicagoans have passed by Tony Fitzpatrick’s North Damen studio in Bucktown – an area that has changed considerably in the 17 years he has been working there.  Beginning this week, the 1,900 square foot workspace, formerly known as Big Cat Press and that functioned as Fitzpatrick’s studio, will be converted to a new commercial gallery operation called Firecat Projects.  They will kick off their inaugural exhibition this Friday, November 19, with Tony Fitzpatrick's The Night Parade, featuring new work from 2010.  A show he said was “a way of saying goodbye” to the space he has worked in for so many years.  He will continue to produce work out of his home studio, but he will no longer work so publicly on his art again.

Fitzpatrick and his long-standing business partner, Stan Klein, have exhibitions lined up through 2011 at Firecat featuring artists from all over the country, including a few Chicagoans.  Klein runs the publishing business at Firecat, as well as the exhibition space, and says the work they’ll feature will vary in media, and all the artists exhibited will have solo shows which will rotate monthly.  They’re all artists that Klein and Fitzpatrick have always thought should be shown somewhere, and Firecat is proud of the artists and of the engaging work they’ll be able to publicly share with the community, in some cases for the first time. 

Firecat operates under an alternate model from conventional gallery standards: while remaining a for-profit entity, exhibiting artists will fully profit from sales – there is no dealer commission, an arrangement that is practically unheard of in today’s traditional gallery system.  Fitzpatrick and Klein’s goal is to take the middleman out of the art-selling equation, empower their exhibiting artists by doing so, and perhaps create a new model for what the gallery and the artist can accomplish.  Potential collectors would presumably benefit from more meaningful contact with the artists producing the work since artists would be more directly involved in sales.  Firecat will continue to produce promotional materials, prints, posters, and will host opening receptions for new exhibitions.  As Fitzpatrick puts it, “they will be selling popcorn at a movie theater… they will run a non-commission, for-profit business.”

This kind of gallery model will undoubtedly start new conversations and debates, though the opening of a new gallery and a home for an artist’s work is welcome news in today’s economy. This new concept is unusual and stands apart from the norm, which is why Fitzpatrick wanted to do it - to challenge some established members of the art world a bit.

Chicago’s art community is comprised of many different levels, personalities and missions, so there should be room for new ideas and messages.  Firecat could be the kind of model that could fit in well in Chicago between the varied alternative spaces run by recent art school graduates and other artworld figures, and established galleries that have operated for years and worked with some of the most recognizable artists of the past and present.  Fitzpatrick has had his own thoughts about dealers and galleries for many years, and to those who know him, he is not shy about sharing his point of view.  Firecat will allow his voice, and the voices of the exhibiting artists, to be heard in a more formal way.

Fitzpatrick has established a reputation as a strong, soulful, prolific Chicago artist, writer and actor whose work has been featured in exhibitions and collections nationwide.  He has plans for a theater performance this summer titled Stations Lost, a follow-up to This Train, a play he wrote and starred in, performed at 16^th Street Theatre and Steppenwolf Theatre last year in Chicago and Brooklyn.  Stations Lost will be a continuum, answering questions about the concept of “home” and who we are as Americans in the world, as well as including touching and humorous bits of personal history and stories from the artist.  A new book of his work including excerpts, poetry and art featured in the performances is available at Firecat, along with many other printed materials and artwork.

For more details on Tony and Firecat Projects, visit tonyfitzpatrick.com and check out Tony's blog.