Roy Lichtenstein, American (1923-1997). Whaam!, 1963. Magna and oil on canvas. 172.7 x 406.4 cm (68 x 160 in). © Estate of Roy Lichtenstein. Tate: Purchased 1966. Photo ©Tate, 2011.

The Art Institute of Chicago presents a colorful exhibition of old favorites and lesser-known works in Roy Lichtenstein: A Retrospective, opening to the public on Tuesday, May 22.  The retrospective samples five decades and over 160 works by Lichtenstein (1923-1997) grouping bodies of work into familiar categories of the artists’ oeuvre, i.e., cartoon and comic paintings that staked his place in the Pop scene of '60s, a series in black and white, a variety of enlarged brushstroke paintings. 

Roy Lichtenstein, American (1923-1997). Look Mickey, 1961. Oil on canvas. 121.9 x 175.3 cm (48 x 69 in). © National Gallery of Art. The National Gallery of Art. Dorothy and Roy Lichtenstein, Gift of the artist, in Honor of the 50th Anniversary of the National Gallery.

Many will recognize Lichtenstein’s more well-known works like Look Mickey (1961), Drowning Girl (1963), and others in his notable comic-like style of large halftone dots, but other bodies of work felt refreshing amidst the more familiar arenas – a grouping of bronze and brass Art Deco sculptures; a room filled with small drawings, sketches and studies for large paintings; a series of nudes and Chinese landscapes.  These more obscure groupings were the highlights of the exhibition for me, a Lichtenstein fan, because they provided a glimpse into his career that I had not seen before.  I’ve seen the large painting, Ohhh…Alright… (1964) several times, and while I still enjoy examining the canvas, I very much appreciated seeing the tiny study from which it stemmed. 

Roy Lichtenstein, American (1923-1997). Ohhh…Alright…, 1964. Oil and Magna on canvas. 91.4 x 96.5 cm (36 x 38 in). © Estate of Roy Lichtenstein. Private Collection.

Lichtenstein was born in New York City in 1923 and studied at New York’s Art Students League prior to attending Ohio State University where he earned both his BFA (1946) and MFA (1949).  Before completing his studies, Lichtenstein was drafted in 1943 to serve in the U.S. Army, where he was on active duty in Europe beginning in 1945.  When he returned from the Army, he attended and taught at Ohio State until 1951 when he married and moved to Cleveland.  After several successful shows and a gaining reputation in the artworld, Lichtenstein returned to New York and continued making work.

Like other Pop artists, Lichtenstein’s work blends characteristics from seemingly far different realms: fine art, mass media, advertising, comics.  Lichtenstein continued to combine these different characteristics throughout his career with the use of large Benday / halftone dots seen in work that was done early in his career through some of the last series the artist completed in the nineties.  The Brushstrokes series is a prime example of the pairing of mass media with fine art.  In his large canvases, Lichtenstein depicts expressionist brushstrokes, drips and splatters.  From a distance, those gestural marks are the first thing the viewer picks up on, but upon closer inspection, the halftone dots come into focus as does the juxtaposition of the almighty Abstract Expressionist marks against the dot pattern used in mass-produced print materials.  It is this kind of unconventional pairing in Lichtenstein’s work that appeals to me, while examining what is depicted and how it is depicted. 

Roy Lichtenstein, American (1923-1997). Brushstroke with Spatter, 1966. Oil and Magna on canvas. 121.9 x 152.4 cm (68 x 80 in). © Estate of Roy Lichtenstein. Art Institute of Chicago, Barbara Neff Smith and Solomon Byron Smith Purchase Fund.

James Rondeau, Dittmer Chair and Curator, Department of Contemporary Art at the Art Institute states “Lichtenstein is rightly recognized for being a foundational Pop artist who created some of the most iconic works of the 20^th century.  But these works – the comic strips, the war imagery – represent only part of Lichtenstein’s decades-long career.  Our aim with this exhibition is to explore the full range of absorbing contradictions at the heart of Lichtenstein’s work – starting with the paradox that Lichtenstein systematically dismantled the history of modern art while becoming a fixture in that canon.  Lichtenstein, we hope to show, was a profoundly radical artist with a lasting impact on the history of 20^th-century art.”

Roy Lichtenstein, American (1923-1997). Landscape in Fog, 1996. Oil and Magna on canvas. 180.3 x 207.6 cm (71 x 81.75 in). © Estate of Roy Lichtenstein. Private Collection.

Following its run at the Art Institute through September 3, the retrospective will travel to the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., the Tate Modern, London, and the Centre Pompidou in Paris.

Art Institute member days for Roy Lichtenstein: A Retrospective have been extended through Friday, May 18.  The museum will be closed to the public during the NATO summit, from Saturday, May 19 through Monday, May 21, and the public opening date for the retrospective is Tuesday, May 22, 2012.

Roy Lichtenstein: A Retrospective
May 22 - September 3, 2012
The Art Institute of Chicago
111 S. Michigan Avenue, Chicago, IL 60603

Roy Lichtenstein, American (1923-1997). Untitled, 1959. Oil on canvas. 86.5 x 71.3 cm (34.0625 x 28.0625 in). © Estate of Roy Lichtenstein. Private Collection.

Back again to be exhibited for the first time in over 30 years, the Art Institute of Chicago presents Harlem, U.S.A., a full collection of 25 photographs captured by African American renowned photographer, Dawoud Bey. Harlem, U.S.A. originally premiered at the Studio Museum in Harlem, marking Bey’s very first solo exhibition in 1979. The images function as documentation of Bey’s experience in Harlem and its surrounding neighborhood during his residency at the museum. Now, decades later these photos reappear, fresh— strikingly different from his much later work. The show opens May 2 and lasts through September 9.

In addition to Harlem, U.S.A., one week later the Renaissance Society will be exhibiting Picturing People, an expansive career survey of Dawoud Bey’s work at the University of Chicago campus, Cobb Hall, in Hyde Park. Expanding from street photography to formal studio portraiture, Bey is recognized for his outstanding commitment to portraiture as a means for investigating community and contemporary society. The show will also include, Strangers/Community, a series which brings together a double portrait people from one community who were previously unknown to each other. He quotes, 

"My work as an artist has been about giving ordinary people an enhanced presence in the world through my photographs. I see my work as a way to bring the human community into a conversation with itself. Hopefully through my photographs viewers come to know not only something about the people that I photograph, but something about themselves as well. My career survey at the Renaissance Society is an opportunity to sum up what I have been doing and thinking about for the past 36 years. It is an opportunity to see all of these photographs and ideas in relation to each other,"

Dawoud Bey born 1953 and raised in Queens, NY is a Distinguished College Artist and professor at Columbia College Chicago since 1998. His work is included in the permanent collection of the Brooklyn Museum, the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Fogg Art Museum, and Chicago's very own, Art Institute.

Harlem, U.S.A.
The Art Institute of Chicago
May 2 - September 9, 2012
http://www.artic.edu

Picturing People
5811 S. Ellis Ave
May 13 - June 24, 2012
www.renaissancesociety.org

What is Heaven? What is Hell? How do you get there? Do they even exist? These are questions that collectively occupy human consciousness. These themes often appear in self-taught, folk, and outsider art, driving highly stylized and charged work, in various media. Currently on view, HEAVEN + HELL is an exhibition presented by not one, but two organizations: Loyola University Museum of Art (LUMA) and Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art, the only non-profit organization in the U.S. that is devoted to only displaying the work of self-taught and outsider artists. Co-curated by Molly Tarbell, Exhibition Curator, from LUMA, and Jan Petry, Exhibitions Chair at Intuit the exhibition features 165 works of art by American artists. Franciscan Friar, Catholic Priest, and Adjunct Associate Professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in the Department of Fiber and Material Studies, Jerry Bleem also accompanies the bunch with an essay written for the exhibition catalog.

Outsider art, also known as "Naïve art" can be defined as art made by self-taught artists who have never been institutionalized or have little to no contact with the art world. The show itself seeks to explore wide range of expression regarding these concepts, as they’ve been invented, wildly imagined, influenced and inspired by popular media, the Bible or any other religious upbringing.

Personally, I find this show very intriguing. I love the idea of these two organizations collaborating and the parallelism between the way they compliment one another to the way Heaven and Hell also conceptually compliment one another. The physical displacement of the exhibition in two separate locations is a great method for getting Chicago to see more art spaces in the city.

In conjunction to the exhibition, LUMA and Intuit have put together a series of lectures, events, and film screenings that will last through the end of June.
 
UPCOMING EVENTS:
Literal Interpretations of Hell
(from the Heaven + Hell film series)

Thursday, April 12 at 6pm
Location: Intuit, 765 N. Milwaukee Ave, Chicago
A film featuring, Jigoku (“The Sinners of Hell”) 1960, directed by Nobuo Nakagawa

Commanders of the Cool with Professor Robert Farris Thompson
Saturday, April 21 at 2pm

$10/$5 for Loyola members, students, faculty, and staff
Location: Roosevelt University, Congress Lounge, 430 S. Michigan Ave, Chicago

This lecture will explore a Yoruba image equivalent to heaven— an underwater city, Ode Kobaye, where those who lived correctly and generously on earth are rewarded by being transformed into immortal stones of water.

Cemetery Walk
$50/$45 Loyola members, students, faculty, and staff (includes lunch)
Location: Graceland Cemetery, 4001 N. Clark St, Chicago
A tour at Graceland Cemetery— an ideal location for studying post-life from the aesthetic, historical, religious, and philosophical perspectives. Lunch will immediately follow the tour at Deleece Restaurant (4004 N. Southport)

For additional information on Heaven + Hell visit
Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art
http://www.art.org/

or Loyola University Museum of Art (LUMA)
http://www.luc.edu/luma/

Marc Bamuthi Joseph/Living Word Project and Theaster Gates present: red, black, and GREEN: a blues—a multimedia collaborative project that addresses sustainability in urban neighborhoods.
Oakland native, spoken word artist and dancer, Bamuthi, founder of Youth Speaks and artistic director of Russell Simmons’ Brave New Voices an HBO documentary on youth poetry, poses the question: “What sustains life in YOUR community?” red, black, and GREEN: a blues (rbGb) includes the voices of people who are often neglected and excluded from the conversation surrounding “green thinking.” The performance rbGb is a manifestation of the project Life Is Living, a nation-wide series of festivals held in urban parks that emphasize art-making, radical activism, and education. Together Bamuthi and Gates, (Chicago-based performance and installation artist) combined their expertise in dance, text, and visual imagery to portray the extensive research pulled from the Life Is Living project, focusing on community and environmental awareness. rbGb will set the MCA stage April 12-14 along with a visual installation titled, Colored Museum, highlighting Theaster’s experience with repurposed material, urban planning, and design.
Tickets cost  $28 Non-members, $22 members, $10 students

Other related events include:
Dinner and a Show: Marc Bamuthi Joseph/The Living Word Project with Theaster Gates gives the audience a chance to eat and converse with the artists and MCA colleagues. Tickets cost $50

SHareOUT: comprises of a group of young people who combine text, rhythm, media, and conversation to communicate and articulate various realities on the MCA stage. Participating speakers will include: Young Chicago Authors, Kuumba Lynx, YOUmedia, and the MCA Creative Agency. This event is free.

For more information visit:
http://mcachicago.org
or http://mcachicago.org/upclose/ to follow the blog

I don't know about you all, but I certainly enjoy my meals. I especially appreciate my meals when I can integrate them with art. Whether I'm eating a snack provided by an opening reception at a gallery or partaking in a potluck where contemporary art topics may be discussed, it's a satisfying and fulfilling way to indulge in both of my interests all at once. Combing through the calendar this month, I stumbled upon several events that have intrigued my senses. Below I've compiled my own list of upcoming opportunities to eat and experience a meal with local artists and creative minds here in the city. Don't miss out on these events. They will most definitely be a special treat!

Feast: Radical Hospitality in Contemporary Art
Smart Museum
http://smartmuseum.uchicago.edu

February 16 – June 10 2012
(free)

The Smart Museum of Art presents, Feast, an extraordinary presentation constructed by over thirty artists who address social, political, and cultural structures, through engaging with food and shared meals as a medium for art making. This particular ongoing exhibition focuses on heightening the everyday meal experience through radical methods of hospitality. Exhibiting artists include, Marina Abramovic, the Italian Futurists, and Gordon Matta-Clark along with several other emerging artists who are jointly moved and interested in re-contextualizing and challenging concepts related to the food experience and embracing others to become active participants in shaping such a dialogue. In addition to this modern day “Dinner Party” excursion the program includes concerts, workshops, lectures, and symposiums. Make sure you attend at least one of these events. This exhibition is a definite must-see!  

Re-Thinking Soup
Jane Addams Hull House
http://www.uic.edu/jaddams/hull/

February 21  (every Tuesday)
12 – 1pm

Every Tuesday, the Hull House Museum provides organic soup and bread to lead an open talk available to the community of Chicago. Each week the program gathers in the prestigious Residents’ Dining Hall, where renowned scholars like, Gertude Stein, W.E.B. Dubois, and Upton Sinclair came together to critically investigate social, political, and economic issues related to their community. Similarly, several guests, including visiting artists, activists, farmers, and chefs, also accompany this contemporary discussion with Re-Thinking Soup. Join the museum to participate, discuss, and contend ideas and concerns surrounding food, art, and life and the every day.


Prints and Pints
Hyde Park Art Center
http://www.hydeparkart.org

February 17 2012
7pm – 11pm (free)

Looking for a fun, free, and fantastic opportunity to work with printmaking? Make a trip to the Hyde Park Art Center to interact with teaching artist Elke Clarke, as he guides you through a 45-minute workshop to print on anything of your choice. A dj-set and cash bar are also included.


Dinner Series with the Chicago History Museum
chicagohs.org
Taste of Ireland
Mrs. Murphy’s & Sons Irish Bistro
3905 N. Lincoln Ave.
Chicago, IL 60613

March 6 2012
7pm ($55 members, $60 non-members)

Reconnect with Chicago’s Irish history and the History Museum in March for an excellent opportunity to experience a four course, contemporary Irish meal (with beer) at Mrs. Murphy and Sons, a local Irish bistro in they city. The Chicago History Museum will also be hosting a topic-related discussion regarding the development the restaurant,
Irish influence in Chicago, St. Patrick’s Day, as well as many other quirky and interesting facts.

Punk ‘n’ Brew Beer Dinner
Revolution Brewing
2323 N. Milwaukee Ave.
Chicago, IL 60647

April 9 2012
7pm ($55 members, $60 non-members)

Last chance! Perhaps you couldn’t attend the first Dinner Series event in March. Here’s another opportunity to participate in this fantastic program. Punk ‘n’ Brew gives you an option to appreciate punk music’s significant role in Chicago’s history with the inclusion of yet another four-course meal at Revolution Brewing. Here, you can listen and learn more about the restaurant and the genre of punk itself. Who knows, maybe you’ll even discover a few new punk bands or musicians that you enjoy too!

Dinner and a Show: Marc Bamuthi Joseph/The Living Word Project with Theaster Gates: red, black and GREEN: a blues
MCA Chicago

Apr.il 12 2012
7pm

Get a chance to meet the artists before their opening at the MCA during this wonderful dinner reception provided by Wolfgang Puck Catering. Red, black, and GREEN: a blues, is the culmination of a collaboration between activist and visual artist Theaster Gates and spoken word and dance artist Marc Bamuthi Joseph that addresses fundamental environmental issues from the perspective of communities of color. Also, be sure to check out this duo's two day performance on April 13th and 14th. It's another show that I am really anticipating.