<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1748035235/iwsqvnnqsujb8miww8zt.jpg">Wallace Bowling,&nbsp;Champion By GINNY VAN ALYEA Wally Bowling enjoyed a career as an architect for over 30 years, all the while living and working in proximity to his life partner Douglas Dawson’s eponymous gallery in Chicago. When I first began working at CGN many years ago, I got to know both Dawson and Bowling. Dawson’s gallery fit with the community of galleries that were primarily contemporary, even though he specialized in ancient and historic tribal art from all corners of the world. Dawson closed the gallery in 2017, however elements live in their gorgeous vintage Edgewater apartment overlooking Lake Michigan, which I recently visited on a late Monday afternoon this past winter. Upon stepping off the elevator onto the private floor, you can feel the weight of the art’s history and the care and preservation the couple have shown for it. From room to room remarkable objects are primely placed–pots from Africa, linear furniture and symmetrical pottery from Japan, a collection of stone tools. Excellent talking points, we discussed the consideration of form, shape, and structure, things that Bowling is attuned not just due to his architectural background but because he is also an artist, something he has been actively embracing for the past decade. I had not seen Bowling very often since the gallery closed, but Bowling invited me to his home so I could view some of his recent artworks he has been assembling, pieces that he calls constructs. Bowling has retired as an architect, but his creative instincts still find an active outlet in his art. His first gallery exhibition was in his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky a decade ago. As much as it is a form of expression, art making can also solve a design problem, such as how separately interesting objects can fit together to make something entirely new.&nbsp; Bowling’s constructs are placed throughout a set of ebonized bookshelves lining the full length of a wall in the lakeside dining room. None is particularly large in scale, but each features many curious, yet mostly familiar, utilitarian elements–knobs, hooks, latches, handles. The additions of found photographs, game pieces and text unify the disparate pieces into something new, almost ideally matched.&nbsp; <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1748035237/oe1myvbhdmkmueb6jhew.jpg">Wallace Bowling at home in Chicago. Photo by CGN. Several works are made from cigar boxes, containers Bowling says he used to find easily when traveling between Kentucky, Chicago, Madison and his and Dawson’s farm in Iowa. “What was interesting is that all the cigar stores were keen on recycling these boxes. Each of them had a charity that they wanted to donate the few bucks that you’d buy them for.” This resourcefulness impressed Bowling, and the architect in him was excited when he realized that the factory molds he had found in another shop fit neatly into the boxes, like they were meant to be despite disparate purposes. Finding and acquiring the molds made Bowling wonder what each one would have been for. Initially Bowling says, “The architect in me would sit down and do a drawing, and I would foolishly try to find the pieces that I wanted for it. I got over that really quickly.” A fit makes itself known, but it cannot be forced. Bowling says he is glad he bought what he could over the years because many of the antiques stores and flea markets he sourced his boxes and molds from are no longer around. While he could search more easily online today than years ago, he says that’s not the same as happening upon one object in a market and then waiting to encounter the piece that will make its match.&nbsp; Browsing the collection of constructs along the bookshelves, it’s as if I am looking over a set of family photographs, not because of the images within many of the boxes but because of the thematic and visual similarities I see. It’s as if they are a family–not an immediate or nuclear one but generations gathered at a reunion. I start to guess which pieces came before the others. Bowling’s process, while methodical and precise due to his architectural roots, is deliberate but I don’t think he has limited himself to thematic blocks, due to the serendipitous nature of sourcing his materials. Some of his constructs showcase tools that are no longer widely used, others show off the beauty of an obsolete factory mold. When I remark that many are phallic, though he points out there are nude women here and there as well. Others hint at a secret sadness. While others have attachments which might be harmful, if not handled properly. Each one is a departure from its material’s original purpose and contains a surprise.&nbsp; <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1748035239/edrlb2mcnlym2recqymw.jpg">Wallace Bowling, Amended cigar box with vintage aerial image of nuns’ cornettes. Wallace Bowling, Amended cigar box with vintage aerial image of nuns’ cornettes Bowling shares a story about a simple thin box with a hinged lid that was once a popcorn box, perhaps for storing kernels. He joined a handle on the side of the box at the suggestion of a friend, and he pasted an image to the inside, revealed to anyone who opens it. The amended and reassembled photograph is a vintage aerial shot of nuns’ cornettes. Bowling hails from Kentucky, but for many years now he and Dawson have spent about half the year on their farm in Harpers Ferry, Iowa, where they enjoy rural quiet and the chance to live and work outdoors, and the other half in Chicago. Traveling between their two homes, and a bit beyond, means Bowling frequents galleries and museums on both sides of the Wisconsin and Minnesota border, which has led to several institutional relationships over the years, from the Racine Art Museum, to the Chazen Museum of Art on the campus of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, as well as the Lanesboro Art Center in Lanesboro, MN. Bowling and Dawson have long been world travelers, but now with the gallery closed they have the freedom to slow down and spend longer stretches in Iowa, where Bowling can work out of his rural studio and take time to tinker and experiment with his designs. His artistic process is similar to solving a design problem in that he has to take the measure of a project and then find what elements go together best. He also likes to take his time. Sometimes, Bowling shares, he starts with a sketch. Other times he shops his own studio, where the shelves are filled with tubes and boxes and organizers intended for tools and assembly pieces.&nbsp; Much of Bowling’s eccentric interests come out of the many art forms he has dabbled in: welding, ceramics, painting, and a lot of his collection he has dubbed “the museum of the discarded” as it’s filled with things you might find in an antique shop. He brings something home because it has a really unusual shape, he explains, or a patina. He points to a large, rusty, collapsed oil container he scavenged when traveling abroad. When some vendors nearby wondered what he saw, he explained he collects things he sees as interesting. “You never know what you might need it for,” he admits. Just in case, Bowling keeps numerous Bakelite radio knobs, drawer pulls, plumbing fixtures and other items on hand in his studio. “On their own they don’t mean a lot, but frequently they’re the perfect piece.”&nbsp; Bowling has been considering building a really large construct. “I might do a whole series of boxes that would make a landscape, and they could be filled with architectural objects and images.” He imagines they look like small domiciles, once again referencing his architecture career. “These shapes, they’re perfect. Even how they’re arranged they come across with a strong architectural influence, but they’re definitely their own creations.” Somehow, this artist will find how to fit them all together. ﻿<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1748035241/grss7jmqdsdr2jhpqzmf.jpg">Wallace Bowling, Exquisite Horse

Constructing Surprises: Wallace Bowling

Spring is shaping up to be a busy&nbsp;season in Chicago’s art world, with new&nbsp;exhibitions across galleries and museums.&nbsp;Behind the scenes, many people in the community&nbsp;are working tirelessly to support artists and bring&nbsp;fresh perspectives to the public. We spoke&nbsp;with five insiders about what excites them now&nbsp;and what they anticipate next. To receive a copy of the print edition&nbsp;<a style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://835ba3.myshopify.com/" target="_blank">click here.</a> <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1748038717/ko0afvdqszv9giugnro3.jpg"> <h4>Victor Armendariz –&nbsp;Gallery Victor</h4> “<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/organizations/gallery-victor" target="_blank">Gallery VICTOR’s</a> busy spring and summer schedule includes a wonderful exhibit of photography by Kirill Polevoy titled Allure, which opened in conjunction with EXPO Chicago/Frieze on April 25.&nbsp; We are also thrilled to announce our representation of long-time Chicago artist Leopold Segedin, who passed away in January and left behind an extraordinary body of work. In May we will open a show at the Art Center Highland Park, Gallery VICTOR Presents: Our Time, which is an overview of the gallery that will fill all TACHP’s massive space through mid-June. Our summer show of monumental paintings by Brooklyn-based artist Nathan Brad Hall will cap off season.”

Anticipating a Season of Art: Five to Talk to – Victor Armendariz

Spring and summer is shaping up to be a busy&nbsp;season in Chicago’s art world, with new&nbsp;exhibitions across galleries and museums.&nbsp;Behind the scenes, many people in the community&nbsp;are working tirelessly to support artists and bring&nbsp;fresh perspectives to the public. We spoke&nbsp;with five insiders about what excites them now&nbsp;and what they anticipate next. To receive a copy of the print edition&nbsp;<a style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://835ba3.myshopify.com/" target="_blank">click here.&nbsp;</a> <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1747427477/j8zhagwc0g2prcumklra.jpg"> <h4>Justin Witte –&nbsp;Cleve Carney Museum of Art</h4> “Right now, I’m deep in final preparations for Hokusai &amp; Ukiyo-e: The Floating World, our summer exhibition featuring works from the Edoardo Chiossone Museum in Genoa, Italy. After that, I’m super excited to shift focus back to some incredible Chicago artists. Opening October 16, 2025, Andi Crist will have a solo exhibition showcasing her phenomenal work in her largest show to date. Then, on January 27, 2026, our Assistant Curator Julia Walker presents Chairish, an exciting show featuring the unstoppable talents of Norman Teague and Alex Chitty. Both exhibitions promise to be absolutely phenomenal.” <a style="color: rgb(29, 29, 29);" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/organizations/the-cleve-carney-museum-of-art-ccma" target="_blank">Cleve Carney Museum of Art</a> ﻿

Anticipating a Season of Art: Five to Talk to – Justin Witte

Spring and summer is shaping up to be a busy&nbsp;season in Chicago’s art world, with new&nbsp;exhibitions across galleries and museums.&nbsp;Behind the scenes, many people in the community&nbsp;are working tirelessly to support artists and bring&nbsp;fresh perspectives to the public. We spoke&nbsp;with five insiders about what excites them now&nbsp;and what they anticipate next. To receive a copy of the print edition&nbsp;<a style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://835ba3.myshopify.com/" target="_blank">click here.</a> <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1747066661/dasd2wpf373f4wn1fkew.jpg"><h4> </h4><h4>Barbara Cooper – Artist</h4> “Being in the exhibition A Tale of Today: Materialities, curated by Dr. Giovanni Aloi, at the Driehaus Museum earlier this year has been a fabulous opportunity to connect my studio work with the large-scale permanent and site-specific public artwork that is the other side of my practice.&nbsp; Currently, I am working on a three-part grouping of CNC-routed bas reliefs, a very different process for me, to be installed next year at Chicago State University’s Health Simulation Lab. Both scales involve considering the architectural space and how it functions with those who use the space. Both exist outside of the white box of the gallery and come with the challenge of their own unique materials, opportunities, and complexities. Also on view this year is an earlier work in the MCA’s Descending the Staircase exhibition and the 20th anniversary show at Metropolitan Capital Bank.” <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.barbaracooperartist.com/" target="_blank">barbaracooperartist.com</a>

Anticipating a Season of Art: Five to Talk to – Barbara Cooper

Spring is shaping up to be a busy&nbsp;season in Chicago’s art world, with new&nbsp;exhibitions across galleries and museums.&nbsp;Behind the scenes, many people in the community&nbsp;are working tirelessly to support artists and bring&nbsp;fresh perspectives to the public. We spoke&nbsp;with five insiders about what excites them now&nbsp;and what they anticipate next. To receive a copy of the print edition&nbsp;<a style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://835ba3.myshopify.com/" target="_blank">click here.&nbsp;</a> <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1748038690/xdhbrk2kzztlmuwtfbix.jpg"> <h4>Allan Weinberger –&nbsp;VSG Contemporary</h4> “As <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/organizations/vsg-contemporary" target="_blank">VSG Contemporary</a> enters its third year, we’re evolving with a focus on more extensive solo exhibitions and international art fairs—and we couldn’t be more excited. This summer, we’re thrilled to present LALO’s first solo show, opening June 6, with curatorial support from Lefty Out There. Born in Cleveland, now living in LA, LALO’s work is technically brilliant yet very playfully earning him a devoted collector base drawn to both his talent and charisma.&nbsp; We’re also presenting exciting solo shows from Oscar Joyo, Sébastien Johnson, and Fawn Penn. With our rebrand as VSG Contemporary, we remain committed to the charm and humor that have made us a beloved part of the local art scene.”

Anticipating a Season of Art: Five to Talk to – Allan Weinberger

<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1745933984/xeswhsrw6imc81ibyy8p.jpg">Dirk Denison with a painting by Leasho Johnson By GINNY VAN ALYEA Dirk Denison has been a practicing architect for over 30 years. Originally from Detroit, Denison and his designs, both residential and commercial, are well known to many Chicagoans. Though his reputation is national, CGN readers are likely familiar with the gallery spaces he has constructed to showcase much of the city’s best art. A professor at the IIT College of Architecture and the Director of the Mies Crown Hall Americas Prize, Denison also runs his own award-winning firm, <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.dirkdenisonarchitects.com/" target="_blank">Dirk Denison Architects</a>, based in Chicago’s West Loop. I recently spoke with Denison about his art and design background, his connection to Chicago and what it’s like to design spaces for art as well as introduce his own clients to the world of art collecting.&nbsp; CGN: Tell me where you grew up and how you were first introduced to art as well as architecture. Dirk Denison: Well, I grew up around Detroit in a home that was filled with art as well as artists, so it’s always been a part of my life. My experience was enriched by going to Cranbrook for school in suburban Detroit, which has not only the world famous art academy, but also has an elementary and high school. I was fortunate to go through all the way, from nursery school through graduation. And actually both my parents went there as well. They met in high school. I left, of course with this great appreciation for design from a very holistic standpoint. If you have visited Cranbrook, the Saarinens* worked as a team, a family, and they designed the buildings and the furnishings and the tapestries, even the setting landscape that surrounds it. So, I arrived in Chicago with all of that not really consciously a part of my working reference, but it is certainly intuitively embedded in who I became as an architect.&nbsp; *Note from Cranbrook: Saarinen House is Eliel Saarinen’s Art Deco masterwork and the jewel of Cranbrook’s architectural treasures. Designed in the late 1920s and located at the heart of Cranbrook Academy of Art, from 1930 through 1950 Saarinen House served as the home and studio of the Finnish-American designer Eliel Saarinen—Cranbrook’s first resident architect and the Art Academy’s first president and the head of the Architecture Department—and Loja Saarinen—the Academy’s first head of the Weaving Department and director of Studio Loja Saarinen.&nbsp; <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1745933987/kithnrsbf97xjscxegnz.jpg">Meeting room of Dirk Denison Architects, with works by Tadashi Kawamata, Ellsworth Kelly and Aron Gent. CGN: It sounds like Detroit offered you so much inspiration. How did you come to Chicago?&nbsp; DD: Chicago has been, for me, not only practice, but also teaching. I’m a professor at IIT, the College of Architecture, and also very involved with the Art Institute through the Society for Contemporary Art and through art, architecture and design departments. Early on at the MCA, there was something called the New Group, which was sort of my introduction to the cultural and collecting community in Chicago. Many of those collectors I met are still our closest friends.&nbsp; I came to study architecture at IIT where I teach now. In the eighties there was a lot of fluctuation going on in the world of design, and IIT had a very, very strong program. So even though I had come from the University of Michigan–I studied there and then I went and did my Master’s at Harvard–I came back to Chicago because it has always been a city that had a real commitment to placemaking and to innovation and to thinking about what the next generation of architecture was going to be. It’s just a great place to work, and I’ve been fortunate to work all over the country. Chicago is a base that has allowed me that opportunity. <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1745933989/todbhiepsg2p1wcxvjea.jpg">Bucktown residence. Chicago, IL. A renovation and addition whose material, form, and proportion follow those of the original postmodern structure, a sculptor’s studio designed by Harry Weese for his daughter and son-in-law; set back onto an unusual site, it maintains an existing, generous garden. CGN: Where did you keep art in your mind while you were studying architecture and first becoming an architect? DD: For me the whole richness of the creative world is part of thinking about place and space making–furniture, design, tapestries, all of the mediums, from painting to sculpture. I’ve always made spaces that are about creating opportunity for those other voices. It’s not just my voice. I’ve never espoused a Frank Lloyd Wright approach, where I design everything. I actually want there to be diversity and I want there to be other voices that I’m in conversation with, because that’s the way I live, and that’s the way I want my clients to make their space. I design for opportunity. With my clients, I can help them build a collection, but obviously many of them have collections before I work with them. They choose to work with me because they know I appreciate how art enriches your life. Sometimes we plan around very specific works of art. Sometimes we plan around very specific commissions working with particular artists. Other times it’s a sense that there will be a moment or a place that is going to be asking for a work of art. <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1745933991/fr5pno0dhqh88ifylohk.jpg">A team member works by a painting by Judy Ledgerwood CGN: Do you personally have an art collection that is separate from what’s installed in your offices, or does your collection just exist where there is space?&nbsp; DD: Well, it’s interesting. Our offices have been in the West Loop for 20 years, in this heavy timber building. The size of the space, the ceiling heights and the size of the walls was the first time that I had wall space this scale. My first painting before we even moved into the office was this quatrefoil painting by Judy Ledgerwood that I saw in her studio when I had took a client there to pick something out for their new home. I said, ‘Would you hold that for me? In the next year I’m going to be moving into new offices where I’ll have a wall finally big enough for an eight-foot square painting.’ It’s been somewhat of an opportunity for us, since the idea of having art in the office is that it’s how we design space, and I want my amazing creative team to work in that same environment. Many architects have photographs of their former projects and awards up on the wall. I said to myself, that’s not necessarily inspirational for the team that’s working on whatever they’re focused on. Why not have them learn and be inspired by these other creative voices? So that’s why there is art in the office. We do switch the art out back and forth between home and work and [my partner] David’s studio as well. About a year ago we had a flood in our apartment, so we were forced to redo it. And as a result of that, we changed our whole philosophy at home, which is where we have just one work of art on each wall. And so as a result of that, we switched things out. We brought some of the bigger things from the office and took the smaller things out of the apartment. So it’s very fluid and we want to change things around. Nothing has a permanent place in how we live with it. The interesting thing is too, because of the artists, I’ve picked up on my parents’ philosophy that most of the artists in our collection are artists that we know, or as we get interested in them, we make a point of getting to know them. And that comes into not only our personal life and our friendships, but also into the office. So if you walked into my office now and talked to someone working there who’s fairly new out of school, they would know who Judy Ledgerwood is. They know there is a person behind the art that they work with. <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1745933992/mgls8kc4pahuivetny7p.jpg">Office view. On wall: Ad Reinhard’s ’Ten Screenprints’ CGN: Have you had challenging situations trying to blend works of art or a collection into a space you’re designing?&nbsp; DD: Yes. I think the main thing about working on a collection–whether it’s clients who have never collected art before or long-time collectors–we’re working together. I spend this concerted amount of time in the beginning showing them different lines of thinking about medium or scale or geographic source for works of art. It may be a color story, or it may just be space specific, but it’s something I like them to get to the point of saying, okay, this is what will be fun for us to work on. Obviously I can do the primary selection of the art, but hopefully they’ll get the [collecting] bug because there are many more spaces that they’ll be able to place art in, so I hope they keep looking at art themselves and finding opportunities. Often I will create some specific spaces, like for a glass collection or a wall that’s about ceramics or something so that they can keep thinking as they travel and make their life intertwined with collecting art and living with art. But it’s also the story behind every work of art that is what makes us collectors.&nbsp; I didn’t answer your question about the difficult works. I have had a couple of moments when someone bought something on a trip for something. One of my clients laughs about this fountain they bought in Morocco. We were starting the project and they were like, ‘We have this fountain. We’d love to find a spot for it!’ It didn’t end up making it into the home. We laugh about it now because we still have that thing sitting in the garage in a box, but they finally realized that there is some sort of line of thinking that does tie everything together. It’s really about things that speak well to each other. I just created a home with a wonderful Spencer Finch that was this very bright fluorescent light with amazing geometry. It was very eye catching, but it worked with the larger aesthetic of what they were doing. CGN: It sounds like you try to spend a lot of time having those client conversations leading up to when you get started designing that maybe prevent some of those clashes. DD: It’s another part of the process. I think when it is a couple, it’s important that they are both part of the decision and invested in it. It’s answering both their desires and needs for what we design in what they’ll live in. I feel the same thing with the art, where I really encourage them to make the decisions together and not buy one piece that one of them loves and the other one isn’t fond of. I’ve always approached that with my design work, that if you’re not in love with this option, let’s find the next thing that you are. <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1745933993/hvzh0bxmkql89jnvmmat.jpg">moniquemeloche gallery. Chicago, IL. The transformation of a hidden industrial building in Chicago’s West Town into a flexible space for encountering multiple forms of art. CGN: With regard to commercial spaces, you have designed many gallery spaces in Chicago. What are your main considerations when approaching that kind of design need versus another office or residence? DD: When you’re doing a space that’s specifically for art–a gallery or an exhibition space–you of course are not designing for particular works of art. Maybe a particular medium, but not specific works. In fact, you want it to be quite the opposite, quite flexible. My general attitude towards spaces for art is to create variety so that there is a sequence of experiences and spaces as well as the clarity of the wall, so that it doesn’t compete with what is going to be brought in, which you don’t know what it’s going to be in the future. So really simple detailing, ubiquitous materials, a flooring material, simple white walls, with maybe the exception of an entry moment or an office moment or something like that. And then lighting, of course, is the most important. You want to always over-light a space for art and have lighting from more than one source so that you can both throw light on the whole space as well as on highlights. And then you make it all flexible. You make it all controllable so that you have that moment where you want to pin light for a particular work, or you want to flood for something that’s a wall mural. And I think that a lot of times you’ll see space that’s been overly dramatized and that’s fine for a particular effect, but if it’s not flexible, if it’s not dimmable or expandable, it’s too restricting.I love to bring in natural light, but also moments where direct sunlight will work like a sundial to come in and make its way through a space is more flexible in a home or office than it is in a gallery. CGN: What’s design moment stands out for you? DD: Those are really difficult questions because my mind always goes to whatever we’re working on right now. My process tends to make things challenging. In other words, I’m looking for the constraints. I’m looking for the sort of requirements that will make the project better. And that’s fundamentally coming from how it’s going to be used, where it is, what we’re working with. I think what’s so important now is the clear attitude to working with what we have, using existing structures before tearing them down and building something new. More than half my work is restoration, preservation, adaptive reuse. The project that I did just two years ago at IIT, which is three towers that we made from staff into student housing, I actually won a competition at the school for a new 480 bed dorm. I convinced them we had these three legacy Mies van der Rohe designed buildings from the ‘50s on campus that we should do first before we build anything new. That ended up being very successful and has been an amazing opportunity for the students to live in these buildings. And economically, it was significantly less expensive to work with the existing structures than to build something new and of course, much more sustainable and much more environmental.&nbsp; CGN: Would you like to add anything else?&nbsp; DD: Even though I am often steering the boat or keeping it moving forward, I see design as having many voices, all of the expertises, all the vantage points. There isn’t just the the client, there are also the contractors, my amazing team of consultants and engineers, everybody at the office. The biggest challenge is listening to all that information, and then sorting out the priorities. #

Interview with Chicago architect and art collector Dirk Denison

Designs on Collecting: Architect Dirk Denison

A 2025 interview with Chicago art dealer Rhona Hoffman 

Connecting Change Through the Decades: Rhona Hoffman

<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1748037904/z4lie1tmebnw8drn2pte.jpg"> By GINNY VAN ALYEA Sara Mongerson is the director of <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.mongersongallery.com/" target="_blank">Mongerson Gallery</a>, a family-founded gallery in business since 1971. Sara took over as director after husband and gallery director Tyler Mongerson unexpectedly passed away in May 2023. CGN checked in with Sara recently about the changes and challenges she has embraced these past two years. – GV&nbsp; CGN: How have things have been going at the gallery this year?&nbsp;SM: It’s been a year of transition. After Tyler’s passing in 2023, gallery Director Jack Spector-Bishop and I had to dig out and figure out our plan going forward. This included going private, investing in our online presence, and finding new ways to partner with local businesses. Art dealing is evolving, and you can’t rely on walk-in traffic. I have to think about safety and security for the staff and the art, so we moved into a secure co-working space and we show by appointment only. We added an art-specific CRM and inventory system and built out a new website, and we have enhanced our newsletters and are dabbling in social media. For Black History Month this year, we tried something new and partnered with several local businesses (Cosentino, Regiment Securities, Alexis Goettsch Photography) to host an exhibition of works by Detroit artist Harold Neal, whose estate we represent. This was successful and I expect to do more in the future. Over the years, our focus has expanded. The gallery was founded in 1971 as a sporting and wildlife art gallery. It quickly shifted, slightly but significantly, to period Western and Western Expansion, which is still what we are most known for today. Over time, we’ve added additional areas of interest. Now we deal in 19th and 20th century fine art including other genres such as American Surrealism, Regionalism, African American, Early Modernism, and select Contemporary. It might seem varied, but there are themes throughout that make sense. For example, Western art is about taming the wild and documenting the movement of people as they settled across the Western US. It’s romanticised, but there is also the issue of the displaced Native American. The Black Arts Movement is about documenting the Black experience including civil unrest in cities like Detroit after the Great Migration to the North. Both share ideas of everyday beauty but also human mistreatment and conflict. It’s about our nation’s history, good and bad.&nbsp; Quality Western work is in high demand, and we have buyers. It’s a challenge to find available inventory and clients who wish to sell. Our inventory of Black Art is attracting private collectors as well as museum interest. CGN: You recently mentioned the 100th anniversary of Surrealism. How has attention shifted for this group of artists, your gallery’s artists in particular?SM: It’s been exciting. Globally everyone with a connection to Surrealism seems to be having an exhibition to honor this anniversary–the Pompidou, the Tate, the Met.&nbsp;Interestingly, female artists like Getrude Abercrombie are getting more attention. Gertrude Abercrombie: The Whole World is a Mystery, which opened at the Carnegie Museum, travels to the Colby College Musuem of Art this summer and then to the Milwaukee Art Museum in March of 2026. We deal in Chicago-area female Surrealists, including Abercrombie, and also Julia Thelca, and Marcena Barton. We have definitely seen increased interest from collectors and museums who are paying attention. CGN: What is Mongerson exhibiting planning next?&nbsp;SM: We have a few Harold Neal pieces still on display at Cosentino Chicago. We are in the early stages of planning an event to highlight our Julia Thecla inventory, likely in May, and we are also participating in an educational event with the Frederic Remington Art Museum in April, as we are committed to remaining connected to our roots and educating the public on this important period of American art. There is a lot coming up. More info at <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.mongersongallery.com/" target="_blank">mongersongallery.com</a>

Checking–in: Sara Mongerson of Mongerson Gallery

<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1744316208/min9i3ef9r02c581l3rp.jpg">Jonathan Worcester By BIANCA BOVA CGN: Thanks for taking the time out to speak with me Jonathan. I realize I’m catching you in the middle of a busy year.&nbsp;Jonathan Worcester: Yes, absolutely. Recently I was in a group show at Old Friends called Ambulance Chase with Peter Fagundo and Michelle Grabner [n.b. curated by the interviewer, Bianca Bova], where I showed some paintings that were dealing in the genre that I’ve been working in for a few years now, but sort of thinking through them differently in terms of their contingency. Shortly I will be in a group show called Masterclass at Secrist | Beach that is a show of 25 years of painting alumni from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Then in April, I open a solo exhibition at 65Grand, Dead Reckoning. CGN: The show at 65Grand, that is a new body of work that was conceived of for the exhibition?JW: An entirely new body of work, yes. Everything is being made specifically for the walls of that space. I am measuring everything to the exact gallery specs. It will be a contiguous run of work with basically no space between the paintings, except where they meet the wall. It’s a horizon line of paintings. Everything is 48 inches high with different widths and different depths. <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1744316209/bvqdxytbk4e8mzy8rkzp.jpg">Jonathan Worcester, Untitled, 48 x 48 x 3.25”. Courtesy the artist. CGN: Right now there is a resurgence among young artists for a number of reasons, ascribed to everything from the economic conditions of the day to this kind of a reverb off of the last 20 years of post-modern conceptualism, of a return to painting. Your work is often remarked on for being very process-oriented, which we see less of. I’m interested in what context you see yourself in given that assessment.&nbsp;JW: Well, okay, thinking about process painting, I feel like there was such a resurgence of process painting that has been categorized through zombie formalism. I reject categorizing myself that way at all because I find maybe the least interesting thing about my work is the process. A lot of it is really just me sort of obsessively, episodically dealing in dots. And I feel like looking through the lens of process at the work allows for sort of this idea of labor being the most important thing that happens there, which is really not what I’m interested in. It becomes a simple solution for getting an understanding of a work without actually having to deal with the physicality of the thing itself. I don’t know, one of the things that I feel is fundamental in the aesthetics of “process” work, is painting that deals with the removal of the hand. That’s one of the things that is notably common among some of my peers in Chicago. I do feel like I’m a little bit on an island, though. CGN: Knowing that, I’m curious what has your&nbsp;attention right now? What are you looking at?&nbsp;JW: The work that I’m looking at and responding to is not really happening in Chicago right now. Except there was an exhibition in 1999 at Illinois State University that was called Post-Hypnotic. That was a seminal show that relates to the aesthetics that I’m interested in. It was curated by Barry Blinderman. CGN: Oh, that’s a name I don’t hear often enough.&nbsp;JW: The exhibition was a look at these aesthetics 25 years later, from a show at MoMA from 1965 titled The Responsive Eye that was dealing with the same thing. I picked up a copy of the catalog, and I’d actually be interested to talk to him as we’re 25 years later from his own exhibition, and see what he thinks about this sort of thing in the zeitgeist.&nbsp; CGN: I’d love to know how that goes if you reach out to him. To pull back a little bit immediately from the work and go back to how you relate yourself to Chicago, you grew up here, didn’t you?JW: I did. I was born in Milwaukee, but I moved here in first grade, and we moved to Hyde Park because my mom is a research professor at the University of Chicago. I left for New York for college and attended Sarah Lawrence, which is right outside the city, but I would do summers in Brooklyn. You know, served my Bushwick tour of duty. <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1744316210/fwqamhe5kldabfoalgpu.jpg">Jonathan Worcester, Untitled, 48 x 58 x 1.75”. Courtesy the artist. CGN: As one does.JW: As one does, or at least did in the mid-2000s. I love New York. I just needed to come back to Chicago for various life-oriented reasons. And I was having so much trouble actually making work in New York. Once I was out of school, and I didn’t have institutional resources, it was…I was painting on my roof. That was the only place I could get space. So moving back here has been great, because I’ve been able to have a studio all along. I was in the basement of a building in Logan Square, where I didn’t know if the tenants even knew I was there. But there was sort of an arrangement where I could use the basement and paint. I was down there in this windowless space for eight years. The rent was dirt cheap. I moved out because my desire for windows was strong, and the person above me was a religious zealot. They started having, I don’t know—Bible parties? All the time. And they were rowdy. It was so loud. Reciting things and slamming things on the floor. Now I’m in the 3200 Carroll Building with a number of good friends, people who I went to school with, and various artists at various points in their careers. I share a space with my friend Trey Rozell. CGN: When you moved back, you also enrolled in graduate school at SAIC?JW: I did, yeah. I was working at the MCA as a preparator and realized if I worked at the Art Institute, I could go to school for free on tuition remission. So I got a job at the museum as an art technician in the Collections and Loans Department, and then moved over to be the specialist of the European Decorative Arts Department. That’s where I still am. And went through grad school. CGN: You also made your first foray into teaching at SAIC.JW: I did, yeah. I was given a fellowship once I graduated to begin to teach a class there. And I taught painting practices. My time at SAIC was really affected by Michelle Grabner, and talking about pedagogy and sort of considering the way in which education, specifically higher education should work. I needed to try my hand at that. She put that bug in my ear. Having a chance to reflect on the way in which my education works and things that I wanted, and reacting to how students are now was really impactful for me in terms of thinking about how I create considerations in my own research. I’m grateful to have been forced to reckon with the way in which this thing should be done. CGN: I’m deeply interested in something that I happen to know about your studio practice, a very specific form of passive media consumption. And that is that you are a habitual listener—not watcher—of Dateline.JW: I sort of thought you might ask me about this. So, okay, full context. I work a nine to five job. I paint with an obsessiveness that requires me to basically be in the studio from 6 p.m. to almost 2 a.m. most days. I don’t have a lot of time for anything else. So I do audio books and I listen to podcasts to be able to feed the intellectual questions that I have. But yes, one of the lighter things I very often engage with is Dateline—I’ve more or less listened to its archive by now. The format itself is obviously made for television. It’s so funny they offer it in podcast form because they constantly refer to images and people. I think there’s always been a fixation culturally with true crime. And I definitely participate in that to a certain extent, but the reason I love Dateline is the format in which they do it is classic. They’re like the first true crime show and they still have these sort of network television personalities that are associated with it. Despite the uptick in interest in true crime, they have not strayed from their formula in the decades they have been on. It’s not a dumb podcast that’s more about the podcasters’ friendship, which I could not care less about, than the content. They explicate the thing thoroughly. They go through the entire investigation and there’s no frivolous conversation. It’s fact-based. It’s well-edited.&nbsp; <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1744316211/nq1zpuyopymkn2mukezj.jpg">Jonathan Worcester, Untitled, 48 x 68.75 x 3.5”. Courtesy the artist. CGN: This is what fascinates me—you’ve chosen a highly, highly, highly consistent and formulaic program to be the thing that you are passively consuming as you work. The relationship between that and the inherent obsessiveness of your paintings, both in practice and process, I would like to know more about that.JW: Yeah, that’s a great connection. Actually that wasn’t obvious to me. So thank you. The way that I actually am making work is so scripted. I know how I’m going to do it, and from there it just deals with repetition, with patterning. The way I create difference is in semi-object-oriented things about the work, like changing the context, changing how they are contingent to the space around them. I can get so obsessive about color relationships. Just looking at a painting next to a painting that’s dealing in the same patterning and how much they affect each other—that’s what’s really been blowing my mind recently. But I am extremely formulaic. I think I’ve worked out a practice where I don’t have to stand back with my brush and feel this romantic trauma. I find that so obnoxious. I am not struggling. I’m having a great time listening to Dateline and I’ve baked in maybe ten decisions for each individual painting. Then I’m just working. And that is fun for me. Dead Reckoning at <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.65grand.com/" target="_blank">65Grand</a> opens Friday, April 18, 6-9pm. On Friday, April 25, 6-9pm Frieze is hosting a private reception and exhibition viewing for EXPO Chicago VIPS.&nbsp;RSVP to <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="mailto:info@65grand.com?subject=Rsvp%20for%20April%2025%20Reception" target="_blank">info@65grand.com</a> More information about the artist at <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.jonathanworcester.com/" target="_blank">jonathanworcester.com</a> #

Jonathan Worcester: Painting with Creative Precision

An interview with artist Amanda Williams for CGN's spring 2025 issue 

Amanda Williams: Her Kind of Blue

<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1741016097/cao4ohhqnklv8enggec5.jpg"> By BIANCA BOVA Inside a classic Chicago walk-up apartment on Logan Boulevard, characterized by warm woodwork, high ceilings, and wavy glass windows offset by thoughtfully selected Italian modernist furnishings,&nbsp;is where Tom Guenther and Kerry Grace Herllihy reside and where an art collection is as telling of its owners’ taste as it is of the city’s.&nbsp; Guenther and Herlihy lived on the West and East Coasts respectively, before settling down together in Logan Square. Guenther is a Full time Preparator at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, who has also worked in turns for the Art Institute of Chicago; under the auspices of Terry Dowd International; and for hire at art fairs around the country, in addition to holding posts at various galleries along the way. Herlihy on the other hand, works in tech in Enterprise Customer Solutions.&nbsp; “We have the feeling Chicago is where we're going to stay, and investing in Chicago artists is really important to us,” notes Herlihy, “I've been fortunate. My grandma really turned me onto art when I was young. She was a representative for small artists in Tampa, Florida. My dad was a pilot, so I was able to travel a lot with my family, so collecting for me was about finding art from different places that just felt right at first. But now, I feel like we have more of a focus, and it is a local focus in many ways.” <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1741016098/mr2je0eflmvipjf30r7p.jpg"> “I worked as an art assistant when I was still living in Oakland, California,” says Guenther, “and I started collecting little knick-knacks from artists that have come and gone over the years, things by people I worked for or with. But when it came to collecting seriously, I kept thinking, ’Oakland? Am I really gonna be here for forever?’ So I stuck with collecting a lot of books and zines with artists’ signatures, and small, compact sort of works. Like Kerry said, now that we’re here, it feels like we can be a little more ambitious with it.” Guenther then adds with a laugh, “Plus once we moved in together, it was kind of tight that we both had someone to go in on art 50/50 with!”&nbsp; <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1741016100/lorpghwzcfabdwwtwhgo.jpg"> The collection unfolds thoughtfully, (if not densely) throughout the couple’s space. In an especially stunning instance, a Naomi Nakazato acrylic work is suspended from wires in a bespoke frame in front of the windows that look out onto the apartment’s sleeping porch. (“The benefits of living with an art handler!” quips Herlihy). Adjacent, alongside the Saporiti Missoni-upholstered couch, Mexican folk art figurines, and fragments of kiln-blown Theaster Gates pottery, hangs a mirror etched with Monikers and doodles, a playful homage to the couples’ artistic loves.&nbsp; “​​There’s some Cy Twombly in there, all sorts of things. There are titles to Karl Wirsum paintings, and there are some Christina Ramberg drawings hidden too,” Guenther says, “It’s just a fun thing for us–a way to incorporate some of our favorites.” A deep enthusiasm for Chicago’s Imagists is a dominant thread in the collection. In the foyer of the apartment hangs its crown jewel, an Errol Ortiz painting, The Runaway House (1983) the couple acquired from Who Modern in Skokie, Illinois. Part of a larger series of 12 works by the artist, it hangs companionably with two blind-object wire hands that project from the corner wall.&nbsp; <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1741016101/uhctasztmfpiafmfbseq.jpg"> “The Imagists are really where it started for me,” says Guenther, ”About 12 years ago, I was living here in Chicago and working as a bike messenger. I was out in a rainstorm, and I was delivering a letter to a place between Superior and Ohio streets. There was a Zack Wirsum painting hanging in the front of Jean Albano Gallery. I saw it and decided to go in. Jean was there, and she was very welcoming. She started to tell me, ‘This guy's dad was really great. I got some of his paintings in the back that are from the '80s. They were sold in Japan, and I'm gonna show them in the US for the first time ever!’&nbsp;So she brought me to the back and started showing me these Karl Wirsum paintings that hadn't been shown in the States yet. And I just thought that was so cool–the work of course, but also that she did that. Biking around, you see a lot of public art, and I started to notice all the Roger Brown pieces. There's one famous mosaic on LaSalle, the two Angel men, you know, right by the courthouse. NBC Tower had one, and the building next to the Chicago Architecture Center. It all made a real impression on me.” At the entry of the apartment, the front door is flanked on one wall by a work on corrugated metal by graffiti artist Riggs (“It’s a strange one,” notes Guenther, “it has rope that has epoxy on the back–that’s what you hung it from. Of course the rope’s going to dissolve long before the epoxy does.”) and on another by a painting by Chicago artist Jonathan Worcester. The latter was acquired from a 2024 exhibition at Cleaner Gallery.&nbsp; “I really hadn't seen Jonathan's work until we went to the University Club,” Herlihy says, “When I saw that show, I was blown away.”&nbsp; <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1741016102/ajukuoyiakzidzku1t6h.jpg">Jonathan Worcester “We’re also big fans of Cleaner, of Ari Norris and Ryan Burns, the owners,” says Guenther, “so when we saw Jonathan’s show there, the next day I texted him about a painting. It’s heavy as hell, but man we got a good one. He’s such a good guy too, I knew him from working at the Art Institute.” “That’s really our ideal situation,” continues Herlihy, “buying a work of art we really love in a way that supports Chicago artists and galleries, who are also just people who we really, genuinely like. We don’t think about market value too much or try to be speculators. I mean of course you want to see the artists you like succeed, but more importantly, you want to believe that something holds value just because we love it so much.”&nbsp; <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1741016103/dmsulblzeg5qlxuzi55j.jpg"> Around the corner, the kitchen contains a cheeky mix of Juan Palacios paintings, H.C. Westermann photos, and work by Guenther (“I don’t really make much anymore,” he shrugs modestly, “mostly gifts for friends or family.”). Deeper into the apartment, one finds an increasingly eclectic mix–a 1980s ceramic wall piece acquired at auction that was once modified into a clock, Sean Gannon drawings, folk paintings on tin from the Mercado la Venia in Mexico City, a textile piece by Norman Laliberté passed down from Herlihy’s grandmother outfitted with custom cherrywood brackets built by Guenther. Alongside the neo-Imagist and folk aspects, an interest in outsider art is legible in the collection. One such piece that stands out is a framed work of mail art. <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1741016104/s1f5ow8dze7gqyeu4ah8.jpg"> “It’s a work by Buzz Blur. He was the Moniker writer Colossus of Roads. We were selling his art at a gallery I worked at in 2015, in the West, called SubTerra that existed for like, six to eight years. He wrote this letter to me, and in it was an alias of his real name, and his brother's age–that’s circled. He handmade and would print these off these stamps, and they would actually go through the mail. It's crazy. He lived on a train line in Arkansas. He writes and also would speak in this kind of poetic, Victorian-esque way. He was so kind. The Massillon Museum in Ohio acquired most of the work from that show. I’m grateful for the letter as a memento,” says Guenther.&nbsp; It is this attitude and approach that leads one to believe that though Guenther and Herlihy’s collection is young (as are they themselves), one can see clearly in their enthusiasm, sincerity, and respect for Chicago’s art historical legacies the wider footprint it is sure to eventually fill out.&nbsp; #

An interview with Chicago art collectors Tom Guenther and Kerry Herlihy

Collector Profile: Tom Guenther and Kerry Herlihy

<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1748037842/je6uspovotdywj3mj9k0.png">Cynthia Burr By ABBEY KOT Since 2016, Vivid Art Gallery has given the community of Winnetka an opportunity to view and learn about an array of artists and mediums, giving prospective buyers the unique opportunity to further curate their spaces through their selections. This week we discuss the business model and practice with owner and curator, Cynthia Burr.&nbsp; Chicago Gallery News: Vivid Art Gallery offers visitors a unique viewing experience, with multiple artists always on display. How do you feel this model has impacted your visitors’ experiences over the years? Cynthia Burr: Many galleries are located in art districts or tourist areas where customers stroll leisurely and, if they happen to see a piece they like, they buy it.&nbsp;Here on the North Shore, the experience is more intentional.&nbsp;People come in because they are looking for a painting for over the mantle, for example.&nbsp;So if we have only one artist’s work on the walls, the probability that there will be a fit is not great.&nbsp;But with examples of 25 artists’ work hanging in the gallery, there is a better chance that they will find artwork that speaks to them.&nbsp;Having multiple artists’ work hanging in the gallery also exposes people to art that they might not want in their home but that they find interesting and want to learn more about.&nbsp;We represent artists working in oil, acrylic, watercolor, gouache, mixed media, thread, scratchboard, lithography, photography, and ceramics.&nbsp;This provides visitors with the opportunity to be educated about many different art forms if they are interested in learning. CGN: A business which offers multiple services also takes strict management of all departments to ensure that customers are receiving the best possible experience. Have there been any challenges or learning experiences that stand out to you when it comes to overseeing numerous aspects of the gallery? CB: Obviously, I had a lot to learn about the art business when I opened the gallery!&nbsp;I think that forming partnerships with key collaborators has been important to making sure that customers have a great experience, from framers to installers to shippers. <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1748037844/harhqu7ptssbdl4orrna.jpg">A view of the gallery CGN: &nbsp;A large part of your mission is to promote community and conversation about art in Chicago’s North Shore Neighborhood. Why do you feel it is so important to foster creativity and a love for the arts? CB: It seems that so many people on the North Shore are uncomfortable walking into a gallery, much less buying art. They don’t feel knowledgeable about art, and that takes them out of their comfort zone.&nbsp;It’s so important to make art accessible, and we have worked hard to create a “safe” place for people to come in, look around, and ask questions.&nbsp;Sometimes they buy, sometimes they don’t, but they will have had an experience that makes them more comfortable going into the next gallery. Our goal is to make art approachable, so that more people will experience it and interact with it.&nbsp;&nbsp; CGN: Have you noticed any overarching themes in your career that you feel have shaped you and your current business practices?&nbsp; CB: Professionalism, personal relationships, and going the extra mile are keys to success in any business.&nbsp; CGN: Your professional background is not in the art world, but rather working with nonprofits and major corporations. Is there any advice you would give to those looking to make a career change into a field that aligns with their passions?&nbsp; CB: Do it!&nbsp;The skills and knowledge that accrue during someone’s career are almost always translatable to their passion. <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://vividartgallery.net/" target="_blank">VIVID Gallery</a> is located at 895 Green Bay Rd., Winnetka, IL

An interview with local art dealer Cynthia Burr of Vivid Gallery in Winnetka, IL

An Interview with Cynthia Burr

<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1733255540/awxp8thx07p7hngu3ax3.jpg">&nbsp;By ABBEY KOTDavid Salkin runs his namesake&nbsp;<a style="color: rgb(29, 65, 160);" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="http://www.davidsalkin.com/" target="_blank">creative design studio</a>&nbsp;and exhibition program in West Town, where he draws from his architectural training to create artistic, and often custom, domestic and commercial objects and materials with distinct urban patterns and themes.Recently, I sat down with Salkin to discuss his architectural background and the benefits of creative collaboration.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1733255541/eqba5umoyrw7uniagynu.jpg">Drawing studies. Photo by Nick Albertson&nbsp;CGN: Your background in architecture implies a tendency to work in a three dimensional format, however your mediums of choice tend to be flat, including digital sketches and wool rugs. What is your process when translating urban architectural inspiration into two dimensional mediums?&nbsp;David Salkin:&nbsp;As a child, I had a fascination for maps and architectural drawings because they gave me a way to "see" a place without physically being there. I grew up studying these flat representations, trying to imagine and "3Dify" them. Over time, I realized that two-dimensional space allows for other ways to understand rhythm and scale that aren’t as evident in the built environment. By thinking about architecture through the lens of surface design, I am looking to capture the patterns and spatial relationships that make cities what they are. It’s not about replicating the experience of three dimensions but about distilling it into a kind of visual code that reveals its underlying geometry — patterns, textures, and proportions — and bringing out the hidden rhythms of a place.&nbsp;I have come to think of my process as “breaking the grid.” It is the moment when I consciously step outside my comfort zone to reimagine and reconfigure the grid of a city to create new patterns that challenge the status quo. In practice, breaking the grid manifests in asymmetrical layouts, unexpected alignments, and dynamic compositions that draw the eye in new and intriguing ways. I experiment with overlapping elements, varied spacing, and irregular shapes, all while maintaining an underlying sense of cohesion and balance. My goal is to create designs that feel fresh and innovative yet still communicate effectively and resonate.&nbsp;&nbsp;<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1733255542/wgpd5mti40nyeiqudgze.jpg">&nbsp;CGN: Architecture and installation pieces are site-specific, offering a sense of exclusivity. How does this affect your creative practice when utilizing the physical gallery space?&nbsp;DS: It’s exactly that. The studio is the connection between the bespoke object and creative process. My space is open and intentionally inclusive—anyone can walk in and engage with me and the work. I chose my studio space intentionally – to be an active participant in a community of other creative people and programs at the 1709 gallery building. The physical space of my studio lets me experiment and play, grounding my work in the immediate surroundings. And because of my desire to be accessible and open, I like to believe I’m demonstrating a kind of generosity, where I share my interests with others, inviting them to interact with works that range from tactile pieces to conceptual installations.&nbsp;&nbsp;CGN: Your style leans towards modern and postmodernist art with a focus on flatness and geometry. What do you say to those who view modern architecture as the “death of detail”?&nbsp;DS: I think modern architecture and design are misunderstood if they're seen as lacking detail. Modernism, to me, is all about nuance and restraint. The detail is there; it just demands a different kind of attention. Look at the way patterns align or see the texture in a surface — these are intentional choices that speak volumes. Modernism, to me, is optimistic and outward-looking, relying on intentional subtleties that invite you to look closer. Every detail in a modern piece holds meaning without shouting, and that, to me, is where the beauty lies. By contrast, I find that postmodernism veers into irony, as if it's given up on earnestness, detracting from the authenticity of design.&nbsp;In terms of my own work, I think the richness lies in the tension between minimalism and intricacy. Geometric shapes and clean lines invite you to notice subtleties that might be overlooked in more ornate forms. When I strip a design to its essence, I am bound to make every choice a crucial one. And in the process, the detail becomes the experience of form itself rather than a superfluous element.&nbsp;<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1733255542/ux3rpzoawskja2rsq6pg.jpg">&nbsp;CGN: What do you feel are the benefits of creative collaboration, especially in a practice like yours, which involves teamwork in many stages of the process?&nbsp;DS: Collaboration introduces fresh perspectives and expertise that I couldn’t achieve alone. I crave that shared energy, where ideas evolve through dialogue and hands-on exchange. Each person I work with —whether they’re an artisan, a fabricator, or another designer — adds layers to the work that make it richer and more intricate. For example, collaborating with master craftspeople gives me access to a level of material knowledge that’s invaluable. They help transform my designs into something beyond what I could create solo, embedding their own narratives and skills into each piece. As time goes on, I am more aware of the power of collaboration and look to find ways to make it a constant dynamic in my practice rather than episodic.&nbsp;&nbsp;<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1733255543/qv6ta7gwjig5fw2yycx2.jpg">&nbsp;CGN: Do you have any advice for young artists beginning their professional practices?&nbsp;DS: My advice is to embrace the process of learning and don’t shy away from experimentation. Study everything, including disciplines outside your own. Often, the most rewarding work comes from taking risks, trying new techniques, and challenging conventional thinking. Be present, be curious, and engage with the world around you. Don’t get caught up in trends or in trying to perform for others — authenticity matters more than you think. Don’t get trapped in the digital space; instead, step out and experience things firsthand. Take time to connect, ask questions, and don’t rush through your work. Because when you focus on building relationships and engaging with other artists, mentors, and collaborators, the real magic happens and you create conditions to grow, adapt, and stay inspired.#&nbsp;<a style="color: rgb(29, 65, 160);" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="http://www.davidsalkin.com/" target="_blank">David Salkin Creative Surface Design</a>1709 West Chicago Avenue, #2A, Chicago, Illinois, 60622

CGN Insights: David Salkin, David Salkin Creative Surface Design

<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1733255289/b6l0nhirrtpujxwmslqm.jpg">&nbsp;By ABBEY KOT&nbsp;Janine Mileaf has served as the executive director and chief curator at&nbsp;<a style="color: rgb(29, 65, 160);" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.artsclubchicago.org/" target="_blank">The Arts Club of Chicago</a>&nbsp;since 2012. This week, we sat down with her to discuss her educational background and time at The Arts Club.&nbsp;&nbsp;Chicago Gallery News: As both director and curator at The Arts Club of Chicago, it’s almost hard to imagine the depth of your involvement in each exhibition. Are there any areas within your process that you look forward to, or that you find particularly challenging?Janine Mileaf:&nbsp;I find it extremely gratifying to work directly with artists to help them realize a particular project. It is especially exciting when an exhibition takes form specifically around the opportunity to show work in the context of The Arts Club of Chicago. Our long history often provokes new ideas for artists or new ways in which to situate their work. I love when that happens.&nbsp;CGN: As a student of art history, how do you feel your own research and understanding of the art world impacts what you are drawn to as a curator?&nbsp;JM:&nbsp;I come to curation from the point of view of a historian, but I find that this does not necessarily draw me to historical works (although sometimes it does). More frequently, I’m compelled by artists who themselves are engaged in historical or research-based thought. I try not to go after trends, but rather to work with artists whose ideas and objects will endure beyond the moment and who are making things that make me think or feel something new.CGN: In&nbsp;2010, you published&nbsp;Please Touch: Dada and Surrealist Objects After the Readymade.&nbsp;What ultimately moved you to write about the Dada movement, a period which can be difficult to digest in many ways?&nbsp;JM:&nbsp;That is exactly why I wanted to write about Dada! I chose to think about Marcel Duchamp’s readymades and their aftermath because at the time they were conceived, they were understood to be the farthest thing from a work of art–and yet, in the long-run, that very idea is hard to grasp because the object-as-art has become so commonplace. I wanted to look at that difficulty and the gesture of inserting something so problematic into the context of art and figure out what that tells us about the category “art” and its function.CGN: During your time working at The Arts Club of Chicago, has there been an exhibition that stands out to you as a critical learning moment?&nbsp;JM:&nbsp;Our most recent exhibition&nbsp;Haegue Yang: Flat Works&nbsp;has reminded me not to shy away from ambitious projects. Each time I start a conversation with an artist about what they want to make, it is a risk—something of a challenge—to see how the institution is equipped to meet their intentions and to find out what we can do to surpass any limitations. In this project we surveyed work that Yang has been making for 30 years, but that has never been considered as an entity; we fabricated an exquisite display to tell the history of Yang’s most recent series of paper cuttings known as Mesmerizing Mesh; and we published a book that will be distributed internationally by Skira and outlast the exhibition. In the end, The Arts Club provided a venue for the artist to showcase long-term thought processes that are at the core of her practice and to discover the unifying concept that has to do with abstraction.CGN: What advice would you give to those wishing to work on the business side of the art world?&nbsp;JM:&nbsp;I’m sure this sounds trite, but I would say to follow your passion, not the market. If you do that, you will develop a point of view and a distinct program that are authentic and lead to meaningful and genuine engagements.&nbsp;Image: Headshot by Frank Ishman&nbsp;

CGN Insights: Janine Mileaf, The Arts Club of Chicago

<html><head></head><body>CGN works with dozens of art world leaders, creatives and supporters all year long. Each one has a different perspective on the industry in general as well as their own role within it. CGN is pleased to share many of these insights and personal stories in a new online series.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092759/opuadyqjkyefggayfcnk.jpg" jackson-1.jpg=""><figcaption>Chris Jackson in Jackson Junge Gallery with Surreal Salon on view. The show celebrates the gallery's 15th year in business.</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;By ABBEY KOTSince 2009, Chris Jackson and his partner, Laura Lee Junge, have owned and operated the Jackson Junge Gallery out of Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood. This week, we sat down with Jackson to discuss the details of his career as well as his personal insights on the gallery’s unique shows and services.&nbsp;&nbsp;CGN:&nbsp;Your career has a dynamic background in the arts world, ranging from work in theater and television to the founding of this gallery. What are some surprising commonalities you have found throughout your career?&nbsp;Chris Jackson: Throughout my career in theater, film, television, and the arts—including founding a gallery—I’ve noticed several surprising themes across these mediums. Storytelling is at the heart of each. In theater and television, storytelling is more overt, with narratives shaping each performance or episode. In the art world, it’s subtler, as curating an exhibition involves crafting a story that connects the artworks in meaningful ways for viewers.Each field also demands significant teamwork. In theater, film and television, writers, directors, actors, and crews work together to bring a vision to life. Similarly, in the art world, I collaborate closely with artists, curators, and the public. The success of any project depends deeply on this collaborative spirit. Creativity and out-of-the-box thinking are essential in all three fields. In theater and commercial work, problem-solving happens on the fly—managing time, budget, or a tricky scene. In the gallery world, I balance artistic vision with practical considerations like space, lighting, and presentation. Regardless of the medium, the ultimate goal is to engage the audience, evoking an emotional or intellectual response. The challenge lies in understanding your audience and connecting with them on a deeper level.The arts also demand adaptability and resilience. In the performing world, you might face changing scripts, technical issues, or unexpected challenges, while in the gallery world, market trends and public tastes are constantly evolving. The ability to pivot and embrace change is crucial in both arenas. Authenticity is valued across all fields—whether it’s an actor’s performance, a showrunner’s vision, or an artist’s work in a gallery. Audiences respond to genuine expressions of creativity. Emotions drive reactions in theater, film, television, and the visual arts. All these forms thrive on making people feel—whether joy, sadness, curiosity, or even discomfort. The ability to evoke emotions is a common thread that transcends the medium.These shared elements emphasize that while the mediums may differ, the core principles that drive success in the arts are remarkably similar.&nbsp;CGN: The Jackson Junge Gallery offers custom framing services alongside its typical exhibition space. What inspired you to curate an environment that suits the needs of collectors on multiple levels?CJ: Combining custom framing services with a traditional exhibition space creates a comprehensive experience for collectors and art enthusiasts. The gallery can provide a complete, end-to-end service, allowing collectors to acquire a piece of art and leave with it fully framed and ready for display.&nbsp;Framing serves as an extension of the artwork itself. The right frame can elevate a piece, enhancing its style, while the wrong one can detract from its impact. By offering custom framing in-house, the gallery retains creative control over how the artwork is ultimately displayed, aligning it with both the artist’s vision and the buyer’s preferences. Framing services also allow the gallery to build ongoing relationships with clients, as collectors often return for framing services for pieces acquired elsewhere. This creates opportunities to nurture relationships, share expertise, and introduce clients to new exhibitions.From a business perspective, framing services provide an additional revenue stream, supporting the gallery’s sustainability even during fluctuations in art sales. This model allows the gallery to act not only as a curator of fine art but also as a partner in preserving it. In doing so, the gallery enhances the experience for art collectors while becoming more dynamic and versatile.&nbsp;CGN:&nbsp; As the gallery’s proprietor, your day to day involves managing multiple facets of the business. Have there been any challenges that stand out to you as an important lesson that shapes your practice currently?CJ: One of the most defining challenges of running a gallery is the constant balancing act between the creative and business sides. Early on, I learned that managing a gallery is as much about business as it is about showcasing art. Ensuring financial sustainability while maintaining artistic authenticity requires balancing creativity with practical considerations like overhead, pricing, and marketing. This ongoing negotiation has honed my ability to operate with both a creative vision and a business mindset.The art market is ever-evolving, and staying responsive to these changes is crucial. Whether adapting to the rise of online art sales, shifts in collector preferences, or new technologies like AI, flexibility has become a cornerstone of the gallery’s strategy. This adaptability helps keep the gallery relevant and appealing to a diverse audience. Managing relationships with artists, collectors, and the local community is also key to the gallery’s success. Finding the right balance between promoting artists’ work and making collectors feel valued has been a delicate but essential lesson.&nbsp;With so many facets to oversee—curating exhibitions, managing sales, overseeing framing services, marketing, and more—time management and delegation have become vital. Learning to trust staff with certain responsibilities while focusing on the broader vision is essential to avoid burnout and ensure smooth operations. Resilience is another invaluable lesson, especially in the face of uncertainty. Whether it’s fluctuations in art sales, unexpected costs, or global events like the COVID-19 pandemic, the ability to pivot, re-strategize, and explore new avenues (such as virtual exhibitions) shapes the gallery’s approach to both short-term and long-term goals.Another important lesson is that each exhibition needs a strong, cohesive vision. Over time, refining the practice of curation to present exhibitions that resonate with visitors, tell a story, and provoke thought has become even more crucial. It’s not just about displaying beautiful art, it’s about creating a meaningful experience for viewers. These challenges and lessons underscore that managing an art gallery requires a blend of creativity, business awareness, and adaptability, all of which shape my approach to leadership.&nbsp;CGN: What does the curation process look like when proposing a very open ended concept, such as your recurring TEN by TEN group exhibition, in which the only limitation is essentially size?&nbsp;CJ: The curation process for an open-ended concept like the TEN by TEN exhibition, where size is the primary limitation, requires a careful balance of inclusivity, medium diversity, and cohesive presentation. With the 10x10 inch size as the only constraint, I remind our staff that this limitation serves to equalize all submissions, making the size both a challenge and a unifier for artists from various backgrounds.We actively reach out to artists from a wide range of disciplines and backgrounds. An inclusive exhibition should represent diverse perspectives, styles, and cultural influences. TEN by TEN welcomes all artistic mediums—painting, sculpture, mixed media, photography, digital art, textiles, and more. The open call for submissions encourages artists to explore how their medium adapts to the 10x10 format. This exhibition creates space for both emerging and established artists, allowing visitors to discover new voices alongside familiar ones.In TEN by TEN, size becomes a unifying thematic element. The artworks are displayed in a grid, emphasizing the consistent dimensions and highlighting how each artist uniquely fills that 10x10 space. This approach enables viewers to appreciate both the individuality of each piece and the cohesive visual impact of the collection as a whole.By focusing on inclusivity, diverse mediums, and cohesive presentation, the TEN by TEN exhibition showcases the adaptability of artists and fosters a dialogue between different forms of creative expression, all within the shared 10x10 constraint. This not only highlights the variety of work possible within a common framework but also celebrates the richness of a collective artistic experience.&nbsp;CGN: Is there any advice you would give to those looking to enter the gallery space, either on the creative or the administrative side?&nbsp;CJ: Entering the gallery world—whether on the creative or administrative side—requires a combination of passion, perseverance, and practical skills.For creatives, it’s essential to cultivate a consistent style or thematic focus that distinguishes your work. The Jackson Junge Gallery seeks local artists with a clear, unique voice and a cohesive body of work that tells a story or explores a specific idea. To gain exposure, I suggest displaying your work at local art fairs, community shows, or online platforms. Building relationships with galleries and curators is crucial. Attend gallery openings and events to network with curators, gallery owners, and other artists. Networking can lead to valuable connections and opportunities. Research galleries that align with your style and reach out with a professional portfolio and artist statement. We often invite artists to apply for our group exhibitions, which can lead to additional opportunities. Professionalism is key. Meet deadlines, communicate clearly, and be reliable. If you don’t get an opportunity right away, keep creating, refining your skills, and continue to reach out. Don’t be discouraged by rejection; be persistent.For those interested in the administrative side, start by volunteering or interning at a gallery or museum to gain firsthand experience. Many galleries value practical experience, and internships provide insights into daily operations, curation, and event planning. Entry-level positions, such as front desk staff or gallery assistant, offer a solid foundation in customer service, sales, and gallery operations. Sales skills are especially valuable. Understanding how to connect with clients, tell the story of an artwork, and close a sale is essential. Marketing also plays a significant role in a gallery’s success, so learn about social media marketing, email campaigns, and event planning to promote exhibitions and attract visitors. If you’re interested in curation, practice by organizing smaller shows or pop-up exhibitions. This experience helps you build a portfolio and gain skills in developing themes, selecting works, and designing shows. Gallery work often involves juggling multiple tasks, from event planning to managing artists’ contracts. Strong organizational skills and flexibility are crucial, as gallery staff frequently wear many hats. Ultimately, working in a gallery is about supporting and championing artists. Building strong relationships with artists and helping them present their work to the world is incredibly rewarding and central to the role.The gallery world can be competitive, but it’s also vibrant and full of opportunities for those who are passionate, resourceful, and determined to contribute to the art community.&nbsp;Jackson Junge Gallery is located in Wicker Park at 1389 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago, IL 60622<a href="https://j2gallery.com">j2gallery.com</a>&nbsp;#</body></html>

CGN Insights: Chris Jackson of Jackson Junge Gallery

<html><head></head><body>*This interview was conducted in August &nbsp;and is from CGN's fall 2024 magazine. To subscribe to the print edition <a href="https://835ba3.myshopify.com">click here</a>.*&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092759/wdlxn3pv3akeptjjcdt1.jpg"><figcaption>New graduate Tom McCormick in 1971 in the communal kitchen of the Lakeside Inn, his boss john Wilson’s headquarters &nbsp;</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;By GINNY VAN ALYEATom McCormick hails from Kansas–he graduated from the University of Kansas in 1971 with a printmaking degree and an obsession with antiques collecting and old stuff–but he’s been just about everywhere. For a time he was a professional “picker”, sourcing quilts, furniture, folk art, ceramics, prints, paintings, even Navajo rugs and oriental carpets, wherever he could unearth them, honing his eye and learning the joy of turning a profit from secret treasure. Eventually McCormick found himself more mainstream employment working for a print dealer in Lakeside, Michigan, who happened to be John Wilson, the eventual founder of Art Expo. The job involved crisscrossing the country and enough motel stays in two years for a lifetime. Once he tired of being on the road, McCormick got his MFA and sold off the collection he had built, catching the bug that would lead to a life and career as a dealer. He also established himself and his family in Chicago.Today McCormick still spends much of his free time in Michigan, but it’s clear Chicago maintains a hold on him. Nearly 25 years after opening a gallery in the up-and-coming West Loop, McCormick could reasonably retire and write a tell-all about the art market, sharing secrets and witty observations about shifting peaks and valleys of Chicago’s gallery world and its characters and creatives. Instead, for now, he is embracing change while keeping his feet planted in the city. This July McCormick moved his namesake gallery from its longtime home on West Washington Boulevard and migrated to the still-evolving West Town. A new address of his own and a fresh space has re-energized McCormick, though he doesn’t seem to ever run out of energy.&nbsp;&nbsp;CGN: So Tom, what’s new with you and the gallery?&nbsp;Tom McCormick: Well…as you know, we moved [in July] to a new location in West Town, 2251 W. Grand Ave., and are busy getting ourselves organized and settled in. A big job to move after 24 years in the old place. Because of partnership issues surrounding the Washington Blvd. building, of which I’m a half owner, I knew a change was inevitable and I began shopping for a new home this time last year. I ended up buying Tyler Mongerson’s building after he tragically, and unexpectedly died last summer. Really awful. Tyler had been helping me look at West Town real estate, and I eventually worked a deal with Sara, his wife, to acquire their property. It’s a terrific space and we spent the last year slowly renovating it to fit our needs.&nbsp;&nbsp;CGN: The gallery has been around for 24 years. Why make a big move now instead of just saying, “It’s been a great run.”&nbsp;TM: OK, I have been doing some version of this (art dealing) for over 50 years, and I think I’m finally starting to get the hang of it. You know, practice makes perfect. Seriously… I love doing this job and am reasonably good at it. I have a great Director in Mary Beyer and a wonderful group of artists that we represent. I also continue to nurture my long interest in historic art. As long as I am healthy and can arrive at work in an upright position, I think I’ll just keep on showing up. I think they keep an oxygen tank somewhere in the closet, just in case.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092759/cixwin2zv2mrgopvhult.jpg"><figcaption>The exterior of the new gallery space at 2251 W. Grand Ave. in Chicago’s West Town. &nbsp;</figcaption></figure> &nbsp;CGN: What attracted you to West Town? What are you excited about after so many years in the West Loop?&nbsp;TM: Honestly, I grew disenchanted with the West Loop years ago. Since we own the building we didn’t get forced out by high rents, as usually happens to galleries, we stayed put as others moved on. The neighborhood was raw and funky in 1999. My car mechanic was across the street, there was a great hot dog place on the corner, and you could buy a mop bucket next door. Perfect. There was a community of galleries within walking distance. That’s all changed. So many good galleries have moved west: Rhona Hoffman, Andrew Rafacz, Carrie Secrst, Corbett vs. Dempsey, GRAY, PATRON. West Town is the place to be now.&nbsp;CGN: Tell me about the first show planned in the new space.&nbsp;TM: John Santoro, who we have shown for years, will be opening with new paintings on September 12. John was also a huge help in the move, he’s quite a handy guy. Eventually I want to do an inaugural type show featuring all our contemporary artists. &nbsp;&nbsp;CGN: What are you spending time on outside the gallery these days?&nbsp;TM: I guess the short answer is Michigan. We have had a place in Sawyer for over 30 years and it has become more and more central to our life. [My wife] Janis lives there pretty much full time and actually changed her residence so she can vote there. Smart lady. She also has chickens, her art studio and she has joined the board of the Lubeznik Art Center in Michigan City. We have a native prairie and about 25 sculptures sited around the place. We just added a commissioned piece by Gwen Yen Chiu, a fantastic young artist.&nbsp;So, we are blessed with a beautiful 13 acre property, which keeps us busy, often on our bellies in the dirt–pruning, weeding, planting, and cussing.&nbsp;Visit McCormick Gallery's new location at 2251 W. Grand Ave. in West Town.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.thomasmccormick.com">thomasmccormick.com</a>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092760/se7frktsourmz2c9kkfl.jpg"><figcaption>A painting by John Sontoro, whose exhibition opens September 12, 2024 &nbsp;</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;</body></html>

Moving Out and On: An Interview with Tom McCormick

Gertie Makes No Little Plans: Chicago Exhibition Weekend 2024, and Beyond

<html><head></head><body>By BIANCA BOVAMany Chicago galleries have a remarkable longevity. This year three celebrate the milestone of reaching (or in some cases, surpassing) 20 years in business. Dealers John Corbett and Jim Dempsey of Corbett vs. Dempsey; Scott Speh of Western Exhibitions and (Northern) Western Exhibitions; and Bert Green of Bert Green Fine Art share the origins of their respective operations, how they’ve crafted programs and fostered long-term relationships with artists, and what they see for themselves in the future.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092759/zgvwzzsldg5scknp7qb7.jpg"><figcaption>Jim Dempsey and John Corbett, Indianapolis, Indiana, 2021.&nbsp; (Photo: Terri Kapsalis) &nbsp;</figcaption></figure>John Corbett and Jim Dempsey, Corbett vs. Dempsey&nbsp;&nbsp;CGN: What led to the decision to found the gallery? Has its focus changed in the 20 years you've been open?&nbsp;Corbett: We met because we attended a lot of the same events around town, art and music wise. We hit it off immediately, then started talking about how little we knew about the Chicago art scene—given that we’re really both kind of culture-vultures, it felt a little weird that there was so little information readily available about the visual art scene that we were both part of. Our first collaborative exhibitions were at the Roger Brown Study Collection, on the ground floor of the late artist’s home. I was interim chair of the exhibition studies program at the School of the Art Institute at the time, and just kind of commandeered the space between SAIC shows. Then in 2004, we opened Corbett vs. Dempsey in the space above Dusty Groove.&nbsp;&nbsp;CGN: Tell me about the long-term relationships you've had with artists over the gallery's tenure.&nbsp;Dempsey:&nbsp;A couple of artists that we work with now–Gina Litherland was Phil Hanson were some of the very first we worked with, we showed them all the way back at the Roger Brown space. The thing is, we were and are both interested in the historical part of Chicago, but we realized that the artistic output in the last 50 or 60 years in this city can be really hard to parse sometimes. We just thought, maybe we can find ways to put the puzzle together on our end a little bit to present it to other folks, and start to develop a narrative that seemed a bit spotty at that moment. That has led to some long-term engagement&nbsp;CGN: The gallery moved locations after 15 years. What led to the decision to expand?&nbsp;Dempsey: Initially, when we moved into the first space in Wicker Park, we thought we would have more of a private dealership model, but that space naturally felt more like a gallery. And we had a good run in that space. Eventually, we just had to acknowledge that we were up against the limitations of that space. No elevator, small doors, and there were things that we just couldn't do there. But it was also such a big part of our identity that it took a lot to kind of get our minds around like, we need to make this move. And then to find a space that had the warmth of the space that we had before that wasn't just like a white cube or a traditional gallery. Ultimately, we found what we needed in our current space. We’ve been able to realize programs and exhibitions we could not have done before.&nbsp;&nbsp;CGN: What's next for Corbett vs. Dempsey?Corbett: On September 14, we opened <a href="https://corbettvsdempsey.com/exhibitions/hubcap-diamond-star-halo/">“Hubcap Diamond Star Halo: Corbett vs. Dempsey at Twenty,”</a> a program of events and exhibitions in honor of our twentieth anniversary. It includes a survey exhibition in the primary gallery space, as well as a revolving exhibition in the north gallery space which will change over weekly for the seven weeks of the show. That will be featuring thematic and one-, two-, and three-person exhibitions. There will also be a robust slate of book launches, conversations with artists, and musical events accompanying the exhibitions, which will run through November 2. Come back often.&nbsp;<a href="https://corbettvsdempsey.com">corbettvsdempsey.com</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092761/jkdhghq0g7mvyhpfhb7t.jpg"><figcaption>Scott Speh. Photo by James Prinz &nbsp;</figcaption></figure>Scott Speh, Western Exhibition | (Northern) Western Exhibitions&nbsp;CGN: What led to the decision to found the gallery? Has its focus changed in the 20 years you've been open?&nbsp;Speh: I was a failing artist who became more interested in organizing shows than making my own work. I was living in Brooklyn but a day-job kept me on the road a lot. When I’d return to town, I’d find myself wanting to connect with artist friends, often in their studios, instead of holing up in my own studio. I moved to Chicago in late 2001 and became frustrated that friends of mine who I thought were great artists weren’t getting the recognition they deserved, so I decided to open a gallery.&nbsp;The early focus was presenting the work of friends and some college colleagues whose work excited me, and I felt it deserved a larger audience. As the gallery continued, several themes began to develop (though this wasn’t necessarily a conscious plan of mine, my instincts led the curatorial development, not a unified mission), themes I didn’t really place until I overheard a conversation in our booth at the first EXPO on Navy Pier between curators Shannon Stratton and Mark Pascale, with Stratton urging her colleague to consider “Western Exhibitions' especially rich program devoted to drawing” (or something to this effect. Also, Mark, when I used this anecdote elsewhere professionally, strongly told me that he already knew this). This led me to the realization that Western Exhibitions prioritizes drawings and works on paper, an organic development. It took an outsider to notice this, as at that point, I didn’t perceive that the gallery had a particular focus other than work I thought was good and important. From there, I realized that gallery artists and the shows we’ve presented often pull from the following paths — personal narratives, unique cosmologies and world views; LGBTQ artists and issues; Feminist art/fighting the patriarchy; pattern, decoration and surface concerns; works on paper (especially drawing); and artist books.&nbsp;CGN: Tell me about one or two of the long-term relationships you've had with artists over the gallery's tenure.&nbsp;Speh: One of the first artists I encountered in grad school at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1994 was Stan Shellabarger. As I was scoping out the print media studio (my area of focus), I noticed a tall, thin man with a long beard, slowly pacing the hallways, nearly hugging the wall. Upon further examination and explanation, Stan was using the performative practice of walking in public to make a drawing, in this case, by dragging his fingernail against the wall, the repeated accumulation of scuffs ultimately making a visible mark down the wall. I was FASCINATED. I didn’t necessarily become close with Stan during grad school but I made it a point to see his work every time it was presented.I stayed in Madison for three years after grad school, curated a bunch of shows there, self-published an art criticism zine, got divorced, moved to New York, lived there for two years, moved to Chicago in 2001 to find that Stan and his partner Dutes Miller had also moved to Chicago. Stan was still making this sort of ‘70s conceptually driven performance work that resulted in handsome, rough-hewn, hand-made minimalist objects, yet with pretty much no interest from the Chicago art world.&nbsp; When I started up the Western Exhibitions nomadic gallery project, I made it a point to work with artists like Stan who are compelled to follow their artistic path even if no one is paying attention. We had several shows with Stan and then started showing the collaborative work he and Dutes make, under the separate artistic persona, Miller &amp; Shellabarger. We’ve placed Stan’s work in several prestigious institutional collections, including the Art Institute of Chicago, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, National Gallery of Art, Minneapolis Institute of Art and Baltimore Museum of Art.&nbsp;&nbsp;CGN: The gallery moved to various locations in Chicago several times before settling down at 1709, and then subsequently opening a second location in the north shore. How has it grown over the years as it occupied new spaces, and what led to the decision to expand to the suburbs?&nbsp;Speh: Every move was driven by circumstance, not strategic growth. From 2006 to 2008, I shared another space in West Town (1821 W Hubbard) with Lisa Boyle, a full-time dealer. Then, Shannon Stratton at threewalls asked me if I’d be interested in taking over their lease in the 119 N Peoria Building in the West Loop as they were moving to a bigger space in the same building. I leapt into running a gallery as my full-time job in the fall of 2008 in the West Loop, then the heart of Chicago’s contemporary art scene, just in time for the stock market to collapse and The Great Recession to begin. Fun.I then moved across the street to 835 W Washington to take over Tony Wight’s space when he decided to downsize and met the proprietors of Document and Volume Gallery there. When all of our leases were up in 2016, we decided to seek out a space together. After striking out on a bunch of possibilities, our landlords pulled a deus ex machina and offered us the second floor at 1709 W Chicago, then a cross-fit gym, as they planned to put a restaurant on the first floor. We invited David Salkin Creative to join our new art commune.(northern) Western Exhibitions in Skokie started as and continues to be an experiment and was definitely not something I envisioned or planned for. Zach Williams, a client of the gallery, came by the gallery for a visit one day and proceeded to tell me his life story which culminated into him winding down his law practice to do something cool and personally meaningful — opening a modern design store, seeded from his own collection as he strives to buy from living artists going forward, with a gallery attached, in Skokie. Zach told me “I want a gallery there but I don’t know how to run a gallery nor do I want to learn” and said that he appreciated my vision and work ethic and asked if I wanted a gallery in Skokie. To which I replied, “Wut? This thought has never occurred to me!” But I decided, why not? I am using (northern) Western Exhibitions to scratch my curatorial itch, as it is, to comb through gallery artists’ pasts to put together a show that they may not have envisioned themselves.&nbsp;&nbsp;CGN: What's next for Western Exhibitions?Speh: We’re officially celebrating our 20th year milestone with a show derived from the archives. <a href="http://westernexhibitions.com/exhibition/20-years-of-western-exhibitions/">20 Years of Western Exhibitions</a> will present every press release from every show at all 6 of our locations over the years, plus printed ephemera, some on loan from the Anthony Elms Art Ephemera collection as I somehow did not save the postcard from the first bricks-and-mortar show, plus reviews of shows and a pile of notebooks containing my to-do lists from over the years. And at the same time, in Gallery 2 in Chicago, I’m excited to present Zhi Ding’s first solo show in Chicago. Zhi is a Chinese artist, educated at the Art Institute, now living in New York, who makes seemingly whimsical paintings, which resemble illustrations from a children’s picture book, but are full of drama and darkness. At (northern) Western Exhibitions at the end of October, I am presenting a show devoted to <a href="http://westernexhibitions.com/exhibition/sigils/">Elijah Burgher’s practice</a> of creating painted mystical symbols, sigils, which is an early 20th occult practice of recombining the letters that spell out a wish into a new abstract symbol.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092762/ipybn3qaal3qvuqzc90p.jpg"><figcaption>Bert Green. Photo by John Ellis.&nbsp;</figcaption></figure>Bert Green, <a href="https://bgfa.us/index.html">Bert Green Fine Art</a>&nbsp;CGN: What led to the decision to found the gallery? Has its focus changed in the 20-plus years you've been open?&nbsp; Green: I started my first gallery in 1999, which is coming up on 25 years now, at the end of 1999 in Los Angeles. I first opened in Hollywood, then moved to downtown LA. Then moved to Chicago in January of 2012. There was a core group of people, about 30 galleries in the district then. When that scene peaked in the mid 2000s, the real estate obviously followed, then the gallery scene shifted to a different part of downtown a more industrial area. Then there was that push in the mid to late 2000s, where it became very international and very high end. That's where it is now, LA has become this major international art center. It was not like that at the time, but it was beginning, you could see it coming, it just it just hadn't happened yet when we were there.&nbsp;My late partner [Aric Lasher] was an architect, and was lured back here for a job that led to us making the move to Chicago. Initially, I saw myself as an opportunity to introduce artists to Chicago that might not have had an opportunity to show here–artists I was working with from California, a few international artists. The gallery has two rooms. For the first five years the program revolved around showing one out-of-town artist and one in-town artist.&nbsp;CGN: Tell me about one or two of the long-term relationships you've had with artists over the gallery's tenure.&nbsp;Green: The two that come to mind are Sandra Yagi. She's a Japanese American artist in San Francisco. We've been working with her pretty continuously since the gallery opened. She does sort of fantastical work that combines naturalistic imagery with scientific imagery. She's mainly a painter, but we've done some prints, and she also does works on paper.&nbsp;The other one is Grey James, he's based in L.A. Grey James is a transgender artist who had a previous identity, which was Jennifer Heaslip. I've been working with Grey since probably 2003. He transitioned from female to male in the year 2013, and in that year, we did a show here in Chicago where one of the rooms was the work from the previous identity and the other room was work from the new identity. Even though he is not well known in Chicago, it did really, really, really well. I felt that was a highlight for that sort of relationship between L.A. and Chicago.&nbsp;&nbsp;CGN: Yours is one of the few galleries still operating in the Loop. What made you decide on a downtown space, rather than a space in the gallery district?&nbsp;Green: Yes, I'm on an upper floor in an office building. When I first moved to Chicago I looked all over. At that time the West Loop was still where lots of galleries were, the West Loop and River North. River North was waning and West Loop was kind of at its peak or near its peak. I couldn't find a space that worked for me. Either the prices were too high or the cost of renovation was too high or just wasn't the right space. I live downtown, and I thought well wouldn't it be nice to just have a place that I can walk to work? My partner who was also an architectural historian made a suggestion to me to look at the street wall of Michigan Avenue across from Grant Park. All of those buildings are designed in such a way that they maximize light and views of the lake, but every one of those buildings has usually a tier in the back that doesn't get any light that's against the brick wall or, you know, it's very dark, and for a gallery that's kind of perfect. So I looked at three or four of the buildings and I found a very good deal in the Willoughby, very, very inexpensive rent at the time, which hasn't really gone up all that much.I also got a little bit tired after being on a street level space in LA. I had a very large space in downtown LA. The majority of people who walked in the door were, you know, just looky-loos and it really felt like the business was changing in such a way because online is such a important way that people look at art and connect with galleries now. I wanted something that was not quite by appointment only, but a destination. The majority of my business is done privately or online or by appointment, but I am open to the public, one day a week. And that balance has worked out really well for me.&nbsp;CGN: What's next for Bert Green Fine Art?Green: In October we open our <a href="https://bgfa.us/resources/bgfa_release_2410.pdf">25th Anniversary show</a>. It's really a look back. It includes people that I've worked with from the beginning and throughout the whole 25-year period, and also includes some artists that I've only started recently working with, a couple of artists in the show that I've maybe only worked with for two or three years. There’s about 30 artists in the show. A good number of them–probably a good half of them–are people that we've published prints with that we don't necessarily represent. People such as Ed Ruscha, John Baldessari, Shepard Fairey, people from California who have bigger names–don’t necessarily exhibit their work, but we’ve worked with them publishing prints. So they'll be in the mix as well. There's a good number of local artists from Chicago, like Industry of the Ordinary and Mac Pierce, who's a recent graduate from SAIC, Mikey Mosher, who's also a recent graduate from SAIC, Morgan Sims, who worked in Chicago for many years before he moved to Philadelphia. Jesse Howards as well. They're all pretty prominently featured. It’s a mix of lots of people, a good look at what the gallery has been doing for 25 years.&nbsp;#&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

Three Chicago Galleries Navigate Their Twenties

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092759/fct4die0mw4qwwcba031.jpg"><figcaption>Artist Paul Nudd’s studio. Photo by Mark Ballogg &nbsp;</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;By JACKIE LEWIS&nbsp;When we hear ‘make space’ it can imply the act of a preparatory welcome, a decluttering of old things in anticipation of readying for something new. But space for making can signify an environment for creativity, in which something is forged from nothing. To enter that space is to be committed to contributing something tangible. This fall, photographer Mark Ballogg will exhibit a new body of work at ALMA Art and Interiors based on his book Making Space, which depicts Chicago artists and their studios, capturing their methods, processes and works in progress. Created over the course of six years, Ballogg’s book explores the studios and thoughts of 113 Chicago artists in 94 color photographs and 76 quotes, selected from over 4,000 images generated from 166 studio visits. The exhibition, also titled Making Space, features 30 large-scale photographs, displayed in conversation with a collection of finished work from the artists featured in those images. CGN spoke with Ballogg as he prepared for the exhibition’s opening in November.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092760/epvvaqtcyqpgswvqg8ty.jpg"><figcaption>Mark Ballogg</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;CGN: Tell me a bit about your artistic background and how you chose photography as your medium.Mark Ballogg: My exposure to art was sporadic. For a time, I lived in a home filled with art, and early on I could render most any object faithfully, but I lacked a consistent artistic focus. In 1974 I purchased a Nikon camera to photograph my drawings and quickly realized that formal instruction could help me develop my photographic technique. I enrolled in a photography class at Columbia College Chicago, which nurtured my lifelong passion. Capturing a photograph created a serene moment of total focus, uplifting me when I sensed I was seeing something for the first time. That discovery, in some small way, momentarily completed me.&nbsp;CGN: Your book “Making Space” captures scenes from dozens of different Chicago artists’ studios. What drew you to this subject matter?MB: In October 2017 I was invited by a friend, Jeffrey Goldstein, to visit Richard Hunt’s studio. Richard’s cavernous space in an old CTA power station was filled with massive abstract sculptures in various stages of completion, alongside maquettes, tools, and multiple mounds of scrap metal. I was mesmerized. This experience happened while I was searching for a concept for a new body of work, and photographing Chicago artists’ studios seemed promising. After researching several books on artists’ studios, I felt confident that I could create work that was uniquely my own to add to that oeuvre.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092760/txgdqochjbglor4nstih.jpg"><figcaption>A detail showing Barbara Crane’s studio. Photo by Mark Ballogg.</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;CGN: Do you feel this project connects with prior subjects or is it a divergence from your usual work?MB: I have worked as a commercial architectural photographer for nearly 40 years in Chicago and across the country. Interior photography is a primary aspect of my commercial work. Artist studios are primarily interior spaces, but Making Space is solely defined by my personal vision unconstrained by a client’s direction. I tried to make photographs that transcend documentary, to elevate the image to a new level of emotional and intellectual vibrancy, to arrange and distill complex disparate elements into a dynamic whole. Some detail shots taken out of context don’t necessarily even read as an artist’s studio. I forced myself to make photographs that made me uncomfortable, to push my work forward.&nbsp;CGN: In a city filled with so much art, how did you determine which artists you would visit and capture?MB: I have also collected art, and through collecting I have cultivated friends in the arts. Initially I scheduled visits with some of those friends and at each visit I asked for other artist recommendations. My final selections were based on an artist’s accessibility and my desire to capture the diversity and flavor of the Chicago art scene. I photographed a balance of artists in all aspects of gender, practice, and defining circumstances.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092761/qbxknevlirw6jgh5grrj.jpg"><figcaption>Artist Wesley Kimler’s studio. Photo by Mark Ballogg &nbsp;</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;CGN: Tell me about these studio visits. What transpired between you and these artists to create such a collaborative book?MB: Each studio visit consisted of about two hours of photography and one hour of a recorded conversation with the artist discussing all matters of art. On most occasions, the artist was in the studio working and/or watching me photograph their studio. I approached each studio without preconceived ideas, responding intuitively to the space. Often the photography would inform the direction of our conversations. The collaborative nature grew from the artists’ generous willingness to allow me into their studio and my respect for their space and work.&nbsp;CGN: Have you found connections between an artist’s physical space and their relationship with their artistic practice and philosophy?&nbsp;MB: The Making Space photographs of studios offer unique and shared aspects of an artist’s practice. In some cases, they are discreet. For example, In Anne Harris’s studio photograph, I was drawn to the word “eyelid” drawn on the wall. When Anne spent about 15 minutes talking about the significance that eyelids play in her art, I figured I’d been right to notice. Others are more obvious: the massive sculptural work of Richard Hunt dictated the scale of his studio. But yes, many studio photographs are defined by studio size, space location, functional design, furnishing, tools, and the work itself, all offering insights into the artist’s practice.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092762/aaokgf9rgwxueje2wej4.jpg"><figcaption>The late Richard Hunt's studio. Photo by Mark Ballogg &nbsp;</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;CGN: This fall Making Space, the exhibition, will be at ALMA Art and Interiors and include 31 of your studio photographs alongside 31 works from the related artists. Was this also a collaborative experience?MB: These collaborations were expressed by the artists’ willingness to be included in the exhibition and submit work for the it. In addition, we are planning a series of events that bring these artists into the gallery to discuss their practices and their Making Space experience.&nbsp;&nbsp;CGN: How do your photographs work in conversation with these artists’ pieces?MB: I hope to create a symbiotic relationship between the artist’s work and my photographs of their studio. At times, the photograph illustrates the artist’s work. On other occasions, the actual construction of the photograph reveals one aspect of the artist’s practice. The studio space itself can also be a reflection of the artist’s personality.I think the total impact of viewing the photo and the work is greater than viewing each separately. I hesitate to predict exactly how that relationship plays out, but I’m excited to see how the audience reacts.&nbsp;Making SpaceCurated by Mark Ballogg, Kimberly Oliva and Gosia Korsakowski&nbsp;ALMA Art and Interiors – 3636 S. Iron, Chicago (60609)Opening Reception, Friday, Nov 8, 5–9pm. On view Nov 8–Feb 28, 2025Details at <a href="https://www.almaartandinteriors.com">almaartandinteriors.com</a> and on Instagram <a href="https://www.instagram.com/makingspace_book/">@makingspace_book</a>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092764/eaq4hglob3ucy90wg7rb.jpg"><figcaption>Artist Renee Robbins's studio. Photo by Mark Ballogg &nbsp;</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;</body></html>

The Magic of Making: Mark Ballogg’s Studio Views

<html><head></head><body>CGN works with dozens of art world leaders, creatives and supporters all year long. Each one has a different perspective on the industry in general as well as their own role within it. CGN is pleased to share many of these insights and personal stories in a new online series. Our first interview is with Natasha Egan, Executive Director of the Museum of Contemporary Photography.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092759/ye0bav2mr20ydcfvoesr.jpg"><figcaption>Headshot taken by Brook Hummer Photography&nbsp;</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;By ABBEY KOTNatasha Egan has served as the MoCP’s executive director since 2011, formerly filling the roles of associate director and curator. This week, we sat down with her to discuss the inner workings of an establishment that combines industry professionals with working students.&nbsp; &nbsp;Chicago Gallery News: While most museums focus on education, the MoCP is unique in that it is connected to a college and staffs many of its students. What do you feel some of the benefits are when working with students and emerging scholars in a professional museum setting?&nbsp;&nbsp;Natasha Egan: MoCP’s affiliation with Columbia College Chicago is central to our mission of preparing students for the professional world. Our student staff come from various disciplines at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, and our team mentors them, providing valuable real-world experience. We expect a high degree of professionalism from our students, and they consistently meet this standard. For example, during our #AiWeiwei exhibition, Ai Weiwei’s team was impressed that our preparators were all student employees overseen by professional staff.Many of our student staff pursue careers in the museum and art fields. For instance, Greg Harris, a former student of mine who worked on our operations team, went on to earn his master’s degree from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and became the Assistant Curator at the DePaul Art Museum. He is now the Curator of Photography at the High Museum in Atlanta. Greg recently returned to Columbia College to give a lecture and critique graduate student work, creating a full-circle moment. He even mentioned that he still carries his MoCP tote bag.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092760/fyonfgmrjkykw19wzjrs.jpg"><figcaption>Terry Evans conducting a print viewing in the MoCP’s print study room.&nbsp;</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;CGN: As the executive director of the museum, you oversee all aspects of operation, from print viewings to installation plans; are there any recent challenges you can recall that allowed for creative problem-solving or a lesson learned?&nbsp;NE: MoCP has a small but highly capable professional staff, each overseeing different departments such as operations, education, marketing, curatorial, and collections management. Despite recent budgetary constraints, our team has adapted by embracing changes in their job descriptions. This flexibility allows us to remain nimble and continue producing top-tier exhibitions and programs under adverse circumstances.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092760/uh30lcqatylxo1nkrazj.jpg"><figcaption>From the Summer 2024 show “Captured Earth”</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;CGN: Your background is in higher education and fine arts photography, with an impressive and deep connection to Columbia College Chicago, working as an educator in the school’s photography department and holding the position of associate director at the MoCP for over ten years. Are there any surprising ways your knowledge of fine arts and background in education has translated into your time in the administrative side of the museum world?&nbsp;NE: During my tenure at MoCP, I have curated over 50 exhibitions and collaborated with artists and institutions worldwide. Teaching at Columbia College Chicago for over a decade, both on campus and abroad in China, exposed me to diverse curatorial styles and institutional operations. These experiences have been invaluable as I now focus on strategic initiatives for MoCP’s future as Executive Director.&nbsp;CGN: The turnaround time between shows at the MoCP tends to be fairly quick, with the gap between your current and next show set for only twelve days. What moments do you look forward to during the installation and execution of a new exhibition?NE: After months or even years of developing exhibitions, it is always rewarding to see them materialize. The installation phase provides a deeper understanding of the exhibition beyond its conceptual phase. For students, it is a time to meet artists, learn more about the exhibited works, and develop new skills. It is also exciting to witness the public's reaction to the exhibition for the first time.&nbsp;&nbsp;CGN: What is one piece of advice that you would give to someone wanting to get started in the museum world?NE: Immerse yourself in the art world by visiting a variety of institutions, from the largest museums to the smallest galleries. Smaller museums often influence larger institutions. Additionally, visit artist spaces and nonprofits that offer unique perspectives outside traditional museum settings. Take the time to have informal conversations with art professionals to determine if this path is right for you.&nbsp;For more information about MoCP and its programming visit <a href="https://www.mocp.org">mocp.org</a>#&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

CGN Insights: MoCP's Natasha Egan

<html><head></head><body>*This interview appears in CGN's fall 2024 magazine. To subscribe to the print edition <a href="https://835ba3.myshopify.com">click here</a>.*&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092759/u4e5j23fa7naks81lppc.jpg"><figcaption>Georgie Miller, Pete’s Wild Party For Him and His Friends, 36 x 48”, 2024. Collage on Paper. &nbsp;</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;By GINNY VAN ALYEAGeorgie Miller is definitely from Texas. When I ask her, over lunch one sweltering day when I can feel heat emanating from an expanse of baking Chicago concrete, if she’s been enjoying the summer, she doesn’t mention the 90° temperature, even though it’s all I can think about. Instead she tells me she’s just gotten back from Nicaragua, and she’s off to Montana in a few days. The jet-setting, she explains, is for her job as Travel Editor and Digital Strategy Director for Texas Based PaperCity. But when she’s between trips, she is working on creating her art and experimenting with how to get it in front of a wider audience. &nbsp;As I melt in my chair Miller keeps her cool, rattling off a list of area galleries she has been following, as well as arts groups and residencies she has been undauntedly applying to. She says she has averaged five residency applications or group show submissions a month for the past year, with five successes so far in 2024: one in Austin, Texas, another in Houston, and three in Chicago. Because Miller lives in both Austin and Chicago, she plans to continue taking advantage building relationships in two gallery markets.&nbsp;While Miller has been fearlessly sending out applications, she confesses she is learning as she goes.&nbsp;“I don’t have a real body of work quite yet, so by applying I’m also trying to figure out what sticks as well as what it is I’m working on next,” Miller admits. “Eventually I’d love to work with a dealer who can help me focus and choose a direction, because right now I have several.”&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092760/otkik9jnopjpdeeautia.jpg"><figcaption>Georgie Miller next to her piece that was part of a group exhibiton earlier this year at ARC Gallery, Chicago.</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;Conventional wisdom has been that navigating the art world is part cold-calling, part self-help. An artist creates a body of work and spends time getting to know various gallery programs in order to decide whether or not there is a fit for their own art. Then an artist must attempt many introductions, steeling themself for individual rejections before going back to fine-tune what they present to galleries or collectors. Artists also have to contend with a limited market of operating galleries that are even accepting unsolicited applications. While much of these truths still hold, in 2024 artists can choose to set up a basic website or even just a social media presence solely to push their precious art out of the nest and in front of millions of content-hungry viewers, at once marketing and selling while also soliciting feedback and gaining visibility, essentially learning to fly in real time. Miller says she has enjoyed going solo so far, prolifically creating work and posting individual pieces as she completes them, as the follower engagement has helped her look at her work the way others might, and she’s also secured a couple commissions along the way.&nbsp;For now Miller works exclusively in collage, an accessible but often labor intensive medium. She says she chose to work in a photography-based version because it feels like the right vehicle to help her present her exploration of indulgence and consumption in a colorful and appealing way. Her larger-scale tablescapes incorporate light colorways, even glitter, as she creates tableaus of cigarette-filled dinner parties and card games. No iPhones on the tables here, just martinis and matchbooks. Mah-jong has even made an appearance. There’s nothing conspicuously sinister about folded hands of cards and the spilled dregs of a wine bottle, but Miller acknowledges there are various perspectives one might have, depending on which gatherings or social situations come to mind when viewing the work–the laughter-filled ones, the awkward ones, or the ones that should have ended before the tempers flared.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092760/z3s7zmyvwsn409yvdyr8.jpg"><figcaption>Georgie Miller, Petalscapes, Texas and Chicago No 1, 2024.Collage on Paper.</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;You can tell Miller has reached a point where she is ready to push into new themes and alternative tonalities with her most recent work, which focuses on still lifes of flower arrangements made from snaps of Chicago streets and skyscrapers – 875 N. Michigan, Water Tower Place, a Lakeview apartment building. The palettes are a bit forboding, stormier compared to the lakeside vibes of a relaxing weekend with friends during a house party. Says Miller, “I’m dropping in photos, which is different for me, and these pieces have a darker, more tactile look. I’m trying out styles and seeing if they connect.”&nbsp;Process is always critical to an artist’s practice, and though Miller is young and juggling art-making along with another full-time job, I can tell she is having fun now, and she will continue to enjoy each layer of the creative process as it comes.#&nbsp;<a href="https://www.georgiemillerart.com">georgiemillerart.com</a></body></html>

A Young Artist Learns as She Works: Georgie Miller

<html><head></head><body>*This interview and is from CGN's fall 2024 magazine. To subscribe to the print edition <a href="https://835ba3.myshopify.com">click here</a>.*&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092759/abkndwr35643txbilvab.jpg"></figure>By GINNY VAN ALYEAThe art world is ever changing, but when many people consider the arc of the gallery scene in Chicago, they still think (or hear stories) of River North in the 1980s, when it was a new city neighborhood bursting with dozens of art spaces and the buzzy people who flocked to them on opening nights. Gallerist Carl Hammer’s name and career is inextricably linked to those early days in the art world and much of what has come in the four and a half decades since.Hammer opened his gallery, then called Hammer and Hammer / American Folk Art, in 1979 at 620 N. Michigan Ave., in what was known as the Breskin building, which housed numerous other galleries at the time, including Richard Gray, and other prominent early names. He moved a few blocks west to Wells Street in the ‘80s and was part of the original 16 galleries that created the River North Gallery District. Hammer’s gallery remains at the same historic Wells Street address today.Hammer’s journey to being one of the most well-known dealers in Chicago started before he was part of the art market at all: when he was teaching English at Evanston High School during the Civil Rights era and the Vietnam War. Hammer and his wife at the time became interested in collecting art and were inspired to focus on grassroots artists because of the country’s political and social climate. Collecting art while traveling during school breaks led to a deeper, but still idealistic, exploration of what grassroots art meant, and those out of the way road trips put Hammer in touch with self-taught and folk artists, who were eventually labeled “Outsider.” Hammer felt called to enter the business of selling the art he so admired, and his life in the gallery world followed, featuring exhibitions of work by noted Outsider artists like Lee Godie and Henry Darger, as well as contemporary art by Michael Hernandez de Luna, and graphic novelist Chris Ware.&nbsp;Hammer told me a few years ago he considered himself a bit of an outsider, since he never had formal art training, but I think it’s Hammer’s continual curiosity, combined with his affection for artists and collectors, that has given him 45 years both inside and outside the art scene, with more to come.&nbsp;The gallery will celebrate it’s 45th anniversary this fall with an exhibition of work by Chris “CJ” Pyle, opening September 6, and a show with David Sharpe opening November 1.&nbsp;Details at <a href="https://www.carlhammergallery.com">carlhammergallery.com</a>&nbsp;</body></html>

Carl Hammer: 45 Years of Steady Change

<html><head></head><body>*This interview appears in CGN's fall 2024 magazine. To subscribe to the print edition <a href="https://835ba3.myshopify.com">click here</a>.*&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092759/pj5orybf29krve1vhj3n.jpg"><figcaption>Artwork pictured on walls, starting from left of cabinet: Jason Lazurus, Cody Hudson, Jason Pickleman, Jeroen Nelemans, Adam Pendelton, Aron Gent, Brian Kapernekas, Laura Letinsky, Loyola Condenser, Stephen Eichorn, Tony Tasset, Dorothee Joachim, David Salkin (in background through door). Photo by CGN. &nbsp;</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;By BIANCA BOVA“The place that art holds is sacred ground,” Michelle Edwards tells me. An established collector, fashion icon to those in the know, cultural patron, and–more recently–a realtor, Edwards’ reverential attitude towards art, if not life itself, is immediately discernible upon entering her home. Seated in her living room, surrounded by sweeping 47th floor views that look north over Grant Park and east out onto Lake Michigan, there is a serenity to the space, despite the fact that its entirety is densely arrayed with objects of all modalities. The predominant feature is, of course, the art collection, alongside which can be found selections of transferware, Wedgewood, and silver service pieces. The furnishings are lush, and thoughtfully selected. In less careful hands, the aggregate of it might overwhelm, but here, to the contrary, Edwards has created an oasis. She concedes to having had some help, noting, “I have for many years worked with Patrick DiMichele on my spaces. I won’t–can’t–live in an environment he has not done.”*&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092759/jj1w5zmvajmxseujevfc.jpg"><figcaption>Michelle Edwards. Artwork pictured on wall: Jason Lazarus; Monika Bartholomé; in background, sculpture by Greg Stimac. Photo by CGN. &nbsp;</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;Edwards is not a lifelong art collector, or (to my surprise) even a lifelong art enthusiast. Her first love was fashion, with deep roots in the storied Oak Street boutique Ultimo.&nbsp;“During high school I was a waitress at the Oak Room in Marshall Fields in the Oak Brook Mall, and I would save my tips, then I would go into the city, to Ultimo, and buy stuff on sale. I just loved magazines, French Vogue was my favorite. And I knew that Ultimo had Norma Kamali and they had Thierry Mugler, so I would go there,” she tells me, “When I got out of college, I was trying to figure out what I would do, and I interviewed across all these different jobs. Then I went down to Ultimo one day and they just hired me. You weren’t allowed to talk to customers for, like, six months. It was really this apprentice program. By the time I left, I ran the whole thing: men’s department, women’s department, all of it. I do have a tendency to end up running the show, whatever I do.”“You have to understand that it was the equivalent of carrier pigeons compared to online shopping today. The access just wasn’t the same. There were really only four or five seminal boutiques in the world at that time, of which Ultimo was one. You relied on these boutiques for taste and for the edit. If it wasn’t in those stores, you didn’t need to have it, was the feeling.” &nbsp;&nbsp;<blockquote>“I can’t garden, I’m not a gardener. So this is my garden. The amount of time that I spend interacting with the art–and everything in my home–it brings me so much joy. I stop and look at it. I spend time with different pieces. I’m tending my garden.”– Michelle Edwards</blockquote>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092760/zzxvaj0do8felhuglh5s.jpg" 2.jpg=""><figcaption>Edwards's sitting room features a black and white photograph by Lenny Kravitz, who turned the camera back on the paparazzi that always followed him. Photo by CGN. &nbsp;</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;It was through her years at the boutique, from 1984 to 1999, that Edwards came into contact with the art world.&nbsp;“When Art Chicago came around, it was a big deal at the boutique. It was the art crowd that traveled globally, and of course, they were shoppers. Everyone would come through that weekend.”When Edwards herself visited Art Chicago in the late 1980’s she acquired her first piece of art, a small painting by the English artist John Virtue. It still has pride of place in her home.&nbsp;“It was my first time ever at an art fair. I was with Lynn Sable, who was from Ultimo, and her brother is the art dealer Sean Kelly. He was there, and he was very passionate about his goal to have a gallery. And I don’t know–it was just infectious, it was so exciting. And this John Virtue, I just loved it.”&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092761/xdgbg7uvf17e0di7fqfi.jpg"><figcaption>Photo by CGN. &nbsp;</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;Despite this initial acquisition, buying work at fairs didn’t become a habit for Edwards, who still prefers a quieter approach.&nbsp;“When it comes to collecting, I’m not an art fair girl,” she admits, “I like to go for the excitement, the community. That’s fun, but I can’t do: big, little, far, near, color, everything all at once. I get a headache. That’s why I love the gallery experience. I love a curated little show. I love a conversation.”In fact, the acquisition of the Virtue did not give immediate way to collecting as a practice, or sustained participation in the art world. It wasn’t until the late 1990’s, after leaving Ultimo and being introduced to the Society for Contemporary Art (SCA) at the Art Institute of Chicago that her involvement became a more serious and intentional pursuit.&nbsp;“I had a very good friend who is active in the art world globally, who used to be in Chicago, but has since moved to Los Angeles. She knew the SCA and she said, ‘I want you to join this group because they’re really good.’ When I joined, I did not like contemporary art. I did not understand contemporary art. I thought, ‘My dog can do that, my child can do that.’ I just didn’t understand it. But through attending lectures and realizing how unbelievably highly educated these artists are, and how thoughtful the work is–even if it’s work I don’t respond to–just to hear their story is so special to me. I started to go once a month, then I went to literally everything. At first, I didn’t talk to anybody. It took me a really long time to even decide to go to a dinner. I was hooked though. The first talk I went to was Gaylen Gerber, who of course spoke about [the color] gray. I remember going home and trying to tell people about this brilliant lecture, how thought provoking it was. I always feel bigger, better, fuller, richer for having heard someone speak about their work.” Her involvement quickly deepened as she joined the organization’s board of directors.&nbsp;“Eventually they started to notice that I was attending with regularity. I believe it was Jay Dandy who called me then and said he’d like me to be on the board. And I said, ‘Well, what do I have to do?’ And he said, ‘Oh, you might have to make a batch of cookies or something like that.’ So, you know, a four year presidency term, four fundraising benefits, I don’t know how many years as secretary, three years as the acquisition chair, and over 20 years in total on the board later, I still haven’t made a batch of cookies. But it did change my life.”&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092762/k6ntawhvysx8smsaglj3.jpg"><figcaption>A view looking north from Edwards's apartment. Photo by CGN.</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;As her long tenure on the SCA’s board comes to a close, Edwards continues to find new opportunities to support other institutions in the city, including the Museum of Contemporary Photography (MoCP), with whom she has recently become involved.&nbsp;“I appreciate the accessibility of [MoCP Director] Natasha Egan. The ability to just speak to her, and that she just is this endless stream of brilliance, but so accessible. It’s really magic. It’s still a small institution, and it would be really fun to see them grow.” she adds.&nbsp;As much as Edwards’ art collection has been led by her relationships with artists, dealers, and curators, it has also been informed by the spaces that have housed it. For years, she resided in the Kenwood neighborhood, in a historic home designed by famed Chicago architect Howard Van Doren Shaw, a leader in the American Craftsman movement. Built in 1904, the 10,000 square foot English country-style house sits on three quarters of an acre.&nbsp;“It was a very experiential house,” Edwards tells me, “Living in Kenwood, too–it’s the cradle of art intellects in Chicago in some ways, and that was in the air. I loved that experience, but this–this apartment–this is where I belong. I see the collection differently now, because I can literally see it. There’s daylight. The light is different in the morning than it is in the evening. The light is different in the summer than it is in the winter. So the work also changes, in a way it just didn’t in a dark, brick and limestone house.”&nbsp;As for the decision to also move the antiques into the new, more modern space, Edwards says with a shrug, “I didn’t think twice. There’s just that richness to it. I can’t live without this layer of richness. I think there’s this rogue gene I have, it’s the only way I can explain it.”&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092763/ozqzgrdcf4xcf4y4njrv.jpg"><figcaption>Pictured above: Nancy Rosen, Rose Edwards, Gary Rattigan, Ken Fandell, Jenny Shanahan, Andrei Rabodzee, random broquante find (not Picasso (!), Instagram (fur). Photo by CGN. &nbsp;</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;She points to several objects arranged on the coffee table between us, “This is my grandmother’s Bible. These were my great-grandfather’s buttons from his war jersey. Here are railroad spikes from when the SCA toured the 606. There really isn’t anything in this entire apartment–in my entire collecting existence–that there wasn’t some experience that it ties back to. A conversation, whether it was with the artist or with a gallerist, an event or a trip, or a memory of some kind.”&nbsp;Though her collection in some ways feels like an encyclopedic look at Chicago’s art scene in the past 30 years, there is a distinctive eye guiding it that mirrors the discerning eclecticism evident in all that Edwards involves herself with. Works by everyone from Laura Letinsky, Nathaniel Robinson, Jason Lazarus, Aron Gent, and Jenny Shanahan, to Judy Ledgerwood, Tony Tasset, Cowboy, Robert Brown Jr., and the Loyola Condenser may be found, alongside the occasional work by Lenny Kravitz or Ken Fandell.&nbsp;“I’ve never been a “checklist collector”–’Oh, I’ve got one of those, I got one of these, two of these’–those collectors working their way up the ladder hoping that they then get access to better stuff. I just don’t work like that,” she tells me, continuing, “And I’m not an impulse buyer. I have to go home and see how I feel about it in the morning. What I now have, what has developed over time, is just absolute confidence in what I collect. Plenty of works have come from galleries or from auctions, but I also have, for instance, a painting that I acquired off of Instagram, which was painted by a monkey. I love that monkey, I love the painting. I have a big, furry version of the Mona Lisa. I love the Mona Lisa, I have a real thing about the Mona Lisa, and I am also a fan of Sylvie Fleury’s fur paintings, so when I saw this, I thought–well, I just have to have it.”&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092764/ptg9d2vieelcw19ab1rj.jpg"><figcaption>A detailed view of works in Edwards's living room. Photo by CGN. &nbsp;</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;This nonhierarchical attitude is typical of Edwards, who acknowledges, “It’s paralleled by how I orient my wardrobe. People assume everything I wear is something, but it may not be. I have a jacket everyone raves over that looks couture, but it is, in fact, a Zara swimsuit cover up. Same principle as art. It’s confidence in what you have. It’s the eye.”&nbsp;Whether it is her eye, her confidence, or, as she puts it, her “rogue gene” that acts as a guiding principle, Edwards can be counted on to bring the full impact of her experience to all that she does.&nbsp;“Now I’m engaged with the real estate thing. A year and half ago I went to work with @properties Christie’s International Real Estate. The thing is, I’ve lived in a Lincoln Park studio, and a Bucktown bungalow. I lived in a greystone in Wicker Park and in a significant Kenwood country house mansion. Now here I am in a contemporary highrise on the lakefront. I’ve been in so many properties. I know why apartments work, and why houses work, and I know why they don’t work. It’s not unrelated to the way I understand fashion, or the way I understand collecting art.&nbsp;I love to tend the flock, and I really enjoy guiding my people through incredibly emotional purchases, as with the passage of life that comes with finding a home,” she says.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092765/eeu1mb5pqfvxrriofwrb.jpg"><figcaption>Pictured above: Robert Burnier; Laurie Simmons. Photo by CGN. &nbsp;</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;It is in Edwards’ own home that this ethos is exemplified, even celebrated. To move through its rooms is to be engaged, again and again, not just by the artwork, or by the furnishings, but by the stories that they each plainly tell. Great art and beautiful homes may be hallmarks of metropolitan life, but far fewer and farther between are such earnestly intentional collections, and striking, deeply personal domestic spaces as the ones Edwards has devoted herself to cultivating.&nbsp;“I can’t garden, I’m not a gardener. So this is my garden,” She says, “The amount of time that I spend interacting with the art–and everything in my home–it brings me so much joy. I stop and look at it. I spend time with different pieces. I’m tending my garden.”&nbsp;&nbsp;#&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092766/ejcukrtugtvana8ahiep.jpg"><figcaption>Photo by CGN. &nbsp;</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;This interview is featured in CGN's fall 2024 magazine. To receive a print copy please <a href="https://835ba3.myshopify.com">click here to subscribe.</a>&nbsp;</body></html>

Nurturing  a Garden of Art: Michelle Edwards Tends to Her Collection

<html><head></head><body>Fall is a busy season of art, offering new gallery and museum exhibitions. the Art world figures working hard behind the scenes give us so much to look forward to. we spoke to five (technically six this time!) art community figures about what they’re excited about now and looking forward to next.The following preview is one of five conversations that appear in our fall 2024 magazine. To receive a copy of the print edition&nbsp;<a href="https://835ba3.myshopify.com/">click here.&nbsp;</a>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092759/xaieeyz5sb6wxyz7a5fc.jpg"></figure>&nbsp;Lisa Key – Director, <a href="https://driehausmuseum.org">Driehaus Museum</a>“There’s so much we’re looking forward to—and much of it involves capitalizing on our recent addition of the Murphy Auditorium building to our campus. On October 24, we open Photographing Frank Lloyd. The exhibition focuses on the lesser-known role photography played in Wright’s work and success as an architect and includes his own photography and that of esteemed artists like Chicago’s own Hedrich-Blessing.&nbsp;Our Free Third Wednesday Nights series has been a big hit, too, and we anticipate its continued success this fall.&nbsp;Finally, this holiday season we’re turning the Murphy Auditorium into a holiday market that will be a delight for children of all ages!”#&nbsp;Read Fall 2024's 5 to Talk to with:<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2024/8/anticipating-a-season-of-art-five-to-talk-to-jessica-cochran-and-angee-lennard-process-process">Jessica Cochran and Angee Lennard – Process/Process&nbsp;</a><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2024/8/anticipating-a-season-of-art-five-to-talk-to-jake-troyli">Jake Troyli – Artist</a><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2024/9/anticipating-a-season-of-art-five-to-talk-to-anne-loucks">Anne Loucks – Anne Loucks Gallery</a><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2024/9/anticipating-a-season-of-art-five-to-talk-to-emma-mckee">Emma McKee – Chicago Dir., Mariane Ibrahim</a></body></html>