<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418923/gejffizxdyxatgbuvb51.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/nancy-rosen-monalisa-rosen-cut-paste-paint">Nancy Rosen &amp; Monalisa Rosen: Cut, Paste, Paint</a>Opening: Saturday, June 26, 1 – 4&nbsp;pmGallery Studio Oh!The artist behind Netflix's Original Series Grace &amp; Frankie, Nancy Rosen, joins us again for another showing of her newest works alongside her daughter-in-law, Monalisa Rosen.Nancy Rosen works on a variety of surfaces. She creates her images with the application of oil bars, china markers, graphite and oil paint, using live models. With her complex backgrounds she accentuates the quiet inner beauty of her figure and draws life itself into her subject.Monalisa Rosen creates mixed media collages in the form of silhouetted portraits with the use of fabrics, paper, oil pastels and paint. They are mainly made with leftover scrap fabrics discarded after making masks.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418924/k95atyk904bbqyooyjj6.png"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/karen-reimer-sea-change">Karen Reimer: Sea Change</a>Exhibition Begins June 26Monique Meloche GalleryThe overall effect of Reimer's conceptual technique creates an optical meditation on the larger collapse of cultural foundations and our capacity to coexist within the earth’s ecosystems.&nbsp;Each complex embroidery utilizes found textiles, a physical manifestation of an ethical salvaging of materials; the materials have been dyed and re-dyed, reconfigured, and re-sewn, they represent the many iterations of life and the infinite potential for plurality of existence.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418925/u29zpuyegsmkggqskdef.png"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/antonius-bui-the-detour-is-to-be-where-we-are">Antonius Bui: The Detour Is To Be Where We Are</a>Exhibition Begins June 26Monique Meloche Gallerymoniquemeloche gallery is pleased to present&nbsp;The Detour Is To Be Where We Are, an exhibition of intricate paper cutting works by Antonius Bui. This is Bui’s first solo show with the gallery.Antonius Bui (b. 1992, Bronx, NY) is a queer, gender-nonbinary, Vietnamese American artist. Their intensive paper-cutting process is exceptionally meditative; each sheet of paper represents an archive of memories and oral histories, mirroring the intergenerational trauma that so many refugee communities are faced with.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418926/ckbklkhhwwud3ajzt7ia.png"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/ricardo-manuel-diaz-and-margarita-fainshtein">Ricardo Manuel Díaz and Margarita Fainshtein</a>Opening: June 26 &amp; 27, 12 – 4&nbsp;pmUkrainian Institute of Modern Art (UIMA)The Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art is honored to present paintings by Chicago based artist Ricardo Manuel Díaz and printed works by Nova Scotian artist Margarita Fainshtein in The Horizon is a Circle, a two person exhibition that contemplates displacement, a sense of place, and what home means across geographic borders and cultures.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418926/ct71yfrdbvakcwkxxmm3.png"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/the-happening">The Happening</a>Exhibition Begins June 26FLXST ContemporaryIn our every day, small gestures of life occur in time invoking the future while repeating moments of the past. Inspired by the “happenings” first coined and performed by Allan Kaprow and artists in the US and abroad during the late 1950s and 1960s, “The Happening” at FLXST Contemporary creates both space and time that enables viewers to visualize synchrony of actions, intentions, and movements among artists exhibited together working across a variety of mediums however disparate their backgrounds, ideas, or social leanings might be. Collectively, the artists presented in “The Happening” explore forward-thinking practices and techniques often taken for granted, underappreciated, or misunderstood in their presentations and performances.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

New Exhibitions Start June 26

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418924/rzmlar4mowkwhaliis2t.png"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/nicholas-krushenick-1968-1978-a-decade-of-prints">Nicholas Krushenick 1968–1978: A Decade of Prints</a>Exhibition Begins June 25PICKLEMANKrushenick’s seven prints displayed at PICKLEMAN are like passing clouds; they resemble whatever you want them to. One of them looks like a zipper. Another’s a folded folio. Next to that is the sawtooth blade. Or at least that’s what I think. See them, and you can decide for yourself.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418925/on5xy93ogcgkuagqk0rj.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/monica-j-brown">Monica J. Brown | Roots, Branches: Ancestor(s) Stones</a>Opening: Friday, June 25, 5 – 8&nbsp;pmARC GalleryAncestor(s) Stones are intuition mining tools. They represent ancient wisdom, antiquity. They are the knowing inherent in having bourn witness to the ages. They align with the string of memory that lives in DNA, passed down through generations. They represent grounding, leverage, or steps to take. The stones have taken many shapes…&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418925/fog7o7x4b3y9liqgzllr.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/residual-marks">Residual Marks</a>Opening: Friday, June 25, 3 – 8&nbsp;pmHatch ProjectsChicago Artists Coalition is pleased to present <a href="https://news.chicagoartistscoalition.org/t/i-l-muyjyuy-ftuikdrju-j/">Residual Marks</a>, a dual exhibition curated by HATCH 2019-2020 residents&nbsp;<a href="https://news.chicagoartistscoalition.org/t/i-l-muyjyuy-ftuikdrju-t/">Fabiola Tosi</a> and <a href="https://news.chicagoartistscoalition.org/t/i-l-muyjyuy-ftuikdrju-i/">Stephanie Koch</a>.The exhibitions are presented under a shared conceptual framework of absence and emergence. What remains and what endures?&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418926/wmeepgew8wvwkth0xnir.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/longing-compass">Longing Compass</a>Opening: Friday, June 25, 3 – 8&nbsp;pmBOLT Residency at Chicago Artists CoalitionChicago Artists Coalition is pleased to present <a href="https://news.chicagoartistscoalition.org/t/i-l-muyjyuy-ftuikdrju-b/">Longing Compass</a>, a solo exhibition of new works by the BOLT artist-in-residence, <a href="https://news.chicagoartistscoalition.org/t/i-l-muyjyuy-ftuikdrju-n/">Karen Dana Cohen</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418927/ogimi6yhu3yzttvb2qyu.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/our-planet-ourselves">Our Planet: Ourselves</a>Opening: Friday, June 25, 5 – 8&nbsp;pmARC Gallery&nbsp;Spring is here! And the beauty of our natural world is ever more apparent. Green shoots are poking through the crust, and once again the earth is warming in the sun. However “the warming earth” carries a more somber message as well – a reminder of the fruits of our greed, the fragility of our planet, the reality of our losses. And, as we face the urgency to respond, we raise our artistic voices – to celebrate, to mourn, to activate, and to contemplate how we live together in relationship to this one planet we must all share and nurture.&nbsp;“Our Planet: Ourselves,” gives expression to these messages. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

New Exhibitions Start June 25

<html><head></head><body>Chicago exploded with activity last week when the city reached phase 5. It's been a long year, and now that many restrictions are falling away, there are suddenly not enough hours in the day to do everything and see everyone. Traffic is telling that tale minute-by-minute in the city.&nbsp;If you're longing to and able to get away, there are several art exhibitions taking place outside of the City (in Illinois as well as Michigan, Indiana and Wisconsin) that may inspire you to escape for a day or weekend trip this summer.&nbsp;Have a look at the following highlights, and enjoy the return of your freedom this summer (and perhaps a respite from Chicago traffic).– The CGN team&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418923/bicqsxdwqm8pwjaexlps.jpg"></figure><a href="https://krasl.org">Michigan's Krasl Art Center: Art Fair on the Bluff and BLOW-UP</a>The 2021 Krasl Art Fair on the Bluff is back and in person this summer, celebrating artists and the community Saturday, July 10, and Sunday, July 11. Experience the talent of 155 artists from across the United States while enjoying the view and breezes of Lake Michigan and the charm and hospitality of St. Joseph, Michigan. <a href="https://krasl.org/art-fair/event-information/">Tickets start at $5.</a>While you're there, check out <a href="https://krasl.org/art/exhibitions/">BLOW UP II: Inflatable Contemporary Art</a>, an exhibition exploring the medium of inflatable art with imagery that is figurative, conceptual, and abstract. These large-scale inflatable sculptures, conceived by nine artists and art collectives from around the world, connote fun and whimsy, are familiar yet strange, and challenge the definition of art. Here, in an unusual feat, artists use air as an active tool in their work to subvert our perspective and surprise us. Including work by Chromaforms, Sharon Engelstein, FriendsWithYou, Josh Harker, Susan Lee-Chun, Matt Ritchie, Lizabeth Rossof, Jen Stark, and Max Streicher – many of whom have never worked in the inflatable medium previously.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418924/tuhek7gkeaz76fum9lyk.jpg"><figcaption>Roger Brown&nbsp;(American, 1941–1997),&nbsp;Chicago Hit&nbsp;By&nbsp;the Bomb, 1985, oil on canvas, 55&nbsp;×&nbsp;74&nbsp;×&nbsp;3 in. (framed).&nbsp;Indianapolis Museum of Art at&nbsp;Newfields, Promised Gift of Michael J. Robertson and Christopher A.&nbsp;Slapak, TR12054/12&nbsp;© The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the Brown family. Courtesy of Kavi Gupta and Venus Over Manhattan.&nbsp;</figcaption></figure><a href="https://discovernewfields.org/calendar/private-eye-imagist-impulse-chicago-art">Private Eye: The Imagist Impulse in Chicago Art, at Newfields in Indianapolis</a>An expansive exhibition in Indianapolis features <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2017/4/the-personal-art-of-collecting">a collection profiled in the summer 2017 issue</a> of CGN. In the mid-1960s, a cadre of adventurous young artists began exhibiting at the Hyde Park Art Center in Chicago.&nbsp; With myriad influences from Surrealism and non-Western art to comic books and popular culture, their audacious, highly idiosyncratic, and personal approach set them apart from contemporaries working on either the East or West Coast.&nbsp; By the mid-1970s, this loose-knit assembly was commonly referred to as the Imagists.&nbsp;Now, more than 50 years after their first appearance, the Chicago Imagists are regarded as among the most important postwar American artists.&nbsp;Private Eye: The Imagist Impulse in Chicago Art&nbsp;is focused on works by artists who comprise the original Imagist exhibition groups along with independent artists who shared their iconoclastic sensibility.&nbsp; Also featured will be works by Chicago-based artists from the preceding generation, known as the Monster Roster, and a complementary selection of younger, Imagist-influenced artists.The exhibition, on view through December 5, is drawn entirely from the collection of Drs. Michael Robertson and Christopher Slapak, one of the most comprehensive private collections of Chicago Imagist art, which has been promised to the IMA with some pieces already donated to the Museum.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418925/sa7su9hoyx9sm1xevr16.jpg"></figure><a href="https://rockfordartmuseum.org/exhibition/now">Rockford Art Museum: Technicolor Constellations: Tales from the Permanent Collection</a>Now through September 26 you can over 50 selections from the Rockford Art Museum's Modern and Contemporary Collection that tell the fascinating stories of how RAM built a public art collection.&nbsp;Technicolor Constellations&nbsp;invites visitors to connect with the captivating stories behind each artist and their work and find the links that brought the work to the museum. From private donors, foundations, artists, and acquisitions, this exhibition explores the importance of artwork donations, collectors and what it takes to get into a museum's permanent collection.Technicolor Constellations&nbsp;brings together work by 38 artists and includes painting, prints, sculpture, and video. Featured artists include Herman Aguirre, Alice Aycock, Jeff Koons, Kerry James Marshall, Tony Oursler, Diane Simpson, and Ken Warneke.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418926/uttmryxuakrfinog56vw.jpg"><figcaption>Kevin Beasley, Chair of the Ministers of Defense,&nbsp;2016 Polyurethane resin, wood, acoustic foam, jeans, trousers, du-rags, altered&nbsp;t- shirts, altered hoodies, guinea fowl feathers, wrought iron&nbsp;window gate, vintage  Beni Ourain Moroccan rug, kaftans,&nbsp;housedresses, Maasai war shields, Zulu war shields, and&nbsp;vintage peacock rattan chair On loan from The Joyner/Giuffrida Collection and The Rennie Collection</figcaption></figure><a href="https://sniteartmuseum.nd.edu/exhibitions/current-exhibitions/kevin-beasley-chair-of-the-ministers-of-defense/">Kevin Beasley at the Snite Museum at Notre Dame (South Bend, IN)</a>The Snite Museum just welcomed visitors back in person on June 1. An installation to visit at the museum in person is Kevin Beasley's Chair of the Ministers of Defense. This immersive installation explores ideas of power and race in America through  theatrics reminiscent of the Roman Baroque. Here, renowned conceptual artist  Beasley calls into focus Black liberation movements and ongoing  imbalances of power experienced by Black Americans and marginalized men  and women of color. The work maintains a formality often employed in religious  imagery and in art intended to convey the divine right of leaders. An empty, rattan “peacock” chair is at center; above is a house window clad in  protective iron bars, evoking a stained-glass window. Flanking are archetypical  Maasai and Zulu warrior shields, icons of African might. Surrounding are vaguely  figurative, resin-infused sculptures made from t-shirts, housedresses, and du- rags—all items associated with contemporary urban culture. On view through December 23. Other exhibitions as well as the museum's sculpture garden are also accessible in person.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418927/xho5xwlrktfg5hy9wbci.png"></figure><a href="https://kam.illinois.edu/exhibition/question-emphasis-louise-fishman-drawing">A Question of Emphasis: Louise Fishman Drawing at University of Illinois</a>A Question of Emphasis: Louise Fishman Drawing is the first career spanning exhibition and publication of Fishman’s works on paper from 1964 to the present. Running Aug 26, 2021 – Feb 26, 2022 at the Krannert Art Museum at the University of Illinois in Champaign, the project includes more than 100 works from the artist’s archive that have rarely been exhibited alongside significant institutional and private loans. Citing John Cage’s response in 1965 to the question, “what is drawing?” A Question of Emphasis encompasses collage, oil and wax, thread, acrylic text, ink, charcoal, printmaking, oil stick, watercolor, and tempera in Japanese-bound Leporello (accordion) books. This full range of mediums foregrounds Fishman’s robust and dedicated practice of works on paper, which have never been studies for her large canvases. Instead, Fishman has used drawing to think through physicality, materials, and intimacy on a different register: generally small- and medium- scale, often sculptural and tactile, and aligned to her particular historical contexts and her communities.&nbsp;Top image: Krasl Art Center's summer installation&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

Notable Exhibitions Happening Outside Chicago This Summer

<html><head></head><body>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418923/tkcroagwdnw0piogmttp.jpg"><figcaption>Interpol says its ID-Art app has access to a database of 52,000 stolen artefacts © ID-Art/INTERPOL &nbsp;</figcaption></figure><a href="https://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/interpol-launches-app-to-identify-stolen-art?utm_source=The+Art+Newspaper+Newsletters&amp;utm_campaign=be025f2896-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2021_06_14_03_56&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_term=0_c459f924d0-be025f2896-61117077">Interpol launches app to identify stolen art—and it has already been used to discover loot</a>Interpol has launched a new, free-to-download app to help law enforcers identify stolen art. It has already scored successes during pilot tests by police in Spain and Italy.The new app, called ID-Art, allows users to check art against 52,000 works registered as stolen on Interpol’s database. It is also envisaged as a tool for collectors and museums, allowing them to create inventories of their collections. These records can be submitted to Interpol in case of theft and will greatly increase their chances of recovering stolen works.Via The Art Newspaper&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/museums/ct-ent-mexican-museum-art-mackenzie-scott-20210616-dr7w2eaggvh2hjmq4qr3syiq6m-story.html">Chicago’s National Museum of Mexican Art gets $8 million from billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott</a>The National Museum of Mexican Art announced late Tuesday that it had received a donation of $8 million, the largest single gift in the Pilsen museum’s 39-year history.The unrestricted money came from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott and her husband Dan Jewett as part of their well-publicized donations of $2.74 billion, given to hundreds of organizations their charity team identified as equity-oriented, nonprofit projects working in areas that have been neglected.Via Chicago Tribune&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/06/14/t-magazine/how-to-buy-art.html?referringSource=articleShare">How to Buy a Work of Art, According to the New York Times T Magazine</a>The sheer volume of art being sold across the world each year is far greater than at any point in human history. There was a 22 percent drop in global sales of art and antiques in 2020 — to all of $50.1 billion. Those figures, the most credible data on this topic that exist — and this alone will say a lot about the art world for the uninitiated — come from an annual report by the economist Clare McAndrew funded and released by Art Basel, a contemporary art fair, and its corporate partner UBS, the Swiss multinational financial services company and one of the largest private banks in the world, which by comparison reported $32.39 billion in revenue in 2020... For one last comparison: $50 billion is also the cost proposed by the International Monetary Fund to cover its global plan to combat Covid-19.But the fact is that buying art is not so obvious. Having an expendable income at all in the year 2021 is a difficult proposition for the vast majority of people. But if you are someone who has been lucky enough to maintain steady employment during the pandemic... and you have some extra money lying around and have spent the last year looking at the blank walls of your home with encroaching angst — simply having that money doesn’t automatically translate into owning a work of art. Where do you begin? What should you look at?Via NYT&nbsp;<a href="https://news.artnet.com/art-world/estate-of-pop-artist-robert-indiana-reaches-agreement-1979915">Robert Indiana’s Estate Has Reached an Agreement With His Longtime Financial Backer After a Bitter Three-Year Legal Fight</a>A bitter, years-long legal dispute over the legacy of famous Pop artist Robert Indiana has come to an end. The artist’s estate, the Star of Hope Foundation, which the artist established before his death, and the Morgan Art Foundation, which holds the copyright to some of Indiana’s most famous works, have agreed to drop their overlapping claims and counterclaims.&nbsp;Via Artnet&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

What We're Reading: 6/16

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418923/vwqnhvu24b3wpl1nrqfu.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/the-obama-portraits">The Obama Portraits</a>Exhibition Begins June 18Art Institute of ChicagoOn loan from the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery, the Obama portraits come to Chicago for the first stop of a five-city tour. As the family’s longtime home, Chicago has a unique connection to the Obamas, as does the Art Institute. The First Lady recalls visiting frequently with her family when she was growing up on the South Side, and the museum was also the site of the couple’s first date.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418924/qk9wusrx2loqzneegqlq.png"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/chicago-where-comics-came-to-life-1880-1960">CHICAGO: Where Comics Came to Life (1880-1960)</a>Exhibition Begins June 19Chicago Cultural CenterThe exhibition focuses on the origins of the comics in popular publishing, the immeasurable importance of African-American cartoonists and publishing, the first woman cartoonists and editors, the first daily comic strip, and finally the art and comics of undeservedly forgotten Frank King, who with “Gasoline Alley” captured not only the rhythms and tone of everyday existence in his characters that aged not only at the same daily rate as its newspaper readers, but were also fictionalized versions of real people.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418925/ca5h9uat1wqcyf9yniiw.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/ali6-trust-solo-show">Ali6 "Trust" solo show</a>Exhibition Begins June 19Vertical Gallery Project Space and Studios&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418926/lzjzc754dtojvrcy3jej.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/chicago-comics-1960s-to-now">Chicago Comics: 1960s to Now</a>Exhibition Begins June 19Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago (MCA)The exhibition traces the evolution of comics in Chicago, as cartoonists ventured beyond the pages of newspapers and into experimental territory including long-form storytelling, countercultural critique, and political activism. Chicago Comics examines styles, schools of thought, and modes of publication across six decades of cartooning, including works from artists who are changing the medium today. The exhibition seeks to bring to the fore artists of color who were previously under-recognized throughout their careers. In this pursuit, the exhibition features archival material previously not seen in museums and offers a revised history of the art form. Represented throughout this timeline are special sections that highlight key artists including <a href="https://mcachicago.org/About/Who-We-Are/Artists/Kerry-James-Marshall">Kerry James Marshall</a>, Lynda Barry, and Chris Ware.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418927/ufrt0zmq2vu9hpqiolje.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/confluence-painting-and-sculpture-by-jennifer-vess">Confluence: Painting and Sculpture by Jennifer Vess</a>Opening: Saturday, June 19, 4 – 7&nbsp;pmWantoot Gallery&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

New Exhibitions Start June 18 (Part II)

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418918/ckcennblcwd4ijhlh3v4.png"></figure><a href="http://chicagoarchitecturalclub.org/2021-CHICAGO-PRIZE-JAMES-R-THOMPSON-CENTER">2021 Chicago Prize Competition Calls For New Visions for the State of Illinois / Thompson Center</a>Designed by the late architect Helmut Jahn, the State of Illinois Center, also known as James R. Thompson Center, is facing the threat of complete demolition. Located in Chicago's “Loop” it is a major transportation node, commercial center and workspace. The building has been criticized for being ugly, oversized, inefficient, and poorly maintained. However, the Thompson Center has been pivotal to urban transit and a highly democratic contemporary civic center. At the time of its construction in 1985, Jahn’s State of Illinois Center was a stark contrast to Chicago’s historic and modernist architecture, yet today it is an architectural icon in its own right. For the fourth year in a row, the Thompson Center has been listed in the Landmarks Illinois’ annual Most Endangered Historic Places in Illinois and it was included in Preservation Chicago’s Chicago 7 Most Endangered list in 2018, 2019, and 2020. The Chicago Architectural Club and the Chicago Architecture Center ask the 2021 Chicago Prize participants to envision a new life for the building through restorative architecture.The competition brief can be found at the following <a href="https://issuu.com/chicagoarchitecturalclub/docs/chicago_prize_2021_-_thompson_center_-_announcemen">LINK</a>.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/museums/ct-ent-obama-portraits-art-institute-chicago-20210611-5enwhd7f6fehxdbwavzg76slmq-story.html">‘Obama Portraits’ is opening at the Art Institute of Chicago: Expect long waits, and 44 other things to know</a>Since their 2018 unveiling at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, the official state portraits of Barack and Michelle Obama have been a pilgrimage for many, a curiosity for others, an argument for contemporary art, a clarion call for Black artists and a startling left-turn after decades of calcified propriety. To James Rondeau, president and director of the Art Institute of Chicago, the Obama portraits are, also, home. Their story, he said, by nature of their local subjects, makes this “a Chicago story, and knowing the Obamas’ history with the city, and their history with the museum, any possibility to show the Obama portraits felt incredibly important.”So, after years of negotiations, starting June 18, “The Obama Portraits” will be shown at the Art Institute for the next two months — the first exhibition of the portraits outside of Washington, and the opening stop of a five-city nationwide tour.Via Chicago Tribune&nbsp; &nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418918/hmhpa1k4m5asxlobhhht.jpg"><figcaption>Via Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices</figcaption></figure><a href="https://www.zillow.com/myzillow/favorites?">Former Dorchester Church for Sale as Condos</a>&nbsp;This 1904 church, built by famed architect Solon Spencer Beman, at 4840 S Dorchester Ave in Hyde Park/Kenwood is eye-catching and trendy. It's for sale for $999,999 (down from $1,250,000)Via Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices&nbsp;<a href="https://news.wttw.com/2021/06/14/chicago-based-scientist-who-helped-find-art-world-frauds">The Chicago-Based Scientist Who Helped Find Art-World Frauds</a>The recently released Netflix documentary series&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OH18cKTmwZ8">“This Is a Robbery”</a>&nbsp;explores the twisted story surrounding the theft of 13 pieces of art from Boston’s <a href="https://www.gardnermuseum.org/">Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum</a> in 1990.One of the potential paths to recovering the $500 million in stolen artwork involves scientific analysis of paint chips, with microscopic detective work done by a Chicago-based innovator in the field.Via WTTW&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

CGN Art World Recap: 6/15

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418918/ts1tf2otz0dmbwx2xtmh.png"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/the-sindhu-project-enigma-of-roots-7f959b32-41ef-4f65-8077-bc9b9a87c283">The Sindhu Project: Enigma of Roots</a>Exhibition Begins June 17South Asia InstituteThe Sindhu Project embodies responses of artists Mahwish Chishty and Gunjan Kumar to explorations of archaeological sites and artifacts in the expansive Sindhu (Indus) watershed, a geographical region stretching across northwest India and much of Pakistan. Through parallel journeys involving familial roots and enigmas of inhabited places across time, Chishty and Kumar bring contemporary art-making into dialogue with excavated forms that contribute to imagining this ancient riverine landscape.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418919/ekhyjk8ctoavxvczkf6f.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/atmospheric-landscape-paintings-brian-sindler">Atmospheric: Landscape Paintings: Brian Sindler</a>Exhibition Begins June 18Richard Norton GallerySindler is best known for his Plein-Air, Tonalist landscape paintings. He is influenced by the American Tonalist movement of the late 19th and early 20th Centuries. He has won numerous awards in Plein-Air painting competitions. Sindler enjoys painting in the Midwest, California, Arizona, Colorado and Virginia. He exhibits regularly at the Salmagundi Club in New York and at the Plein Air Festival in Door County, Wisconsin.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418919/wlv1iy5uoig69ccjxnlf.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/international-association-of-pastel-societies-iaps-2021-juried-gallery-exhibition">International Association of Pastel Societies (IAPS) 2021 Juried Gallery Exhibition</a>Opening: Friday, June 18, 5 – 9&nbsp;pmZhou B Art CenterIAPS is a non-profit organization representing pastel societies worldwide, united in the common goal of the promotion and support of the fine art of pastel. As the international organization representing these societies as their members, IAPS represents thousands of artists worldwide. The 2021 Juried Gallery Exhibition features the best pastel artists working today in this medium. This exhibition received over 1000 entries to the exhibition from countries including China, Russia, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Belgium, Finland, Ireland, France, Taiwan, Canada and the United States with 175 paintings selected.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418920/spzjnijagvcpxkljuqbs.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/solo-exhibition-beth-adler">Shape Shift: Works on Paper by Beth Herman Adler</a>Opening: Friday, June 18, 5 – 9&nbsp;pmOliva GalleryCurated by Kate Roth, “Shape Shift” highlights the shifts that Chicago-based artist Beth Herman Adler has experienced over the last four years, both in life and in her in her art. The show moves from works created during a difficult personal time through brightly colored, design-friendly monoprints inspired by mid-century modern motifs; it visits her Covid Houses and culminates in her very recent Luna series. All of the work employs Ms. Adler’s printmaking skills and often incorporates, drawing, painting, folded sculpture, collaging, and stitching.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418921/nurdc1gqknji5qls4pmi.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/matt-schommer-tim-anderson">Northwoods</a>Opening: Friday, June 18, 7 – 10&nbsp;pmFirecat ProjectsFeaturing the work of:&nbsp;Dennis Schommer, Tim Anderson &amp; Matthew Schommer**please call or e-mail to reserve a time before attending this event**&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

New Exhibitions Start June 18 (Part I)

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418918/tmisxwqbz3gjy1eywmy3.jpg"><figcaption><a href="www.dusablemuseum.org">The DuSable Museum</a> will be open until 10 p.m. Friday, June 12 for its DuSummer outdoor concert and entertainment series. The museum officially opens June 19.</figcaption></figure><a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/museums/ct-ent-musems-chicago-open-late-20210610-upkfqyokzjhanjxjue3q67lm5q-story.html">5 Chicago museums will be open late Friday to celebrate city’s reopening</a>Some of Chicago’s museums are helping celebrate Chicago’s reopening Friday with late-night hours, staying open until 9 p.m. or 10 p.m.In a celebration announced by Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s office, five Chicago museums will participate to mark the June 11 Open Chicago initiate, when the city follows the State of Illinois in entering phase five of the pandemic recovery, or full reopening. “One of the best ways we can celebrate our city’s reopening is by spending time at our renowned museums, which have undergone so many challenges over the course of this past year,” said Mayor Lightfoot in the announcement. “That’s why I am thrilled that so many of our most iconic museums will be opening their doors until late this Friday night to give residents and visitors a head start on returning to a sense of normalcy.”Via Chicago Tribune&nbsp;<a href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/2021/6/7/22522751/modernist-building-demolition-chicago-landmark-cenacle-sisters-retreat-historic-preservation?fbclid=IwAR3KKOvSaBq8CIwZZDG37hu10vJfqhJ7xC4b1zK21omBRMnpMNLuQhup__g">Modernist building’s slated demolition exposes weaknesses in Chicago’s landmark laws</a>The building’s official address on Fullerton Parkway is a parking lot, so odds are you’ve never really noticed the beautiful structure on Cleveland Avenue, set half a block back.But take a closer look: Some of the loveliest brickwork you’ll ever see in Chicago forms the 1967 Cenacle Sisters Retreat and Conference Center, at 513 W. Fullerton Parkway, designed by local architect Charles Pope.“It’s a keeper,” I would say. Except that it’s not. See it while you can, because it’s likely about to be smashed to rubble, with the express permission of the Commission on Chicago Landmarks.Via Chicago Sun Times&nbsp;<a href="https://news.artnet.com/art-world/met-return-benin-bronzes-1978902">The Metropolitan Museum of Art Will Return Two Benin Bronzes to Nigeria, Putting Pressure on Other Museums to Do the Same</a>The Metropolitan Museum of Art will return three artworks, including two Benin Bronzes, to&nbsp;Nigeria, accelerating a fast-moving development to repatriate the nation’s treasures, which were looted by British forces in the late 19th century.The three artworks headed to the&nbsp;Nigerian national collections are two 16th-century brass plaques created at the Court of Benin and a brass head produced in Ife sometime around the 14th century.Via Artnet&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/theater/chris-jones/ct-ent-martha-lavey-steppenwolf-mural-20210609-uudulgypgjfq3eucvxlnrkus54-story.html?fbclid=IwAR25fI4ws7ecM8XYWXNLNExEVD1CT1GTE6xcVXqNEL4rzA7ltjeYtiNRhoU">Column: Martha Lavey, sorely missed, will be aptly remembered on the walls of Steppenwolf</a>When Chicago’s famed Steppenwolf Theatre opened its new Lincoln Park home in 1991, it debuted a building intentionally unadorned.The Tribune’s Sid Smith described the dour décor of the fortresslike building on Halsted Street as “deliberately threadbare.” The construction was by way of gray concrete blocks and washed cement, both inside and out...So Monday’s announcement that Tony Fitzpatrick has designed a special mural that will be attached to an exterior wall of the theater was striking news. The mural is part of the theater’s epic expansion over what (in 1991 and long thereafter) was a vacant lot between the theater and a parking garage that budget problems left famously unfinished. (As witnessed close-up by at least two generations of travelers on the CTA Brown Line).Fitzpatrick is anything but glossy or suburban. But his work also is a long way from concrete blocks and water stains. In fact, this commissioned mural (his largest to date and perhaps his crowning career achievement) will be printed digitally on ceramic tiles.Via Chicago Tribune&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

What We're Reading: 6/10

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418918/ldlho92hpc0mwihldq2v.png"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/marina-black-unseen">MARINA BLACK: UNSEEN</a>Opening: Friday, June 11, 5 – 7:30&nbsp;pmCatherine Edelman GalleryThere are many photographers whose work reveals its intent upon first viewing. Then there are photographers like Marina Black, whose images reveal themselves slowly, allowing the viewer multiple interpretations. Black cites Goya’s The Disasters of War as one of her main influences, which many have interpreted as a protest against violence and the public who remain complicit. Her series Hasard Anticipé (anticipated chance) casts children as the subjects through which fear, joy, trauma and innocence is addressed. In Blacks world, the sanitized assumptions of childhood are replaced by the reality that innocence can be lost when children are not protected. In Hasard Anticipé, Marina Black presents photographs of daily activities – dancing, a soccer game, children swimming – that seem ordinary until wires, ropes and other objects obscure reality and the identity of those pictured. Black invites the viewer to construct their own narratives, while suggesting that innocence is something to attain, and should not be taken for granted.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418918/htrpzej9gdwghhw3fjvo.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/technicolor-constellations-tales-from-the-permanent-collection">Technicolor Constellations: Tales from the Permanent Collection</a>Begins June 11Rockford Art MuseumFeaturing nearly fifty pieces from Rockford Art Museum's Modern and Contemporary Collection. Artist's include: Herman Aguirre, Alice Aycock, Jeff Koons, Kerry James Marshall, Tony Oursler, Diane Simpson and Ken Warneke.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418919/httvgcquh5ev2kgy6qa7.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/joseph-e-yoakum-what-i-saw">Joseph E. Yoakum: What I Saw</a>Begins June 12Art Institute of ChicagoYoakum was born into poverty, had very little schooling, and at an early age left home to join a circus. He wound up working with several circuses, traveling across the United States as well as abroad and becoming intimately familiar with the world’s various landscapes. These experiences would provide the foundational memories that fueled his deeply spiritual vision decades later.This exhibition follows a shifting progression of Yoakum’s mountainous terrain, arid deserts, and majestic waterways, as well as a selection of his portraits of African American icons, testifying to the rich imagination of an exceptional American artist as well as to the remarkable circumstances that led to his lasting legacy.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418920/zfjc8a2qkcauikxidlly.png"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/blow-up-ii-inflatable-contemporary-art">Blow Up II: Inflatable Contemporary Art</a>Begins June 12Krasl Art CenterBLOW UP II: Inflatable Contemporary Art explores the imaginative ways that air is used as a tool to create large-scale sculptures. Inflatable works are often initially regarded as whimsical or humorous, yet they can contain serious critiques of pop-culture, social norms and the politics of space. BLOW UP II explores the complex relationship between the familiarity of the material combined with serious commentary, creating a dialogue around reinterpretation.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418920/bmzcsjh40gmgwcqr7ebg.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/matthew-metzger-heirloom">Matthew Metzger: Heirloom</a>Begins June 13The Renaissance SocietyMatthew Metzger’s paintings often closely replicate not-quite-familiar images, cultural artifacts, or common objects that signify nauseating conditions of power—conditions that for him leave self-expression feeling inadequate or corrupted, requiring a different way forward. While rendering each painting with an obsessive focus, Metzger relies on abstraction to more than formal ends, using it as an active means of distortion that mirrors the effects of our information ecologies and other aspects of culture today.In Heirloom, Metzger presents a new ensemble of works, conceived as an installation for the Renaissance Society and its space.&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

New Exhibitions Start June 11

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418918/y2yaxg9ybbqw1zabqzis.jpg"></figure><a href="https://blockclubchicago.org/2021/06/02/chicago-cultural-center-reopens-with-store-selling-locally-made-good-new-exhibits/">Chicago Cultural Center Reopens With Store Selling Locally Made Goods, New Exhibits</a>The Chicago Cultural Center reopened Wednesday after being closed more than a year due to coronavirus.The center also worked with a design team, Made, from Englewood to revamp its Learning Lab. The lab is open to people of all ages and abilities and features an interactive light installation.And the center has a new store, called <a href="https://hi-buddy.org/">BUDDY</a>, where guests can browse goods made in Chicago by local artists and entrepreneurs. The store includes vinyl records, honey, toys for children, perfume and other goods.Via Block Club Chicago&nbsp;<a href="https://links.e.history.com/u/click?_t=3350a610bca54cb8a557dd283bdde91f&amp;_m=a905838e0852431097ae8412efd71632&amp;_e=7M3xs4kXjb2FMoi7qCnO77sNN2wJzFWUdfTFwetuL6UrGyCnlKiAQZz0vZ05NDETFhZMqGSIMOoDp0EtutrrsPj39HWnezBz4_4_3VNK3vGuHpE52orrUcMf0f6yr1Xp1PBODHIVIqQ8szNCAf2H3Zca8UY0cS2XOdPfiKOcoW3Obu5cCS7ppV_K8aysqWP6xi79qprhY3ByLeonYdr-woDh6vXKMste6ZnmP6BIwx2JBFQF7WR3fDGsnWIsKWwDhoAphbXlTQrmoUE0GfB6qa6_cMg9ItnJRtFpCkH9MnMyJMEPSXTjmIUcYyCL6CkljjHKeopr-0ad7X3gbek9tptVM5yTu-pGdU6OvGG9WQsziVQr5pU6fumUnqzQ5Id5y5q76CW9kslqGoibkVnPySsYdRPxlMjb3VsqAIFajcM%3D">How the AIDS Quilt Allowed Millions to Memorialize the Epidemic</a>The AIDS Memorial Quilt—with 1,920 individual panels, each inscribed with the names of people lost to AIDS—was displayed for the first time on October 11, 1987. It has grown ever since.Via History.com&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/museums/ct-ent-christina-quarles-mca-chicago-20210602-xb4jeduo4reypkuxgo727nibqm-story.html">How to see the Christina Quarles show at the MCA? Go with the rising star artist, and forget your glasses.</a>Christina Quarles, rising art world superstar, Chicago native, Los Angeles resident, visited the Museum of Contemporary Art the other morning. It was her first time visiting her new show, which is also her first major solo exhibition. The museum had just opened and the early crowd was a pandemic trickle. No one approached Quarles, though a couple nudged each other and whispered about her clothes: They were trying to decide if this woman, the one in the colorful pajamas, made all of this stuff on the walls. Probably, right?Via Chicago Tribune&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/27/arts/design/Art-Preserve-Sheboygan.html">Rescuing Artists of Vision</a>Charles Smith preaches with sculpture, hundreds of hip-height figures that he’s been reworking, repainting and rearranging for decades, first at a small house in Aurora, Ill., and now at his homestead in Hammond, La. Every time this self-taught artist repositions his work he testifies anew to the unfolding history of racial violence in the United States, connecting it to personal traumas, including what he believes was the racially motivated murder of his father when he was 14, and his own combat experiences in Vietnam.On June 26, the 80-year-old artist will star in a new and experimental museum in Sheboygan called the Art Preserve, awaiting his instruction on how his concrete figures will be shown. The preserve is the first museum in the country to focus on artists known as “environment builders,” whose worldviews take immersive and physical form, and who often turn their entire homes into works of art.Via NYTimes&nbsp;<a href="https://news.artnet.com/opinion/ai-weiwei-the-great-big-art-exhibition-1975114?utm_content=from_&amp;utm_source=Sailthru&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=US%209%3A45%20a.m.%20newsletter%20for%206%2F2%2F21&amp;utm_term=US%20Daily%20Newsletter%20%5BMORNING%5D">Op-Ed by Ai WeiWei: The Organizers of a Major U.K. Exhibition Used My Name to Promote Their Show. But They Were Too Afraid to Embrace My Ideas</a>What is art and what is its purpose? What is its relevance to our post-industrialist and consumption-oriented world? These questions may seem banal, but they are especially pertinent if we look at “The Great Big Art Exhibition,” organised by the U.K. visual arts organisation Firstsite this year. I am very honored to share that my 2021 project Postcard for Political Prisoners was not accepted—and that their rejection gave a real meaning to my artwork.Via Artnet&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

What We're Reading: 6/3

<html><head></head><body>By GINNY VAN ALYEAJune brings a host of new exhibitions and openings in area galleries and museums, as well as – thankfully, following a mostly closed 2020 – art benefits and art fairs taking place both in person as well as virtually. There are many choices available for participation, engagement and support.&nbsp;Art benefit parties and art fairs have traditionally been the social nexus of the art world. Though Zoom carried us through much of the pandemic, art collectors, industry members and enthusiasts are all eager to reconnect in person through a shared love of art and a desire to support living artists and vital businesses and institutions. Following is a list of events coming up soon.&nbsp;See you at the party!&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418907/ercv2upi2xmxuahk7wc2.png"><figcaption><a href="https://one.bidpal.net/wip2021/browse/2(details:item/19)">Raul De Lara</a> Smile #3 is part of WIP's art auction. Starting bid: $2,400 &nbsp;</figcaption></figure><a href="https://chicagoartistscoalition.org/get-involved/annual-benefit">Chicago Artist Coalition's Work in Progress 2021</a>JUNE 9 @ 6pm (The auction preview and bidding is live now.)WIP 2021 will be Chicago Artists Coalition’s biggest night of the year, a virtual celebration of its 47 years as a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting contemporary Chicago artists. The event, taking place virtually on Wednesday, June 9, 2021, at 6:00 pm, highlights milestones of Chicago-based artists and curators and their influence both in and beyond the city. The event is free and open to the public and includes an art auction and recognition of the night’s honorees, artists Nick Cave and Bob Faust, and CAC supporter Jeff Shapack. CAC will also give grants to six artists.A ticketed Work In Progress 2021 VIP event will follow the free public portion of the evening and includes a private, virtual tour of Facility, Nick Cave and Bob Faust’s multi-disciplinary creative space in Northwest Chicago. A live conversation with the artists follows the tour. Tickets for both the free and ticketed VIP WIP 2021 events are available at <a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/work-in-progress-chicago-artists-coalitions-annual-benefit-tickets-85151282779">Eventbrite</a>.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418907/dnkg0lica7673hkccfx6.jpg"><figcaption>Part of MoCP's benefit auction: Seunggu Kim, Hanok Swimming Pool, August 2017.</figcaption></figure><a href="https://www.mocp.org/get-involved/annual-benefit.php">MoCP's DARKROOM Benefit Auction</a>JUNE 10 @ 5:45 pm (The benefit auction opens one week before the event on <a href="http://sothebys.com/">Sothebys.com</a>)DARKROOM is the Museum of Contemporary Photography at Columbia College Chicago's (MoCP) annual benefit auction and gala, which will be taking place entirely online. Photography enthusiasts will also have the chance to bid on celebrated contemporary and historical artists, including work by Dawoud Bey, Tabitha Soren, Alfred Stieglitz, Edward J. Steichen, Pete Souza, Victoria Sambunaris, Sandro Miller, Brian Ulrich, and more.&nbsp;The virtual event will kick off with a pre-show DJ set with the founder and owner of famed Metro Chicago, who will be spinning 45s—in honor of the museum’s 45th anniversary year—remotely from The GMan Tavern in Wrigleyville. Attendees will then enjoy a formal program and be able to engage virtually with MoCP staff, artists, fellow supporters, and surprise special guests during an interactive livestream. The evening will conclude with a virtual cocktail party hosted on <a href="http://wonder.me/">Wonder.me</a>General admission to DARKROOM is completely free. VIP tickets start at $250 and go up to $1000, with a range of exclusive benefits. Visit <a href="https://mocp.us5.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9e4250b7536dc23e9352b28ee&amp;id=23503a7f3b&amp;e=62775191de">mocp.org</a> for more information.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418908/knmxnqg1pd9mamtfvwua.jpg"></figure><a href="https://one.bidpal.net/intuit/welcome">Intuit's (Virtual) Visionary Ball&nbsp;</a>JUNE 10, 7–7:45pmJoin Intuit from home in celebrating 30 years of being Intuit! Special guest speakers, Intuit's famed silent auction, and profound art-driven stories that will uplift and inspire are all part of a reimagined Visionary Ball, Intuit's annual fundraiser, this year on ZoomRegistration has passed for the special $250 cocktail or wine Party-In-Place Package, but you can register for the free ticket until June 9 and you can browse the <a href="https://one.bidpal.net/intuit/browse/all">silent auction now</a>. Highlights include works by Lee Godie and Wesley Willis, as well as select thrift store finds by unknown artists.&nbsp;This year's Visionary Ball honors artist, art educator and researcher Lisa Stone.&nbsp;Learn more register at the <a href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001IUlykqRdjrN-R-Fx_zXRI8SRhhjuP22RCTYz_oCvyOGr3X8KdIaOwO8UrP_TPPFWrDSS1NQJivL6TnTIL92kCg2a-CwfTYeQ1M_kEAh1-VubIXlimT5VBOXrK5sAmyD4o0NKJZXnct4eyE_sAYF1vKBi83Cv4PYxZhQp1-GDFhc=&amp;c=VcDXc8hNCDGHRYfsF6v9k-E1VYTFZI3-3UpEp4uJ6Pubc_rZWATdwQ==&amp;ch=832EdJmwHUpFKTRAlxENRbveBhda20K9nKSiWemylClg1OZ3EUiksQ==">Visionary Ball website</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418909/drkuki7hsj83e7elb6on.png"><figcaption>The Old Town Art Fair is also famous for its garden walk&nbsp;</figcaption></figure><a href="https://www.oldtownartfair.org">The Old Town Art Fair Returns</a>June 12 and 13After a cancellation in 2020 (the first in the 70-year history) the OTAF is returning to its traditional 2nd weekend in June dates this month (June 12 and 13). &nbsp;Art Fair Chair Anne Giffels announced that all artists from 2020 were invited back for 2021. “We are thrilled that more than 200, out of 250, artists are returning this year. It speaks to the appeal of the OTAF for artists as well as our guests,” Giffels said. “We are committed to holding a Fair that follows strict safety protocols and welcomes everyone back to Old Town.”Safety measures for the 2021 Art Fair include a larger footprint for adequate room to move around as well as to accommodate spaced artist booths, plus other measures that are standard practice by now. There will also be additional space for food vendors.<a href="https://www.oldtownartfair.org">New this year, pre-registration will be required for entry to the Fair and is live now.</a>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418910/ezwcnlii3odgqqmesgpm.jpg"><figcaption><a href="https://www.artfinder.com/artist/kwaboama/#/">Kwame Boama Mensa-Aborampa</a>, painting</figcaption></figure><a href="https://www.57thstreetartfair.org/virtual-fair">74th annual (Virtual) 57th Street Art Fair</a>Ongoing through May 2022The 57th Street Art Fair was very hopeful for an in-person fair this year but they were not approved in time to meet their planning needs. Instead, they have built a robust virtual fair that is <a href="https://www.57thstreetartfair.org/virtual-fair">live online</a> through May, 2022 and features more than 100 artists selling original works of art.&nbsp; You can learn more about different artists featured daily <a href="https://www.57thstreetartfair.org/facebook">here</a>.​The committee and the neighborhood is looking ahead to 2022, when they hope to see everyone in-person to celebrate the fair's 75th Anniversary.&nbsp;&nbsp;Top thumbnail: past Work in Progress party-goers&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

June Preview: Art Auctions and a Return to Parties

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418906/asip7avtpozensflta2z.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/catharine-newell-immersed">Catharine Newell: Immersed</a>Begins June 5&nbsp;Ken Saunders Gallery&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418907/jrtug7kmjfsl07acmgnn.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/encaustic-in-america">Encaustic in America</a>Opening: Saturday, Jun 5, 2021 2 – 6&nbsp;pmAddington GalleryDuring the months of June and July, Addington Gallery hosts an exciting rotating exhibition of paintings made by some of the leading voices of encaustic painting in America.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418908/gmnfpihpf4deckouvmph.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/hyun-jung-jun">Hyun Jung Jun: By Flame By Fog</a>Begins June 5&nbsp;GoldfinchHyun Jung Jun’s work takes many forms, from temporary installations to candles to cakes, and the work often begins and ends as something changed or erased altogether. In the artist’s words, Jun’s creations “take up more time than they do space.” They are often made to disappear. Although Hun’s practice engages familiar, domestic processes (her kitchen serves as a studio space, where she dips candles and experiments with cooking materials) her work seems to exist in a fantastical space where what is absent, shrouded, or entirely imagined is as real as anything else.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418909/ozagkdfypqi1bs16eg7r.png"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/summer-show-frida-kahlo">Frida Kahlo: Timeless</a>Begins June 5&nbsp;The Cleve Carney Museum of ArtThe exhibition will be the largest Frida Kahlo exhibition in the Chicago area in more than 40 years, and is hosted by the Cleve Carney Museum of Art (CCMA) and the McAninch Arts Center (MAC) at the College of DuPage (COD). It will feature a 26-piece collection on loan from the Museo Dolores Olmedo as well as a multimedia timeline, 100+ photographic images from the artist’s life, a family-friendly children’s area and a Frida Kahlo inspired garden designed by Ball Horticultural Company, enabling museum-goers of all ages to grasp an understanding of Kahlo’s life and work through a variety of contexts.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418909/yz4d8ofuqf2s1trbbjzq.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/ania-jaworska-bricks">Ania Jaworska: BRICKS</a>Begins June 5&nbsp;Volume GalleryBRICKS engages this elemental unit of construction formally and conceptually to create a homage that is at once sincere, humorous, pragmatic, and seductive.Bricks are both resolutely material and culturally potent. Especially in Chicago, they aggregate to form a backdrop to urban life, and not always elegantly or intentionally. At the same time, bricks provoke an earnestness, even reverence, among architects (Louis Kahn most famously) and lay brick enthusiasts (there are many among us, analyzing the techniques and sources of the brickwork in our neighborhoods). As metaphors, bricks appear in diverse contexts, negative and positive: a basketball that clanks off the rim; a ton of something dropped on us; a mighty-mighty woman; the road we follow to Oz.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

New Exhibitions Start June 5 (Part II)

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418078/exjeqeash2xwp7ereuvr.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/tromarama-tromarama-2021">Tromarama: Tromarama 2021</a>Begins June 5&nbsp;DOCUMENTThe exhibition at the gallery will feature Beta, a site-specific installation that questions the standardized elementary education programs that have been implemented since Indonesia’s independence from Japanese occupation in 1945.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418079/urgm2cjo3mksulsujvpk.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/edie-fake-2c3f5155-12ae-40a6-8909-6f27acb41d72">Edie Fake</a>Begins June 5&nbsp;Western ExhibitionsEdie Fake’s paintings start as self-portraits, and from there, they make a break for it, referencing elements of the trans and non-binary body through pattern, color and architectural metaphor. His precise, intimately scaled, gouache-and-ink paintings on panel are structured around the physical aspects of transition and adaptation as well as mental and sexual health.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418080/ofmguwcslfonjy5wjesa.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/field-studies">Field Studies: Steven Carrelli &amp; Adam Fung</a>Opening: Saturday, June 5, 1 – 4&nbsp;pmHofheimer GalleryField Studies&nbsp;is a drawing collaboration that began in 2011, when both artists&nbsp;lived in the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois.&nbsp;Field Studies&nbsp;continues presently as a long-distance collaborative art project with Steven&nbsp;Carrelli residing in Chicago, Illinois and Adam Fung living in Fort Worth, Texas.&nbsp;With few exceptions, the drawings are the size of a postcard and executed in&nbsp;pencil on paper.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418080/dgnqkeiprweid9gqygpi.png"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/gallery-reception-water-becomes-blood">Gallery Reception: Water Becomes Blood</a>Opening: Saturday, June 5, 3 – 7&nbsp;pmWoman Made Gallery&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418081/ealfdidggbgy67fuaaw9.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/dorothy-graden-liminal-spaces">Dorothy Graden: Liminal Spaces</a>Begins June 5&nbsp;Evanston Art CenterDorothy Graden&nbsp;is a contemporary artist whose art is inspired by Ancient Visions, prehistoric art of the Americas. Her mission is to bring awareness of these amazing places and to promote preservation and protection of ancestral sites on this continent, most of which are considered sacred to Native Americans. For over 30 years she has been traveling through the American west to photograph and draw prehistoric rock art.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418082/a0mfxh3sndjfpo1oheop.png"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/modernist-strategies-highlights-from-the-wpa">Modernist Strategies: Highlights from the WPA</a>Begins June 5Krannert Art Museum, University of IllinoisFrom 1935 to 1943, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) sponsored the Federal Art Project, which employed as many as 10,000 artists during the Great Depression. In exchange for a modest weekly wage, artists produced paintings, sculptures, prints, and other works to be distributed to federal buildings and other public institutions. The University of Illinois received an extensive cache of works, which were transferred to Krannert Art Museum upon its founding in 1961.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

New Exhibitions Start June 5 (Part I)

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418907/ihvbshybwbq9otz2y8qx.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/the-social-justice-sewing-academy-connecting-generations-through-cloth">The Social Justice Sewing Academy: Connecting Generations through Cloth</a>May 28 – August 22Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider ArtFrom quilts supporting abolition and temperance to signature quilts made to raise money for war efforts to the AIDS Memorial Quilt, quilts have long expressed political beliefs and supported social causes. As quilt scholar Marsha MacDowell said, “Many people think of quilts as a warm, fuzzy domestic art. Yet we see time and time again, artists have used this particular medium to make strong statements that address human rights issues.” Most often, quilts with a message are made by adults, but, today, the tradition of quilting for social justice is being introduced to young artivists—or artist-activists—who pick up a needle and thread for the first time and learn to see quilts in a new way.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418907/fzxuhv7bxvvhh2z96ns7.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/jeffrey-gibson-sweet-bitter-love">Jeffrey Gibson: Sweet Bitter Love</a>May 28 – September 18Newberry LibrarySweet Bitter Love presents Jeffrey Gibson’s <a href="https://uchicago.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=aba2086a45b4ee8391b89447b&amp;id=e2a2ea5b5b&amp;e=a6ad3ea4a5">reflections on representations of Indigenous people in cultural institutions</a>. Gibson, a member of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians and of Cherokee descent, responds to nineteenth-century portraits of Indigenous people in the Newberry Library’s collection. His paintings and wallpaper refute ethnographic symbolism with vibrant, glittering layers.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418908/vefb3vrsasizvlefbwrp.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/theaster-gates-how-to-sell-hardware">Theaster Gates: How to Sell Hardware</a>May 28 – July 31Gray WarehouseHow to Sell Hardware tells the story of Theaster Gates’s ongoing engagement with a family-owned True Value hardware store formerly located on Chicago’s South Side. Once a lively central space for local commerce, the True Value store shared in the growth and prosperity of a thriving community during the 1970s and 80s, filling its practical and social needs. The hardware store similarly mirrored the neighborhood’s downturns as business slowed in the 1990s with the emergence of big-box stores which drastically changed the needs and habits of the once-prosperous Chicago neighborhood.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418909/vaoymxvwkpl26oymi6w7.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/susan-hall-and-allison-b-cooke-beneath-the-surface">Susan Hall and Allison B. Cooke: Beneath the Surface</a>Opening: Friday, May 28, 6 – 9&nbsp;pmLily Pad | WestMidwest artists Allison B. Cooke and Susan Hall explore the concept of transformation via the energetic addition and subtraction of materials. While Susan Hall peels away lace designs from hardened gesso to allow her phantasmic figures to take form, Allison B. Cooke combines years' worth of gathered parchments and pigments to build dreamlike renditions of remembered places and times.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418910/ojfk2zpbixfsy3ijekwo.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/plain-air">PLAIN AIR</a>May 29 – July 17Carrie Secrist GalleryCarrie Secrist Gallery is thrilled to announce our first in-person opening reception of 2021 for&nbsp;Plain Air, a group exhibition featuring nine artists exploring the traditional genre of landscape.&nbsp;Please join us this Saturday May 29th from 12 - 5 PM at our gallery space located at 900 W. Washington BLVD, Chicago, IL.*This exhibition will also be viewable in person by appointment through July 17, 2021. To make an appointment in person, please visit the&nbsp;<a href="http://artlocalapp.com/sendy/l/YHTwzCkUESTHoPlztt892uoQ/EVjsZkMQvqEjK9w7IE3izg/J7KS763vqeureaEnGUs06763aQ">Reservation</a>&nbsp;page on our website. Our online viewing room for&nbsp;Plain Air&nbsp;will go on view Saturday morning, May 29 at 10AM (CST).&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418910/dtjfc8steqbgmrdfsssv.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/virginia-carstarphen-wanderings-maps-and-memories">Virginia Carstarphen: Wanderings, Maps and Memories</a>Opening: Saturday, May 29, 4 – 5&nbsp;pmARC Gallery&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

New Exhibitions Start May 28 - 29

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418907/tkxrbdug3y0ytisctscr.jpg"><figcaption>David Schalliol, "Stateway Gardens (Chicago, Illinois, USA)," 2007. Photo: David Schalliol From the 2021 individual grant to David Schalliol for "Social Landscapes"</figcaption></figure><a href="http://grahamfoundation.org">Graham Foundation Announces 71 New Grants to Individuals for Architecture Projects</a>The Graham Foundation announced the award of 71 new grants to individuals worldwide that support projects on architecture. Grantee projects represent diverse lines of inquiry engaging original ideas that advance our understanding of the designed environment. Selected from nearly 700 proposals, the funded projects include research, exhibitions, publications, films, digital initiatives, and other inventive formats that promote rigorous scholarship, stimulate experimentation, and foster critical discourse in architecture.“This year, as the pandemic forced communities, cities, and countries to close down, the inequities of design and the built environment only intensified,” said Graham Foundation director Sarah Herda. “Through this dynamic grantee cohort, the Graham continues its 65-year commitment to supporting individuals to realize ideas that have the power to change the field of architecture.”&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418907/ocatsuelwmf9o5tym9gu.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.filterphoto.org">Filter Festival to Take Place In-Person and Online September</a>Filter Photo announced the line-up of portfolio reviewers and workshops for the 2021 Filter Photo Festival!The 13th Annual Filter Photo Festival will take place September 22nd - 26th and will be a mix of in-person and online programming, with the majority of in-person programming happening at the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/21cChicago/?__cft__[0]=AZVGIoVs4fdYlAo19zjpY2eSDDP5IJIcRlTevIYB9hDtZM0XY735NYn99wRQ4K4A2ZDMDYs9H0ZHjyjUlD3sXaKGCpdBcS2LOcdPFVDoDMLeR83-aiC0SreJdPqoNPeoTqKmC83ZhhM1hKl3bvrm5FibuVU2BwEjvNiB5coCzGGntBVz_3UgwbRlv_mMiTBaNlg&amp;__tn__=kK-R">21c Museum Hotel Chicago</a>.Registration for the general public begins on June 14th. Filter Photo Members can access early registration on June 7th, as well as many other benefits.&nbsp;<a href="https://dailynorthwestern.com/2021/05/25/lateststories/evanston-made-to-showcase-local-artists-in-annual-art-exhibit/?fbclid=IwAR1Lq1VZf-kkNwOhvFlOXANfqWuNgJC4NVygxiSqMR-Vw6yrldtTiF7SoOw">Evanston Made to showcase local artists in annual art exhibit</a>Evanston Made’s Annual Members Group Show is returning in-person this year, featuring over 175 contemporary art pieces, according to the organization’s website.The in-person exhibit will take place from May 28 to June 30 at the Evanston Art Center. Visitors must wear masks, take their temperature and social distance throughout the exhibit, according to the Evanston Made website.Via The Daily Northwestern&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

Art World Recap: May 27

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418222/m4jeqexesurqpnuscd07.jpg"></figure><a href="https://p2a.co/nYTksd6?utm_source=CNL+Art+Consulting&amp;utm_campaign=020ec952ec-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2019_03_01_05_43_COPY_01&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_term=0_99ec04cd2a-020ec952ec-107428223">A Plea for Illinois's Creative Future Fund: Now is the time for $500M for Arts &amp; Culture</a>COVID has devastated our state’s creative sector, yet the arts remain an economic engine to power a resilient Illinois recovery. Our state must invest in arts and culture in order to come back stronger.Through the Illinois Creative Future Fund campaign, we are advocating for Illinois to invest $500 million from federal American Rescue Plan assistance over the next four years in the relief, recovery, and resilience of Illinois’ creative sector, prioritizing BIPOC, rural, and other communities disproportionately impacted by COVID.&nbsp;Read more and contact your representative <a href="https://p2a.co/nYTksd6?utm_source=CNL+Art+Consulting&amp;utm_campaign=020ec952ec-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2019_03_01_05_43_COPY_01&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_term=0_99ec04cd2a-020ec952ec-107428223">here</a> by FRIDAY May 28&nbsp;<a href="https://rejournals.com/pullman-leaders-announce-completion-and-grand-opening-of-new-artspace-lofts/">Pullman leaders, developers announce completion and grand opening of Artspace Lofts</a>On Thursday, May 20, elected officials, local business and nonprofit leaders and Pullman-area community members convened to mark the official grand opening of the Pullman Artspace Lofts development at S. Langley Aveune and E. 112th Street. After nearly a decade of planning and construction, the development is notable for being the first multifamily development in Pullman in 60 years, stakeholders said.Via RE Journals&nbsp;<a href="https://lincolnparkconservancy.org/caldwell-a-brief-history/">Alfred Caldwell: A Brief History – The Man Who Designed Lincoln Park's Lily Pool</a>On May 26th of this year, Alfred Caldwell would have been 118 years old. In honor of his birthday and the 20th anniversary year of the Conservancy and Park District’s Lily Pool restoration, we’re highlighting some of the interesting stories about the man who designed the Lily Pool.Caldwell had a long and varied career primarily focused on landscape architecture, but which also included stints as a city planner, civil engineer, professor, and author.Caldwell’s love of nature was influenced by his experience with his Lakeview High School biology teacher, naturalist Dr. Hermann Silas Pepoon. He then worked under renowned landscape artchitect Jens Jensen, whose style had a lifelong impact on Caldwell’s designs. From Pepoon he learned the value and history of native plants. From Jensen, he learned the properties of Prairie Style landscaping, including playing with areas of light and shade, visual interest through the season, and emphasizing plants that attracted birds. Caldwell was also inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright, whose influence can clearly be seen in the design of the Pavilions by the shore of the Lily Pool.Via Lincoln Park Conservancy&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

What We're Reading: 5/26

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417745/kv0ytzafq8uhowbxu5xa.jpg"><figcaption>1st Place winning project&nbsp;The Floating Village&nbsp;by ACE Chicago Team 5&nbsp;</figcaption></figure><a href="https://chicagoarchitecturebiennial.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=51d9a79e08fd7f7dbb49c27a6&amp;id=35b5c485c1&amp;e=3dc58ca038">Chicago Architecture Biennial Announces Spring 2021 Student Ideas Competition Winners</a>&nbsp;Over 170 7th-12th grade students, representing 46 schools and 35 zip codes across the Chicagoland area, participated in this year’s competition. Since 2015, CAB student competitions have encouraged middle and high school students to explore how design can play a role in creating shared spaces and improving communities. The Spring 2021 prompt—inspired by The Available City led by Artistic Director David Brown—asked young people: How can existing urban spaces be reimagined to better reflect the needs and interests of local residents?The winning projects were selected by a panel of distinguished jurors and present innovative ideas that creatively respond to local contexts: 1st Place: The Floating Village by ACE Chicago Team 5. A homeless shelter that addresses basic, psychological, and self-fulfillment needs. 2nd Place: Perspective Tower by Owen Somers. An elevated public space that helps residents visualize change in their communities. 3rd Place: Grocery Garden - A Bodega for North Lawndale by Rosina Iniguez, Ian Hudson, and Jason Hart A grocery store and garden that provides healthy food and adds beauty to the neighborhood.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417745/b4p5flfr3wg3llrs4wtv.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.architecture.org">The Chicago Architecture Center Reopens its 10,000 SF Gallery Space And Kicks Off For Summer</a>With the Memorial Day Weekend summer kick-off just days away, the Chicago Architecture Center (CAC) has re-opened with all-new and updated exhibits in its 10,000 square feet of galleries, full of scale models of new building designs from Chicago and around the world. The Chicago Gallery, home to the Chicago City Model Experience, is completely overhauled and all-new exhibits on Current Chicago Projects, Chicago Chicago’s neighborhoods and the new home design exhibit, Housing for a Changing Nation.“All CAC exhibits have been updated with new scale models of exciting architectural designs and we’ve created an all-new exhibit on cutting-edge, affordable, flexible home designs,” said Lynn Osmond, President and CEO of the CAC. “The new exhibit in the Chicago Gallery, Housing for a Changing Nation, highlights innovative architects who are creating homes for a diverse range of needs from live/work spaces to multigenerational families to cohousing.”&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417746/wvk6xsm8ssim2zifxw9t.jpg"><figcaption>James Mesple</figcaption></figure><a href="https://greektownchicago.org/">Hello Helios: The warming suns of Chicago’s Greektown opens June 5 along Halsted Street</a><a href="https://greektownchicago.org/">Greektown Chicago</a> presents its new outdoor art exhibit Hello Helios: The warming suns of Chicago’s Greektown, with 24 vibrant three-dimensional artworks lining Halsted Street from Monroe to Van Buren Streets, opening on Saturday, June 5, 2021 and running through spring 2022.Painted by a diverse group of Chicago artists and named for Helios, the god of the sun in Greek mythology, the 24 sun sculpture editions celebrate the sun and light up the start of summer in Chicago. Many works in the exhibit draw inspiration from related mythologies, including those in the Greek, Aztec, Yoruba, Japanese and Native American cultures.&nbsp;“Greece is a land of sun and water, with an average of 250 sunny days per year, and we are bringing some of that Mediterranean sunshine to Chicago,” says Greektown Arts Chair and SSA Commissioner Eve Moran. “After a difficult pandemic year that many of us spent primarily indoors, this exhibit encourages everyone to come out and enjoy the outdoor art in Greektown, grab an alfresco dinner or drinks on a patio in our neighborhood, and be newly energized. Here comes the sun!”&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417747/cqc1xy9gb7vvycrdwit7.jpg"></figure><a href="https://onetwopru.com/gallery-guichard-exhibition/">Sterling Bay Partners With Gallery Guichard To Showcase Art Of The African Diaspora At One Two Pru</a>Sterling Bay, A Chicago real estate investment and development firm, announced that it is hosting a new art installation at the East Loop office complex, One Two Pru, in partnership with Bronzeville's Gallery Guichard. The installation, entitled <a href="http://email.prnewswire.com/ls/click?upn=OXp-2BEvHp8OzhyU1j9bSWuwMvMWelqIco5RbfBrouY-2BSGnW6MYUer-2Ba3gifAFbAzO-2BhrDE2HOAt9ttfjHnfTwQ3528Kru6M-2FvG0P0PK-2Fh6Q1A5d2wlfjlwxwgGW-2FuRewITS6ybcdv-2F0wvkqcyQpeFn-2BK8sPdhtGj8BqffF9toTypUeF9unFM6X-2B57rTqE4QH3Jwnk_BYLPtpUivDHORxxkVXshLCRT3wjV7CgXbLJWP9J5MP9LJ6jv7-2Bb0c97UF1yE1Xeip-2Bke9JLNrM9Cc0K-2F03pmtC4CAVvGA7MMDMsZZk8Fb6oFBrXTTKwHMuD-2BPkMLv34nVHbPsYnbhLWw10GO15QiffbQPulUrgYJELivigTQvrGsGZupOXF2vmE0AST4-2BlXHdpEw47BZqxQNzfy9mGjpDnbP7nAoZQ-2BQA22x1RVH7c6udPeztUsKVVQyyDo5Ktys2a1jP9GN-2BdicwWbadOBTGYiLJl1jXaLCbcI5x2HVMuihRqGRgP8wkcDSP09bFizouIU4mmwaGJdCuNoSq-2BYo6m7L6lC7pOSiqfpcwlEUXTmnOQHzov7oQGu6P9Lv861V">African Diaspora: Chicago</a>, showcases multicultural artists specializing in African Diaspora, or communities and cultures descended from native Africans, and debuts to the public in the lobby of One Two Pru on Friday, May 28, bringing the space to life as Chicagoans begin their return to the office."We are excited to partner with Gallery Guichard and to transform One Two Pru's lobby into an engaging cultural experience for tenants and visitors as we all begin to emerge from the pandemic," said Andy Gloor, CEO of Sterling Bay. "Sterling Bay is a proud supporter of the arts and incorporates works from local and global artists in a creative and meaningful manner across our commercial spaces. Through our collaboration with Gallery Guichard, we are hoping to expand representation and exposure for Black artists and celebrate the diverse, dynamic cultures that define our city."&nbsp;</body></html>

CGN Art World Recap: May 25

<html><head></head><body><a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/theater/chris-jones/ct-ent-wrightwood-gallery-greek-art-tsarouchis-20210520-vje3rkffj5hlzexmkj4kzug6bm-story.html">At Wrightwood 659 in Lincoln Park, a fascinating study of Greek identity and naked men</a>Ever heard of the artist Yannis Tsarouchis? If the answer is yes, it’s a pretty good bet you have some connection to Greece. His work is well known there. But beyond? Crickets chirp at his name. Especially now.But a remarkably comprehensive new exhibition in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood, the first major U.S. retrospective of Tsarouchis’ work, makes the case that this artist was anything but parochial. Bluntly put, this is an experience brimming with arrestingly erotic images of beautiful, naked men, carefully observed in all the erotic complexity of that statement, and mostly bathed in the singular light of the lands that surround the Mediterranean Sea.Via Chicago Tribune&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417873/g2vkexloorsfgnghwnca.jpg"><figcaption>Production still from the Art21 "Extended Play" film, "Theaster Gates: Collecting." © Art21, Inc. 2017. &nbsp;</figcaption></figure><a href="https://news.artnet.com/art-world/theaster-gates-will-design-2022-serpentine-pavilion-first-non-architect-solely-receive-prestigious-commission-1970600?utm_content=from_&amp;utm_source=Sailthru&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=US%204:30%20p.m.%20newsletter%20for%205/20/21&amp;utm_term=US%20Daily%20Newsletter%20%5BAFTERNOON%5D">Artist Theaster Gates Will Design the 2022 Serpentine Pavilion, Becoming the First Non-Architect Solely Awarded the Commission</a>Chicago artist Theaster Gates has been tapped to design the 2022 Serpentine Pavilion, making him the first non-architect solely commissioned for the prestigious project.&nbsp;A spokesperson for Serpentine Gallery confirmed Gate’s commission for the pavilion, which was first reported by<a href="https://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/news/us-urban-planner-turned-artist-lined-up-for-2022-serpentine-pavilion">The Architect’s Journal,</a>&nbsp;but said it was “too early” to discuss the artist’s plans.Gates’s commission will mark the 21st iteration of the pavilion, which has been awarded&nbsp;annually to an international—often up-and-coming—architect or firm since 2000. (The 2020 commission was delayed to this year due to the pandemic.) Those chosen are tasked with designing a temporary structure near Serpentine’s two galleries in London’s Kensington Gardens.Via Artnet&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/a-year-after-george-floyd-s-death-art-memorials-are-at-a-crossroads?utm_source=The+Art+Newspaper+Newsletters&amp;utm_campaign=956eb0b672-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2021_05_20_02_12&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_term=0_c459f924d0-956eb0b672-61117077">A year after George Floyd’s death, art memorials are at a crossroads</a>When George Floyd was killed one year ago, protests against police violence erupted on the streets, first in Minneapolis, and soon across the country. Murals <a href="https://www.theartnewspaper.com/gallery/art-for-a-good-cause-portraits-of-george-floyd-raise-funds-for-his-family-and-activist-groups">dedicated to Floyd</a> and other Black lives lost also started to appear on the streets, a spontaneous creative act to memorise victims, call for justice and celebrate the power of community. Today, <a href="https://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/in-minneapolis-plywood-boards-become-protest-art-worth-preserving">efforts to preserve</a>and document these urgent outpourings of street art are growing, including a crowdsourced online database run by the University of St Thomas in Saint Paul.The university’s <a href="https://georgefloydstreetart.omeka.net/">George Floyd and Anti-Racist Street Art</a> open access database now includes more than 2,000 images and descriptions of works, submitted by users from around the world.Via The Art Newspaper&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chicagobusiness.com/residential-real-estate/frank-lloyd-wright-house-glenview-be-auctioned">Frank Lloyd Wright house in Glenview to be auctioned</a>A Glenview house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright is going up for auction.&nbsp;The house, secluded on a wooded lane called Portage Run, <a href="https://www.chicagobusiness.com/residential-real-estate/secluded-house-frank-lloyd-wright-sale">came on the market in September,</a> priced at a little under $1.7 million. Built in 1950, the house is being sold by Brian Busche, whose now-deceased parents bought it from the first owners 56 years ago.&nbsp;Via Crain's&nbsp;</body></html>

What We're Reading: 5/21

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417676/viuo9hlcukvlb17jp8ap.png"><figcaption>Chicago artist Nick Cave. A retrospective exhibition "Forothermore" is coming to the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago in 2022. (James Prinz / provided by MCA)</figcaption></figure><a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/museums/ct-ent-nick-cave-retrospective-mca-chicago-20210518-tnxxhgtyuffmdkp7eiiayayeuu-story.html?fbclid=IwAR1sK0Qln60ZfWkFzTX_u-YqJcWV_kUHlMqOogwYhBAIgztHzSUmbZSa2-4">Big Nick Cave retrospective, a first for the Chicago artist, announced for MCA next year</a>To be fair to the Chicago art world, Nick Cave has never been the easiest artist to contain within a single show. He’s not quite fashion, or dance, or sculpture. He’s not quite an installation artist, though his work includes all of these mediums and more. His Old Irving Park studio is not really even a studio but a kind of next-generation Warhol-ish Factory. He’s never fit that idea of the artist toiling away inside a warehouse space. In fact, though he’s been a staple of contemporary art collections for decades, his last major solo show in Chicago was about 15 years ago, for the Chicago Cultural Center.Via Chicago Tribune&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/love-monet-as-much-as-the-yankees-this-cap-is-for-you-11620827279?mod=searchresults_pos16&amp;page=3">Why Limited-Edition Art Merch for Monet and Van Gogh Keeps Selling Out</a>Worshippers of Vincent Van Gogh can feast their eyes on the painter’s 1889 masterpiece, “The Starry Night,” at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, but they’ll have no luck trying to nab a hat memorializing the painting in MoMA’s gift shop. For that, they might want to journey some 50-plus blocks south to Tribeca gallery Broadway.Via the Wall Street Journal&nbsp;<a href="https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2021/05/ememem-street-mosaics/">Ceramic Mosaics Mend Cracked Sidewalks, Potholes, and Buildings in Vibrant Interventions by Ememem</a>Throughout his home city of Lyon, <a href="https://www.ememem-flacking.net/">Ememem</a> is known as “the pavement surgeon.” The artist repairs gouged sidewalks and splintered facades with colorful mosaics that he describes as “a poem that everybody can read.” Intricate geometric motifs laid with pristine tiles hug the cracks and create “a memory notebook of the city. It reveals what happened, the life in these public places,” he tells Colossal. “Here cobblestones have been picked up and thrown. There a truck from the vegetable market tore off a piece of asphalt…”Ememem’s first mosaic dates back 10 years when he found himself in a damaged alley in Lyon. At that time, he already was working in ceramic and translated that practice to revitalizing the outdoor area. Since 2016, he’s been consistently filling potholes and other divots throughout France.Via Colossal&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

What We're Reading: 5/18

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418901/vj87qbviqhxqjaead753.png"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/wangari-mathenge-the-expats-studies-impression-on-paper">Wangari Mathenge | The Expats Studies: Impression on Paper</a>Opening: Friday, May 21, 6 – 9&nbsp;pmMay 21 – July 25Epiphany Center for the Arts&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418901/aknwq1eq8q5gszj8pzuc.png"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/9th-annual-art-competition">9th Annual Art Competition</a>Opening: Friday, May 21, 7 – 10&nbsp;pmMay 21 – July 2Bridgeport Art Center&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418902/vfnasbtkubdviv1nelgy.gif"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/dennis-lee-mitchell-recorded-traces">Dennis Lee Mitchell: Recorded Traces</a>Opening: Friday, May 21, 4 – 7&nbsp;pmMay 21 – July 17Zolla / Lieberman Gallery&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418903/lmqjyymmtozx8bvsklbt.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/josh-garber-amorous-terrain">Josh Garber: Amorous Terrain</a>Opening: Friday, May 21, 4 – 7&nbsp;pmMay 21 – July 17Zolla / Lieberman Gallery&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418904/sdj5b9zi9y13nih3816x.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/nature-nurture-nature-deana-bada-maloney-jill-sutton-donets-v-s">Nature Nurture Nature: Deana Bada Maloney, Jill Sutton, Donets V.S.</a>Opening: Saturday, May 22, 1 – 4&nbsp;pmMay 22 – June 18Gallery Studio Oh!&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418905/mx6knvloqahy8wdw54ac.png"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/toward-common-cause-ab4c11d6-2286-4a00-b5e6-4c23dfe2548a">Toward Common Cause</a>May 21 – September 25Smart Museum of Art&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418905/rkakmasslesbpyk49nzk.png"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/mary-sibande-unhand-me-demon">Mary Sibande, Unhand Me Demon!</a>May 22 – July 31Kavi Gupta Gallery&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

New Exhibitions Start May 21 - 22 

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417623/xhzsnoykulx0gkc6r3qf.jpg"></figure><a href="https://hebrubrantleyxmcastore.org/a/pre-launch">The MCA Has an Exclusive Collection Drop from Hebru Brantley</a>Check out the dedicated site for Hebru Brantley × MCA Store and mark your calendars for May 27, when the MCA will open their digital store featuring products designed by Chicago artist Hebru Brantley.<a href="https://mcachicago.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=c24ba7c5a91cefd699dc985e1&amp;id=b45269295f&amp;e=95b957c616">Shop</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/ct-ent-saic-cancel-culture-class-20210505-p5cttxjf4vcsbgla3stp5zkoxy-story.html">Love the art, hate the artist? How a popular Chicago college class is reexamining Kanye West, Michael Jackson, Picasso and others in the era of cancel culture</a>Eileen Favorite has heard the word “problematic” more than any person should have to hear any word repeated, again and again. She has heard it applied to the obvious and to the unexpected. She has heard people say “problematic” so often that when she says it herself, the word doesn’t come as casually as it does for her students. It’s become an event. It bold-faces. It goes ALL CAPS. Sometimes it sounds like a chuckle. Sometimes like a death sentence. Sometimes it has an eye-roll attached. Sometimes an indictment.The point being, when Eileen Favorite discusses the life and work of problematic artists with her students at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, one size refuses to fit all.Via Chicago Tribune&nbsp;<a href="https://news.artnet.com/art-world/creative-time-project-rashid-johnson-will-give-local-artists-literal-stage-reemerge-1967832">Rashid Johnson Will Give Artists a Literal Stage to Reemerge From the Pandemic as Part of a New Project With Creative Time</a>One year ago, Rashid Johnson was holed up in a makeshift workspace in the basement of his Long Island home, churning out a series of apocalyptic oil stick drawings the color of a fire alarm. They belonged to his ongoing “Anxious Men” project,&nbsp;<a href="https://news.artnet.com/art-world/how-artists-are-addressing-pandemic-1842672">the artist told Artnet News at the time</a>. He&nbsp;sounded&nbsp;anxious—as we all did then, a month deep into the pandemic, uncertainty still the dominant mood.Now, as we prepare to return to a semblance of normalcy, Johnson has once again turned to that same anxious red color—but this time, he’s doing so to a more optimistic end.Via Artnet&nbsp;<a href="https://news.artnet.com/multimedia/shattering-the-glass-ceiling-mariane-ibrahim-1967027">Shattering the Glass Ceiling: Art Dealer Mariane Ibrahim on the Power of the Right Relationships</a>In the final installment of Artnet's mini-series Shattering the Glass Ceiling, Artnet News’s art and design editor Noor Brara spoke with pioneering gallerist Mariane Ibrahim, founder of her eponymous gallery. Ibrahim opened her first outpost in Seattle, later launching another outpost in Chicago’s West Town neighborhood.&nbsp;Now, as the last year’s turbulence begins to level off, Ibrahim is taking another giant leap—this time, overseas—to open a location in Paris.Via Artnet&nbsp;</body></html>

CGN Art World Recap: 5/12

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418894/mouumso74b34bfbedlff.jpg"><figcaption>Architect Helmut Jahn, seen here in 2011, in his office in the Jewelers Building. (Nancy Stone/Chicago Tribune 2011)&nbsp;</figcaption></figure><a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/ct-ent-helmut-jahn-architect-dead-20210509-gijjprpk6jd4baxm4roohm2z3a-story.html">Helmut Jahn, Chicago’s ‘star-chitect’ to the world, was the visionary behind United’s O’Hare terminal and Thompson Center</a>Before the architect Helmut Jahn designed United Airlines Terminal 1 at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport in the late 1980s, travelers coming or going from one of the world’s greatest architectural cities made a quotidian trudge through a boring portal. Jahn replaced that grim trajectory with a sensually thrilling explosion of light, sound and excitement, designing a rhapsodic experience that emulated the great railroad hubs that once defined Chicago. He put the romance back in travel, even for the humblest traveler, signaled Chicago’s cultural centrality toward of the dawn of the 21st century and created a much-copied model for new airports all over the world.Jahn, who was 81 and died Saturday from injuries suffered in a <a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/breaking/ct-helmut-jahnfamed-architect-dies-20210509-t4co2a6zd5fxzfiyon2hvcud24-story.html">cycling accident</a> outside west suburban St. Charles, would become its preeminent designer of high-profile public spaces and a full-throttle Chicago celebrity replete with the Porsche Carreras, big yachts, bespoke tailoring and all the other accessories of youthful 20th century fame.Via Chicago Tribune&nbsp;<a href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/2021/5/8/22425352/karl-wirsum-obituary-artist-hairy-who-lori-gunn-art-institute-chicago-teacher">Karl Wirsum, visionary, ‘utterly original’ artist, dies at 81</a>Karl Wirsum first began drawing when he was 5 and stuck for weeks in a hospital room, recovering from a fractured skull.And he never stopped — not even after he’d had several strokes and could barely move his hand.“Even if it was just wiggly marks and circles and little angles on paper,” said his wife of 53 years, Lorri Gunn Wirsum. “He did it every day. He looked out our back window at an apple tree, and all through the winter with the tree skeletal, he just would draw the branches – his version of it.”Via Chicago Sun Times&nbsp;<a href="https://www.artforum.com/news/turner-prize-2021-shortlists-five-artist-collectives-85705">Turner Prize 2021 Shortlists Five Artist Collectives</a>For the first time since the award’s inception in 1984, the organizers of the Turner Prize have announced that the five finalists under consideration are all artist collectives, with no individual artist being nominated. The prize, considered one of the world’s most prestigious, is named for nineteenth-century painter British J. M. W. Turner and awarded annually to a UK visual artist. This year’s prize has been eagerly anticipated, as last year’s was canceled owing to the Covid-19 pandemic.Via Artforum&nbsp;<a href="https://rejournals.com/developer-thinks-outside-of-the-box-for-tricky-fulton-market-site-over-expressway/">Developer thinks outside the box for potential museum site on Fulton Market</a>Developer R2 Companies is marketing an opportunity to build a structure on a site that runs over the Kennedy Expressway near Fulton Market. Conceptual renderings in a marketing brochure depict a glass box surrounded by landscaped outdoor space at 708 W. Wayman Street.Currently, the site, which was one piece of a larger Fulton Market portfolio that R2 Companies purchased a few years ago, is being used as a parking lot. Because it’s a challenging and unique site, Zach Cupkovic of R2 Cos says that it’s an opportunity to think outside the box. He suggests that it could be a great fit for retail or maybe even a museum.Via RE Journals&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

What We're Reading: 5/10

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418894/ghpdf0ipryjdifonjwkz.png"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/yannis-tsarouchis-dancing-in-real-life">Yannis Tsarouchis: Dancing in Real Life</a>May 7 – Jul 31Wrightwood 659Wrightwood 659 hosts the&nbsp;first U.S. exhibition devoted to&nbsp;the work of Yannis&nbsp;Tsarouchis&nbsp;(1910–1989), widely regarded as one of the greatest Greek painters of the 20th century. On view May 7–July 31, 2021, the exhibition will feature some 200 works, including paintings and works on paper from public and private collections in Greece and internationally. Together, these span the entire arc of the artist’s career, showing how he absorbed and transformed influences including Ancient Greek and Early Christian art; Byzantine mosaics, frescoes, and icon painting; Greek vernacular traditions: costume, ornament and shadow theater Karaghiozis; and also the new languages of modern art: Fauvism, Cubism, and Surrealism.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418895/myp3opobkxz0dbpfd141.png"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/juan-arango-palacios-payasadas">Juan Arango Palacios: Payasadas</a>Opening: Friday, May 7, 2021 6 – 9&nbsp;pmEpiphany Center for the ArtsJuan Arango Palacios presents a new series of large-scale textile drawings that address the artist’s relationship to the Catholic church. These works critique religious archetypes and offer a personification of a queer narrative, exploring themes of fantasy, vulnerability, and performativity.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418895/jrn75jxzkpbjbxgu8ssq.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/ephemera-the-power-of-impermanence">Ephemera: The Power of Impermanence</a>May 7 – Jun 12 • Artist Reception: May 21, 5:30 (TBD: Zoom or Outdoor Weather Permitting)The Art Center Highland ParkThe Art Center Highland Park (TAC) is looking forward to bringing the community together for an ‘alive and well’ art experience. For the last year, they have been extending work outwards into the community, from virtual exhibits to art in their city-wide storefront windows. Now, TACHP invites artists to fill the center's walls (and floors) with the many ephemeral art processes that span the range of impermanence.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418896/zu43zfd2dutcvzzayrmg.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/rebecca-gray-smith-alphabet-numbers-the-pandemic-prints">Rebecca Gray Smith | Alphabet &amp; Numbers: The Pandemic Prints</a>May 8 – Jun 18. Opening Reception: Saturday May 8, 2-5 pm | RSVP requiredBert Green Fine ArtRebecca Gray Smith explores the presence of death in all human endeavors, using traditional signifiers of mortality such as the skeleton as a primary actor and subject. Each letter or number plate corresponds to a specific fatal activity or malady, highlighting the act of existence as a high risk activity fraught with peril. The artist examines how the Medusa of Death stalks us all, in all walks of life, while at the same time looking at the capriciousness inherent in the present: the absurdities, cruelties, and horrors of modern existence. The history of printmaking is elemental in the helix of human civilization, a taproot reaching back to the prehistoric dawn of mankind.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418897/pxcfvqzlksqm7gz5hq9n.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/opening-reception-for-kurt-kramer">Kurt Kramer</a>Thru May 30. Opening: Saturday, May 8, 2021 5 – 7&nbsp;pmPerspective Group + Photography Gallery, Ltd.While somewhat house-bound and experimenting this past summer, Kurt Kramer decided to print a few photographs on watercolor paper. He loved the retro look and decided to use it as the basis for this collection titled "Retrographs." For this exhibition, Kramer has drawn from images he has made over the past 22 years. He attributes his search for an old-fashioned sensibility partly to Perspective Gallery member Suzanne Metzel’s December 2019 exhibit of photogravure images.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418898/l3nqsd4jetoi80prwhdm.jpg"><figcaption>RIVA LEHRER</figcaption></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/dis">DIS-</a>May 8 – Jun 26 • Opening: Saturday, May 8, 2021 12 – 5&nbsp;pmChicago Printmakers CollaborativeAn exhibition featuring artists who self identify as having a disability.&nbsp;Curated by Matt BodettArtists: Bri Beck, Justin Cooper, Timotheus “TJ” Gordon Jr., Riva Lehrer, Katie O’Neil, Reveca Torres, and Sandie Yi&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

New Exhibitions Start May 7-8

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418887/chqveuqdovzqvnct8qt8.jpg"></figure><a href="https://nublockmuseum.blog/2021/04/23/outdoor-exhibition-behold-be-held-celebrates-the-power-of-community-and-connection/?mc_cid=a66c729a40&amp;mc_eid=64540e863b">Block Museum of Art Opens Outdoor Exhibition</a>In Fall 2020, as the Block Museum of Art's galleries remained closed to visitors due to the pandemic, staff opted to think imaginatively about engaging visitors through the permanent collection. While the past year has altered so much in our lives, it has also highlighted how art remains a vital window into our feelings and experiences. Behold, Be Held uses the facades of The Block, the neighboring Ethel M. Barber Theater, and the building of their community partner Youth &amp; Opportunity United (Y.O.U.) as an outdoor gallery. Reproductions of artworks from the Block Museum collection invite visitors to reflect on how art holds us through moments of crisis. These works capture gestures that we may have taken for granted prior to the pandemic, but we have missed dearly. The selection of works was guided by themes of self-care, self-authorship, and community. It also explores how subtle moments with others prepare and carry us on our journeys. On view through August 22, 2022&nbsp;<a href="https://exhibitcolumbus.org/?mc_cid=a27b4b186c&amp;mc_eid=f1e3638334">Exhibit Columbus to Highlight Indiana Town's Unique Place in the Architecture World</a>August 21 the third <a href="https://landmarkcolumbus.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=df84ab7cdcbf760c8a4c43ae9&amp;id=5703a474d6&amp;e=f1e3638334">Exhibit Columbus </a>exhibition will open, featuring 13 outdoor, site-responsive installations by a diversity of architects, artists, and designers, publicly displayed photography, and a fresh graphic identity and wayfinding system. The installations celebrate the relationships between the built environment and the people and other species that inhabit it, in dialogue with iconic buildings, streetscapes, and landscapes around Columbus, Indiana. The theme of this third Exhibit Columbus is <a href="https://landmarkcolumbus.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=df84ab7cdcbf760c8a4c43ae9&amp;id=ae3aa01153&amp;e=f1e3638334">New Middles: From Main Street to Megalopolis, What Is the Future of the Middle City?</a> Curated by Iker Gil and Mimi Zeiger, New Middles explores the future of the center of the United States.&nbsp;<a href="https://one.bidpal.net/cpslives/welcome">CPS Lives Hosting First Online Fundraiser and Art Auction</a>CPS Lives' first online fundraiser is May 5. They will be auctioning off some amazing items each day and will close it out with a&nbsp;Zoom panel discussion on May 12th at 6PM.&nbsp;New items are added daily and there is also a raffle. <a href="https://one.bidpal.net/cpslives/welcome">Preview artist works online</a> and stay tuned for more updates.&nbsp;CPS Lives is a 501(c)(3) non-profit arts organization that pairs Chicago artists, designers, thinkers and makers with a Chicago Public School during the academic year to collaborate on a project, sharing the unique and individual story of each Chicago Public School. &nbsp;Each story will be celebrated and exhibited throughout the city in local Chicago Public Library branches and other exhibition spaces, as well as existing on the CPS Lives social media and website as an accessible digital archive of public school history for students, families, community members, educators, administrators, policymakers &amp; the general public.&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

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