Art Shay, a Chicago-based photographer whose iconic images are known around the world, died Saturday, April 28 in Deerfield at age 96.&nbsp;

Shay&#39;s photography career spanned 70 years, during which he risked his life capturing tragic images of fighting during&nbsp;WWII, and he created images of the Civil Rights movement that revealed to the world people&#39;s struggles and triumphs.&nbsp;

Shay memorialized&nbsp;celebrities and famous figures&nbsp;like Elizabeth Taylor, Simone de Beauvoir, John F. Kennedy, and Nelson Algren, among&nbsp;others, and he got inside Hugh Hefner&#39;s Playboy mansion to capture socializing bunnies and their guests. He worked for LIFE, Time,&nbsp;Sports Illustrated and many other publications. And Shay&nbsp;was on the ground during the tumultous Democratic Convention in Chicago in 1968, reportedly geting maced in the process.

Shay was prolific during his long life and career, and he was admired around the world, but especially in Chicago where he made his home. In 2015 the Musuem of Contemporary Photography gave Shay the Silver Camera award in honor of his important work.&nbsp;

A show of his photographs opens this Friday, May 4 as part of <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/calendar/art-shay-writers-and-freedom-fighters">Writers and Freedom Fighters</a>&nbsp;at Gallery Victor Armendariz in River North. Shay was previously represented by friend and long-time dealer Ann Nathan.&nbsp;

Click below to read obituaries from other area news outlets:

<a href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/art-shay-legendary-photographer-dies-at-96/">Chicago Sun Times</a>

<a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/ct-ent-art-shay-tribute-kogan-sidewalks-0431-story.html">Chicago Tribune</a>

&nbsp;

Top image: Richard and Art Shay, MoCP Silver Camera Award, photography by Jessica Tampas

<img alt="" data-caption="Art Shay, Simone de Beauvoir, silver gelatin print, 14 x 11" data-rich-file-id="2737" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/2737/original/simonedebeauvior1950artshay.jpg" />

<img alt="" data-caption="Art Shay, MLK at Chicago Freedom Rally, archival pigment print, 13 x 19 inches" data-rich-file-id="2735" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/2735/original/asy64mlking1966web.jpg" />

<img alt="" data-caption="Art Shay, I Am A Man, Memphis, 1968 archival pigment print, 28.5 x 21.5 inches" data-rich-file-id="2733" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/2733/original/asy048-artshay.jpg" />

<img alt="" data-caption="Art Shay" data-rich-file-id="2734" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/2734/original/asy199activistsinfrontof-2bhilton.jpg" />

Photographer Art Shay Dies

By GINNY VAN ALYEA

The artist Alex Katz is well known around the world for his colorful, stylized portraits and bold natural landscapes. Prolific for decades, he marked his 90th birthday in 2017 and is still making art. His latest exhibition, Grass and Trees, opened April 12 at Richard Gray Gallery, featuring work that goes in a new direction, proving that we as humans never have to stop observing or creating.&nbsp;

Critic John Yau, in an essay on Katz&rsquo;s new work says, &ldquo;The list of artists who break through to a new way of making art after turning eighty is not very long. Claude Monet, Henri Matisse, and Willem de Kooning are among the few in this category.&rdquo; He points out that in this new series of work is, &ldquo;The feeling of not quite knowing where you are or where you are going, which is rather unsettling when you consider the artist&rsquo;s age.&rdquo;

<img alt="" data-rich-file-id="2760" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/2760/original/katz-2c-grass-5-2c-2017-0417018-a.jpg" />

When I visited the gallery on a cold spring morning, I entered the quiet, empty warehouse space and came face to face with a large scale vertical painting of a set of sun&ndash; dappled steps buffetted by thick green foliage. It&rsquo;s not clear whether the steps are going down, or up, since the destination is unseen. The lines are curved and the steps themselves are a bit fuzzy, perhaps from the perspective of someone who has spent 90 years on earth. Everything looks a bit broader and softer; the light is fresh and clear.&nbsp;

Yau emphasizes that the Grass paintings are &ldquo;Unlike anything Katz has ever done before,&rdquo; though he notes their art historical ties through &ldquo;a dialog with Franz Kline&rsquo;s black-and-white abstractions, but solely on Katz&rsquo;s terms. Katz&rsquo;s paint is thinner and the strokes are looser, more at ease with themselves. This is plein-air painting taken to a new level.&rdquo;

<img alt="" data-caption="Alex Katz, Road 2" data-rich-file-id="2731" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/2731/original/katz-2c-road-2-2c-2017-1017020-a.jpg" />

In 2015, when he turned 88, Katz told artnet, &ldquo;Most painters, when they get older, they get worse. And the real good ones get better. This is, like, my stab at saying &lsquo;I got better.&rsquo;&rdquo; Indeed he&rsquo;s like the rare musician who, instead of going on a greatest hits tour or taking a standing gig in Las Vegas, continues to write new and relevant music that audiences of all ages enjoy.&nbsp;

In addition to the first painting that greets visitors in the gallery, Road 1, another similar work is hung at the other end of the space, as well as several large scale Grass pieces. On a frigid April day &ndash; snowing, in Chicago, on opening day of baseball season &ndash; the expanses of intense sunny yellow and verdant green are like a caffeine boost after a late night. I feel as if I am standing under a light lamp, absorbing much needed nutrients after too much time in the dark.&nbsp;

<img alt="" data-caption="alex katz, three trees 2, 2016, oil on linen, 48 x 84 inches" data-rich-file-id="2732" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/2732/original/katz-2c-three-trees-2-2c-2016-1017015-a.jpg" />

Standing close to Grass 5, which at a remarkable 108 x 216 inches is the largest work in the show, I view sections of the linen surface one at a time, noticing the many layers of oil paint in various shades and combinations: green on yellow, green on green, yellow on green, and dark green on lighter green. Marks from Katz&rsquo;s paintbrush bristles are individually visible, creating an effect of blades of grass. I imagin I am shrunk down to the size of a chickadee or suddenly on the lawn of a giant. If that were the case I might feel lost, but standing in the gallery I feel immersed in Katz&rsquo;s powerfully saturated and contrasting colors, moved by brushstrokes that give a feeling of blowing in the breeze.&nbsp;

Commenting on the surface coverage of the works, Yau notes, &ldquo;Katz does not paint even a sliver of sky; there is a feeling of being hemmed in, but it is never oppressive.&rdquo; His focus on the ground makes you look carefully at your surroundings rather than what might be above and beyond. In the case of the Road pieces, I look at what is in front of me, as if truly walking an unfamiliar path. For Yau, art history once again informs these compositions: &ldquo;Katz&rsquo;s Road 1 and Road 2 (both 2017) are in dialog with Paul C&eacute;zanne&rsquo;s La route tournante en sous-bois (Bend in the forest road) (1902&ndash;06). Whereas the road in C&eacute;zanne&rsquo;s painting bends before disappearing, overtaken by the forest, Katz&rsquo;s road goes straight back, narrowing as it rises up the picture plane, until it comes to a halt.&rdquo;

The week that Grass and Trees opened, Katz attended the opening at Richard Gray, and he participated in a talk at the Art Institute with Anne Goldstein, as well as a Q&amp;A at the gallery with Yau and Northwestern University&rsquo;s Ivy Wilson. At 90 Katz continues to push the limits of his own art, as well as participate in an important dialogue about the evolving role of art in our society.&nbsp;

Every year when spring finally comes in the Midwest, everyone knows to enjoy it while it lasts. Katz&rsquo;s career has been long and illustrious. We are fortunate that he has continued to make art that sheds new light on the people and spaces around all of us.

&nbsp;

Alex Katz: Grass and Trees

On view thru June 2

Richard Gray Gallery, Gray Warehouse

2044 W. Carroll, Chicago (60612)

<a href="http://richardgraygallery.com">richardgraygallery.com</a>

&nbsp;

Top image: Grass and Trees installed at Gray Warehouse on Chicago&rsquo;s west side &nbsp;
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Alex Katz at Richard Gray Gallery in Chicago

Seeing the Trees for the Art: Alex Katz Finds New Inspiration at 90

Art Encounter, a non-profit art education organization, is celebrating 40 years this year. Devoted to the mission of educating, empowering, and connecting people of diverse ages and backgrounds through interactive experiences with visual art, the nonprofit also offers art programs to bring greater understanding and connection to underserved youth and seniors at risk of social isolation.&nbsp;

The group is well known for their in-depth and behind-the-scenes art tours, including local day trips to galleries and private collections as well as international trips to see the world&rsquo;s best art. Recent destinations have included Cuba, Venice, New Orleans, Toronto, Detroit, and Brazil.

On May 6, 2018&nbsp;a special 40th anniversary gala, &ldquo;Art Impacts,&rdquo; honors&nbsp;William Lieberman, whose gallery,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/galleries/zolla-lieberman-gallery">Zolla/Lieberman</a>, pioneered River North as an art center when his mother Roberta Lieberman co-founded the gallery in 1976. &nbsp;The event is also a tribute to Art Encounter founder Joanna Pinsky&#39;s 40 years of leadership.

Proceeds from the event will help increase the depth and breadth of Art Encounter&rsquo;s future community outreach programming. One of the highlights of this year&rsquo;s Gala will be the art auction of master works by 35 prestigious artists, many of them represented by Zolla/Lieberman, including Phyllis Bramson, William Conger, John Fraser, Josh Garber, Vera Klement, David Kroll, Michael Nakoneczny, Ren&eacute;&nbsp;Romero Schuler, Buzz Spector, Jay Strommen, Maria Tomasula, Glenn Wexler, and others. The event also calls attention to the large number of women artists represented by the gallery.

Art Encounter was founded by three artists who believed that &ldquo;there are many ways to see&rdquo;, and that meaningful and collaborative encounters with art have many benefits. Program offerings, which annually serve over 3,500 people and reach people of all ages and backgrounds, engage with public school children and nursing home residents, residents of Englewood as well as Evanston, young parents and active retirees.

The Art Impacts Gala takes place Sunday, May 6 from 2-5pm at the Woman&#39;s Club of Evanston,&nbsp;1700 Chicago Avenue (Evanston). Tickets are&nbsp;$125.

You can bid in the auction online in advance via <a href="https://paddle8.com/auction/art-encounter/">Paddle8</a>.

Visit&nbsp;<a href="http://artencounter.org">artencounter.org</a>&nbsp;for details.

&nbsp;

<img alt="" data-caption="Art Encounter founder Joanna Pinsky, and Pagoda Red's Betsy Nathan" data-rich-file-id="2725" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/2725/original/2.jpg" />

<img alt="" data-caption="Art Encounter participants" data-rich-file-id="2727" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/2727/original/4.jpg" />

<img alt="" data-caption="Phyllis Bramson, The Good Keeper of All Living Things, 2017, collage/mixed media/oil on canvas, 70&quot; × 60&quot;" data-rich-file-id="2743" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/2743/original/bramson.jpg" />

<img alt="" data-caption="Vera Klement, Vessel and Horizon, 1984 Oil on canvas 60” x 36”" data-rich-file-id="2742" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/2742/original/klement.jpg" />

<img alt="" data-caption="Honoree William Lieberman" data-rich-file-id="2744" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/2744/original/william-laughing.jpg" />

&nbsp;

Art Encounter celebrates 40 years with a gala on May 6 honoring William Lieberman of Zolla/Lieberman Gallery

Art Encounter Celebrates Four Decades Behind the Scenes

Each week CGN interviews a local art-industry professional to discuss the ins and outs of running a space&nbsp;in the city of Chicago. This week we caught up with art dealer Aron Packer&nbsp;of Aron Packer Projects.

&nbsp;

Name: Aron Packer

Hometown:&nbsp;Chicago

Previous occupation: Record Store

&nbsp;

5 favorites from the past week&nbsp;

Restaurant:&nbsp;Bite Cafe 
Shop:&nbsp;Any Dollar Store 
Read:&nbsp;The Hunting Accident by David Carlson and Landis Blair 
Neighborhood:&nbsp;Rogers Park of course 
Music:&nbsp;The Lark Ascending by Vaughn Williams

&nbsp;

How did you become an art dealer?&nbsp;

AP: My parents had a big influence on that.&nbsp; My mom, Marilyn Packer, was a printmaker and painter and was pretty aggressive for not having gone to art school.&nbsp; I remember her tying large paintings on the top of our station wagon and driving them down to the Art Sales and Rental Gallery at the Art Institute or a gallery she showed at in Old Town. A little later, my folks were on the Exhibition Committee at the Evanston Art Center where she had studied and modeled for Paul Wieghardt and Nelli Bar.&nbsp;&nbsp;

My father Davey Packer was an industrial designer eventually becoming an exhibition designer, and I would always see him tinkering at his drafting table working on booths for the consumer electronics show and trade shows, things like that.&nbsp; He was very particular in how things looked and were arranged.&nbsp; They both were starting to attend local auctions buying American Folk art and ethnographic art.&nbsp; He was always interested in natural creativity alongside modern design.&nbsp;

My mother bought into an antique quilt shop which eventually was run more like a gallery.&nbsp; American Folk Art quilts have the breadth and graphic quality of contemporary painting.&nbsp; They were visually vibrant and exciting to me.&nbsp; I started to follow my folks to antique shows and flea markets.&nbsp; I bought a few quilts and eventually was comfortable enough to consign some to her.&nbsp; They sold and I was kind of hooked.&nbsp; There&rsquo;s more to it than that, but that is how I got interested in showing and selling art.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

Share a typical day in the life!&nbsp;

AP: I am on my computer almost all day&hellip; emailing and trying to make a dent in all my to do lists.&nbsp; Show-hang weeks are the most fun. That is my blank canvas.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

Best sale you&#39;ve ever had?

AP: We sold an engraved (scrimshawed) boat by Michael Dinges to Aurora University a few years ago.&nbsp; It hangs from the ceiling and has to do with our sinking ship economy among many other things.&nbsp; It looks like a classic lifeboat and is made of vinyl siding over a constructed frame.&nbsp; It&rsquo;s made with materials one would buy at Home Depot.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

Successes you have had this year? What about challenges?

AP: My most recent success was being head of sale for an Outsider and Folk Art auction at Leslie Hindman.&nbsp; It was the first one they have done there&hellip; I am no longer there but that was a great year in my art life. A challenge at the moment is letting people know that since September I have a permanent pop up space they can come and see 5 days a week.&nbsp; Getting a good job I love in the arts would tie with the aforementioned.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

Thumbs up or down on art fairs?

AP: Thumbs up and down on art fairs&hellip;. They are too expensive for a dealer like me, but I actually loved doing them.&nbsp; An empty booth is a challenge.&nbsp; But hard to sell artwork that is made by under the radar artists&hellip; which is mostly what I like to show.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

Who inspires you?

AP: I would have to say teachers of all kinds&hellip;&nbsp;grade school, high school, art and music and everything else.&nbsp; We&#39;ve got to support those folks and they don&rsquo;t get paid enough.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

What is your favorite interest outside of the art world?&nbsp;

AP: I am a huge fan of music in general.&nbsp; I play banjo and am in a band called Sinner&rsquo;s Friend.&nbsp; It&rsquo;s comprised of a gallerist, artist, architect and yogi.&nbsp; I played classical guitar and went to college for that&hellip;. worked in a record store after high school which got me into all sorts of music.&nbsp; Over the years I&rsquo;ve gone to hundreds of concerts.

&nbsp;

What do you look for in an artwork? When searching for yourself, what speaks to you?&nbsp;&nbsp;

AP: I often look for artwork that I wished I could have done myself&hellip;. But I don&rsquo;t have that kind of focus.&nbsp; I also like what I call raw power work, which sometimes can be found in certain Outsider Art.&nbsp; Where someone is so driven to make something they will do whatever it takes to get a piece done with whatever materials are on hand.&nbsp; It&rsquo;s not always pretty per se.&nbsp;

And I do love paintings of many genres and histories.

&nbsp;

What&rsquo;s coming up next at Aron Packer Projects?

AP: We have a one on one conversation with Maria Tomasula happily grilling Jason Lahr about his current show.&nbsp; On June 9, we start a show with Ben Blount.&nbsp; He&rsquo;s a letterpress, print, and book artist.&nbsp; Letterpress is new for me so I&#39;m pretty darn excited about it. &nbsp;With this show we will be part of a print crawl on June 24th generated by Spudnik Press.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

Aron Packer is&nbsp;the owner of Aron Packer Projects. For more information about his exhibitions please visit:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/galleries/aron-packer-projects">Aron Packer Projects</a>.

Top image credit: Background artwork&nbsp;by artist Bruce Riley

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

An Interview with an Art Dealer: Aron Packer

BY ALISON REILLY

At first glance, Richard Rezac&rsquo;s sculptures might be described as cool, crisp, or sleek. But his careful craftsmanship and delicate choice of color imbue the objects with a warm familiarity, and their contrasting surfaces often activate tactile memories.

Earlier this month&nbsp;Rezac&rsquo;s exhibition, titled Address, opened at the Renaissance Society. Though the work in the show spans the last 20 years, for executive director and chief curator Solveig &Oslash;vsteb&oslash;,&nbsp;the exhibition is not a retrospective. &ldquo;We wanted it to be a new commission,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;a comprehensive new installation related specifically to the space of the Renaissance Society.&rdquo;&nbsp;

&Oslash;vsteb&oslash;&rsquo;s colleague, Janine Mileaf, director of the Arts Club of Chicago, had a similar idea. She commissioned Rezac to create a new sculpture for the Arts Club&rsquo;s outdoor space. Inspired by the urban location of the Arts Club, the organization&rsquo;s connection to sculptor Constantin Brancusi, and his own interest in Shaker fence building, Rezac built Glen Elder.&nbsp;

&ldquo;We decided that it would be a nice collaboration to do these exhibitions at the same time,&rdquo; &Oslash;vsteb&oslash; said, &ldquo;to emphasize both institutions&rsquo; respect for his work and his role in the Chicago art landscape.&rdquo; Her deep admiration for Rezac and his rigorous studio practice is evident. &ldquo;He is one of the strongest sculptors working in the U.S. today,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;Over the span of 40 years he has been true to his project and worked quietly in his very own vein. There are very few artists who show this kind of uninterrupted concentration.&rdquo;

&Oslash;vsteb&oslash;, like many others, is drawn to Rezac&rsquo;s work not only because of its formal beauty and distinct quality, but also because of the way he builds his sculptures. &ldquo;He makes them all by hand through a very determined process in which meticulous geometry and math are combined with a deep feeling for color and shape,&rdquo; she noted.

Rezac was kind enough to answer a number of questions about his childhood, his education, and his current art practice. Following is an edited transcript of our recent conversation.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

<img alt="" data-caption="The Arts Club of Chicago hosts Rezac’s site-specific installation Glen Elder this summer. The piece is the most recent work in the Club’s Garden Project series. On View through July 2018" data-rich-file-id="2718" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/2718/original/rezac-install-copy.jpg" />

Chicago Gallery News: Where did you grow up?&nbsp;

Richard Rezac: I was born and raised in Lincoln, Nebraska in a family of six siblings with extended family nearby. My parents enjoyed travel when they had the time and finances, so an outward look around the Midwest was an important aspect of my early years.

CGN: Is there a memory from your childhood that influenced your decision to become an artist?

RR: I had two excellent art teachers in middle school and high school. They were bright, respectful, and encouraging. As examples in their conduct and personal commitment, they were mainly responsible for me, during high school, to decide later to seriously pursue the study of art.

CGN: Why did you decide to become an artist?

RR: Largely due to these teachers, but I have also had a persistent interest in drawing since I was about six years old. That attention and outlook led to an appreciation of what it would mean to go further with other forms of art.

CGN: I grew up in Portland, Oregon and am interested in the time you spent there. What brought you to the city?&nbsp;

RR: I went to Portland to attend the BFA program at the Museum Art School (as it was known then, 1970-74), now the Pacific Northwest College of Art. One of the major benefits was its immediate connection to the Portland Art Museum with its galleries serving as an extension of the studio classrooms. The faculty were accomplished as artists and invested in education, and because the School was small, it was necessarily interdisciplinary, so I took courses in every studio area. I graduated as an artist, not as one specialized in one discipline.

CGN: What was Portland like at the time?

RR: The 1970s in Portland was ideal: open, liberal and responsible, inexpensive.

CGN: From 1980-82, you studied at the Maryland Institute, College of Art in Baltimore and received your MFA. How did that time compare to your experience in Portland?

RR: It was also a rewarding education, and a positive time to be in Baltimore, though almost completely different from Portland&mdash;as an older, entrenched, industrial, working-class eastern city. Nature, as I had known it in Oregon and Nebraska, was a long distance from Baltimore. The most rewarding part of that place and time was the ready access to museum collections in Washington D.C., New York, Philadelphia, and Boston, which I visited frequently.&nbsp;

CGN: I studied the work of Katarzyna Kobro, a Polish artist associated with Kazimir Malevich and Vladimir Tatlin. I see similarities between your work and hers, because you often work on a human scale, you incorporate materials like wood and metal, and, in addition to freestanding sculpture, you sometimes hang your sculpture on the wall or from the ceiling. How do you see your work relating to early abstract art?&nbsp;

RR: I do admire her work (and saw a survey exhibition in Madrid last summer) and think that it certainly needs to be better known in this country, as it is prescient to some artists working in our time. If early twentieth-century abstraction can be seen today as an examination of some fundamental forms and their realization&mdash;in relationship&mdash;to an appropriate material, resulting in a simple, yet suggestive statement, then I agree that my sculpture, and approach, is indebted to those artists&rsquo; work. Their human-scaled size was inevitable because of the hand-forming construction and the private, rather than public, motivation.&nbsp;

<img alt="" data-caption="Richard Rezac, Untitled (Ren Screen), 2016-17, painted wood and aluminum, 74 x 120 x 36.5 in. PHOTO: TOM VAN EYNDE" data-rich-file-id="2716" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/2716/original/renscreen.jpg" />

CGN: Can you tell me more about Untitled&nbsp;(Ren Screen)? What inspired this work?

RR: This work is a combination of space divider, but free-floating and rather small; a wall to hang sculpture but with an area only for one. Otherwise, my reason to make it came almost first, two years ago, when invited by Solveig &Oslash;vsteb&oslash; for this exhibition. I felt the need to keep the Ren gallery space as open as possible, yet with a need to mark and divide it discreetly. Light from east to west in that space is paramount, so the underside of this screen is transparent and its primary, two-sided plane is on perpendicular axis with the only other built wall in the space. There are some details and surface treatments that match the scale and sensation of my sculpture generally, so it will hopefully be understood as an extension of the sculptures, while also being a slight architectural element, speaking to the gallery structure. &nbsp;&nbsp;

<img alt="" data-caption="Richard Rezac, Chigi, 2016-17, painted wood and cast hydrocal, 49 x 69 x 43 in. PHOTO: TOM VAN EYNDE" data-rich-file-id="2717" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/2717/original/rezac-chigi-2017.jpg" />

CGN: What is the significance of your sculptures&rsquo; names? I&rsquo;m particularly interested in Chigi and Quimby.

RR: The sculpture titled Chigi references the Italian papal family (originally from Siena). Alexander VII was one of three Popes in the Baroque period that commissioned Francesco Borromini in the architecture he designed for the Vatican. This sculpture incorporates an element that succinctly quotes the family emblem or crest, which is based on a series of overlapping mounds, as in the hillside landscape around Siena. All of Borromini&rsquo;s buildings initiated or completed during his reign contain these emblems, as a mark of sponsorship. My intention for Chigi was to join two seemingly unlike forms: the merged crib-like structure, and the volumetric &ldquo;foot&rdquo; in recognition of Borromini, not so much the Chigi family.&nbsp;

The other sculpture, Quimby, is only the second work that I have made incorporating stained glass. The first house that I lived in with stained glass as a feature was on NW Quimby Street in Portland, and the designs in the several rooms were comprised of a simple grid surround, resembling the fragmented version in this sculpture.

<img alt="" data-caption="From left to right: Richard Rezac, Zeilschip (knot), 2014, nickel-plated cast bronze and cast bronze, 7 x 6.5 x 3 in.; Zeilschip (gauge), 2016, Cast bronze and nickel-plated bronze, 7 x 6.5 x 3 in.; Zeilschip (lunar distAnce), 2015, Cast bronze and painted cherry wood, 7 x 6.5 x 3 in. Photos: TOM VAN EYNDE" data-rich-file-id="2719" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/2719/original/zeilschiptrio.jpg" />

CGN: I&rsquo;d also like to know more about the series of sculptures with Zeilschip in the title. Can you tell me more about the material you selected for each one?&nbsp;

RR: Zeilschip is a Dutch word meaning sailing ship or sailor. The four works are based on a ceramic tile, oval in shape, that I saw at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. It depicted sailing vessels in port, with the water line level, but the oval set askew. I was intrigued by that subtle disjunction, and so I ultimately made four related works. All are cast bronze volumetric forms, but each has a different surface treatment (one is nickel-plated), and all have a separate &ldquo;instrument&rdquo; or notation on its left side. These small additions complete the sculpture, re-balance it visually, and add a geometric, faceted form. These configurations were all determined by the two sets of axis of the oval: true verticals and horizontals&mdash;one set within the oval, and one set on the wall itself. The coordinates from all points at the periphery of the oval (which resembles an iron cross) in some way converge to spell out the element attached to its left side.

CGN: You have said, &ldquo;Like an architect has a drawing to begin building, I have a drawing to initiate the sculpture with some reliability.&rdquo; Can you talk about your relationship to drawing and sculpting?&nbsp;

RR: For me it makes perfect sense to draw first, to explore possible ideas&mdash;whether that starts with a conscious source or improvisational. I can then adjust the particulars in the drawing over time, and eventually decide if I want to see it as a sculpture. I have never made a sculpture without going through this drawing phase first. For years these drawings have resembled traditional architectural drawings in their showing plan, elevation, and sometimes section in alignment, so it is easy to interpret these images as three-dimensional.

CGN: How involved are you in the installation of your work for exhibitions?&nbsp;

RR: Extensively. Since 1977 I have installed all of the solo exhibitions that I have had, and I have usually been involved in the actual installation of a work in any group show, if it occurred in a city in which I was living.

CGN: How would you describe your studio?

RR: It is on the first floor of the building I live in, a former dairy store, so my studio space is not so large, but the layout is efficient, somewhat compartmentalized, and perfectly suited to my needs. It has good natural light from three directions and is segmented into three areas: for building sculpture, for drawing, and for something in-between, such as painting.

CGN: Does Chicago architecture influence your work?

RR: When I moved here in 1985, the architecture of Chicago came as a revelation the first time that I looked closely at the invention and importance represented by this history. There is an affinity, naturally, to sculpture. Primarily, I gravitate to the street level detail or isolated fragment, but I have not actively used or incorporated, any aspect of local architectural forms or buildings proper. &nbsp;&nbsp;

CGN: If you didn&rsquo;t live in Chicago, where would you be?

RR: Hard to imagine at this time in my life. This is a great city, in my experience, and offers everything I need.

&nbsp;

Richard Rezac&rsquo;s Address is on view at the <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/calendar/richard-rezac-address">Renaissance Society</a> until June 17, 2018&nbsp; &bull;&nbsp; <a href="http://richardrezac.com">richardrezac.com</a>

 
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Sculptor Richard Rezac at the Renaissance Society in Chicago

An Outward Look: Richard Rezac at the Renaissance Society

<h2>Ai Weiwei&rsquo;s Little Blue Book on the Refugee Crisis</h2>

The prominent Chinese artist and dissident Ai Weiwei has long used his fame and social media as a megaphone for his activism. It was because of his blogging and Twitter activity criticizing the government that he was detained by the Chinese police for nearly three months and had his passport taken away in 2011. And his Instagram posts of the last few years have brought increasing international attention to the refugee crisis, as has his documentary&nbsp;&ldquo;Human Flow,&rdquo;&nbsp;released last fall.

By&nbsp;Robin&nbsp;Pogrebin, The NY Times

<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/23/arts/design/ai-weiwei-humanity-book-refugee-crisis.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Farts&amp;action=click&amp;contentCollection=arts&amp;region=rank&amp;module=package&amp;version=highlights&amp;contentPlacement=7&amp;pgtype=sectionfront">Read More</a>

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<img alt="" data-caption="The new proposal compared to Trump International Hotel &amp; Tower, Chicago’s current second tallest. Golub &amp; Co./CIM Group" data-rich-file-id="2715" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/2715/original/screen-20shot-202018-04-23-20at-204-58-47-20pm.png" />

<h2>1,422-foot Tribune Tower addition would be Chicago&rsquo;s second tallest building</h2>

A team of developers looks to shake up Chicago&rsquo;s skyline with a striking 96-story skyscraper slated to rise just east of Tribune Tower. At a public meeting on Monday, Chicago developer Golub &amp; Co. and LA-based partner CIM Group debuted a plan for both the new tower as well as the adaptive reuse of the 1925 neo-Gothic Tribune Tower into luxury condominiums. The venture purchased the landmarked building and adjacent parcels for&nbsp;$240 million&nbsp;in 2016.

By&nbsp;Jay Koziarz, Curbed Chicago&nbsp;

<a href="https://chicago.curbed.com/2018/4/17/17246578/tribune-tower-condos-supertall-skyscraper-hotel">Read More</a>

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<img alt="" data-caption="James Yood. Photo: School of the Art Institute of Chicago." data-rich-file-id="2711" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/2711/original/article0-large.jpg" />

<h2>James Yood (1952&ndash;2018)</h2>

Chicago-based arts writer and educator&nbsp;James Yood, who once distilled the role of the critic as one that fulfills a responsibility &ldquo;to look and think as hard as possible,&rdquo; has died. A committed and eloquent assesser of Chicago artists, Yood was a professor of art history, theory, and criticism at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where he also directed its New Arts Journalism program.

Via ArtForum

<a href="https://www.artforum.com/news/james-yood-1952-2018-75105">Read More</a>

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<img alt="" data-caption="The artist Jeff Koons poses for a photo in front of his sculpture Balloon Venus at the Liebighaus Skulpturen Sammlung in Frankfurt, Germany during the opening of the exhibition Jeff Koons: The Painter &amp; The Sculptor in 2012 DANIEL ROLAND/AFP/Getty Images" data-rich-file-id="2713" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/2713/original/gettyimages-146546087-master.jpg" />

<h2>Collector sues Jeff Koons and Gagosian Gallery over years-long delivery delays</h2>

The collector Steven Tananbaum filed a lawsuit in New York Supreme Court on Thursday (19 April) that charges the artist Jeff Koons and Gagosian Gallery of failing to deliver three sculptures for which he paid over $13m in contractual deposits over a five-year period.

By James H. Miller, The Art Newspaper

<a href="https://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/koons-gagosian-balloon-venus-lawsuit">Read More</a>

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<img alt="" data-caption="Paula Hayes, Teardrop Terrarium T027, 2006. Photo by Sherry Griffin. Courtesy of the artist." data-rich-file-id="2714" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/2714/original/d7hftxdivxxvm-cloudfront.jpg" />

<h2>Terrariums Let Anyone Create a &ldquo;Perfect World&rdquo; in Their Own Apartment</h2>

The artist&nbsp;Paula Hayes&nbsp;has always been obsessed with the natural world, so it was never a question of&nbsp;if&nbsp;she would incorporate plants into her work, but&nbsp;how. That answer came in 2004. At a show entitled &ldquo;Forest&rdquo; at&nbsp;Salon 94&nbsp;in New York, she introduced the world to the contemporary terrarium: a delicate blown-glass sphere filled with stones, moss, and a few small plants. The art world&rsquo;s reaction to her work was immediate and enthusiastic. Her terrariums were featured in&nbsp;Wallpaper&nbsp;and&nbsp;T Magazine, and the gallery sold them as fast as she could make them. &ldquo;I had never had that response to my work,&rdquo; Hayes recalled recently. &ldquo;I had never had so many people say, &lsquo;I&rsquo;ve never seen anything like that.&rsquo;&rdquo;

By&nbsp;Kate Groetzinger, Artsy Editorial

<a href="https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-terrariums-create-perfect-world-apartment">Read More</a>

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Top Image:&nbsp;Ai Weiwei on the Greek island Lesbos, 2016, where he filmed Turkish refugees coming ashore for &ldquo;Human Flow.&rdquo; &ldquo;Freedom is not an absolute condition, but a result of resistance,&rdquo; he says in his new book, &ldquo;Humanity.&rdquo;&nbsp;CreditAi Weiwei Studio

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News from Around the Art World: April 23, 2018

Chicago-based arts writer and School of the Art Institute professor&nbsp;James Yood died yesterday, April 21. He was born in 1952 and received a BA in 1974 from the University of Wisconsin, and received his MA in 1976 and was a PhD candidate at the University of Chicago. He most recently taught Art History, and Theory and Criticism at SAIC and headed the school&#39;s&nbsp;New Arts Journalism program. He also taught at Northwestern University.

Yood was very well known and admired throghout the Chicago and national art community. &nbsp;He wrote for&nbsp;Artforum;&nbsp;GLASS; art ltd; and&nbsp;Visual Art Source.&nbsp;He wrote several books, including&nbsp;Gladys Nilsson;&nbsp;Spirited Visions: Portraits of Chicago Artists, and&nbsp;Second Sight: Printmaking in Chicago 1935-95. Yood was also the Chicago managing editor of the&nbsp;New Art Examiner, which led to writing to Artforum and other international publications.&nbsp;

Yood spent his career sharing Chicago art and artists with the world. He&nbsp;challenged artists&nbsp;to look at their own art more critically in order to strengthen&nbsp;their work and&nbsp;gain broader attention around the country.&nbsp;

Artforum&#39;s tribute to Yood&nbsp;referenced&nbsp;an early&nbsp;essay&nbsp;for the New Art Examiner, which&nbsp;they cite to as a turning point for his own wider recognition: &quot;[Yood]&nbsp;challenged a local trend of exhibiting group shows of &ldquo;emerging&quot; artists: &#39;It would be, quite simply, impossible to gauge trends in Chicago art by the work of these emergent artists, besides noting that young artists are the same everywhere: anything goes,&#39;&nbsp;he mused. &#39;Perhaps part of the cosmopolitanization of Chicago will be the loss of what some see as its idiosyncratic and fussy style.&#39;&nbsp;The piece made an impression, and soon after it was published in 1986, he began reviewing for national and international outlets like&nbsp;Artforum&nbsp;and&nbsp;Aperture.&quot;

In an interview by Tom Burtonwood for <a href="http://www.chicagoartistsresource.org/artist-stories/james-yood-contemporary-art-critic-and-essayist">Chicago Artists Resource</a> in 2008, Yood said, when asked what critics contribute to the arts community, &quot;We&#39;re part of the mix&mdash;along with artists, dealers, curators, and collectors&mdash;that in the aggregate help create the context of contemporary art. We can help conversations get started, and (sorry if this sound pretentious!), we&#39;re part of the peer group that begins the process of evaluation, of historical reckoning. It&#39;s an awkward process, sometimes painful and unfair, and sometimes altered by subsequent events. But it&#39;s the system that has evolved steadily over the last two centuries, that artists create art and then it leaves the studio and enters the world where it becomes a commodity, both financially and intellectually, that gets picked at and assessed, consumed in a way by its diverse audiences. I&#39;m part of that audience, with the astounding good fortune that some art magazines, etc., are willing to let me think out loud, so to speak, about what I see.&quot;

Details on a planned service on April 27 may be <a href="https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/chicagotribune/obituary.aspx?n=james-yood&amp;pid=188815949&amp;fhid=14572">found here</a>.&nbsp;

Click here for the <a href="https://www.artforum.com/news/james-yood-19522018-75105">Artforum</a> tribute.&nbsp;

Photo courtesy of SAIC

Art Critic and SAIC Professor James Yood Dies

Yesterday at the Art Institute of Chicago, some very generous donors made it&nbsp;rain. Well, it was actually sunny outside, finally, but inside there was news of some mega donations being made by members of the museum&#39;s board of trustees. Following is the press release shared by the Art Institute. The two significant gifts were cultivated by president James Rondeau, ensuring&nbsp;strength and development for the museum for years to come. &ndash;GV

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The Art Institute of Chicago announced today a $50 million unrestricted gift from Janet and Craig Duchossois and a $20 million gift from Robert and Diane v.S. Levy for acquisitions and operations. These historic gifts advance the museum&rsquo;s civic mission and enable bold planning for the future.&nbsp;

&ldquo;It is an honor to work with trustees whose foresight and generosity will shape the museum&rsquo;s impact on our community for generations to come,&rdquo; said James Rondeau, President and Eloise W. Martin Director. &ldquo;Gifts such as these allow the museum to look forward with certainty and ambition, serving our city as one of the world&rsquo;s greatest art museums.&rdquo; 
 
Janet Duchossois shared, &ldquo;Craig and I chose to make this unrestricted gift to demonstrate our confidence and support of James Rondeau and the board. We are proud to be partners in their strategy and approach for the museum both today and in the future.&rdquo;&nbsp; 
 
A Voting Trustee of the Art Institute Board of Trustees, Janet Duchossois is also Chair of the museum&rsquo;s Sustaining Fellows. She serves as Co-Chair of the Committee on Libraries and is a member of the committees on Modern and Contemporary Art and Prints and Drawings. Craig Duchossois is CEO of The Duchossois Group, a privately held, family-owned company with holdings in the consumer products, technology, and service sectors. He is Vice Chair of the boards of the University of Chicago Medical Center and the Illinois Institute of Technology, and serves on the boards of the University of Chicago, the Culver Educational Foundation, World Business Chicago, and the Executives&rsquo; Club of Chicago 
 
Robert Levy is in his second term as Chair of the Art Institute&rsquo;s Board of Trustees. He is a retired partner, chairman, and chief investment officer for U.S. Equities at Harris Associates L.P. Mr. Levy is vice chair of the board at the University of Pennsylvania and chairs The Power of Penn campaign. He also serves as president of the Robert M. Levy and Diane v.S. Levy Family Foundation, which he founded with his wife, Diane von Schlegell Levy. Diane v.S. Levy is currently a member of the Art Institute&rsquo;s committees on Textiles, European Decorative Arts, and Ancient and Byzantine Arts. Mrs. Levy is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the Field Museum, the Board of Directors of Chicago Botanic Garden, and served on the Board of Overseers of the Penn Museum for 10 years. 
 
&ldquo;We have a strong and committed board of trustees, dedicated to our role as an active civic partner, accessible to all members of our community,&rdquo; said Robert Levy. &ldquo;This extraordinary gift from Janet and Craig is critical to fulfilling the museum&rsquo;s mission and enhancing our visitors&rsquo; experiences.&rdquo; ##

Image:&nbsp;The Art Institute of Chicago.&nbsp;The Woman&#39;s Board Grand Staircase.&nbsp;Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago.
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A Very Good Day for the Art Institute of Chicago

Each week CGN interviews a local art-industry professional to discuss the ins and outs of running a space&nbsp;in the city of Chicago. This week we caught up with art dealer Jean Broday&nbsp;of Jean Albano Gallery.

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Hometown:&nbsp;Born and raised in Carlsbad, New Mexico. Has spent&nbsp;adult life in Chicago and its&nbsp;North Shore Suburbs

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Three from the past week

Place:&nbsp;Los Angeles

Restaurant: I was&nbsp;introduced to a wonderful up-scale Chicago Mexican restaurant - Mezcalina. It&#39;s located in the area north of&nbsp;Millenium Park. It&#39;s an Oasis in the city and is&nbsp;worth a visit.&nbsp;

See:&nbsp;This past week I was in Los Angeles to see a new grandson, Spencer, and visit with my adorable grand daughter Lucy, who is 2 1/2. That&#39;s always special.&nbsp;I did sneak in a quick visit to the Jasper Johns retrospective at The Broad, and I also caught&nbsp;a fabulous Mark Bradford exhibition at Hauser and Wirth.

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How did you become an art dealer?&nbsp;

JA: I have been interested in art for a long time.&nbsp;I was a Humanities major in college&nbsp;and was introduced to the Chicago Imagists by Linda Kramer when I&nbsp;moved to Chicago a few years out of school. I was excited to be&nbsp;in a position to purchase my own Roger Brown,&nbsp;and a Karl Wirsum as well, 
in the late 1970&#39;s.&nbsp;

Since then it&nbsp;has been my pleasure to work with Imagist work for many years.

I actually started in business in 1986, when the prominent designer Gregory Stratman offered me his walls to showcase artists that I had worked with privately.&nbsp;Many were&nbsp;from California.&nbsp;When Greg unfortunately died in 1989, I moved the gallery into&nbsp;311 West Superior in River North.&nbsp;I came&nbsp;to my present location at 215 West Superior&nbsp;in 1995.&nbsp;

Today we&nbsp;still exhibit some of our original artists, but we have also become involved with Imagist art.&nbsp;This fall the gallery is planning a group&nbsp;exhibit of Imagists,&nbsp;such as Joe Tallarico and&nbsp;John Maloof (a wonderful artist who discovered photographer Vivian Maier), as well as&nbsp;a group show with young artists,&nbsp;curated by Edward Cabral,&nbsp;this fall.

What is the best sale you&#39;ve ever had?

JA: I have been privileged to represent a number of outstanding artists through the years.&nbsp;We represented the Estate of Bill Mauldin and were delighted to sell all of the original Sun-Times editorial cartoons and the remaining&nbsp;Willie and Joe drawings to the Pritzker Military Museum here in Chicago;&nbsp;they are&nbsp;planning a major exhibition in 2019.&nbsp;

Through the years we have worked with Jules Feiffer, Karl Wirsum, Zack Wirsum, Donna Rosenthal,&nbsp;and&nbsp;of course&nbsp;the late Margaret Wharton, whose gorgeous chair and books creations are still amazing.&nbsp; I believe she is one of the most under appreciated and important artists whose work should not be forgotten.

Who inspires you?

JA: I am excited about new and upcoming young artists.&nbsp; I am especially excited about the wonderful artists represented by <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/galleries/patron">PATRON Gallery</a> on the West Side. It&#39;s&nbsp;important to me to promote the next generation, including some of their artists such as&nbsp;Samuel Levi Jones, Alex Chitty, and Liat Yossifer.&nbsp;

What&rsquo;s coming up next at the gallery?

JA: We are planning a group show for May,&nbsp;entitled&nbsp;Wild - It&#39;s a Wonderful World.

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Jean Broday is&nbsp;the owner of Jean Albano Gallery. For more information about the gallery please visit:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/galleries/jean-albano-gallery">Jean Albano Gallery</a>.

Top Image (left to right): Jean Broday, Jon Bon Jovi, and Bonnie Lautenberg&nbsp;

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An Interview with an Art Dealer: Jean Albano

<h2>Old Chicago Main Post Office receives landmark designation</h2>

The&nbsp;Chicago&nbsp;City Council recently approved the&nbsp;landmark designation&nbsp;for the Old Chicago Main Post Office. Built in phases from 1921 to 1932, the 2.3-million-square-foot structure is located on the western bank of the south branch of the Chicago River in Chicago&rsquo;s Near West Side. The building&rsquo;s brawny nine-and twelve-story art deco design is the work of Chicago architectural firm Graham, Anderson, Probst &amp; White, a successor to D.H. Burnham and Company.

By Elizabeth Blasius, The Architects Newspaper

<a href="https://archpaper.com/2018/04/old-chicago-main-post-office-landmark-designation/">Read More</a>

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<h2><img alt="" data-rich-file-id="2709" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/2709/original/chagall-wfo-seal-731x1024.jpg" /></h2>

<h2>The FBI Has Cracked the 30-Year-Old Case of a Stolen Marc Chagall</h2>

Thirty years after it was stolen, an early&nbsp;Marc Chagall&nbsp;has been recovered by the FBI. The painting, titled&nbsp;Othello and Desdemona,&nbsp;belonged to retired jeweler and art collector Ernest &ldquo;Pick&rdquo; Heller and his wife Rose &ldquo;Red&rdquo; Heller, and was stolen from their New York apartment back in 1988, along with numerous other paintings, sculptures, and art objects including jewelry, carpets, silverware, and Steuben china.&nbsp;

Sarah Cascone,&nbsp;artnet.com

<a href="https://news.artnet.com/art-world/fbi-recovers-stolen-marc-chagall-after-30-years-1263023?utm_content=from_&amp;utm_source=Sailthru&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=US+newsletter+for+4%2F13%2F18&amp;utm_term=New+US+Newsletter+List">Read More</a>

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<img alt="" data-caption="Abel Uribe / Chicago Tribune" data-rich-file-id="2706" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/2706/original/ct-photos-arte-diseno-xicago-20180413-004.jpg" />

<h2>Story of Mexican art in Chicago is the story of Chicago art</h2>

There&rsquo;s a kind of Zelig quality to the new &ldquo;Arte Diseno Xicago&rdquo; exhibition at the National Museum of Mexican Art. Its subtitle is &ldquo;Mexican Inspiration from the World&#39;s Columbian Exposition to the Civil Rights Era,&rdquo; and across those 80 years this eye-opening show intersects with so many key figures in Chicago art and the culture more broadly.

By Steve Johnson, Chicago Tribune

<a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/museums/ct-ae-arte-diseno-xicago-mexican-museum-0415-story.html">Read More</a>

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<img alt="" data-caption="An audience at Expo Chicago’s /Dialogues program in 2017. COURTESY EXPO CHICAGO" data-rich-file-id="2705" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/2705/original/dialogues-3-image-courtesy-of-expo-chicago.jpg" />

<h2>Expo Chicago Expands 2018 Talks Program and Adds Professional Forum</h2>

The Expo Chicago art fair is expanding its programming for 2018, with an off-site edition of its &ldquo;/Dialogues&rdquo; discussion program at the Venice Architecture Biennale in May and, at the hometown fair in September, more talks in addition to a first-time Professionals Forum to convene specialists in mind of &ldquo;managing, selling, and acquiring a contemporary collection,&rdquo; according to an announcement.

By Annie Armstrong, ArtNews

<a href="http://www.artnews.com/2018/04/11/expo-chicago-expands-2018-talks-program-adds-professional-forum/">Read More</a>

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<img alt="" data-caption="Martinez speaks at the opening of the landmark Louvre exhibition in Iran 2018 Anadolu Agency; Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images" data-rich-file-id="2707" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/2707/original/300-mu-vn-louvre-ambitions-paid15.jpg" />

<h2>Louvre&rsquo;s director: we are active in 75 countries</h2>

Four months after the grand inauguration of Louvre Abu Dhabi,&nbsp;Jean-Luc Martinez was off to Iran in March to open The Louvre in Tehran&mdash;a temporary exhibition (until 3 June). Unlike most art historians, the director of the Mus&eacute;e du Louvre in Paris, whose&nbsp;mandate was renewed for three years last week by the French president, Emmanuel Macron, does not shy away from political commitment and fully embraces the diplomatic role played by his institution.

By Vincent Noce, The Art Newspaper

<a href="https://www.theartnewspaper.com/interview/louvre-s-director-we-are-active-in-75-countries">Read More</a>

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News from Around the Art World: April 16, 2018

<a href="https://www.expochicago.com">EXPO CHICAGO</a> gets closer every day, and the closer it gets, the more this upcoming edition takes shape. &nbsp;As is typical of the fair, they continue to build their programming lineup and to expand their international ties.&nbsp;

Yesterday the art fair announced that for its seventh annual exhibition, taking place again on Navy Pier&nbsp;September 27&ndash;30, 2018, they are&nbsp;rolling&nbsp;out some major&nbsp;programmatic expansions here at home as well as in Europe.&nbsp;The biggest announcement was about an&nbsp;onsite panel and performance at the&nbsp;U.S. Pavilion&nbsp;of the&nbsp;16th Architecture Biennale in Venice, Italy. Participants from Chicago will include Niall Atkinson, Ann Lui, and Mimi Zeiger of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the University of Chicago, panelists Amanda Williams,&nbsp;Andres L. Hernandez,&nbsp;and&nbsp;Shani Crowe and&nbsp;moderator&nbsp;Stephanie Cristello,&nbsp;EXPO CHICAGO Director of Programming and Editor-in-Chief of&nbsp;THE SEEN.

They also trumpeted&nbsp;the third annual /Dialogues Symposium,&nbsp;Present Histories: Art &amp; Design in Chicago, that will address&nbsp;select art and design legacies produced in the city and take&nbsp;place during EXPO CHICAGO in conjunction with the&nbsp;Terra Foundation for American Art&rsquo;s initiative&nbsp;Art Design Chicago, presented in partnership with the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Additional details from the April 11 EXPO press release are shared below. &ndash;GV

<h2>EXPO CHICAGO at the U.S. Pavilion&nbsp;2018 Venice Architecture Biennale</h2>

<h3>SUNDAY, MAY 27, 2018</h3>

For the first time ever, the U.S. Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale will be curated by a joint team led by Niall Atkinson, Ann Lui, and Mimi Zeiger of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the University of Chicago. Their vision,&nbsp;Dimensions of Citizenship, will challenge architects, designers, artists, and critics to respond to transformative modes of belonging at radically different scales, from the citizen to the cosmos.&nbsp;EXPO CHICAGO will partner with SAIC and the University of Chicago to&nbsp;present a program as part&nbsp;of the official Vernissage for the U.S. Pavilion on&nbsp;Sunday, May 27, 2018.

10:45&ndash;11:30am 
Panel Discussion 
Location | U.S. Pavilion at the Venice Biennale 
Panelists | Amanda Williams&nbsp;(Chicago-based Artist and Architect, Participant in the U.S. Pavilion),&nbsp;Andres L. Hernandez&nbsp;(Chicago-based Artist and Architect, Participant in the U.S. Pavilion) and&nbsp;Shani Crowe&nbsp;(Chicago-based Artist). Moderated by EXPO CHICAGO Director of Programming and Editor-in-Chief of&nbsp;THE SEEN,&nbsp;Stephanie Cristello. 
&nbsp; 
Tackling questions of citizenship status, gender and race at the intersection of history, theory and practice of art and architecture, this panel will explore the unique ways in which black women have historically navigated and shaped space to advance their position in American society. Highlighting the historical figures of Harriet Jacobs and Harriet Tubman as muses, this conversation will trace the impact of American history on Williams and Hernandez&rsquo;s practice, complemented by a performative element by Shani Crowe, preceding the conversation.&nbsp; 
 
For more information, click&nbsp;<a href="https://www.expochicago.com/programs/year-round">here</a>. 
&nbsp; 
Presented in partnership with the commissioners of the U.S. Pavilion, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the University of Chicago.

<h2>/Dialogues at EXPO CHICAGO</h2>

<h3>Symposium |&nbsp;Present Histories:&nbsp;Art &amp; Design in Chicago 
 
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 28</h3>

A curated component of the full /Dialogues program, presented in partnership with the&nbsp;School of the Art Institute of Chicago, the third annual Symposium will feature a day-long series of discussions open to all EXPO CHICAGO visitors, presented in alignment with&nbsp;Art Design Chicago&nbsp;and the Terra Foundation for American Art. Entitled&nbsp;Present Histories: Art &amp; Design in Chicago,&nbsp;the Symposium will trace select artistic and design legacies produced in the city, spanning from 1968&ndash;2018, as well as their impact on the larger social, aesthetic, and cultural movements from the twentieth-century to the present.&nbsp; 
 
For more information, click&nbsp;<a href="https://www.expochicago.com/programs/dialogues/2018-symposium">here</a>. 
&nbsp; 
Presented in partnership with the Terra Foundation for American Art and Art Design Chicago. 
 
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; 
 
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<h3>Full Schedule:&nbsp;/Dialogues Stage</h3>

Sept 28,&nbsp;11:30am 
Performance:&nbsp;R&eacute;v&eacute;rence&nbsp; 
 
Artist&nbsp;Brendan Fernandes&nbsp;(Artist | Monique Meloche Gallery)&nbsp;stages a site-specific iteration of his performative work&nbsp;R&eacute;v&eacute;rence&nbsp;(2015), featuring a series of choreographed dancers to both welcome and confront the audience. Using his training in classical ballet, alongside his unique cultural background as a Kenyan-Indian-Canadian, the performance features classically-trained dancers from the Joffrey Academy of Dance to question identity and power dynamics. 
 
12:00pm &ndash; 1:00pm 
Brendan Fernandes | In Conversation with Sarah Thornton 
 
This discussion, between author and sociologist of culture Sarah Thornton with Chicago-based artist Brendan Fernandes, will trace the impact of Fernandes&rsquo; work, as well as the role of performance in his practice, which questions positions of power, control and &lsquo;queering space.&rsquo;

Sept 28,&nbsp;2:00&ndash;3:00pm 
AfriCOBRA: Chicago in the Age of Black Power&nbsp; 
Featuring&nbsp;|&nbsp;Gerald Williams&nbsp;(Artist | Kavi Gupta Gallery, Founding Member of AfriCOBRA) 
 
This panel is presented in alignment with Art Design Chicago exhibitions at the Smart Museum of Art and the DuSable Museum of African American History,&nbsp;South Side Stories: Rethinking Chicago Art, 1960&ndash;1980&nbsp;and&nbsp;South Side Stories: Holdings,&nbsp;which focuses on the Black Arts Movement&mdash;from the Civil Rights Movement to AfriCOBRA.&nbsp;

Sept 28,&nbsp;4:00&ndash;5:00pm 
Alterity and the Exhibition Environment: Feminist History of Alternative Spaces in Chicago&nbsp;

Panelists |&nbsp;Lynne Warren&nbsp;(Adjunct Curator, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago),&nbsp;Torkwase Dyson(Artist | Rhona Hoffman Gallery),&nbsp;and&nbsp;Kay Rosen&nbsp;(Artist | Alexander Gray and Associates, ARC Member). Moderated by&nbsp;Jenni Sorkin&nbsp;(SAIC BFA 1999), (Associate Professor, History of Art &amp; Architecture, University of California, Santa Barbara).

Alternative spaces are often discussed within the canon of Chicago&rsquo;s exhibition history. Yet, these spaces also played a parallel role in the activities that defined feminist art and social practice in the city&rsquo;s scene. This conversation will trace the histories and roles of feminism in Chicago&#39;s alternative spaces from the 1970s to the present. 
&nbsp; 
Sept 28,&nbsp;5:00pm 
Publication Launch |&nbsp;Art in Chicago: A History from the Fire to Now 
Published by the Terra Foundation for American Art, this newly launched publication will be available for a book signing at the /Dialogues Stage through the University of Chicago Press.

Screening | Designers in Film: A Glimpse into the Goldsholl Archive 
A screening of select films and reels produced by Goldsholl and Associates&mdash;whose films, televi-sion ads and other moving image work innovated &ldquo;designs-in-film&rdquo;&mdash;will be on view at the /Dialogues Stage, as an inter-lude to the final conversation in the Symposium on Chicago&rsquo;s Mid-Century impact on the adve-rtising and commercial industry at large.

Sept 28,&nbsp;5:30&ndash;6:30pm 
Making the Modern Image:&nbsp;Mid-Century Commercial Industry in Chicago 
Panelists&nbsp;|&nbsp;Theaster Gates&nbsp;(Artist | Rebuild Foundation),&nbsp;Corinne&nbsp;Granof&nbsp;(Curator of Academic Programs, Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University) and&nbsp;Lara Allison&nbsp;(Lecturer, Art History, Theory and Criticism,&nbsp;School of the Art Institute of Chicago). Moderated by&nbsp;Michael Golec&nbsp;(Associate Professor, Art History, Theory and Criticism, SAIC). 
 
Through recent exhibitions that relate the advertising and commercial publications industries to the context of contemporary art, this discussion will trace Chicago&rsquo;s contribution to the glossy image that defined the Mid-Century aesthetic. Examining the political, social and cultural impact of these design philosophies, this panel will look at the national impact of firms and companies whose work pushed industry boundaries through avant-garde approaches.&nbsp;

Top image:&nbsp;Gerald Williams,&nbsp;Portrait Y,&nbsp;1970&ndash;2007.&nbsp;Acrylic on linen.&nbsp;24 x 18 inches. Image courtesy of the artist and Kavi Gupta Gallery, Chicago.

EXPO CHICAGO Announces 2018 Programmatic Expansion

By GINNY VAN ALYEA

Artist Anna Kunz creates art across a colorful, creative spectrum, seeking to immerse her viewers into her works on a sensory as well as intellectual level.&nbsp;Her art, from works on paper, paintings, sculptures, installations, and other projects, goes beyond&nbsp;physical limits and changes constantly, depending on existing light and other environmental factors. Her work often takes time to see and to experience. Her latest exhibition, Anna Kunz: Color Cast, after three years of experimentation and careful execution, is on view now at the Hyde Park Art Center.&nbsp;

Kunz&rsquo;s work has been included in numerous national and international collections. Anna has had exhibitions in Los Angeles, Houston, Brooklyn, San Antonio and the UK and Poland. Recent exhibitions include at LVL3 in Chicago, TERRAIN the outdoor community exhibition space run by Sabina Ott,&ldquo;Luminae&rdquo; at White Box NYC- also featuring the work of Louise Fishman and Alexandra Phillips, curated by Juan Puentes, &ldquo;Color: Fully Engaged&rdquo;, curated by Jamilee Polson Lacy, &ldquo;Spectral Landscape&rdquo; at Gallery 400 UIC, and &ldquo;The Banner Project&rdquo; at the Smart Museum on the University of Chicago&#39;s campus. (She also once worked at CGN for a time, where she was the most fun co-worker ever.)

Following is a transcript of a recent Q&amp;A about her current exhibition. &ndash; GV

&nbsp;

You&rsquo;ve been an artist and teacher here for most of your career. How did you get started, and what were your early artistic explorations like?

I got started on&nbsp;things pretty early during my time as an&nbsp;undergraduate&nbsp;at SAIC, and I was involved with places like Links Hall, MoMing Theatre, and The Contemporary Art Workshop. At&nbsp;Space Gallery on Division St., which&nbsp;was run by FITZ, an SAIC grad student,&nbsp;I had some shows&nbsp;when I was still in school. One day art dealer Thomas McCormick visited my studio at the generous suggestion of artist Wesley Kimler, who lived in a space below us and who was working with Tom at the time. Tom&nbsp;ended up offering me my first commercial show.

Our studio building on Western and 26th was&nbsp;home to a lot of creative people who were into performance and sculpture, music and collapsing life and art.&nbsp;I was working on performance, painting and printmaking with young ideas about transference, reflection, the haptic and emotive parts of art, poetry, comedy, and using the body as a tool or armature for painting, really. Color was always a key element in my work.

Teaching happened after my Graduate School days at Northwestern. &nbsp;I don&#39;t know how I would ever have met the people I know if it weren&#39;t for teaching. It&#39;s helped me to cast a pretty wide net and it&#39;s kept me up to date. I can&#39;t believe that social media is becoming the new Art History/Visual Culture text book. &nbsp;My early explorations would have been very different if I were making the work now. I&#39;d be much more aware of the camera persona of everything I was making.&nbsp;

What is different about your current work, and this series? &nbsp;

My work has been moving in the direction of this current installation at HPAC for the whole time I&#39;ve been working as an artist. A striking difference here, I guess, is the scale. I wanted to make this work a 360&deg; experience. Embedded in the work, though are the many relationships to painting, performance and printmaking. My more conventional paintings are a distillation of older work. This time it&#39;s coming from more personal places, with a more direct and pure approach, I suppose one that is&nbsp;riskier or a more raw approach,&nbsp;maybe, as well striving for&nbsp;a deeper understanding of color and its associations and relationships.

<img alt="" data-rich-file-id="2702" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/2702/original/kunz1.jpg" />

Talk about the various materials and experiences that are part of this show that may make people think about&nbsp;&lsquo;painting&rsquo; differently. &nbsp;

This show includes a 30 x 30 foot floor painting that has transducers embedded into it. The painting is made into an instrument, with the sound created by Beth Bradfish, and it is intended to pull sound up through the viewer&#39;s body&nbsp;and doesn&#39;t require the sense of sight to have the experience. Other elements are&nbsp;large, suspended paintings that take their proportions from the space of the gallery and are positioned to be visible through each other so they&nbsp;engage the changing light and shadow in the gallery. I think of the piece as a volumetric painting, but viewers might think about the piece in other ways: low relief sculpture, architectural, set-like, giant monotype-like, etc. &nbsp;

We have created a few tangential experiences during the run of the show. Mwata Bowden and his University&nbsp;of Chicago Jazz X-tet performed a piece inside the installation on April 8. &nbsp;

I want the piece not to serve as a set for performance&nbsp;but an inspirational space for new, improvisational art. I&#39;m very excited to see how that happening turns out. I am also going to be teaching a workshop on color and memory for the 65+ group of artists at HPAC, and I am excited to learn how rich life experiences inform those artists&#39; color choices.&nbsp;

The exhibition description mentions that colors talk to each other &ndash; please elaborate.

I&#39;ve positioned the colors and sight lines to be choreographed, positioned in such a way as to move the viewer through the space. Some of the colors are in harmony with each other, and some of them disagree and are more discordant. The relationships change depending on where you are moving, or what your point of view is; it&#39;s not unlike conversations.

<img alt="" data-rich-file-id="2703" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/2703/original/kunz3.jpg" />

What is a walk through painting? &nbsp;

Come see it at&nbsp;HPAC.&nbsp;

Would you ever do a series just in black and white and gray? 

The wealthy taste for the demure is alive and well in gray. I think that gray is very decorative and safe. I&nbsp;do think that your question is an interesting idea, but I&#39;m not there at the moment. There is no time for gray or the divisions of black and white in my mind.&nbsp;Perhaps some chromatic gray piece will happen at some point.&nbsp;

<img alt="" data-rich-file-id="2704" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/2704/original/kunz4.jpg" />

You&rsquo;ve been working on this HPAC show for months &ndash; what&rsquo;s coming up next? 

Anyone close to me knows that I have been walking around with an architectural model of HPAC for about three years. The shown view now could have been about 20 other shows that I have ready to go, I just need the space :)

But next I&#39;m going to go and make very small paintings, sculptures and works on paper this summer in Upstate New York during a residency that will undoubtedly be informed by my recent experience with this show.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

Anna Kunz: Color Cast is on view at the <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/calendar/anna-kunz-color-cast">Hyde Park Art Center</a> through June 24

To view a video walk-through of Kunz&#39;s installation, visit <a href="http://www.annakunz.net">annakunz.net</a>
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A Q&A with artist Anna Kunz on her show Color Cast at Hyde Park Art Center 

The Colorful Perspective of Anna Kunz

Each week CGN interviews a local art-industry professional to discuss the ins and outs of running a space&nbsp;in the city of Chicago. This week we caught up with John McKinnon&nbsp;of Elmhurst Art Museum.

Previous occupation: Program Director at the Society for Contemporary Art

Hometown: I&rsquo;m originally from Trevor, Wisconsin and have lived in Chicago for 16 years.

&nbsp;

5 favorites from the past week&nbsp;

Restaurant: Marisol at the Museum of Contemporary Art. It&rsquo;s a great place to meet up with colleagues and friends. 
Shop: Brewpoint Coffee in Elmhurst. They have two convenient locations near the museum, so I&rsquo;ve become a regular. 
Read: I came home to find a note written by my daughter that said, &ldquo;Mom is hiding&rdquo;. 
Neighborhood: West Town recently received a huge boost with Rhona Hoffman&rsquo;s new location. 
Music: Freedom, the new album by Amen Dunes is a very enjoyable, solid album.

&nbsp;

CGN: Tell us about your background and how your position with the Elmhurst Art Museum came to be?

JM: I started undergrad in Electrical and Computer Engineering at UW-Madison. About half way through school, I took a sharp right turn, and was guided by some amazing professors towards a Bachelor of Science in Art. I worked at the Wendy Cooper Gallery in Madison, who started a location in Chicago a few years later where I became the Director. While pursuing dual Masters degrees in Arts Administration and Art History at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, I had several internships and did some freelance writing. I then had the pleasure of working as the Assistant Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Milwaukee Art Museum for a number of years. Next, I spent seven years as the Program Director of the Society for Contemporary Art where I worked with a core group of donors and collectors to support contemporary art at the Art Institute of Chicago. It was a fantastic opportunity to oversee this nonprofit and work with a lot of very dedicated people.

The position at the Elmhurst Art Museum was enticing because of many opportunities for personal and organizational growth. The museum is at a fascinating point, where it will soon be philosophically and physically transformed as the unique McCormick House, designed by Mies van der Rohe, becomes more visible.

&nbsp;

CGN: What&#39;s the first thing you do each morning when you get to the museum?&nbsp;

JM:&nbsp;I usually drink a little coffee, check-in with everyone in the office, organize a few papers, and then head right into a meeting. Lately I&rsquo;ve also peeked into our construction site to see the progress of our building restoration.

&nbsp;

CGN: Do you have a favorite exhibition or collection from the past?

JM:&nbsp;I enjoy all of our shows for very different reasons, but I was personally very proud of our January exhibitions (Gertrude Abercrombie: Portrait of the Artist as a Landscape and IN THIS HOUSE, a site-specific group show in the McCormick House) because I watched the organization come together in my new role. We had a number of fantastic loans, partners, and participating artists; the staff worked very hard; and a lot of my friends and colleagues traveled to see the exhibition.

&nbsp;

CGN: What major successes have you had this year? What about challenges?

JM:&nbsp;Before our construction, visitors to the Elmhurst Art Museum would commonly ask &ldquo;Where is the house?&rdquo; The biggest challenge I had was sharing our vision for the construction because most people did not understand where one building started and where the other ended. After giving a number of tours, I had red tape placed on the floor, as well as moved and replaced some interpretive materials. I would say it was successful because we received a lot of generous support to fund the project, and now the tape even seems to be used by our construction company.

On June 10th, we will re-open the McCormick House. Visitors will be able to see its full exterior for the first time in over twenty years and will understand it as a standalone structure again. I am very grateful for the opportunity to guide the organization at this point, and we would not have been able to accomplish it without the leadership and generosity of our donors.

&nbsp;

CGN: What do you want to tell a young person considering this career path?

JM:&nbsp;I often tell potential arts professionals they should not be afraid to take an unconventional route and take as many internships as possible to try out several different things. It sounds like a clich&eacute; but find what you are passionate about. I did not expect to be in this position, and everyone&rsquo;s path is different.

&nbsp;

CGN: What is your favorite interest outside of the art world?

JM:&nbsp;I listen to a lot of music. For an eight-year period I made a mixed tape every month. The exercise forced me to discover a lot of new music, whether brand new albums or things I missed from the last few decades. Taking a deep dive into another contemporary field gave me a good sense of how you can find things you aren&rsquo;t expecting, an understanding of other artistic approaches, and it led me to appreciate things in a new way.

&nbsp;

CGN: What do you look for in an artwork? When searching for yourself, what speaks to you?

JM:&nbsp;I love to be challenged. I often pause when I find something unexpected that jumps out to me, especially when I return to the same work and reconsider it multiple ways. It is a privilege and a pleasure to talk with artists and hear their thinking process. But truly one of the most enjoyable parts of my job is to share my impressions of an artwork or an entire exhibition with others.

&nbsp;

CGN: What&rsquo;s coming up next at Elmhurst Art Museum?

JM:&nbsp;I&rsquo;ve already hinted at this, but we have big plans for this summer. When the McCormick House is unveiled, we will have a stunning architectural intervention within it by I&ntilde;igo Manglano-Ovalle. Both of these will be accompanied by an exhibition in our main space curated by Barry Bergdoll entitled Mies&rsquo;s McCormick House Revealed: New Views. The show provides an introduction, background, context, and visibility to the McCormick House (1952), one of only three single-family homes built by Mies van der Rohe in the U.S. It is my hope these three concurrent events will give the building an increased visibility as the home is a rare and important example of the architect&#39;s mature style, incorporating elements of his celebrated designs for the Farnsworth House and 860-880 Lake Shore Drive. I hope the exhibition will educate and inspire new generations about the unique and important modern home built in Elmhurst.

&nbsp;

John McKinnon is&nbsp;Executive Director of Elmhurst Art Museum. For more information about the EAM please visit:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/institutions/elmhurst-art-museum">Elmhurst Art Museum</a>.

Top Image&nbsp;courtesy of Aidan Fitzpatrick

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

An Interview with John McKinnon, Executive Director of Elmhurst Art Museum

<h2>Saving landmark Eternal Indian statue may hinge on &#39;1 or 2 charitable angels&#39; as supporters try to restart restoration</h2>

For three years, fifth-grade teacher Becky Fuller and about 100 students have trudged through Lowden State Park to the bluffs of the Rock River as part of their Outdoor Education program. The objective: to see the beloved, iconic behemoth known as the Black Hawk statue.

Instead, what they encountered resembles a giant mummy.

By Ted Gregory, Chicago Tribune

<a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-met-eternal-indian-statue-oregon-illinois-20180405-story.html">Read More</a>

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

<img alt="" data-caption="Kehinde Wiley Presley Ann/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images" data-rich-file-id="2698" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/2698/original/wiley.jpg" />

<h2>Kehinde Wiley&mdash;the artist behind Obama&#39;s presidential portrait&mdash;signs with Hollywood talent agency</h2>

Kehinde Wiley, the artist whose portrait of former President Barack Obama is attracting record crowds to the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC, has joined the Hollywood talent agency Brillstein Entertainment Partners.

The firm will licence Wiley&rsquo;s paintings for use on screen as well as &ldquo;identify directing opportunities&rdquo; for the artist, &ldquo;option books&rdquo; on his behalf and help him &ldquo;produce, develop his own material [and] collaborate with other screenwriters,&rdquo; according to a report on the film and entertainment news website&nbsp;Deadline.

By Cristina Ruiz, The Art Newspaper

<a href="https://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/kehinde-wiley">Read More</a>

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

<img alt="" data-caption="Photo by Gene Pittman. Courtesy of the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis. " data-rich-file-id="2699" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/2699/original/d7hftxdivxxvm-cloudfront.jpg" />

<h2>11 of the World&rsquo;s Greatest Sculpture Parks, from Seattle to Oslo</h2>

The tradition of mounting works of art outdoors in nature stretches back for centuries. In the late 1500s, for example, Henry VIII adorned his gardens at Nonsuch Palace in Surrey, England, with sculptures inspired by Greek mythology. In Renaissance Italy, nobles like the Medicis bedecked their gardens with&nbsp;Classical&nbsp;pieces excavated from ruins. And at the end of the 17th century, Louis XIV lavishly decorated the sprawling grounds of Versailles with over 200 sculptures made of marble, bronze, and lead. Later, when site-specific outdoor sculptures were first commissioned in the 1800s, the earliest iterations of what we now consider sculpture parks began to emerge. Today, these outdoor spaces around the world strike a delightful balance between nature and art, displaying a wide range of work, from massive contemporary sculptures to earthworks and subtler, historic pieces.

By&nbsp;Rachel Lebowitz, Artsy Editorial

<a href="https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-11-worlds-greatest-sculpture-parks-seattle-oslo">Read More&nbsp;</a>

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

<img alt="" data-caption="2018 Henry Darger/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York; Emily Andrews for The New York Times" data-rich-file-id="2700" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/2700/original/merlin-136164774-bd3a5be8-3b55-4e7b-a886-a10366715649-master768.jpg" />

<h2>An Insider of Design and Media Who Favors Outsider Art</h2>

If there were a Collecting Confidence Index, Robert M. Greenberg&rsquo;s score would be 100.

In the same way he entered a number of fields and excelled &mdash; co-founding the influential digital advertising agency R/GA, designing titles and visual effects for hundreds of feature films including &ldquo;Alien&rdquo; and establishing himself as a communications guru &mdash; Mr. Greenberg goes all-in and doesn&rsquo;t second-guess.

Scooping up collections by the dozens or hundreds of items is easier when you live in a massive, two-story penthouse loft, as Mr. Greenberg does with his wife, Corvova Lee (an artist whose work is also on view). It&rsquo;s one of five homes they own, including two in the Hudson Valley.

By Ted Loos, The New York Times

<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/04/arts/design/show-us-your-wall-bob-greenberg.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fdesign&amp;action=click&amp;contentCollection=design&amp;region=stream&amp;module=stream_unit&amp;version=latest&amp;contentPlacement=10&amp;pgtype=sectionfront">Read More</a>

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

News from Around the Art World: April 9, 2018

After 15 years on North Peoria in the West Loop, and over 40 years in the art business,&nbsp;Rhona Hoffman Gallery has relocated to 1711 W. Chicago Ave. in West Town, joining a growing group of galleries who have moved for more affordable rent and to be part of an emerging gallery community. Hoffman&#39;s inaugural exhibition in the new space,&nbsp;Judy Ledgerwood: Far From The Tree, opens Friday, April 6 and runs through May 19. This is the artist&#39;s fifth solo show with the gallery.&nbsp;

Three years ago, Hoffman signed her last lease in the West Loop. Since then, the surrounding neighborhood, and its price per square foot,&nbsp;changed rapidly, spurring the consideration of a major move instead of closing the doors.&nbsp;

Hoffman told CGN on Thursday, &quot;The exhibition of Judy Ledgerwood&#39;s unbelievably beautiful, color-filled paintings make us even more excited to show the public our new gallery space designed by John Vinci.&quot;

<img alt="" data-caption="Judy Ledgerwood, Hopscotch Chelsea Rose, 2018, Oil on canvas, 76 x 46 inches. Courtesy of the artist and Rhona Hoffman Gallery." data-rich-file-id="2697" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/2697/original/jledgerwood-hopscotch-chelsea-rose-2018-preview.jpg" />

Ledgerwood is known for using bright colors in her paintings and experimenting with various textures and patterns. According to the gallery&#39;s show description, &quot;The visual pleasure, luminosity, and optical stimulation primary in Judy Ledgerwood&rsquo;s new paintings are hinged upon their embedded conceptual complexity. For over thirty years the Chicago-based painter has been dismantling the canon of Abstract Painting from within by using disruptive color combinations, deconstructing the minimal / conceptual grid, and employing decidedly feminine forms.

<img alt="" data-caption="Judy Ledgerwood, Yoni, 2017, Oil and metallic oil on canvas, 60 x 50 inches. Courtesy of the artist and Rhona Hoffman Gallery." data-rich-file-id="2696" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/2696/original/jl1.jpg" />

Maximalist color and provocative shapes are primary agents in Judy Ledgerwood&rsquo;s engagement with historical painting.&nbsp;Whether interrupting rich blues with unexpected green, orange, and yellows in&nbsp;Tiny Dancer&nbsp;or combining glowing orange with translucent mustard browns in&nbsp;Sheela,&nbsp;Judy Ledgerwood always provokes viewers to extend beyond complacent enjoyment and actively engage with looking.&nbsp;In&nbsp;Hopscotch Chelsea Rose&nbsp;and&nbsp;Drunkard&rsquo;s Path,&nbsp;quilting patterns serve&nbsp;as the instrument to organize Ledgerwood&rsquo;s characteristic chevron and quatrefoil matrix.&nbsp;

In&nbsp;Far From The Tree,&nbsp;Judy Ledgerwood&rsquo;s signature shapes are augmented with circles, diamonds, chevrons, and seed-like forms associated with Paleolithic and Neolithic goddesses. The artist refers to these shapes as &ldquo;ciphers of feminine power&rdquo; - rooted in the generative, flexible Yonic form. Manipulating the grid, shape, and color of large-scale contemporary painting, Ledgerwood shatters the canon from within to create a distinct, feminist painting voice.

Far From The Tree&nbsp;opens Friday, April 6, 5-7:30pm&nbsp;at <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/galleries/rhona-hoffman-gallery--2">Rhona Hoffman Gallery</a> at 1711 W. Chicago Ave. in West Town.

&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2015/9/rhona-hoffman-40-years-of-having-fun">Click here</a>&nbsp;to read Kevin Nance&#39;s 2015 interview with Rhona Hoffman.

<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2015/5/artist-insights-judy-ledgerwood">Click here</a>&nbsp;to read Laura Mettam&#39;s 2015 interview with Judy Ledgerwood.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

Top image: Left &ndash; Photo of Hoffman by Kevin Nance for CGN from 2015; &nbsp;Right &ndash;&nbsp;Judy Ledgerwood, Drunkards Path, 2018, Oil and metallic oil on canvas, 78 x 48 inches. Courtesy of the artist and Rhona Hoffman Gallery
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Rhona Hoffman Gallery moves to West Town and opens Judy Ledgerwood show

Rhona Hoffman Gallery Moves to West Town; First Show Features Judy Ledgerwood

Each week CGN interviews a local art-industry professional to discuss the ins and outs of running a space&nbsp;in the city of Chicago. This week we caught up with&nbsp;Jonathan Kinkley of VGA Gallery.

&nbsp;

Age: 38

Current Positions: Executive Director and Co-Founder, VGA Gallery, and Philanthropic Advisor, Major Gifts, Art Institute of Chicago

Hometown: Wheaton and Chicago, IL

Previous Occupations: Director of Development at Museum of Contemporary Photography; Manager of Foundation and Government Relations, Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago

5 favorites from the past week: Logan Square has it all -- this past week I played games at Logan Arcade with friends, went jogging with my dog on the boulevard, and had delicious drinks and lunch at Lonesome Rose with my wife and daughter. I&#39;m&nbsp;terrible at reading books in print so I have an audible subscription and am on a 2018 quest to read all of Hemingway (my favorite author). I just finished For Whom The Bell Tolls, can&#39;t get enough. I&#39;m playing Battle Chef Brigade and Tumbleseed made by great local developers for the Nintendo Switch, and listening to Marlon Williams at a trusted friend&#39;s recommendation. Took a few listens but am now super into it.

&nbsp;

CGN: Tell us a little bit about your background and your connection with VGA Gallery?

JK: I always had a lifelong passion for both the arts and video games. In recent years games have made leaps and bounds in artistic distinction and maturity as a medium. I also had years of professional experience working for art galleries and museums around the world and thought how great it would be if there were an art organization for games.&nbsp; I called up a like-minded friend from grad school, Chaz Evans, who was into the idea, and we worked together to assemble our first exhibition and Video Game Art (VGA) Gallery was born. After three years, VGA is now a non-profit with a great, energetic staff and board, that serves over 10,000&nbsp;people a year in exhibitions, events and other programming. Crazy growth this year included opening a physical space for VGA&mdash;a storefront gallery space off the blue line Western stop and the 606 with exhibitions, prints of art from video games, education programs, and a scholarly journal about video game art called the VGA Reader.

&nbsp;

CGN: Give us a day in the life!

JK: During the day I have the incredible job of connecting some truly amazing philanthropists in the city with special exhibitions, and projects of significant scale that requires special support at the Art Institute. On nights and weekends I work with a cool group of people who are building Chicago&#39;s first dedicated space for video games and enjoy the city with my family and friends.

&nbsp;

CGN: Most exciting exhibition you have worked on?

JK: For over a decade, I&#39;ve been thinking about the ideas and work in the current VGA show that I curated, Gun Ballet: the Aestheticization of Violence in Video Games exhibition (through June 3rd, 2018). It&#39;s very satisfying to see it finally realized and sparking interesting and nuanced conversations with viewers of the show.. After Parkland, it has an added relevance with a national debate about gun violence, that includes video games. The show was always intended to be more about &#39;how&#39; game artists represent violence than &#39;why&#39; but some artists in show&#39;s work asks direct questions of violent games and question why we are drawn to them. &nbsp;

&nbsp;

CGN: Share some successes this&nbsp;year.

JK: The biggest deal for VGA this year will be our participation in Terra Foundation&#39;s major initiative, Art Design Chicago. For VGA, SAIC artist and professor Jon Cates is curating an exhibition and catalogue called Chicago New Media 1973-1992 in partnership with UIC&#39;s Gallery 400 and Electronic Visualization Lab. It&#39;s going to be incredible and the first time the full story of Chicago&#39;s history of video games and new media art will be told. I&#39;m super excited.

&nbsp;

CGN: When did you know this industry was a path you wanted to pursue?

JK: Ever since walking through the Art Institute as a kid and seeing the suits of armor from the Harding collection, I was enchanted with museums and galleries as places for beauty, ideas and history. I was hooked. The road was long though, I studied art history in undergrad and interned for the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice and the Chinati Foundation in Marfa Texas before getting a masters at UIC in art history in new media and the art and architecture of games and virtual worlds, before getting into the gallery and museum world in Chicago.

&nbsp;

CGN: What do you want to tell a young person considering this business?

JK: I used to think I was terrible at finance and math and business and was initially interested in art and video games precisely because they seemed far from these fields, but man was I wrong. Now, I live in spreadsheets and budgets and have learned to appreciate the behind-the-scenes strategies for how arts organizations can not just function, but thrive.

&nbsp;

CGN:What do you look for in an artwork? When searching for yourself, what speaks to you?

JK: For me, art I like in all media has got to have a great aesthetic and captivating ideas. Art that looks amazing but has no depth is not my cup of tea and neither is work that is all concept with no concern for its form or appearance. It&rsquo;s definitely got to be interesting and not boring. I&#39;m also a big civic booster and Chicago homegrown work is always an attractive quality in my book.

&nbsp;

CGN: What should we expect to see from VGA Gallery in 2018?

JK: In the lead-up to Art Design Chicago we have a full schedule&mdash;next up will be a great summer exhibition of work by Hong Kong-based artists, and we&#39;re also working to kick off a game design educational program for middle and high schoolers.

&nbsp;

Jonathan Kinkley is&nbsp;Executive Director of the VGA Gallery. For more information, please visit <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/galleries/vga-gallery">VGA Gallery</a>.

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

An Interview with Jonathan Kinkley, Executive Director of VGA Gallery

By GINNY VAN ALYEA

Last month the John Toomey Gallery announced a generational succession as well as a name change.&nbsp;According to the press release, after&nbsp;three decades John Toomey Gallery&nbsp;has been a leading specialty auction house and private seller, and it is now known as <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/art-services/toomey-co-auctioneers">Toomey &amp; Co. Auctioneers</a>, marking a new era for a company that, since 1987, has built a reputation of integrity and of being well equipped to compete with large, global auction houses. &nbsp;&nbsp;

John Toomey will assume the role of a hands-on consultant for Toomey &amp; Co. Auctioneers, while turning over the company&rsquo;s management to Lucy Toomey, formerly Senior Vice President, who will now serve as CEO.&nbsp;

&ldquo;Times change and the industry progresses, and it&rsquo;s important that we evolve and adapt to meet the demands of our business as it is today,&rdquo; said John Toomey. &ldquo;The past 30 years have been fantastic, and it&rsquo;s time for the next generation to expand their role. I&rsquo;m proud of what&rsquo;s been created thus far&nbsp;&mdash;&nbsp;and I&rsquo;m very proud of the team that is taking the reins now.&rdquo;

In December 2017, John Toomey Gallery ended its partnership with Treadway Gallery of Cincinnati after previously conducting auctions jointly as Treadway Toomey Auctions.

&ldquo;It&rsquo;s an exciting time in our industry and we look forward to continuing to work with our current clients and developing relationships with new clients&nbsp;&mdash;&nbsp;ensuring that we are providing the best 21st-century service, with the same value system that we always have had in place,&rdquo; said Lucy Toomey. &ldquo;The enthusiastic feedback we&rsquo;ve received regarding the new business has been very encouraging.&rdquo;

At Toomey &amp; Co., Joe Stanfield and John Walcher will serve as Vice Presidents, while also continuing in their roles as Senior Specialists. Lisanne Dickson will continue as Senior Specialist and Rebecca Williams will assume a Specialist position. Director of Operations Kevin Mannella and his entire staff will remain in place.

<img alt="" data-caption="The group at Toomey &amp; Co." data-rich-file-id="2690" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/2690/original/grouptoomey.jpg" />

Toomey &amp; Co. Auctioneers will continue to provide the service and expertise that the company&rsquo;s clients are accustomed to, and auctions will continue to be conducted at the same Oak Park location where they have been held for the past 30 years.&nbsp;They plan to hold several&nbsp;curated auctions each year and will continue to specialize in&nbsp;Fine Art, Early 20th Century Design, Modern Design, Fine Furniture &amp; Decorative Arts, Silver &amp; Objects of Vertu, and Fine Jewelry &amp; Timepieces. &nbsp;

The Toomey+ Online Marketplace&nbsp;offers&nbsp;an exclusive, curated selection of Prairie School design, Arts &amp; Crafts, Fine Art, Modern Design, furniture, lighting, and more.

Toomey &amp; Co. Auctioneers&rsquo; first sale, under its new brand, is scheduled for Sunday, April 8, 2018. Highlights include works by Jim Nutt, Roger Brown, David Hockney,&nbsp;Lucio Fontana, Ed Paschke,&nbsp;Robert Lostutter, Thomas Hart Benton,&nbsp;Karl Wirsum,&nbsp;and others.&nbsp;

Additional contact details and info may be found <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/art-services/toomey-co-auctioneers">here</a>.

Images from the upcoming April 8 auction:

<img alt="" data-caption="Jim Nutt (American, b. 1938) Where Is It?, 1981, colored pencil and graphite on paper signed, titled and dated on verso 11 3/4&quot; x 13 3/4&quot;. Est. $15,000-20,000" data-rich-file-id="2691" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/2691/original/nutt.jpg" />

<img alt="" data-caption="David Hockney (British, b. 1937) Henry Seated with Tulips (from Friends Series), 1976 color lithograph signed, dated and numbered in pencil A.P. edition of 20 41 1/2&quot; x 29 1/2&quot;. Est. $3,000-5,000" data-rich-file-id="2692" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/2692/original/hockney.jpg" />

<img alt="" data-caption="Roger Brown (American, 1941-1997) Standing Around While All Are Sinking, 1977 etching and aquatint signed and numbered in pencil 19 1/2&quot; x 15 1/2&quot;. Est. $2,000-4,000" data-rich-file-id="2689" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/2689/original/brown.jpg" />

<img alt="" data-caption="Thomas Hart Benton (American, 1889-1975) Nebraska Evening, 1941 lithograph signed in pencil lower right edition of 250 10&quot; x 13&quot; Est. $1,500-2,500" data-rich-file-id="2687" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/2687/original/benton.jpg" />

&nbsp;

Top image: From&nbsp;John Toomey Gallery&#39;s 20th Century Art &amp; Design auction, December 2017: Charles Eames (1907-1978) &amp; Ray Eames (1912-1988) for Herman Miller early&nbsp;DCW, pair,&nbsp;Grand Rapids, Michigan, c.1949,&nbsp;natural and ebonized plywood,&nbsp;early Evans/ Herman Miller paper label,&nbsp;original finish,&nbsp;19.5&quot;w x 21&quot;d x 29&quot;h.&nbsp;Sold for $2,470
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John Toomey Gallery announces a change to Toomey & Co. Auctioneers in 2018

Toomey & Co. Auctioneers Represents a New Generation in Auctions

By GINNY VAN ALYEA

I have been to the Shedd Aquarium many times since having children. It&#39;s a wonderfully interactive and stimulating place to view so many fish and animals&nbsp;up close in gorgeous aquatic environments.&nbsp;

The&nbsp;Shedd&nbsp;is ultimately much more than a Chicago destination for families and tourists. Scientists at the Shedd are devoted, both publicly and behind the scenes, to&nbsp;saving endangered species and their habitats. Their animal care experts rescue and rehabilitate wildlife in need, across the country and around the world.

An ongoing exhibition uses art to make the case for&nbsp;how important it is for all of us to work to save these beautiful animals, since there is a crisis in our waters.&nbsp;Washed Ashore: Art to Save the Sea is a&nbsp;limited-time installation featuring&nbsp;colorful sculptures of a 11-foot seahorse, a sinuous 13-foot-long eel, a 150-pound anemone and seven other gigantic aquatic animals.&nbsp;

The sculptures are fun to behold, but looking closely you see that they&#39;re constructed of our every-day refuse that often escapes the trash bin and ends up as a lethal obstacle in the water. It&#39;s important to notice that while this plastic material is being repurposed, it&#39;s not actually recycled - it was just discarded after (most likely) a single use. Trash used in the art includes plastic bottles, straws, lighters, toothbrushes, flip-flops, ropes, toys and other mostly plastic flotsam and jetsam. The things we don&#39;t give a thought to once we are done with them don&#39;t go away; they add up.&nbsp;More than&nbsp;5 tons that was&nbsp;washed up&nbsp;on West Coast beaches&nbsp;was used just in this exhibition for these few sculptures.&nbsp;

<img alt="" data-rich-file-id="2686" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/2686/original/seahorse.jpg" />

The traveling exhibition is an endeavor&nbsp;of the&nbsp;Washed Ashore Project,&nbsp;born in 2010 after artist Angela Haseltine Pozzi&nbsp;witnessed mounds of plastic trash piling up on formerly pristine beaches along her native Oregon coast. She organized all-volunteer cleanups and used the collected trash&mdash;washed and sorted&mdash;to create massive, realistic sculptures of the sea animals most affected by the pollution.

Since the project began, 10,000 volunteers have removed more than 38,000 pounds of plastic trash&mdash;largely single-use plastics&mdash;from over 300 miles of beaches. Ninety-five percent of the debris collected has been used in more than 60 sculptures so far. &nbsp;And who knew&nbsp;Americans use an estimated 500 million straws each day?

<img alt="" data-rich-file-id="2685" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/2685/original/clownfish.jpg" />

Though the reality of floating trash is dire, there is whimsy and fun in these sculptures, which is fitting in a wonderous place like the Shedd. My family enjoyed this latest trip, and we have been making extra sure to bring our own water bottles wherever we go.

Washed Ashore: Art to Save the Sea&nbsp;runs at the Shedd Aquarium&nbsp;through September 2018. A behind-the-scenes video from Washed Ashore is below.

<iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/E4V_RZ-p9-Y" width="560"></iframe>

<a href="https://www.sheddaquarium.org">Click here</a> for more info.

Photos courtesy Shedd&nbsp;Aquarium
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Washed Ashore at Chicago's Shedd Aquarium makes a statement through art using discarded plastic 

From the Sea to the Shedd: Art Makes a Statement

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417508/zn7jc2572ydrxakhk4mc.jpg"></figure>&nbsp;Each week CGN interviews a local art dealer to discuss the ins and outs of running a gallery in the city of Chicago. This week we caught up with Joel Oppenheimer, owner of Joel Oppenheimer Gallery, The Audubon Gallery, and Oppenheimer Editions.Age: 64Current Position: Owner ofJoel Oppenheimer Gallery, Chicago, The Audubon Gallery, Charleston S.C., Oppenheimer Editions, LLCHometown: Chicago since 18 years old.Previous Occupations?&nbsp;None&nbsp;5 favorites from the past week1. Resaurant: Spiaggio, not trendy, but still exceptional. 2. Shopping: Brooks Brothers, needed a dress shirt. 3. Book: John Gould The Bird Man, Gorden Sauer, researching for a book I am working on. Not recommended for pleasure reading. 4. Neighborhood: Michigan Avenue, River North, I don't go out a lot. 5. Music: Liz Phair&nbsp;CGN: Tell us about your background and how the gallery came to be?JO: I graduated from SAIC with a BFA in 1978. While pursuing my painting I apprenticed to the former conservator of Prints and Drawings from the Art Institute. He was establishing a private conservation practice. Eventually, I took over that business and it has grown into our conservation facility now conserving works on paper, paintings and photographs for private and institutional clients nationwide. Along the way, I acquired an expertise in natural history art and John James Audubon. We now have galleries in Chicago and Charleston, South Carolina. In 1999 I started Oppenheimer Editions, a fine art publishing entity that holds licensing agreements with major natural history museums and libraries in the U.S. and Great Britain.&nbsp;CGN: Share a typical day in the life.JO: Overseeing daily operations of our businesses, although my son David is largely responsible for that. Working on a new book about John Gould's Humminbirds that will be published by Rizzoli this fall. Still painting. In Charleston one week a month for business there and enjoying the relaxed local environment.&nbsp;CGN: Best sale you ever had?JO: That's a difficult question, there have been a few over the last 38 years. About ten years ago I was researching for a book I was writing about a rare 1860 Audubon folio. The book was published by WW Norton in 2013.&nbsp; I thought the folio was undervalued and bought two of them during those years. I held them for quite a while but eventually sold both the same year, one to a museum and the other to a private collector for a pretty good sum.&nbsp;CGN: Share some successes as well as challenges this year.JO: For a brick and mortar art gallery to stay in business at all is a success today. We have a large and unusual inventory of rare antique works. Consequently, our internet presence has allowed us to adapt to the challenges that face all retail today.&nbsp;CGN: What do you want a young person to know who is considering this business?JO: Nothing has changed in that respect. Be knowledgeable, dedicated, reliable and work hard.&nbsp;CGN: What do you look for in an artwork? When searching for yourself, what speaks to you?JO: Whether you are looking at Audubon or Warhol it is the same criteria. Every artist who has created a large body of work has some that stands out above others. Condition and quality are paramount. You have to trust your eye, but your eye has to be an educated one.&nbsp;CGN: What’s coming up next at the gallery?JO: In May we will feature an exhibition of first edition hand-colored engravings by Alexander Wilson published in 1808. He is known as the father of American ornithology.&nbsp;Joel Oppenheimer is owner of Joel Oppenheimer Gallery in the Michigan Avenue / River North area of Chicago. For more information&nbsp;please visit:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/galleries/joel-oppenheimer-inc">Oppenheimer Inc</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

CGN Interview Series: Joel Oppenheimer, Oppenheimer Inc

Each week CGN interviews a local art-industry professional to discuss the ins and outs of running a space&nbsp;in the city of Chicago. This week we caught up with Paula Danoff of Evanston Art Center.

&nbsp;

Age: Guess!

Current Position: President&nbsp; &amp; CEO

Hometown: Evanston, IL

Previous Occupations: Fundraiser and Banker

&nbsp;

5 favorites from the past week:

Restaurant: Tanoshi 
Shop: Ross Discount 
Read: Who has time to read! 
Neighborhood: River North 
Music: Karen Carpenter

&nbsp;

CGN: Tell us about your background and how you originally connected with Evanston Art Center?

PD: The Evanston Art Center was founded in 1929.&nbsp; I was not there when it was founded, but I did take classes there when it moved to its location on Lake Michigan in 1966. I had a career in Banking, lived in Japan for 6 years and became an Ikebana Sensei in the Sogetsu school of Japanese Flower arranging. I returned to start a Career in Fundraising for Non-Profits.&nbsp; In 2007, I was offered the opportunity to return to the Art Center in the role of Director in Development and Communications.&nbsp; In 2015, I was offered the position of President &amp; CEO and have been here in this position ever since.

&nbsp;

CGN: Share a typical day in the life.

PD: COFFEE and more COFFEE- and a doughnut from Firecakes Donuts, whenever possible! The Art Center is a constant BUZZ of activity ranging from hanging shows to greeting students, meeting with Board members, artists, event planners and the public.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

CGN: How would you sum up your experience during your time with the Evanston Art Center?&nbsp;

PD:&nbsp;My time at the Art Center has given me the opportunity to expand the mission of the Art Center to encompass all arts and fulfill the needs of a larger and more diverse audience.&nbsp; When we moved to the new location in 2015, we gained 5 gallery spaces and greatly expanded opportunities for artists and outreach to the community.&nbsp; I have learned how to appreciate the value in dealing with different points to view to move the mission forward.

&nbsp;

CGN: Share some successes as well as challenges this year.

PD: This year we kicked off our second Artwork in Residency program with Shape of Now, a fashion focused one-of-a-kind residency featuring 6 talented designers curated by Katrin Schnabl.&nbsp; We have established two new disciplines this year in our school for Woodworking and a Maker Space.&nbsp; Our outreach to the community continues to grow with programs serving low-income students in Evanston.&nbsp;

The challenge continues to fund all these amazing programs.&nbsp; We continue to reach out to donors, foundations, and business to sponsor and support the Art Center.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

CGN: How have you seen technology directly affect/alter the art world?

PD:&nbsp;Yes!&nbsp; In new and exciting ways.&nbsp; Our Maker lab translates 2-D into 3-D with a laser engraving machine and 3-D printing.&nbsp; We have artist interpreting their work in ways not possible a few years ago.&nbsp; This has been a huge growth area for our school.&nbsp; We work with youth in these areas to unleash the creative process into the next generation.

&nbsp;

CGN: What do you want to tell a young person considering this business?

PD: We have a very robust Internship program for young people ages 15-30.&nbsp; All are looking for a career in the Arts.&nbsp; I advise them to take the GRE, GMAT, LSAT, MCAT tests as soon as they graduate, because that is when you are the smartest.&nbsp; This will open any opportunity for your future.&nbsp; I advise all young people to get as much experience with volunteering and internships in the Arts, so that they can make decisions based on experience and not emotion.

&nbsp;

CGN: One piece of advice you would send back to yourself when you started out?

PD: Don&rsquo;t worry, the best is yet to come!

&nbsp;

CGN: Favorite cultural pursuit outside of the art world?

PD: My favorite place is the Chicago Botanic Gardens!&nbsp; I find the Japanese Gardens meditative in their simplicity and grandeur.&nbsp;&nbsp;It is a unique place in all of Chicago where you can experience the beauty of nature.

&nbsp;

CGN: What should we expect to see next from the Evanston Art Center?

PD: Here is a listing of all the exciting exhibitions in the next few weeks!

Current Exhibitions:

Nelli Bar and Paul Wieghardt Gallery, The Fair brings together independent fashion designers artisans and collectives to present their current spring/summer collections in a unique sales event.&nbsp; As a part of the ongoing&nbsp;SHAPE OF NOW&nbsp;fashion&nbsp;residency&nbsp;series&nbsp;curated by Katrin Schnabl, the public will have the opportunity to shop a curated selection of fashion, accessories and objects created by the participating designers and guest artists at&nbsp;THE FAIR, a unique art-meets-fashion pop-up showroom.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

Second Floor Gallery Space. Lindsay Olson, an artist with a science-based practice, is known for her unusual art projects. As Fermi National Accelerator&rsquo;s first artist in residence, Olson&rsquo;s work sheds light on the fascinating world of subatomic particles. Her love of science and technology grew out of her work with Chicago&rsquo;s Metropolitan Water Reclamation District, the world&rsquo;s largest wastewater treatment facility. She uses her training to create art about the hidden realities of our world, shedding light on both the smallest frontiers and the structure of the universe: the subatomic realm of neutrinos, quarks and leptons. As a part of this exhibition, Fermilab docent Anne Mary Teichert will give a talk on Sunday, March 18 from 2 - 3pm.

&nbsp;

Studio Exhibition: Students of Duffy O&rsquo;Connor.&nbsp;This multi-level course, Intaglio, taught by Duffy O&rsquo;Connor, invites beginners to work alongside experienced printmaking students as they explore the tradition of Intaglio printmaking.&nbsp; The basic processes of intaglio printmaking of etching (line, aquatint and softground) and drypoint are taught with primarily black and white imagery; color printing is also explored by students beyond the beginner level.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

The Radical Visibility Collective creates performance that awakens queer crip futurism. The collective will showcase their work in an ongoing installation at the Evanston Art Center throughout March as part of their Shape of Now residency. They will also create a music video that encapsulates the space and performance so that people can continue to experience their vision for radical visibility.

&nbsp;

Paula Danoff is&nbsp;the Executive Director of the Evanston Art Center. For more information about the EAC&nbsp;please visit:<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/institutions/evanston-art-center--3">&nbsp;Evanston Art Center</a>.

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

An Interview with Paula Danoff, Executive Director of Evanston Art Center

<h2>Overlooked No More: A Foundation&#39;s Push to Elevate Chicago Art</h2>

New York has long been considered the center of American visual art, home to the Met, the MoMA, and the incredible, cylindrical viewing galleries of the Guggenheim. Abstract Expressionism developed in the city, as did the careers of its luminaries such as Jackson Pollock, Franz Kline and Mark Rothko. A new crop of art-world superstars blossoms in the city each year.

More recently, Los Angeles has entered the collective art consciousness. In the past five years, major gifts in the hundreds of millions have remade L.A.&rsquo;s cultural landscape into a Monopoly board of arts institutions. The Broad and the Marciano Art Foundation opened, and new galleries and acquisitions are planned at the Hammer, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Museum of Contemporary Art. Art makers themselves, fleeing the high cost and low light of New York City, are basking in L.A.&rsquo;s spectacular, Mediterranean-like sun.

By Wendy Paris, Inside Philanthropy

<a href="https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/2018/3/6/overlooked-no-more-a-foundation-looks-to-raise-chicagos-profile-in-the-art-world">Read More</a>

&nbsp;

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<h2>Opioid Protest at Met Museum Targets Donors Connected to OxyContin</h2>

Anti-opioid activists unfurled banners and scattered pill bottles on Saturday inside the Sackler Wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, which is named for a family connected to the powerful painkilling drug OxyContin.

The protest, which was organized by a group started by the celebrated photographer Nan Goldin, started just after 4 p.m., when several dozen people converged at the Temple of Dendur inside the wing.

By&nbsp;Colin&nbsp;Moynihan, The New York Times

<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/10/us/met-museum-sackler-protest.html">Read More</a>

&nbsp;

<img alt="" data-rich-file-id="2641" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/2641/original/ct-1520870672-vjdapryu9q-snap-image-1.jpg" />

<h2>Chicago architects take the lead for U.S. pavilion at prestigious Venice Architecture Biennale</h2>

It&rsquo;s no insult to Chicago&rsquo;s fledgling architecture biennial to say that the event remains an upstart compared to the bigger, older and more prestigious Venice Architecture Biennale. So it&rsquo;s a big deal that Chicago&rsquo;s architecture community is poised to make a mark on the Italian city of lagoons, canals and exotic buildings washed by the Adriatic mist.

For the first time, a spokeswoman confirmed, Chicago institutions are organizing architecture biennale&rsquo;s U.S. pavilion, traditionally a showcase for top American talent. In addition, Chicagoans are designing two of the pavilion&rsquo;s seven installations, including one by the firm of architect&nbsp;Jeanne Gang&nbsp;that will transport hundreds of cobblestones from a Memphis riverfront to Venice.

By Blair Kamin, Chicago Tribune

<a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/ct-ae-venice-biennale-kamin-0313-story.html">Read More</a>

&nbsp;

<img alt="" data-rich-file-id="2639" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/2639/original/nra-ad2-copy-1.jpg" />

<h2>Kapoor condemns NRA&rsquo;s use of his Chicago &lsquo;Bean&rsquo; sculpture in promotional ad</h2>

The British-Indian artist Anish Kapoor is speaking out against the National Rifle Association (NRA), condemning the US gun lobby organisation&rsquo;s use of an image of his Chicago sculpture Cloud Gate (2004) in a&nbsp;promotional videoreleased last year. &ldquo;I am disgusted to see my work&mdash;in truth the sculpture of the people of Chicago&mdash;used by the NRA to promote their vile message,&rdquo; Kapoor says in a written statement from today (12 March), issued in association with the anti&ndash;gun violence nonprofit&nbsp;Everytown for Gun Safety. &ldquo;Recent shootings in Florida, Las Vegas, Texas, and a number of other towns and cities, make it more urgent than ever that this organization is held to account for its ongoing campaign of fear and hate in American society.&rdquo;

By Jillian&nbsp;Steinhauer, The Art Newspaper

<a href="https://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/kapoor-condemns-nra-s-use-of-his-chicago-bean-sculpture-in-promotional-ad">Read More</a>

&nbsp;

<img alt="" data-rich-file-id="2638" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/2638/original/screen-shot-2018-03-12-at-2-42-08-pm.jpg" />

<h2>Part of University of Chicago art museum collection is on loan &hellip; to&nbsp;undergrads</h2>

Andrew Langford lives in a typical college dorm room: He has a desk, a single bed, a mini-fridge stocked with cookies, brownies, some booze and, on an otherwise drab beige wall, he has a framed Miro. That&rsquo;s right, the 18-year-old has a piece by the famed Spanish painter and sculptor, Joan Miro.

Noah Adams, 19, has a Pablo Picasso etching in his dorm entitled, &ldquo;Dream and Lie of Franco 1.&rdquo; To be sure, these are not the originals &mdash; they&rsquo;re prints &mdash; but many of the several dozen pieces on loan this year to mostly undergraduates at the University of Chicago are each worth several thousand dollars.

By Stefano Esposito, Chicago Sun Times

<a href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/entertainment/part-of-university-of-chicago-art-museum-collection-is-on-loan-to-undergrads/">Read More</a>

&nbsp;

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&nbsp;

News from Around the Art World: March 12, 2018

The second edition of the Chicago Architecture Biennial just wrapped up a few weeks ago, but plans are already very much underway for the next edition, opening in fall 2019. Today the Chicago Architecture Biennial (CAB) and Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced the appointment of&nbsp;Yesomi Umolu,&nbsp;Exhibitions Curator at the Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts at the University of Chicago,&nbsp;as the 2019 Artistic Director.&nbsp;&nbsp;Ms. Umolu brings years of experience and expertise in contemporary art with a particular curatorial focus on "spatial practices" to her initial training in the field of architecture. Together these experiences and insights bring a unique vision to the third Biennial.&nbsp;With a background in architectural design and curatorial studies, Umolu focuses her work on global contemporary art and spatial practices. Her recent projectshave explored the politics of the built environment. Umolu currently holds the position of Exhibitions Curator at the Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts at the University of Chicago, and is a visiting lecturer, critic, and speaker at a number of international universities and institutions.“I am honored to be invited to serve as Artistic Director of the 2019 Chicago Architecture Biennial,” said Umolu. “Having my roots in the field of architecture, spatial questions have always been an important consideration of my work with contemporary artists, architects, and urbanists from across the world. I am excited to embark on the journey of engaging the city of Chicago and it publics, as well as visitors to Chicago from across the country and around the world, in these conversations.”Jack Guthman, Chairman of the Biennial, said, “We are delighted that Yesomi Umolu will serve as the Artistic Director of the 2019 Chicago Architecture Biennial. Her broad curatorial experience makes her ideally suited to build upon the critical acclaim accorded to our 2015 and 2017 Biennials by our dual constituencies—the architecture profession worldwide, as well as Chicagoans and visitors to our city.”In the coming months, Umolu will formalize and convene an international curatorial team of creative practitioners with strong knowledge of visual arts, architecture, and design practices globally. The members of the curatorial team will be announced this spring. Umolu’s vision for the next Chicago Architecture Biennial features the exploration of emerging practices and global locations that are developing new approaches to architecture, urbanism, and spatial practice. Through this process, she will use the Biennial as a forum to explore creative responses to shifting spatial conditions at local, regional, and international levels.“Yesomi is a visionary curator with strong roots in Chicago, and she will work tirelessly to cultivate an incredible cultural, educational, and economic event for the city,” said Mayor Emanuel. “With Yesomi at the helm, the third Chicago Architecture Biennial is sure to secure its reputation as the most innovative architectural, art, and design showcase of its kind.”“We are delighted by Yesomi Umolu’s appointment as the next Artistic Director of the Chicago Architecture Biennial.&nbsp;The appointment further testifies to the curatorial imagination and dexterity she has demonstrated so well at the Logan Center for the Arts.&nbsp; By consistently showcasing the best in architectural innovation—in a city renowned for its architectural achievements—the Biennial advances the conversation about the potential impact of design.&nbsp; That conversation is playing an increasing role at the University of Chicago, and it is vital, of course, to the future of Chicago’s South Side, as to cities around the world,” added Daniel Diermeier, Provost of the University of Chicago.Following a successful partnership in 2017, the opening of the 2019 edition will align with EXPO CHICAGO, the International Exposition of Contemporary and Modern Art, which will present its 8th edition, and the main site of the Biennial will once again be the Chicago Cultural Center,&nbsp;located downtown near the Art Institute of Chicago. This edition of the Biennial will be under the leadership of Executive Director Todd Palmer, who also served as Executive Director of the 2017 edition.<h3>To read CGN's 2017 profile of&nbsp;Yesomi Umolu, <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2017/4/expanding-exhibitions-at-the-logan-center">click here</a>.&nbsp;</h3>For more information about the Chicago Architecture Biennial&nbsp;<a href="http://chicagoarchitecturebiennial.org/news/chicago-architecture-biennial-announces-the-appointment-of-yesomi-umolu-as-the-artistic-director-2019-biennial/?utm_source=2017+Updated+VIP+List+%28BL%29&amp;utm_campaign=57fceb6bad-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_03_02&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_term=0_d8d186783f-57fceb6bad-271010429">click&nbsp;here</a>.&nbsp;

Yesomi Umolu named 2019 Artistic Director of Chicago Architecture Biennial

Curator Yesomi Umolu Named Artistic Director of 3rd Chicago Architecture Biennial 

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417509/yiqiuvqwdcrg0kiktayj.jpg"></figure>Each week CGN interviews a local art-world professional to discuss&nbsp;the ins and outs of running a gallery in the city of Chicago. This week we caught up with Jennifer Muray, Executive Director of Filter Photo.&nbsp;Age: 45Current Position: Executive Director, Filter PhotoHometown: ChicagoPrevious Occupation: Director, A+D Gallery, Columbia College Chicago&nbsp;5 favorites from the past weekRestaurant: Charlie was a Sinner, cute little bar with lovely cocktails, Philadelphia (I was traveling for the Society for Photographic Education’s Annual Conference) Shop:&nbsp;Reading Terminal Market, Philadelphia, all you ever need and more. Read: The New York Times daily briefing is about all I’ve had time for lately. Neighborhood:&nbsp;Lincoln Square, close to home, easy to walk, good coffee Music: Black Panther!&nbsp;&nbsp;CGN: Tell us about your background and how your position with Filter Photo came to be?JM: I was director of A+D Gallery, at Columbia College Chicago for over ten years.&nbsp; The gallery closed a few years ago to make way for the expansion of Shop Columbia but it was a dedicated non-profit space exhibiting a broad roster of art and design based exhibitions.&nbsp; Additionally, I’m trained in photography and primarily work in photography as a visual artist and curator.&nbsp; I’ve taught photography for over 15 years, first at Columbia and now at Loyola University Chicago.&nbsp; The combination of my engagement in the photography community and my non-profit gallery experience was a natural fit for the Executive Director position at Filter Photo.&nbsp; I took over for Sarah Hadley and James Pepper Kelly in 2016.&nbsp;CGN: Give us a day in the life!JM: Varied!&nbsp; As an arts administrator and educator who is also trying to plug away at a personal practice each day is a bit of everything.&nbsp; Like so many people in the arts I wear many hats and have several email accounts to stay on top of. But, I do like a routine, so I’m good at compartmentalizing my time.&nbsp; In addition to the non-stop email catch up, I also meet with artists, staff, and board members regularly and do a lot of writing and proof reading for Filter communications and grants.&nbsp; I’m currently sending out invitations to professionals to join us at the 2018 Filter Photo Festival in September, brainstorming for our workshops and artist talks for the Festival and working with the Filter board of directors on updating our 5-year plan.&nbsp; I teach a few days a week and look forward to critiques with my students.&nbsp; Every few weeks you’ll find me at Filter Space installing artwork and tweaking the lights.&nbsp;CGN: Share some successes as well as challenges this year.JM: We are very excited about the success of our newly launched Photography Book Club; it’s an open access group that meets once a month to discuss photography books, historical through contemporary.&nbsp; 3-5 books are featured every month.&nbsp; The first meeting in February was a great success.&nbsp; I think people are hungry for opportunities to engage with one another around like-minded topics, looking to build community, and share their passions.&nbsp; We’re happy that Filter Photo can provide a space for that kind of engagement and connect people.Challenges…hmm.&nbsp; Running a non-profit organization dedicated to photography is definitely challenging.&nbsp; Photography is this weird word that can mean so many different things.&nbsp; We spend a lot of time explaining what we mean by photography by defining the term contemporary photography through the examples found in our exhibition program and other community-based programs like the book club and professional development workshops.&nbsp; Our hope is that more and more photographers working in a purely aesthetic and formal way will push their practice into a more content-driven and conceptual arena.&nbsp; We want to provide opportunities for them to make that transition and support that process for anyone working in photography.&nbsp;CGN: What do you want to tell a young person considering this business?JM: The connections you make and maintain with people are the most important.&nbsp; The obvious things like a good work ethic are also important – respond to email, be on time, carry your weight, and contribute to the conversation are always key.&nbsp; But it’s the relationships that you build with people that will move you forward, whether you are the artist, director, curator, or administrator.&nbsp; Showing up really is half the battle - not just to promote yourself but supporting your colleagues and peers as well.&nbsp;CGN: What do you look for in an artwork? When searching for yourself, what speaks to you?JM: I need to be able to live with the work; it needs to enhance my daily life as I move through my home.&nbsp; I don’t mean in a purely decorative way, but in a way that makes me think and connect with my other interests.&nbsp;CGN: Favorite cultural pursuit outside of the art world?JM: I have a morbid sense of curiosity.&nbsp; My graduate thesis work was on cabinets of curiosity so anything collection, taxonomy, and natural history based will interest me.&nbsp; I was just at The Mütter Museum in Philadelphia for the first time; it’s this amazing medical museum with anatomical anomalies, specimens, surgical implements, and the like on display.&nbsp; The Museum of Jurassic Technology in Los Angeles is perhaps my favorite museum in the world and the plants and flora exhibit, which is tucked away on the second floor of The Field Museum in the old 19th century display cases, is always on my list of things to see.&nbsp;CGN: What should we expect to see from Filter Photo in 2018?JM: Filter Photo has an exciting year planned.&nbsp; This spring we are hosting two professional development workshops – The Evolving Landscape of Photography Publishing with Michael Itkoff of Daylight Books in March; and Getting Seen, Getting Shown: Professional Practices for Photographers with Sasha Wolf and Jess T. Dugan in April.&nbsp; Spots still available in both workshops!&nbsp;We just launched our annual call for exhibition proposals for the 2019-2020 exhibition season at Filter Space.&nbsp; This is such a great opportunity to get your work seen by our panel of reviewers.&nbsp; Unlike a strict voting process, the review panel really discusses the proposals and makes decisions about the next year of exhibitions.September 27 - 30 we are celebrating the 10th Annual Filter Photo Festival with 4 days of artist talks, portfolio reviews, workshops, and exhibition openings.&nbsp; We are slowly rolling out the programming and just announced Mona Kuhn as the keynote speaker on September 27th.&nbsp; All artist talks, exhibitions, and evening events are free and open to the public – we hope to see you there!&nbsp;Jennifer Murray is&nbsp;the Executive Director of Filter Photo in Chicago. For more information about the space&nbsp;please visit:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/galleries/filter-photo">Filter Photo</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

CGN Interview Series: Jennifer Murray, Filter Photo

<h2>ELLEN ROTHENBERG // SPERTUS INSTITUTE</h2>

If you had to leave your home for good, what would you take with you? Would you take your favorite books? The scarf that your grandmother knit for you, your favorite necklace that your best friend gave you, your red shoes, most comfortable pillow, love letters, spices that you cannot find anywhere else, or more practical things like passports, identity cards, and money? Is it possible to carry your whole being if you leave a part of your life behind? Stepping in Ellen Rothenberg&rsquo;s installation,&nbsp;ISO 6346: ineluctable immigrant,&nbsp;at the Spertus Institute, such questions flock together in one&rsquo;s mind and do not let go of your soul for a long time.

By Pınar &Uuml;ner Yılmaz, THE&nbsp;SEEN

<a href="http://theseenjournal.org/art-seen-chicago/ellen-rothenberg/">Read More</a>

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<img alt="" data-caption="Peter Gorman" data-rich-file-id="2632" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/2632/original/ct-guess-the-chicago-intersection-20180227-003.jpg" />

<h2>Chicago&#39;s unique &mdash; and complicated &mdash; intersections inspire artist&#39;s work</h2>

If Rascal Flatts is correct and life is truly a highway, artist Peter Gorman wants to ride it all night long.

The Seattle-based creator of digital art biked through Chicago during the summer of 2015 and discovered the unique looks of some of the city&rsquo;s interesting intersections. He has since created artwork featuring those streets that are a bit off of the traditional grid. He sells it on his Etsy store,&nbsp;BarelyMaps.

By Darcel Rockett, Chicago Tribune

<a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/travel/ct-trav-chicago-intersections-art-20180228-story.html">Read More</a>

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<img alt="" data-caption="Photograph by Bettmann / Getty" data-rich-file-id="2633" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/2633/original/stfleix-gwendolyn-brooks.jpg" />

<h2>Chicago&rsquo;s Particular Cultural Scene and the Radical Legacy of Gwendolyn Brooks</h2>

In&nbsp;an interview with the rapper Kanye West from 2003, shortly before he released &ldquo;The College Dropout,&rdquo; West recounted the time he met the poet Gwendolyn Brooks, at a dinner held for students in Beverly Hills, Chicago, when he was in &ldquo;fourth grade or sixth grade.&rdquo; Brooks asked him if he had a poem to read, West recalled. &ldquo;I said&rdquo;&mdash;here,&nbsp;the interviewer writes, he put on a high-pitched boy&rsquo;s voice&mdash;&ldquo;&nbsp;&lsquo;No, but I can write one real quick.&rsquo; I went in the back, wrote a poem, and then read it for her and the 40 staff members.&rdquo;

By Doreen St. F&eacute;lix, The New Yorker

<a href="https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/chicagos-particular-cultural-scene-and-the-radical-legacy-of-gwendolyn-brooks">Read More</a>

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<img alt="" data-caption="View of the booth of Tiwani Contemporary, U.K., at 1-54 Marrakech 2018. ADNANE ZEMMAMA/COURTESY 1-54" data-rich-file-id="2634" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/2634/original/02-18-s-154m-12-350x233.jpg" />

<h2>In Marrakech, New Art Fair and Museum Make Case for an Intriguing Future</h2>

It may well be that settings for people-watching can get no better than an art fair in a grand Moroccan hotel. The milling in and out of La Mamounia Palace in Marrakech was a sight to see last weekend in the midst of the 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair: locals and travelers alike taking up their stations amid bountiful orange trees and swaying palms, with a lot of dashing fashion on display. Sounds and scents stirred the senses more, from clacking traffic noise drifting over top the hotel&rsquo;s gated walls to a dizzying mix of floral aromas whirled together with notes of citrus and gasoline.

By Andy Battaglia, ARTNEWS

<a href="http://www.artnews.com/2018/03/02/marrakech-new-art-fair-museum-make-case-intriguing-future/">Read More</a>

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<img alt="" data-caption="AP Photo/J. David Ake" data-rich-file-id="2635" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/2635/original/ap-16273634955334.jpg" />

<h2>Picasso painting offered in money-laundering scheme, US feds say</h2>

On Friday (2 March), the US Department of Justice (DOJ) unveiled a multi-count indictment in a federal court in Brooklyn against four corporate and six individual defendants who prosecutors say were part of a $50m international securities fraud and money laundering scheme that involved the attempted sale of a Picasso painting to an undercover agent.

By Victoria&nbsp;Stapley-Brown&nbsp;and&nbsp;Anna&nbsp;Brady, The Art Newspaper

<a href="https://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/picasso-painting-offered-in-money-laundering-scheme-us-feds-say">Read More</a>

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