By KEVIN NANCE

Art collector Helen Zell is one of those people who thinks best on her feet. Given the option of a sit-down chat or being interviewed while touring the modernist Streeterville condo she shares with her husband, businessman Sam Zell, she immediately chooses the latter. It&rsquo;s quite a trek, encompassing 18,000 square feet of space that contains some 800 objects, including major works by Ren&eacute; Magritte, Joan Mir&oacute;, Frida Kahlo, Max Ernst, Alexander Calder, Salvador Dal&iacute;, Remedios Varo, Giorgio de Chirico, Louise Bourgeois and a host of younger and emerging artists, along with ethnographic material and the occasional foray into Pop art.

Associated for two decades with the Museum of Contemporary Art, where she has held several positions including board chair, Zell is sleek and chic&mdash;her draping silver hair set off against an elegant all-black outfit&mdash;but entirely down-to-earth, her husky alto regularly erupting into laughter. Here&rsquo;s an edited transcript of our visit. &nbsp;

<img alt="" data-caption="Zell in the company of sculptures by Louise Bourgeois" data-rich-file-id="739" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/739/original/helen-zell-second-shoot-6.jpg" />

CGN: How did you get started with collecting?

HZ: The collection was originally conceived as a Surrealist collection. It was 18 years ago&mdash;Sam and I weren&rsquo;t even married yet&mdash;and we talked about collecting art. Over dinner one night, he looked at me and said, &ldquo;Do you like art?&rdquo; I said, &ldquo;Yeah, I like art. Like it a lot.&rdquo; Then, &ldquo;Well, what do you like?&rdquo; I said, &ldquo;Well, I like a lot of things. I&rsquo;ve been a museum-goer my whole life.&rdquo; He said, &ldquo;Well, I like Surrealism!&rdquo; I said, &ldquo;You do?&rdquo;&nbsp;

&nbsp;

You didn&rsquo;t know that at the time?

I didn&rsquo;t have a clue. I didn&rsquo;t know he was interested in art, let alone Surrealism.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

Am I correct in thinking that you, rather than your husband, take the lead in the collecting process?

That&rsquo;s right. When we first decided to do this, Sam looked at me and said, &ldquo;OK. You do all the work and I&rsquo;ll write the checks. It&rsquo;s really going to be fun.&rdquo; And that was it.

&nbsp;

So, you&rsquo;ve always been in the driver&rsquo;s seat.

Yeah. But he loves it. And takes great pride in walking around and learning about the collection. It&rsquo;s a really big part of what he likes to show people.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

And did you have a background in art when you started the collection?

Not really. I was always a museum-goer, but I never took an art history course. I was always a literature person, and I played the piano.&nbsp;

I was afraid to go to galleries. Terrified! Because they were so snooty. I lived in New York when I was young, and was horrified by walking into these places that were so quiet. Nobody talked to you - kind of looked down their noses at you. I was really uncomfortable and didn&rsquo;t feel like I belonged there.

&nbsp;

So the two Magrittes on the wall there are foundations of the collection?

Right. Also Dal&iacute;, Max Ernst, Yves Tanguy. Our criteria generally was the quality of the work&mdash;how it affected us. Did it intrigue us? Did it make our hearts beat a little faster?

&nbsp;

That&rsquo;s a good yardstick.

And pretty consistently, that&rsquo;s been true, whether it&rsquo;s Surrealism or work that has nothing to do with Surrealism. You have Magritte and you have these Mayan ceramic figures that are 2,000 years old, and you think, &ldquo;What do they have to do with one another?&rdquo; Well, maybe nothing.

&nbsp;

Maybe the connection is those African masks that inspired Picasso.

To me, it&rsquo;s about the way the artists express themselves. (Pointing to a piece.) That&rsquo;s by Gertrude Abercrombie, an American Surrealist from Chicago whom I had never heard of until Julie Rodrigues Widholm at the MCA did a collection show and revealed to me for the first time that there were a couple of Abercrombies in our permanent collection. She juxtaposed some of those pieces against more contemporary work and showed how they influenced one another. I loved the work and found out that we had a dealer in Chicago with access to it, so I went to Corbett vs. Dempsey and they found me an Abercrombie! That&rsquo;s the part I really love&mdash;the story, the hunt. Making connections, finding out I really love something that fits in with the other work that we already have, then going to find it. That&rsquo;s always fun.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

Well, &ldquo;eclectic&rdquo; is the word of the day.

It&rsquo;s actually not. If you look at a lot of collections today that are put together for hedge-fund guys and people who are into buying for the sake of having trophies on their wall, buying and selling. . . that&rsquo;s very different from what we&rsquo;ve done. We&rsquo;ve done what the collectors did once upon a time. They collected what they loved, and they took little side trips, had little adventures. I like to think I&rsquo;m an old-fashioned collector.

&nbsp;

It&rsquo;s not about buying and selling.&nbsp;

We never sell. We buy it and expect to eventually give it away.

&nbsp;

*

<img alt="" data-caption="A collection of objects in a sandbox—including maquettes, driftwood, seashells and other objects—from the studio of Lee Bontecou, recently acquired by Helen Zell in a special purchase via New York dealer Ann Freedman." data-rich-file-id="738" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/738/original/helen-zell-4.jpg" />

Next, we encounter a group of neo-primitive sculptures by Louise Bourgeois.

One of my favorite artists is Louise Bourgeois, who died a few years ago. There were originally about 50 of these sculptures, called &ldquo;Les Personnages,&rdquo; first exhibited together at MOMA in the &rsquo;50s. The group has been reassembled a few times, including once at the Guggenheim in New York. When you think of her work juxtaposed with Tanguy&rsquo;s, I think she has a Surrealist DNA. I just find them very compatible.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

They seem to have a relation to your ethnographic art.

Yes. Absolutely. They&rsquo;re like totems. That&rsquo;s the kind of thing that makes it all make sense for me.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

One of the sculptures has a mirror for a face.

My grandkids love that. It&rsquo;s like you become part of the piece.

&nbsp;

There might also be a reference to women carrying baskets on their heads.

Or it might be some strange figure with a whirlibird on his head. (Laughs.) Later in her life, she did some incredibly huge monumental spiders. One of them was in the Turbine Room at the Tate. Then she did some that were much smaller, like this one (points to a spider sculpture on a table). There are about five of these, and in this case she combined it with one of the little cloth figures she was making at the end of her life. I love this piece. You can say it&rsquo;s strange or tortured, but I like to think of it as a more powerful version of her&mdash;sort of stalking her prey.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

*

&nbsp;

In the hallway, Zell pauses in front of two paintings hung side by side, both featuring couples&mdash;the first very happy together, the second not so much.

These are two of the pictures that started the collection. We&rsquo;re at an art fair early on, and Sam zeroes in on this piece (of the happy couple). He says, &ldquo;Who&rsquo;s this artist?&rdquo; It was Dubuffet&mdash;early Dubuffet, from the &rsquo;40s, didn&rsquo;t look like his later work at all. And Sam said, &ldquo;I really like that piece.&rdquo;&nbsp;

&nbsp;

One of the faces looks like an Ed Paschke face.

Definitely, although Paschke wasn&rsquo;t working yet. Anyway, the couple looks very happy together. I think it&rsquo;s a classic example of, you know, you see something that resonates, because it means something for you.

&nbsp;

You were newlyweds.

We weren&rsquo;t even married yet. We were very happy and very romantic. It&rsquo;s also very colorful, and we both love color.

&nbsp;

(Pointing to the other painting): This is later in the relationship&mdash;darker, more serious

(Laughs): We still weren&rsquo;t married yet. Although I have to say, we&rsquo;re not dark, not very serious. Sam&rsquo;s one of the most upbeat people you&rsquo;ll ever meet. I&rsquo;ve learned a lot about optimism from him. Anyhow, the next year, there was another painting with another couple. This is Heinrich Campendonk, a German Expressionist.

&nbsp;

The piece has a Rousseau-like feel.

I see that. I think it also has some interesting references to sex.&nbsp;

As Sam will tell you, that&rsquo;s a big thing for him. Lots of naked ladies. Tits and ass! (Laughs.)

&nbsp;

*

&nbsp;

We turn the corner, where there&rsquo;s a large Roy Lichtenstein painting.

That was in the Lichtenstein retrospect at the Art Institute a few years ago, wasn&rsquo;t it? &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;

That&rsquo;s right. It was one of the few pieces in the show that wasn&rsquo;t owned by someone who wouldn&rsquo;t sell it.&nbsp; It was offered for sale by [New York art dealer] Larry Gagosian. (Cont. on next page...)

So when Sam and I fell in love with it, we were keenly aware that we could probably buy it.

&nbsp;

You bought it after having seen it at the Art Institute?

Right. I immediately contacted Larry&mdash;I knew him very slightly&mdash;and we started the dance, the negotiation, which lasted about three months.

&nbsp;

That&rsquo;s a long dance.

He&rsquo;s tough, but so am I. (Laughs.)

&nbsp;

I&rsquo;m sure you drive a very hard bargain.

It&rsquo;s just that I&rsquo;m tenacious. Sam would never&mdash;he would say, &ldquo;How much does the painting cost?&rdquo; The guy would tell him, and he&rsquo;d say OK and write a check. I cannot do that, because I&rsquo;m too familiar with the way the art world works.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

There&rsquo;s big markup.

They mark up their paintings with the idea that they&rsquo;re going to deal with you, negotiate. That&rsquo;s all part of the process.

&nbsp;

And you did get Gagosian to come down on the price?

Yeah. He finally broke down and sold it to me two days&mdash;or maybe a day and a half&mdash;before a big auction where the values of Lichtenstein went up 40 to 50 percent.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

So it wasn&rsquo;t a good move to sell when he did.

No. He should have waited. And I would have had to be satisfied with a worse price for me because of what happened at that auction. That&rsquo;s where the art market really influences what you&rsquo;re doing as a collector. I hate that part of it, but you must be aware of it.

&nbsp;

*

&nbsp;

We move to another large space down the hall, formerly a separate apartment which now houses the Zells&rsquo; photography collection and works by younger and emerging artists, many with a Surrealist bent.

A lot of the work in here is collected in tandem with institutions, especially the MCA and the Art Institute. If they&rsquo;re doing a show and want to collect the work&mdash;like this piece by Marlo Pascual&mdash;and I like the work, I buy it and promise it to the institution. It&rsquo;s a way of supporting the local museums and keeping work moving in and out of the space. It gives me the opportunity to be flexible without having to store things. I like to keep moving on.

&nbsp;

Do you think of this as a separate collection, or as part of a single collection?

It&rsquo;s one collection with two pretty clearly defined parts, but a lot of the young artists in here are influenced by Surrealism, so it&rsquo;s the perfect time to start mixing them together.

&nbsp;

This is an interesting piece (referring to a large panel covered with peacock feathers).

That&rsquo;s a Carol Bove, another artist I discovered through my association with the MCA. They did a show called The Language of Less, and she was one of the artists included. So I bought this from the show, and it will eventually go back to the MCA.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

We come to a collection of small pieces, including maquettes, driftwood, seashells and other objects, in what appears to be a sandbox.

This looks like Lee Bontecou.

It is! And it&rsquo;s actually one of my favorite stories. She did a show four or five years ago for Ann Freedman in New York, and I loved it, and was very interested in these three things called &ldquo;Sandpits,&rdquo; which were included in the exhibition to show how Lee works in her studio. They were not really considered works of art; they were just to show how she puts things together, experiments with shapes and forms. Well, I fell in love with this. I didn&rsquo;t want to buy one of the pieces of art&mdash;I have a lot of her art&mdash;but I really wanted to have this. I&rsquo;ve always been fascinated with her, I&rsquo;ve met her, spent some time with her. So I asked if I could buy this, and Ann said, &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think she wants to sell this.&rdquo;

&nbsp;

It&rsquo;s work product, essentially.

Exactly. It&rsquo;s a sandbox you play in to decide what you&rsquo;re going to make next. I said, &ldquo;Oh, Ann, just tell her I&rsquo;ll give it to the MCA! Beg her!&rdquo; (Laughs.) Months went by, and then Ann called me one day and said, &ldquo;She finally agreed to do it.&rdquo; So finally it arrives in a box&mdash;all the sand, in bags, and all the little objects, beautifully wrapped in tissue paper. I had Ann photograph the whole assemblage when it was in New York, so I made a grid and proceeded to put it all together. And it worked. Then Ann called me again and said that Lee had said, &ldquo;You know, she doesn&rsquo;t have to do it like I did it. She can do it the way she wants to do it.&rdquo; And I said, &ldquo;I thought I&rsquo;d start off the way Lee did it.&rdquo; (Laughs uproariously.)

&nbsp;

Kevin Nance is a Chicago-based freelance writer and photographer&nbsp; Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/kevinnance1">@KevinNance1</a>

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

Art collector Helen Zell is interviewed in CGN

Helen Zell’s Old Fashioned Approach to Collecting Contemporary Art

Fall is the season for art in Chicago. In addition to dozens of gallery openings each month, several international art fairs are coming to town, showcasing the best of what&#39;s happening in several areas of the contemporary art world. Below are details about three such fairs taking place from September-November.

<h4>&bull; EXPO CHICAGO</h4>

September 18-20 - Navy Pier

<img alt="" data-rich-file-id="781" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/781/original/expo-chicago-2.jpg" />

<a href="http://www.expochicago.com">EXPO CHICAGO</a> returns for its fourth year this September, boasting an exhibitor list of 140 international galleries and kicking off a major arts season around the city.

EXPO, together with Chicago Gallery News, presents one of fall&rsquo;s most energetic gallery nights during the fair: Art After Hours takes place on Friday, Sept. 18, 6-9pm. This city-wide open gallery night invites EXPO visitors and the community to experience the city&rsquo;s vibrant art scene, including galleries, alternative exhibition venues and performance spaces. Art After Hours is the cornerstone event of EXPO ART WEEK, highlighting the arts and cultural offerings in Chicago during the week of September 14&ndash;20.

Free shuttles will run all evening for AAH, as well as all weekend, from Navy Pier and stop in River North, West Loop, and in the Loop at SAIC. Details are at <a href="http://www.expochicago.com">www.expochicago.com</a>

Visit chicagogallerynews.com during EXPO for special on-site reports about special exhibitions, installations, news and more.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

<h4>&bull; HARLEM FINE ARTS SHOW</h4>

October 29-November 1, the Merchandise Mart

<img alt="" data-rich-file-id="775" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/775/original/kfgjh.jpg" />

<a href="http://www.hfas.org">The Harlem Fine Art Show</a> returns to Chicago for its second year, with many plans to build on 2014&rsquo;s growth. The show, part of a four-city tour that includes New York, Atlanta and Martha&rsquo;s Vineyard, is devoted to creating a platform for fine art of the African Diaspora.&nbsp;

A range of Chicago community-oriented events and programs have been arranged, including a Youth Empowerment Day and a Salute to Minority Owned Businesses Awards Reception. Details at <a href="http://www.hfas.org">www.hfas.org</a>

&nbsp;

<h4>&bull; SOFA CHICAGO</h4>

November 6-8 - Navy Pier

<img alt="" data-rich-file-id="782" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/782/original/sofa-chicago.jpg" />

<a href="http://www.sofaexpo.com">SOFA CHICAGO</a>, the world-renowned art fair dedicated to Sculpture, Objects, Functional Art and Design returns to Navy Pier November 6-8, for its 22nd year. On view will be museum-quality works of art from 70+ galleries.&nbsp;

New this year, SOFA unveils a revamped floorplan created by Chicago architects Cheryl Noel and Ravi Ricker of Wrap Architecture. The re-envisioned design will create a more open and cohesive show layout, allowing visitors to explore the fair in a more engaging way. Changes include a new, centrally located main entrance, as well as moving the popular Lecture Series to the show floor. Other changes include a second caf&eacute;, additional lounges, and a redesigned Partner Pavilion.

CGN also partners with SOFA to coordinate free shuttles between the fair, River North galleries and the MCA all weekend. See <a href="http://www.sofaexpo.com">www.sofaexpo.com</a> or www.chicagogallerynews.com for details.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

Top image: Sheila Hicks, from browngrotta arts, at SOFA Chicago

Fall’s Art Fair Trio

BY GINNY VAN ALYEA

Women in the Arts. This is a deep topic, and it&rsquo;s long been a much-debated flash point in the art world throughout art history and into modern times. While CGN is regularly devoted to generally promoting many facets of the visual arts in Chicago and in the region, for this fall&rsquo;s edition we chose to focus editorially on a few women leading our cultural community now.&nbsp;

The Chicago area has a rich history of women both working in and supporting the arts; after all it was Mrs. Potter Palmer&rsquo;s generous contributions to the Art Institute of Chicago that became the foundation of the collection that is world renowned today. Women were even taking architecture classes at the early School of the Art Institute back in 1889. Throughout our artistic history, women have made pivotal contributions.&nbsp;

<img alt="" data-caption="SAIC Architecture Students, 1889" data-rich-file-id="733" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/733/original/saic1889.jpg" />

We are home to organizations, such as Woman Made Gallery and ARC Gallery, devoted to supporting and providing women with creative opportunities and resources. Women like Suzanne Ghez, who solidified the international reputation of the Renaissance Society, and Ruth Horwich, who was an unwavering patron of multiple institutions, such as the Hyde Park Art Center and the Smart Museum, made indelible marks on our community that will last for decades. They are just two of scores of women who have been instrumental supporters of the arts.&nbsp;

<img alt="" data-caption="From left: MCA Dir. Madeleine Grynsztejn, photo by Nathan Keay; Chicago Architectural Biennial co-director Sarah Herda; Renaissance Society Dir. Solveig Øvstebø" data-rich-file-id="766" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/766/original/women-in-arts-2.jpg" />

Today many creative women in our midst are working as artists, gallery owners, museum directors, curators, critics, designers and architects. There are more than 45 women who own, lead or direct area galleries, art centers and museums listed in CGN. Interviews in this issue span generations, offering promises for the future while honoring the past. Gallery owner Rhona Hoffman, just one of the 45 mentioned above, has launched the careers of dozens of artists, male and female, in her four decades in business. Helen Zell has built one of the most significant art collections in the country from her enthusiasm for female artists like Gertrude Abercrombie, Lee Bontecou and Louise Bourgeois. Artist Cheryl Pope engages the public to work out conflict and address violence. Julie Rodrigues Widholm, Solveig &Oslash;vsteb&oslash; and Madeleine Grynsztejn are all young, female directors leading area art museums. Zo&euml; Ryan is a young curator turning the world&rsquo;s eyes on design while opening the Art Institute&rsquo;s first galleries dedicated to the subject. Naomi Beckwith is curating personal, thoughtful exhibitions at the MCA. Sarah Herda is one half of the team launching the first Chicago Architecture Biennial - a three month global event featuring projects and ideas by world super stars as well as local luminaries like Jeanne Gang.&nbsp;

We cannot forget that Chicago Gallery News was founded in 1982 by Natalie van Straaten and is currently owned by Publisher Ginny Van Alyea and run with help from Managing Editor Laura Mettam.

CGN wants to honor all women who pursue creative endeavors, be it starting a gallery, practicing as an artist, becoming a curator, or starting an art collection, and we hope to encourage everyone, men and women, to continue paving Chicago&rsquo;s cultural path.

<img alt="" data-rich-file-id="784" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/784/original/cgn-sept-dec-2015-cover-w.jpg" />

Top row: Dealer Rhona Hoffman; Collector Helen Zell.&nbsp; 
Middle row:&nbsp;Artist Cheryl Pope, photo by&nbsp;LaMont Hamilton; DePaul Art Museum&nbsp;Dir. Julie Rodriques Widholm; Far right:&nbsp;Studio Gang/Jeanne Gang&rsquo;s Aqua Tower (detail) in Chicago. 
Bottom row: Gladys Nilsson, Big School Picture; Little Paper Mural, 1992,&nbsp; Samuel T. Avery Endowment. Collection of Art Institute of Chicago; Museum of Contemporary Art curator Naomi Beckwith, photo by Paul Mpagi Sepuya; Art Institute of Chicago curator Zo&euml; Ryan.

Fall Cover Story: Women in the Arts

There was a lot of buzz when the long-awaited Bloomingdale Trail (AKA The 606) opened in June on the city&rsquo;s northwest side. Tremendous vision, planning and resources went into the design and implementation of the trail, but a common refrain from those involved is that the trail is meant to evolve the way Chicago neighborhoods do.&nbsp;

&ldquo;The integration of art, artists, and &lsquo;arts thinking&rsquo; into the re-design of the Bloomingdale Line forms the core of The 606 Arts program and establishes a new model for public art and infrastructure reuse,&rdquo; says lead artist Frances Whitehead. &ldquo;The Arts program converts an artifact of Chicago&rsquo;s industrial heritage into a laboratory for new creative practices...Reflecting the grassroots vision that The 606 become a &lsquo;Living Work of Art&rsquo;.&rdquo;&nbsp;

To become a part of future art projects visit <a href="http://www.the606.org">www.the606.org</a>

Image at top of page: On the 606 Trail: <a href="http://tselone.blogspot.com">Nino &ldquo;TSEL&rdquo; Rodriguez&rsquo;s</a> graffiti mural spelling out the street artist&rsquo;s name, &ldquo;TSEL&rdquo; with an Aztec serpent above. The piece is a combination of mixed street art colors and tribal elements. Most of TSEL&rsquo;s work combines his passions and cultural background.

606: A Living Work of Art

There are myriad overlaps between art and design, and this fall local ties will be on display when the River North Design District (RNDD) participates for the first time in the annual opening of the fall gallery season on Friday, September 11. Many area design showrooms, scattered throughout River North, will be open until 10pm. Participating showrooms will also each exhibit work by a contemporary artist, even after the walk is over, until November 11.&nbsp;

&ldquo;This is the inaugural year for RNDD Gallery Walk. River North has one of the densest visual art gallery populations in Chicago, and our participation in this gallery night exemplifies how the design showrooms are partners in promoting visual art,&rdquo; says Lisa Bell, Marketing Manager from The Tile Gallery, who is chairing the event.

<img alt="" data-caption="Art by Chicago artist Lynn Basa" data-rich-file-id="774" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/774/original/lynn-basa-blue-02.jpg" />

The exposition is comprised of both emerging and established artists, including Lynn Basa, Sheila Ganch, Eric Gushee, Brenda Dawn Jones, Sally Ko, Rim Lee, Candace McGarry, Keiko Nemeth, Rubem Robierb, Phillip Schalekamp, Pamela Staker, Linc Thelen, Adam Thomas and Jennifer Webster.

Details posted on <a href="http://rivernorthdesigndistrict.com">www.rivernorthdesigndistrict.com</a>

River North Design District Participating in September 11 Gallery Walk

By MARY DEYOE

Chicago has a long history of innovation in architecture. A city of many firsts and many greats &ndash; the skyscraper, Mies van der Rohe&mdash; it has continued to push boundaries and lead the way in experimentation. It is fitting then for the city to present <a href="http://www.chicagoarchitecturebiennial.org">The Chicago Architecture Biennial</a>, which will be the largest survey of international architecture ever in North America.&nbsp;

Running from October 3, 2015 through January 3, 2016, and featuring work by more than 60 international participants with full-scale installations, exhibitions and programs, the Biennial provides a dynamic forum to explore the significant role that architecture plays in contemporary society, as well as for leaders in the field to put forth their visions and expectations for the future.&nbsp;

<img alt="" data-caption="The winning design for the Lakefront Kiosk Competition, Chicago Horizon, by Rhode-Island based Ultramoderne." data-rich-file-id="783" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/783/original/chicago-architecture-biennial-.png" />

The Biennial itself is spread throughout the city. The Cultural Center will act as the main hub, and other locations include Millennium Park, Water Tower Galleries, Stony Island Arts Bank, and The Graham Foundation, which along with The City of Chicago and BP, is a presenting partner. Sarah Herda, The Director of the Graham Foundation and a professor in the School of Architecture at UIC, is a Co-Artistic Director.

The theme for the Biennial&rsquo;s inaugural year is &ldquo;The State of the Art of Architecture,&rdquo; which was taken from a 1977 conference that brought together America&rsquo;s leading designers. The conference was organized by architect Stanley Tigerman, who is a member of the Biennial&rsquo;s international Advisory Committee along with architecture powerhouses Frank Gehry, Jeanne Gang and David Adjaye.

&ldquo;The state of the art of architecture is something that&rsquo;s indeterminate,&rdquo; said Co-Artistic Director, Joseph Grima, an architect, writer and editor based in Genoa, Italy. &ldquo;We left the title as open-ended as we could, in the hopes that future editions will be less referential to the past and more open-minded to the present.&rdquo;

<img alt="" data-rich-file-id="778" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/778/original/jeannegang-reverseeffect-creditstevehall.jpg" />&nbsp;<img alt="" data-caption="Top: Studio Gang’s Reverse Effect, photo credit Steve Hall; Bottom: Jeanne Gang, photo credit Kevin Miyazaki and Redux" data-rich-file-id="779" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/779/original/jeannegang-creditkevinmiyazakiandredux.jpg" />

Of course the title also opens the door to questions about the often blurred line between the disciplines of architecture and art, and that conversation will be on view at both the MCA and the Art Institute with exhibitions running concurrently with the Biennial.

Open through January 31, the MCA&rsquo;s Chicago Works: Ania Jaworska is the first in this series to present the work of an architect. Jaworska, who is a lecturer at both the School of the Art Institute and UIC, explores, often with humor and irony, the relationship between the built environment and society. The exhibition will feature two projects in process. The architectural elements &ndash; arches, gates, and signs &ndash; act, at once, as pieces of art as well as suggestions for what could be complete built structures. The viewer is left to accept the pieces as they are, as well as fill in the missing gaps.

Also on view during the Biennial is the first comprehensive museum survey of the work of British architect David Adjaye. The Art Institute&rsquo;s Making Place: The Architecture of David Adjaye runs September 19 through January 3, 2016, and focuses on Adjaye&rsquo;s unique approach to design. Adjaye, who was born in Tanzania and lived in Africa in his early childhood, is less concerned with establishing a signature style than focusing on the needs of each individual project. Adjaye designs emphasize a strong response to the history, local needs and concerns of an environment. His public projects can be found across the globe including in the UK, Ghana, Qatar, Russia and the US. With community always at the core of his work&mdash;Adjaye is interested in creating links between people and exploring the evolution of a place&mdash;it is fitting that Adjaye is a member of the Biennial&rsquo;s inaugural Advisory Committee as well as serving on the jury of the Lakefront Kiosk Competition.

One of the Biennial&rsquo;s most visible components, the Lakefront Kiosk Competition invited artists and architects from around the world to submit proposals for a new structure that would sit along Lake Michigan&rsquo;s shore. The jury reviewed over 400 submissions from more than 40 countries, and selected a design by Rhode Island-based Ultramoderne. Its design, Chicago Horizon, will be placed along the lakeshore in Spring 2016. Until then, it will be on display in Millennium Park with three other kiosks that will also ultimately be placed along Lake Michigan. These three designs are the collaborations between Chicago architecture schools and international architects.

In addition, the Biennial has partnered with more than 90 organizations in the city and region to offer public programming that will run for the entire three-month period.&nbsp;

&ldquo;The public nature of the event was one of our highest priorities,&rdquo; said Herda. &ldquo;Architecture is not only for architects. Everyone experiences architecture&mdash;whether good or bad&mdash;everyday.&nbsp; The public rarely has access to an architect&rsquo;s work until after a building is finished. The Biennial will offer a rare opportunity for the public to engage the ideas that shape the designed environment - the spaces they themselves live and work in.&rdquo;

The local partnerships, which include Theaster Gates&rsquo; Rebuild Foundation, also bring attention to the city itself. While the Biennial addresses global issues, it is keen to recognize the importance of its home. When architects, designers, artists, writers and a host of others arrive in Chicago between October and January, they will encounter not only the state of architecture, but the art of Chicago itself on display. 
 
All exhibitions and programs of the CAB are free and open to the public.

October 3-January 3, 2016

<a href="http://www.chicagoarchitecturebiennial.org">www.chicagoarchitecturebiennial.org</a>

The Inaugural Chicago Architecture Biennial opens in Chicago in 2015

The Inaugural Chicago Architecture Biennial 

BY LAURA M. METTAMI met Cheryl years ago when I volunteered to assist in The School of the Art Institute’s (SAIC) Continuing Studies program and was placed in a fashion class she was teaching. Since then, I’ve kept up with Cheryl’s ambitious projects and exhibitions. Her energy is contagious, her passion is palpable, and she has a unique way of connecting to youth and the community. The artist’s recent work has questioned issues of power, inequality, race, gender, and segregation. Cheryl Pope has been busy. And she likes it that way.&nbsp;Pope lives and works in Chicago, and is represented by Monique Meloche Gallery (Chicago), and Galleria Bianconi (Milan, Italy). She earned her Masters from SAIC in Design: Fashion, Body, and Garment in 2010 and currently teaches in SAIC’s Fashion and Contemporary Practice Departments.Top image: Cheryl Pope, Strength to Love (for Chicago), 2013, rhinestones and adhesive on glass in velvet, wood and glass case. Photo credit: James Prinz Photography. Courtesy of the artist and Monique Meloche Gallery.&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cherylpope.net">www.cherylpope.net</a><figure class="image"><img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/757/original/c-pope-2.jpg" alt=""></figure>LM: When did you become interested in&nbsp;art?&nbsp;CP: I lived across the street from a forest preserve and was always finding and making things, but it wasn’t until my senior year in high school, in my first art class with Mr. Englehart, that art became my path. He was the first to respect my intention to make.&nbsp;He believed in me and respected me, and this was transforming when I needed it most. I will always be grateful to him.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/769/original/cheryl-pope-one-of-many-one-2-lr.jpg" alt=""></figure>You’ve had quite a busy year, with multiple exhibitions in Chicago (Just Yell: From Within at The Poetry Foundation; Just Yell: Leveling the Playing Field - DCASE Artist in Residence at the Chicago Cultural Center), as well as several others in Miami, Boulder, Germany, Italy, and Dubai.&nbsp;Any highlights from your spring and summer shows that stood out to you?In each exhibition and event, I have been repeatedly reminded of the value of quality over quantity. I think so often we evaluate based on numbers or scale. For me I can put all my time and all my heart into a project and reach only one person, but I can really impact them - and this is all that&nbsp;matters to me. This gives me all the courage, energy and purpose to continue.<figure class="image"><img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/770/original/cheryl-pope-poetry-foundation2.jpg" alt=""></figure>Do you enjoy having a full plate?&nbsp;Yes! Life only happens once. I live each day with this attitude. I have so much respect for my dreams and I want to do all I can to make both mine and others’ come true.&nbsp;What’s next this fall and into 2016?I’m curating a one-night fashion event on September 18, 5-10pm, for the Art Loop Alliance (closing Wabash between Monroe and Madison); exhibiting in ARTBO in Bogota, Colombia; performing and installing a public work in Osnabrück, Germany; and participating in the Elmhurst Art Museum’s Biennial in December.&nbsp;Your recent Just Yell exhibitions have shined a light on the issue of gun violence and its impact on society - city youth in particular. Under the guise of cheerleading, you’ve made discussions about this urban issue accessible while humanizing those involved. I applaud your continued involvement with this topic. Can you&nbsp;elaborate on your connection with the subject and what led you to pursue this series?Engaging with youth in communities throughout Chicago, it became more and more evident to me the many ways in which youth are affected by gun violence and I felt called to respond to it. I decided to use Cheerleading, formerly called Yelling, as a framework to contain their voices and reactions to these issues.&nbsp;Cheerleading suggests sides, it suggests winners and&nbsp;losers, but more importantly it suggests a team, a community and a shared goal and belief.&nbsp;The idea of yelling is complicated: you can yell for help, for fear, for hope, but you are yelling to be heard. And these voices need to be&nbsp;seen and heard.<figure class="image"><img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/767/original/cheryl-pope-23-yell-yell.jpg" alt=""></figure>How has your perception of gun violence, and perhaps physical violence, changed from when you first started working in this series?I have become more aware and educated on the many systems, layers, and politics involved that complicate, enable, and resist positive change. I think it’s easy to point a finger, or to say, “get rid of guns” to try to solve a problem, but these issues are deeply rooted in systems of power and privilege.&nbsp;Instead we need to accept and confront the fact that segregation, unequal education and racism are the most harmful acts of violence, and it is here that the change needs to happen. &nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/768/original/cheryl-pope-too-young-to-die-2-lr.jpg" alt=""></figure>You have worked with youth and young artists and poets on a number of different projects over the years. What do you consider a highlight of working with younger collaborators?This spring I was invited to be on a panel at Young Chicago Authors. After the discussion a young woman came up to ask me a question. We looked at each other and both got wide eyed the same moment. It was Del Marie Nelson, my mentee from 10 years ago at the James Jordan Boys &amp; Girls Club. We lost track of one another and have once again connected. Since that moment she has been at the Cultural Center every day and involved in all the summer Just Yell / Poetry as Self Defense projects.This was such a significant moment, as it revealed the true sense of community, of time passing and being there for different phases of a life in the community. As the saying goes, “it takes a village to raise a child,” and we are all responsible for our part. It is a blessing to have the opportunity to spend time with so many young, extremely talented artists.<figure class="image"><img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/771/original/cheryl-pope-remember-to-remember.jpg" alt=""></figure>You studied fashion at SAIC, among many other pursuits, and worked as a studio manager for Nick Cave. Are you in the midst of any fashion projects?&nbsp;I’m currently working on a collection of kimonos as well as a fragrance line; both relate conceptually to my studio practice. I am also designing and constructing the garments I wear in my performances, which are largely in conversation with fashion as a language and the history of fashion.&nbsp;What do you enjoy doing in your down time, outside of art-related activities?&nbsp;I spend my time in the gym training in boxing and Muay Thai. I love to be physical, sparring, learning new drills, and improving form. There's always more to learn;&nbsp;always new challenges.<figure class="image"><img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/772/original/cheryl-pope-this-or-that.jpg" alt=""></figure>&nbsp;Forgetting time and budget limitations, what is a dream project of yours?My dream is to have an art school. It will have a foundation that starts with a focus on the physical body in terms of health and self-care, and will include holistic spiritual therapy while maintaining a rigorous academic and studio practice that generates top contemporary work. We will have a team that travels to scout and recruit youth so that its accessibility is not dependent on privilege, but rather, on heart, intention, and talent.&nbsp;One-liner Chicago favorites…Art space: Promontory Point Park, Monique Meloche Gallery, The Poetry Foundation, Intuit, Randolph Street Flea MarketRestaurant/bar: Avec, Chicken Shop at Soho House, Owen + Alchemy, Grace (which I haven’t been to yet but one day will)Recommendations for tourists: Architecture Foundation River Tour, University of Chicago Campus, Open Mic at Young Chicago Authors on Tuesday nights.&nbsp;Can you&nbsp;name a few artists who have inspired you?Nick Cave (visual art); Andrei Tarkovsky (film); Steve Reich (music); Pina Bausch (dance); Jack Kerouac (poet).&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cherylpope.net">www.cherylpope.net</a>

Cheryl Pope's artwork has questioned issues of power, inequality, race, gender, and segregation. She lives and works in Chicago and is represented by Monique Meloche Gallery (Chicago), and Galleria Bianconi (Milan, Italy). She earned her Masters from SAIC in Design: Fashion, Body, and Garment in 2010 and currently teaches in SAIC’s Fashion and Contemporary Practice Departments.

Cheryl Pope is Making Change Happen

Zo&euml; Ryan is the John H. Bryan Curator of Architecture and Design and Chair of the Department of Architecture and Design at the Art Institute of Chicago. In 2014 she curated the second Istanbul Design Biennial. She also teaches art history at SAIC and University of Illinois Chicago. She has written several books, including Bertrand Goldberg: Architecture of Invention, published in 2011.&nbsp;

<img alt="" data-caption="Zoë Ryan at the Art Institute of Chicago" data-rich-file-id="752" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/752/original/zoe-cc-88-ryan-photo-by-kyle-lamere-march2014.jpg" />

CGN: You came to the Art Institute of Chicago in 2006 and regularly travel extensively for your job. Please decribe your fall schedule.

&nbsp;

ZR: What I love most about my job is that no two months are the same. The fall is always particularly busy, with new exhibition openings, and this fall is exciting as we open our major mid-career survey of work by architect David Adjaye. We installed the exhibition here at the museum for most of August, and then I was off to Istanbul for a quick trip, since I am on the advisory board of the Istanbul Design Biennial, which I curated in 2014; I try to attend board meetings, as the biennial is an institution that I am particularly fond of. I have also been invited to give a lecture in Warsaw in September, which I am looking forward to, as I have never been. Travel is always a pleasure, but I like to keep a balance between my time in Chicago and my time away.

&nbsp;

What are highlights of the Adjaye exhibition opening in September, for design&nbsp;aficionados as well as the layperson?

&nbsp;

This is a really important moment in David&rsquo;s career. He now has more than 50 built projects and many more in development or under construction all over the world. Next year, the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture on the Washington Mall, designed by David opens to the public. This is a project of immense national and international significance and has become the lynchpin of our exhibition at the Art Institute. The exhibition provides a moment to reflect on David&rsquo;s career and understand the past 15-years worth of work within the context of his projects in development, such as larger scale public buildings and urban master plans across Europe, Africa, and the Middle East.&nbsp;

In addition to models, drawings, sketches, and photographs, the exhibition includes a specially commissioned series of short films featuring David&rsquo;s buildings and commentary from an international coterie of art world luminaries such as Thelma Golden, Lorna Simpson, Chris Ofili, and Taiye Selasi. These help bring David&rsquo;s projects alive. In addition, visitors will be able to experience many of his projects at a one-to-one scale through full-scale mock-ups of fa&ccedil;ades of his buildings, including the National Museum of African American History and Culture in DC and Sugar Hill in Harlem. We are also installing a wooden pavilion in the galleries that visitors can walk through, giving them a first-hand experience of one of David&rsquo;s projects and enabling them to experience for themselves David&rsquo;s interest in material, spatial and compositional explorations.

<img alt="" data-caption="Francis A. Gregory Neighborhood Library, Washington DC, 2012. ©Jeff Sauers, courtesy of Adjaye Associates." data-rich-file-id="753" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/753/original/adjaye.jpg" />

Adjaye is known for designing architectural projects that in part address social issues.&nbsp; This is also a theme of the upcoming inaugural Chicago Architectural Biennial.&nbsp; What do you think design can offer society?&nbsp;

&nbsp;

The fields of architecture and design are inextricably linked to every aspect of our daily lives. From our buildings, streets, education, food, and health care to our communications, political, and economic systems, the types of work that architects and designers are tackling has grown exponentially. Architects and designers play an important role in identifying points of urgency and posing questions, as well as formulating and materializing solutions. They have an incredible capacity to take urgent challenges and create outcomes that raise the quality of life and help make the world a more sustainable place, all while delighting and amazing us.

&nbsp;

How do you see Chicago as a base for all that you do?&nbsp; What does Chicago have to offer the rest of the design world?&nbsp;

&nbsp;

Wandering the streets of Chicago is a lesson in modern and contemporary architecture. This is an inspiring city to live and work in, and the city is a frame for my work. Chicagoans are very proud of the rich cultural and artistic traditions that have been born and cultivated here and the many talented individuals who have made their mark here, from architects such as Louis Sullivan to Frank Lloyd Wright and Mies van der Rohe, to contemporary practitioners such as Jeanne Gang and John Ronan. It&rsquo;s incredible to live in a city where everyone has a point of view about the built environment.

&nbsp;

In design, there continues to be a rich tradition of graphic, furniture, and product designers based here following in the footsteps of modern designers, such as Charles Harrison and John Massey, Marcia Lausen at SudioLab, James Goggin, Helen Maria Nugent and Ronald Kirkpatrick of Haelo Design, Scott Wilson of MNML, and emerging practitioners such as Parsons &amp; Charlesworth and Plural. It&rsquo;s a rich, creative environment in which to live and work.

&nbsp;

Many people think of design, and objects first come to mind. How can we see design as conceptual rather than physical?

&nbsp;

The wonderful thing about working in the fields of architecture and design is that we all can have an opinion about these fields of practice, based on our own experiences of living and working in buildings and cities and using design daily, whether it is our smart phones, tea kettles, or the street signs that help us get to where we are going.&nbsp;

Designers are master communicators - able to frame and explore intellectual, cultural, and social questions through their work. A burgeoning area of study is speculative design, in which the processes of design ask questions about everyday life as a means to find solutions to challenges as varied as the impact of new technologies on our health and wellbeing or our increasingly aging populations.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

You&rsquo;ve been building AIC&rsquo;s first contemporary design collection - what are one or two of your favorite acquisitions to date?&nbsp;

&nbsp;

We are currently preparing for a new installation of work from our 20th and 21st century architecture and design collections. This will be the first time that the museum has dedicated galleries for these periods, and in preparation, we have been acquiring new work. Recently we acquired a pre-fabricated kitchen and bathroom unit by French architect and designer Charlotte Perriand. They are fantastic, 1970s units, inspired by Pop Art in their vibrant colors and shapes. They help us expand on the history of pre-fabrication that has played such an important role in the history of America and elsewhere in the 20th century. Visitors to our new galleries will get to experience a design element meant for architectural interiors at a one-to-one scale and fully appreciate what they might have been like when they were originally installed in the ski chalet for which they were designed in France.

Zoë Ryan is the John H. Bryan Curator of Architecture and Design and Chair of the Department of Architecture and Design at the Art Institute of Chicago. In 2014 she curated the second Istanbul Design Biennial. She also teaches art history at SAIC and University of Illinois Chicago.

Q&A with Design Curator Zoë Ryan

BY MIA DIMEO

Guarded by two bronze lions in a massive neo-classical building on Michigan Avenue, the one million square foot Art Institute of Chicago is the second largest museum in the country. More than 1.4 million people visit the museum annually to see its iconic works, including Picasso&rsquo;s The Old Guitarist or Grant Wood&rsquo;s American Gothic. But most visitors don&rsquo;t realize that the museum, and its collection, was spawned from a humble academic operation begun by a group of artists in 1866. Working in rented studios from plaster casts from antiquity, 35 artists called themselves the Chicago Academy of Design and created the first incarnation of what is known today as the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC).

Financed by membership fees and donations, the artists hoped to create a school and gallery akin to London&rsquo;s Royal Academy. After some initial success, the school&rsquo;s new five-story building was lost in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, plummeting the young school into debt. During the next decade, the school struggled through several iterations, acquisitions and titles before a board of trustees was formed to support and expand the institution as a cultural asset to the city, naming it the Art Institute of Chicago in 1882. A well-known banker and philanthropist, Charles L. Hutchinson, was elected to be the first director the same year, leading up to the World&rsquo;s Columbian Exposition. The city helped with the cost of a new building, and, lions and all, the fa&ccedil;ade we know today was completed in 1893, in time to host the Exposition&rsquo;s scholarly congress.

<img alt="" data-caption="Architecture classes at SAIC, 1889" data-rich-file-id="759" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/759/original/1889-architecture.jpg" />

In the early 20th century the museum continued collecting, acquiring European many Impressionist and Post-Impressionist masterworks, while the school focused on applied and fine arts courses. Notable alumni of the era included Georgia O&rsquo;Keefe, Archibald Motley, lvan Albright, Claes Oldenburg and Regionalists Thomas Hart Benton and Grant Wood. The addition of liberal arts courses in 1936 enabled SAIC to begin awarding Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees, and by 1940, SAIC had given its first Master in Fine Arts degree. Abstract painting, first taught post-war, in 1944, revealed a schism between the great value the museum placed on creating a civic house of treasures, and the present moment of experimentation in art making at the school. This was echoed at various points in the institution&rsquo;s history, and even today both arms operate largely separately, with their own executives and boards.

The later half of the 20th century brought new styles and ideas about art education. A wave of freethinking comic book-influenced artists, later known as the Chicago Imagists, met at SAIC in the1960s. Ed Paschke,&nbsp;Jim Nutt, Roger Brown, Christina Ramberg, Gladys Nilsson, Karl Wirsum and others made work celebrated still today as distinctively Chicago. At this time the school also adopted an interdisciplinary learning approach, still a core of SAIC&rsquo;s teaching philosophy. The development of a Film Center (now the Gene Siskel Film Center) and the first-ever Department of Art and Technology Studies followed in the early 1970s. &nbsp;

<img alt="" data-caption="Gladys Nilsson. Big School Picture; Little Paper Mural, 1992. Samuel T. Avery Endowment. From the upcoming Homegrown: The School of the Art Institute in the Permanent Collection exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago." data-rich-file-id="764" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/764/original/nilsson-big-school-picture-copy.jpg" />

Fast forward. The Art Institute has a flashy new wing, designed in 2009 by Renzo Piano, to house the museum&rsquo;s contemporary and modern collection. SAIC&rsquo;s campus occupies important historic spacees around the Loop, beyond Michigan Avenue, including the Alice R. Sharp Building, designed by Holabird and Roche and several floors of the Sullivan Center (formerly known as the Carson Pirie Scott building), making it the biggest combined museum and school campus in the country. SAIC students focus on Art Therapy, Fashion Design, Historic Preservation, Performance, Sound, Visual and Critical Studies and New Arts Journalism, beyond traditional fields like drawing and painting, sculpture and art history. Forward thinking artists, writers and designers make up SAIC&rsquo;s recent alumni list: Rirkrit Tiravanija, Tania Bruguera, Paul Chan, &ldquo;Dread&rdquo; Scott Tyler, Amanda Ross-Ho, Cynthia Rowley, David Sedaris, and David Hartt.

2015 has been a memorable year for the school. In May, SAIC awarded an honorary doctorate to Douglas Druick, Rhona Hoffman, Albert Oehlen, Janet Byrne Neiman and Kanye West, causing a frenzy of media attention. September marks SAIC&rsquo;s 150th anniversary and begins a yearlong celebration of events and programming, starting&nbsp; with a talk by cartoonist, author and alumnus Chris Ware, as part of the schools&rsquo; Visiting Artists Program. Coinciding with EXPO Chicago, September 17-20, SAIC will present a week of alumni events, including a block party and two EXPO /Dialogues lectures at the fair, Hans Ulrich Obrist: In Conversation with the Hairy Who and Celebrating 150: SAIC Alumni Panel, a reflection on the development of&nbsp;artistic practices and experiences in Chicago&rsquo;s art scene.

Civilization and Its Discontents: SAIC Alumni Exhibition, Selections from 1985&ndash;2015, curated by artist and faculty members Scott and Tyson Reeder and on view at the Sullivan Galleries, will features alumni from the last 30 years who have (in some way) changed the conversation within their discipline, highlighting the distinctive SAIC spark shared between them. In the same space, Outside Design Exhibition&nbsp;explores the turn in art and design towards biotechnology and ecological systems. The ends with a talk by artist Jeff Koons, who was influenced by the Imagists while living in Chicago, assisting Ed Paschke, and briefly attending SAIC.&nbsp;

Late this&nbsp;fall the Art Institute will open Homegrown: The School of the Art Institute of Chicago in the Permanent Collection on October 17, emphasizing the tie between the school and the museum. Curated by Mark Pascale, Homegrown includes 20 self-portraits by Ivan Albright, pieces by the so-called Monster Roster artists and a selection of more contemporary alumni works, creating a visual timeline of talent nurtured by the school and its faculty, 150 years old and counting.&nbsp;

Find a full schedule of Anniversary events through 2016 at <a href="http://saic.edu">saic.edu</a>

Top image:&nbsp;A student from the Sculpture program

150 and Counting: SAIC Celebrates a Landmark

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418545/p7wr8wu7rx6wtebob8ol.jpg"></figure>By FRANCK MERCURIOIn 1913 the International Exhibition of Modern Art made its way to Chicago from New York. Popularly known as the Armory Show, the exhibition introduced Chicagoans to the likes of Picasso, Matisse, Brancusi, and Kandinsky—and in the process, scandalized the public and many in the city’s conservative art circles.Shortly thereafter, several arts organizations were formed, either in support of “the moderns” or in opposition to them. The Arts Club of Chicago, founded in 1916, had a decidedly modernist bent. The Renaissance Society, organized a year earlier in 1915 by a group of University of Chicago academics, was squarely in the other camp. The Society’s members aimed to “stimulate the love of the beautiful and to enrich the life of the community through the cultivation of the arts”—an idealized, 19th-century view of the function and societal role of art. During the first ten years, the organization reflected its scholarly origins by presenting a fairly sober roster of topics, such as “The Beginnings of Italian Sculpture” and “Chinese Paintings of the Tang, Sung, and Yuan Periods.”But the Modernist movement could not be avoided forever.&nbsp;Attitudes shifted in 1927 with the election of Agnes C. Gale, the Society’s first female president. She, along with succeeding president Eva Watson Schütze, brought modernism to the forefront of the Ren’s agenda. Writing in the Society’s 1929 bulletin, Schütze made her mission clear: “Part of the program of the Renaissance Society is to study the art of the present time, the new renaissance.”Since then, there’s been no turning back. Over the years, the Ren has made its reputation by exhibiting intellectually challenging works by vanguard artists. This included a commitment to international, national, and local artists working in a variety of genres, from conceptual art to improvisational music to spoken word. The Society’s curators often worked alongside these artists to commission new pieces, something that helped distinguish the Ren from other arts institutions.This fall, the Ren pays homage to its tradition of supporting cutting-edge art as it celebrates the Society’s 100th year with a program of special exhibitions and events titled Centennial. Included are shows featuring the work of Irena Haiduk, Wadada Leo Smith, and Paul McCarthy.&nbsp;“All of these exhibitions have a very special role in our Centennial program,” says Solveig Øvstebø, the executive director and chief curator of the Renaissance Society. “The last show, Paul McCarthy, I think is an incredible, exciting presentation of his works.”McCarthy is an LA-based multidisciplinary artist known mainly for his large-scale sculptures and installations. The Ren exhibition, titled Paul McCarthy: Drawings (opening November 8) will present two-dimensional works by the artist created for his White Snow project and subsequent installation, WS, exhibited at the Park Avenue Armory in 2013. The drawings reflect McCarthy’s intentions for his larger works and give insight into his creative process. The show is curated by Øvstebø along with guest curator Suzanne Ghez, the Ren’s former director.Kicking off the Centennial celebration will be Irena “Ika” Haiduk’s Seductive Exacting Realism (opening September 10), a collaboration with the Istanbul Biennial. “Ika will present a completely new piece,” says Øvstebø. “Her work is very directly linked to socio-political discussions of our times.” According to the Ren’s website, the Chicago-based artist’s work will explore contemporary global politics through a “discursive data stream carrying a song in the form of a debate between two melodic voices.”Indeed, the Ren has a long tradition of sponsoring and showcasing experimental music in addition to visual art. Ankrasmation: The Language Scores, 1967–2015 (opening October 11) features the work of musician, composer, educator, and artist Wadada Leo Smith. Curated by Hamza Walker (currently on sabbatical from the Ren) and John Corbett (of Corbett vs. Dempsey Gallery), the show complements the MCA’s The Freedom Principle: Experimentations in Art and Music, 1965 to Now.In addition to its slate of exhibitions and programs, the Ren is using the Centennial as an opportunity to increase the Society’s visibility, especially here in the city.“The thing with the Renaissance Society is that it has such a strong voice on the international landscape,” explains Øvstebø. “But I think more people should know this institution in Chicago.”To that end, the Ren is unveiling a new graphic identity, new website, and even new signage that will help visitors better locate its home on the University of Chicago campus.“People tell me that the Ren is a hidden gem,” says Director of Communications, Anna Searle Jones. “And I’m glad people think of us as a gem, but I don’t want us to be hidden. One of the aims of the Centennial is to make more people aware of what we do, that we’re free, and that we’re open to the public.”CENTENNIAL EXHIBITIONS:&nbsp; • Irena Haiduk: Seductive Exacting Realism -&nbsp;September 10-October 8, 2015 •&nbsp;Ian Wilson: Discussions -&nbsp;October 1 and 4, 2015 •&nbsp;Wadada Leo Smith: Ankhrasmation: The Language Scores, 1967–2015 -&nbsp;October 11 to 29, 2015 •&nbsp;John Knight, Museotypes at the Art Institute of Chicago -&nbsp;October 23 to November 29, 2015 •&nbsp;Paul McCarthy -&nbsp;November 8, 2015 to January 24, 2016 &nbsp;The public is invited to celebrate the Ren’s anniversary on Saturday, September 19, at the “100th Birthday Bash”.&nbsp;Visit <a href="http://www.renaissancesociety.org">www.renaissancesociety.org</a> for more details.&nbsp;Top image: Paul McCarthy, Dwarf House, 2009, Pencil and collage on paper, 80” x 97”.&nbsp;Part of Paul McCarthy, on view November 8, 2015 to January 24, 2016</body></html>

The Ren: 100 Years of Cultivating the Arts

The annual art season storm is here. This issue was a lot of fun to put together, as we combed many calendars to plan ahead for openings, new exhibitions, art fairs, galas and celebrations.&nbsp;

Chicago has a youthful spirit, but as a few institutions celebrate major milestones, we can see how deep the city&rsquo;s cultural foundation really go: this fall the Renaissance Society at the University of Chicago marks its Centennial, and the School of the Art Institute turns 150 years old - it&rsquo;s really something to see photos of architecture students at work at the school back in 1889. &nbsp;

While we are always mindful of history, looking towards the future is a theme in the art world this season, as the first Chicago Architecture Biennial launches October 3, running through January 3, 2016. Many of the world&rsquo;s top architectural minds will gather in our city to examine &lsquo;the state of the art of architecture.&rsquo; Amidst a building boom here at home, the discussions and exhibitions that will take place for the Biennial will consider architecture&rsquo;s role in not only beautifying our spaces but benefiting our citizens. Bringing this message to life, at the same time as the Biennial, is the first major retrospective of architect David Adjaye&rsquo;s work at the Art Institute, curated by Zo&euml; Ryan.&nbsp;

Franck Mercurio talked to several young art world leaders who are bringing our arts scene into the future; he spoke with the new director of the DePaul Art Museum, Julie Rodrigues Widholm, as well as the Renaissance Society&rsquo;s Solveig &Oslash;vsteb&oslash;, plus a few ambitious members of the Art Institute&rsquo;s Auxiliary Board.&nbsp;

History is always being made here, and this fall Chicago will welcome a large cast of international artists and galleries, as we host three art fairs within six weeks. EXPO returns to Navy Pier for its fourth iteration, September 17-20, and it welcomes its largest tally to date, when 140 galleries exhibit the best of what is happening now in contemporary art. The Harlem Fine Art Show, part of a group of four art shows around the country, comes to Chicago&rsquo;s Merchandise Mart for the second year, October 29-November 1, featuring work from the African Diaspora. The following weekend SOFA is back at Navy Pier for its 22nd year, as over 70 dealers feature sculpture, objects, functional art and design at the always-anticipated fair.&nbsp;

Chicago&rsquo;s unique brand of trail-blazing spirit is evident in these pages this issue. Kevin Nance interviewed veteran dealer Rhona Hoffman about her experience leading one of the most respected galleries in the country. Hoffman has paved the way for so many artists as well as other dealers. Nance also toured the collection of Helen Zell, who embraces collecting and the life-long pursuit of art with zest.&nbsp;

Cheryl Pope is an example of an artist who never stops looking within herself for ways to improve her art as well as the lives of others, particularly youths subjected to violence.&nbsp;

We have so many passionate figures contributing to our cultural community, and they are each building upon strong foundations to continue Chicago&rsquo;s reputation as the city that works, especially when it comes to art.

Fall 2015 Publisher’s Letter: Youth and History in the Art World

By&nbsp;FRANCK MERCURIO

Chicago&rsquo;s young cultural leaders are making their mark on the city&rsquo;s art scene. Meet some of the under-45 set&mdash;curators, museum directors, and philanthropists&mdash;who are taking Chicago&rsquo;s arts institutions to exciting new places.&nbsp;

The Freedom Principle: Experiments in Art and Music, 1965 to Now, open through November 22, marks a milestone in the career of Naomi Beckwith (age 38), the Marilyn and Larry Fields Curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art. A kind of culmination of Beckwith&rsquo;s curatorial experiences at the MCA, the show presents the visual arts alongside music, performance, and other interdisciplinary expressions. It also reflects Beckwith&rsquo;s commitment to often neglected historical subjects, in this case, the black cultural nationalism of the 1960s and its continued influence on artists today.

<img alt="" data-caption="MCA Curator Naomi Beckwith" data-rich-file-id="740" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/740/original/beckwith.jpg" />

&ldquo;Contemporary artists have reached back to language, forms, terms, and concerns related to democratic possibilities that surfaced prominently in the 1960s,&rdquo; writes Beckwith in her exhibition catalog essay. &ldquo;In various ways, they seem eager to explore the legacy of the integrationist civil rights and the separatist Black Power movement by asking how art mattered in that moment of urgent political struggles.&rdquo;

This type of thoughtful linking of past and present&mdash;and questioning of conventional histories&mdash;places Beckwith within the vanguard of her peers. Since joining the MCA in 2011, she has expressed her distinctive point of view in large-scale installations, such as The Freedom Principle, William J. O&rsquo;Brien, and Yinka Shonibare: MBD, as well as in small-scale shows, such as MCA DNA: Richard Hunt. Each exhibition reflects Beckwith&rsquo;s passion for topics and artists that are often under-represented in museums.&nbsp;

Beckwith&rsquo;s is an interest shared by other young Chicago curators, including Julie Rodrigues Widholm (age 40) who recently left the MCA to become director of the DePaul Art Museum.

<img alt="" data-caption="DePaul Art Museum director Julie Rodrigues Widholm " data-rich-file-id="742" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/742/original/julie-rodgriques-widhom.jpg" />&nbsp;<img alt="" data-caption="Matt Siber’s Trapezoid, 2015, wood, plexiglass, flourescent lights, courtesy of the artist" data-rich-file-id="741" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/741/original/siber-trapezoid.jpg" />

&ldquo;Part of my personal mission as a curator is to make sure there is a plurality of voices and experiences represented in museums,&rdquo; Widholm says. &ldquo;So, I absolutely look forward to bringing [to DePaul] voices from all over the world&mdash;including Chicago&mdash;but also from Africa, Latin America, and Asia.&rdquo;

At the MCA Widholm organized several major exhibitions around socially inclusive themes, including Tropic&aacute;lia: A Revolution in Brazilian Culture (2005), Escultura Social: A New Generation of Art from Mexico City (2007), Rashid Johnson: Message to Our Folks (2012), and Unbound: Contemporary Art after Frida Kahlo (2014). She also displayed a commitment to Chicago artists by organizing 30 12 x 12 shows featuring emerging local talent.

Widholm now leads a university museum housed in a new state-of-the-art facility with a growing reputation for innovative exhibitions. &ldquo;Over the last few years, the DePaul program has become more interesting, exciting and connected to contemporary artists in Chicago,&rdquo; says Widholm. &ldquo;I feel it&rsquo;s on a wonderful trajectory.&rdquo;

Widholm&rsquo;s first exhibition as DPAM director will be Matt Siber: Idol Structures (opening September 10) featuring recent sculptural works by the Chicago-based artist. Concurrently, she will wrap up her final MCA exhibition, Kathryn Andrews: Run for President (opening November 21).

<img alt="" data-caption="Renaissance Society Director, Solveig Øvstebø. Photo: Kevin Nance" data-rich-file-id="743" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/743/original/solveig.jpg" />

Widholm joins the museum leaders&rsquo; club with another young director, Solveig &Oslash;vsteb&oslash; of the Renaissance Society. &Oslash;vsteb&oslash; (age 42) succeeded long-time director, Suzanne Ghez, in 2013. She also serves as the institution&rsquo;s chief curator and has organized important solo shows by Varda Caivano, Mathias Poledna, and Nora Schultz in just the past two years.

Keenly aware of the Ren&rsquo;s tradition of presenting new works by avant-garde artists, &Oslash;vsteb&oslash; understands the importance of keeping a finger on the pulse of the art world.

&ldquo;The institutional landscape of the contemporary art field has exploded,&rdquo; says &Oslash;vsteb&oslash;. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s completely different from where it was in the 80s or even the 90s. It&rsquo;s important to figure out where we can be the most relevant.&rdquo;

&Oslash;vsteb&oslash; directs an exhibition program centered on commissioning new work from artists. &ldquo;It is incredibly important for me to decide how this institution can best support artists,&rdquo; she says &ldquo;and to be in close dialogue.&rdquo;

With this in mind, &Oslash;vsteb&oslash; is looking forward to unveiling a brand new work by Chicago-based artist, Irena Haiduk. Titled Seductive Exacting Realism, the exhibition kicks-off the Ren&rsquo;s Centennial celebration on September 10. (See CGN&nbsp;for the story.)

*

It takes money to commission new works, organize exhibitions, and support curators; this is where Chicago&rsquo;s philanthropic leaders step in. The city&rsquo;s cultural institutions are generously endowed by the community, which includes members of local families who have a long tradition of serving on the boards of Chicago&rsquo;s museums.

The Art Institute of Chicago&rsquo;s Auxiliary Board is one such group. The Board, now 43 years old, is the oldest and most recognized charitable board of its kind in the nation, yet many of its members are younger. Under the leadership of Dustin O&rsquo;Regan, Board president, the organization has brought in new members&mdash;some in their 20s and 30s&mdash;and is cultivating a group of young philanthropic leaders.

&ldquo;The Auxiliary Board is one of my favorite organizations I&rsquo;m involved with,&rdquo; says board member Michael J. Patterson (age 24). &ldquo;I think it includes great people who are intelligent and passionate about the mission of the museum.&rdquo;

&ldquo;It&rsquo;s such a great board, because it really, truly works to benefit the museum,&rdquo; adds Daisy M. Wood (age 27). &ldquo;You can see first hand the effects that our fundraising efforts have had.

The Auxiliary Board supports a range of community outreach projects in an effort to expose &ldquo;new, young, diverse audiences&rdquo; to the museum, including the annual Holiday Treasure Hunt and Tea Party, which Patterson chairs. Since 2004, the Board has raised more than $1.5 million through events such as Uncorked: A Case for Wine.

JR Glenn (age 32) serves on the Board&rsquo;s Development Committee and is the chair of Uncorked. For him, joining the Board is not only a way to give back to the community, but also an educational experience, one that opens up the world of art and art history.

&ldquo;The more I learn, the more I appreciate it,&rdquo; says Glenn. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve always loved the museum, but I want to learn more; and help others learn more.&rdquo;

This sentiment seems to be a major motivating factor shared by Chicago&rsquo;s young cultural leaders&mdash;a desire to work for the benefit of the community, to bring new ideas to light, and to engage the public with the power of art.

&nbsp;

Pictured at top of page: The 2014 Uncorked: A Case for Wine, sponsored by the Auxiliary Board of the Art Institute of Chicago. Photo credit: Robert Kusel Photography

Chicago’s young cultural leaders in Chicago institutions and museum boards are making their mark on the city’s art scene.

The Art World’s Next Generation of Leaders

KM Fine Arts is opening a fun summer show this Friday, July 31. Artist&nbsp;Carole A. Feuerman (b.1945) is a veteran of over four decades of creative work in many sculptural mediums, including resin, marble, and bronze, creates a range of monumental, life-sized, and smaller-scale sculptures that embrace her signature hyperrealist technique. Her best-known works are executed in painted resin and are finished with a meticulous detail. Viewers marvel at the realism, the beauty of her subjects and the calm they exude.&nbsp;Feuerman sculpts in a classical tradition, but her materials and subjects are distinctly contemporary - she makes you think everyone should don a Swarovski-encrusted swim cap.

<img alt="" data-rich-file-id="678" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/678/original/feuerman2.jpg" />

Feuerman has an international reputation, having been honored with&nbsp;six major museum retrospectives to date. Her work has been showcased in numerous exhibitions including the Venice Biennale, the State Hermitage, the Palazzo Strozzi Foundation, the Kunstmuseum Ahlen, the Archeological Museum di Fiesole, and the Circulo de Bellas Artes. Her artwork is in public, private and corporate collections across the world.&nbsp;

KM Fine Arts is located on Oak Street in the Gold Coast - look for one of Feuerman&#39;s cool bathing ladies in the gallery window this Friday evening and stop in for a refreshing opening.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

KM Fine Arts

<a href="http://www.chicagogallerynews.com/calendar/carole-feuerman-new-works">Carole Feuerman: New Works</a> - July 31 - September 16

Carole Feuerman: New Works at KM Fine Arts

<a href="http://www.360chicago.com/">360 CHICAGO</a>, formerly the John Hancock Observatory, recently renovated the Hancock&#39;s 94th floor observation deck. You can expect the same stunning 360 degree views overlooking&nbsp;Chicago, but visitors can also look forward to&nbsp;new and improved seating areas (125 people can enjoy sunset views on stadium-style seating), a modernized caf&eacute; and bar (for cocktails, artisanal snacks, or perhaps some gelato), and a new interactive concourse-level display that highlights the history and culture of nine Chicago neighborhoods.&nbsp;

&ldquo;360 CHICAGO and our parent company, Montparnasse 56, specialize in the operation of world-class cultural and tourist attractions. We strive to completely redefine the guest experience, from our observation deck to all the unique and compelling spaces and experiences throughout,&rdquo; said Nichole Williamson, general manager, 360 CHICAGO. &ldquo;The spectacular results of our most recent enhancements are part of a long-term investment we&rsquo;ve made in our space and in our city, and we couldn&rsquo;t be more pleased.&rdquo;

Bronzeville, Bucktown, Hyde Park, Lakeview, Logan Square, Old Town, Pilsen, Wicker Park and Wrigleyville are in the spotlight in the new concourse exhibition, depicted in part through the juried photography of nine local artists. Out of more than 1,200 entries, nine artists were selected as part of 360 CHICAGO&#39;s Neighborhood Focus Photo Contest, held in partnership with Chitecture and Choose Chicago, which launched in March of 2015.&nbsp;Browse the selected&nbsp;photos&nbsp;below.&nbsp;

Learn more about&nbsp;360 CHICAGO, its thrilling&nbsp;<a href="http://www.360chicago.com/tilt/">TILT</a>&nbsp;viewing experience, private event opportunities,&nbsp;and plan a trip soon to explore, at a glance, Chicago and its iconic neighborhoods&nbsp;from the ground up;&nbsp;way&nbsp;up.

&nbsp;<img alt="" data-caption="Bronzeville Photo WInner: Khabrim Diallo (31) of Buena Park/Uptown" data-rich-file-id="666" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/666/original/bronzeville.jpg" />

<img alt="" data-caption="Bucktown Photo Winner: Sal Ursino (25) of Park Ridge" data-rich-file-id="667" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/667/original/bucktown.jpg" />

<img alt="" data-caption="Hyde Park Photo Winner: Nick Ulivieri (30) of University Village" data-rich-file-id="668" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/668/original/hyde-park.jpg" />

<img alt="" data-caption="Lakeview Photo Winner: Cody Giguere (21) of Lakeview" data-rich-file-id="669" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/669/original/lakeview.jpg" />

<img alt="" data-caption="Logan Square Photo Winner: Danny Cantu (32) of Humboldt Park" data-rich-file-id="670" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/670/original/logan-square.jpg" />

<img alt="" data-caption="Old Town Photo Winner: Alina Tsvor (24) of Bucktown" data-rich-file-id="671" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/671/original/old-20town.jpg" />

<img alt="" data-caption="Pilsen Photo Winner: Chris Diers (44) of Pilsen" data-rich-file-id="672" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/672/original/pilsen.jpg" />

<img alt="" data-caption="Wicker Park Photo Winner: Edson Soares (26) of Andersonville/Edgewater" data-rich-file-id="673" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/673/original/wicker-park.jpg" />

<img alt="" data-caption="Wrigleyville Photo Winner: Ulysses Salcido (26) of Hermosa" data-rich-file-id="674" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/674/original/wrigleyville.jpg" />

BY LAURA MILLER METTAM

360 CHICAGO recently renovated the Hancock's 94th floor observation deck with new and improved seating areas, a modernized café and bar, and a new concourse-level display that highlights the history and culture of nine Chicago neighborhoods. Bronzeville, Bucktown, Hyde Park, Lakeview, Logan Square, Old Town, Pilsen, Wicker Park and Wrigleyville are highlighted through the juried photography of nine local artists. 

Here's Looking at You, Chicago 

BY FRANCK MERCURIO

&bull; Susan Giles: Points in Space&nbsp;at The Mission (through June 27) 
&bull; Susan Giles: Scenic Overlook&nbsp;at the Hyde Park Art Center (through July 26)

We tend to think of monumental architecture as solid, stable, and static&mdash;massive structures built to withstand weather and war and embody power and permanence. But in&nbsp;Scenic Overlook&nbsp;at the Hyde Park Art Center, artist Susan Giles takes that notion and turns it on its head&mdash;or more correctly, on its side.

<img alt="" data-caption="Susan Giles, Minarets 2015, concrete and paper, Courtesy The Mission" data-rich-file-id="652" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/652/original/themission001020.jpg" />

Entering HPAC&rsquo;s two-story gallery space, visitors are confronted by four large-scale sculptures. At first glance, they appear to be giant wooden telescopes mounted to steel tripods, all four pointed towards the same, distant star. In actuality&nbsp;they represent observation towers&mdash;Tokyo Skytree, Canton Tower (Guangzhou), CN Tower (Toronto), and Ostankino Tower (Moscow)&mdash;super tall structures that serve as architectural icons in their respective cities.

In a subversive move, Giles tilts each tower on its tripod; these vertical structures become horizontal; stable forms becomes mobile. Do these sculptures still represent buildings? Or have they been transformed into Saturn V rockets, or ballistic missiles?

The artist&rsquo;s intention seems to change depending on the viewer&rsquo;s vantage point. From the gallery&rsquo;s main level, the sculptures appear to be on a planned trajectory, aimed toward a specific point on the gallery&rsquo;s second-level balcony. Standing at this point (perhaps the &ldquo;scenic overlook&rdquo; referenced in the installation&rsquo;s title), visitors get a bird&rsquo;s-eye view of all four towers. But it&rsquo;s a somewhat menacing perspective akin to looking down the barrels of four guns, perhaps a reflection of our post-911 world where tall buildings take on new and somewhat threatening meanings.

<img alt="" data-caption="Susan Giles, Horizontal CN Tower, 2013, wood and wood veneer, 20 ft 9 in x 25 in x 25 in, Courtesy The Mission" data-rich-file-id="651" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/651/original/themission000656.jpg" />

In a smaller space, just off the balcony, three of Giles&rsquo; table sculptures are displayed. Here, the artist continues to manipulate architectural forms and explore ideas of permanence and instability, construction and destruction, by juxtaposing concrete with paper. Giles&rsquo; concrete forms are powerful in their minimalist simplicity and contrast with the detail and delicacy of the paper forms, each of which represents a different iconic structure, including the Arc de Triomphe and Tower Bridge.

More of the Giles&rsquo; small-scale sculptures are displayed at The Mission Projects in West Town. The&nbsp;well-curated companion show is&nbsp;titled&nbsp;Points in Space. Of these,&nbsp;Minarets&nbsp;(2015)&nbsp;showcases the artist&rsquo;s skill at balancing abstract concrete elements with more recognizable architectural forms. Giles places the decontextualized minarets onto two diagonally positioned bases, giving the piece a sense of movement and suggesting new interpretations of traditional Islamic structures.

All of Giles&rsquo; sculptures are meticulously constructed. The artist fabricates each with equal finesse, whether the material is wood veneer, cast concrete, or folder paper. But it&rsquo;s Giles manipulation of those materials and forms that give her works a conceptual richness, enabling viewers to extract different meanings from each piece.

Image pictured at top of page: Installation view from Hyde Park Art Center&nbsp;

<a href="http://www.themissionprojects.com">The Mission</a>,&nbsp;1431 W Chicago Ave, Chicago, IL 60642

<a href="http://www.hydeparkart.org">Hyde Park Art Center</a>,&nbsp;5020 S Cornell Ave, Chicago, IL 60615&nbsp;

Susan Giles art installations in Chicago at Hyde Park Art Center and The Mission Projects

Susan Giles: Exhibiting at The Mission and Hyde Park Art Center this Summer

Well-known member of Chicago&#39;s art community, Rodolfo &quot;Rudy&quot; Avi&ntilde;a, owner of <a href="http://creativoframing.com/">Creativo Framing</a> in River North, was tragically killed on May 30, 2015. A <a href="http://homicides.suntimes.com/2015/05/31/prosecutors-jealous-knifeman-slit-rudy-avinas-throat-in-pilsen-bar/">senseless crime</a> was committed in the&nbsp;Pilsen neighborhood that Rudy called home, and where he spent much time giving back to the community.&nbsp;

Rudy established relationships with many local artists, galleries, and museums through his professional framing business and his various artistic and collegial&nbsp;collaborations throughout the city.&nbsp;

Chicago Gallery News has worked with Rudy for much of his 20 years in the framing business, and we will remember him as a cheerful, kind neighbor. Our hearts go out to his friends and family. He will be missed by many.&nbsp;

A memorial service for Avina is scheduled for Saturday, June 6, at 7pm&nbsp;at Citlalin Gallery,&nbsp;2005 S. Blue Island Avenue, Chicago, IL.&nbsp;

Top image courtesy of the National Museum of Mexican Art&nbsp;and the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Remembering-Rudy/778926992214832?sk=timeline">Remembering Rudy Facebook Page</a>. Raquel Agui&ntilde;aga-Martinez of the&nbsp;NMMA writes &quot;On behalf of the Visual Arts / Permanent Collection departments at the Museo (NMMA) please accept our most sincere condolences. Even though Rudy was not a staff member, he was a valued part of our team for over 20 years. He was one of the few people in Pilsen who understood all the love and work it takes to put up an exhibition. He knew of the challenges and sometimes personal sacrifices that this kind of job requires. Rudy was one of the few non-staff members that we fully trusted when it came to caring for the Permanent Collection.&quot;

- - - - - -

<a href="http://www.gofundme.com/w3ugwy4">Rudy&#39;s Light Outshines the Darkness</a> - gofundme.com donations will help cover family and funeral expenses.&nbsp;

- - - - - -&nbsp;

<a href="http://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20150602/pilsen/remembering-rudy-avina-he-found-way-connect-with-you">Remembering Rudy Avina: &#39;He Found a Way to Connect with You&#39;</a>&nbsp;- DNAinfo

<a href="http://extranews.net/pillar-of-pilsen-community-killed-over-the-weekend.html">Pillar of Pilsen Community Killed Over the Weekend</a>&nbsp;- Extranews.net

In Remembrance of Rudy Aviña

Summer may just be getting started, but many eyes are already on the fall in the art world. On Wednesday evening at the Public Hotel in Chicago&#39;s Gold Coast, EXPO&#39;s President and Director, Tony Karman, announced this year&#39;s list of international galleries who will be coming to Chicago in September.

<img alt="" data-caption="&quot;Seep&quot; by Erik Peterson, installed at the entrance to EXPO 2014" data-rich-file-id="462" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/462/original/photo-1.jpg" />

This year&#39;s list is the biggest to date; when the show began in 2012 100 galleries participated. Just over&nbsp;140 galleries made the cut this round, selected by a committee comprised of heavy hitting peers like&nbsp;Marianne Boesky, John Corbett, Chris D&rsquo;Amelio of&nbsp;David Zwirner, Rhona Hoffman, and David Nolan. Galleries hail from&nbsp;15 countries and 40 cities from around the world. Countries represented at the 2015 exposition include: Austria, Belgium, China, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom and the United States.

In addition to the show taking place at Navy Pier, EXPO is part of Art Week, a varied collaboration with many of the area&#39;s art spaces and institutions playing&nbsp;host to art-focused tours, lectures, exhibitions and happenings&nbsp;throughout the city the week of September 14.&nbsp;

<a href="https://news.artnet.com/market/expo-chicago-2015-exhibitors-302235">Artnews.com</a> posted&nbsp;a recent write-up about this year&#39;s fair news, including remarks from dealers about 2014&#39;s strong sales as well as current booth cost figures.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

From Chicago, the list has several new additions from last year:&nbsp;

Aspect/Ratio

casati gallery

Corbett vs. Dempsey

Stephen Daiter Gallery

Douglas Dawson

Catherine Edelman Gallery

Richard Gray Gallery

Kavi Gupta

Carl Hammer Gallery

Rhona Hoffman Gallery

Alan Koppel Gallery

McCormick Gallery

moniquemeloche

THE MISSION

Richard Norton Gallery

ANDREW RAFACZ

Regards

Carrie Secrist Gallery

Volume Gallery

Western Exhibitions

Zolla/Lieberman Gallery

&nbsp;

Exhibiting from Chicago as part of EXPO Editions + Books:&nbsp;

Document

Imperfect Articles

No Coast

&nbsp;

On Wednesdat night among the crowd of collectors, dealers, fans and supporters, Karman was his usual enthusiastic self, mentioning more than once that a lot will be happening for the fair in the next three months. Stay tuned.&nbsp;

The International Exposition of Contemporary &amp; Modern Art takes place&nbsp;September 17&ndash;20, 2015 at Navy Pier&rsquo;s Festival Hall &nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="http://www.expositionchicago.com">expositionchicago.com</a>

EXPO Chicago Announces its 2015 Exhibitor List of 140 Galleries

River North gallery owner Judy Saslow announced this week that she will be closing her eponymous gallery and retiring in August after 20 years in business. &nbsp;Her familiar gallery has been located at the corner of Superior and Franklin for the past two decades, and Saslow has made her name promoting work by mainly outsider artists, most notably Chicago&#39;s own Mr Imagination. The gallery also exhibits work by contemporary artists.&nbsp;

<img alt="" data-rich-file-id="640" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/640/original/photo-300x300.jpg" />

Saslow is opening a work of Japanese art on Friday, June 5 in conjunction with the neighborhood&#39;s monthly First Friday openings. &nbsp;The opening will also be the 76 year-old&#39;s retirement party and a celebartion of the gallery&#39;s artists. &nbsp;Following the opening, works from the gallery&#39;s inventory will also be on sale.&nbsp;

Read more about Saslow, as well as a recent article by Crain&#39;s, <a href="http://jsaslowgallery.com/gallery-news/">here</a>. Gallery information may be found <a href="http://www.chicagogallerynews.com/galleries/judy-a-saslow-gallery">here</a>.&nbsp;

Judy A Saslow Gallery Closing in August - Retiring After 20 Years

BY FRANCK MERCURIO&nbsp;

One of the stand-out paintings on display at the Art Institute of Chicago is David Hockney&rsquo;s American Collectors (Fred and Marcia Weisman). Hockney pokes gentle fun at his subjects, while reinforcing popular notions about art collectors: older, affluent, and eccentric. Gazing at the painting, one can&rsquo;t help but wonder: Who were Fred and Marcia as a younger, greener couple? What inspired them to begin to collect contemporary art? A number of younger art collectors in Chicago are bucking the &ldquo;stodgy patron&rdquo; stereotype and assembling vibrant collections of contemporary works that reflect the interests and issues of their generation.

&nbsp;

<h4>Ian Gray + Peter Johnson</h4>

(pictured at top of page from&nbsp;left: Ian Gray and Peter Johnson at home. Artwork pictured in background: photograph by Matt Austin; painting by Elijah Burgher.)

What better place for art collectors to live than in the heart of a gallery district? Ian Gray (25) and Peter Johnson (24) reside in an industrial-style West Loop loft near some of the city&rsquo;s best-known galleries. Peter directs public relations at the Center on Halsted, while Ian helps run his family&rsquo;s 50-year old art business, Richard Gray Gallery (the founder is his grandfather). The couple met in college and started collecting seriously after moving in together in Chicago.

&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve only ever collected together&mdash;we didn&rsquo;t do any separate collecting before we started dating,&rdquo; says Peter.&nbsp;

&ldquo;There are a handful of staples that came from my parents, but most of the collection, the bulk of it, we found here in Chicago,&rdquo; explains Ian. &ldquo;It helps to have parents who collect; it helps to have grown up in a house that everyone else thought was a museum but for me was very much a home.&rdquo;

This background of living with art influences the installation of the couple&rsquo;s pieces. Despite the presence of dozens of works, their loft feels more like a home than a museum. Referencing an area containing large-scale pieces that can be rotated in and out, Ian states &ldquo;We wanted this spot in the house to be a space where we could show works, but I&rsquo;m edging away from the word &lsquo;gallery.&rsquo;&rdquo;

Adds Peter, &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a place in our home where we can live among art.&rdquo;

Peter and Ian collect works from a variety of local artists, including Elijah Burgher, John Neff, Doug Ischar,&nbsp;Matt Austin, and&nbsp;Deana Lawson (Brooklyn-based but represented locally). Many of these artists reflect the couple&rsquo;s mutual interest in gender and identity politics, but other works reflect Peter&rsquo;s interest in &ldquo;art versus artifact&rdquo; and Ian&rsquo;s &ldquo;deep interest in the intersection of computers and logic.&rdquo;

&ldquo;I think we actually have very different tastes, but we&rsquo;ve been able to find these really interesting cross-sections,&rdquo; says Peter.

Most of the couple&rsquo;s pieces were purchased from local galleries, including Andrew Rafacz, Carrie Secrist, Rhona Hoffman, Fernway, and Western Exhibitions.

&ldquo;We don&rsquo;t work with just one gallery,&rdquo; says Peter. &ldquo;I think we try to get around and see a lot, and if it&rsquo;s something we like, then we usually get it.&rdquo;

&ldquo;There are a couple of artists whom we&rsquo;re quite fond of,&rdquo; says Ian. &ldquo;But Robert Burnier is probably the one I have the biggest obsession with.&rdquo; Indeed, the couple owns three works by the Chicago-based artist who models his sculptural works digitally before creating physical, three-dimensional pieces.

&ldquo;We both get a lot of pleasure from interacting with artists,&rdquo; says Peter. &ldquo;If an artist is accessible to us, and we&rsquo;re getting work from them, we have them come over, help hang the work and talk with them about it.&rdquo;

&nbsp;

*

&nbsp;

<h4>Ashley Galloway + Oren Lund</h4>

If you&rsquo;re a new collector, it helps to have a girlfriend who knows all about art. Ashley Galloway (33) serves as a kind of advisor, confidant, and &ldquo;collecting partner&rdquo; to Oren Lund (35) whose contemporary art collection fills his modern Bucktown townhouse. Ashley&rsquo;s resume is impressive&mdash;she studied photography as an undergraduate, attended Sotheby&rsquo;s Institute of Art in London, and later worked at the Tate. Oren began his professional life as a chef and now works as an attorney.

<img alt="" data-caption="Oren and Ashley in Oren’s home seated in front of Hyounsang Yoo’s photograph, &quot;C, LC, VM, VLM, Y, LK, LLK, PK and MK,&quot; (2014)" data-rich-file-id="558" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/558/original/orencollector.jpg" />

Both actively support the arts in Chicago, with Oren serving on the executive committee of the Steppenwolf Auxiliary Council and Ashley on the Museum Council of the Museum of Contemporary Photography. Together they&rsquo;ve become involved in several other arts organizations.

&ldquo;I started getting into the visual arts to impress Ashley,&rdquo; says Oren, half-jokingly. &ldquo;Since then I joined Filter and the Chicago Artists Coalition [Chartwell Collectors Circle] and am starting to get more involved with Threewalls. Most of the cool things that I&rsquo;ve collected have been in the past year since knowing her.&rdquo;

&ldquo;The community in Chicago is fantastic,&rdquo; says Ashley. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s been fun for us, as we&rsquo;ve gotten to know each other, to explore [the community] together and learn about the different galleries and all the fairs. It&rsquo;s a part of our regular weekend activities.&rdquo;

The couple focuses mainly on Chicago artists. Oren started by buying smaller, more affordable pieces from online auctions, local art fairs, and directly from artists during studio visits.

The collection reflects a variety of works from an eclectic mix of artists. Included are Chicago Imagists-inspired works by the street artist Lefty, collages by Stephen Eichorn, a drawing by self-taught artist Lee Godie, and photographs by Alice Hargrave, Barbara Diener, and Hyounsang Yoo.

Given her background, Ashley is naturally drawn to photographic works. But for Oren, photography was more of a hard sell, at least initially. Instead, he is drawn to the immediacy of painting.

&ldquo;[Photography] tends not to be as visceral,&rdquo; says Oren. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s more of a separation between the art and the viewer&hellip;we&rsquo;re seeing things through a printer, through a lens, and through an artist.&rdquo;

Yet Ashley&rsquo;s and Oren&rsquo;s individual likes and preferences have influenced each other and what they collect. Case in point: Hyounsang Yoo&rsquo;s C, LC, VM, VLM, Y, LK, LLK, PK and MK (2014, pictured). It&rsquo;s a piece that Oren first discovered at the 2014 Filter Photo Festival and serves as an example of the couple&rsquo;s evolving perspectives as collectors. The clouds of colored pigment captured by Yoo give the work a strong graphic quality&ndash;almost painterly&ndash;that appeals to Oren, even though it&rsquo;s a photographic print.

For both, collecting has been a fun learning experience. Ashley&rsquo;s advice to new collectors: &ldquo;It always helps if you can talk to the artist and learn how they got there.&rdquo; Adds Oren &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve been visiting artists studios to get some of that context.&rdquo;

&nbsp;

30-Something: Young Chicago Collectors 

BY KEVIN NANCE

As young collectors, Ellen and Richard Sandor started out slowly. &ldquo;We were kids, and we both have a collector gene in us,&rdquo; Richard recalls in a recent interview at their Gold Coast apartment. &ldquo;We bought lithographs for $10 or $15.&rdquo; His wife shrugs. &ldquo;To be honest, it wasn&rsquo;t anything more than a young couple who wanted something on the wall,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;The obsession did not occur until 1978, when we bought this apartment.&rdquo;

Obsession? A strong word, that.

&ldquo;Just look around,&rdquo; Ellen Sandor says. And you see what she means.

<img alt="" data-caption="Art seems to continue infinitely on up the winding staircase. Photo by Kevin Nance. " data-rich-file-id="556" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/556/original/sandor-staircase-copy.jpg" />

The Sandors&rsquo; Astor Street home&mdash;a 6,700-square-foot gallery-like space that features marble pillars from the old Palmer Potter mansion&mdash;is bulging with art, including about 1,600 works in photography, sculpture and new media. Photographs take pride of place, hung closely together, salon-style, in vertical arrays that almost reach the first floor&rsquo;s 18-foot-high ceiling.&nbsp;

There are images that represent the different eras of photography, from its beginnings in the mid-19th century to the golden age of photojournalism (including classic prints by Walker Evans, Margaret Bourke-White, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Dorothea Lange and others) to 1970s celebrity portraiture (much of it by Richard Avedon) to postmodernism (Richard Prince, Cindy Sherman) to contemporary work by international artists such as Ai Weiwei.

At first glance, the display can feel dizzyingly chaotic, with sculpture and new-media work juxtaposed with the photographs. But there&rsquo;s method&mdash;and, yes, a certain obsessiveness&mdash;to the seeming madness. The photographs are grouped by subject: French; American history (including a print of the flag being put into place on Iwo Jima, signed by the survivors); Czech modern; African-American; fashion; science; architecture; and on and on.&nbsp;

<img alt="" data-caption="Richard and Ellen Sandor standing among their Potter Palmer columns" data-rich-file-id="555" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/555/original/sandorcolumns.jpg" />

And the juxtapositions, which initially may have seemed arbitrary, begin to make sense. A photograph of Picasso by his lover, Dora Maar, is accompanied by another image in which subject and photographer switch roles; you can see Picasso&rsquo;s shadow creeping in from the side. There&rsquo;s not one but two prints of Rodin with his famous sculpture &ldquo;The Thinker&rdquo;&mdash;a silver print and a gravure, the latter more valuable&mdash;plus, of course, a Rodin sculpture. There are multiple images of the Italian sculptor Giacometti, including one by Cartier-Bresson in which the artist looks much like one of his famously elongated artworks. There are works by Toulouse-Lautrec as well as a rare photograph of the artist himself, diminutive and droll.&nbsp;

&ldquo;It all matches,&rdquo; Richard Sandor says with satisfaction. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s all related.&rdquo;&nbsp;

&ldquo;The beautiful thing is that the photography is displayed with paintings and sculpture and new media,&rdquo; his wife adds. &ldquo;It took a while for Richard to get comfortable with it, but by the &rsquo;90s, we were juxtaposing everything. He loved clustering various things.&rdquo;

In the early years and even much later, the Sandors&rsquo; unusual way of displaying their collection struck some visitors as, well, odd. &ldquo;People looked at it and said, &lsquo;Jesus, you shouldn&rsquo;t be presenting it like this,&rsquo;&rdquo; Richard Sandor says. &ldquo;No one is going to do what we do,&rdquo; his wife adds with a shrug. &ldquo;Very few people, anyway. But the pairing of different media is what&rsquo;s happening now. Even the museums are starting to catch on.&rdquo;&nbsp;

*

This magnificent obsession, one of the most impressive and eclectic private collections in the world, is the result of the artistic passions of Ellen Sandor, an accomplished new-media artist in her own right, and the curatorial rigor of Richard Sandor, a leading economist at the University of Chicago.&nbsp;

&ldquo;When we started, I wanted Richard to share my passion for art,&rdquo; says Ellen Sandor, who received her degree in sculpture from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and has long been a pioneer in virtual photography and virtual-reality art. &ldquo;I knew that he had the historical research impulse inside him. I wanted him to be obsessed, and sure enough, it worked.&rdquo;&nbsp;

It worked in part because her husband, who knew a thing or two about undervalued investments, saw that photography was in the early stages of an upswing. It had struggled for years to gain acceptance in the art world&mdash;only a handfull of museums around the globe devoted space to the medium&mdash;but was beginning to appear in small auctions at Sotheby&rsquo;s and elsewhere.

&ldquo;Photography was not really considered fine art, and to us that seemed absurd,&rdquo; Richard Sandor says. &ldquo;But it was great value, so in 1980, I went to Sotheby&rsquo;s and publicly bought a bunch of things and paid top prices, like $2,000 to $5,000. I stood up and kept on paying, because I wanted to be a marked man. From that day on, every dealer said, &lsquo;There&rsquo;s a new collector, he&rsquo;s crazy, he&rsquo;s paying thousands for pieces as opposed to hundreds.&rsquo; So when every dealer would hit Chicago, I got first dibs. And during the 80s, we were probably the principal buyers of photographs at Sotheby&rsquo;s and Christie&rsquo;s.&rdquo;&nbsp;

In the end, his economist&rsquo;s insight served the Sandors well. &ldquo;Photography has grown about as fast as computers: 18 percent, compounded for 40 years,&rdquo; he says with a smile. &ldquo;We were fortunate.&rdquo;

It wasn&rsquo;t just the chance to invest in photography, or even his wife&rsquo;s urging him on, that appealed to Richard Sandor. It was the chance to amass a collection that, if not exactly encyclopedic, could encompass the entire history of the art form.

&ldquo;You can&rsquo;t see the span of art, but you can clearly see the span of photography, which began in the 1830s,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;You get a grip on it. We didn&rsquo;t set out to do it this way, but the collection defined itself. There&rsquo;s a timeline to follow that leads you from one thing to the next. And if you&rsquo;re obsessive-compulsive, as we are, that&rsquo;s what you do.&rdquo;

Catherine Edelman, owner of her eponymous photography gallery in River North, calls the Sandor collection one of the most historically complete, and most uniquely displayed, that she knows of.&nbsp;

&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve never seen another collector install in that fashion, but the Sandors have come to understand that when placed appropriately, the images start to tell a story about the history of photography,&rdquo; Edelman says. &ldquo;They&rsquo;ll buy the same image in many different incarnations, including a vintage and then a modern print, because they like to see how the photographer sees that image over time. Or they&rsquo;ll have a famous image and then a print of the next frame on the photographer&rsquo;s roll of film&mdash;something that informs the well-known image. It&rsquo;s very informative and interesting, and they&rsquo;re very invested in doing this extra level of research. As a result, their collection is like no other I&rsquo;ve ever seen.&rdquo;&nbsp;

Over time, as the Sandors themselves realized just how unique their collection is, they&rsquo;ve begun to allow it to be seen by others. For years, Richard Sandor resisted, preferring to share the collection only with friends and small groups associated with the Art Institute. But as always, his wife wore him down. &ldquo;She said, &lsquo;We&rsquo;ve got stuff from 1840 to new media. We can&rsquo;t keep it all to ourselves. We have to open it up.&rsquo; And she was right. It&rsquo;s been a satisfying experience for us to share.&rdquo; Now the collection is frequently on display to groups organized by major museums around the world, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art, as well as during EXPO Chicago, the city&rsquo;s annual international contemporary art fair.

&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a world-renowned collection with several very expensive pieces, so it shows the maturity of the Sandors when they open up their home,&rdquo; Edelman says. &ldquo;When you&rsquo;re doing something at the level they&rsquo;re doing it, you realize you&rsquo;re the temporary owners of something much larger than yourselves and that you&rsquo;re obligated to share it. They&rsquo;re great citizens in that sense.&rdquo;

&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve met dozens of serious photo collectors, and Ellen and Richard are the most knowledgeable members of the species,&rdquo; says the Chicago photographer Art Shay, who has several images&mdash;including a print of his famous picture of Simone de Beauvoir standing nude in Nelson Algren&rsquo;s bathroom&mdash;in the Sandor collection. &ldquo;The walls of their vast Chicago apartment could serve as a history of the growth and burgeoning of the photographic art. The eye is caught by two historic Diane Arbuses, Cartier-Bressons galore, the most famous Dorothea Lange, etc. They are absolutely world class.&rdquo;

The Sandors, by the way, are not done collecting. Although nearly every inch of space in their apartment appears to be accounted for, &ldquo;They just keep adding,&rdquo; Edelman says. &ldquo;Which is just phenomenal.&rdquo;

And just a wee bit obsessive? Absolutely. The Sandors wouldn&rsquo;t have it any other way.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

Follow Kevin Nance on Twitter @KevinNance1

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

Ellen and Richard Sandor’s Art Obsession

BY GINNY VAN ALYEAThe heart of Michigan Avenue can be a chaotic, visually draining place, but nine floors up from the corner of Michigan and East Erie is an elegant space filled with hundreds of art history’s most important and valuable works. Testaments to human artistic achievement line the walls. In a coat and tie seated at a partner’s desk along the windows overlooking the Magnificent Mile is Stanley Johnson, the gentleman who has researched, collected and shared these works with the world, a vibrant intellectual who has led a life filled with language, learning, and art. From Northwestern University to travels throughout Mexico, Peru, Costa Rica, and Ecuador, followed by nearly a decade and a half in Europe, Mr. Johnson earned a reputation as a Renaissance Man. Mr. Johnson was formally recognized for his artistic contributions by France’s Minister of Culture as an Officer of Arts and Letters. He is the only United States art dealer who has been so decorated, and in the Midwest there’s only one other person who’s received the same honor, and that’s Douglas Druick, the current President of the Art Institute of Chicago. Johnson has placed art in more than 60 museums around the world, and he has published and mounted over 100 fine art exhibitions. In 2015 Mr. Johnson, with his wife Ursula, marks the 60th anniversary of the gallery his father started in 1955.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/561/original/mr-26-mrs-johnson-4-copy.jpg" alt=""></figure>Stanley Johnson always loved being a student, but his journey to becoming a renowned art dealer was a circuitous one. From a young age he loved to travel – in some cases by bus, truck or traded horse, encountering friends, mentors, foreign ministers and even lethal anaconda snakes and earthquakes.&nbsp;After a year studying art and architecture in Mexico City and a degree from Northwestern, Johnson ultimately arrived in Geneva, Switzerland in the mid-1950s to continue his study of art history. Following two semesters of art and philosophy in Geneva, Johnson went to France where he volunteered for the US Army; after basic training stateside, he was recruited to be a spy for the CIA in Vienna at the end of the occupation (his official title was Assistant Liaison Officer in Vienna), largely because of his extensive travels and language aptitude, something the army valued when they requested he attend cocktail parties to eavesdrop on foreign generals. Johnson says he was a total failure as a spy, but he was a very capable interpreter for the U.S. Commanding General in Vienna at the time. It was a wild time in his life and in the world.&nbsp;Not content to be fluent in just French and Spanish, Johnson wished to improve his German, as well as his archeology and history studies, citing the language as a big block in his learning to date. He even promised a Northwestern German professor that in exchange for accepting a passing grade, he would never take another German course, as the professor said he was not capable of learning it.&nbsp;His decision then to move to the University of Innsbruck in Austria would lead him to his future wife, Ursula, a beautiful young German girl who was doing post-graduate work in art history. Johnson’s German improved considerably – he says he spoke with his mother-in-law only in German, though he and Ursula communicated in French, which he still considers their best means of expression.&nbsp;Together, Johnson and Ursula returned to the University of Vienna, where Johnson moved on to study ancient Greek. From Vienna, they went to Perugia, Italy to study Dante for nine months. And From Perugia Johnson went to Florence while Ursula spent time at home in Düsseldorf.&nbsp;It was in Florence that art history truly began to permeate Johnson’s existence. Every morning he went to the Uffizi Museum and spent the next six hours, every day for 3-4 months, looking at each painting.&nbsp; He recalls, “I looked at each stroke. I became extremely familiar with the paintings there, and I always listened to what people had to say when they looked at those paintings.”&nbsp;&nbsp;Eavesdropping in this case offered insights into global perspectives floating through the museum. Johnson observed some key lessons in looking at art: “The French had important things to say, but they all had the same things to say. The Germans had interesting and profound ideas, but they were all the same ideas. The Americans, on the other hand, could stand in front of the same paintings, and though they might not have intelligent or sophisticated ideas, they were often ridiculously silly, it was people from the new world who from time to time would offer a discovery about why something was truly beautiful. They looked at the art with an open mind.”&nbsp;Johnson cites a Texas man’s blunt observation that a Michelangelo resembled a poster as an ‘ah-ha’ moment. Johnson had been trying to determine why he never really liked the work, and in fact it was as the man said – it lacked a third dimension. Today, Johnson says, “I’m still fighting for a freshness of vision. One of the reasons [the gallery has] one of the greatest art collections in the world, you see, is because I’ve been able to see things in advance.”<figure class="image"><img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/559/original/rembrandt-self-portrait-at-a-window-2014-copy.jpg" alt=""><figcaption>Rembrandt's Self Portrait at a Window</figcaption></figure>Johnson’s father, S.E. Johnson, started the gallery in 1955, at 224 South Michigan Ave. when he bought a gallery that was for sale in the Roosevelt University building. In 1963 when the 645 N. Michigan Ave. building was built, the gallery moved north and took over half of the second floor. (Note: About a year ago the gallery moved to the ninth floor to a more intimate space largely due to the proportion of internet business the gallery now does.) Ursula recalls that the fall evening on which the gallery was first opening at the new address was on a Friday in November 1963; it was the night JFK was assassinated. “We were actually in Paris, and even from there we were shivering. It was a very bad November, and it was all quite memorable.”In the gallery’s early days, the elder Mr. Johnson came to visit his son in Paris. Stanley and Ursula were living in Saint-Germain-des-Prés on the sixth floor of a 17th century walk-up, then the Hôtel de Verneuil,&nbsp;and as Johnson notes, there was cold, running water only down on&nbsp;the second floor. He says, “It was total misery, except we could look down towards the Louvre. When my father asked what would happen if there were a fire, I said I’d never thought about that. He said, ‘Well I have. Let’s go downstairs and have a cup of coffee.’&nbsp;He didn’t want to be there one more minute.”&nbsp;In the building’s defense, Ursula points out that it had been standing since the time of Louis XIV, most likely because the cement over old wood didn’t burn more than anything else would have. She says the building is still there today, though not the hotel.&nbsp;Despite their transatlantic separation, Johnson began to work for the gallery from Paris, taking advantage of his proximity to some of the great minds and talents of the 20th century. When Johnson’s father said that he would love to show Jean Cocteau’s art in Chicago, he recalls, “I went downstairs to the corner café to use the phone, and I looked up in the telephone book: ‘Cocteau, Jean.’ When he answered, I told him my father had a gallery in Chicago and he wanted to do a show of his ceramics and drawings. He said, ‘I’d love to do it. But unfortunately today, morning, noon and night, I’m busy. Come to my house for tea tomorrow.’” The Chicago exhibition was quite successful, and it was just the first of several significant art dealings started from his neighborhood café.&nbsp;Johnson traveled next to Rome with his parents. The trio arranged to meet Giorgio de Chirico while there and spent an afternoon speaking to him in French and Italian along with his wife.&nbsp;Johnson says, “They just loved the three of us; we got along tremendously. My father bought 24 de Chirico paintings for $12,000. At the end of that whole thing,&nbsp;de Chirico said, ‘We love the three of you and would like to have you to dinner at our country house tomorrow. You must promise not one word about business – strictly friendship, friendship, friendship.’” It would be an important lesson for the younger Johnson on how to do business.&nbsp;Following the successful visit, the 24 purchased paintings were sent back to Chicago for the gallery exhibition. Not one was sold.&nbsp;Johnson admits, “That was a disaster. $12,000 at that time was a lot of money. My father wrote a letter to de Chirico, which I have, that said the reason nothing sold was because all the paintings had bad subject matter, so he wanted to exchange all 24 for new ones. de Chirico responded that it was not because of bad subject matter, it was because he was a bad art dealer. He did exchange six paintings, and one by one they sold for $950-$1,150 until finally all 24 were sold. Today the same ones at auction go for $300,000-$400,000. &nbsp;From Paris Johnson, selling art was not yet Johnson's primary pursuit; the majority of the time he&nbsp;continued&nbsp;studying art history and philosophy alongside Ursula, learning from academic stars like André Chastel, one of the greatest art history professors of 20th century, at the Institute of Art and Archeology at the Sorbonne, and under Jean Wahl, also at the Sorbonne.&nbsp;Mr. and Mrs. Johnson returned from Paris for good after Stanley’s father died suddenly in 1967. When I ask him if he had a different vision for the gallery than his father, he says, “It was a commercial gallery. [My father] did some terrible things and sold some junky stuff, but gradually we got some better things. Bad things could pay the rent for awhile.”&nbsp;Johnson reflects that his opportunity to be a student was very different from his father’s. “When I was in Florence, he wrote me a letter saying, 'We are your parents and we are paying for you. What are you doing? What’s keeping you there?'&nbsp;I wrote back that I’m doing absolutely nothing and I intend to stay for two more months doing absolutely nothing (I was also there because of the GI Bill.) When I came back to Chicago, I told him I’d been at the Uffizi from 10am-4pm each day; his reaction was, ‘That’s wonderful. I’d love to be able to do that but I can’t get away from my business.’ Ultimately he appreciated what I was doing.”&nbsp;Johnson’s language, travel and art knowledge were building blocks for the time when he would run the gallery.When he and Ursula took the helm following the senior Mr. Johnson’s death, they brought their scholarly, worldly perspective to art research, collecting and selling. Notably, in 1991 the gallery mounted a Cubist exhibition at The Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C., the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, and the Dallas Museum of Art. In 1992 Johnson’s companion book, Cubism &amp; La Section d’Or: Reflections on the Development of the Cubist Epoch 1907-1922 was one of ten books nominated for the Alfred H. Barr Jr. Award for museum scholarship. Since 1991. He is currently close to submitting a revised version to publishers in London.Mr. Johnson’s gallery specializes in a range of art, but the focus has long been on Post-Impressionism, Cubism and Expressionism (though an exhibition of contemporary paintings by Milwaukee artist Bruce Dorow opens May 1.) Johnson says they are always acquiring works, “We have to take time to decide what we will acquire. We don’t acquire works because they’re saleable - we have no interest in that. We determine if they’re in an interesting category of works and if we would like to own those works. If so we can go to our best friends and say we bought this and think this is a wonderful thing. We think we’re pretty exceptional that way. That’s the way we’ve been running the gallery.”&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/560/original/picasso-head-of-a-faun-copy.jpg" alt=""><figcaption>Pablo Picasso, Head of a Faun, 1962</figcaption></figure>He continues explaining why the gallery deals in say, Old Master prints vs. paintings, “Old Master paintings is a bad category for us because there aren’t any more great ones left. Our collection of drawings out of France, of Picassos, may be the greatest private collection of its sort in the United States. We reject the category of Old Master drawings when they go back to say, the 16th century or before, but when you get up to the end of the 17th century or into the 18th we still buy things in which we’re interested. Old Master prints are still fantastic and there’s still a possibility to buy things for relatively accessible amounts of money. We’re dealing more with European art than American art, and our competition is essentially European. As a result we have to outfox, out maneuver and out connoisseur European competitors, which is a fun challenge easily met, for the very reason I explained when I visited the Uffizi – the Europeans tend to have preconceived notions of what’s this and what’s that. They can’t conceive of some American knowing more about what they live with.”What else makes this market so appealing to Johnson? Camaraderie, knowledge and competition. Johnson excitedly explains, “The Old Master Print market consists of auctions in London - where it all started. You’ve got the round table with the green velvet top and the work is being offered - there are ten dealers seated and they are all European, except me. The winner is the one who got the best deals in buying those things, not he one who has the most money. It doesn’t have much to do with who has the most money but the one who has the best eye. The other thing is that for an individual to be brought into that world is a difficult thing. You also can’t just have anyone show up since it’s a rare thing. Much of it is about friendship, friendship, friendship.”Johnson attests that each work in his private collection has a story. He lists artists most of us encounter only in world famous museums: Toulouse-Lautrec, Bonnard, Jacques Villon and Matisse. So, where did they come from? Johnson is eager to tell the story of another friendship he forged in Paris, one with Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler, Picasso’s art dealer. As a result of his place within an intellectual group in Paris, which included Kahnweiler and others, Johnson eventually became one of the direct dealers of Picasso. In 1970 Kahnweiler, in his 90s at the time, had 120 drawings, watercolors and pastels of Picasso’s to unload, and there were nine dealers from around the world, including Johnson, who had first choice. Johnson clearly recalls, “I arrived at Kahnweiler’s Paris studio about an hour before this sale. I said to him, ‘It’s wonderful to be one of these nine, but I’m the ninth one as well as the youngest. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to take any drawing I want?’ He responded, ‘Monsieur Johnson, if it’s that important to you, go in there and take any drawing you want, but don’t tell the other dealers, and don’t leave it in the room – put it in my office so they don’t see it. You must promise me two things: the drawing you pick today, you will never sell. And every time you look at that drawing you tell yourself what a great guy Kahnweiler was.’”Towards the end of our conversation, Mr. Johnson stops to ask me if I’m having fun. He continues, “I’m always having fun, and I enjoy the competition.”&nbsp;Johnson’s career as a world traveler, a student of art history and an art dealer has been filled with stories and great relationships. His greatest partner of all has undoubtedly been his wife, his intellectual as well as business companion and the reason he finally mastered German. About Ursula he shares, “She is quiet, but she is very, very knowledgeable. We have formed the collection. It’s been a whole life together.”&nbsp;&nbsp;

An interview with Ursula and Stanley Johnson on the gallery's 60th anniversary 

R.S. Johnson: 60 Years of Art and Learning

BY LAURA M. METTAMJudy Ledgerwood’s bold use of color and pattern transforms the spaces in which her art exists. She establishes a dichotomy between precision and abstraction, order and chaos, the vividly decorative and the subtly conceptual. Ledgerwood has received numerous awards from prestigious arts organizations, including the National Endowment for the Arts and Artadia. Her work is held in international private collections as well as in many of the nation’s top art museums, such as the Art Institute of Chicago and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.Currently a Professor and the Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of Art Theory and Practice at Northwestern University, Ledgerwood lives and works in Chicago. She is represented by Chicago’s Rhona Hoffman Gallery, as well as by several other international galleries in New York, Los Angeles and Houston, Germany, Switzerland and Austria.Top image: Judy Ledgerwood, Chromatic Patterns for the Graham Foundation, 2014, Graham Foundation, Chicago, IL<figure class="image"><img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/613/original/judy-ledgerwood-sun-tide.jpg" alt=""></figure>LM: Do you remember when your interest in art first began?JL: My mother was in graduate school for education at Indiana State University. In her early childhood education class, she learned that kids would be more creative if they weren’t given coloring books but instead, made their own pictures. This early encouragement reached a crisis when I was seven and lost a coloring contest to a girl named Lori. I was disappointed that her Cinderella picture, neatly colored within the lines, was selected over mine, which I clearly thought was more artistic. I’ve been seeking attention for my art-making ever since.&nbsp;• You earned your BFA from The Art Academy of Cincinnati and your MFA from SAIC. Can you provide a brief background about where you grew up and then elaborate on your decision to study art through the graduate level? Any comments on your experience as an art student?I grew up in a tiny farming community in Indiana. I identified as an artist at an early age, so I understood that artists need to be a part of a larger community. I chose what I thought was the surest path to my success through education. I had studied the biographies of other artists whom I admired, and this was the path that they followed so I emulated them.I met my husband, Tony Tasset, in undergraduate school. He shared my ambition of becoming an artist and together we still make a strong team. We grew up together sharing successes and failures in a very difficult field. I’m his biggest fan and vice versa. It’s invaluable to have a person who believes in you and understands what you do.At SAIC, for the first time I met artists who were better than me.&nbsp;That’s the thing about moving from a small town to a larger one. The challenge to keep up was just the kick in the pants that I needed. That and a fear of truly becoming a starving artist pushed me to focus on what I needed to do to become a professional artist.<figure class="image"><img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/614/original/judy-ledgerwood-crossing-over.jpg" alt=""></figure>• Were you always interested in teaching? What path led you to your current role as Professor and Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of Art Theory and Practice at Northwestern University?I didn’t teach until I was out of grad school for almost a decade. I got lonely working in my studio and I found that socially, artists wanted to network more than discuss art. I wanted to discuss the big questions; I missed that about school. I started teaching one class at SAIC, then soon after I began full time at Northwestern. Our students rarely self-identify as artists, but most go on to contribute to society. I am in the perfect position to proselytize for art. Many high schools no longer offer courses in art, but I think it’s the best way to learn critical thinking. There are no right choices when making art, only ones that work. Learning how to determine a working method and the criteria for judgment is something that I’ve only recently gotten good at. The icing on the cake of my job is working with graduate students. Northwestern fully supports the MFA candidates, so we get the cream of the crop in our graduate program since it is so competitive for top candidates.&nbsp;• How do you think today’s art students and art schools differ from when you were in school? What has changed? Where are things headed?The big change has been in the softening of disciplinary boundaries. Young people no longer say, “I’m a painter.” They say, “I’m an artist,” or maybe even something like, “I make things.” Art school in the 21st century focuses to a lesser degree on the artist as an individual author, and more on community solutions to aesthetic, political or even practical problems - a reflection of how the art world really is now. Of course some fields like painting will not change much pedagogically. And hopefully education can do more than train worker bees for artists like Jeff Koons.<figure class="image"><img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/615/original/judy-ledgerwood-smart-museum-2.jpg" alt=""></figure>• Your work is vivid and energizing. Repetitive patterns are controlled but not exact. They are precise yet loose. When viewing the larger installations of repeat patterns, I think about the performative aspect of creating the work and how the physical act of painting is also repetitive and controlled. I find the thought of creating these wall paintings - such a time consuming, perhaps meditative process - as an almost comforting, contemplative change of pace from our culture’s digital age need for instant results. Can you comment on your work process for both large installations and smaller works on canvas?I think about creating experiences that must be seen first person - whether work on canvas or large-scale installations painted on the wall. Patterns suggest regular continuity, but life is not like that, even with many repetitive gestures that make up a day, like morning coffee or showering. Each moment is unique if you’re aware.I try to make paintings that not only breathe in the after-image created by visual color interactions that flicker visualy, but allow the performative act of painting to create a sense of time, especially through repetitive patterns. The drips suggest real time. I experience time as elastic. Moments spent on hold with the utility company are endless; moments spent with your young child pass in a heartbeat. I think my work functions well if the viewer’s experience brings about a greater self-awareness. This is not so different from the aims of all abstract painting.<figure class="image"><img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/616/original/judy-ledgerwood-smart-detail.jpg" alt=""></figure>• I love the transformative environments that your installations and immense wall paintings create. The installations have the power to alter familiar spaces as seen in your recent&nbsp;Chromatic Patterns for the Graham Foundation, and Chromatic Patterns for the Smart Museum, among many other pieces you’ve done in the past. Can you talk about your use of such vivid colors and repeat patterns, and how the scale and content of your work has evolved over the years? Are you experimenting with any new methods or materials?I have shifted from a palette based on a response to decorative color in architecture that commented on Modernisms’ failures, to work that creates cast color or uses color interaction to leak out from the surface of the painting into the space in front of the canvas, the space where the viewer is. Each era develops a new model for describing space, and space reflects the age that produces those responses. Think of the Cartesian model of space developed during the Renaissance as a model of rationalism as just one example. When I started my career in the artworld of the late 80s at the moment of the first art boom, the thing that seemed most urgent to address was the increasing power of images circulating as reproductions. There are paintings that look good reproduced that are generally not very satisfying to look at in person. For me, an art experience is between a viewer and a work of art, not between a viewer and an electronic device. It’s even more of an issue now, so I still stand by my desires to make painting a first person experience.I started using enormous scale early in my career. Then, as now, I want to create immersive environments - to make paintings that act like architecture. Once I felt that the scale was becoming habitual, I had to learn to make smaller paintings that were effective. I discovered that making smaller paintings scaled to the human body and installed to emphasize that relationship helped to make a direct connection to the viewer. I still make a lot of 15 x 15" paintings to try out a new idea on a manageable scale.I tried encaustic painting recently. I wanted to see what happened when color was not contained within the edges of a shape and edges between figure and ground were more erratic. I like the object quality of these kinds of paintings, but the encaustic is limited because it has to be done on panels, which get too heavy at large scale. So now I’m trying to achieve a similar goal with more familiar painting materials and techniques.<figure class="image"><img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/617/original/judy-ledgerwood-graham-detail.jpg" alt=""></figure>• Is there a way in which your work is displayed that you feel it has the potential to have the most impact on the viewer? For example, how might a smaller painting on canvas compare to a wall installation compared to something even larger like your 2014 collaboration with EXPO Chicago and The Beaches of Fort Myers &amp; Sanibel that resulted in a very public display of your artwork around Chicago during EXPO. Any comments on your experience with this particular public art project or others you may have been involved with in the past?For me the reason to make paintings is to address a viewer. I am always aware of the viewer when I make installation choices. Small paintings are hung to correspond to the viewers’ head, and the size of the shapes is at human scale, often in response to architecture, which is also built for bodies. The EXPO Chicago and The Beaches of Fort Myers &amp; Sanibel project was an opportunity to make a work outside a gallery or institution, which was new for me. Although one response to spending time at Rauschenberg’s studio in Captiva Island might have resulted in a typical Ledgerwood painting in a palette inspired by the light of Florida, I instead made work inspired by the light and space. For me the most profound experience of the place was the vast expanse of sand, sea and sky, and just as important this was conceived of as a project for everyone, not just your typical art going public.I wanted to work in a genre that most people understand, and landscape seemed appropriate to the site of presentation. I also liked the contrast between horizontal landscape in the billboards and their placement in an urban environment. These landscapes harkened back to the kind of paintings that I made twenty years ago at the start of my career. I know that I was very privileged to have the Florida experience to respond to. I wanted to create an image in the city for those that didn’t have that experience, to share a little of what that experience was like for me with everyone who encountered the billboards.&nbsp;• Do you have a favorite public art piece here in Chicago or elsewhere?I love the Picasso in Daley Square and the Dubuffet on the corner of the State of Illinois building.&nbsp;• Who are some of your favorite artists – older influences, or currently working artists?I grew up visiting the impressionist collection at the Art Institute of Chicago. I think that I learned color theory in those galleries. So I am indebted to Monet as much as I hate to admit it. Matisse, Blinky Palermo, Mary Heilmann, Harriet Korman, Pamela Fraser &amp; André Butzer are just a few favorite artists that come to mind.&nbsp;• Between your practice, your husband also being a prominent artist, and your teaching, do you ever reach a saturation point when it comes to art consumption? When you need to tune out, so to speak, what’s a favorite non-art interest of yours?We are busy just trying to keep up, so there is not enough down time, which I hope to address - as soon as I have time! Tony is very good at cooking, and I wish I could spend more time gardening. My garden it pretty Darwinian, but I grow mostly perennials, a few vegetables, and I have a tiny cutting garden every summer.<figure class="image"><img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/618/original/judy-ledgerwood-installation.jpg" alt=""></figure>• You mentioned that you’d be traveling to Lustenau soon for an exhibition. Can you describe this exhibition or project? Do you have any other plans coming up this summer or fall?&nbsp;My show in Lustenau is with the same gallerist I have worked with in Europe since 2005, Wolfgang and Christa Hausler (<a href="http://haeusler-contemporary.com/">Häusler Contemporary</a>). They have galleries in Munich, Zurich and this newer one in Lustenau, Austria. My upcoming project for Lustenau is called Lose Loos in response to the influence of Adolf Loos on contemporary taste even though his seminal contribution, Ornament and Crime was written in 1908. Loos counseled against excessive pattern and advocated the use of only specific colors. His attitude was heavily influential for Le Corbusier, who of course is much admired. Chromophobia is shared by many people who think that colors limited to a few basics; black, white, ultramarine blue, grey, yellow ochre reflect a higher level of sophistication, with brighter colors relegated for children and people from ‘other’ cultures. Of course my work goes against all of this. Since the show is in Austria, it seems likely that many viewers will be aware of Loos position and see my work in opposition to his ideas.Over the summer I plan to devote concentrated time to finishing a body of new work that I’ll show in Houston at <a href="http://www.barbaradavisgallery.com/">Barbara Davis Gallery</a>. I am also working toward a show in New York at <a href="http://www.tracywilliamsltd.com/">Tracy Williams Ltd</a>. for her new space on the lower East Side, and in January 2016 I have a sort of retrospective opening at the Kennedy Museum where I’ll make a wall painting installation, and show a selection of paintings and drawings. Also in September I was offered a five-day lectureship at the Academy of Fine Arts in Kolbermoor near Munich. I am interested in the global exchange of ideas.&nbsp;• Would you share your thoughts on Chicago’s art community?Chicago has more great artists than a city this size has any right to. Many do not get the recognition they deserve because it’s Chicago I suppose. The audience is not as large as one would think for a city of more than two and a half million. I’m lucky to have access to world-class museums here. Galleries are good - I wish more people supported them so that young artists didn’t feel so pressured to move to New York or Los Angeles to find the support they need.<figure class="image"><img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/619/original/judy-ledgerwood-sun-on-waves.jpg" alt=""></figure>

CGN interview with artist Judy Ledgerwood

Artist Insights: Judy Ledgerwood

BY MIA DIMEO

Anything can happen at auction. Maintain eye contact. Nod. Raise your paddle. Wait for the gavel to fall and - SOLD! You&rsquo;re the proud owner of a Chanel evening bag owned by Oprah Winfrey.&nbsp;

Or an early Lee Bontecou sculpture from the estate of philanthropist Claudia Luebbers. Or a signed manuscript by Mark Twain. Or a diamond lizard brooch. How about a pink Art Deco settee or a lock of Elvis Presley&rsquo;s hair?&nbsp;

<img alt="" data-caption="Lee Bontecou, (American, b. 1931), Untitled, 1959, canvas, wire and steel signed Bontecou and dated (lower right side), 16 x 12 x 14”. Estimate: $200,000-300,000. Property from the Claudia R. Luebbers Trust, Chicago, Illinois " data-rich-file-id="565" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/565/original/bontecou.jpg" />

Leslie Hindman has been in the auction business for more than 30 years, starting her career in the late 1970s at the Chicago branch office of Sotheby&rsquo;s. When the mega-house pulled out of the local market several years later, Hindman filled the gap by opening her own space in 1982. Prominent estate auctions and big sales like the $1.43 million dollar sale of a previously unknown Vincent van Gogh in 1991 helped establish her auction house&rsquo;s notoriety in the Midwest and beyond. By 1997 Sotheby&rsquo;s came back around, purchasing Hindman&rsquo;s auction house and giving her a principal management role with the company. She kept busy hosting two HGTV shows, authoring a book and opening a River North gallery space before starting a new auction house in 2003. This time she expanded her range to underserved cities ripe with potential consignments: Denver, St. Louis, Milwaukee, Naples and Palm Beach. Currently Leslie Hindman Auctioneers is the largest auction house in the Midwest, holding more than 50 auctions a year, including this spring&rsquo;s highly anticipated sale of Oprah&rsquo;s real favorite things: selections of furniture, decorative arts, fashion, 20th century prints and paintings from her Chicago estate. &nbsp;

With global art sales totaling $54.1 billion in 2014, it&rsquo;s no surprise that one of the areas with the most growth for Hindman is middle market contemporary art. The aforementioned Bontecou, for instance, is expected to fetch between $200,000-300,000 at auction in May. The untitled canvas, wire and steel wall piece from 1959 is an early example of the artist&rsquo;s characteristic oval voids. Its provenance is reflected in its price&mdash;the piece was exhibited in a major 2004 retrospective that toured the Hammer Museum, the MCA and MoMA.&nbsp;

&ldquo;Our firm has grown considerably since 2003,&rdquo; says Hindman. She notes that success in the market comes from being one of the largest auction houses in the country with access to good commissions. &ldquo;People know to call us. We are lucky to be a leader.&rdquo;

Of course, Bontecou lovers don&rsquo;t have to vie in person. LH Live allows for real-time online bidding, in addition to phone and absentee bids. As a result, some of the highest grossing sales can happen in nearly empty rooms. Hindman also created an online platform shared with several other auction houses called BidSquare, where shoppers can view items by category across several auctions.&nbsp;

How does stuff land at the auction house to begin with? Hindman cites the most common reasons for consignments are the three D&rsquo;s&mdash;Death, Divorce and Debt. After the seller shares information about the property in question, Hindman&rsquo;s team of specialists determines authenticity (no fakes allowed) and then estimates the value of a piece using prior auction records. Specialists will also make house calls, sifting through messy hoards, thoughtful collections and everything in between to identify the best property for an auction. In one case, a previously unknown Wassily Kandinsky watercolor, as well as an unsigned Oskar Kokoschka painting and several other exceptional pieces, was consigned after being stacked under a bed for decades.&nbsp;

Zack Wirsum, Director of Hindman&rsquo;s Fine Art Department, specializes in Post War and Contemporary Art, helped consign the Expressionist trove plus dozens of other artworks in the eight years he&rsquo;s worked at the auction house. Son of Hairy Who member Karl Wirsum, Zack experienced art from a young age and has developed his own practice of making abstract paintings (he is represented by Jean Albano Gallery.) Unlike many artists who recoil at the idea of auctions and the market, Wirsum feels a heavy responsibility towards artworks he works with, particularly those made by living artists.&nbsp;

&ldquo;Placing auction estimates on work by family friends and by my father tests my objectivity,&rdquo; Wirsum says. &ldquo;But I respect the process and the challenge. Right now we have an early skull piece by my dad from the last Hairy Who show, and a reverse Plexiglass painting by Barbara Rossi that was shown in the infamous Made in Chicago exhibit. I&rsquo;m glad to see both going back out into the world to hopefully join important collections.&rdquo;&nbsp;

Wirsum and Hindman agree there can be an intimidation factor for those less familiar with bidding at auction, particularly for younger collectors. One initiative to welcome new auction-goers and connect to the contemporary community surrounding the auction house is a West Loop gallery walk on May 16, 6-9 pm. Organized by Wirsum&rsquo;s department, the walk will align with previews for the Post-War and Contemporary sale, featuring work by Gilbert and George,&nbsp;

Amy Sillman and Nick Cave and the Carol H. and Richard M. Levin collection, which will include work by Thomas Hart Benton, John Steuart Curry and Robert Henri.&nbsp;

Wirsum&rsquo;s team is also curating Blank Space, a new concept taking its name from a Taylor Swift song, The auction on June 24, with most low estimates under $800, means buyers can dip their toes in the pool with affordable purchases of paintings, prints and sculptures. Not into bidding wars? LH Exchange (LHX), a new Craigslist-like platform, gives users a more direct method to sell less expensive property while working with Hindman&rsquo;s specialists to provide pricing and shipping assistance.

Contemporary art is a big category for younger collectors,&rdquo; says Hindman. &ldquo;We want to make sure they know that they can find interesting things under $1,000.&rdquo;

&nbsp;

Live and Online with Leslie Hindman Auctioneers

Summer is almost upon us - we promise! &nbsp;We have been organizing lots of lists of art destinations for our summer issue, and we wanted to share this handy list of monthly art walks and events so you can plan all your summer weekends from now through August. &nbsp;If drunken street festivals aren&#39;t your thing, this lineup is for you - stimulating art gatherings and happenings in many area neighborhoods througout the city as well as in the suburbs, even into Wisconsin.&nbsp;

Happy summer!&nbsp;

&nbsp;

<h3>3rd Thursday</h3>

&bull; Smart Museum of Art

5:30&ndash;7:30pm &bull; Free

Extended evening hours every Thursday, 10am-8pm

5550 S. Greenwood&nbsp;

<a href="http://www.smartmuseum.uchicago.edu">www.smartmuseum.uchicago.edu</a>

&nbsp;

<h3>1st Friday</h3>

&bull; Lakeside Legacy Arts Park&nbsp;

5&ndash;8pm &bull; Free/donations&nbsp;

401 Country Club Rd., Crystal Lake, IL

<a href="http://www.lakesidelegacy.org">www.lakesidelegacy.org</a>

&nbsp;

&bull; Orange Dot First Fridays

Wicker Park / Bucktown:&nbsp;1579 N. Milwaukee

5&ndash;10pm &bull; Free

<a href="http://www.wickerparkbucktown.com">www.wickerparkbucktown.com</a>&nbsp;

&nbsp;

&bull; River North First Fridays

5&ndash;8pm &bull; Free

Franklin/Superior streets

&nbsp;

<h3>2nd Friday</h3>

&bull; Chicago Arts District&nbsp;

6&ndash;10pm &bull; Free

S. Halsted + 18th St. (Pilsen East)

<a href="http://www.chicagoartsdistrict.org">www.chicagoartsdistrict.org</a>

&nbsp;

&bull; Fine Arts Building Open Studios&nbsp;

5&ndash;9pm &bull; Free

410 S. Michigan

<a href="http://www.fineartsbuilding.com">www.fineartsbuilding.com</a>

&nbsp;

<h3>3rd Friday</h3>

&bull; Bridgeport Art Center / Artists of Eastbank

6-10pm &bull; Free

1200 W. 35th St.

<a href="http://www.bridgeportart.com">www.bridgeportart.com</a>

&nbsp;

&bull; Bronzeville Trolley Tour

6pm &bull; Contact Gallery Guichard for details: 773-791-7003

&nbsp;

&bull; Oak Park Arts District (OPAD)&nbsp;

6&ndash;10pm &bull; Free

Harrison St.

<a href="http://www.oakparkartsdistrict.com">www.oakparkartsdistrict.com</a>

&nbsp;

&bull; Zhou B Art Center/Bridgeport Art Walk&nbsp;

7&ndash;10pm &bull; Free

1029 W. 35th St.&nbsp;

<a href="http://www.zhoubartcenter.com">www.zhoubartcenter.com</a>

&nbsp;

<h3>2nd Saturday</h3>

&bull; LACUNA Artist Lofts + Studios

12&ndash;6pm &bull; Free

2150 S. Canalport

<a href="http://www.lacuna2150.com">www.lacuna2150.com</a>

&nbsp;

&bull; The Lost Artists Show

The Art Colony Studio Building: 2630 W. Fletcher

5-10pm &bull; Free

<a href="http://www.lostartistschicago.com">www.lostartistschicago.com</a>

&nbsp;

<h3>4th Saturday</h3>

&bull; Oak Park/Gallery Pink

11am-Noon &bull; Free

149 Harrison St.

<a href="mailto:jfeart@gmail.com?subject=4th%20Saturdays&amp;body=I%20saw%20your%20event%20on%20Chicagogallerynews.com%0A">jfeart@gmail.com</a> &bull; 708-524-2231

&nbsp;

<h3>Free Saturday Tours</h3>

&bull; River North: 11am&ndash;12:30pm&nbsp;

Starbucks: 750 N. Franklin.&nbsp;

Tours run weekly, year-round, except major holidays. For details and participating galleries see <a href="http://chicagogallerynews.com">chicagogallerynews.com</a> or call 312-649-0064

&nbsp;

<h3>Milwaukee, WI</h3>

&bull; Gallery Night and Day&nbsp;

Milwaukee, WI. Quarterly:&nbsp;July 24 and 25, 2015 (F 5-9 and Sa 10-4)

<a href="http://www.historicthirdward.org">www.historicthirdward.org</a>