The Smell Of A House Being Built In The Rain

Chicago Artists Coalition is pleased to present a solo exhibition by BOLT artist-in-resident Julian Flavin, The Smell Of A House Being Built In The Rain. The exhibition will be on view from June 3 - July 14, 2022, with an opening reception on Friday, June 3, 5-8pm.

In the middle of the night, a US Military cover band returns from deployment in Kuwait; a 7-Eleven convenience store blares classical music from its awnings to discourage the homeless from loitering; a choir sings at the bedsides of the dying; and, teenagers appropriate the artist’s own music to soundtrack "Call Of Duty," a first-person-shooter gameplay on YouTube. 

Orbiting a feature-length documentary film, The Smell Of A House Being Built In The Rain asks how our relationship to music shapes our politics, our deepest-held aspirations, and our language for understanding our position in the world. Visualizing the complexity of these musical intersections, Flavin’s exhibition explores how multiple, even opposing, political positions can be inhabited by a single piece of music.

Image: Julian Flavin, Still from "In The Sweet Arms" (forthcoming), HD Video, 55:00 minutes