New Exhibitions October 6–9
Smart Museum of Art, The University of Chicago
Smart to the Core: Medium / Image
Opening: Wednesday, Oct 6, 2021 5 – 7 pm
Explore the social and perceptual impact of visual culture at this special opening of Smart to the Core: Medium / Image. With the exhibition designed and curated around the University of Chicago’s popular “Media Aesthetics” course, the opening will include a gallery walkthrough, remarks from curators and faculty, light refreshments, and a unique visual experience.
Common Gesture
Opening: Friday, Oct 8, 2021 5 – 10 pm
Slow or quick, direct or indirect, gestural marks have an immediate response to the surface that they associate themselves with. These marks celebrate materiality and highlight passages of the body’s movement through space.
Gestures not only accentuate time, but they have the potential to organize or disrupt a composition. In the works of Lisa Marie Barber and Sarah Dupré there is a clear embracement of line, color via paint or glaze, and play upon surface texture.
Shahidul Alam: We Shall Defy
Oct 8 – Nov 27.
Wrightwood 659 presents Shahidul Alam: We Shall Defy. We Shall Defy includes photographs by Alam and his community of artists and activists, as well as illustrations, verse, and more by three additional artists: Amal Akash, a singer-songwriter and visual and performance artist based in Dhaka; Alam’s niece Sofia Karim, an architect and visual artist in London; and New York-based filmmaker, writer, photographer, and installation artist Naeem Mohaiemen and the King Kortobbyo team. Together, their work explores the turbulent path that Alam and his team have navigated in their struggle to achieve justice and equity.
The primary focus of the exhibition is a series of 9 large banners that are inspired by an ancient form of Bangla art—Patachitara, cloth scrolls containing detailed depictions of mythical narratives. The banners in the exhibition are printed with photographs by Alam and 14 artists, thereby integrating the contemporary and ancient methods of storytelling while expanding on the turbulent experiences of the Bangladeshi people.
Spirits of the Sand and Sea: George Klauba
Opening: Friday, Oct 8, 2021 5 – 8 pm
Spirit Sailors roamed the dry sandy deserts of Australia, finding kinship with Aborigines through their tattoos and totems.
They came from battles in the Pacific during WWII, their souls searching together for home and the heavens.
All artwork is inspired by the book "The Walkabout of Sailor Jim" by Judith Lloyd Klauba and George Klauba.
‘LAX / ORD III: Growing the Focus’
October 9 – 30. Opening reception Saturday, October 9, 12–6pm.
Featuring a mural installation from Langston Allston plus a group show featuring 3 small works from 24 additional artists.
LAX / ORD is a group exhibition showcasing new small format works by some of the most relevant and exciting artists working in the New Contemporary Art Movement. Connecting the West Coast art scene to that of the MidWest’s, this survey exhibition will feature local and international artists curated by one of the movement’s most active and respected proponents: Los Angeles’ Thinkspace gallery.
Indira Freitas Johnson: The Resonance of Emptiness
Oct 9 – Nov 14
In The Resonance of Emptiness, Indira Freitas Johnson explores the concept of emptiness and the interconnectedness of all things offering viewers an aesthetic experience of emptiness and stillness while exploring the shifting distinctions between strength and vulnerability, permanence, and decay, and the extraordinary and mundane.
American Society of Marine Artists North Regional Exhibition
Oct 9 – Nov 28
The American Society of Marine Artists is a non-profit organization whose purpose is to recognize, encourage and promote marine art and maritime history. Their National Exhibition travels to KAC’s galleries this fall to highlight the beauty in and around water.
5th Midwest Open, juried by Alison Wong
October 7 – November 6. Reception: October 9th, 4 – 7 PM
Artist Walkthrough: November 6th, 3:30 PM