Features

Art for the Deep Freeze: 2021 Edition

Well, a foot and a half of snow has certainly changed everyone's daily routine this week, even if you're already used to spending most of your time indoors and commuting was so 2019. 

Two years ago actually, we rounded up some art that spoke to our frigid climate in Chicago, and here we are again. Finding artistic comfort in art somehow reflects the thing we're all dealing with: February. 

Here for you are some art picks from local spaces that speak to all that white stuff out there.  

Later this week we will feature Art to Warm You Up! 

And remember, once you've shoveled your way outside, many area galleries and museums are open by appointment, or are re-opening in the coming days. Please check with each space before visiting.

– CGN Staff

 

John Kuhn at Ken Saunders 

Here is some glass art that looks a lot like a frozen lake, or pool if you're in Texas. 

Kuhn’s sculptures are among the most complex and intricate objects ever created by hand. At their most ambitious the works, which are solid, can contain several thousand pieces of glass; cut, ground and polished to fit seamlessly together and laminated into mesmerizing structures.

 

 

Jeffrey Hirst at Addington Gallery

Hirst, an artist working in encaustic, a medium that actually requires heat, says his current work investigates relations between man-made architectural structure and the natural landscape; questions arise at how these two forces coexist in an urban environment. While both phenomena occur in all environments, the artist is most interested in the dynamic in a high contrast urban context. The correlation between urban decay and natural beauty (both at the micro and macro level) influence the work."

Jeffrey Hirst, Alterations, 26" x 28", encaustic, oil, and silkscreen on constructed panel

 

Erwin Overes at Studio Oh! 

Artist and owner of Gallery Studio Oh!, Erwin Overes, is selling his new Circle Series at a discounted rate in order to help support the artist community during this challenging time. Erwin will be donating a portion of the sales to Arts Alliance Illinois.

Winter is Coming I - IV, Epoxy resin, acrylic, 12”x12”x3” each; $400 for all 4

 

Emily Rapport at Eat Paint Studio 

Emily paints scenes from every day life around Chicago. Her “Winter morning" is especially timely. 

“Winter morning,” 9x12”, ink on Yupo, by @emilyrapport

 

Monet at the Art Institute of Chicago

The CTA buses are running. See if you can catch one down to the Art Institute, now that it has reopened (except today, Feb 16) and its Monet exhibition has been extended. 

 

Stacks of Wheat (Sunset, Snow Effect), 1890/91, Claude Monet
French, 1840-1926