Author Archives

Elms Choice: Exhibition Prosthetics, by Joseph Grigely

I like artists books but don’t really know anything about them, so it is with great pleasure that I present local maven and collector Anthony Elms’ first in a regular or irregular feature of artists books suggestions. He’ll be focusing on books that are generally affordable, still in print, and available to a Chicago buyer at a local bookstore […]

Weekend Preview – selected as a finalist to open for Everclear

Andreas Fischer @ Galhberg Gallery, Jeff Marlin @ Corbett vs. Dempsey, Mike Kloss @ The Hills, Daniel Lavitt @ Peregrine Program, Rune @ Ben Russell, MinimumixaM @ Pentagon, Ethan Greenbaum and Katrin Sigurdardottir @ The Suburban, Elijah Burgher @ Shane Campbell, Bobby Burg and Jeremy Bolen @ Andrew Rafacz, Vincent Como @ Proof, and Mark Booth, Karen Christopher, and John W. Sisson, Jr @ the Epiphany Episcopal Church, and Cabin Fever @ Co-Prosperity Sphere.

Seven Artists of the Week – blame weirdos not getting laid

This week’s picks from Ryan. Tuna safe dolphin!

Weekend Preview – fraught with icy slipscapes

Here’s whats up. Armita Raafat @ threewalls Armita Rafaat‘s work goes up this month at threewalls, covering the newly renovated space with Persian and Islamic arabesques falling and spreading and crumbling over and from the freshly built walls. Catch the show‘s opening reception is this Friday, January 15th from 6-9 @ threewalls, 119 N. Peoria St. Edelweiss […]

Seven Artists of the Week – ULTIMATE PAINTING

This week’s picks from Ryan, with an repeat replacement from me. Ultra-art.

Mark Mulroney @ ebersmoore

Mark Mulroney’s WEATHERBEE’S REVENGE is full of paintings that are dirty and gross and funny, operating on an adolescent paradigm where humor and violence and sexual fantasy are everything and interchangeable. Mulroney’s working process of painting his own depraved bodies under cut-out heads from Archie comics is simple enough, but the ridiculous narratives, awful jokes fit […]

Netherland / Chad Kouri @ Rotofugi

Despite their sharp cornered, faux-wood and steel physicality, there’s an undeniable comfort and familiarity to old school stereo equipment. Like a good tube amp or a vinyl record, they suggest a warmth of sound and barely retro aesthetic which brings invisible music closer to something tangible, simple, less scary, especially compared to the layered and compounded […]

Kim Piotrowski @ 65GRAND

While a bubbling zeitgeist, published theory, secret CIA promotion, institutional propping, market hype and bar booth collectives may be the most commonly understood forces by which art trends and made and made to move, one of my favorite and too often overlooked components of progress is the availability of new materials, and of how their introduction leads […]

Weekend Preview – clean hands, empty stomach

There are actually a ton of shows this weekend due to the holiday bottleneck, but here are my top picks: Kim Piotrowski @ 65GRAND 65GRAND shows off Kim Piotrowski‘s larger-scale crown forms, paintings and drawings full of dynamic marks and bold designs. The show, titled Crowns, opens this Friday, January 8th from 7-10 PM @ […]

Seven Artists of the Week – make things that express stuff

This week’s picks from Ryan. If you haven’t checked it out yet, go see the show he curated, The Power of Selection, Pt. 1 @ Western Exhibitions! I love my loser son!

Top Five Shows of the Year That I Went To

There are still a few hours left in 2009, so here are my top five for the year. Since I started the blog well into the year, and have by no means the exposure to form any conclusive pool to reflect upon, I’ll only go with what I know. I can’t say that the following […]

Seven Artists of the Week – I'm trying to try here.

This week’s picks from Ryan. Check out the show he’s curated at Western Exhibitions, opening this Saturday! [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uj0g077NT1s&feature=player_embedded] Reed Anderson [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6UgzNJfpfA] Bruce Bickford Happy New Years pretty soon.

Seven Artists of the Week – brittany murphy died

This week’s picks from Ryan. Check him out in the latest Beautiful/Decay. GOUACHE. ON. PAPER.

Weekend Preview – where is tiger woods

In addition to all the great events below, this weekend I get to attend a special dinner at the residence of Alberto Aguilar as part of his dinner series celebrating his 36th year. Not bad! Trendbeheer @ Co-Prosperity Sphere To coincide with the content and release of the newest issue of Proximity Magazine (which should […]

Seven Artists of the Week – Gibby Haynes makes art??

This weeks picks, six from Ryan and one from me. There’s really only one ocean.

Daniel Sullivan @ Monument 2

There is a certain elegance to Monument 2 special among DIY spaces, its high ceilings, stark white walls and glowing, well-maintained hardwood floors lending an edge and hone to the gallery. Fitting entirely with this style, both in its minimalist sheen and provisional underpinnings, comes SAIC undergrad Daniel Sullivan‘s SOFT THROAT, a solo exhibition most remarkable for […]

Weekend Preview – i'm too cold for this shit

This weekends picks, front heavy and lurching goodwise. Juan Angel Chavez @ Linda Warren Linda Warren will be showing new work by Chicago found-art sculptor Juan Angel Chavez in Dragging the Leash. Also on display: Diatoms, Doilies and Diseases, works by Shannon Kerrigan. I’d expect both shows to play off eachother pretty well, with Kerrigan’s […]

Seven Artists of the Week – snow money, snow problems

This week’s picks from Ryan. Solidify the core.

Co-Paintings, Cute Puppies @ Spoke

As someone easily distracted, I have mixed feelings on music at galleries. As much as I enjoy looking at paintings, when there is music at a gallery I’ll spend more time staring at the performers or tracking the locations of speakers than I spend focusing my attention on the art. Some spaces are able to double […]

Weekend Preview – this weekend

There are a few openings this weekend at which I encourage attendance. Freshly updated with Sunday’s events. Margo Hoff @ Corbett vs. Dempsey Noble square gallery Corbett vs. Dempsey will be showing a retrospective of sorts of renowned artist Margo Hoff‘s work, titled Restless City. The content spans many decades and many mediums and includes […]