Chicago Art Review » Interviews

Interview – Michael T. Rea

Steve Ruiz — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 15:48:16 +0000

It’s always nice to see successful art that is also instantly approachable, and Chicago sculptor Michael T. Rea makes the kind of art. If you’ve been to the last two NEXT fairs at the Merchandise Mart, you’ve probably seen some of his work; and if not, then certainly at Western Exhibition’s The Power of Selection, part 1. Rea’s big wooden sculptures, built from memory and reflecting a kit-basher’s eye for detail and bong emplacements, are sort of hard to miss. I caught up with the artist this week to trade some words, all of which you can read below. The bold and slanty ones are mine.

Michael T. Rea

Can you tell me about yourself and your history in Chicago?

I was born and Raised in the South Suburbs of Chicago, Burbank, and Tinley Park. I Attended Northern Illinois University for Undergrad, and after graduation I moved to Buck Town. After about four years I Moved to Madison, WI to attend graduate school. Before moving to to Madison I had my first Chicago art show Unit B Gallery in Pilsen. During my stay in Madison I continued to show in Chicago at galleries like Butcher Shop /Dogmatic and the Co-Prosperity Sphere, and after grad school I spent a year in Milwaukee where I worked at MIAD before returning to Chicago. I have been back for a little over two years and currently reside in lovely Humboldt Park, and my studio is in West Garfield Park.

Michael T. Rea

I heard you started off in painting. How’d you get from that to working with sculpture and wood?

I did start working as painter – well, as art educator. I received an Art Education degree from NIU, which was nice since the curriculum forces you to take classes in all disciplines. I focused on painting, but defiantly dabbled in sculpture. While in undergraduate Matt Irie and I formed a performance group called the Ohio Gang. After graduation I faced the dilemma of trying to build stretchers with out a real space and or equipment. I remember Paul Erschen letting me into his space to build my last large painting.

Somewhere in this struggle to build a support structure, I lost interest in building two dimensional images and began to obsess about what was behind a painting. So in a way I simply turned the canvas around and rebuilt my practice from there. I took what I had learned from the Ohio Gang and stretcher construction and started to build the rock performance I Yell Because I Care, which was a mixture of wood constructions and a performance piece. After that I decided to just keep going. As of late I have been painting a little to see how that informs the objects I build.

Michael T. Rea, Wood Load In

Michael T. Rea, Lysistrata

A lot of your work seems to have been inspired by a certain genre of American film-making, the big over the top blockbuster adventures, like Star Wars, Ghostbusters, or Indiana Jones. What’s your relationship with that content, or how are you using it?

A lot of my work does revolve around American film, 1975 to the present in particular. I think this began with watching a lot of movies as a child, which carried over into my adult life. When I would see a film as a child you were never sure if you were ever going to see it again. The first movie I saw on cable was Alien, and the first film my family ever rented was Trading Places, and we would spend dinner discussing the films we watched. My parents were rather liberal about what my brother and I got to see as children. As we got older I began to discover how the stories depicted were based on novels, biblical stories and parables, and remakes of films from when my parents were children. It was sort of a quest to see where an idea originated and evolved in each adaptation.

In my work today I enjoy the way I can use an index of films as a way to build footnotes into my work, using multi-dimensional characters, plots, and histories that live outside of the work, and which the audience must bring with them to understand it. I have been a big fan of Quentin Tarantino for years and really respect how he can build a film which can be read at so many levels. The artwork I make attempts to offer both fast and slow reads.

Michael T. Rea

What kind of pieces are you putting up for your show this weekend at ebersmoore?

For the show at ebersmoore, I’ll be installing a few new sculptures and drawings. The largest piece is a large Howitzer-style gun titled Benita, which will start in the main gallery and penetrate through the living quarters at the gallery. In the second space I’ll have two medium sized sculptures and drawings.

If you’d like to see more of Michael T. Rea, check out his show New Work opening this Friday, November 5th from 6:00-9:00 PM @ ebersmoore, 213 N Morgan St, 3C.

Interview – Jessie Mott

Steve Ruiz — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 16:22:53 +0000

Jessie Mott graduated from Northwestern University this Spring with a fresh new MFA, and I know that for sure because she was recently included in the Hyde Park Art Center’s exhibition of fresh new MFA holders called Ground Floor. I visited Mott at her new studio in Edgewater to meet her dog and talk to her about her new work. Pictures and interview follow:

Jessie Mott

Could you tell me about yourself and your history in Chicago?

I’m from New York (Queens, Long Island, Brooklyn, Manhattan – in that order). I spent my childhood obsessing over Madonna, writing short stories and painting plaster dog sculptures. I had lots of intense, visually stunning nightmares that have informed my work ever since. I went to NYU and majored in Studio Art for undergrad where I focused primarily on painting and drawing. It was an exciting time; the interdisciplinary nature of the program led me to explore both conventional and unconventional ways to expand my practice. I took five years off before deciding to go back for an MFA. NYC makes it particularly challenging/daunting to afford studio space, student loans, art materials and rent. It seemed like such an unattainable luxury to get an MFA. There I worked (and continue to work) in non-profit fundraising/Development as well as make commissioned pet portraits (this used to be a secret but I am ok with it now).

When I had a spontaneous opportunity to move to Chicago in 2006 I took it. In January 2006, that is – right in the middle of winter. Although I was freezing, it was really thrilling to have a work space bigger than a broom closet for the first time in my life. I didn’t know anything about this city when I got here so I really tried to immerse myself in the art community. I was terribly excited when I found out I was accepted into Northwestern’s grad program. I used to think I would go back to New York as soon as I was done but Chicago feels like home now.

Jessie Mott, Coyote

Recently you were selected for the Hyde Park Art Center’s Group Floor, an exhibition featuring artists who have recently graduated from Chicago MFA programs. How was that? Did you get any feeling of shared interests, or overlap with other artists’ ideas or practices?

I thought the concept of the show was compelling, showing a wide range of work of recent grads coming out of ALL the various academic institutions in Chicago. I certainly got a sense of shared interests and explorations but was relieved to not necessarily walk away identifying a “Chicago style.” Certain juxtapositions worked better than others but there were some interesting dialogs happening. HPAC takes risks that are important for artists working in this city.

Jessie Mott, Untitled

Your work has gone through a lot of changes since you started at Northwestern. What can you tell me about the paintings you’re doing now, and how did you arrive at them?

I tend to work on a lot of different things at the same time. I might have an oil painting going on in one corner of the studio, various ink drawings on paper covering the floor and walls, collage elements in various states of articulation, and weird bits of writing scattered within a hundred different little notebooks. Right now I am trying to focus on these drawings of fantasy animal hybrids. I am spending more time with each piece and slowing down. For some reason I tend to work frantically on the oil paintings. They are small but frantic, nonetheless.

When I entered the MFA program I was making small oil paintings on panel. They hovered somewhere between figuration and abstraction (I know that’s not saying much) but always began with a human/animal subject. The paintings were dark and broody with a pretty specific palette. I tried to abandon what I was comfortable with and explore other surfaces, materials and color palettes. One day I tossed the red/green aside and forced myself to make a yellow painting. It was such a strangely simple idea but it changed everything. I also got tired of the rigid wood panels and started working on paper. I loved the texture and vulnerability of it.

Jessie Mott, Black Horse

Jessie Mott, Untitled

The themes in the work have remained consistent but the imagery has shifted quite a bit. I was really inspired by the writing workshop I took with Steve Reinke during my first year. I came up with a ‘dialog between animals’ one week - I wrote this sort of absurdist script and asked my classmates to read the parts out loud. I illustrated the characters and it became a regular thing. It was a really fun process but it also tapped into this important new shift that was occurring in my work. Later Steve and I collaborated on an animation called “EVERYBODY” based on those scripts. I recorded the voices and made the drawings and he made an incredible soundtrack and animated the drawings. We recently made a second piece called “Blood and Cinnamon” that will be debuting soon. I am interested in pursuing other collaborations and also creating installations that involve multi-sensory components. But painting is really at the heart of my practice.

Jessie Mott

If you’d like to see more of Jessie Mott, check out her new show Menagerie opening this Friday, October 1st from 6:30-9:30 PM @ Center on Halsted, 3656 N. Halsted.

Interview – Nick Gilhool on casting Bravo’s Work of Art, Season 2

Steve Ruiz — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 03:10:53 +0000

I got on the phone this week with Nick Gilhool, senior vice president in casting for Magical Elves, and the guy who will be bringing Work of Art’s casting call to Chicago next Friday and maybe a few Chicago artists to Work of Art. You may remember him from this interview he did last year with Art Fag City, but that was back in the halcyon days, before the #workofart tweetstorms and everything else.

I certainly had some questions, which are the ones in bold below.

Nicholas Frank, IT GETS GOOD

Was your company the same one that did the casting in Chicago last season?

Yeah, we’re basically the in-house casting arm of Magical Elves, which is one of the two production companies that did Work of Art. We’re excited to come back there because Chicago was really great for us and in particular SAIC was very welcoming. We got lots of great artists there last time we came out.

What has it been like to be with the show from the beginning, then to see the response it got?

It’s been interesting to see people’s reactions to the possibility of the show, and then to the actuality of the show, and now the reaction to it. There have been some understandable reactions, some pleasant surprises, and some people who were more happy with what they hoped would be true than what actually happened.

It was fun to have a national watercooler topic of conversation. Normally in art we don’t have one, so a lot of that energy came out pretty strong.

Yeah, I think everyone who I talked to then, and now up to the casting for the second season - everyone’s talking about it. Whether you hate it or love to hate it or were very interested in it or had a mixed feeling about it or loved it, at least people are talking about it. A lot of people in the art world seem to be thrilled that that’s the case, no matter what they themselves thought about it.

I want to get back to some of that response in a second, but first I want to ask about the judges. Who will be on the judging panel this year?

Well Simon de Pury is going to be back – he headed up our casting panel last time around, and he’s going to do so again. Typically we don’t release the names of the people who are going to be there ahead of time, and then only with their permission afterwards, but it’s safe to say that they’re names that people will know. In each market we rely on people who have great reputations in that city for identifying exciting emerging artists, and whose business it is on a daily basis to see evolving and emerging artists, and also less-known artists who’ve already sort of emerged.

So local curators, gallerists?

Yeah, those kinds of people. Artists also.

When you’re doing the casting, do you ever contact people you think should come in? Do you ever find cast apart from the casting calls?

Sort of – we do reach out to people in the art community who know a lot more than we do to get their recomendations about who to contact, but even those people have to go through the same process.

Do you personally have any history with art? Do you collect? Do you have friends who are artists?

No, not really. One of the things I love about my job is that I can pretty much come in as an amateur in all the fields where we do various shows and occupy various spaces, and by the end of it at least hope to be a knowledgeable amateur as opposed to knowing nothing. That’s why we rely on people who have a long history in whatever world we’re in, like in the art world, to help us get it right.

How have your feelings on the art world been changed by this show?

It’s a fascinating world. I love the prospect of dipping my toes in the art world. It’s a lively and very human place, and there’s so much going on in it. I think that anytime people take on expressing their own voice, through whatever medium, I think you’re going to get some amazing results. That’s why it’s really fun to look at things and have these experiences. It’s been fabulous. But I haven’t yet started to put my uh, vast wealth behind any artist if that’s what you’re asking. (laughs)

Ok, so let’s talk about some of those complaints that some of the art world has had with the show. I remember right at the start everyone asking about all the painters on the show. Are you looking for more varied media this time around?

I think that’s just how it came out last season. It’s a very subjective process – and we never represent that as any different – and in that process the people who floated to the top happened to have a collection of media that could have been more diverse, and in the coming seasons – hopefully – uh, we were excited last year and we’re excited this year just to open it up to everyone and see what rises to the top. Every time it’s kind of a new experience. But yeah, we really want to have present in our process the most current things going on in the art world from year to year.

So the painters were just the most interesting last year?

I don’t why that happened honestly; I guess that’s the way it shook out. It’s interesting, my impression going into it that painters were kind of — you know, as someone who knew nothing, I wasn’t expecting to have a lot of straight-on painters. And suddenly we did, but it happened very organically. We don’t tend to do too much micro-managing unless something’s brazenly out of whack, and that’s just something that happened on its own and we kept it as it was.

A lot of talk I heard was about the way reality TV treats identity, and how in the art world we have a big problem with people getting reduced to single-word identities. I know a lot of artists who hate the fact that they’re known or feel like they’re known as black artists, or gay artists, or street artists, etc. Trying to get beyond that is very hard for them, and that a reality TV show like Work of Art only encourages that, since you kind of have to pigeon-hole your actors to make them characters. What are your thoughts about that?

I think it’s something that we’re aware of. One thing we try to do is have our shows be accessible to a wide audience, and sometimes it’s an overly simplistic thing to say that maybe people will only watch people like themselves, but its part of the mix. There are lots of different kinds of variety and diversity, and ways of looking at diversity. One of them, in the art world, is the medium you’re expressing yourself in. And I think moving forward there can be more diversity in that, and I think that’s going to be an important issue.

I think as far as words like male and female, white, people of color… often what we want is stories that come from different voices, and one of the things that still means something in our culture, unfortunately or not, is someone’s experiences according to what who other people see them as. It’s a pretty complex answer to a pretty complex question, but I think the important thing to take away is that art is a fascinating action because it gives voice to what people are thinking and feeling on the inside, and if you can get a great diversity of actors – the artists – then you will have a very interesting collection of people to watch and to see what they’re doing.

Let’s talk about the paper application. Did you have any part in it?

(laughs) Yes. Ok, what are the complaints? What have people been saying? What occurs to you when you think of that application? Other than, you know, good lord…

Well, aside from the ten pages of legalese -

Yeah, that I can’t take responsibility for, thank god.

Well, first question is, is this the same one that was submitted last year? Were there some changes?

By and large it’s the same one we used last year. If you can believe it, we actually tried to cut some things down. So it’s shorter maybe? But we ask a lot of things – and just as an apology, or explanation, we ask a lot of things because we want to know a lot of things about the people we’re going to spend five weeks with. There’s never a right way to do it; you never how a person will react to a question. Sometimes a person will tell you something you never would have guessed had you just talked to them for five minutes. So we take lots of different angles to get at the same objective, which again is just trying to get to know people as well as humanly possible in a short amount of time. It’s really not as much a science as it is an art. We’re trying to do something impossible, which is trying to get to know somebody as well as we can.

I know one of the things I noticed – and which I didn’t expect – when I sort of entered into the art world is how generally friendly everyone is. So it was entertaining to see the more angry questions on the application like Who do you think is over-rated? What dealer would you most like to punch in the face? Maybe that last one wasn’t on there…

But that’s the interpretation, sure. (laughs) Well actually we ask those same questions in all the worlds we’re in, like the food world, or the cooking world. A question like that about who’s over-rated actually elicits a lot of pointed barbs in the food world. In the art world, it didn’t – I think you’re right, I think there are some generalities that you can apply, even though you shouldn’t, and one of them is that people are angry. You know, artists are really focused on their own work, and they’re really enthusiastic about other people. It’s not really so much about the hating as it is about the – oh, this is… I can’t believe I’m about to say this – about the creating.

Awwwful.

“It’s not about the hating, it’s about the creating.” Ugh, that kind of sucks that I just said that.

Ok, so let’s say I show up to the Sullivan Galleries on the 22nd wanting to be America’s next top artist. What advice would you have? What can I pass along to the people who will be reading this?

One thing that’s very important – really read the requirements posted on bravotv.com/casting, and download the application on the first page; there are some very clear instructions there to follow. Beyond that, bring a portfolio that is easy to present and for someone who is reviewing it to get through. Put your best foot forward so that someone can get a sense of what you’re about in a really short amount of time. There’s no mistaking that this is a very quick kind of process, and very subjective. I’m sure a lot of people slip through the cracks that are outstandingly talented, but we’re just doing what we can do to kind of capture people who are doing exciting work for the show. I think people should come with a lot of patience, and bring some water because it could be big numbers. We’re set up for that, but you know, we’re only human and we’re trying to get through this as quickly as we can while trying to give everyone the chance to show, since they spent the time to come out. I think that covers it.

What is the interview process like? Is it a tiered system?

Yeah, not everybody makes it past the first part, and not everyone gets called back, and not everybody goes onto the next stage which is sending in material that we ask for. So there’s the open call, and then there’s the call back, then there’s a semi-finalist kind of thing, then there’s the finalists, and then there’s the cast. It is a tiered system and at each stage there is something different that we’re asking from the person. But aside from bringing in their own work in a clear and good light for them, there’s really nothing anyone can prepare, because it’s all stuff we’ll be asking for. People will have to just have to roll with it.

You mentioned big numbers – how many people did you have show up last year?

We had over four hundred come out last year in Chicago. We had 1700 people come out total, and that was before anybody had seen the show or knew about it, so who knows. This could be big.

Well there’s a chance I’ll be there – don’t tell anyone though. Any last thoughts?

The biggest thing we want people to know is that whoever thinks this could be something positive for them, we’re here to support you. It’s not for everybody, but you’d be surprised. This is – there are snowflakes in the art world just like it is anywhere else, you know, to get from where you’re not living on to where you are making a living from selling your art and doing shows. And if this could do that for some people, then fantastic, and we would love to see some exciting art and see some exciting things happen. We did last time and I’m sure we will this time.

(Steve Ruiz)

Interview – Montgomery Perry Smith

Steve Ruiz — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 16:36:30 +0000

Last week I visited the studio of Chicago artist Montgomery Perry Smith, who’s captain-of-industry name gives good cover for a delicate and softly disturbing fiber-heavy sculpture practice. I’d first run into his work at a show at the (now closed) Humboldt Park apartment gallery MVSEVM, where his interactive papasan-and-felt sculpture Soul Searching was a complete creepy success, and after spotting his name on the fall season’s opening weekend roster with a solo show at Johalla Projects, asked to come by for some photos and a short interview. Enjoy.

Montgomery Perry Smith

Could you tell me about yourself and your history in Chicago?

I came to Chicago from Dallas, TX in 2004 to get my BFA at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. I originally planned on studying drawing and painting, but quickly moved to the Fiber and Material Studies department. When I graduated in 2008, I started to get involved with the Harold Arts Residency and have worked closely with them since.

Montgomery Perry Smith

You use a lot of found materials in your work – decorative flowers, glass domes, furniture parts, etc. Where do you hunt for these, and what attracts you to certain items? Do you generally set off knowing what you’re looking for, or do the pieces follow the objects you find?

I find most of my materials at thrift and craft stores. Sometimes I’ll have a specific object to find when I’m making a piece, but a couple pieces have been inspired by the random items I come across. These objects tend to be strange yet familiar, and carry their own loaded history.

Montgomery Perry Smith

Your pieces can be really confrontational, and some (like Soul Searcher or Bottom Feeder) sort of loom in space in a freaky way, but the materials you use and the internal parts also invite up-close interaction. How do you want viewers to engage with your work?

I want viewers to get up close and explore my pieces. Many of them have hidden pockets and crevices that require further inspection. I like these different layers of exploring; there will always be the photographed image of the piece, but the viewer needs to have their face up in it to fully engage it.

Montgomery Perry Smith, oh honey baby (detail)

Could you describe a piece you’re working on now?

I’m finishing up a piece for the “pit worship” show right now. It has a baby blue pallet and a lot of lace and daisies. It’s very celebratory but sickening at the same time.

Montgomery Perry Smith

If you’d like to see more of Montgomery Perry Smith, check out his new show Pit Worship opening this Saturday, September 11th from 7-11 PM @ Johalla Projects, 1561 N Milwaukee Ave.

Interview: Shawnee Barton

Steve Ruiz — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 18:07:09 +0000

I recently interviewed artist Shawnee Barton for a short profile piece @ Newcity. Here’s the whole interview here.

Shawnee Barton, What Color Is My Parachute?

Lets talk about your new show Artist: Unemployed at LivingRoom gallery, which addresses your experience as an artist during the current recession. How has the function of your practice changed since day jobs started disappearing?

On a practical level the recession has helped my practice. Because I can’t find employment, I have more time to make work. I’ve also started thinking about the cost of materials more, which is an important consideration when you are making art about being unemployed.

Conceptually, the recession hasn’t changed my practice a lot either. When I am spending a lot of time thinking and researching a certain problem, issue or idea, it usually works it’s way into my art. If I am fully obsessed with an idea, I can make an installation full of pieces while trying to work through individual components of complex issues. In the past I’ve made installations about consumption, relationship dynamics, the creation of self-identity, and this time around it is about the recession and my inability to get a job.

There are many artists out there making work about the economy on a macro level by doing things like taking photographs of foreclosed homes, writing narratives about failing industries, etc. I chose to address it in a much more personal and therapeutic way because for me the easiest way to tackle big issues in life and art is to bring it down to a personal level and to keep a sense of humor.

I started thinking about the recession during the last election while was serving on Obama’s national arts policy committee. I want to live in a culturally rich country and to help people understand why it is important to have art in their lives. I also worry about what is going to happen to the scores of unemployable art school grads who owe tens of thousands of dollars in student loans, and I passionately hope that the Obama administration will create an artists corps. This will help both of the above issues. When kids learn about and make art in school, they appreciate art as adults. It is a very simple cause and effect relationship that is supported by research. And when the American work force is filled with adults that have been trained to think creatively and to use innovation throughout their lives, our country will prosper.

Shawnee Barton, Pink Slip

A lot of your pieces are really funny, with a lot of clever comic timing elements alongside more serious issues. What role does humor play in your work?

I use humor in my work for a number of reasons.

In general, I don’t like art that takes itself too seriously. Humor allows me to address serious topics without making work that feels heavy-handed or angst-y.

Humor also makes art accessible to a wider audience. I loved that there were a couple kids playing with my art at the opening last Friday. This kind of inclusiveness is important to me. Just because art is fun or funny doesn’t mean it’s simple or dumb. It can be complex and offer something different to different people.

Finally, I use humor as a coping mechanism. As a kid, I was most attracted to the circus clowns with tears painted on their faces. This contradiction still feels relevant because it reminds me that there is just a fine line between humor and tragedy. Humor connects us, and it allows us to relate with one another. It’s a tool that makes discussing difficult topics easier. All of the work in this show was inspired by the genuine sentiment that if I stop laughing, even for just a moment, I will surely start crying. On one level, my bike piece is just a funny and elaborate pun on the title of a cliche self-help book. But creating a sculpture about pedaling a bike while never getting anywhere also provided me a metaphorical outlet to cope with my own frustrating, depressing, indulgent, and seemingly never-ending existential crisis.

Shawnee Barton, Embroidery

I always like learning about artists’ hobbies, and you’re rumored to be a pretty solid card player. Has your experience as a winsome poker player influenced your work or your practice, or do you consider them two entirely separate pursuits?

There are some cross-overs between art and poker in my life. I learned a lot about the game while I was in art school. My good friend Ross Moreno, who finished his MFA in sculpture, and I were at a game that got busted by the police while we were at SAIC. The buy in was only $20, and I remember that feeling that it seemed pretty ridiculous for cops to spend their time on such trivial things.

I was also the teaching assistant for Jim McManus’s Literature of Poker class during both years of my MFA program. As graduation present to myself, I entered a World Series of poker event and ended up finishing second out of 1200 players. Jim was in Vegas then, and he also made a final table that year. It was really special to share such an exciting moment with him. He has been such a great mentor to me—even though he doesn’t cut me any slack at the poker table. He recently included an interesting anecdote about a bluff I made during that 2006 WSOP tournament in Cowboys Full. It meant a lot to me to be included in that book because it is very special to those of us in the poker community since it is the most complete written history of the game we love.

I haven’t made any art about poker. They feel like pretty separate endeavors, and I am not the best at balancing both in my life at the same time. During the summers, when I play the most poker, I don’t make any art. And in the weeks before a show goes up, I don’t play cards for big money. Mentally, I don’t think I can do both well at the same time. They both take a lot of focus and encourage obsession. I don’t really know how to do things half way, and when I am playing cards regularly, the first things I think about when I wake up are hands that I have recently played. And when I am making a lot of art, I am trying to reconcile issues in pieces I am working on right up until the moment I fall asleep in bed each night.

I do write a lot about poker though. I am currently working on “Roaming Blog” project where I keep a blog on other people’s blogs. I have a post on feminism and poker in a new blog at Bad at Sports called “Off Topic”. I wrote this story when I was living in Chicago and playing professionally.

There is a new casino near Chicago with a thriving poker room, but in most parts of the country, the bad economy has hurt the games. Less people are entering tournaments and fewer people have extra money to throw around. These things make it a much harder way to make a living. Because of this, I am not playing as much now. I have had to spend a lot of my bankroll on art and living expenses. But hopefully when the economy turns around, I will be able to find a job in the arts or get back to the tables full-time again.

Shawnee Barton

Shawnee Barton’s Artist: Unemployed shows until Saturday, January 9^th at LivingRoom Gallery, 1530 West Superior Street.