Interviewees: Alma Weiser, director of Heaven Gallery; Janet Dees, Steven and Lisa Munster Tananbaum curator of modern and contemporary art at the Block Museum of Art; Asha Iman Veal, associate curator at the Museum of Contemporary Photography; Teresa Silva, executive and artistic director of the Chicago Artists Coalition; Edra Soto, artist and codirector of the […]
Category: Art Feature
Posted inArts & Culture
A theft hidden in plain sight for decades
The greater Englewood area has been subject to land theft for over 80 years. It’s apparent when you see boarded-up windows and overgrown weeds that cover the community. Empty houses abound, a legacy of the impact that racism has had on the area for years, vacant lots indicating opportunities withheld from aspiring Black homeowners. It’s […]
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Occupying the moment
Dr. Maura Reilly is a curator who understands feminist art. It is one of the reasons she was chosen to curate a historic exhibition at Bridgeport Art Center as a part of the 50th anniversary celebration of the Women’s Caucus for Art (WCA). The organization put out a call for self-identified women artists based in […]
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Black joy ‘Is where it’s at!’
When artist Adeshola Makinde thinks about the work in his current exhibition, it’s a giant, larger-than-life canvas image of the legendary Louis Armstrong—Makinde’s largest-scale piece he’s done to date—that rises to the top of his favorites list. “To me, [Armstrong] represented unrelenting optimism, amidst what I could imagine was pretty, pretty unbearable things that he […]
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‘We would like to help’
We started with a bang. In January, a mob of supporters of the last presidential administration attacked the United States Capitol building in D.C., grabbing lecterns, posting selfies, and leaving a trail of confusion and “released on own recognizance” privilege in their wake. And it’s possible 2021 will end with a whimper. The new Omicron […]
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Exploring the Terrain
The fall art season has been underway since the beginning of September, but some Chicago art lovers have been waiting for a recent tradition to kick off to mark the start of their autumnal art appreciation. This year marks the fifth iteration of the Terrain Biennial, a (mostly) outdoor and multisite exhibition of artist projects […]
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The midwest, tweet by tweet
When Josh Lipnik answers the phone for our interview, he’s pulled over on a drive to Cleveland, on his way to take photos for his popular Midwest Modern Twitter account (62,500 followers and counting). Think of Midwest Modern like a photographic road trip through the region. Lipnik hunts out the hidden gems beyond the city […]
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When art and life are intertwined
“What kind of a community do you want to live in?” That question, which can be found on the Stockyard Institute’s home page, is at the core of the organization’s identity. Founded by Jim Duignan in 1995, the Stockyard Institute is part civics project, part art practice, and wholly an experiment in liberatory social practice […]
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A Black art renaissance in Lawndale
There’s a painting hanging on the wall at Art West, an art space on the west side. The painting depicts a woman with an afro, while fake plants and ivies hang from the walls to help bring the exhibit alive. Inside her hair, butterflies point their wings toward the sky as they take flight within […]
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Postcards from a stranger
You may have seen one of Jenny Lam’s blank, prestamped, self-addressed postcards affixed to a light pole or on a bookstore shelf somewhere in the city. The postcards always feature the same prompt: “Tell me one thing you dream of doing before you die. Use this card as your canvas.” Lam, a Chicago-based artist and […]
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You can follow me @frida_kahlo
Does the “Frida Kahlo: Timeless” exhibition and others like it go too far in their pursuit of bigger audiences?
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An examination of the self and of others
The new art space, Juliet Art House, introduces the work of Rebecca Baruc.
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PopCultivator wants to lead comic book creators in the right direction
The new crowdfunded business specializes in matching comic book creators with publishers.
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Drawing beyond the margins
Black cartoonists from Chicago are featured in a new book and included in a new exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago.