Nitty Gritty

The Chicago Artists Coalition is proud to present Nitty Gritty, a HATCH Projects exhibition of new works by Alejandro T. Acierto, Kayla Anderson, and Blair Bogin, and curated by Sadie Woods.

Nitty Gritty features artists who examine the modus operandi of ritual, preservation, and paradoxical longings through sculpture, sound, photography, video, and installation. Through these works, concerns of the social, ecological, and alternative practices come to light.

Exploring the significance of the human voice as a communicative tool, Alejandro T. Acierto considers narratives of marginalized identities and histories through the use of breath. As a play on futuristic archaeology, Kayla Anderson stores organic objects in acrylic reliquaries as a speculation on the contradictory practices of environmentalism and preservation. Blair Bogin generates documentary-based combinations of photography, video, and writing with a series of interpretive astrological charts, where esoteric divination meets folk psychology. In this work, Bogin narrates her life to accentuate individual characteristics with poetics, humor, and an aptitude for expression.

Acierto, Anderson, and Bogin query notions of community, survivalist cultures, and identity formation in the exhibition, Nitty Gritty. You are cordially invited to attend the opening reception on Friday, October 23 from 6 – 9pm. Participating artist Blair Bogin will host her monthly Wax Long, a full moon storytelling event, at the Chicago Artist Coalition on Monday, October 26 from 7 – 9pm.

WAX LONG / Hunter’s Moon (in Taurus)

A night of bare hands, blood and blades for food, recreation or trade under full HUNTER’S MOON. This month featuring scary tales and performances by local artists, acrobats & unexpected apparitions.

Gathering in various apartments, venues, urban farms and parks around the city of Chicago, Wax Long invites the community to share personal stories, found folklore or performances that coincide with the seasonal themes of the full moon. If interested in ever hosting or telling tale, email [email protected]

ARTISTS BIO

Alejandro T. Acierto is an artist and musician working in time-based media.  He has exhibited his work at the Film Society of Lincoln Center, Issue Project Room, Participant, Salisbury University, SOMArts and presented performance works at the Brooklyn International Performance Art Festival, Center for Performance Research, Center for New Music and Technology, and Slingshot Festival for Music, Art & Technology. Acierto has held residencies at Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, Banff Centre, and High Concept Laboratories. He is currently a 2014-15 HATCH Projects artist-in-residence and a 2015 FT/FN/FG Consortium Fellow at the University of Chicago. Acierto received his undergraduate degree from DePaul University, a MM from Manhattan School of Music,  an MFA in New Media Arts from University Illinois at Chicago, is a recipient of the Kranichsteiner Musikpreis at the Darmstadt Festival for New Music, and founding member of contemporary chamber orchestra Ensemble Dal Niente in Chicago.

Kayla Anderson is an interdisciplinary artist and writer. She received her BFA with dual emphasis in Film, Video, and New Media and Fiber & Material Studies in 2013 and her BA in Visual and Critical Studies in 2014 from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Her work has been exhibited in venues throughout the United States and abroad including Currents International New Media Festival, West Virginia Mountaineer Short Film Festival, Regis Center for Art,; Detroit Center for Contemporary Photography, Grey Projects, N?i Projects, Johalla Projects, Tritriangle, Woman Made Gallery, The Nightingale Cinema, and the Museum of Contemporary Art. Her writing has been published by Leonardo Journal & MIT Press and presented at SIGGRAPH 2014, SIGGRAPH 2015 and the Interdisciplinary Humanities Center at the UCSB. Anderson is a 2014-15 HATCH Projects artist-in-residence, a 2015 Visual Arts Fellow of the Luminarts Cultural Foundation, and recently completed residencies at ACRE and Elsewhere.

Blair Bogin is an interdisciplinary artist living in Chicago. She earned a BA from Indiana University Bloomington and an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She is founder and host of Wax Long, a full moon performance event in Chicago, Illinois. Additionally, she conducts Circle for Square, a pop-up community art space at the Logan Square Farmers Market. She is a William Merchant R. French Fellowship recipient, a 2015 Edes Foundation Fellowship Nominee and a recent artist-in-residence at HATCH Projects, ACRE, Elsewhere Museum, Ox-Bow, Platte Forum Colorado, Spread Art Detroit & Hub14 Performance in Toronto.

CURATOR BIO

Sadie Woods earned her BA in music at Columbia College. She participated in Ecole du Magasin’s international curatorial program in France, received a Visual Arts Certificate from the University of Chicago Graham School, and has exhibited work at Anchor Graphics, Chicago History Museum, City of Chicago, and Hyde Park Art Center. Woods has performed nationally and internationally as a deejay for cultural institutions and tastemakers 3Arts, 6018North, Alliance of Artist Communities, Audience Architects, Chicago Cultural Center, EXPO, Chicago Humanities Festival, Chicago Public Art group, Jane Addams Hull-House Museum, Magasin-CNAC, Make Music Chicago, Marwen, Museum of Contemporary Art, National Museum of Mexican Art, Ragdale Foundation, Rebuild Foundation, Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts, and the School of the Art Institute while holding residencies throughout Chicago. Woods is a 2014-15 HATCH Projects resident curator and is currently pursuing her MFA in Sound at the School of the Art Institute. Her practice includes exhibition making, theater sound design, and participation in collaborations within communities of difference.

http://www.chicagoartistscoalition.org/programs/hatch-projects/nitty-gritty