Here is just a slice of what I’m planning to see at this weekend’s Artropolis/Art Chicago events. There is so much going on, make sure to click through to the Fair’s website to check out everything on offer for yourself.
At NEXT, The Invitational Exhibition of Emerging Art:
GOFFO
“GOFFO, a special section that debuted at NEXT 2008, focuses on multiples, editions, artist books, prints and handmade objects. GOFFO returns to NEXT 2009 with an exceptional curated selection of presses, artist collectives and small galleries. Find it on the 7th floor of the Merchandise Mart.”
At Art Chicago:
Partisan
“Curated by Mary Jane Jacob, executive director of exhibitions at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Partisan is a special exhibition of works culled from Art Chicago galleries that are dedicated to the artistic exploration of social and political ideas. With hopes of initiating dialogue about art, activism and social change, Partisan provides a critical and challenging space of thought provoking and project-oriented works within an art fair context.”
The Hairy Who and Imagist Legacy in Contemporary Art
“To honor Chicago’s legendary Hairy Who and Chicago Imagists, artists best known for a colorful and subversive aesthetic, Art Chicago will present an exhibition of works by contemporary artists whose work demonstrates an Imagist influence, whether it is for an unusual approach to representation, rebellious technique or link to the Imagist lineage. This exhibition, featuring work by artists represented in the fair, will be curated for Art Chicago by Lynne Warren, curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago and expert on the history of artistic practice in Chicago. The Hairy Who and Imagist Legacy will be accompanied by a display of works by original Hairy Who and Imagist artists including Roger Brown, Ed Paschke, Karl Wirsum, Barbara Rossi, Gladys Nilsson, Art Green and others.”
New Insight
“An exhibition of top MFA students from some of the country’s most influential graduate art programs, New Insight is curated by Susanne Ghez, director of the Renaissance Society at the University of Chicago. A platform for new talent and innovative ideas, New Insight provides the opportunity to view work by some of the brightest young minds working in diverse graduate programs across the country.”
JELLY ROLL : The Spectacle
An ongoing performance presented by Tara Strickstein of Bloodshed Event.
Artropolis Panels/Discussions/Talks:
There are also so many good panels planned for Art Chicago Speaks that I’m worried I won’t have enough time to see all the art; these are just a few of the many talks I’m hoping to attend, but make sure and click the link about and check out the full diverse roster of conversational topics, it’s really pretty incredible.
11am – 12:30pm: Friday, May 1
Crisis and Opportunity: Programming and Exhibitions in the New Economy
A CONVERGE Chicago: Contemporary Curators Forum program
In recent months, museums and art centers have been forced to shave budgets, reduce programs and exhibitions, and even cut hours and staff. Many curators, however, are successfully and creatively mounting ambitious and well-executed projects. In this panel, curators discuss innovative uses of the exhibition space and fresh approaches to programming that are fueled by big ideas rather than big budgets. Moderated by Brian Sholis, Artforum, this panel includes Ruba Katrib, Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami, Dean Sobel, the Clyfford Still Museum and Benjamin Godsill, The New Museum.
Location: NEXT Talk Shop
2:30-4pm, Saturday, May 2
Museums on the Line: Cutbacks, Closures and Opportunities
A CONVERGE Chicago: Contemporary Curators Forum program
Michael Rush, director of the Rose Museum of Art at Brandeis University, a discussion about how recent and dramatic shifts in the economic and political climate have profoundly affected virtually every aspect of museum practice. Panelists include Anthony Hirschel, director of the Smart Museum of Art at the University of Chicago and artist Mary Lucier. Using Rose Museum de-accessioning controversy as a starting point for an extended dialogue, this panel will address museum de-accessioning practices; the symbolic value of public collections; institutional transparency; and the role of the museum in tough times.
Location: Merchandise Mart Conference Center
11-12:30pm: Sunday, May 3
Art and the New Economy
Presented by ArtTable
Join Paul Morris, Vice President of the MMPI Art Group, for a discussion about art and the changing economy. Focusing on positive and effective ways to navigate challenging times, this discussion will explore funding, collecting and the market. Panelists include Sarah Herda, executive director of the Graham Foundation, Rhona Hoffman, Rhona Hoffman Gallery, and Dominic Molon, MCA Chicago.
Location: Merchandise Mart Conference Center
1-2:30pm, Monday, May 4
Response: Art and the Art of Criticism
Presented by I Space Gallery, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign in conjunction with the Chicago Art Critics Association
This panel addresses art criticism as the center of a resonant, disorderly and critical cultural conversation that fosters dialogue about the place of visual art in the contemporary world. Based on a related exhibition at I Space, this panel will feature Chicago-based critics from the show hich includes Fred Camper, Janina Ciezadlo, Alicia Eler, Jason Foumberg, Claire Wolf Krantz, Corey Postiglione, Lane Relyea, Polly Ullrich and Lori Waxman.
Location: Merchandise Mart Conference Center
- Michelle Grabner, Anthony Elms, Stuart Comer Named Curators of 2014 Whitney Biennial - November 29, 2012
- New Fielding Practice Podcast on the Art21 Blog! Episode 16: Summer Review-O-Rama! - July 19, 2012
- Tom Sanford is a Busy Man…Here’s Why - June 12, 2012
Are there any places online to score free passes this year?
exerpt from “A Freak Show Of Conspicuous Consumption” No More – sharkforum
How many people reading this are even aware of the existence of ‘The Society For Contemporary Art’ James Rondeau’s own little fawning coterie of societal sycophants? Presided over by one Ms Deborah Lovely, bubble head bleached blondes in tow……ever heard the one about Carroll Dunham coming to town and the woman throwing the Societies party for him racing out to buy a couple of his works (at how many 100ks a pop?) for the evenings window dressing? Does anyone really believe this same person or these people, ever gives any thoughtful, serious support to anything? Let alone anything created here in lowly Chicago?
….Every year these people purchase new contemporary art for the Art Institute: anyone here in Chicago (conceptual clones/pet artists excluded-) ever had them by for a look? Of course not! They are busy flitting of to NYC to lunch with GoGo (Larry Gagosian) and pick up some expensive piece of pedigreed NYC pablum…Look at the host committee for this years Art Chicago: its a veritable who’s who of these very people -the ones that got us to where we are. The ones that helped cause an art world here so diminished, so marginalized and degraded, that the Chicago Tribune thought nothing of terminating Alan Artner, the one remaining art critic working for a major publication here in Chicago. The socialites, the middlemen, of a failed situation, the Deborah Lovely’s, Hamza Walkers, Suzanne Ghezs, these are the people the Mart has turned to, the apparatchiks -rather than the artists, or art. This is why Tony walked away, and why I am now doing so as well. With the huge changes happening in the art world, the bursting bubble of the international art market, the growing ascendancy of the internet, of artists taking charge of their own situations, who wants to hang with these losers? Why would anyone want to go to a panel on how to survive in this new economy -when those on the panel are the problem, are exactly what needs to get lost?
http://www.artropolischicago.com/eblast/eb_artropolis_12763_032409
Thank you Richard.
Sorry I forgot to put it up earlier!