Ok, so today's post is basically entirely lifted from a clever email I got from Spoke this morning, but they say what they want to say well, and I just want to get the word out about this sure-to-be entertaining event, So, You Think You Can Paint?  Deadlines are approaching, so if you're interested in participating, get on it!  And let CGN know if you DO participate so we can follow up on the blog...


From Spoke:

So, You Think You Can Paint? is at once a project to take the anthropological pulse of the city of Chicago where artists, hobbyists, enthusiasts, professionals, and naysayers have a leveled playing field to exhibit their work; and second an irreverent look at the competitive framework network television promotes. The entire project is a timely reinterpretation of the reality judging show So You Think You Can Dance (Fox July 20, 2005 - present)  mixed with a dash of Art Star (Gallery HD June 1, 2006 - July 19, 2006)  and a pinch of Work of Art (Bravo 2010 - present).  Just like those unscripted displays of genius, hidden talent, and atrocity on television, what happens next is entirely up to the participants with paintings, the judges, the camera...and only at Spoke can you be involved.

Big Plans for Chicago Art from the Chicago Loop Alliance (CLA) and the Unveiling of Tony Tasset's EYE & CARDINAL

This post is courtesy of CGN blog guest contributor, Laura Miller.

Despite the heat, many gathered in Pritzker Park Wednesday morning, at the corner of State and Van Buren, for the unveiling of internationally renowned contemporary artist Tony Tasset's  30-foot-tall EYE, and 156 of his CARDINAL State Street banners.  As the crowd approached they were greeted by a large shape covered with a mysterious white tarp bearing the logo for the Chicago Loop Alliance (CLA), the organization that coordinated Tasset's installation, as a part of the inaugural and hefty Art Loop 2010.  After some opening remarks by organizers and Tasset himself, the tarp was pulled away to reveal a shiny, stunning blue eyeball - red veins and all.  Made of steel reinforced fiberglass, the sculpture will be up through October 31.

CLA's Art Loop 2010 includes Tasset's installations, as well as free public programming at the Art Institute of Chicago, Pritzker Park (home to the EYE), Harold Washington Library, and the Chicago Cultural Center, and other programs and tours.  Pop-Up Art Loop is another component of Art Loop 2010 that has taken advantage of empty storefronts around the Loop and transformed them into makeshift gallery spaces, exhibits and studios.  The best way to tour Pop-Up Art Loop galleries, visit Tasset's EYE, or see many of the city's well known permanent public installations, including those by Calder, Miro, Chagall, Picasso and Anish Kapoor, download a tour map from the CLA website, or visit the ArchiCenter at 224 S. Michigan for an MP3 version.

Another CLA initiative, and something else to look forward to in October, is the launch of Art Loop Open.  The CLA and the Chicago Artists' Coalition will launch this free, interactive, multi-venue art installation in the Loop for two weeks, October 15-29.  Artists will exhibit their work at various venues and spaces in the Loop, and the public will vote on their favorites, awarding cash prizes to the artists with the most votes.

The CLA advocates for many of Chicago's most appealing historic and contemporary spaces in the Loop and focuses on bringing them together to support one another and showcase a more vibrant and flourishing area for Chicagoans and city visitors.

If you have your own photos of the EYE, please feel free to email them to info@chicagogallerynews.com and we'll post with your photo credit on the blog this week! 

A show of artist Tom Parish's latest work recently opened at Gruen Galleries, and it's a crowd-pleaser.  Parish just completed 15 large-scale scenes of real buildings in Venice, Italy. At the opening on June 4, the gallery itself was stifling from the heat, but just looking into the watery scenes of Parish's paintings helped refresh all the viewers in the gallery.

The paintings are technically beautiful, while also perfectly reminiscent of the feeling most visitors get when they've manage to break through the crazy crowds of tourists and find some peace and quiet in an ancient city. The scale in particular brings the works to life in the large gallery space. Viewers should take their time looking at building details, the age that shows in the peeling paint, the murkiness of the water, and the unique brightness that is so striking in the colors of Venice.  Parish's realist renderings reveal new dark corners as well as highlights of the city.

The 77 year-old Parish has had several shows at Gruen Galleries over the years, and his latest work will be a treat for anyone who's spent time in this city of water.  And if you have not been, this might make you want to book a ticket.

Art world watchers, insiders and pundits have been collectively buzzing for quite awhile about Bravo's newest endeavor, Work of Art.  And finally, the night has come: tonight, the show premiers (after the Blackhawks game, of course) and the rest of us get to see what the fuss is (hopefully) all about. 

There will be cheesy, camera-ready moments and lots of over-the-top themes and TV gimmicks, and there will be well-placed drama-magnets who drive us nuts.  Off the bat, I kind of can't stand the tag-line of 'the next great artist.' Ideally the show will challenge the contestants in productive, stimulating ways, and the audience will be enlightened about art production and inspiration.  However, this is, after all, intended to be commercial, and you're also dealing with artists who have egos large enough (or too big) to fit on TV.  

But the art world always wishes for more attention for its emerging talent, and TV is the world's common stage.  We just have to see what happens this time around.  And if people really hate it after they've seen it, well, that's still a lot to think and talk about...

We all know the reality TV drill by now, and Bravo's the network that's shown everyone else how things should be done.  How the hour-long frenzied competitions will play out in the context of the art world is yet to be seen, but the line-up of judges and contestants is solid-enough that it's worth paying attention for awhile. Jerry Saltz?  Simon de Pury, anyone? But as we all know, as long as there's enough drama and flair and ticking clocks, we'll pay attention - if not during the original run, who doesn't love a marathon? 

But the real tip here for anyone reading this blog is that several artists on the show have strong Chicago ties, and hopefully they'll all be fun to root for.  The clock is ticking!

Watch out for the following contestants (as always, sometimes I miss things, so leave any comments or suggestions for me and I'll update the blog!)

• Peregrine Honig (definitely known in Chicago, though Kansas City-based)
• Ryan Schultz (Northwestern Grad - exhibited at Flat Iron Building, Zhou B Art Center)
• John Parot (check out his show at Western Exhibitions in the West Loop!)
• Jaime Lynn Henderson (recent MFA from SAIC; showed at Around the Coyote and CAC) 

Several openings are taking place this Friday, June 4, and one of the most colorful features the work of Martina Nehrling at Zg Gallery.  Just in time for the spring turning into summer, longer days and the general cheer that comes along with well-deserved and long-awaited nice weather, a new show of Nehrling's paintings and works on paper, What the Walls Heard, opens in River North. 

Nehrling's signature colors and short brushstrokes make up dizzying, rhythmic spells that engage and capture the viewer.  Martina states, "My paintings are visual rhythms inspired by the cacophony of daily life, at once the weight and the flimsiness of it.  Compelled by the pulsation of the beautiful and horrific relentlessly clashing, I create compositions of accumulation.  Grouped or tangled together, I use multiple distinct brushstrokes for their graphic directness, but highly saturated chroma in order to heighten the effect of color's imprecise language."

Nehrling received her BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC.)  Since she will be present at the opening on June 4, stop by to talk to her in person about color, and more. My office is very, very close to the gallery, and I walk by the gallery windows a few times a day.  I really like Nehrling's work and am looking forward to being so lucky as to see it on a daily basis soon.  And her work is worth remembering for the days (hopefully far away) when Chicago skies are anything but colorful...  And when those days come, if you can't afford to take one of her paintings home, at least there's a book! 

The start to summer for most people kicked off with Memorial Day weekend, but in the art world, our summer starts this Friday, June 4.  Dozens of galleries around the city open their doors to welcome gallery-goers and host new exhibitions during the nice weather. And as we all know, everything is more fun when it's warm outside in Chicago! 

A lot of openings take place in River North, and there is also a big event taking place at the Flat Iron Arts Building, and a few openings take place elsewhere in the city.  Start on the early side Friday evening (come on, it's a short week - make the most of it!) and then take advantage of al fresco dining in the neighborhoods while you can!

 
Don't miss Jim Waid's solo show at Jean Albano Gallery in River North, go see Tom Parish's paintings of Venice at Gruen Galleries, two artists at work at Roy Boyd Gallery, and stop in to see works by Toots Zynsky at Habatat Galleries.  Running a little later into the evening is the June smARTshow at the Flat Iron Building in Bucktown/Wicker Park. 

And also remember that Saturday is a big art tour day in the galleries. You can start out in River North in the morning, and then head to the West Loop for a tour led by McCormick Gallery in the afternoon! Tours are free and open to the public!

Tis the season for fundraisers and spring benefits!  And art benefits are particularly great all around since those who buy tickets come to support their favorite cause or institution, hang out with all their art world friends, and get what they really want - ART.  Silent auctions at art benefits are the best because, duh, they offer unique art at often-times reasonable prices while supporting the art organization in need.

And threewalls in particular knows how to throw a great party.  Last year, it was fangs, virgins and the undead partying at the Museum of Surgical Science.  This year the more-relatable, but still potentially randy, theme is Office Romance.  The event will feature live music by soul band Baby Alright, covert theater by Dog & Pony Theater Company, special performances by Naked Girls Reading and Justin Cooper, silent and live auction of over 80 artworks, M.C.'d by Scott Speh, and then shut the party down with a dance party by Chances Dances.

And, the party will be at a place most of you have never been to - The Library at 190 S. LaSalle. On the 40th floor!  If you're not a corporate office person (I've never worked in a cube, used the term 'circle back', flashed a badge to security, or taken an elevator more than 7 floors to get to work) then this is your chance - but way more fun: think Joan Holloway from Mad Men for a night.  According to the savvy event organizers, there is plenty tucked into the towering stacks of books, cubby holes and catwalks, as you over look the Sear's Tower and Lake Michigan...  This is an arty crowd, so get creative!

Artworks on auction include work by:  Andreas Fischer, Carrie Schneider, Jason Lazarus, Jessica Jackson Hutchins, Judith Brotman, Karen Reimer, Ken Fandell, Richard Hull, Stacia Yeapanis, Theaster Gates, and more.

If you can't wait, check out the very helpful auction website to start bidding now (a few previews are in the slideshow here.)  Or, if you can't make the event, make sure you enter your bids in advance and support threewalls wherever you are!

The Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago is hosting its 8th annual ArtFutura exhibition at Portals Gallery in River North this year, and tonight is the closing party.  If you have not yet attended, tonight is the night to mingle with other party guests, as well as patients from RIC.  Proceeds benefit the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago's Art Therapy program. Art Therapy is based on the belief that the creative process involved in the creation of art is healing and life-enhancing - making a difference in the lives of people with physical disabilities. Patient artwork is also on view as part of the exhibition.

The exhibition features work by 150 emerging and established artists, and James Rondeau, Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, The Art Institute of Chicago served as juror. This year's exhibition theme is 'Ability.'

The Closing Night Award Party on Thursday, May 20, will include music, cocktails, hors d'oeuvres, artwork for sale, and artists' awards will be announced and granted. Tickets will be available at the door.

For future reference, check the RIC's website in early 2011 for the call for artists for next year's event, or contact Eric Horner at ehorner@ric.org for more information.

Last week I wrote about life-sized photographs of swimming, naked people at Carrie Secrist Gallery, and starting this Friday evening, you can see larger-than-life horses by artist Deborah Butterfield at Zolla/Lieberman Gallery in River North.  Butterfield has been captivated by real horses her whole life; her awe-inspiring sculptures, first created out of plaster or ceramics, then lead, copper, and rusted steel, and eventually found wood cast in bronze, are included in major private and public collections around the country. 

The horses Deborah Butterfield creates are in a variety of poses - sometimes lying down, sometimes turning their heads or about to lower their heads for another bite of grass. But the poses may recall human mannerisms more than equine, spurring the viewer to consider horses, and animals, in a new way. 

Chicagoans are fortunate that a local gallery has represented Butterfield for such a long time, and in fact, Zolla/Lieberman's 3rd show featured Butterfield in 1976.  The late Roberta Lieberman and gallery co-owner Bob Zolla had decided that after holding two exhibitions featuring stars from Leo Castelli's gallery, and then James Rosenquist, they wanted to find a new artist.  And the partnership that began between Butterfield and the gallery, still exists today. 

Butterfield  casts pieces of driftwood in bronze, enhances each piece with just the right patina and then assembles them to create her life-like, dynamic creatures.  The horses look almost brittle, made of dried out wood, but when you reach out to touch the sculpture, you feel cool, solid metal.

It's been a couple of years since Butterfield's last show in Chicago, and now that the time has come again, no one should miss it.  The opening of the exhibition will be a great occasion to see the latest works by the artist and to meet Butterfield herself.  However, if you're swamped Friday, surely you can get to the show by August 25th