Richard Gray Gallery opens a show of work by Chicago artist David Klamen on Friday, February 19, and it's aptly called Painting Paintings. The public will recognize the major works in the show - and then wonder for a second why they're attributed to Klamen - then it all starts to come together.
The show features 20 new works by Klamen, but things are not that
simple. Klamen set out to paint works of art by other artists - while
focusing on altering perspective and other methodical manipulations to
switch things up for the viewer. In Painting Paintings, Klamen
faithfully depicts iconic museum paintings in-situ, but because he's
captured the views from the side, or with the label showing, he's
created something new. By covering a range of periods and styles, he
succeeds in playing with the canon of art history. Klamen paints Rembrandt, Mondrian, Klein, Leger, Magritte (now there's a trick to play!)
Klamen is a major museum-worthy artist himself: his work is included in
the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and The Whitney
Museum in New York, as well as the Museum of Contemporary Art here in
Chicago, and the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art, among others.
As always when visiting Richard Gray Gallery, you'll need to show your
ID in the Hancock Building lobby to get up to the 25th floor. Be sure
to notice the major works of art also filling that lobby... Many of them
are by other heavy-hitters represented by the gallery.
Filed under: art
Tags: David Klamen, John Hancock Building, Michigan Ave., Painting Paintings, Richard Gray Gallery
