photo by Cole Pierce

RECOMMENDED

Viewers familiar with Kelly Kaczynski’s work might recall how previous segments of her ongoing conceptual play, “Olympus Manger,” span years and various venues, and invited guests to involve themselves in the works, becoming participants in actions that blurred the lines between performance, landscape and artwork. Walking around the stacked stages that fill Three Walls, however, it is difficult for the audience to know their role in Kaczynski’s latest installation, “The Stagehand’s Unseen.” Though created from the remnants of prior installations, this new stage asks nothing of its audience—rather, it fills the gallery with intimidating largesse, lopsidedly angling so as to force viewers to a distance. Those who edge close enough will find their own reflections peering back at them, inciting questions over where, exactly, the stagehands are and who, if not the audience, will be performing? Read the rest of this entry »

Photo: Isaac Bloom

By Pedro Vélez

Have you ever seen a thawed-out caveman brought back to life? How about two cavemen? On September 19, 2002, William Ligue Jr. and his 15-year-old son jumped onto the playing field in Cellular Field (home of the White Sox) and attacked Kansas City Royals first-base-coach Tom Gamboa. Shirtless, out-of-control and under-the-influence, this pair of super fanatics was acting up without a reasonable cause. The scene was ridiculous and scary; especially for U.S. audiences not accustomed to seeing physical violence perpetrated against their sports heroes. Nothing new to soccer fans across the globe.

The Ligues might have disgraced the holy grounds of baseball’s diamond dirt a long time ago, but their specter still lingers in Ben Stone’s psyche. Luckily for us, because the artist is about to unveil a major work based on the events. Using the attackers as metaphor for all dysfunctional American families, Stone, a resident of Berwyn, has built three life-size realist sculptures, or contemporary versions of Roman statues, that capture the exact moment Gamboa hit the ground, his cap flying, while the father-and-son tag team frantically surround him, in poses reminiscent of prehistoric men. Sure to raise some eyebrows, the sculptures will be on view starting this Friday at Western Exhibitions. Read the rest of this entry »

from Ben Russell's "Trypps #7"

By Jason Foumberg

Did filmmaker Ben Russell know that, in the Museum of Contemporary Art, his new 16mm film, titled “Trypps #7 (Badlands),” would be shown in a gallery directly below Robert Smithson’s 16mm film “Spiral Jetty,” from 1970? Whether the answer is yes, that Russell intentionally played with Smithson’s proximity, or no, that the pairing is a happy curatorial coincidence, the two artworks engage each other in a call-and-response separated by forty years and a thin ceiling/floor. The concurrent showing of Smithson’s old film and the appearance of his legacy in the work of newer artists underscores that, for object makers, Smithson is the current ruling father (not Warhol or Beuys), and that this first decade of the new century is strikingly similar to the late-1960s, from our relationship to nature to continued civil rights struggles to a flourishing counter-culture. Read the rest of this entry »

RECOMMENDED

One of Chicago’s neglected treasures, except by the denizens of the surrounding neighborhood, Humboldt Park is vast and filled with wildlife, greenery and waterways, all of which have beckoned photographer Dina Petrakis, who spent the year of 2009 there to create a “naturalist photo essay” inspired by conservationist Aldo Leopold. Shooting in color, Petrakis goes close up to capture intimate details and draws back to frame panoramas, arranging her shots in groups and grids, and deploying large and small formats in order to communicate the full experience of the park when it opens up to the solitary walker. Petrakis’ banner photo-work is her 4×3 grid depicting the same view of the scenic and sinuous Prairie River in each month of the seasonal cycle, from the icy barren winter, through spring’s blush, summer’s lushness, and bittersweet autumn, to winter again, now sporting its snowy white mantle. If Petrakis and a stroll in Humboldt Park do not convince you to become a habitué, you are insensible to the wonders of the world next door. (Michael Weinstein)

Through October 29 at the Humboldt Park Boat House, 1359 North Sacramento

RECOMMENDED

Theater buffs and photography lovers are in for a treat when they visit this exhibit of 118 of Lisa Howe-Ebright’s photographs—selected from her vast archive—depicting scenes from plays staged at scores of Chicago venues from 1974 through the present. More than a vivid trip down memory lane, Howe-Ebright’s images are scenario photographs that stand for themselves as still dramas suffused with expressive emotion; one does not need to know the tales of which they are moments to dwell inside them. The secret of Howe-Ebright’s photographic success is her method of shooting dress rehearsals and pre-performance set-ups in which actors and directors collaborated with her in recreating the scenes, allowing her to have control over composition and content. Beginning with black and white, and then moving to color, Howe-Ebright changed her style simultaneously from clear portrayal to less delineated and more dynamic renditions that emphasize emotion. Her most telling image is from Columbia College’s 2008 production of “Landscape of the Body,” in which we see a knot of people encircling and bearing down on a kneeling woman who screams and holds out her hands, trying futilely to keep the crowd at bay. (Michael Weinstein)

Through October 3 at the Harold Washington Library, 400 South State.

Meg Duguid’s vintage purse houses an art gallery which, she points out, can lead to some seriously awkward encounters. Sometimes when she opens her purse to pay for coffee, the cashiers stare. People have rummaged through her belongings, mistaking them for pieces in the gallery. Some have accidentally pulled out her birth-control pills on a couple of these occasions.

“It’s hard for some people to take this seriously,” Duguid admits.

Since its inception last winter, Duguid’s Clutch Gallery has garnered acclaim for its wide array of exhibits and conceptual use of space. Newcity’s Jason Foumberg even named it one of the top five alternative venues of 2009. The gallery has also inspired much confusion. However, Duguid explains, “[When] you explain the curatorial aspect, [viewers] get it’s more gallery-esque.” Read the rest of this entry »