RECOMMENDED This group show puts the collaborative spirit back into art. The D.I.Y. space’s goal was to create a seamless marriage between text and image in which both assimilate and neither dominates. The ambitious task was executed by a group of word wranglers and image-makers through a friendly game of exquisite corpse. The method, which involves the swapping and exchange of work between individuals in hopes of creating one amorphous body, was invented by the surrealists in 1925. Writers contribute phrases, drawers respond, and both switch roles, passing the torch along. Interestingly enough, Chicago was the first in the United States to organize an exhibition of its kind. Perhaps this history is what intuitively encouraged the collective to partake in the joint effort. Whatever the inspiration, it’s refreshing to see teamwork in an art world often driven by independent production. (Karissa Lang) Through January 4 at Plaines Project(1822 S. Des Plaines St.)
In Orbit: A Chicago Aesthetic Emerges in NYC Group Show As the kitchen appliance referenced in the exhibition title signals, these artists seem to share an interest in—and perhaps anxiety about—domestic spaces and the rituals that occur there.
For Us: A Review of "Something from Something" at Engage Projects Kushala Vora and Adia Sykes’ collaboration "Something from Something" tells us as viewers that knowledge, art, creation, inspiration, love—really anything you can think of—has a place of origin.
Looking Down: A Review of Bob Tanner at Perspective After the loss of his wife, Bob Tanner made two photography series, “At Ocean’s Edge” and “At Winter’s Edge,” that are shown in this meditative show filled with graceful visual poetry.
