RECOMMENDED Roxanne Hopper and Thomas Hodge combine photography, video installation and performance art to create aesthetically pleasing mind candy with their central piece “Notes On A Tale of Non-Euclidean and Symbolically Authentic Mountaineering Adventure” at the charming lo-fi space Old Gold in Logan Square. On December 7, the two School of the Art Institute of Chicago alumnae performed the central part of this piece, reciting poetry and essays in front of mountaineering heavy video installation, starting where French surrealist novelist René Daumal left off when he died while working on his novel of the almost same name. Hopper also has two other pieces that work with “Notes on a Tale…” , which are photo installations dealing with the metaphor of the mountain and the horizon that the central piece introduces. Beyond their more cerebral aims, are stunning, whimsical pictures taken by Hopper from airplanes. One features snow-capped mountains clearing the base of thick clouds on a trip returning from Sarajevo, and another is a series of horizons cleverly placed in a circle on the ceiling. Unfortunately, the central performance piece will not be performed again at this location, but the photography and video installation is worth seeing in the speak-easy-like quality of Old Gold. (Julian Camillieri) Through December 22 at Old Gold
Complicating the Narrative: A Review of Them at Roots & Culture Featuring a cohesive body of works by Flor, Manal Kara and Caleb Yono, the exhibition is a stunning display of the magic that can happen when fixed ideas about artmaking and identity are thrown out the window.
The Past Is Present: A Review of Birchbark, Wiigwaas All these materials work together to make the stories and experiences of indigenous Americans central to the story of Chicago, both historically and today.
