Look from a distance at Kim Keever’s luminous and shadowy color photographs of blasted landscapes and you will almost think that their subjects exist somewhere in the wide world. Get a little closer and you will be certain that they are fabrications, but you will never guess that the artist has constructed his scenes out of plastic and plaster, and shot them through the walls of an aquarium filled with water. Among his many tricks, Keever’s most genial is to present his miniature scenarios in large-format prints, which create the illusion that we are dwelling in a life-size environment that bears an eerie resemblance to perceptual reality that is too close for comfort. Keever’s aim is to seduce and disturb us simultaneously, and he succeeds admirably, leaving us teetering on the cusp separating fact from fiction. (Michael Weinstein)
Through Feb 25 at Carrie Secrist Gallery, 835 W. Washington. (312)491-1145.
Into the Woods: A Review of Seung Jae Kim at Evanston Art Center Seung Jae Kim created these evocative monochromatic photographs in various wilderness areas of the upper Midwest. The images speak of his affinity for nature while reminding us of the increasingly fragile condition of our earth.
