From Keith Skutt’s finely spun lapidary color landscapes to Eric Holubow’s shadowed color studies of derelict and decayed spaces, the eleven talented young photographers here reveal that beauty comes in a multitude of forms and is brought forth by the artist’s special temperament. For the grace and excitement of the active body, look at Stephanie Maj’s whirling and swirling cyclists, all of them—pros, kids and the handicapped—exulting in the union of muscle and machine. Anne-Marie Sesti is also intrigued with all bicycles great and small, but she likes them at rest, as when she shows us a green mountain bike lying forlornly on top of a huge mottled boulder in an Iowa field at dawn, under a pale fading moon in a subtly hued gray sky. Sesti also takes the prize for irony with her shot of a portly and smiling Bill Bernhard clutching a wad of bills in his fist as he sits in front of his pink “Mr. Pork Chop” bus, around which are strewn racing bikes that have been abandoned temporarily to make way for gut stuffing. (Michael Weinstein)
Through April 30 at the Chicago Photography Center, 3301 N. Lincoln, (773)549-1631.
Celebrating the Portrait: A Review of "Face to Face" at WithInSight Gallery Curators Denise Orlin and Federica Ghidelli brought in the master to jury their portrait show. From 242 entries hailing from countries as far flung as Taiwan, Sweden and Chile, Sandro Miller chose just fifty-four. The range is vast.
Home Is Where the Family Is: A Review of Chicago Chiquito at Bridgeport Art Center This small but significant exhibition shows the history of Chicago Chiquito, or little Chicago, the nickname given to La Hacienda, a small town in the state of Guanajuato, Mexico. Its families have migrated north to find work for over one hundred years.
Fleeing Desperation: A Review of Ada Trillo at Chicago Center for Photojournalism In this heartbreaking yet visually beautiful exhibition, Ada Trillo implicates herself within her subjects to shine a light on both the hope and the hopelessness of their lives. If you are not moved by these images, surely your heart is made of stone.
The Roots of Pride: A Review of Jerry Pritikin at The Chicago Center for Photojournalism The show “When Then Was Now” gives a glimpse of early LGBTQ+ life in San Francisco—Harvey Milk became mayor and gay activism was gaining momentum. Pritikin, a legend of reportage, takes us back to a time before AIDS reared its ugly head and shows us how the movement looked all those decades ago.
