The humble beet never looked so seductive as it does when Mary Rezny has impressed it, leaves and all, on light-sensitive paper, presenting us with images that will beat anyone else’s calla lilies in the race for vegetative beauty. Rezny’s beets appear in her luscious photograms in subtle and muted rosy red, pink and light-brown tones, floating like visions of sugar plums against rich and deep chocolate-brown backgrounds. The secret of Rezny’s success lies in the soft definitions of her subjects, which make them appear to be arrested in a sinuous dance, and their isolation, which gives them a pleasurable hallucinogenic jolt. Forget the joys of psychedelia, where every color is super-saturated and you might go blind; relax, feast your eyes on the magic beet and take a gentle, involving journey to the undulating center of your mind. (Michael Weinstein)
Through July 5 at LOGSDON 1909 GALLERY, 1909 S. Halsted. (312)666-8966.
Walking Speed: A Curator's Tour of The Mary and Al Shands Collection “Rounding the Circle: The Mary and Al Shands Collection,” curated by Julien Robson, is a major exhibition celebrating the significant collection of contemporary artworks assembled by the late Al Shands and Mary Norton Shands. The exhibit at the Speed Art Museum in Louisville, Kentucky, also commemorates the transformative gift of art made to the museum, numbering over a hundred artworks.
