In a tour de force, Stephen Wilkes leads the current pack of photographers shooting derelict institutions fallen to ruin in his series documenting the state of the abandoned hospitals on the south side of Ellis Island, where immigrants once languished, some of them never making it to the American promised land. Wilkes invites us to feast our eyes on the ugliest blasted scenes imaginable of corroded bathrooms, moldering rubble-filled passageways and busted windows in gutted rooms, all of them drenched in filth and presented in soft, subtly hued color that makes the images even more garish. Putting a glaze of eye candy over an irredeemably negative space does not teach us anything; it shows us the farthest reaches of the postmodern sensibility, which smacks together opposites in order to create “undecidability.” (Michael Weinstein)
Stephen Wilkes shows at the Chicago Cultural Center, 78 East Washington, (312)744-6630, through October 5.
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.
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.
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.
