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Chicago Artists' Coalition
847 West Jackson Boulevard "CHICAGO ART OPEN 2000: The Showcase of Chicago Art" is the largest survey of the current Chicago visual scene (300 works by 300 Chicago artists), the 25th such annual event organized by the Chicago Artists Coalition, and it runs from Thursday, November 9th through Saturday, November 18th, 2000. It is at the third floor art gallery on 847 West Jackson Boulevard, Chicago. "CHICAGO ART OPEN 2000" is presented in cooperation with the City of Chicago's Department of Cultural Affairs and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. This exhibition is free to the public, and open from 11 am to 5 pm each day. This exhibition is always of great interest, and an enjoyment. The Chicago Artists Coalition has a large and diverse membership, and of the three hundred artists in the art open, fifty are selected for the student section. The artworks of the showing are for sale, and proceeds go directly to the artist. Three hundred Chicago artists.... Of course, there are many more in a city of this size, but the "CHICAGO ART OPEN 2000" stands at about optimum for an opportunity to view what is currently being done, yet still enjoy the experience. There are always surprises, and a chance to survey artists one has followed for some time. The work in "CHICAGO ART OPEN 2000" concentrates on painting, collage, strong reliefs and mixed media, but it does include free-standing three-dimensional sculpture and object art. Works such as Energy (2000), a sculpture by Patricia Armato, are particularly gratifying. The dynamic interweave of abstracted mass and volume in this bronze recalls the legacy of Naum Gabo, and is in further contrast with its fixed and uniform double-tiered pedestal. Although much of Armato's sculpture is done in alabaster, marbles and exotic stone, here, the choice of bronze directly focuses attention on the form and its patterns of implied motion. Energy is a refined and evocative creation. Patricia Armato's sculpture is among a number of three-dimensional works which makes "CHICAGO ART OPEN 2000" well worth repeat visits. More of her art is accessible at http://www.sculpturesix.com. Three hundred artists of course insure a wide spectrum of offerings. "CHICAGO ART OPEN 2000" extends object art to work such as the constructions and sculptural assemblage of artist Joe McIlhany, who gathers natural objects and salvaged artifacts as materials for an environmentally inspired art. McIlhany at times begins with an idea or concept to which he fashions his materials; and as often, the artist allows the components to suggest an association and then explores their evolution toward a final completion. "CHICAGO ART OPEN 2000" acknowledges no conventions other than what the artists themselves impose as a personal discipline.
Among the many artists of "CHICAGO ART OPEN 2000" who have garnered close attention is Catherine Cajandig. Her mixed media work is striking in its use of line and contour to impart direct and dynamic effects of human form in motion, in symbiosis with natural setting, and as an impression of time condensed into an immediate moment. Cajandig employs vibrant color and pattern to first disorient the viewing eye and to induce a re-orientation of image, which quickly resolves into a welcomed appreciation of forms engaged in their own contained gesture and balance. Cajandig's work often skillfully manipulates reiterated contours -- at times with subtle variations -- but always with a graphic sensitivity to rhythm and moments of precision. Kim Laurel's art also displays an acute awareness of image element, contour and active line in generating dynamic composition. Laurel, who is also a member of the Chicago Printmakers Collaborative, creates an art which is lively in color, engaging in content, and which evokes the formal beauty of illuminated manuscript. As in the latter genre, this artist often accentuates compositional image with touches of gold or silver. Her entry in "CHICAGO ART OPEN 2000" is of great interest.
Richard J. Maltz is known for a body of consistently interesting work. At first impression, one jumps to the idea of contemporary American artist Tom Wesselmann interpreting Matisse, but that delusion passes in a moment. A viewer is left with an art of monochrome hues, stark contours, abbreviations of content; all of which create a condensed and graphic shorthand for experience. In addition to the Chicago Artist Coalition, Richard Maltz is a member of Artists of Rogers Park. The Chicago Artists' Coalition, a 25-year old non-profit service organization, does require that artists demonstrate prior professional exhibition and gallery exposure as a qualification for "CHICAGO ART OPEN 2000." For this event, there are always more applications than spaces, but among the three hundred exhibitors there is always a representation from Chicago's major artist districts: Wicker Park, Bucktown, Pilsen East, Rogers Park; old-time gallery veterans and outlying itinerants. This is the third annual edition of Chicago Art Open and the cooperation of the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago helps to make it practicable.
Walter Fydryck shows often in Chicago, and nation-wide; and although he has developed a very individual style (and several patented new techniques in media), each of his gallery appearances is a novel event. Fydryck's earlier work has synthesized insights and working methods from commercial, 'Pop' and 'High' art, dissolving academic and artificial categories in formulating an imagery which lays bare both the rationales and gestures of personal discourse, and the approaches by which they are typified and ritualized for public acceptance. If at times life imitates art, Fydryck's art honestly, conscionably, sets the parameters of revealment and invites each human actor to decide his chosen role. In "CHICAGO ART OPEN 2000," Fydryck's newest piece, Voyeur in Fine Form, mounts a chair, hung and displayed as an object of art, for the viewer's contemplation. There is a wit, and an irony, in an object which is sat upon, and which appears to see, and see what it is which sits upon it. Voyeur in Fine Form is fun, and at the same time, intelligent. It's worth the visit, just for the provocativeness.
Jacqueline Patinkin's art, in clear-cut contour, a graceful balance of line against form, and with clean and contrasting color, recalls some of the ground investigated by Charles Demuth. Patinkin's entry in last year's "CHICAGO ART OPEN" drew much interest. Patinkin's acrylic work at times seems to convey visually what otherwise would remain as an inarticulate state of mind. Eric Semelroth's work stands in contrast. Semelroth applies a skilled and polished naturalistic technique, both in his paintings and graphite renderings. It is his content which proves fascinating; from portraits of noted artists and art personalities through a believe-it-or-not selection of unusual characters, with often curious tales to their lives. Semelroth searches them out; travels the country seeking individuals who have drawn his attention, and he captures the enigmatic: the Dostoyevskian as well as the inexplicably quirky.
Lois Keller supplies a touch of ambiguity and irony. At times, her art suggests Edward Gorey adventuring into the world of Hieronymous Bosch: a play of imagined image against the uncertainties of existence. Keller has returned this year with new work, evolved from a sensibility the viewer is likely to encounter only in dream. A sampling, a small handful of familiar artists from among three hundred.... No notice could do more than to alert the reader that the "CHICAGO ART OPEN 2000" is an important event in the city's cultural life. Not every artist in Chicago will be there -- by no stretch of the imagination. But the three hundred, displaying the current state of their art, promise imagination, pleasure, challenge, enough for the visitor. Although there are thousands of artists working in the Chicago area, and hundreds of venues, "CHICAGO ART OPEN 2000" offers more than a viewer can hope to absorb in one visit. There is over a week to re-visit. One of the pleasures of the Chicago Artists' Coalition event is that the exhibition space is ample, informal and planned much as a park walk. "CHICAGO ART OPEN 2000" is chaired by Chicago artists, Betty Ann Mocek and Tom Robinson. The 300 artworks exhibited are selected by their creators. A free public reception will be held on Saturday, November 11, 2000, from 6 to 9 pm. A 25th Anniversary Celebration and Benefit will be held on Friday, November 10th, from 6 to 9 PM. Tickets for that event will be available at the door and cost $25. Further information may be had by phoning: 312/ 670-2521, or by consulting the CAC website: http://www.caconline.org/chicagoartopen/. --G. Jurek Polanski Jurek Polanski has previously written and art edited for Strong Coffee in Chicago. He's also well known and respected among the Chicago museums and galleries. Jurek is currently a Visual Arts Correspondent for ArtScope.net. Editorial Note: Several of the exhibitors have been reviewed earlier in www.artscope.net. Patricia Armato and Catherine Cajandig were in "Women Do Figure" (April 2000); Joe McIlhany appears in "Earth Voice" (April 1999); Mark Ernst was reviewed as part of "Life Patterns" (Sept. 1999); Barbara Goldsmith in "World of the Spiritual" (April 1999); Jeanette Hoffower in "Around The Coyote: Curator's Choice" (Sept. 2000); Kim Laurel in "Chicago Print Collaborative" (Feb. 2000); Davida Schulman in "Davida Schulman: Paintings & Drawings" (Sept. 1998); and Eric Semelroth in "Eric Semelroth" (Oct. 1998). Walter Fydryck was reviewed April 1999 and June 1999. |
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