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Function Art Gallery
Eclectic Electric
Through October 4
1046 W. Fulton Market
(312) 243-2780
RATING: “{0}” BOTH EARS
In the beginning there was light. Then artists came along, grabbed some, and tied it in knots. The Function Art Gallery’s latest exhibit is n’t just your usual lamps and clocks either! We’re talking floating crates filled with glowing orbs, interpretive blown-glass chandeliers and luminous porcelain forms lounging on wooden beads. Creations by artists Kim Kelzer, Kirby Jones, Warren Muller, Jill Davis, Alex Porbe, Ed Pennebaker, Christopher J. Martin and Christopher Poehlmann just to name a few. Director Scott Patria welcomes all with open arms, “We’re a low protocol space, and all are welcome.” Come as you are!
Hours: 10 a.m.–6 p.m. Tuesday–Thursday, 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Friday–Saturday
Flatfile Gallery
Sigrid Burton’s Elemental
Lucien Clergue’s Retrospectif
Gillian Brown and Inga McCaslin Frick’s Each/Other
Through October 11
118 N. Peoria
(312) 491-1190
RATING: “{0}” BOTH EARS
Realism got you down? For a refreshing dose of soothing atmospheres, give Sigrid Burton’s paintings a look-see. Described as “shining forth from the depths of rich jewel-toned fields of color”, these nearly figurative paintings are decidedly colorful displays. If you’ve ever wanted to see the work of a Soho artist well, this is your chance. The answer is Elemental, my dear Watson.
Allow Director Susan Aurinko and Assistant Director Aaron Ott to guide you through the work of world-renowned French photographer Lucien Clergue at the debut of his locally created work. This fella was a long-time friend of Max Ernst, Picasso, and Ansel Adams among others. As if that caliber of name-dropping isn’t enough to pique your curiosity, his art hauntingly ethereal and moving should be.
Brown and McCaslin find a swimmingly interesting mode to explore futility and separation by way of their video project collaboration. Enter this blackened room and find yourself filled with longing and loss.
Hours: 10:30 a.m.–6 p.m. Tuesday–Saturday
Aron Packer Gallery
Mark Mothersbaugh’s Homefront Invasion
Miranda Zimmer’s Visual Palindrama
Through October 4
118 N. Peoria
(312) 226-8984
RATING: “{0}” BOTH EARS
Crack that whip and break your Momma’s back! That’s right, front man for the 80’s juggernaut Devo is showing his art here in Chicago. If you haven’t been to Aron Packer’s swank and stylish space in the West Loop here’s your excuse to go. Mothersbaugh kept an unconventional diary of hand-made postcards over the years for family and friends. That’s not to say two or three either—we’re talking around 25,000 postcards! This exhibit highlights his strangely rendered vignettes, distorted text, and tainted photos, as well as a few attached googly eyes. Bring your checkbook and you can own a Mothersbaugh for fewer than three and a half Benjamins.
Miranda Zimmer’s show includes more than 600 of her miniscule vibrant house paint color paintings. Described as “provocative to the reflective mind”, these tiny paintings are arranged in larger groupings and take on a life of their own as a whole.
Hours: 10:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Tuesday–Saturday
Walsch Gallery
Affiliations: The Art of Belonging
Through October 11
118 N. Peoria
(312) 829-3312
RATING: “0” NO EARS
Ruby Chishti, David Servoss, Pradip Malde and Von Kommanivanh exhibit work that makes you feel right at home. Chishti, a recent immigrant from Pakistan, responds to the gender bias she encountered in the Middle East. Witness fresh life given to scrap materials forming buffalo, crows and an old headless couple. Don’t miss her installation entitled, “Unending Ceremony”.
Artist David Servoss pays tribute to his lineage as he cuts apart the gallery wall and installs uniforms worn by past relatives. For some this might include a postal worker uniform or a traffic guard jacket, but for Servoss it means the garments worn by distant relatives President James Monroe and President of China Yuan Shi Kai.
Pradip Malde exhibits photographs of shorn wool and tealeaves. The materials are formed into sensual modes of ambiguity that define the rift between the animate and inanimate. Prompting that common existential quandary, which came first, the sheep or the sweater?
Von Kommanivanh will debut his mural, “Ten Animals I Slam In a Net.” This provocative title refers to a past experience in the artist’s life. Wouldn’t you like to know what it is?
Hours: 10:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m. Tuesday–Saturday
Unit B Gallery
Object Play
Opening Reception Friday, September 12, 6-10 p.m.
Through October 5
1733 S. Des Plaines
(312) 491-9384
RATING: “0” NO EARS
Artist Dolan Geiman exhibits found images and text in the form of silkscreen and painting. If existential investigation is your bag, this is the art for you. Geiman’s work triggers our fading memories and nostalgia, magnifying them with his found-object collage and sculpture.
What is Kinetic Sculpture? Let Steve Hokanson illuminate you with his steel, copper and cast bronze sculptures. His work is highly influenced by his travels to Mexico, Estonia and Denmark. Yep, Estonia.
Hours: noon-5 p.m. Saturday or by appointment
Sol Gallery
Paintings and Collage by Davis and Moreno
Through September 19
1303 N. Maplewood
(773) 677-1914
RATING: “{0}” TWO EARS
Artist Jason Davis delivers figurative collage, montage and oils in ghost-like images. He also explores the extremities of the body and facial masks. With Halloween just around the corner, perhaps you can garner some inspiration, eh? Aimee Moreno also exhibits her figurative work, relating images from her neighborhood. She explores the city through colorful and enigmatic iconoclastic collage.
Hours: By appointment 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Monday-Friday
DePaul Art Museum
The Art of Tony Fitzpatrick
Opening Reception Friday, September 12 5-7 p.m.
Through October 12
2350 N. Kenmore
(773) 325-7506
RATING: “0}” ONE EAR
This celebrated Chicago printmaker and poet displays fantastic creations composed over a twelve-year period. Fitzpatrick’s art is intimate, definable and offers direct social commentary on subjects such as drug abuse. If you took stream-of-consciousness poetry, R. Crumb line quality and Lichtenstein content and mixed them in a blender, you might come close to concocting a Fitzpatrick cocktail. The images are a recollection of his gritty upbringing on Chicago’s South Side and offer an endearing look at urban surroundings.
Hours: 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday; noon-5 p.m. Saturday-Sunday
1/Quarterly Space
Texts
Through September 27
1355 N. Milwaukee
(773) 252-7780
RATING: “0” NO EARS
Amy Lemaire extrapolates meaning from foreign letters. She is promoting illiteracy! A confusing but profound idea, Lemaire has taken text and letters from language she encountered while visiting Iceland and Japan and, in a graffiti-like manner, perpetuated her own new system of semantics and meaning, tapping into a more universal language of shapes. Rather like trying to do your own taxes or interpreting a Cockney accent.
Hours: noon-4 p.m. Saturday or by appointment
Ode To Van Gogh Gallery Rating System You’ve heard of an eye for art—well here’s an ear. If you’re not sure what sort of show you’d like to see, take a quick glance at the status of Vincent’s ears. This is the straight dope:
“0}” One Ear Missing:
Traditional, conservative, non-confrontational
This is the traditional, historically correct gallery opening. You’re best off dressing on the conservative side; you might even dust off the ol’ beret. The art you are likely to see will be Classical or Traditional and more likely than not, non-confrontational. You will see art intended to educate or placate your intellect, allowing you to take away erudite anecdotes to spite your coworkers.
“{0}” Both Ears Attached:
Hip, fresh, positive
This type of show will typically be upbeat and colorfully driven. Dress hip and trendy and expect a fun exhibition of fresh original work. Optimism often characterizes this type of art. Content may be intentionally vacuous or chocked full of symbolism or imagery. The artist may use a familiar format while lending a fresh new angle for the viewer to ponder.
“0” No Ears At All:
Cerebrally-conceptual, not for the weak of heart
Get ready for the quintessential Art House show. In the 1970s, these exhibitions might have been rated “X”. Think Deliverance or The Vagina Monologues. Really doesn’t matter what you wear to this type of gallery opening. The scope and meaning of these often cerebrally conceptual shows are up for grabs as well, and that’s the adventure. The weak of heart and those easily offended should beware! Leave your hang-ups at the door.
Centerstage Will Feed You
Installation Scion Art Tour
