Home Gallery :The Diorama Show:

Last Saturday I did the unthinkable—I went to Hyde Park to look at some art that wasn't at the south side holy trinity (Hyde Park Art Center, Renaissance Society, Smart Museum). Sure, I could have headed over to the West Loop or River North art districts, but I heard about this diorama show, and there was no way I was going to miss it. Dioramas, although they have theatrical and historic beginnings, are today mainly done by grade school kids in shoe boxes, as riders to a book report. I felt that in the hands of competent artists, a diorama is a form with almost endless possibilities. The show features a list of artists so long that I could really only scan it—twenty-seven in total. It didn't stop me, however, and I would suggest that it doesn't stop you from seeing this eclectic examination of scaled-down space.

Home Gallery, where “The Diorama Show” opened on July 18, is everything the name suggests: a home being used as a gallery. To walk into this space is to seriously walk into someone's house, as in, please wipe your feet. Unlike most live/work studio shows, there was very little living space separated from the public during an opening. Art is displayed in the bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, and everywhere else (except the kids’ room, who apparently put a stop to that last year).

Curated by Laura Shaeffer, co-owner and inhabitant of Home Gallery, "The Diorama Show" exists in between, as well as beyond, bookshelves, art made by children, and the front and rear screen doors. The show, as I am sure all of Home Gallery's shows are, is allowed to interact with a real living space. People live here, there is art on the wall, and in the front porch, and next to the A+ report on the praying mantis; art is everywhere. This is all very important while thinking about the art/spaces made for this show.

I stood in front of Tree Line by Luftwerk (Sean Gallero and Poul Bachmaier). This imaginative piece consisted of a couple small dioramas that utilized video, audio and sculptural elements. In that moment, I couldn't help but notice how the audio of birds and children interacted seamlessly with my surroundings; which literally consisted of birds and children. I felt dwarfed. As I made my way through the show, concepts of space, its worth as well as its relative fragility were brought to mind. Size kept getting addressed, often with scale models, but also with large works that required the viewer to look through small holes.

Frank Pollard's Agency Field Car pinned me between it and the vast outside, literally. I stood there, with my back to the large front windows, which opened to a lush green Hyde Park neighborhood, starring into Frank's spaces. He carves chairs and desks out of popsicle sticks and tongue depressors to create familiar, although less than welcoming, spaces. Eventually I found myself in the backyard which- you guessed it- was another diorama. Taken over by Elke Cluas, the backyard was being guarded, or rather, overrun by Tasmanian Tigers in her piece simply entitled Tiger. This piece exquisitely replaced the third grade shoebox with the entire backyard, making it the largest diorama in the collection.



In this show, you will find yourself exploring the spaces of the dioramas as you explore the spaces of a warm and loving home. Diorama completely blurs the lines between life and art- and inspires an understanding of why it is so good to have art in our daily surroundings.

This show proves what folksy people have been telling us for generations; Home is where the heart is.

Tom Torluemke's Gallery Talk

Download


On Thursday July 16 about 60 people got the opportunity to hear Tom Torluemke talk about hi show After-Glow. It was a beautiful day out which is probably why you weren't there, fortunately I got it on tape so feel free to listen while updating your facebook.

Culture Your Damn Self at the Chicago Culteral Center

I headed over to the Cultural Center yesterday, to hopefully get a sneak peek at what is opening on Friday. When I arrived, I was greeted by two roped-off Michigan galleries and a dire need for some artwork set in. I reached the southernmost gallery and began to hear people in the space saying, “This is pretty,” and “So colorful.” Now, one doesn’t expect to see ground breaking, or even very challenging work in a room where these words are uttered so readily. The whole time I was in the Gallery, people walking through shined with half smiles and smirks, raised their eyebrows, and even joked with each other about the subject matter within the work. They were engaged; completely. They were in the presence of Tom Torluemke’s new show, curated by Gregory Knight, After-Glow.


After-Glow is everything I look for in a good art show, it has variety, color, whimsy and imagination; and it even allows those inclined to use the word "visceral". However, that is not where After-Glow stops. Sex, abuse, politics, and the list of subject matter goes on and on- All wrapped up in colorful, well crafted and composed artworks that are hard to ignore.

I, and most people walking through, spent a good deal of their time looking at Leafless, a series of construction paper collages of faces and genitalia beautifully constructed. Abstract or not, these pieces are obvious, they are not trying to hide their subject matter, which is partly why they work so well. It is unheard of the way the pieces are made in a plain, mater-of-fact way and then just stuck on the wall. No tricks, no disguises; a row of genitalia just staring back at you, plain as day. That, my friend, is art.

Tom's work is totally constructed, but nothing more so than the three paper sculptures that will leave most people not knowing what to think. I know I didn't. I enjoyed this show whole heartedly. Being in the presence of work that is challenging and yet everyone around you is smiling- well, that is rare to say the least.

After Glow will burn your retina like a light bulb. It stays with you; bits of images follow you through your day. Whether you want to or not, you will think about this show long and hard (That’s what she said).

Also opening on Friday July 10th is Twisted Ambience: An Installation by Nnenna Okore, a Nigerian artist. According to the announcement, Okore uses common urban objects such as newspapers, rope and twigs which remind her of the struggles of poor Africans who recycle everything out of sheer necessity.

Lastly, I am super excited to see Stateless: New work by Nicole Gordon. I’ve had the chance to visit this phenomenal painter’s studio, and although I didn't get to look at the new show, mark my words, it will be breathtaking. Nicole's landscapes are much more than landscapes and when an artist elects to use words like “wacky” to describe their work, you should sit up and take notice.

Good luck to all, and I look forward to see you at the opening.

ChicagoArts Interview with Galleria 1712 Founder Teresa Ciucci

Teresa talks about how she came about founding Galleria 1712. Feel free to comment and rate this video. Comments help me maneuver subjects and topics to aid me in the growth and direction of ChicagoArts.

Art in the Sky

Well, it is the 3rd of July again, are you ready for the artistry of pyrotechnics. Have fun - wherever you are.