Casey Roberts and Deedee Davis

The new show at Home Gallery of the works of Casey Roberts and Deedee Davis I think will appeal to a wide audience. Casey's cyanotypes, and the layered glass works of Deedee, at first seem to contrast each other fairly harshly. This, for me, ended up being just an initial reaction, because upon a second look I saw that the playfulness and mystery between the two styles complimented each other quite well.

Deedee Davis' work was very similar to animation cells. On separate sheets of glass with she'll paint and layer the foreground, middle ground, and background of each piece. This creates space and makes a perceptible shadow of one layer on the next. Her layered flat imagery lies out these loose narratives, although there is not a whole lot of information on what those narratives might be. In Elisabeth Furnace II, and Pluto 1 Water1 we might investigate far enough to understand how the titles and images relate but there is more going on here than that relationship. Deedee's work draws the viewer in with her use of bright flat color and allows us to play within the space.

Casey Roberts, has work that showcases his love for printmaking. This will take a little more explaining, Casey works with cyanotypes; this is a process in which a light sensitive liquid is applied to the paper where he makes images by manipulating light and shadow, as well as bleaching colored areas to create multiple tones. These works are little prizes for the viewer because at first glance they look similar to watercolors but slowly reveal themselves as much more. The playful quality and natural imagery of his work invites you into these natural spaces, although they are not there to comfort you. These spaces are uncomfortable by design. Not meant to drive you away, but to help you notice. Brushstrokes and overlaps in this medium don't respect the image that Casey is trying to create, this is very important because there are very often two images on these paintings, one being the surface the other being the images just beyond the surface. This creates a beyond the looking glass kind of thing that plays with your imagination and allows you to explore.

Yozo Hamaguchi at Floating World

Floating World Gallery had it's inaugural show today, with a wonderful display of mezzotints by Yozo Hamaguchi. Yozo was an oil painter until meeting E.E. Cummings in France who mentioned that his drawings would look great as prints. The rest is history as they say, Hamaguchi returned to Japan and studied printmaking. The prints on display at Floating World are from many stages throughout Yozo Hamaguchi's career. With such wide variety of work it is easy to see the progression of skill Mr. Hamaguchi achieves within the process.

A Mezzotint is done in one of two ways, additive or subtractive. Hamaguchi utilized the former, although the later has historically been more popular. You can easily see that this is the case, because along side of the prints at Floating World are the plates, which is rare for a gallery to put on display. Only adding marks where he wants the ink to print, these plates are inscribed with millions of tiny dots and line to create vast areas of even tones and gradations. His ability to manipulate the tools in creating these prints are on display for all to see, and his mastery of this technique unquestionable.

The one thing that did overshadow the Hamaguchi exhibit though, was the opening of the Floating World Gallery itself. This huge space dedicated strictly to the art of printmaking was astonishing. As a sometimes printer myself it is a joy to know that Chicago, which has a deep history with printmaking, has another stellar venue, for not only showing and selling, but for educating people on prints and the printmaking processes. With an intimate showing space upstairs and the large open gallery down, this space it sure to attract, as well as create, print lovers of all sorts.

Floating World Gallery
1925 N. Halsted
312.587.7800

Th!nkArt, Not Just Another Gallery

went to my first Th!nkArt event this past Friday, and for the event Laurie Glenn, founder of Th!nkArt, hosted an "Aparté," which in French means "something that is apart." This event seemed to have no primary focus, the large scale paintings by local artist Larry Roberts, did not have any more significance than did the opportunity to talk to others, or the ability to hear a brief speech by Senate hopeful Cheryle Jackson. These events are set up with the intention of creating discourse, and it did that quite well.

I find it hard to talk about Th!nkArt because it is kind of complex. Laurie has built Th!nkArt within a vision, and even though I can tell that vision has continuity, it is hard to pin it down to something short and sweet. One thing you can't escape is the French feel. Th!nkArt has a partnership with the Paris-based Friedland Rivault Gallery and works in conjunction with a number of other French Institutions both here in Chicago and abroad. For instance, at the event I attended, Laurie introduced a France Delegation of 10 emerging elected officials of color who were visiting Chicago. This alone was done in conjunction with Chicago United, United Congress, The Sister Cities International Program of Chicago, and Groupe Professionnal Francophone. So you see, reaching out and creating discourses is something that Laurie truly believes in, its not just another buzz word for her.

Laurie has a long history with art, artists, politics and France. This history has created a rich experience that she can't help but infuse into everything she does. Laurie's approach is quite simple; get your hands dirty and keep an open mind. Th!nkArt is not just a Gallery, and you will not understand what Laurie is trying to achieve by attending one event. I had to talk with Laurie, who is very approachable, in order to get an idea of what the underlining themes of the event were and how everything was tied in together. As I mentioned earlier nothing was any more significant that anything else throughout the evening. So Larry Roberts' paintings, as well as the music and the French delegation, aided the experiences by creating a launching point for discussion, as well as places to rest. Laurie has been laying the groundwork for Th!nkArt since 2006 and I am excited to see what the future of Th!nkArt is going to be.

Golden Age Presents Medium Rare

Golden Age, an innovative and niche bookstore on west 18th Street, has and interesting show of works opening on Saturday Oct. 17th. The show consists only of works previously published by Medium Rare. Founded in 2008 by Milano Chow, Medium Rare works with young emerging artists to publish works in an affordable and accessible format.

Being inside Golden Age is a total experience, and if you haven't, this is the perfect opportunity. Opened in 2007 by Marco Kane Braunschweiler and Martine Syms, Golden Age is an odd niche shop that outwardly seems to cater to the ultra hip in the indie publishing book world. In reality, they are not selling books at all, actually I found it difficult to call anything within the entire store an out and out book. Sure, most everything there had multiple pages bound together in the traditional book fashion, and one might very well mistake Golden Age for a small Quimby's. Fortunately, for us in Chicago, it isn't. Golden Age sells art, it may as well be called the Golden Age Gallery, because I found everything in there a small bound curated collection of art.

Now enter Medium Rare, a publisher from New York who has some of the same ideas about books as does Golden Age, they curated a selection of works from its previously published artists books.

Collage, watercolors, photocopies and other mediums you might expect from young artists making book art will be on display at Golden Age from October 17th to November 17th 2009.

Featuring:
Anna Peaker
Brock Potucek
Elina Minn
Jaakko Pallasvuo
Emily Ryan
Eric Marth
Jason Rosenberg
Jessica Williams
Lucas Soi
Megan Plunkett
Michi Turner
Pia Howell
Tara Sinn

Golden Age
1744 W. 18th Street
Chicago, IL 60608
Opening Oct. 17 7pm - 10pm

Photos of works by
Jason Rosenberg
Eric Marth
Jessica Williams

Industry of the Ordinary

It looks like Packer Schopf will be the place to be Sunday night if your into the art scene at all. Industry of the Ordinary have invited thirty-nine people within the category "cultural workers," which I understand as writers, teachers, art advocates and anything else you can think might loosely fit into that genre. Some of the names being dropped for this show include Dawoud Bey, Inigo Manglano-Ovalle, Tony Tasset, Natasha Egan, and Paul Klein. Each of these "cultural workers," were given a different verb, and each will be displaying, performing, reciting or whatever else the will do to expose you to whatever they decided to do for that verb they were given. This should prove to be a fun time, I am excited to see how it all turns out, I even heard that there will be a priest taking confessions via text messages.

Packer Schopf Gallery
942 W. Lake St. Chicago, IL 60607
p 312.226.8984
packer@packergallery.com
Sunday Oct 11th
5pm - 8pm

Interview with Renee Prisble Una

Renee Prible Una talks with ChicagoArts about how Teaching and her meditation practice inform her art making and had become an integral part of her process.



On Monday October 12th Renee will be doing a followup interview on ChicagoArts Live you will be able to ask questions and participate on UStream.

You can find out more about Renee on her website, and don't miss her shows in November at The Noyes Cultural Arts Center in Evanston and at Perimeter Gallery in Chicago.

Ravenswood Art Walk

Let me begin by saying October is the beginning of Chicago Artists Month, so there will be no shortage of art events, or wine and cheese for the next thirty days. Having said that, this weekend you will want to check out the Ravenswood Art Walk or RAW. You may have seen the crow logo on red posters around town, but if not don't worry, I will fill you in on the haps right now.

180 artists converge on the Ravenswood Corridor Saturday and Sunday from 11am - 6pm. There is a mapped route, and if you are inclined, the starting location is 4256 N Ravenswood (west side of the Metra tracks). This is the Central Gallery, and here you will be able to see one piece frome every artists involved in RAW Throughout the event you will also be able to participate in the GREAT ART RAFFLE featuring over $3,000 worth of art by some of our talented and most generous artists. There will also be FREE trolley service.

Don't forget to come to 4147 N Ravenswood to see the special exhibit: The Blago Project which is housed in Blagojevich's former offices (Where the FBI wiretapped and eventually raided!!) This project was open to anyone involved in the Ravenswood Art Walk and consists of artwork made to the theme of Rod Blagojevich.

What:
Ravenswood Art Walk

Where:
4256 N Ravenswood

When:
Sat Oct 3 11am-6pm
Sun Oct 4 11am-6pm

Ivanov and his High Class Problems

I arrived at the ViaDuct Theater ready to see a Russian play. Even though I had known Ivanov had some comic flavor, I was very much prepared for something tragic and depressing. Ivanov did not disappoint in the least. A midlife crisis story, written in the late 1800s about a landowner and his high-faulting friends, Ivanov is riddled with bad love, greed, betrayal, and lots of Vodka. This is not the play to attend if Blue Man happens to be sold out, but it is definitely worth a once over.

Ivanov is a Russian play written by Anton Chekhov and originally performed in 1887. This particular production is being presented by SiNNERMAN Ensemble and was written and directed by Sheldon Patinkin. Sheldon's theater credentials start at being a founding member of Second City, and is far from over when you find out he is currently the chair of the Theater Department of Columbia College Chicago. SiNNERMAN, on the other hand, are ten artists who met at the School of Steppenwolf back in 2005, since then they have expanded to having 12 members. This all seems like a recipe for a great show, and some of the show is just that, but unfortunately some things fail to impress.

The writing in Ivanov is top notch, barring a few overly noticeable Russian references, the language used was approachable, and more often than not, seamless. The set design was sparse and suitable; the lighting, on the other hand, tended to be weak every time the story left the stage area. The performances were all over the place: some were stellar, others fell flat; I did see a preview, but some of the cast definitely need more time to understand their characters.

Sue Redman was exhilarating as Sasha, a character introduced in the second act, It helped that Sasha was young, vibrant, and as a character, she had the least 'doom and gloom' outlook on life (remember this is a Russian play.) I want to express that Sue's performance was not just about her character, but more about how she understood Sasha- who she was and why she was in the position that she found herself. She didn't just memorize the lines, she knew what they meant and why she was saying them. The same goes for Howie Johnson as Pasha, a neighbor of the lead, Nikolai Ivanov.

The lead, Jeremy Fisher, was one of two performance issues I had with this production. Jeremy can memorize the hell out of some lines- I'll give him that, but I was constantly looking to the reactions of his counterparts on stage to figure out what emotion Ivanov was expressing. It seemed as if Jeremy had no idea what the words he was spouting meant. This was your lead of a Russian play, he is absolutely distraught, and yet Jeremy only goes through the motions. He can drool on cue, but he just can't deliver the lines.

My other issue is with Ryan Martin, again memorizing like a Christian, but his performance lacked in the delivery. Beyond that, I was happy to see the passionate performances by most of the remaining cast and I would like to thank them all for helping me figure out what was going on with Ivanov.

Ivanov will be held at the Viaduct Theater, 3111 N. Western Ave., Chicago, IL 60618.

The show opens Thursday, October 1, 2009, 7:30 p.m. Runs Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m., and Sundays at 5 p.m. Preview on September 30 at 7:30 p.m.; Daylight Saving ends November 1.

For tickets, phone: 773-296-6024. Tickets are also available at http://www.viaducttheatre.com and http://www.goldstar.com.

Tickets cost: $20 general admission - please note that the Viaduct Box Office adds a $1 phone and $4 on-line service charge to the below listed prices.


Ticket prices:

$30 on Saturday, October 3 for Wine, Cheese and Chat Opening Celebration

$15 student/industry Thursdays and Sundays (with ID, door purchase only)

$15 special tickets (door purchase only) for these special shows:

Sunday, October 11 "I'd rather see a play than run 26 miles" Marathon Show

Halloween weekend, Friday, October 30, and Saturday, October 31

"Theatre is the original costume party" (costumes encouraged)

Pay-what-you-can for September 30th preview

Group rates for eight or more available - call 773-296-6024