At the opening night of the fall art season two weeks ago, the sidewalk in front of the building at 118 N. Peoria was mobbed with folks, those about to go into the building's seven galleries and those just coming out. They stopped on the sidewalk to say hello to old friends, chat, smoke cigarettes and drink from plastic wine cups. It's no coincidence that the stoop of 118 N. Peoria draws in the biggest art-loving crowd, as it has earned a reputation in recent years for defining the landscape of contemporary art. Here's what the hottest destination for high art is showing this fall.
Monique Meloche
"Stay Black and Die"
through Oct. 8
The very title of Rashid Johnson's second solo show at the Monique Meloche Gallery, "Stay Black and Die," is sprayed with enamel on a large piece of felt. This is one in a series of jarring and intensely personal works on view that examines the contemporary African-American male experience as well as the cultural and political ramifications of the complicated history of racial relations in the U.S. Dealing with these topics through a variety of means, Johnson has made a site-specific installation, video, a life-size nude self-portrait and other mixed media works. As a Chicago native who has attended both Columbia College and the School of the Art Institute, Johnson is a hometown gem (though he currently lives in NYC), and is gaining major international attention, having recently shown this work at LISTE 05: The Young Art Fair in Basel.
Rhona Hoffman Gallery
"Siebren Versteeg, Determination"
through Oct. 8
Siebren Versteeg examines the affects of technology on society, or so it seems. The seminal piece in this show, "Flash," takes up an entire wall and is made of 900 photographs, 4- by 6-inches in size, that were printed after the artist did an internet search on the word "flash." A tiny photograph shown on the opposite wall, "When Left is Right," shows the artist standing with his arms facing forward and face turned backwards. This enigmatic exhibit will satisfy those looking for the kind of cliched contemporary art experience that keeps one guessing.
Aron Packer Gallery
"The Lake Shore Drive Series (and other paintings)"
through Oct. 15
To imagine the work of Bill Woolf, think folk painter Grandma Moses meets Austrian expressionist Gustav Klimt and you're getting close. Of course, all you need to do is check out Aron Packer Gallery to see the amazingly detailed un-trained accomplishments of Woolf. The series of paintings on view, appropriately called LSD for short and the Lake Shore Drive Series for long, are four massive panels depicting the past, present, future and super-future of Chicago's Lincoln Park. It took a year for Woolf to complete each panel, undoubtedly because of the amount of detail that's best appreciated by looking at the buildings that line Lincoln Park: in each window is a different minute picture, whether an appropriation of famous art historical paintings or designs. In Gallery Two, Mark Cristant's "Birdman" series depicts birds wearing suits and toting guns. The ridiculousness of seeing a bird holding a rifle while smaller birds circle his head him points to the serious imbalance of power between man and animals in our society.
Peter Miller Gallery
"Mediated Pop: Fabric Collages"
through Oct. 15
Sometimes art can be soft and cuddly, particularly in the case of Japanese artist Ai Kijima's quilts. Though hardly meant for the couch, these quilted "paintings" are made from recycled bed sheets, curtains, clothes, assorted scraps and kimonos that the artist found in Tokyo thrift shops and yard sales. What's even more familiar in Kijima's work is that the materials she uses are the motifs that consume them: Disney characters, icons from American pop culture and figures from commercials are sewn together using miles of thread. The characters are familiar yet have a whole new meaning when put together, as it's not every day that Santa Claus, Snow White and Tony the Tiger commingle.
Gescheidle
"Burtonwood & Holmes"
through Oct. 22
The devastation of war may seem like a distant problem relegated to the news, but Gescheidle Gallery puts the reality of it front and center. Artists Burtonwood and Holmes, a duo that has been creating art since 1999, confront us with an array of images that reference war and weaponry. From the destroyed wall, seemingly blasted by a bomb, that forges its way into the middle of the gallery to the paintings that portraitize different types of tanks and guns, this is a sterile examination of the instruments of violence that are manufactured by companies in America and abroad.
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