Art Sat Nov 07 2009
Age 81 and still taking pictures every day, Barbara Crane's career retrospective, Challenging Vision, at the Chicago Cultural Center (CCC), hardly scratches the surface of her incredible body of work. She has shown in 170 group exhibitions, 75 solo exhibitions, and her work is included in the permanent collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Museum of Contemporary Photography. Crane also taught at the School of the Art Institute for 28 years, making Chicago a central player in her canon of work.
The historical CCC, "The People's Palace," is an excellent home for this show. Nestled among Chicago skyscrapers is the most fulfilling way to view Crane's graphic explorations in her Chicago Loop Series, 1976-78 or her photos of Chicago commuters pummeling the viewer in her Commuter Discourse, 1978. Chicago Beaches and Parks, 1972-78 captures Windy City summers with glossy, bikini-clad bodies that look like stills from a multi-racial version Beach Blanket Bingo.
Crane never stopped exploring images or how to capture them.
The key to viewing this exhibit is time. This is Crane's life's work in which her constant curiosity is deeply evident. Viewers should explore this retrospective the way Crane would--contemplate each photo and allow every to subject reveal its individual narrative.
The show is up until January 10 with gallery talks held November 19th with Crane essayist Abagail Foerstner, December 17th with curator Whitney Bradshaw, and on January 7th with the artist herself.
— Whitney Stoepel /
Art Mon Nov 02 2009
A collection of Gary Cialdella's photographs of an area that begins in southern Chicago, and ends somewhere in Northwest Indiana, has just been published in a new book. This book of photographs took me a long time to digest, mainly because I know the Calumet region and was not very familiar with this sort of documentary photography. I don't know the area quite as well as Gregg Hertzlieb, editor and contributing essayist for this book, but I have spent enough time in the area to be familiar with the subject matter. It isn't easy to look at photograph after photograph of things you've seen before, all taken in black and white from a six foot eye level. It becomes monotonous and tiring after a while, but I am beginning to understand that there is a lot more here than was originally able to see.
Continue reading this entry »
— MartinJon /
The Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning just announced a new photography contest for images of Northeastern Illinois. They're requesting images in the following categories: diversity, community vitality, natural environment, architectural/urban design and transportation, so if you want to contribute your shots, you have a chance to win photography classes, books, vegetables and walking tours, among other prizes.
— David Schalliol /
Looking forward to January? No? Maybe this will help-- the new year means new calendars. New calendars means a new Thought You Knew (TyK) calendar. What? You don't know about TyK calendars? Let me tell you.
The TyK calendar project was born last year, as a result of frustrated female cyclists in Chicago. Sick of being pegged as either mechanically savvy but asexual, or cute but inept with their bikes, they sought out a new way to represent themselves.
Continue reading this entry »
— Kelly Reaves /
Feature Tue Oct 20 2009
On Friday, Simple Gallery will present Unreleased Backgrounds, a show of Keith B. Evans' photography at Michelle Geoga Photography Studio. In advance of the show, we asked Keith for a few words about Unreleased Backgrounds. Selected images follow.
Continue reading this entry »
— David Schalliol /
It's a shame that we're finding out about street photographer Vivian Maier after her death -- no doubt had her talent been known, she would have, if not celebrated alongside Robert Frank, been recognized like Gary Stochl for her keen eye and skill at capturing Chicago. Born in France, she lived in Chicago for more than 50 years, and documented the city with her camera throughout the 1950s, '60s and '70s.
To discover street photographers working here today, check out this pool on flickr.
— Andrew Huff /
A painting by local artist Lauren Karrenberg. Thanks to istorija for sharing.
— Jamie Smith /
Taken by fotomattic at last weekend's Hyde Park Jazz Festival.
— Jamie Smith /
The Chicago Park District's Nature Areas Program has started a photography contest to "illustrate the natural beauty and biological diversity" of Chicago. Winners will participate in a traveling exhibit, among other prizes.
— David Schalliol /
A close-up of Chen Wenling's "Valiant Struggle No. 11," which is part of Millennium Park's series on contemporary Chinese sculpture. Photo taken by Dashiel Hermann.
Join the A/C Flickr Pool!
— Jamie Smith /
001.jpg)
In her words:
In 1971, when parts of the Chicago Board of Trade building were about to be remodeled, a manager asked me, a young and green photographer, to take some pictures of the construction. The trading pit wasn't slated for renovation and was generally off-limits to visitors, but he got me in and allowed me to take some pictures.
Continue reading this entry »
— David Schalliol /
A scene from "Rollin' Out of Here: A Big Lebowski Burlesque" by Vaudezilla. Photo by JOE M500.
— Jamie Smith /
Visitors to Olafur Eliasson's exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary Art admire his "Inverted Berlin Sphere." Photo by oceandesetoiles.
Join the A/C Flickr Pool!
— Jamie Smith /
Music Fri Aug 21 2009
Chicago's only circus punk marching band, Mucca Pazza. Photo taken at their Jackhammer show by sierraromeo.
Join the A/C Flickr Pool!
— Jamie Smith /
I'd rewrite this, but it's so short as to be silly. The estimable Whet Moser writes in Chicagoland...
My colleague Will Atwood Mitchell tipped me off to a phenomenon called "Manhattanhenge," "a biannual occurrence in which the setting sun aligns with the east-west streets of Manhattan's main street grid." Naturally, it works here in Chicago as well: 9/25 at 6:41 AM and 6:42 PM. The screencap is taken from the outstanding program The Photographer's Ephemeris.
— Andrew Huff /
The carrying of the Olympic...sofa? Photo of sculpture in River North by swanksalot.
— Jamie Smith /
Art Mon Jul 06 2009
Chicago visual artists are invited to submit their work to a competition sponsored by Gapers Block and the Rockford-based arts purveyor Wall Blank.
The four winning artists will be featured on Gapers Block, and their work will be offered as prints for sale on Wall Blank during "Chicago Week" in August 2009.
Continue reading this entry »
— David Schalliol /
I'll let contributer spencewine explain the cool concept behind this photo:
Double Exposure experiment with Robert Botey Beguiristain from Girona, Spain. The experiment was to expose a roll of film twice with scenes from our respective cities. What could be shot was open to interpretation. These photos contain one image of Girona, Spain overlapped with an image of Chicago, IL, USA.
— Jamie Smith /
Shiny happy people viewing art: starvingcat took this shot of the Art Institute's new Modern Wing.
— Jamie Smith /
I don't know if there's such a thing as hot dog weather, but I hope it gets here soon. Thanks, Bill Guerriero.
Join the A/C Flickr Pool
— Jamie Smith /
Coudal Partners is requesting photographs for an anti-caption contest. All you need to do is submit a photographic response to the caption "It seemed like a good idea at the time." by Friday, May 1. Submissions should be sent to steve [at] coudal [dot] com with "Whoops" in the subject line. The three funniest entries will get all sorts of Coudal goodies.
— David Schalliol /
Photographer Stephanie Bassos loves her LOMO camera, and shoots some fantastic work with it. The Post Family's new COOP coworking space is showing a collection of Bassos' work, and is celebrating with an opening reception tonight from 6 to 9pm at 845 W. Fulton Market. Drinks are complimentary, there's a DJ and a $5 raffle for a print. More info here.
Image: The Neglected Velveteen by Stephanie Bassos
— Andrew Huff /
Inspired by Pullman's distinctive serpentine limestone Greenstone Church, GB flickr pool member chicago boulevardier is seeking other Chicago green stone buildings to photograph, like this one.
— David Schalliol /
Contributor Angevinn says: "I found these two head sculptures (busts) by the trash when I was out for a walk. They looked so lonely and kind of sad sitting by the garbage."
Join the A/C Flickr Pool
— Jamie Smith /
Back in 2008, two prints from Chicago photographer Colleen Plumb's series "Animals Are Outside Today" were selected to participate in 20x200. "Field Museum Sue" and "Tiger Rug, Cabrini Green" were offered at a range of prices, but you can still get versions of both on the cheap. If you'd like to check out other Chicago-affiliated artists, you can do that too.
— David Schalliol /
The 50 States Project was launched this year to document life in, well, the 50 states. Illinois' representative is Chicagoan Brian Ulrich. Ulrich submitted a photograph entitled "Home of Former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich After Impeachment, January, 2009" for the assignment "People." Five more photographs from each contributor will be posted over the course of the year. If you want more detail, Ulrich posted a little background about his participation on his blog.
— David Schalliol /
This beautiful black-and-white was taken by A/C Flickr Pool member Angevinn at the Art Institute of Chicago.
— Andrew Huff /
Speaking of making things, GB flickr pool member Derek Wiebenson shows us how to take pretty amazing portraits while driving.
— David Schalliol /
One good thing about expecting 4-9 inches of snow this weekend is that we can also look forward to scenes like this one captured by phule.
Join the A/C Flickr Pool!
— Jamie Smith /
Art Sun Feb 15 2009
Baker/artist extraordinaire Zilly Rosen created an amazing 5,900 cupcake mosaic featuring President Obama and Lincoln in honor of President's Day.
Check out Illinois' Presidents in all their butter cream glory here on Cake Wrecks.
I desperately want to see a sped up version of the web-stream from that day if anyone has a link.
— Kristin Barrick /
Christopher Hiltz has been taking candid portraits of unsuspecting visitors to the Court Theatre's production of "The Wild Duck" by Henry Ibsen. The photographs, including the one seen above, are currently on display at the Court Theatre until March 17, when they'll be given away to anyone who wants to claim them. For more on the project and to see the entire set of portraits, visit Hiltz's flickr stream.
Join the A/C Flickr Pool!
— Jamie Smith /
Craft Mon Jan 26 2009
So how awesome was Aretha with that church-going hat? How many of us kinda wanted to run right down to the local craft store, buy a Bedazzler and get down to it?
Over at Threadbanger.com, they've got some talk in their forums (here and here) about how to make one for yourself.
Of course, if you're a little lazy or chained to your computer, have some fun with Photoshop and get yourself and Jack Nicholson an Aretha hat.
— Kristin Barrick /
Gapers Block and Calumet Photographic invite photographers of all experience levels to participate in a photo swap on Friday, February 6, and an accompanying show that will run from February 3-11.
The photo swap will work like our previous swaps. The event (which will double as the show's opening) will run between between 5:30pm and 7:30pm at the Chicago location of Calumet Photographic, 1111 N. Cherry Ave. Simply arrive at Calumet with five 4"x6" photographs of any subject you like, hang out with other photographers and then leave with five photos from others. We'll have snacks and drinks for all. The actual swapping will begin after 6:30pm, so don't worry if it takes you a little time to get there after work.
If you'd also like to participate in the show, here are the details: the show will be organized around the theme "Intersections," which you may interpret any way you like, provided the images have a Chicago connection. To submit photographs to be considered for the show, add photographs to the GB flickr pool with the tag "Intersections09" no later than January 28. If you have your submissions in earlier than that, send an email to David Schalliol notifying us that your images are in the pool, and we'll review the images ahead of time. If you do not have a flickr account, send low resolution images to David Schalliol by the 28th. Regardless, we'll promptly notify you if your photo has been selected, so you can work on getting the image framed. To expedite the process and make room for as many photographers as possible, accepted photographs should be printed no larger than 8"x12", with frames that are no larger than 11"x14". Additional information will be sent to selected participants.
Any questions about the swap or the show should be directed to David Schalliol.
— David Schalliol /
spudart shows us how the King of the Jungle weathers a Chicago winter.
Join the A/C Flickr Pool!
— Jamie Smith /
From nickaleck.com comes this vibrant photo of Daley Federal Plaza on the night of Obama's win.
Join the A/C Flickr Pool!
— Jamie Smith /
Pinup icon Bettie Page died on December 11th at the age of 85 from pneumonia after a heart attack eight days earlier.
Best known for the provocative pinup and fetish photos from the late '40s and '50s, Bettie Page was also one of the earlier Playboy centerfolds, posing in the January 1955 issue with nothing but a Santa hat and a suggestive wink. Playboy founder Hugh Hefner called her an American icon and considers her appearance a milestone for the magazine. Page spent time in Chicago after her departure from the pinup world, attending summer classes at Moody Bible College in 1961.
— Christian Scheuer /
Photographer Daniel Shea recently moved to Chicago from Baltimore and would like to learn more about the city by checking out Chicagoans' photography. If you have something you'd like to send him, let him know.
— David Schalliol /
The wonderful vernacular photography blog Square America recently posted a couple new galleries: double exposures, reading people and "Everything You Already Knew About Sex (But Kind Of Wish You Didn't)." (That last bunch is NSFW, obviously.)
— Andrew Huff /
Inspired by Carl's post on the similarities between nineteenth century Chicago and present-day Asian boomtowns, we chose this picture by spudart of a Chicago under construction. Though it looks as if it came from a bygone era, the photo was taken earlier this year when the CTA was repainting portions of the El tracks.
Join the A/C flickr pool!
— Jamie Smith /
This gorgeous photo of the staircase at the Museum of Contemporary Art was taken by manuela.martin.
Join the A/C flickr pool!
— Jamie Smith /
This week's Friday Flickr Photo Feature comes to us from Phule, who spotted the Red Ball Project's, er, big red ball on the LaSalle Street Bridge.
Join the A/C flickr pool!
— Andrew Huff /
Every week we're going to highlight a photo from the Gapers Block A/C flickr pool. In recognition of Labor Day, this week we're featuring this photo of the Haymarket Riot Memorial uploaded to the flickr pool by swanksalot.
— Jamie Smith /
Kids see the world differently -- and while growing up is sort of inevitable, putting on the goggles of youth once in a while can only be a good thing. This week at 826 Chicago (a nonprofit writing and tutoring center in Wicker Park) students unveil the photos that they feel document "their world". Ten middle and high-schoolers spent eight weeks working with National Geographic photographer Mike Hettwer, who sent them out into the city and taught them how to work a digital camera, how to compose a photograph, how to use contrast and layering... and, apparently, how to convince a dentist to let you photograph him. After creating 12,128 photographs (826 Chicago counted!), they selected their favorites and are ready to show them off to the public at a gallery exhibition on Thursday:
Thursday, September 4th
5:30-7:30 p.m.
Elegant Mr. Gallery
1355 N. Milwaukee Avenue, #3
(Second showing Sunday, September 14th, 2:00-5:00 p.m.)
A book featuring the photos called The My World Project will be available for sale, too, so you can take a little fresh perspective home with you.
— Lindsay Muscato /
Art Thu Jul 24 2008
Photography fans, take note: From now through Aug. 8, the Co-Prosperity Sphere hosts Hic et Nunc_(Here and Now) A Survey Of New Guard Photography, a show featuring work by Columbia College graduates. Photogs Nathan Baker, Jon Gitelson, Jason Lazarus and Brian Ulrich are the "veterans" of the bunch, having attended Columbia at the turn of the millennium. The four are friends, and have all gone on to have their works featured in galleries and museums, or sold to buyers. Meanwhile, Claudia Burns, the team of Terttu Uibopuu and Sarah Mckemie, Sean Fader, Aron Gent, Mandukhai Kaylin and Tealia Ellis Ritter have all just recently graduated from art school. The show is supported by the nonprofit Public Media Institute.
3219-21 South Morgan St. Hours by appointment.
— Lauri Apple /
Blog Tue May 13 2008
Dawoud Bey, Chicago-based photographer and professor, has a new blog, What's Going On," covering photography as well whatever other topics strike him; his most recent post about the city's racial segregation and its effects on the local art scene puts an interesting perspective on a long-simmering issue.
(Found via Brian Ulrich's blog, which is well worth reading in its own right.)
— Andrew Huff /
News Tue Apr 22 2008
The Art Institute of Chicago announced the retirement of David Travis, chair of the Department of Photography, effective at the end of June.
Travis began his career at the Art Institute as an assistant curator of photography in the Department of Prints and Drawings in 1972 and was a full curator in 1975, when the Department of Photography was officially established. "David Travis has had a long and extraordinarily productive career at the museum, and it is impossible to conceive of the department here without his imprint," said Art Institute President James Cuno.
Travis organized and presented more than 150 exhibitions of photography at the Art Institute, including exhibitions of the work of Walker Evans, André Kertész, Edward Weston, Paul Strand, and Brassaï, and has also guest curated exhibitions shown at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. For his special contributions to the advancement of awareness and understanding of French culture, he was awarded the Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government in 1987. He has also been a guest scholar at the J. Paul Getty Museum and in 2002 he was named a "Chicagoan of the Year" by Chicago magazine. At the Edge of the Light: Thoughts on Photographers and Photography, on Talent and Genius, a collection of his lectures and essays, was published in 2003.
— Andrew Huff /
Art Mon Apr 07 2008
Through June 29, the Chicago Cultural Center hosts Dean Sharp: Photographs of the Chicago Picasso, a free exhibition of black and white photos on display at its Michigan Avenue Galleries. Curated by Assistant Curator of Exhibitions Sofia Zutautas, and organized by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs, the exhibit displays photos that Sharp took in 1967, while he was a student at the Layton School of Art in Milwaukee. In wrapping up his final project, Sharp paid a visit to Chicago and was struck by the facial expressions of people who passed by the then brand-spanking new Picasso sculpture in Daley Plaza. Camera in tow, he began photographing the faces he saw. His work both documents human nature and serves as a commentary on the role and impact of public art. On Tuesday, April 17, at 12:15 p.m., Sharp will appear at the Center for a free talk. (Viewing hours are Mondays through Thursdays, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Fridays, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Saturdays 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sundays, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. The Center is closed on holidays.)
— Lauri Apple /
A/C has its own flickr pool! Join up and post your own photos of art exhibits, plays, dance performances and other arts & culture events -- or images of your own art, such as drawings, paintings and photography. Images from the pool will stream in the second column of A/C.
— Andrew Huff /
I found a couple of interesting Flickr groups devoted to the disappearance of Chicago buildings. Chicago - Now Demolished and Vanishing Chicago both document many of the other buildings in Chicago that have met an end. Most of these buildings don't have any historical significance, but are part of Chicago's architectural history nonetheless.
— Christian Scheuer /
