PERSPECTIVES: FIGURATION AND ABSTRACTION IN CONTEMPORARY BLACK ART

PERSPECTIVES: FIGURATION AND ABSTRACTION IN CONTEMPORARY BLACK ART  Opening Reception Fri.  Oct 28, 5-8pm;  Exhibition Discussion: Sat.  Oct 29, 1pm

Curator: Spencer Hutchinson

For nearly the entire history of Black Artists’ existence in the U.S., black art has been largely segregated from the concerns of mainstream Modern, Postmodern, and Contemporary Art, and usually focused on the human figure. Even visual artists as unconventional as Jean Michel Basquiat still frame the representation of the black body as the center of their Art making. Recently, this trend has been undergoing a change. Artists such as Julie Mehrutu and Mark Bradford have crossed the rubicon into Abstraction and into a frame of discourse that long excluded Black Artists while much older Black artists working in Abstraction going back decades such as Macarthur Binion are experiencing a renaissance and having their art being given the credibility that evaded them in years past. At the heart of this show are the questions what respectively drive Black Representational and Black Abstract Art? How are these motivations distinct from “Mainstream” representational and abstract art that the general public are more familiar with? How do representation and abstraction inform and contextualize each other in the discourse surrounding Black art and are there implications within this realm of discourse that can help shed light on the ontology of figuration and abstraction more broadly. This show attempts to equally represent Black figurative and abstract artists working in the mediums of Painting, drawing, printmaking, photography, and sculpture across a broad range of the African diaspora. We seek to include artists at all levels of their careers regardless of age, gender, ability, or sexual orientation to help drive the conversation and engender broader understanding of these two major themes in Contemporary Black Art.

A Statement on PERSPECTIVES by the curator:

In 1933 curator James V. Herring, philosopher Alain Locke and visual artist James A. Porter joined forces and put together a show featuring the various contributions made by African American Artists at all levels of training, education and professional accomplishment throughout the country to showcase what we now take for granted as being at the foundation of Modern Black Aesthetic Interests.

In the year 2022, only 89 years after the opening of a show that was erected at The Smithsonian Institution’s National Gallery of Art, many of the same issues addressed by Herring, Locke and Porter continue to resonate with us today. The centrality of The Black Experience, of African Identity, and of a sense of participation in a society in which one finds oneself to be so deeply enmeshed, and yet held so far apart from.

The location of Black Art’s contribution to society shifts with-in the American Psyche, in the ebb and flow of time, just as America’s relationship with us, her African-American inhabitants has. The styles have changed, somewhat, but the lived social realities remain very much the same. Intended to also act in recent historical concert with similar shows that have showcased Black Artists working today, specifically the ICONIC: Black Panther show at The Stony Island Artsbank in The Chatham/Southshore Neighborhood, PERSPECTIVES revisits what may have been the same subjective themes in 1933 revisited for the benefit of a contemporary audience, namely the representation of the human Figure, and the concept of Abstraction from the figure, from nature itself, and from the depths of the human psyche.

The Art that has been chosen, reflects the times in which Black Artists find themselves in yet again. I hope the work in this show teaches us to live for today, and celebrate the continued vibrance, vitality, and impact of Black Art in The City of Chicago and around the world.

 

Exhibiting Artists: 

Krystal Boney, Austen Brantley, Summer Brooks, Amel Dockery, Zahra Edwards, Angela Davis Fegan, Erol Harris II, Jennifer Hodges, Lindsay Johnson, George Jones, Rhian Kempadoo-Millar, Anika Kowalik, MISU, Marcela Adeze Okeke, Turtel Onli, Angie Redmond, Michele Stutts, Narvell Taylor, Darlene Tyree, Cheryl Toles, Nia Wilson

About the Curator:

Spencer Hutchinson is a 2020 MFA graduate from The University of Illinois at Chicago where he studied Studio and New Media Arts (specifically Painting and Sound) and a 2009 BFA graduate from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago where he studied Sound, Painting and New Media. His work primarily deals with intersections across visual media, particularly painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, performance, 3D animation, video and sound as well as topics relating to race and art theory and criticism. He has shown nationally and internationally in Mexico City, Ravenna IT, Assisi IT, Dubai UAE, and Manchester UK and previously served as editor and art critic for the New Art Examiner as well as being a founding member of Agitator Cooperative Gallery in Chicago. He has been a working artist based in Chicago, IL since 2007.

Opening Reception, Friday, October 28, 5:00-8:00pm
Exhibition Discussion: Sat.  Oct 29, 1pm

  • Exhibition dates: Oct 27 –  Nov 19, 2022
  • Gallery hours: Thurs – Fri 2-6pm, Sat – Sun 12-4 pm

 

This program is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency.

Carolyne King

“THE SPACE BETWEEN”  First Fridays Reception  Oct 7, 5-8pm

“The dark night of the soul comes just before revelation. When everything is lost, and all seems darkness, then comes the new life and all that is needed.” – Joseph Campbell

A few months after my last show at ARC, Fractured States, my mother was diagnosed with a terminal cancer. She passed away 17 months later and it seemed as if the concepts that exhibition had discussed were a reality for me. The fight for connection had, at least artistically, given way to loss and inertia. But something else happened too during this time. I fell in love. Simultaneously, I was experiencing the worst of pain and best of happiness.

Grief – Solace – Sadness – Joy

These four words became a mantra that kept ringing around my head. And slowly the focus of the work began to build on the peace and silence created by negative space, harmony between color and each piece’s collage element.

Yet, The Space Between, like Fractured States, A Delicate Balance and Fragile States before it, is also a reflection of my belief that we are on a continuous and circuitous path of creation, illumination, and spiritual progression towards one’s place within the universe. I fully believe in the Buddhist practice of re-learning what one has learned for while the lesson has remained the same, the person has changed. And the loss of my mother has changed me on a deep level.

As the work for this exhibition began to take shape so did the realization that in creating this current body of work I was putting into practice my own artistic concepts, as both an action of living and an action of creativity. The Space Between is a, “fight for connection in the face of dissolution…Even if it seems components are being forced together, in the end, each piece that goes into the artwork has a purpose. It is not always an easy progression and there is strife and loss on the way. And sometimes the simple belief that things will be better is enough to hold even the smallest connection together.”

 

First Fridays Reception, October 7, 5:00-8:00pm

  • Exhibition dates: Sept 29 –  Oct 22, 2022
  • Gallery hours: Thurs – Fri 2-6pm, Sat – Sun 12-4 pmThis program is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency.
      

Michele Stutts

“HOUSEBIRD”  First Fridays Reception  Oct 7, 5-8pm

Michele Stutts is a British born, Chicago-based, contemporary artist whose journey has led her to a diversity of visual art: video, painting, collage, and now, assemblage.

Composed of found objects rich with history and seasoned by time, her work has integrated all of her artistic experiences. Her assemblage artworks often contain forgotten memories that have lost their original appearance and purpose, but have been born with a new aesthetic and meaning.

The current exhibit, Housebird, is not synonymous with ”birdhouse”, but has the opposite meaning. Although both are human-crafted structures, birds find protection from harsh weather and predators in birdhouses, a place to nest and raise their young. In contrast, Housebird represents a constant state of isolation, anxiety, and financial insecurity.

Yet, there is a clear transition in the exhibition of the artist trapped and resentful expressed in Housebird into her free flowing, visually energetic assemblages. This change has an edge of stubbornness to it, much like a sturdy brick and mortar home whose good old bones still have plenty of life left in them.

See more about Michele Stutts here: http://michelestutts.com/gallery.html

First Fridays Reception, October 7, 5:00-8:00pm

  • Exhibition dates: Sept 29 –  Oct 22, 2022
  • Gallery hours: Thurs – Fri 2-6pm, Sat – Sun 12-4 pmThis program is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency.
      

THE INVISIBLE COSTS OF WAR

JUROR: Adrienne Kochman, PhD, Curator of Contemporary Art at the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art, Chicago

EXHIBITION DATES: JULY 21 – AUGUST 13, 2022

Without any provocation, Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February, 2022. The attack is considered an act of aggression internationally. It has triggered Europe’s largest refugee crisis since World War II with more than 5 million Ukrainians leaving the country. As UN Women states, “wars affect women and children differently and disproportionately.” Women and children in Ukraine are being targeted by Russian forces as reports from Bucha and Irpin indicate, and women and children refugees who have left Ukraine are being targeted by human traffickers.

In support of the Ukrainian people, and to protest the Russian invasion, ARC Gallery invited artists to respond to the war in Ukraine using their creativity. We envision this as an inclusive exhibition that protests this, and other, acts of aggression through thought-provoking and thoughtful artwork that specifically addresses the current war in Ukraine and the refugee crisis created by this war, as well as previous and current wars that create a refugee crisis for women and children.

For a link to a video interview and images from the exhibition featured on the WTTW show “Chicago Tonight” broadcast on July 27, 2022, click here: https://bit.ly/3zW44Iq

In-Gallery Artists: Tim Atseff, Iryna Chaboryk, Linda Cohn, Elean Diadenko, SP Scotti Estes, David Feingold, Michael Fischerkeller, Donna Fleetwood, Judith Roston Freilich, Nancy Fritz, Deborah Hirshfield, Pearl Hirshfield, Judith Joseph, Louie Laskowski, Alexander Martemianov, William Marx, Ken Reker, Maggie Rose, Irina Visnevscaia

*Please note this correction for Rostyslav Luzhetskyy’s image: “Long Journey of a Black Swan”, acrylic on canvas, author’s technique, 15.8 x 23.7 inches, 2022

Virtual Artists: Petro Antyp, Gayane Arushanian, Vasya Dmytryk, Oksana Fedko, Svetlana Gavrilenko, Marianna Goncharenko, Anastasiia Grygorieva, Tetiana Kopytova, Olga Kuts, Mariia Lashkevych, Victoria Likholyot, Olga Lisowska, Ivan Lisyuk, Daria Lutsyshyna, Rostyslav Luzhetskyy, Natan Markman, Alexander Martemianov, Sveltlana Mikhalevich, Liudmyla Molodan, Nancy Natow-Cassidy, Serhiy Savchenko, Antonina Semenova, Alina Shevchenko, Nikolay Sokolov, Oksana Svizhak, Andriy Sydorenko, Maryna Talutto, Maryna Vashchenko, Ilya Yarovoy, Mihail Zablodski, Yulia Zakharova, Oleksii Zheltonogov

“Under the Wall” by Tereza Barabash

 

See “St. Sebastian” by Mykhaylo Barabash here: https://bit.ly/3zS0qQ2

See “Ukranian Golgotha” by Oksana Chepelyk here: https://bit.ly/3QK6p0d

See “Ukraine. Identification Code” by Irina Visnevscaia here: https://bit.ly/3CaeM0G

See “Limbus” by Nikita Vlasov here: https://bit.ly/3pdiRK0

Video Artists: Mykhaylo Barabash, Tereza Barabash, Oksana Chepelyk, Irina Visnevscaia, Nikita Vlasov

Juror: Adrienne Kochman, Curator of contemporary art at the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art in Chicago. Dr. Kochman has a PhD in Art History from the University of Chicago. Dr. Kochman, PhD has been working as an art historian, curator and educator in Chicago and its art community since the 1980s. Formerly Associate Professor of Art History and Adjunct Associate Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies at Indiana University Northwest, she currently teaches at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and since 2017, is curator at the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art. Recent curatorial projects include The Ukrainian Diaspora: Women Artists, 1908-2015 (2015) and Reality Check: Directions in Contemporary Art Since Ukrainian Independence (2016); Increment: Barbara Cooper, Shona MacDonald, Yoonshin Park (2018); Raw Reckoning: Michael Paxton (2019). Her exhibit on Paris-based Ukrainian refugee artist Michel Andreenko opened in June.

Closing Reception, Saturday, AUG 13, 1-3pm

Exhibition dates: July 21 – August 13, 2022
Gallery hours: Thurs & Fri – 2-6 pm,  Sat & Sun – 12-4 pm

Call for Entries: PERSPECTIVES: FIGURATION AND ABSTRACTION IN CONTEMPORARY BLACK ART

CALL FOR ENTRIES:  PERSPECTIVES: FIGURATION AND ABSTRACTION IN CONTEMPORARY BLACK ART

JUROR: Spencer Hutchinson, MFA UIC 2020

EXHIBITION DATES:  Oct 27 – Nov 19, 2022

DEADLINE FOR ENTRIES: Thursday, Sept 22, 2022 at 11:59pm CST

CLICK THIS LINK (OR CUT AND PASTE LINK TO YOUR BROWSER) TO APPLY: https://arcgallery.wufoo.com/forms/figuration-abstraction-in-contemporary-black-art/

ARC Gallery, as part of its mission to promote inclusion and diversity in the representation of contemporary art, calls to all African-Diasporic artists working across media to submit work that is either in the vein of representational/figurative/realistic or abstract/non-objective/conceptual art.

For nearly the entire history of Black artists’ existence in the U.S. and throughout the world, black art has been largely defined by what Darby English refers to as Black representational space. Even visual artists as unconventional as Jean Michel Basquiat still frame the representation of the Black body as the center of their art making. Recently, this trend has been undergoing a change. Artists such as Julie Mehrutu and Mark Bradford have crossed the rubicon into Abstraction and into a frame of discourse that long excluded Black Artists while much older Black artists working in Abstraction going back decades such as Macarthur Binion are experiencing a renaissance and having their art being given the credibility that evaded them in years past. At the heart of this show are the questions: what respectively drives Black Representational and by extension Black Abstract Art? How are these motivations distinct from “Mainstream” representational and abstract art that the general public are more familiar with?

How do representation and abstraction inform and contextualize each other in the discourse surrounding black art and are there implications within this realm of discourse that can help shed light on the ontology of figuration and abstraction more broadly? Are the criteria by which the general audience, and mainstream institutions and galleries represent art made by Afrodiasporic peoples too narrow?

This show attempts to equally represent Black figurative and abstract artists working mainly in the mediums of painting, drawing, printmaking, photography, collage, installation, sound, video and sculpture across the entire range of the African diaspora. We seek to include artists at all levels of their careers regardless of age, gender, ability, or sexual orientation to help drive the
conversation and engender broader understanding of these two major themes in Contemporary Black Art.

All mediums and materials are eligible for submission including video and performance. Due to space limitations, no large projections or media-based installations will be accepted.

Deadline for Submission of Applications: Thursday, Sept 22, 2022 at 11:59pm CST

Notification of Acceptance: Will go out by email on Oct 1, 2022
Work Delivered to ARC: Thurs & Fri, Oct 20, 21, 2-6pm; Sat, Oct 22, 12-4pm
Pick-Up Work at Gallery: Sat, Nov 19, 2;30-4pm
Shipped Work Return Date: the week of Nov. 23-24 *Pre-Paid FedEx or UPS label is required.*
Do not use the U.S. Postal Service.

FEES:
$30 for one to three images. $10 for each additional image. (Lower charge for students: high school or college students can pay a reduced fee of $20 per 3 entries with $10 for each additional entry. Please include copy of Student ID.) If paying by check, it must be received prior to jurying.
* Artists who are unable to afford the fees listed are asked to pay what they can afford. ARC is run by a group of artists who want to support other artists and give visibility to underserved communities. We only ask artists to contribute to our costs to help us keep the doors open.

Click HERE to apply.

Juror: Spencer Hutchinson

We are honored to have Spencer Hutchinson acting as juror and curator for this show.

Spencer Hutchinson is a 2020 MFA graduate from The University of Illinois at Chicago where he studied Studio and New Media Arts (specifically Painting and Sound) and a 2009 BFA graduate from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago where he studied Sound, Painting and New Media. His work primarily deals with intersections across visual media, particularly painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, performance, 3D animation, video and sound as well as topics relating to race and art theory and criticism. He has shown nationally and internationally in Mexico City, Ravenna IT, Assisi IT, Dubai UAE, and Manchester UK and previously served as editor and art critic for the New Art Examiner as well as being a founding member of Agitator Cooperative Gallery in Chicago. He has been a working artist based in Chicago, IL since 2007.

Opening Reception, Friday, Oct. 28, 5-8pm
Exhibition dates: Oct 27– Nov 19, 2022
Gallery hours: Thurs & Fri – 2-6 pm,  Sat & Sun – 12-4 pm

Deadline for Entries: Sept 22 11:59 pm CST

This program is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency.

49th Annual ARC Members’ Show

49th Annual ARC Members’ Show:  Opening Reception: Fri. September 9, 5-8pm  Closing Reception Fri. September 23, 5-8pm

Please join the collective membership of ARC for its annual Members’ Exhibition!

ARC, founded in 1973 as a women-run cooperative organization, has a long and distinguished history as a cultural institution in the city. ARC’s mission is to bring innovative, emerging and experimental visual art, to a wide range of viewers, and to provide a nurturing atmosphere for the continued development of artistic potential and dialogue. Celebrating 49 years in existence, ARC provides exhibition opportunities and support to artists, across all artistic disciplines including performance, sound, and video. The support ARC offers includes: professional presentation of work, significant financial subsidy of gallery space, group and themed show opportunities, and feedback and encouragement to young and emerging artists.

Local Members: Sessah DelaRue– Nancy Fritz – Iris Goldstein – Cait Hardie – Beth LeFauve – Elyse Martin – Ruti Modlin – Cheri Reif Naselli – Randi Shepard – Lee Stanton – Michele Stutts – Michelle Williams

National Members: Laura Cloud – Abigail Engstrand – Nicolei Buendia Gupit

Affiliate Members: Granite Palombo Amit – Kina Bagovska – Nancy Bechtol – Denise Bellezzo – Monica J. Brown – Virginia Carstarphen – Esther Charbit – Jessica Gondek – Kristina Gosh – Carolyne King – Pauline Kochanski – Jane Stevens – Cynthia Vaicunas – Amy Zucker

Closing Reception, Friday, Sept 23, 5:00 – 8:00pm

  • Exhibition dates: Sept 1 – 24, 2021
  • Gallery hours: Thurs & Fri 2-6 pm,  Sat & Sun 12-4 pm

This program is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency.

THE INVISIBLE COSTS OF WAR

Ukrainian-exhibit

THE INVISIBLE COSTS OF WAR

JUROR: Adrienne Kochman, PhD, Curator of Contemporary Art at the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art, Chicago

EXHIBITION DATES: JULY 21 – AUGUST 13, 2022

Without any provocation, Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February, 2022. The attack is considered an act of aggression internationally. It has triggered Europe’s largest refugee crisis since World War II with more than 5 million Ukrainians leaving the country. As UN Women states, “wars affect women and children differently and disproportionately.” Women and children in Ukraine are being targeted by Russian forces as reports from Bucha and Irpin indicate, and women and children refugees who have left Ukraine are being targeted by human traffickers.

In support of the Ukrainian people, and to protest the Russian invasion, ARC Gallery invited artists to respond to the war in Ukraine using their creativity. We envision this as an inclusive exhibition that protests this, and other, acts of aggression through thought-provoking and thoughtful artwork that specifically addresses the current war in Ukraine and the refugee crisis created by this war, as well as previous and current wars that create a refugee crisis for women and children.

In-Gallery Artists: Tim Atseff, Iryna Chaboryk, Linda Cohn, Elean Diadenko, SP Scotti Estes, David Feingold, Michael Fischerkeller, Donna Fleetwood, Judith Roston Freilich, Nancy Fritz, Deborah Hirshfield, Pearl Hirshfield, Judith Joseph, Louie Laskowski, Alexander Martemianov, William Marx, Ken Reker, Maggie Rose, Irina Visnevscaia

*Please note correction for Rostyslav Luzhetskyy’s image: “Long Journey of a Black Swan”, acrylic on canvas, author’s technique, 15.8 x 23.7 inches, 2022

Virtual Artists: Petro Antyp, Gayane Arushanian, Vasya Dmytryk, Oksana Fedko, Svetlana Gavrilenko, Marianna Goncharenko, Anastasiia Grygorieva, Tetiana Kopytova, Olga Kuts, Mariia Lashkevych, Victoria Likholyot, Olga Lisowska, Ivan Lisyuk, Daria Lutsyshyna, Rostyslav Luzhetskyy, Natan Markman, Alexander Martemianov, Sveltlana Mikhalevich, Liudmyla Molodan, Nancy Natow-Cassidy, Serhiy Savchenko, Antonina Semenova, Alina Shevchenko, Nikolay Sokolov, Oksana Svizhak, Andriy Sydorenko, Maryna Talutto, Maryna Vashchenko, Ilya Yarovoy, Mihail Zablodski, Yulia Zakharova

Video Artists: Mykhaylo Barabash, Tereza Barabash, Oksana Chepelyk, Irina Visnevscaia, Nikita Vlasov

Juror: Adrienne Kochman, Curator of contemporary art at the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art in Chicago. Dr. Kochman has a PhD in Art History from the University of Chicago. Dr. Kochman, PhD has been working as an art historian, curator and educator in Chicago and its art community since the 1980s. Formerly Associate Professor of Art History and Adjunct Associate Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies at Indiana University Northwest, she currently teaches at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and since 2017, is curator at the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art. Recent curatorial projects include The Ukrainian Diaspora: Women Artists, 1908-2015 (2015) and Reality Check: Directions in Contemporary Art Since Ukrainian Independence (2016); Increment: Barbara Cooper, Shona MacDonald, Yoonshin Park (2018); Raw Reckoning: Michael Paxton (2019). Her exhibit on Paris-based Ukrainian refugee artist Michel Andreenko opens in June.

Opening Reception, Friday, JULY 22, 5-8pm
Exhibition dates: July 21 – August 13, 2022
Gallery hours: Thurs & Fri – 2-6 pm,  Sat & Sun – 12-4 pm

The video below is from the WTTW show “Chicago Tonight” broadcast on July 27, 2022.  They interviewed the juror and showed images from the exhibit.  They recommended that their viewers come to see the exhibit.

Ukrainian-exhibit

Spencer Hutchinson

“TRACTATUS 2: Paintings, Combines, and Sculptures at the Intersection of Sound by Spencer Hutchinson, 2012-2022”  Opening Reception Fri.  Sept 9, 5-8pm 

“Tractatus 2” is a decade’s long survey of found object oriented visual works by multimedia artist Spencer Hutchinson that refer to or utilize sound in their conception and execution.

 

Opening Reception, Friday, September 9, 5:00-8:00pm

  • Exhibition dates: Sept 1 – 24, 2022
  • Gallery hours: Thurs – Fri 2-6pm, Sat – Sun 12-4 pm

    This program is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency.
      

THE INVISIBLE COSTS OF WAR

THE INVISIBLE COSTS OF WAR

JUROR: Adrienne Kochman, PhD, Curator of Contemporary Art at the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art, Chicago

EXHIBITION DATES: JULY 21 – AUGUST 13, 2022

“When you’re standing under winter skies,
and the heavens turn and sail away,
you know you’ve got to live somewhere you aren’t afraid to die.”
Serhiy Zhadan, Ukrainian Poet

Without any provocation, Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February, 2022. The attack is considered an act of aggression internationally. It has triggered Europe’s largest refugee crisis since World War II with more than 5 million Ukrainians leaving the country. As UN Women states, “wars affect women and children differently and disproportionately.” Women and children in Ukraine are being targeted by Russian forces as reports from Bucha and Irpin indicate, and women and children refugees who have left Ukraine are being targeted by human traffickers.

In support of the Ukrainian people, and to protest the Russian invasion, ARC Gallery invited artists to respond to the war in Ukraine using their creativity. We envision this as an inclusive exhibition that protests this, and other, acts of aggression through thought-provoking and thoughtful artwork that specifically addresses the current war in Ukraine and the refugee crisis created by this war, as well as previous and current wars that create a refugee crisis for women and children.

Curator, Adrienne Kochman, will lead an informal Gallery Walk and discussion on Saturday, July 23, 2022 at 1 PM. She will discuss the complexities of the jurying process and the curatorial issues coming into play. These include the procedure for reviewing the 89 artists submitting over 325 artworks; practical considerations specific to exhibiting in a small gallery space, virtual vs. physical on-sight artwork presentation, while maintaining balance with the nuances inherent in visualizing unspeakable trauma.
*All donations to the Bar at the Opening and Gallery Walk will be donated to an organization recommended by the UIMA and go towards helping the Ukrainian people where it is needed the most.

“Ukraine hath not yet perished, nor her glory, nor her freedom,
Upon us, fellow Ukrainians, fate shall smile once more.
Our enemies shall vanish, like the dew in the sun,
And we too shall rule, brothers, in a free land of our own.”
Beginning Stanza of Ukrainian National Anthem

In-Gallery Artists: Tim Atseff, Iryna Chaboryk, Linda Cohn, Elean Diadenko, SP Scotti Estes, David Feingold, Michael Fischerkeller, Donna Fleetwood, Judith Roston Freilich, Nancy Fritz, Deborah Hirshfield, Pearl Hirshfield, Judith Joseph, Louie Laskowski, Alexander Martemianov, William Marx, Ken Reker, Maggie Rose, Irina Visnevscaia
Virtual Artists: Petro Antyp, Gayane Arushanian, Vasya Dmytryk, Oksana Fedko, Svetlana Gavrilenko, Marianna Goncharenko, Anastasiia Grygorieva, Tetiana Kopytova, Olga Kuts, Mariia Lashkevych, Victoria Likholyot, Olga Lisowska, Ivan Lisyuk, Daria Lutsyshyna, Rostyslav Luzhetskyy, Natan Markman, Alexander Martemianov, Sveltlana Mikhalevich, Liudmyla Molodan, Nancy Natow-Cassidy, Serhiy Savchenko, Antonina Semenova, Alina Shevchenko, Nikolay Sokolov, Oksana Svizhak, Andriy Sydorenko, Maryna Talutto, Maryna Vashchenko, Ilya Yarovoy, Mihail Zablodski, Yulia Zakharova
Video Artists: Tereza Barabash, Mykhalo Barahash, Oksana Chepelyk, Irina Visnevscaia, Nikita Vlasov

Juror: Adrienne Kochman, Curator of contemporary art at the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art in Chicago. Dr. Kochman has a PhD in Art History from the University of Chicago. Dr. Kochman, PhD has been working as an art historian, curator and educator in Chicago and its art community since the 1980s. Formerly Associate Professor of Art History and Adjunct Associate Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies at Indiana University Northwest, she currently teaches at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and since 2017, is curator at the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art. Recent curatorial projects include The Ukrainian Diaspora: Women Artists, 1908-2015 (2015) and Reality Check: Directions in Contemporary Art Since Ukrainian Independence (2016); Increment: Barbara Cooper, Shona MacDonald, Yoonshin Park (2018); Raw Reckoning: Michael Paxton (2019). Her exhibit on Paris-based Ukrainian refugee artist Michel Andreenko opens in June.

Opening Reception, Friday, JULY 22, 5-8pm
Exhibition dates: July 21 – August 13, 2022
Gallery hours: Thurs & Fri – 2-6 pm,  Sat & Sun – 12-4 pm

Maryam Safajoo

“REPETITIOUS INSECURITY “  Opening Reception Fri.  July 22, 5-8pm  Closing Reception Sat.  Aug 13, 1-3pm

My paintings narrate the stories of the contemporary situation of the systematically persecuted Iranian Baha’i community – Iran’s largest religious minority – after the 1979 Iranian revolution.

I experienced this oppression myself in Iran. I remember the day in the early morning when government security forces burst into my home, ransacked it and took my father to prison; my younger sister was crying on her way to school. Later my sister was denied access to university and because of her quest to understand why, was placed in solitary confinement. These are only a few examples of what Baha’is around Iran have and are currently experiencing. My paintings narrate these stories which are a result of my conversations with the people who were near these actual events. Many of the incidents I depict only exist in the memory of those who experienced them and have no pictorial existence. In many cases if visual records did exist, they have been confiscated by the Iranian authorities in raids of homes. My depictions are often the first time these events have taken visual form. I record the details of this history. For example, the shoes, clothes, artifacts, and environments seen in my paintings are very close to those that were there in the event.

I take inspiration from interviewing, hearing, feeling, reading, and researching the stories of the Bahai’s of Iran.

My paintings tell the stories of this systematic persecution— including execution or murder, arrest, detainment, and interrogation. Tens of thousands more have been deprived of jobs, pensions and educational opportunities – including a systematic denial of access to higher education. Bahá’í cemeteries, and properties have been confiscated, vandalized, or destroyed, and many Bahá’ís have had their homes and other property seized or damaged etc. Throughout my work, I am constantly reflecting on the concept of a humanity free from religious prejudice including how we can eliminate all prejudice such as racism, sexism, nationalism, and how our prejudices can complicate or obfuscate the development of our community and prevent each other from growing. I often use my own body and those of my friends and family in my paintings. I’m working on this subject since 2013.

 

Opening Reception, Friday, July 22, 5:00-8:00pm; Closing Reception, Saturday, August 13, 1-3pm

  • Exhibition dates: July 21 – Aug 13, 2022
  • Gallery hours: Thurs – Fri 2-6pm, Sat – Sun 12-4 pm