For Memory: These Are Deities in My Eyes

For Memory: These Are Deities in My Eyes 

Andrea Coleman’s body of work continues to challenge and complicate visualizations of family centered storytelling through a process of digital redaction and multi-layering, most often initiated by coloration and intuitive mark making.  Identified by Coleman as digital paintings, the reconfiguration of her found family images provide a retelling and honoring of familial figures who she regards as “deities in her eyes”. Coleman’s practice is often guided by passed down family oral histories and family interviews. Her body of digital paintings question the interconnectedness and multidimensional relationship between vernacular images and how we read them as complicated portraitures. Her compilation of found and created video works alter concepts of memory, aura, and moments of “authenticity” as documented in real time.  In her words, she intends to “create an act of reminiscing” with the intention to trigger memories, sensitivities, and concerns regarding the concept of family. 

Curated by: Zakkiyyah Najeebah 

Mystified Remains-Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary

“Mystified Remains” gives emphasis on the visionary effects of nostalgia and memory formation. Seeking to illustrate fleeting moments of time, as viewers we witness the language of shedding and the imprinted residue of what was. Undergoing a continuous transformation, the images rewrite the stilled snapshots and conceptually builds an intense dynamic between transparent coloration and style.

Based upon my own personal relationships and passed down information, the work further investigates the interconnectedness and multidimensional relationship between aura and portraiture. Heroically displayed, each detail reveals more in the contrast of colors, layers and heavy fragmentation. 

Black Creativity Juried Art Exhibition-Museum of Science and Industry

Celebrate MSI’s annual tribute to the culture, heritage and contributions of African Americans in art and innovation.

Black Creativity: 50 Years is a visual timeline that shares the story of the program’s evolution and impact. Premiering 50 years ago as the Black Esthetics arts and culture festival, it showcased the talents of emerging artists and featured theater, dance and musical performances with well-known entertainers from Chicago and beyond. Over the decades, the program expanded to celebrate the contributions of African Americans in the sciences and was renamed Black Creativity, becoming a major winter event at the Museum. New experiences were added, including an exhibit and educational programs.

In addition, guests can learn about pioneering Chicagoans whose work pushed boundaries, including Charles Harrison, the designer of the View-Master, and Black Creativity founding collaborators Chicago Defender photographer Robert (Bobby) A. Sengstacke and artist Douglas A. Williams.

The Museum of Science and Industry’s annual Black Creativity program invites students, teachers, families and the public to explore the legacy of rich contributions and achievements made by African Americans while encouraging deeper interest in science and technology among youth. This year’s programming focuses on innovation, inspiring children to become innovators of tomorrow.

Relearning, With Mentions

Relearning, With Mentions examines the work of Black identified artists utilizing family sourced materials and found vernacular imagery to explore themes of belonging, memory, and legacy building. This curatorial study is rooted in the visualization and conservation of Black family vernacular archives, histories, and shared experiences through the use of photography, mixed media, and video.

Alternative Space Art Fair

Participating Galleries and Curators:
Adds Donna, AMFM, Apparatus, Baby Blue, The Franklin, Heaven Gallery, LVL3, Oscar Gonzalez Diaz, Slow, Tiger Strikes Asteroid

As Heaven Gallery fights to keep space, we asked ourselves: what better way to show the power of Chicago artists than to throw a last minute art fair to celebrate Chicago’s long tradition of alternative spaces? From apartment galleries to artists collectives, our city has always found creative ways to show outsider art. Slow, The Franklin, LVL3, AMFM, Apparatus, Baby Blue, Tiger Strikes Asteroid, Heaven Gallery, Adds Donna and curator Oscar Gonzalez Diaz come together for a show that treads the line of art fair and exhibition. They represent alternative inclusive space for women, LGBTQ, and ALAANA (African, Latinx, Asian, Arab, Native American) artists.

Alternative Space is named after the book Alternative Spaces written by art historian and MCA Curator Lynne Warren in 1984. Warren defines alternative space as “a nonprofit or noncommercial organization originated by and for artists (and assuring them a primary role in policy development and programming) that primarily shows Chicago-area artist and has had a fixed location, and operated on a continuous basis.” Warren points to the history of alternative spaces that began with Exhibition Momentum, a series of large exhibition from 1948–1964 organized by SAIC students who were not permitted to enter the prestigious, annual Chicago and vicinity shows at the Art Institute. It was here that Warren says a number of true alternative spaces and artist groups got their impetus.

Heaven aims to begin a conversation about the importance of showing outsider art and being a hub for inclusion, while addressing predatory theories of gentrification which indicate that capital follows culture and identifies artists as the main agents for gentrifying working-class neighborhoods. In 2016, Heaven Gallery and curator Claire Molek organized a similar art fair with DIY galleries and curators titled Everything Must Go! The art fair reflected the loss of authenticity with the displacement of artists and galleries due to real estate speculators. Today as our city addresses systemic inequities, we must revisit new ideas of what alternative space represents for Chicago artists. As we celebrate Pride in Chicago, Alternative Space provides a platform to celebrate artists and spaces who take pride in being different with no apologies.

The Other Art Fair Chicago

Chicago's favorite independent artist showcase returns for its 2nd edition on May 16-19, 2019.

The Other Art Fair presented by Saatchi Art gives you the opportunity to meet a curated selection of over 120 independent artists and browse thousands of pieces to suit every budget under one roof.

Whether you're a first-time art buyer, seasoned collector, curator, investor, gallery owner, art lover or anything in between, you are guaranteed to find something to add to (or start!) your collection.

Plus, with unique immersive experiences, live DJ sets, event tours, conversations with some of the art scene's leading names, live art activations and a fully-stocked bar awaiting you, what more do you need to enjoy a cultural experience right in the center of Pilsen.

Stay tuned as we release further information about our exhibitors and immersive features program in the coming weeks!

Luminarts Cultural Foundation Visual Arts Exhibition

The Luminarts Fellowship includes programs in Visual Arts, Creative Writing, Classical Music, and Jazz. In order to be eligible to apply for the Fellowship Program applicants must be between the ages of 18 and 30, live or reside within 150 miles of the Chicago Loop, and be currently enrolled in, or graduated from, a degree program, conservatory, or other professional artist development program.

Luminarts also offers extensive opportunities for Luminarts Fellows through Fellow Project Grants to support special residency opportunities, lectures, workshops, mentorship, and facilitated conversations that provide valuable insights into building a successful career in the arts and strengthening our community of participating artists.

Founded in 1949 as the Union League Civic & Arts Foundation (CAF), Luminarts Cultural Foundation was created by members of the Union League Club of Chicago as a separate, not-for-profit organization. Deeply rooted in the Union League Club of Chicago, Luminarts strengthens the cultural community of Chicago by upholding the club’s century-long tradition of advocating for the arts. Luminarts is dedicated to encouraging our city’s outstanding young artists so that their emerging talent might be heard in performance halls, read within libraries and homes, and exhibited in galleries, museums, and the hallowed walls of the Union League Club.

Oh, Maker!

Curated by Darryl DeAngelo Terrell

Kevin Demery, Andrea Coleman, Mark Allen Blanchard, Shanna Merola, Zakkiyyah Najeebah, Sadie Woods, Michael Curtis Asbil

Within the current social and political climate we’re found looking backward as a way to find answers for today's problems in America. “Oh, Maker” explores the work of 7 artists who through the act of re-appropriating materials are looking at that history of trauma on American Soil, the act of rebellion, as well the narrative of black women, and families. These artists are building on these conversations in their work. Using mix materials, visual language, and archives as a starting source to re-appropriate materials used to aid conversations about America today.

Based in Chicago, IL, I maintain a socially motivated practice concerned with visualizing systems of influence and sharing stories relevant in the United States, today. Through a primarily photographic approach I explore concepts related to contemporary American landscapes by photographing networks of petroleum pipelines, baseball stadiums, and sites of historic trauma in the U.S.. My practice privileges photography because of its demonstrated capacity to make central vantage points that are intentionally hidden and to make clear our current relationships with the earth, our legislative systems, and each other

This is What We Know

We cannot escape our origins,
however hard we might try,
those origins contain the key
--could we but find it--
to all that we later become.

- James Baldwin, Notes on a Native Son

Chicago Artists Coalition is pleased to present This is What We Know, a HATCH Projects exhibition featuring works of art by William Camargo, Andrea Coleman, India Martin, Mitsu Salmon, and Darryl DeAngelo Terrell.

As people of color and ethnic minorities in the Americas, we often go through life seeing images of ourselves that have been selected by the majority to represent who we are and what we are capable of doing. This often leads to a sense of loss and disconnection to one’s origins. However, when the power is taken back into the hands of Black and Brown folx, the mundane becomes extraordinary and cultures and families are truly celebrated. This is What We Know surveys the contemporary tracking and archiving of communities of color. The histories of Black, Brown, and Indigenous people in the Americas has often been misrepresented, fetishized, or erased. As it would often happen, these communities took it upon themselves to explore and celebrate their past. Before there was a name for it, grassroots historians and DIY archivist were thriving and doing work vital work within their communities.

This is What We Know looks into the families and communities of artists of color to document their realities. The artists are in themselves historians and archivists of their respective people. Beyond the cataloguing of old family photos and recording of stories, these works interpret childhood memories, passages of time, family lineages, and so much more. Through the documentation of their environments, these artists are continuing an often radical tradition of reclaiming their origins and creating their own narratives.

This is What We Know is curated by Jamillah Hinson.

Somewhere Behind Us

Chicago Artists Coalition is pleased to present Somewhere Behind Us, a HATCH Projects exhibition featuring works by Nora Chin, Andrea Coleman, and Erin Smego.

Somewhere Behind Us highlights the acts of casting aside formative influences by the exhibiting artists, as they came of age. What fragments will be found? What ideologies will remain intact? As individuals who are critically aware of their surrounding world and themselves, the artists break and discard binaries and other social constructs that were dictated by society to be true and absolute.

Nora Chin, Andrea Coleman, and Erin Smego use materials to reconsider personal and collective experiences to invoke new perspectives as they look forward. Family photographs become intuitive mosaics in the hands of Coleman, while Chin and Smego use clay and wood to unpack and process prescribed gender roles and a candy-coated, turbulent adolescence, respectively. Their works, however, thrive on carrying the heavy load of critical awareness to challenge cultural signifiers and bring levity to mutual respect and understanding.

Somewhere Behind Us is curated by Jamillah Hinson.

the journey: the art of blackness VII

Photography by Chloe' Wallace I Styling by Dhe-Di Willoughby I Modeled by Bonnie May
Exhibition curation and creative direction by Lashun F. Tines
 

September 22nd-October 8th, 2017

Our Stories, Our Voices.
The Art of Blackness 2017 Exhibition.

The Art of Blackness Exhibition was created to allow for a meeting of the minds between African American artists and design professionals. The exhibit's goal is to provide these artists with both an avenue of expression and an introduction to potential patrons and resources.

Invited artists are encouraged to utilize their medium of choice (graphic design, photography, painting, etc) to depict their interpretation of the black experience in America.

modus operandi: BFA Fine Arts Thesis Exhibition

Image credit: Cassandra Meek, Untitled (Assembly), 2016, video still

May 12th-May 26th, 2017

Columbia College Chicago Exhibition

The Arcade at Columbia College Chicago presents Modus Operandi: BFA Fine Arts Thesis Exhibition, May 12 – May 26, 2017 with work by Andrea R Coleman, Shelby Gahm, Cassandra Meek, Narineh Seferian, Alex van Dorp, Henry Voellmecke, Jeremy Weber, Pete Willson and Ty Wubbenhorst.

Modus Operandi explores the habits of working in which process becomes a specific method in creating aesthetics. This exhibition features work that incorporates the conceptual underpinnings of phenomenology, aura, ephemeral events, aesthetics of power and the sublime.

The thesis exhibition serves as a culmination of the rigorous Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) program in the Art and Art History Department of Columbia College Chicago. Through Columbia’s interdisciplinary approach in curriculum, fine art students are encouraged to develop skills in a breadth of media – drawing, painting, printmaking, sculpture, performance and video. Consequently, the graduating class of 2017 has found innovative approaches to their practices through process-oriented work and a hybridization of media.

The intimate class size of nine students allows for Modus Operandi to function beyond a standard thesis exhibition. Although practices may differ significantly amongst each artist, this show has been curated with the assistance of faculty members, Brandon Alvendia, Meg Duguid and Fo Wilson, to showcase the distinctive qualities each artist presents while maintaining an overall coherence.

This exhibition is sponsored by the Art and Art History Department of Columbia College Chicago.

as they reminiscence

Image Credit: Lindsey Higgins

March 16th-April 6th, 2017

As They Reminiscence is an installation deriving inspiration from the artist’s personal memorabilia, collage and video. The work uses representational imagery as a basis to produce a series of digital paintings, each addressing elements of nostalgia.

wall-to-wall

December 1st, 2016

Wall-to-Wall showcases the diverse practices of Fine Art BFA students at Columbia College Chicago including sculpture, painting, video, installation and performance art.

Fluxx Gallery is an artist run exhibition space currently located in the fourth floor studios of 1006 S. Michigan Avenue. Inspired by Chicago’s many alternative spaces and exhibition opportunities, Fluxx Gallery focuses on young contemporary artists and offers a professional showcase for their work.

people's choice: wabash arts corridor from sketch to street

July1st-August 5th, 2016

People’s Choice: Wabash Arts Corridor from Sketch to Street is an exhibition and competition that displays student proposals submitted for a WAC mural on the south-facing wall at 623 S. Wabash Ave.

Gathered from student submissions, the exhibition will display the top proposals from the mural competition. Visitors have the opportunity to vote for their favorite proposals, selecting which projects will be produced for the Wabash Arts Corridor through a “People’s Choice Award.” Voting ends April 21. This exhibition will also contextualize the impact that WAC has had on students, the college, and the South Loop community through an illustrated timeline and map. 

engage/connect

January 9th-March 6th, 2014

Designed to engage professionals from various creative industries with the diverse arts and culture makers of Columbia, the Chicago Curates Columbia exhibition series presents its 4th edition with Engage/Connect. Engage/Connect brings Felicia Holman, co-founder of the Honey Pot Performance collective, to curate interdisciplinary works created by Columbia College Chicago students.  Engage/Connect features works by students from Audio Arts and Acoustics, Photography, Art Education and Interdisciplinary Art departments.

Curated by: Felicia Holman

All In: Making Art and Community in Chicago: Tuesday, February 17, 4:30-6pm, Stage Two, adjacent to the exhibition.

In complement to the Engage/Connect exhibition, curator Felicia Holman moderates a 90-minute panel discussion with Chicago-based artists Krista Franklin, Carron Little and Baraka de Soleil and arts administrator Marie Casimir. The discussion will center on the value and means of collaboration/experimentation in an artist’s creative & entrepreneurial processes. Exploring the manifestations, impact & value of ephemeral social concepts (i.e. transactional v. relational interactions, distance v. proximity), this is the spine of the ‘Engage/Connect’ exhibition.

Video documentation of the panel discussion can be found here.

Designed to showcase the diverse arts and culture makers of Columbia College, the Chicago Curates Columbia exhibition series presents its 4th edition with Engage/Connect. This edition brings Felicia Holman, co-founder of the Honey Pot Performance collective, to curate interdisciplinary works created by Columbia College Chicago students.