Eye & Cardinal Begins Construction

Today I saw the first evidence of the latest Chicago Loop Alliance art installation from artist Tony Tasset.

The CLA is set to reveal Tasset's two-part art installation on July 7th. One part is a three-story eyeball that will be installed in Pritzker Park at State and VanBuren, and the other is a series of street banners down State Street that will show the progression of the flight of a cardinal, as if the banners are individual frames in a video sequence.

An explanation from Tasset about the project can be found on the blog Chicago Art Machine.

The Chicago Loop Alliance has also recently turned vacant store fronts around the Loop into temporary art galleries studios. They call the project Pop-Up Art Loop, and each location is open on first Thursdays for opening receptions in the evening.

Installing A New Space

On Friday Aaron and Heather traveled to Lake Geneva to install Jennifer Scott McLaughlin's work in a space that will house the private viewing of her new work next week. New spaces always pose unexpected challenges. As you can see, Aaron has come up with some creative methods to get the job done; although we hope that we never have to hold our breath and squint our eyes as he hangs trapeze-style ever again!

McLaughlin's work has been shown is several exhibits at the gallery, most recently being paired with the assemblage pieces from Judy Pfaff. McLaughlin was inspired by Pfaff's work as a young artist, and that inspiration can still be seen in her new work. Both artists can still be seen at the gallery for the duration of the current exhibit, Wheatley, Kaiser-Smith & Glink in the front office, although McLaughlin's work will not return until the end of June.

It took a whole lot of bubble-wrap
to keep her work safe for the ride!

Wheatley, Kaiser-Smith & Glink Opening

Last night was a great time for our opening reception of Wheatley, Kaiser-Smith & Glink. Rhona Wheatley, Yvette Kaiser-Smith and Marissa Glink were all here, and helped to make it a wonderful evening.

Wheatley's work focuses on language, the written word, and the act of translating inner feelings, thoughts and concepts into a particular language throughout history's cultures. Her current body of work focuses particularly on the concept of the divine. Kaiser-Smith has been working with fiberglass, which she crochets into geometric shapes, and then hardens through a process using polyester resin. These shapes are then constructed into larger structures that involve mathematical series and numbers such as pi, the Fibonacci sequence, and Pascal's triangle. Finally, Glink has installed her organic, soda fired ceramic groupings that are reminiscent of oceanic, coral reef life forms.

Wheatley, Kaiser-Smith & Glink will remain on display through Saturday, July 17. Our next show will be Friedman & Miss Aniela, with an opening reception the night of Friday, July 23.