Chicago Cultural Center Fall 2011 Exhibitions

Write Now: Artists and Letterforms
September 30, 2011 – April 29, 2012
Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago Rooms
For as long as there have been alphabets artists have explored the letterform, employing the fundamental element of written communication in many ways other than the setting of text. This exhibition presents recent works using letters and text in painting, printmaking, sculpture and video.  Included in this exhibition is a Fluxus project with international submissions of mail art and concrete poetry.

The exhibition features more than 40 exhibitors--predominantly, but not exclusively, Chicago-based--including Jo Hormuth, Rick Valicenti, Ken Fandell, Jason Lazarus, Mario Gonzalez, Jr., Michael Thompson, Buzz Spector, Jason Pickleman, Joel Ross, Mike Genovese and more.
Friday, September 30, 2011, 5:30-7:30 p.m.: Opening Reception

Art Fox: Walls
October 1 - December 21, 2011
Chicago Cultural Center, Michigan Avenue Galleries
Art Fox's photos focus on walls. A structural element found everywhere in the world, "wall" may bring to mind a blank, an obstacle or a container, but in Fox's photographs, walls are much more. They tell us about who and what they enclose or keep out, and about the people who erect, embellish, deface or destroy them. Consistent among all of Fox's photographs is the urge they induce in the viewer to draw closer, to inspect in more detail. Rather than close us out, these walls draw us in, compelling us to imagine the time passed around and behind them. A practicing physician who has published both scientific articles and poetry, Art Fox began developing his photographs in a home-made darkroom in the 1970s, and now works with a digital camera.
Friday, October 14, 2011, 5:30-7:30 p.m.: Opening Reception
Thursday, October 20, 2011, 12:15 p.m.: Artist Talk

Terence Hannum: Amidst Our Throng
October 8 - December 28, 2011
Chicago Cultural Center, Michigan Avenue Galleries
Terence Hannum's paintings, drawings, video and audio installations employ the imagery, sounds and rituals of underground music subcultures as a means of exploring the transcendence and impermanence of sound and performance, and the group catharsis experienced by those who surrender to them. Hannum, who holds an M.F.A. from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, will give an artist talk followed by a solo musical performance on October 13 at 6:00 p.m. in the Randolph Café at the Chicago Cultural Center.
Thursday, October 13, 2011, 6:00 p.m.; Artist Talk and Performance
Friday, October 14, 2011, 5:30-7:30 p.m.: Opening Reception

Antonia Contro: Ex Libris
October 8 - December 28, 2011
Chicago Cultural Center, Michigan Avenue Galleries
In this exhibition, Antonia Contro examines the nature of knowledge, how it is conveyed, and what "knowing" is. Interested in the relationship between common ways of distributing knowledge and the intuitive, often subliminal, ways what is known to be true is constructed, her art plays with the nuanced relationship between fact and truth. She aims to convey a rhythm between the grand and the diminutive, the specific and the impressionistic and between that which is known and that which is only sensed.
Friday, October 14, 2011, 5:30-7:30 p.m.: Opening Reception
Thursday, November 17, 2011, 5:30-7:30 p.m.: Artist Talk and Open Gallery Night

Garden Party: Project Onward at Millennium Park
September 16 - November 2, 2011
Chicago Cultural Center, Project Onward Gallery
Project Onward artists spent the summer of 2011 at Millennium Park, creating portraits under a tent and roaming the gardens for artistic inspiration. Garden Party features the results of this unique season of activity, with drawings, paintings, and mixed-media images depicting Chicago's world-renowned park in all its summertime glory. Gardener and activist Blake Lenoir scrupulously catalogues the species of plants and animals native to this region, including many of his friends. Theolia Norwood's dense oil pastel drawings give the Park a moody, timeless quality, while Sereno Wilson electrifies the scenery with glitter.

Friday, October 7, 2011, 5:30-7:30 p.m.: Opening Reception
Project Onward is a program that supports the creative growth of visual artists with mental and developmental disabilities. Presented by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events in partnership with the Chicago Office of Tourism and Culture, Project Onward is partially funded by the Dr. Scholl Foundation, the Northern Trust Charitable Foundation and the I.A. O'Shaughnessy Foundation. The program supplies studio space, art supplies, and professional guidance to more than 30 adult artists living with mental and developmental disabilities. Located in the Chicago Cultural Center, the public is welcome to visit and enjoy Project Onward's exhibitions, purchase original works at affordable prices and meet the artists. For more information on the program, visit www.projectonward.org.

CONTINUING EXHIBITIONS
Driven: New Trucks by John Himmelfarb
Through September 25, 2011
Chicago Cultural Center, Michigan Avenue Galleries
Chicago painter and printmaker John Himmelfarb adds sculpture to his repertoire in this exhibition's thematic treatment of trucks. Delivering a tour-de-force in range of materials and methods, Himmelfarb delves into our fascination with this iconic vehicle in a variety of styles — some cartoonish, some expressionist and some reminiscent of the artist's more typical hieroglyphics.
Thursday, September 1, 2011, 5:30-7:30 p.m.: Open Gallery Night with the Artists
 
Steve Reber: Sculptures
Through October 2, 2011
Chicago Cultural Center, Michigan Avenue Galleries
Steve Reber examines functional and prefabricated materials such as plywood, plastic laminate, decorative paneling and other recognizable objects — basketballs, polystyrene coolers — re-configuring and adapting them to show their sculptural possibilities, and allowing us to look at our everyday world in a new way.
Thursday, September 1, 2011, 5:30-7:30 p.m.: Open Gallery Night with the Artists
Thursday, September 22, 12:15 p.m.: Artist Talk

Michael Dinges: Artifacts from the Recent Present
Through October 2, 2011
Chicago Cultural Center, Michigan Avenue Galleries
At the center of this exhibition is a full-sized "lifeboat" fabricated by the artist out of vinyl siding and engraved on its exterior with images and text exploring the intertwined stories of labor, consumerism and the environment. Michael Dinges’ engraved surfaces derive from the maritime practice of scrimshaw — originally the engraving of whale bones or teeth — which originated on whaling ships in the mid-1700s. Also on display are several pieces from the Dead Laptops series, in which Dinges engraves defunct laptop computers, resulting in hand-decorated objects of mass-produced origin that comment on our use of, and dependency on, technology to mediate our experience and understanding of the world around us.
Thursday, September 1, 2011, 5:30-7:30 p.m.: Open Gallery Night with the Artists

SPECIAL EVENTS
Project Onward Portrait Slam!
Saturday, October 8, 2011, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Chicago Cultural Center, First Floor Garland Room
Project Onward invites you to participate in a day of portraiture! Artists from the Project Onward studio will be ready to create custom portraits that will amaze and delight. Participating artists are Sereno
Wilson, Fernando Ramirez, Adam Hines, David Holt, Andrew Hall and Pedro Basantes. Portrait sittings take about half an hour, and are a great way to obtain cool and affordable original art. They also provide a unique opportunity to get to know an artist and to support the amazing work they do.
Prices start at $20 for a single portrait or $100 for six portraits ($15 and $75 for Cultural Center Mosaic Members). Space is limited, so reserve your sitting today at (312) 744-8032 or info@projectonward.org.

The Project Onward Portrait Slam! is part of Chicago Artists Month 2011, the sixteenth annual celebration of Chicago's vibrant visual art community presented by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events and the Chicago Office of Tourism and Culture.  For more information, visit www.chicagoartistsmonth.org.  

Artist Talk and Performance: Terence Hannum: Amidst Our Throng
Thursday, October 13 at 6 p.m.
Chicago Cultural Center, Michigan Avenue Galleries and Randolph Cafe
Artist Terence Hannum gives a gallery talk of his work on display in Terence Hannum: Amidst Our Throng, in addition to giving a live performance in the Randolph Cafe. Terence Hannum's paintings, drawings and video installations employ the imagery and rituals of underground music subcultures as a means of exploring the transcendence and impermanence of sound and performance, and the group catharsis experienced by those who surrender to them.
This event is free and open to the public.

Artist Talk: Art Fox
Thursday, October 20 at 12:15 p.m.
Chicago Cultural Center, Michigan Avenue Galleries
Artist Art Fox discusses his photographs on display in Art Fox: Walls.
This event is free and open to the public.

Artist Talk and Open Gallery Night: Antonia Contro
Thursday, November 17, 5:30 – 7:30 p.m.
Chicago Cultural Center, Michigan Avenue Galleries
At this post-work event, guests can hear the artist discuss her work on display in Antonia Contro: Ex Libris, and mingle while viewing the artworks in all three Michigan Avenue Galleries.
This event is free and open to the public.

Chicago Artists Month
Chicago’s citywide collaborative arts event, Chicago Artists Month, returns this October with 200 events, ranging from exhibitions to open studio tours and neighborhood art walks presented by museums, galleries, cultural centers and arts organizations throughout the city. More than 45 neighborhoods will participate in this year’s month-long arts celebration, which showcases approximately 5,000 artists living and working in Chicago.
The theme for the month is "Artful Networks,” which explores the communities that nurture and inspire Chicago artists and their work. Many of the programs happening in October will address the social environments in which artists work, looking at how these relationships impact creative growth, encourage experimentation and artistic exchange, and build community. Chicago Artists Month events will uncover the range of artists' communities, from traditional residency programs to collaboratives to informal relationships. The programs associated with the month-long celebration feature one or more professional Chicago-based visual artists at public venues around the city.

Chicago Artists Month is presented by the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, in partnership with the Chicago Office of Tourism and Culture. The Sara Lee Foundation is the Presenting Sponsor of Chicago Artists Month 2011.  Additional support is provided by 98.7WFMT and WTTW11, Time Out Chicago, GapersBlock.com, Chicago Gallery News, Chicago Artists' Coalition, MMPI and the Museum of Contemporary Art. The official dining partner of Chicago Artists Month is Lettuce Entertain You® Enterprises, Inc.

Chicago Cultural Center
Originally built in 1897 as Chicago’s first central public library, the Chicago Cultural Center was established in 1991 as the nation’s first and most comprehensive free municipal cultural venue. Drawn by its beauty and abundant free public events, hundreds of thousands of visitors come to the Chicago Cultural Center every year, making it one of the most visited attractions in Chicago. This stunning landmark building is home to two magnificent stained glass domes, as well as free music, dance and theater events, films, lectures, art exhibitions and family events.
The Chicago Cultural Center is located at 78 E. Washington Street, Chicago. Viewing hours for exhibitions are Mondays through Thursdays, 8 am to 7 pm; Fridays, 8 am to 6 pm; Saturdays 9 am to 6 pm and Sundays, 10 am to 6 pm; the Center is closed on holidays. Admission to the Chicago Cultural Center and its exhibitions is free. Visit www.ChicagoCulturalCenter.org or call 312.744.6630 for a complete schedule of events.  

Public programs, exhibitions, and related educational programming presented at the Chicago Cultural Center by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events in partnership with the Chicago Office of Tourism and Culture are partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency. Transportation support is provided by United Airlines, The Official Airline of the Chicago Cultural Center. Lawry’s The Prime Rib is the restaurant sponsor of Chicago Cultural Center exhibitions. Chicago Cultural Center concert pianos are generously provided by Steinway of Chicago.

Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events
The Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE) is dedicated to promoting an ongoing celebration of the arts; supporting the people who create and sustain them; and marketing the city’s abundant cultural resources to a worldwide audience. DCASE, in partnership with the Chicago Office of Tourism and Culture, programs and promotes thousands of high-quality free festivals, exhibitions, performances and holiday celebrations presented each year at Millennium Park, Grant Park, the Chicago Cultural Center and other venues throughout the city.

Chicago Office of Tourism and Culture
The Chicago Office of Tourism and Culture (COTC) is dedicated to promoting Chicago as a premier cultural destination to domestic and international leisure travelers, providing innovative visitor programs and services, and presenting free world-class public programs. COTC supports local artists through grants and other resources and creates vital opportunities for artists of all levels. For more information please visit www.ExploreChicago.org.

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Images are available upon request.

Images above:
Michael Thompson, Kosher, mixed media, 2009
Art Fox, Manikins – Norway – 2010, digital photographic print, 16” x 20”
Terence Hannum, Mass, 2008, oil on panel, 9" x 12"
Antonia Contro; Siluetta, p. 20; 2008; watercolor, Mylar, cut paper in book; 9 5/8" X 8"
Larry Chestnut, "Crown Fountain," acrylic on canvas