Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Poetry - Open Mic @ Antena


Antena is proud to present:
A Night of Poetry
and Open Mic

Featuring:
Carlos Cumpian
Leticia Cortez

OPEN MIC for poets will be available...all themes welcomed. We will set aside five minutes max or one poem per open mic reader. Open Mic from 7-7:30:pm

Saturday December 11 @ 7pm
FREE ADMISSION

ANTENA
1765 S. Laflin, St.
Chicago, IL 60608
http://www.antenapilsen.com

Carlos Cumpián was named among the Chicago Public Library’s “Top Ten” most requested poets. His poetry has been published in small press magazines as well as numerous anthologies, while Carlos’ books have received positive reviews for their contributions to Chicano literature.

Cumpián is also the editor of March Abrazo Press, which has been instrumental in the longevity of the small press and establishing its presence as an independent publisher of Latino and Native American poetry.

Some of his most recent poetry appears along with poems by Martin Espada, Luis Alberto Urrea, Achy Obejas and David Hernandez in the premier edition of The Hummingbird Review.

Works include Emergency Tacos, March Abrazo Press, 1989; Coyote Sun, March Abrazo Press, 1990; Latino Rainbow, Poems About Latino Americans, Children`s Press, 1994; Armadillo Charm, Tia Chucha Press, 1996; 14 Abriles: POEMS (March Abrazo Press, 2010).

Among the honors Carlos has received include the Gwendolyn Brooks Significant Illinois Author Award and a pair of Community Arts Program Grants from the city of Chicago.



Leticia Cortez was born in Guanajuato, México and grew up in Chicago. As she grew older, reading and writing became her escape. At a city college she met a teacher who encouraged her to write and soon discovered poetry through writing short stories. She studied Literature and Science at The University of Illinois in Chicago and would later teach both subjects for over a decade at Truman College. Since 2009 she has resided in Santa Fe. She edited and co-funded the bilingual publication ¿Hasta Cuándo? which is now online. She writes poetry, book reviews and articles for Polvo, Area,  Lumpen times and Contratiempo magazines. Considering poetry as a form of expression that crosses cultures as well as space and time, her poetry is a process of thoughts and images, which arrange themselves in words and worlds.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Sunday, September 19, 2010

AMELIA WINGER-BEARSKIN: TRANSFORMATION OPERA



AMELIA WINGER-BEARSKIN: TRANSFORMATION OPERA
Also this month's Project Wall Space: J. Thomas Pallas

Opening Friday October 22, from 6pm-10pm

October 22 - November 20

Transformation Opera is a sound and video project by Amelia Winger-Bearskin in which music generated from four different video works merge in the center of the gallery. Personal and Public figures are captured by video during moments of transformation, and then projected as slow moving loops. Sleepwalkers, Italian arias, trash TV, and tragic love ballads are warped to create the dreamlike musical environment.

Winger-Bearskin is an assistant professor of art at Vanderbilt, where she teaches video and performance art, as well as new and interactive media. Her undergraduate studies were in opera and performance art, her MFA is in time based media art (transmedia) from the University of Texas in Austin, 2008. She was in the group show Art in the Age of the Internet at the Chelsea Art Museum in 2007 and was a featured video and performance artist at Basel in Miami, Scope at the Lincoln Center and other art fairs consistently since 2007 as an artist at large for the perpetual art machine [PAM]. She has concentrated her live performance since 2009 on Asian Performance Art Festivals, performing live in the Philippines, South Korea and China as there is a unique support structure for performance that she wishes to study in hopes to bring similar structures in place in the USA.

ANTENA
1765 S. Laflin St.
Chicago IL 60608
www.antenapilsen.com
antenapilsen (at) gmail.com
(773) 340-3516
Hours: by appointment only

Transformation Opera, by Amelia Winger-Bearskin
REVIEW BY: LAURA HUTSON

Amelia Winger-Bearskin, Professor of Video and Performance Art


The ability of an appropriated image to maintain its original intent can be manipulated to create subtext with far more subtlety, complexity, and intelligence than a brand new creation.  The Transparencies/Transformation Opera exhibit combines two artist’s work, both of which contain original and appropriated images.  Artists Amelia Winger-Bearskin and Vesna Pavlovic pose questions of authorship, the difference between reality and illusion, and the post-modern wonderings of the authority of the audience.

Amelia Winger-Bearskin’s is a charismatic and powerful personality that doesn’t purposefully seek out performing, but it seems to follow her around anyway.  It comes easily to her, and in Transformation Opera, she recreates a space that is emblematic of a performer’s headspace, filled with grandiosity, foolishness, and dying dreams.   Four videos, all of which feature sound in some way, converge to fill the gallery space with the ambiance of perpetual performance.  Winger-Bearskin uses her own performances twinned with appropriated footage of (former) starlets Mia Farrow and Lindsay Lohan against a confluence of operatic vocals, shoe gaze, and honky-tonk.

In “ambienTTransformation,” Winger-Bearskin uses the turn of phrase for being a hyper-productive artist literally, as she unwittingly made a performance piece in her sleep.  Actually sleepwalking throughout the entire piece and recording herself the whole way through, the video perfectly captures the restless energy associated with performers between performances.   In her sleep the artist smears honey on her face and covers it with $150-worth of gold leaf.    She is asleep, and yet the video is perfectly shot, and it is not necessary to understand the context of its creation to appreciate the appeal of the artist’s expressionless face being covered in gold.  “I could try my very hardest to be earnest,” Winger-Bearskin says, dreaming of all the different ways she could manipulate her face, calling on her relationship with her young son to inspire authentic concern in a dreaming state of nonsensical logic. The childlike, diva-esque behavior of an artist performing in front of a camera is echoed in other pieces in the exhibit, like Mia Farrow’s over-the-top starvation opera, and in Lindsay Lohan’s Morrisey-tinged anguish.

In “Transformation Opera,” she spontaneously performs with the house band at Second Fiddle, one of the more identifiable honky-towns in Downtown Nashville.  Succeeded by a piece that shows Lindsay Lohan in a tasteful, respectful, terribly sad analysis of her recent jail-sentencing, Winger-Bearskin’s light-hearted rendition of Willie Nelson’s outlaw country ballad “Crazy” reminds you that fame is good luck and bad luck, and opportunities taken or squandered.

“The Transformation of Lindsay Lohan” is a series of stills from YouTube, taken seconds before and as the actress hears her sentence – 90 days in jail.  Blond hair and beautiful bone structure collapse as her face falls and her head drops, all as the first few measures of Morrisey’s “Seasick, Yet Still Docked” play.  For a performer, the moments between being free and imprisoned carry the additional weight of transforming an identity.  Lohan’s life is a well-known spectacle.  In jail, she will be without audience, and what is a performer when she is not performing?

As so many videos are being played at once, there exists an inability to view each one individually. Victor Turner called liminality “the state of being betwixt and between.”  Winger-Bearskin’s videos capture this moment - between sleep and waking (“ambienTTransformation”), between audience and performer (“Transformation Opera”), between celebrity and prisoner (“The Transformation of Lindsay Lohan”) – and, through the addition of sound and the careful proximity between videos and gallery space, creates a suspended liminality among her audience.  It is at once unsettling and comforting -- a familiar feeling of unrest.
 

Friday, September 10, 2010

Shikaakwa

Shikaakwa:
work by artists from Chicago



Opening Saturday, September 11, from Noon-9pm
September 11 - October 10, 2010

 
Shikaakwa is a native american algonquian word used to describe the area that is now known as Chicago. The French-American settlers in Illinois back in the 1800s took that word and re-spelled it as Chicago. For this exhibit Gallery 414 brings to Fort Worth the work of several artists who reside in Chicago. The work ranges from painting, works on paper, digital prints and video. The artists include:

Saul Aguirre
Yong Choi
Miguel Cortez
James Jankowiak
Jaime Mendoza

Jenny Priego

Saul Aguirre is a Chicago Based artist born in Mexico City. He has been considered a standout at NEXT 2010 Chicago by PEDRO VÉLEZ who is an artist and critic living in Chicago. Saul used real manacles, to remind people of the reality of being picked up by the police during a live spectacle, and captivated people with his small drawings. Saul has been exhibiting Nationally and Internationally, in several Museums and Galleries since 1990. http://www.saulaguirre.com

Yong Choi is a Korean artist and sculptor currently residing in Chicago. He was born in Jinju, Korea, and joined Korean Army in 2002. He was a sergeant when he was discharged from the service. He moved to NewYork in 2005 because of baseball. And he accidently went to art school and moved to Chicago because of baseball. He got a BFA degree from  School of Art Institute of Chicago in 2008. He is just seeking each day’s happiness, and want to express his feeling, and celebrate and remember some specific moments. Making art is the best way to express himself, and continue growing through the process.

Miguel Cortez is an artist living in Chicago and born in Guanajuato, Mexico. He has studied filmmaking at Columbia College and at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Future shows in 2010 include an exhibit at Gallery 414 in Fort Worth, Other exhibitions include shows in Champaign, IL at the Krannert Museum and at the National Museum of Mexican Art in Chicago, as well as, in Bridge Art Fair in Miami. Other shows included exhibits in Dallas at Mighty Fine Arts Gallery, ‚Lo Romantico at Glass Curtain Gallery and ‚Lies that Bill Gates told me: Exploring the Digital Divide‚ at VU Space in Melbourne, Australia. http://www.mcortez.com

Jaime Mendoza: Concerned largely with issues of immigration, ethnicity and place; Mendoza works in a wide range of media—activist inspired public art, sculpture, film, sound, and photography — all of which fuse the politics of contemporary urban culture with poetic meditations on aesthetics, history, and identity. Most recently Mendoza was awarded a grant from the National Performance Network/Visual Arts Network to participate in a one week residency at Galería De La Raza in San Francisco, California.

James Jankowiak was born and raised in the Back of the Yards neighborhood on the south side of Chicago. Although his early forays in the Chicago graffiti scene proved to be influential upon several generations of spray can artists, he always took risks with his art and continues to evolve as a painter and installation artist. His work has been exhibited at several notable institutions such as the MCA, Northwestern University and the SAIC’s Roger Brown Gallery. Plus he just had a solo show at De Zwarte Ruyter in the Netherlands. This summer he will be doing an installation at CoSphere and in October will have a solo show at The Architrouve. http://www.jamesjankowiak.com/

Jenny Priego is visual and performance artist who draws inspiration from her existence as a feminine being and random beauty. She uses several forms of media to interpret her self exploration, such as technology, her body, voice, and formal fine art technique. Her latest and ongoing project is "Adelita Pata de Perro" a photographic memoir of Adelita, a character that was inspired by the women who fought in the Mexican Revolution. Priego's Adelita is a hyper-ethnic woman wandering the world on an ever changing journey, and on her voyage of discovery she encounters symbols of power, femininity, sex, and cultural imagery. She finds herself in different situations and places that take her from Paris, to Rome and sugar cane mills in Mexico. Priego studied at Columbia College and currently works as a Stewardess. Jenny lives and works in Chicago.

Gallery 414
414 Templeton
Fort Worth, Texas
Phone: (817)336-6595

Thursday, September 2, 2010

From the Wash: Mark Nelson


From the Wash: Mark Nelson

Opening Friday September 3, from 6pm-10pm
September 3 - October 2

From the Wash is an exploration into the coded and indigenous landscape of the Painted Desert of the Petrified Forest in northern Arizona through performance, video and installation.

Mark Nelson lives and works in his GringoLandia Studio, located on 21st Street in the Pilsen neighborhood. His foundation in painting and theater evolved into multi-media installations. He has received the Illinois Arts Council's Fellowship Award twice and a third time as a runner up. His work can be found in collections such as the U.S. Embassy in the Republic of Panama' in 2007 and private collections in the Republic of Panama’ and North America. Mark Nelson is an adjunct faculty for Triton College and has been teaching art in the city of Chicago for 22 years.


ANTENA
1765 S. Laflin St.
Chicago IL 60608
www.antenapilsen.com
antenapilsen (at) gmail.com
(773) 340-3516
Hours: by appointment only

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Religare: Artists explore the concept of Religion

Religare: Artists explore the concept of Religion

"Religare": according to Tom Harpur and Joseph Campbell the word Religion derives from the Latin word "ligare" which means "bind, connect", and combined with the prefix "re"= re-ligare, i.e. re (again) + ligare or "to reconnect". For this art exhibit, artists will create work that analizes and critiques the concept of religion.

Artists:
Saul Aguirre
Eddie Alvarado
Miguel Cortez
Rakel Delgado
Rocky Horton
James Jankowiak
Antonio Martinez
Laura Olear
Josue Pellot
Polly Perez
Jenny Priego
Elvia Rodriguez-Ochoa

Sebastian Vallejo

Opening Friday July 30, from 6pm-10pm
July 30- August 28, 2010

Performance by Saul Aguirre and Rakel Delgado from 6:30-7:00PM


ANTENA
1765 S. Laflin St.
Chicago IL 60608
www.antenapilsen.com
antenapilsen (at) gmail.com
(773) 257-3534
Hours: by appointment only

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Antena @ The Texas Theatre



Hot Buns and Blazing Artists

Saturday July 17th from 5pm to midnight
One night only!! $5 Donation

The Texas Theatre

231 W.Jefferson in the North Oak Cliff Neighborhood
Dallas, Texas

Mighty Fine Arts presents “Hot Buns and Blazing Artists” a special one night only art meltdown at the historic Texas Theatre on Saturday July 17th from 5pm to midnight. MFA Gallery big chief Steve Cruz has assembled an inspired group of artists who will fill the space with more art than you can imagine. Also included is a full night of art videos and special performances by surprise guest artists! The featured lineup includes: Tim Best, Christopher Blay, Nancy Brown, Shelby Cunningham, Val Curry, Ray-Mel Cornelius, Steve Cruz, Brad Cushman, C.J.Davis, Simeen Farhat, Lauren Gray, Paul Greco, Omar Hernandez, Brian Jones, Peter Lignon, Michael Mazurek, Wendi Medling, Adriana Martinez Mendoza,Charly Mitcherson, Lisa Nersesova, Eddy Rawlinson, Lesli Robertson, Tom Sale, Brian Scott, Diane Sikes and Katherine Strause. Also from the infamous Sour Grapes collective: Carlos Donjuan, Arturo Donjuan, Miguel Donjuan, Emily Donjuan, Isaias Torres, Eddie Castro, Alejandro Diaz and Ricardo Oviedo.

All night Video programming from David Bacon, Mary Benedicto,Chaitra Garrick Linehan, Jennifer Gooch, Mike Henderson, John Hernandez, and Erik Tosten. And from Chicago an exclusive showing of videos put together by the notorious Miguel Cortez, owner/operator of Antena Gallery, with work by:

Saul Aguirre
Amelia Winger Bearskin
Miguel Cortez
Jaime Mendoza
Jenny Priego.


Over 40 stellar artists who will burn a hole in your consciousness and confound your expectations! The Texas Theatre is located at 231 W.Jefferson in the North Oak Cliff Neighborhood and was built in 1931. In 1963 15 Dallas Police Officers capture Lee Harvey Oswald in the theatre during a screening of “War is Hell”. A $5 entrance donation will help benefit renovation of the theatre. www.texas-theatre.org

For more info contact Steve Cruz 214-942-5241 or steve@mfagallery.com

Monday, June 21, 2010

Sangre, Sudor y Papeles: Artists examine the immigration issue

Sangre, Sudor y Papeles: Artists examine the immigration issue
Artists:
Saul Aguirre
Adriana Baltazar
Miguel Cortez
Salvador Jiménez-Flores
Jaime Mendoza
Jenny Priego
Elvia Rodriguez-Ochoa


Also this month's Project Wall Space: Yong Choi

Opening Friday June 25th from 6pm-10pm

June 25 - July 24
, 2010

 
Saul Aguirre is a Chicago Based artist born in Mexico City. He has been considered a standout at NEXT 2010 CHicago by PEDRO VÉLEZ who is an artist and critic living in Chicago. Saul used real manacles, to remind people of the reality of being picked up by the police during a live spectacle, and captivated people with his small drawings. Saul has been exhibiting Nationally and Internationally, in several Museums and Galleries since 1990. http://www.saulaguirre.com

Adriana Baltazar is a multidisciplinary artist living and working in Chicago. She has worked in various collaborative projects as well as shown work in galleries throughout the city. She draws her inspiration from the conflicts and comprimises that arise in our relationships with the "other" and our love/hate relationship with the natural environment. She received a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Art Institute. http://adrianabaltazar.com

Miguel Cortez is an artist living in Chicago and born in Guanajuato, Mexico. He has studied at Columbia College and at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Future shows in 2010 include an exhibit at Gallery 414 in Fort Worth, Other exhibitions include shows in Champaign, IL at the Krannert Museum and at the National Museum of Mexican Art in Chicago, as well as, in Bridge Art Fair in Miami. Other shows included exhibits in Dallas at Mighty Fine Arts Gallery, “Lo Romantico” at Glass Curtain Gallery and “Lies that Bill Gates told me: Exploring the Digital Divide” at VU Space in Melbourne, Australia. http://www.mcortez.com

Salvador Jiménez-Flores was born and raised in Jalisco, Mexico where he lived until 2000. Since coming to the United States, Salvador has participated and contributed to the Chicago art scene. His work has been included in various solo and group exhibitions in venues such as The National Museum of Mexican Art, The State Street Gallery, Aurora City Hall, Koehnline Museum of Art, Beverly Art Center, and Casa de la Cultura, Jalisco, M√©xico. in addition, his public art created with youth from the Pilsen, Lawdale, and La Villita communities such as ‚Äúthe Revival of the Struggle‚Äù at the Rauner Family YMCA, ‚ÄúAlternative Remedy‚Äù at Saint Antony Hospital, and the "Declaration of Immigration" at Yollocalli & Radioarte building. Salvador‚Äôs work is also in the State Street Gallery collection (over 30 pieces of work) and other private collections. Salvador is currently graphic designer at CCDA and art teacher at Yollocalli Art Reach. http://www.jimenezdesignart.com/

Jaime Mendoza: Concerned largely with issues of immigration, ethnicity and place; Mendoza works in a wide range of media—activist inspired public art, sculpture, film, sound, and photography — all of which fuse the politics of contemporary urban culture with poetic meditations on aesthetics, history, and identity. Most recently Mendoza was awarded a grant from the National Performance Network/Visual Arts Network to participate in a one week residency at Galería De La Raza in San Francisco, California.

Jenny Priego is visual and performance artist who draws inspiration from her existence as a feminine being and random beauty. She uses several forms of media to interpret her self exploration, such as technology, her body, voice, and formal fine art technique. Her latest and ongoing project is "Adelita Pata de Perro" a photographic memoir of Adelita, a character that was inspired by the women who fought in the Mexican Revolution. Priego's Adelita is a hyper-ethnic woman wandering the world on an ever changing journey, and on her voyage of discovery she encounters symbols of power, femininity, sex, and cultural imagery. She finds herself in different situations and places that take her from Paris, to Rome and sugar cane mills in Mexico. Priego studied at Columbia College and currently works as a Stewardess. Jenny lives and works in Chicago.

Elvia Rodriguez Ochoa is a multi-disciplinary artist, educator and administrator, active for the past fifteen years. Completed a B.A. in Fine Art from Trinity Christian College in 1992 and earned an M.A in Inter Disciplinary Arts at Columbia College (2005). As an administrator and an artist, she has collaborated in the creation and maintenance of many non profit organizations in Pilsen. Among them are Taller Mestizarte (Mixed Art Workshop) where she served as President in 1998, organizer for La Voz de Los de Abajo, and a board member for Calles y Sueños. Elvia has also contributed to other existing organizations such as the Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum, Fiesta del Sol/ Pilsen Neighbors Community Council, Marshall Square Boys and Girls Club, and Gallery 37 as an educator and an artist. Elvia is the Director of Community Programs at Pros Arts.

ANTENA
1765 S. Laflin St.
Chicago IL 60608
www.antenapilsen.com
antenapilsen (at) gmail.com
(773) 257-3534
Hours: by appointment only

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

John Hartley and Andrew Rigsby @ Antena

John Hartley

John Hartley discovered his life’s passion while growing up in Piqua, Ohio. Encouraged to develop his talents in an academic environment, he moved to Fort Worth, Texas in 1982 to study art at Texas Christian University. After graduation, he began building a body of work that includes paintings, prints, and sculpture.

Exhibiting throughout Texas and the United States, his work has been critically received and is included in collections across the country. In 1990, the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth purchased two of his monoprints for its exhibition, Forty Texas Printmakers. His exhibitions include shows at Kidder Smith Gallery in Boston and Martha’s Vineyard, the Arlington Museum of Art, The Barth Galleries in Columbus, Ohio, and galleries in Fort Worth, Dallas, and Houston, Texas.

He continues to make art today and remains active in the Fort Worth art community. He opened Gallery 414 in 1995, an alternative art gallery exhibiting local and regional contemporary artists. He has also been a teacher and a professional art handler, working with museums, private collectors, and blue chip artists from around the world.

His art reflects his many interests: the human figure, toy collecting, social issues, and more. He actively promotes art education, and encourages young people to develop creative talent and thought. And he continues to explore new mediums and push his art to its fullest potential.

Also this month's Project Wall Space: Andrew Rigsby

I was born and grew up on the South Side of Chicago at the cusp of the 70’s, attended Catholic Grade school and all boys Catholic High School, things that are not so unusual growing up on the South Side of Chicago, at least at that time, actually probably the end of a certain time. After High School and a brief stint at St. Xavier University in Chicago, I moved to Peoria and attended Bradley University, where I received my BFA in Painting and Drawing. After Peoria, I moved to Seattle for 5 years prior to Graduate School at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale for my MFA in Studio Art.

I am a Chicago based artist and sometimes curator. I enjoy playing with the modern psychological conundrum through the lens of popular visual semantics and contemporary archetypes in a expanded language of the landscape. Typically preferring to work in an installation format using light box photographs, shaped paintings, sculptures, found objects and video to create multifarious tableaus.
Rigsby was the founder of GARDENfresh, a gallery based out Chicago. He received his MFA from Southern Illinois University in 2000, and his BFA from Bradley University in 1992. Rigsby has shown both Nationally and Internationally, most recently with Mikes Museum in New York, What it is in Oak Park, Il, (Con)Temporary Art Space, Chicago, antena, Chicago, Florida Gulf Coast University, Fort Meyers, Florida, Bridge ArtFair New York, Miami and London. He has also shown in New York, Kansas City and Tokyo.
Opening Friday May 14, from 6pm-10pm
May 14 -June 12, 2010

ANTENA
1765 S. Laflin St.
Chicago IL 60608
www.antenapilsen.com
antenapilsen (at) gmail.com
(773) 257-3534
Hours: by appointment only

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Antena@NEXT Art Fair

Antena participates in this year's NEXT Art Fair as part of GOFFO:

NEXT: The Invitational Exhibition of Emerging Art
April 30 - May 3, 2010
http://www.nextartfair.com

2010 Show Hours
Friday, April 30: 11am - 7pm
Saturday, May 1: 11am - 7pm
Sunday, May 2: 11am - 6pm
Monday, May 3: 11am - 4pm

Next art fair will take place on the 7th floor of the Merchandise Mart, located at 222 Merchandise Mart Plaza, Chicago, IL 60654. Click here for directions and a map.


Goffo, a special section at NEXT, focusing on multiples, editions, artist books, prints and handmade objects, will host an exceptional curated selection of presses, artist collectives and small galleries. The 2010 edition of Goffo is curated with Swimming Pool Project Space.

ABOUT NEXT: More than an art fair, NEXT is a showcase for the world’s talents and an adventure in cutting-edge culture. An opportunity to redefine the relationship between art and its public, NEXT is a portal to seeing contemporary art in new, innovative, eye-opening ways. NEXT will include works from both commercial and non-commercial arts organizations--galleries, project spaces, art publications and key private contemporary collections from around the world.

ANTENA@NEXT ART FAIR: BOOTH # 9054

Featuring new works by:
Saul Aguirre
Yong Choi
Miguel Cortez
James Jankowiak

About the Artists:
Saul Aguirre was born in Mexico City, Mexico in 1974, he is a Chicago based artist. The themes of his work are personal and social criticism; some are almost magical realism dream like. He began his career at age 15, exhibiting at a National Juried Art Exhibition at the Museum of Science and Industry. He studied at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Past exhibitions include Escuela Superior de Formación Artística, ANCASH-Huaraz, Perú, West Chicago Museum, Imce General Consulate of Mexico in Chicago,Embassy of Argentina, Washington, DC, American States Organization, and Washington, DC Future shows in 2010 include an exhibit at Gallery 414 in Fort Worth, Texas and at VanBrabson Gallery in Minnesota. http://www.saulaguirre.com

Yong Choi is a Korean artist and sculptor currently residing in Chicago. He was born in Jinju, Korea, and joined Korean Army in 2002. He was a sergeant when he was discharged from the service. He moved to NewYork in 2005 because of baseball. And he accidently went to art school and moved to Chicago because of baseball. He got a BFA degree from  School of Art Institute of Chicago in 2008. He is just seeking each day’s happiness, and want to express his feeling, and celebrate and remember some specific moments. Making art is the best way to express himself, and continue growing through the process.

Miguel Cortez is an artist living in Chicago and born in Guanajuato, Mexico. He has studied filmmaking at Columbia College and has a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Future shows in 2010 include an exhibit at Gallery 414 in Fort Worth, Texas and at VanBrabson Gallery in Minnesota. Past exhibitions included shows in Champaign, IL at the Krannert Museum and at the National Museum of Mexican Art in Chicago, as well as, in Bridge Art Fair in Miami. Other shows included exhibits in Dallas at Mighty Fine Arts Gallery, “Lo Romantico” at Glass Curtain Gallery and “Lies that Bill Gates told me: Exploring the Digital Divide” at VU Space in Melbourne, Australia. http://www.mcortez.com

James was born and raised in the Back of the Yards neighborhood on the south side of Chicago. Although his early forays in the Chicago graffiti scene proved to be influential upon several generations of spray can artists, he always took risks with his art and continues to evolve as a painter and installation artist. His work has been exhibited at several notable institutions such as the MCA, Northwestern University and the SAIC’s Roger Brown Gallery. Plus he just had a solo show at De Zwarte Ruyter in the Netherlands. This summer he will be doing an installation at CoSphere and in October will have a solo show at The Architrouve. http://www.jamesjankowiak.com/

About Antena:
"Antena" is a new project space located in Chicago's Pilsen neighborhood. The spanish word "antena" means a device that is a transducer designed to transmit or receive electromagnetic waves but in this case it is meant to define it as a cultural space that transmits/broadcasts symbolically art ideas, new media and installation projects on a local and global scale.

Friday, March 12, 2010

Religare: Artists explore the concept of Religion

Religare: Artists explore the concept of Religion

"Religare":  according to Tom Harpur and Joseph Campbell the word Religion derives from the Latin word "ligare" which means "bind, connect", and combined with the prefix "re"= re-ligare, i.e. re (again) + ligare or "to reconnect".

For this art exhibit, artists will create work that analizes and critiques the concept of religion.

The exhibit takes place at Antena in Chicago's Pilsen neighborhood from August 6-September 4, 2010 with the art opening taking place on Friday August 6th from 6pm-10pm.

Deadline for submissions: April 1, 2010
Email proposals and images to: antenapilsen@gmail.com

Send a brief proposal of what you would like to show, i.e. installation, 2D work, new media, video, etc. Send jpegs, bio, statement and CV.

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Pondering the Universe at Antena Gallery

by Carrie McGath


I went to Antena Gallery in Pilsen a few days after its opening on Friday, February 19, 2010, making it there the following Tuesday by appointment with Antena’s director and curator, Miguel Cortez. As exciting as openings may be, it was a sigh of relief to walk into an empty gallery faced only with the art I would get to experience fully without people standing in front of it. Another bonus was I got to talk with Miguel about the well-attened opening and the work while with the sounds of The Simpsons scampered in the background. Coincidentally, too, I think it is very much worth mentioning it was an episode where Homer took up art and was becoming an Outsider Artist. This was an atmosphere any art writer would dig.

Christopher Smith’s Inland Architect is a meditation about the clutter of humanity but also about something ever deeper — clutter’s ability to facilitate our very survival. I got the impression this was a sardonic meditation that seemed to be working through itself toward a kind of commentary on the lifestyle of contemporary, panicked human beings in a mad world. In the statement, a la poem, for the installation, Smith writes: “If you prepare to survive, you deserve to survive.” This line, alongside the lines about community being necessary for survival brought to my mind that not-so-eloquent line in the television series Lost: “If we can’t live together, we’ll die alone.” But I digress.

The installation’s focus on trash alongside a haphazard scientific study made me chuckle and “wow”, but it also made me think, and these images followed me into the twilight outside when I walked to the pink line. Then the images were still there with me when I woke in my bed two mornings later, myself surrounded by clutter. I began to piece it all together. When you enter the gallery, after meeting the sweet Miguel, you see Smith’s writing on the wall, look to your left and there is the silver hooded robe that made me both chuckle and cringe at its striking triangularities that reminded me instantly of Hugo Ball, Dada’s prince of the macabre avant garde. Ball’s costumes during performances looked much like this delightful robe in Smith’s Inand Architect piece that obliged to think of disco while I thought of it as one’s protection from destruction.

The other striking element in the installation was the corner of the gallery devoted to the “study” of the very installation. This was the part of the installation that walked the talk from the statement I read when I first entered Antena. There was clutter here, but a premeditated clutter, as if the clutter was being ordered with some kind of system. It appeared to be ground zero for where we would all strive to be during certain disaster according to the artist’s credo at the beginning of the exhibit — the stuff to prepare for certain survival. The title of the installation, Inland Architect, was most captured in this corner, giving the viewer the insider knowledge of how to prepare to survive. This was an exhibit that would have made the Dadaists proud, especially Hugo Ball who once said that “The war is founded on a glaring mistake, men have been confused with machines.” But Smith’s installation strives to save us all not with machines and war, but with one another, even with our all our baggage in tow.


Also included in the exhibition at Antena exhibit is the work of Sarah Best called Daily Photos. A wall in the gallery was devoted to a grid of thirty photos taken with a cellphone camera. These are photos with the commonality of people and things and places that are somehow near or related to the artist’s daily experience — friends, objects, and places that were with her in a single moment and captured using the utilitarian cellphone camera. It is unreal and almost unbelievable these truly gorgeous photos were taken on such a mass-produced, widely used device, but I guess when you got it, you got it, and Best certainly has it. Her eye for a moment is staggering: a friend on an exercise bike, a table setting for someone’s thirtieth birthday party. She creates something momentous out of seemingly mundane moments, making these photographs completely unique to her but also universal to the viewer.

According to Best, this project was in part inspired by Frank O’Hara’s Lunch Poems,  in part inspired by Robert Mapplethorpe’s Polaroids. I can definitely discern both of these inspirations, but what makes the work as a whole remarkable is although it was inspired by two other artists and artworks, it is completely its own artwork, and Best is certainly her own artist. The emotion, mood, and even texture in a photo taken on a cellphone would be no small task, and an impossible one for someone lacking the talent Best no doubt has in spades — an eye for a moment. Hers is an eye always open and a finger always on the trigger.

The Antena Gallery located at 1765 South Laflin. This show is on view through March 20, 2010.

http://chicagoartmagazine.com/2010/03/pondering-the-universe-at-antena-gallery/

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Antena in The Columbia Chronicle

Pocket pix
Chicago-based photogs use iPhone camera, applications for art

by HermineBloom

During 24-year-old photographer Jeremy Edward’s walk to the El, he will likely identify a graffitied, abandoned storefront in the city, snap a quick photo, manipulate the image using an iPhone application or two and upload it to his online portfolio—all within the five to 10 minutes before the Red Line appears.

Chicago-based iPhone photographers, much like Edwards, are embracing their point-and-shoot, three megapixel camera phones for a desired aesthetic—one that is akin to a Polaroid—in order to create art with intention, which is then showcased in galleries around the country, as opposed to frivolous party pictures.

While living in rural Kentucky, Edwards discovered peculiar subjects for photographs and began shooting regularly at age 15. But it wasn’t until 2003 that Edwards graduated from college and experimented with digital photography. Though he describes himself as always being “a photographer at heart,” he pursued international development work in both Japan and China after college.

Edwards, now an Edgewater neighborhood resident, launched the “From the Pocket” project in 2008 as a series of pictures taken exclusively with an iPhone camera and edited with iPhone applications. He generally documents fragile parts of the city that have character, he said.

“I think there’s something organically beautiful about the limitations of the iPhone,” Edwards said. “It’s just a simple point and shoot and there’s not that much you can do. What’s unique about it is that all your post-imaging processing is all done in the same place.”

A strong advocate for editing iPhone photography with only one or two applications as opposed to handfuls, Edwards insists that people who wish to take iPhone photography shouldn’t “push the limits of what a camera can and can’t do,” which is one of many tips he listed on his “From the Pocket” Web site blog.

Shake It, an application that transforms an iPhone picture into a Polaroid with a white border, and Lo-mob, an application that alters the color scheme to appear warmer and more distorted, are among five applications that Edwards said he uses regularly to edit his photography.

About 100 of Edwards’ photographs will be featured in a book that he is self-publishing with an expected release date of either April 1 or May 1, he said.

“I wanted to put together something really substantial that gives a good illustration of how something as simple as a phone can actually be artful,” Edwards said.

Chicago-based photographer Sarah Best describes her iPhone photography as an extension of her love for New York poet Frank O’Hara, whose poems were conversational and usually centered around being out around town with his friends, she said.

“I want to make you feel like you know the people who are in my picture,” Best said. “That warmth comes out when the pictures are a little washed out and the colors are distorted with the Polaroid application.”

Trying to create a sense of immediacy is important to Best, which she said adds an element of chance to her art—comparable to any other medium such as ceramics if a pot loses shape in a kiln, for example.

Best, the Web specialist at Chicago Office of Tourism, compiled iPhone photographs for her “Daily Photos, on the Project Wall” exhibit, consisting mostly of portraits of friends. The exhibit is showcasing at Antena Gallery, 1765 S. Laflin St., from Feb. 19 to March 20.

Everyone is invited to bring their cell phones with them to the gallery so that she can send them her work via multimedia message if they’d like to take the image home with them, Best said.

“I like the idea of people being able to own their own art and also experience art while they’re out having dinner or with their friends,” she said.

Whether a photographer can afford an expensive SLR camera is no longer an issue.

Kay Frederick, a 38-year-old accountant, was given a first-generation iPhone as a gift in 2008, which is when she began to take iPhone photography and build a body of work on Flickr, an image and video hosting Web site and online community.

“I can take a picture of those same Marina Towers every single week and how I’m feeling, or what applications I’m into that week will make it totally different each time,” Frederick said.

Though she said she has downloaded about 50 photograph editing applications for her iPhone, she only uses a few applications—occasionally as a layering effect—depending on what the specific picture merits.

Frederick also explained that people are reluctant to change, which is why iPhone photography can be criticized for being amateur.

After submitting her work to a contest, three of her photos were chosen to appear in exhibit at the Giorgi Gallery in Berkeley, Calif., called “Pixels at an Exhibition—the Art of the iPhone.” The 200 selected photographs will comprise a book as well.

For more information about Jeremy Edward’s “From the Pocket” project visit, JeremyEdwards.Tumblr.com. To learn more about Sarah Best’s work, visit TryLessHard.com/Sarah/. For more of Kay Frederick’s work visit, Flickr.com/Photos/SparkyLuck/.

original post: http://columbiachronicle.com/pocket-pix/

Antena in The Chicago Weekly


Scout’s Horror: Chris Smith’s gruesome survivalist art at antena Gallery
Written by: Ethan Bass

On the ground lies Geoffrey, a cat who has seen better days. His limbs are splayed out and his skin is peeled off. The apparatus that killed Geoffrey is constructed from simple materials: a plastic bag, an air mattress pump, hair, epoxy, and packaging tape. The bag is appended to the twisted form of the animal and can be inflated from underneath in a novel method of torture that only uses household materials. A table, strewn with makeshift construction materials—Styrofoam cups, a plastic fan, clothespins—faces a wall filled with sketches for various other devices. The macabre scene is part of “Inland Architect,” the new installation piece by artist Chris Smith at Pilsen’s antena gallery.

Smith is evasive when discussing the details of his project. It is designed to be “nomadic,” he says, as in, “you can pick it up and take it with you.” When pressed, he describes the show as “the story of cast-off materials, told through a haunted tutorial for survival.” The intention is vague, but productive. His method of assembling detritus is well suited to his purpose; the grisly scenes he constructs seem to present a perspective that is consistent with the nature of materials that compose them. The weatherproofed windows and “backpack pandemic ventilator” probably do not function, but they realistically depict what such inventions might look like. The colorful set-up recalls the chambers of a disturbed mind, obsessed by the possibility of world catastrophe, reacting desperately to an onslaught of threats in a disordered surplus of activity.

Smith says he draws inspiration from his years in the Boy Scouts, where he learned how to whittle and build fires, attaining the rank of Eagle Scout. It is this formative experience, he says, that first drew him to a philosophy of survivalism. “It runs in my blood,” Smith says. One can’t help but wonder what kind of scouting experience Smith had: his artistic vision, and the significant part that sadomasochism appears to play in it, is distinctly at odds with the traditional ethos of the Boy Scouts. The stark worldview implied in the installation is the antithesis of the scout’s commitment to “providing service” and “reinforcing ethical standards,” and it clashes with nearly all of the values encoded in Scout Law, such as Obedience, Kindness, and Charity. Of the ideals championed in the scout’s code, Thriftiness is the only one supported in the show.

By way of context, the artist provides what he claims is a citation from the literature of the U.S. paramilitary organization the Michigan Militia: “Those that have not will attempt to take from those that have. If you prepare to survive, you deserve to survive…If you have the kind of intellect that’s geared to survival, it may be a matter of genetics.” This Darwinian worldview, which exalts survival as the highest value, is amply represented in the show. Smith says that the Michigan Militia is a “sponsor” of the show, but it is unclear if there is any real connection.

“Inland Architect” is graphic, disturbing, and ultimately ambiguous in its effect. However, it is successful in displaying a lurid sight of the depths to which the will to self-preservation can reach, and continues the series of provocative shows featured at antena.

antena, 1765 S. Laflin St. Opening reception February 19. Friday, 6-10pm. Through March 20. By appointment only. (773)257-3534. antenapilsen.com

From The Chicago Weekly: http://chicagoweekly.net/2010/02/18/scouts-horror-chris-smith%E2%80%99s-gruesome-survivalist-art-at-antena-gallery/

FAIR: TWO-DAY LOCAL MAKER AND PUBLISHER FAIR


FA I R
TWO-DAY LOCAL MAKER AND PUBLISHER FAIR

February 26-27 • NOON-6:00 PM BOTH DAYS

Please join us for two days of art, books, talks, things for sale, things for
free, and more from the following people, groups and organizations:

Antena antenapilsen.com
AREA Chicago areachicago.org
Bad At Sports badatsports.com
CAFF “Find us in the real world motherfuckers!”
Gallery 400 gallery400.aa.uic.edu
Esteban Garcia snebtor.chiguiro.org
Golden Age shopgoldenage.com
Green Lantern Press press.thegreenlantern.org
Half Letter Press halfletterpress.com
Terence Hannum terencehannum.com
Harold Arts haroldarts.org
Imperfect Articles imperfectarticles.com
InCUBATE incubate-chicago.org
Clifton Meador & guests cliftonmeador.com
David Moré
No Coast no-coast.org
Onsmith Dog Stew & Monkey Nudd Wine
Pros Arts Studio prosarts.org
Proximity Magazine proximitymagazine.com
Radah & Team
Spudnik Press spudnikpress.com
Bert Stabler bertstabler.com
threewalls three-walls.org
WhiteWalls

Organized by Temporary Services in conjunction with ART WORK: A NATIONAL CONVERSATION ABOUT ART, LABOR, AND ECONOMICS • www.artandwork.us
Art & Design Hall • 400 S. Peoria St. • www.gallery400.aa.uic.edu • 312-996-6114

Friday, January 29, 2010

artnet.com

CHICAGO BUILD UP
by Pedro Vélez
 
I think I’ve had it with apartment galleries and alternative spaces, which have been one of the Chicago art scene’s special attractions for so many years. Trust me, I used to run one in the late ‘90s. Chicago has been there, done that, and even reinvented the brand. And as if to prove it, Allison Peters Quinn and Briton Bertran organized "Artist Run Chicago" at the Hyde Park Art Center last spring, a magnificent look back at a decade of such noteworthy hubs as Joymore, NFA Space (which showed Luis Gispert), Dogmatic (where Paul Chan started), Green Lantern, Polvo and Law Office "Artist Run Chicago" also posed one important question: Now what? In New York, young galleries grow into new powers. Chicago has a couple of museums and a couple of good galleries, but they’re stops on the international circuit rather than incubators of local talent. You can have museum shows here and never sell a thing. Let’s be honest, alienation can be depressing.

Well, Chicago can’t exactly fall back on its reputation as a world art center, like New York can. But it wasn’t all bad news. Here’s a brief retrospective of notable 2009 art events in the city.

Michigan Avenue
My top choice is rather predictable: The opening of the Art Institute of Chicago Modern Wing. Renzo Piano’s critically acclaimed, $300-million-plus, 264,000-square-foot addition to the AIC now stands alongside Wrigley Field and the Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower) as a must-see destination on every tourist list. But what about the locals? At $18 per person, it’s cheaper for a family of four to go to a baseball game than to enjoy a day of culture.

Me, I got my kicks for free (thanks, AICA), especially from Cady Noland’s OOZEWALD (1989), which looks grandiose inside Piano’s glass cathedral. The cut-out newspaper image of Oswald, at the moment of his assassination, peppered with oversized bullet holes, gagged with a U.S. flag, resonates today more than ever, given the Supreme Court’s gut-wrenching decision to turn the election process over to deep-pocketed corporations. It is also a sad reminder of how Barack Obama upholds the Bush Doctrine while the American voter plays the role of captive audience.

Cleverly installed next to Noland was Sue Williams’ early psycho-narrative It’s a new age (1992), a painting that dirties up the place with its beautiful yet aggressive take on misogyny. "I chose fat thighs," it reads, "ass holes, sew ‘em up." The experience is like watching hardcore porn starlet Sasha Grey going mainstream in the Girlfriend Experience. 

Across the street from the Art Institute is the Museum of Contemporary Photography, which did better with Chicago talent with its "Midwest Photographers Project," which featured Stacia Yeapanis, Curtis Mann (selected for the 2010 Whitney Biennial) and John Opera, the stand out, in a show called "MP3." Opera juxtaposes small geometric abstractions with large, sleek and threatening visions of nature.

Close by on Washington Street the Chicago Cultural Center hosted FMEL, a two-day "Festival de Musica Electronica Latina" that ran concurrently at the National Museum of Mexican Art in the neighborhood of Pilsen. Among the participants were the respected sound artist Manrico Montero, founder of net label Mandorla, and the New York-based ambient duo Arturo en el Barco (José Olivares and Angélica Negrón).

The couple -- a sort of adorably geekier version of Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon -- played an intimate live set by building sounds digitally using diverse objects (a music box, bubble wrap, toy instruments) to make dreamy and emotional compositions that were quite capable of elating the crowd.


The West Loop
Sarah Hicks proved herself a force to be reckoned in her first solo exhibition at Thomas Robertello Gallery. Seductive, erotic and borderline decorative, Hicks’ brightly glazed ceramics are small objects suggestive of bits of coral reef, alien life forms and sex toys, were exhibited placed on top of a glass table. It was a strange brew of forms.

Another young artist to make an impact was my good friend Joseph Hardesty at Western Exhibitions (the gallery that represents me). Hardesty’s delicate handmade renderings on paper, almost transparent, of phrases, statements and verses seem to fade in and out, and exude a certain insecurity. The artist, who spent a year in Berlin thanks to a Gelman Travel Fellowship, articulates his feelings through vivid narrative metaphors involving horses, Vikings, gray cobblestones and flying monkeys.

Next door, at Three Walls, the renowned nonprofit cultural platform and residency, the art producer, DJ and all around personality Philip von Zweck had a suite of pretty, clumsy and conceptual figurative paintings that served as backdrop for a series of lectures organized specifically for the occasion.



Censorship on the South Side
Controversy is never in shortage when it comes to Chicago’s police and politicians. Such was the case when a mural by Gabriel Villa in the ethnically varied neighborhood of Bridgeport -- a mural, not graffiti -- was erased under the orders of alderman James Balcer. True, the artwork did show Jesus crucified on top of a CPD blue-light camera surveillance box, but it was privately commissioned for private property.

"I believe that was a threat," Balcer told the local news. "The dead deer, the skull, the cross, RIP, rest in peace was in there, that symbolizes death. And I don't know if it will incite gang violence or more trouble." Sad, that Latino religious iconography and customs celebrating the dead, not to mention urban displays of social discomfort on Chicago’s South Side, should provide an excuse to exercise bias and art censorship.

The incident is especially ironic considering the hopeful words from National Endowment for the Arts director Rocco Landesman quoted in the Chicago Tribune on Aug. 27. "Chicago has a mayor who sees the value of art in urban areas," Landesman said. "We have a president who is a writer, an artist, who gets artists. We have a first lady who understands the importance of the arts in education. We have a new era coming. Chicago will be ground zero."

Luckily, Antena, a space in Pilsen run by artist Miguel Cortez and one of the best the city has to offer, did not wait on Rocco’s promises and mounted an impressive survey of Villa’s large-scale drawings, as well as a recreation of the original lost work.

Off the Loop
Honorable mentions go to "This Shadow Is a Bit of Ideology"at UIC 400 and the Davis Langlois show at the Chicago Cultural Center which I wrote about last March; Merchant Adams for his hilariously serious mutations of stuffed animals representing racial mixes produced by the Spanish colonization of the Americas at Prak-sis; and Chelsea Knight’s "I Lay Claim to You"(with Khalia Frazier), a joyous single video projection of a dance loosely based on Margaret Mead’s 1938 description of a Balinese cremation at Julius Caesar.

Also, Deb Sokolow’s site-specific diagram about her Jewish heritage, and the fictitious narratives elaborated over corned beef at the Spertus Museum; and Dann Gunn’s post-minimalist constructions at Lloyd Dobler. In the end, nothing was as exciting as White Sox ace Mark Buehrle’s no-hitter on July 23 against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Twenty-seven batters retired -- a true masterpiece.
"Italics" at the MCA

Last but not least, a show that remains open for the upcoming College Art Association 2010 Annual meeting Feb. 10-13, 2010, is star curator Francesco Bonami’s "Italics: Italian Art between Tradition and Revolution, 1968–2008," Nov. 14, 2009-Feb. 14, 2010, at the Museum of Contemporary Art. Bonami, who during his tenure as MCA senior curator made quite an impression on the local artists by never leaving his office, originally presented this show at the Palazzo Grassi in Venice, where it was met by a barrage of negative reviews.

The revisionist survey pretends to make a political statement by salvaging lesser-known artists from the annals of Italian history. Bonami has washed his hands publicly on this issue, claiming that he is not a historian. We couldn’t agree more; he is more like a Sergio Leone of curators, presenting canned Italian culture for American audiences. But for a show that insists in resurfacing underrated or unknown names, it begins curiously with current market favorite Maurizio Cattelan.

Overall, "Italics" is not bad; it’s a dynamic ride, and most viewers could find something amazing in the 75-plus artist lineup. My favorite is Compagni, Compagni (1968) by bad-boy ‘60s painter Mario Schifano (1934-98), a spray-painted monochrome encased in translucent red plastic, depicting three silhouettes of "comrades," in this case seeming to be Vietnamese peasants (typically they hold a hammer and sickle, symbols of the "just solution to social contradictions," as Schifano inscribed other versions of the image).

Schifano, who might be called the Italian Andy Warhol -- which would make him a lover as well as a Pop artist; he supposedly stole Marianne Faithfull from Mick Jagger -- also made art from commercial logotypes, put on music events and made video art, and in 1967 released one great psychedelic recording, The Stars of Mario Schifano. It has an astonishing 17-minute-long jam or freak-out session comparable to the styling of Arthur Brown or the 13th Floor Elevators.

PEDRO VÉLEZ is an artist and critic living in Chicago
http://www.artnet.com/magazineus/reviews/velez/chicago-build-up1-29-10.asp

Monday, January 25, 2010

Cheat Codes: Lessons in Love @ Flavorpill

Futurecreatures2_large
Eunjung Hwang, Future Creatures, 2009

Watching curator Amelia Winger-Bearskin's Cheat Codes: Lessons in Love, an hour-long presentation featuring the works of 12 video artists, feels like watching cable access back in the 1980s. The single-channel low-resolution screening at Antena gallery leaves a lot to be desired for the usual HD and Blue Ray viewer — but that's the point. Evocative, ridiculous, and nostalgic, the program progresses in seemingly random order, including Game Boy-inspired animations from Eunjung Hwang, kaleidoscopic video landscapes from Jennie H. Bringaker and David Horwitz's presentation of newly found footage from Bas Jan Ader. The collage of videos proves the lingering influence of cybernetic and analog aesthetics on digital work.
– Beatrice Smigasiewicz

Friday, January 22, 2010

Decoding the Cheat Codes: “Lessons in Love” at antena

Decoding the Cheat Codes: “Lessons in Love” at antena
Written by: Tobi Haslett 
 
The turquoise title screen at the beginning of “Cheat Codes: lessons in love” puts love in terms of video games: juxtaposing cheat codes with relationships and comparing players to the viewers of the exhibit. The new video art installation at antena gallery uses this opening statement more as a caution than a credo. This short, playful definition sets the tone for a show whose connection to video games and digital culture is far from obvious, but whose overall meaning is derived from references and influences that are as contemporary and relevant as electronic media themselves.


Curated by Amelia Winger-Bearskin, the show features work by twelve video artists and animators whose styles differ significantly, often to a powerful effect. Bubbling beneath the surface of Eunjung Hwang’s animations is an apt, if hackneyed, commentary on our society’s technology-induced atavism. In Hwang’s piece, two-dimensional figures hump and harm one another with disturbing rapidity, all the while maintaining vapid, expressionless faces that reflect as much on Hwang’s choice of medium as they do on the video’s overall motif of passionless stimulation.

Another standout piece is Amber Swanson’s video, in which a blow-up sex doll is battered and abused in three different settings: a wedding, a park, and a trade show for the adult entertainment industry. In the first circumstance, trendy young Chicagoans point at and joke drunkenly about the eerily lifelike object, all the while remaining acutely aware of the odd nature of its presence. Later, in what is probably the most moving moment in the entire show, two women wearing hot pants and shirts emblazoned with the Girls Gone Wild logo pose suggestively for an off-screen camera. Each time they freeze for a photo, their likeness to the doll is overwhelming. It seems that to Swanson, both the doll and the girls are hollow, disturbing byproducts of the objectifying tendencies of the culture that produced them.

In some ways, “Cheat Codes” benefits from its disjointed arrangement. Although Grant Worth’s psychedelic video collage bears little resemblance to Jason Martin’s green-screened performance art, the pieces hang well together precisely because they lack obvious similarities to each other and to the work’s ostensible theme. The superficial incongruity between the pieces is a reminder to the viewer that the show is devoted to what is unseen or unobvious.

But not all of the works in “Cheat Codes” present these contradictions gracefully. Jennie Brinkager’s piece features a neon-clad belly dancer being raped by and eventually wrestling with men dressed as Vikings in what appears to be a strip mall parking lot. Text detailing the artist’s views on immigration runs along the bottom of the screen, providing an awkward accompaniment to what is already a somewhat questionable subject. Jay Schleidt’s video has a more comfortable setting. His grainy footage of two amateur musicians plucking the tune of “Sweet Home Alabama” is one of the less gripping pieces in the show, but it also has one of its more poignant moments: one of the musicians starts howling incomprehensible lyrics into a microphone and the camera cuts to a dim and cluttered room, with the young performer still wailing off-screen. The haunting image seems to represent the collapse of the hopes of the musicians at the hands of frustration and domesticity.

Cheat Codes is less about game consoles and onscreen avatars than it is about the treacherous nature of identity. The videos that make up the show all provide insight into a culture whose constituents must maintain several personas at once, be they sexual, political, or virtual. While some of the pieces seem to falter in illustrating this idea, there are quite a few jewels embedded in this eclectic collection.
antena, 1765 S. Laflin St. Through February 6. Hours by appointment. (773)257-3534. antenapilsen.com