Joyce Owens: Artist On Art

For Love or Money?

So what would you do for love, and is that different than what you would do for money?

I don't think we should have to make  choice. If you do something you love (like art) you should still get paid for it, as do doctors and lawyers and university presidents, etc. There are many lucrative  professions that are also creative. (Forbes just listed their top money-making DEAD people. Take a look to see what they did for money.)

The professional artists I know have figured out they want to get paid for their work. so that's pretty much settled.

What about students? 

Do you think students should sell their work while they are in the process of learning? I am torn. As a student I was so busy trying to figure things out I had very little, well let's say, no interest in selling my work.  (I sold the drawing at left to a friend only a couple of years ago, and she caught me off-guard!)

I was tapped by a publisher to do some illustrations for a book and got paid. But I worked for my money since I was old enough to babysit.  I had an art supply store job for most of the undergrad years and was a weekly consultant at a public school during grad school.

I routinely turned down offers for purchases. One I still feel badly about was a mother and child piece that a woman in New Haven, who was really moved by it, wanted and I said "no".  I felt that I needed to keep my work so I could figure out what I was doing and see a continuum of my process. I was trying to find my voice.

But my reluctance aside, do you think students should or should not sell their work and WHY????

The sketches above are both my student work. I reluctantly sold the portrait sketch a few years ago.

Wait until AFTER the elections

 When  the election is done and we have our new president we will have to hunker down and work our butts off to heal the country.

I think there will always be an "us" and "them" based on weight or height, or neighborhood, or state, alma mater, interests, single versus married, young and old, etc.  I think identifying people by race is OK, too. It's just that we have distorted race to the extreme in America.

I have developed an aversion to people saying "America" instead of The United States of America, but some topics call for it because the same people who prefer to call the United States of America, "America" are the people who luxuriate in racism and call the other party the "Democrat" party (instead of Democratic party).

This racist nonsense just misses the boat and is based on air, based on the need to keep separate poor white people from poor "others", specifically blacks, and make the  former somehow feel better because, at least, they're white!

I know I am not all African. Most African Americans are NOT. 

So who can be sure they are ALL white? Or only English and French, for example? If most black people have white ancestors, wouldn't you think it would work both ways? How many white people have black ancestry? Or Native American? In America we know the races mixed quite a bit. Well, a lot of black female slaves were raped.

And, besides that, man did originate  from Africa (click to read a National Geographic article)!!! Maybe the skinheads (neo-nazis) don't know about that.

Get over it, please.  People are people. Race is like hair or eye color, different is not inherently  good nor is it automatically bad! But it sure looks bad when people behave the way they have during this election.  This melting pot country, composed of people escaping persecution  and religious discrimination in their native European countries have evolved to become the racists of the new world. We may not  export many goods, but we have managed to export racial hatred around the globe.

Now is our chance to redeem our nation's reputation. We can chastise the folks who jumped on board when that silly McCain worker accused a "black man " of carving a mirror-image "B" in her cheek.  What an  idiot; she didn't think to write the "B" (for Barack) forward the way the attacker would have! 

 

Hey, and maybe Barbara Walters will throw that other idiot, Elizabeth, off "The View" bus so she can devote herself full time to the mavericky, rogue-ie-ness of Sarah not-a-diva, liar, absentee mother, hockey-curse Palin.  Palin seems to be losing most of her following so Elizabeth can be her BFF, and maybe godmother to the 17 year old's baby.

Obama will have a very tough job. If we come together as a country and support his programs and give him the opportunity and the time to repair 8 bad years, we have  a chance to not be the fall of the Roman Empire redux!

Obama photo above was taken by my husband, Monroe Anderson, in New Hampshire.

Artists at Work: Think it, Make it, Critique it, Promote it, Show it, Sell it.

As we near the end of this year's annual Chicago Artists Month  I have tried to see as many exhibitions as possible, and there were, and still are some great ones to be seen... The card below is for Chicago State University's Chicago Artists Month program and Hispanic/Latino Heritage Month, in the President's Gallery.

I think back to 2001 when I was invited to join the Chicago Artists Month Advisory Committee.
I was gung-ho!
One of the first tasks the committee addressed was coming up with a theme for the month of artists exhibitions, discussions, tours, demonstrations, and more.
I really wanted to promote the idea that artists WORK, just as other professionals do. "Artists at Work" was what I proposed, but I thought it might get flushed out and made fancier.  It didn't. And that title has been used for Artists at Work forums convened by The Department of Cultural Affairs for artists since then.

I had hoped that exploring this theme would help to debunk some of the mysteries around art making, and also challenge artists and others to accept that it takes hard labor, physical and mental, to produce art, and is not an easy path for most of us.

I had hoped, too, the label of "work" would translate into the phrase "work for pay".

Professional artists are often asked to give away art for free, but if making art is work, shouldn't we always get paid?

Those who request the free art should really start to understand that you get better art when the artist shares in the profits, not because we don't want to support the cause but, simply because an artist cannot afford  to give away their income.

So, here I go again, describing what artists do, because I know most people love art and want to know more about  artists.

Artists think art:

It takes thought, introspection, experience  to find ideas and then figure out how to execute them.

I found this great list on Art Junction.  Yeah, we are different. We all knew that from when we were little kids. My grandmother thought I was weird!

Learning to think like an artist means:

• looking at things more closely than most people do.
• finding beauty in everyday things and situations.
• making new connections between different things and ideas.
• going beyond ordinary ways of thinking and doing things.
• looking at things in different ways in order to generate new perspectives.
• taking risks and exposing yourself to possible failure.
• arranging things in new and interesting ways.
• working hard and at the edge of your potential.
• persisting where others may give up.
• concentrating your effort and attention for long periods of time.
• dreaming and fantasizing about things.
• using old ideas to create new ideas and ways of seeing things.
• doing something simply because it's interesting and personally challenging to do.

Above: "The Thinker" by Auguste Rodin, 1879-1889, Bronze.

Everyone has not been exposed to artists, and been to an artists home or studio.  My quote lately has been, "My art has eaten my house!". I have my work and other artists work everywhere and then there are books and magazine and more...people who like art love it. People who prefer conventional order are probably aghast!

Artists make art:
It's not only a gift from God, inherited from your uncle or mother; it takes HARD labor, aka practice and consistency, to develop abilities.

I am  really tired of hearing about  artist's "gifts", when it denies the other attributes.

Artists make art:
And artists then have to decide what materials will express their ideas best. 

Image left: from Kyle Anderson's sketch book. My son learned to draw by drawing.

Artists make art:
Well, some don't make it at all. Some conceptualize it through writing or drawing, perhaps photography, a fabricator may make it from a design. So artists have to plan ahead. It's not accidental. But it's still work.

Artists make art:
A separate studio is an ideal place to make art. That costs MONEY! One of the reasons artists need to be paid. (If you like it enough to ask for it for free, you should like it enough to pay for it!)

Artists critique art:
Some artists will say that all their work is good just because they say it is.
OK. Sometimes it is.
Some artists are NEVER self-critical?  Those artists may also believe their gift from God requires no additional work (studying, reading, learning how to use materials, etc.).

 

Collectors are educating themselves.  They can also ask someone else, who knows what they are talking about, who has seen lots of art, to confirm their choices, but make sure the person you ask knows what they  claim to know.

I feel the need to name some qualified folks; there are many in reputable galleries, museums, art centers, and universities; if you want names of art dealers, collectors, curators, and art historians, etc. please comment or email me.

Please comparison shop, just like you would for that designer bag or sports car. If you love it, you love it...I can't deny that feeling. But please don't fall for used car salesman tactics from folks that you would rebuff in any other forum.

Artists promote, exhibit and sell art:
Not only do artists make the art, they often have to promote it, and find a way to show it.  If you are very lucky you may be an artist who has gallery representation. If you are extremely lucky your gallery uses some of the 50% commission they get when they sell your work to help expose your work to new collectors, to important curators, place your work in important art fairs and include your art AND your name in promotional materials the gallery sends out.

Please check the links. Try to get to Chicago Artists Month events next week. It could take you mind off the election for a second!

Survivor Spirits by Joyce Owens, above, are at the Veeck Gallery in the Catholic Theological Union on 5416 S. Cornell opening November 13, 2008.

ARTISTS FOR PRESIDENT!!!!

Actors, athletes, journalists and even former beauty queens are feeling qualified to run for public office.

And have been for years.

They are good speakers. They can remember lines they are fed. They can appear sincere.

We used to expect our political  leaders would have gone to law school, studied political science or languages, maybe history or sociology; geology was Colin Powell's  major. We seem  to have gotten used to the actors, such as Ronald Reagan, Arnold (aka Conan the Barbarian) Schwarzenegger, and Cher's husband,  Sonny Bono in public office.  Clint Eastwood, a brilliant movie director, was also compelled to run for elected office and won.  For a list click here.

(This guy presumes that some of these folks, including artists, are also crazy!)

Crazy never stopped anyone...depends on HOW crazy!

I say: Where are the visual artists-politicians?

The most creative thinkers in the  world  spend their time making visual statements. We all write about our work. We are generally, very passionate about our beliefs!

Many of us have college educations. I went to schools that have produced presidents and  Supreme Court justices!

Artists use the other side of the brain that a lot of non-artists seem to use less. I say artists need to step up and start serving  the country, state, county, city or neighborhood by holding elected office!

We artists have always been the ones to spread political news through our paintings,  murals,  posters and  cartoons.  We protest wars, as you see on left. We recognize and protest the bad behavior of the folks running things in our city halls, governor's mansions and the White House.  We are interested in foreign issues, too!

I think it's time we held political office!

Right?

Artists LOVE Barack Obama!

Have you made Barack Obama art?

Maybe you have done art around George Bush.

I have done both. Around "W" I created a panel for the Peace Tower Project at the Chicago Cultural Center by Mark Di Suvero (Click on "Peace Tower" link above).

I have been making what I call Peace Masks  for a number of years since the Iraqui war began, and I have a couple of  sketches and a painting of Obama that I can't seem to get finished.

My son, Kyle Anderson,  did  a Barack...(left).

Chicagoan Lowell Thompson continues to display his Barack Obama.

Dreams Can Come True

He took it into McCormick Place  for a guerrilla show this summer and has had a show at the South Side Community Art Center along with numerous other artists, and at Neleh Gallery in Chicago.

Dawoud Bey's Obama portrait has also been a fund raising tool.

I think we haven't been inspired to create art around a political figure on this scale and with this amount of reverence, since J.F.K. and Martin  Luther King.

Artist, Patricia Stewart sent this Obama art:

I guess I'd better finish mine.

What do you think of all the Obama art?

Liberal artists and the Mythology of the open mind:

I was surprised, not shocked, while reading a discussion about race on www.FineArtAmerica.com.

Among the 45-plus comments was this one:

I read that 95% of black voters were going to vote for Obama, whereas whites were much more evenly divided between the candidates. All things being equal, it seems to me that black voters would be divided as evenly as whites, unless they were voting for Obama because he is black. If blacks are voting for Obama because he is black, isn't it the case that they are not voting for McCain because he is white? Consequently, if blacks vote for Obama because he is black, why can't whites vote for McCain because he is white? Also, it shows that racism is not confined to whites; it is rampant in both the black and the white communities.

Why was I surprised? Because I, like many other people, maintain delusions about ALL artists. I think artists will be liberal and generous and fair and kind and honest. Most of the comments were liberal and support Barack Obama. But there was an underlying reality in the anecdote that started the conversation and in some of the responses.

Judith Roth, on the other hand (see her work below) a friend, liberal, an arts advocate and all-around classy woman, who is always winning prizes when she shows at the Chicago Cultural Center, among other venues sent me a note responding to the blog post about Berenice Abbott; that got me back on race AGAIN!

My question is WHY does it matter if anyone is black or white? I mean really?? Please stop and think. I would be so curious to read your answer.

Hi Joyce -- I love your
work, your website and your BLOG!!  So full of interest
and enthusiasm for all you are discovering and sharing with everyone!
Thank you for letting me (us) know of Preston Jackson's show and this gallery
he is showing in -- I hadn't heard of it before and it sounds exciting!

Re: Berenice Abbott -- I knew of her pretty much along with Dorothea
Lange and all the others you had mentioned, associating her with Depression Era
photography, however, I did not realize she was Black! I think that
generally not enough is known about most of the great Black artists, of all
media, and of all our earlier art history.  I had to do a lot of personal research
to learn who was who and had to discover it like a secret garden.  More needs
to be done to bring to greater public attention the great body of work of
artists of color, especially of the past century.

Judith, like all of us, is conditioned to react to race.

BUT WHY are we STILL having this knee-jerk reaction when classifying people?

How different do we think we are from each other because of some minor characteristics in our physical appearance?

To paraphrase one of the artists on Fine Art America, we are all from the human race...when asked about race I'll check "yes".

The website is free for artists. Think about uploading your work here.

pilsen open studios

Philippe Gibson is one of the many artists featured in this weekends Pilsen  Open Studios. Check out the website for more information. Philippe  sent this:

The space where I will be featured :

OX ALA Fine Arts

1653 W. 18Th St

312-850-1655

Friday: 5 - 10 pm

Saturday & Sunday: 12 - 8pm

[email protected]

 

 

New York photographer Berenice Abbott is news to me.

Bernice or Berenice Abbott is a photographer Michael Wasniowski commented on last June 17 , 2008  as a favorite of his when I was complaining about the lack  of representation of African American and other artists in museums, books, etc. on an earlier post. I did not know her so I decided to find out about her, (just got around to it), and share some of what I found with you.

She was a lesbian photographer who championed "straight photography" ! That, in itself, is  pretty  interesting.

She was thoughtful and, as a photographer quite good.  Here is a wonderful quote:

February 1940: the magazine Popular Photography asks Berenice Abbott to name her "favorite picture." Her response:      

"Suppose we took a thousand negatives and made a gigantic montage: a   myriad-faceted picture containing the elegances, the squalor, the curiosities,         the monuments, the sad faces, the triumphant faces, the power, the irony, the strength, the decay, the past, the present, the future of a city –  that would be my favorite picture."   

She kinda does that in the photo below...

Click to read more and see more of photos.

The one above and the elegant and amazing photo below are both from the New York  Public Library. This is not Photoshop or In Design. This is the hard work of finding the  subject in tact, and capturing it at the right moment and then developing the film to the satisfaction and imagination of the artist who shot it. 

 Berenice Abbott: CHANGING NEW YORK 1935-1938

 

Once you take a look at the links and learn about her you may wonder why she isn't better known like Alfred Steiglitz, Roy DeCarava, Ansel Adams, Dorothea Lange, James Van der Zee,  and Gordon Parks to name a few well known  photographers. 

Chicago Printmakers Collaborative FREE

Chicago Printmakers Collaborative
Upcoming News & Events
  October 2008

The Art of Democracy

Part of a nation-wide series of printmaking exhibitions
organized by the New York Society of Etchers

continuing through November 1, 2008

The CPC's "The Art of Democracy" is part of a network of
exhibitions and events that are taking place in Chicago,
San Francisco, Seattle, St. Louis, New York, Atlanta,
and other cities across the U.S. The printmaking medium
has historically proven itself as a prime democratic
broadcaster of artistic and political vision.
Join us as we work to amplify the artistic
voices willing to speak out in these dangerous times.

Gallery hours are Wednesdays and Saturdays,
12-5 and by appointment

Exhibiting artists:                  
Alex Chitty
Misha Goro
Carrie Iverson
Deborah Maris Lader
Artemio Rodriguez                         
Shira Soskel
Megan Sterling
Kyra Termini   
with a special showing of posters made by Misha Goro's
students at the American Academy of Art.
Posters from print artists across the nation will also be on display.

for more info, also see www.artofdemocracy.org

Fall Classes at the Chicago Printmakers Collaborative
Are FULL! stay tuned for upcoming info on winter/spring offerings...

Educating the masses on the fine art of printmaking for over 19 years!

Also Available:
Private and Semi-private classes in
Screenprinting, Lithography, Etching, Relief, Monotype, and more!
Monthly PRESS TIME with key access for experienced, professional printmakers

email us at
[email protected]
or call 773-293-2070.

The CPC is located in Lincoln Square,
at 4642 N. Western Avenue., just across the street from
the Brown Line el stop, on the west side of the street,
between Wilson and Leland.

Check us out on the web:
www.chicagoprintmakers.com

"Say Hello to Yourself" (above) oil, drawing, photography on board
24 x 25 cm, by Deborah Maris Lader, Director of the Printmakers Collaborative

  To purchase please call the CPC at 773.293.2070. 

Juarez Hawkins and Dalton Brown at Floyd Atkins

SUMPIN' COOKIN'

An Exhibition of works by Dalton Brown and Juarez Hawkins 

(image left by Juarez Hawkins)

If you missed this exhibition yesterday there are 2 more days to visit; there is parking in this area...you may have to drive around a little, but it's not too bad)

Join Dalton Brown and Juarez Hawkins as they make visual gumbo, throwing their talents and collective experience into the creative pot. Bring your appetites—they’re cooking up food for thought!

Artist’s Reception: October 11, 2008, 6–10 pm

Gallery Talk: October, 17, 2008, 6–10 pm
Closing Reception: November 7, 2008, 6–10 pm

Floyd Atkins’ Underground Studio
2215 S. Michigan Avenue, 2nd Floor   
Chicago, IL

For a sneak peek at the work:
www.myspace.com/juareztheartist
www.geocities.com/juarezhawkins

See more of our work online:
www.artbarge.com
www.daltonbrownart.com
www.artmajeur.com/floydatkins

See our work at the Hyde Park Art Center!
Not Just Another Pretty Face Exhibition
Oct 18, 2008 – Jan 11, 2009
www.hydeparkart.org

Sumpin’Cookin’ and Floyd Atkins’ Underground Studio are part of Chicago Artists Month, the thirteenth annual celebration of Chicago’s vibrant visual art communitySara Lee Foundation. For more information, call 312/744-6630 or visit www.chicagoartistsmonth.org.                                                           organized by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and is made possible through the Presenting Sponsorship of 3Arts and the Lead Sponsorship of the

Preston Jackson, October 11 at Maison Rouge,Chicago

                          

 

Preston Jackson 

                                 Bronze Sculptures from the series

                                                       "Fresh from Julianne's Garden"

                                               Reception

                            Saturday October 11th 5pm - 10pm

 

Maison Rouge gallery - 2828 North Clark Street - Century Shopping Centre - Chicago Illinois 60657

P: 773.472.3421

E:  [email protected]      
W: www.maisonrouge.net

   
This  man is fabulous! Pleasevisit this exhibition and support this treasure who is a professor, a supporter of other artists and a genius painter and sculptor. He and his wife will be present at the reception.

"I Shall Create" at the Hyde Park Art Center

"I Shall Create"
with Chicago-based artists Toufic El Rassi, Coya Paz, and Dan S. Wang

Tuesday, October 14, 6:00-8:00 pm
Hyde Park Art Center
5020 South Cornell Avenue
Chicago

From the TimeOut Chicago listing:

Description

AREA Chicago editor Daniel Tucker moderates this panel with Toufic El Rassi, an artist and graphic novelist; Teatro Luna cofounder Coya Paz; and Dan S. Wang, cofounder of Mess Hall. The speakers will discuss their work and the role of the arts in social and political change. Reservations are recommended. For more information, call 312-422-5580 or visit prairie.org/publicsquare.

When: Tue 6pm–8pm              .    

This program is free and open to the public. Reservations are recommended
and can be made online, by e-mail at [email protected], or at 312.422.5580.

Join us this evening to explore the intersection of art and struggle with
three amazing Chicago artists: Toufic El Rassi, Coya Paz, and Dan S. Wang.

In a conversation moderated by Daniel Tucker, editor of AREA Chicago, these artists will discuss their creative work and how to use the arts to
create and imagine a more just world.

Using the graphic novel as his medium, Lebanon-born
Toufic El Rassi chronicles his experience growing up Arab in America with his recently released book Arab in America.

Coya Paz 

co-founder of Teatro Luna (Chicago's all-Latina theater company), believes in making performance that makes people laugh, think and cry all in the same show.

Dan S. Wang is an independent artist and writer who co-founded the experimental cultural space Mess Hall, coordinates HPAC's Talking Points series, and designed the Looking for Democracy postcard.

Daniel Tucker, a Chicago organizer who focuses primarily on urban places and space, writes and lectures about the intersections of art, politics and social movements.

They will also celebrate the "Looking for Democracy Postcard Project" on
display at Hyde Park Art Center, featuring burning questions of the day,
submitted by community members.

This program is co-sponsored by The Public Square, Neighborhood Writing
Alliance, dropping knowledge international, Egan Urban Center at DePaul
University and Hyde Park Art Center. Thank you to the Civic Knowledge
Project for their support in making this program possible.

Boy Breaking Glass
by Gwendolyn Brooks

Whose broken window is a cry of art
(success, that winks aware
as elegance, as a treasonable faith)
is raw: is sonic: is old-eyed première.
Our beautiful flaw and terrible ornament.
Our barbarous and metal little man.

"I shall create! If not a note, a hole.
If not an overture, a desecration."

Full of pepper and light
and Salt and night and cargoes.

"Don't go down the plank
if you see there's no extension.
Each to his grief, each to
his loneliness and fidgety revenge.
Nobody knew where I was and now I am no longer there."

The only sanity is a cup of tea.
The music is in minors.

Each one other
is having different weather.

"It was you, it was you who threw away my name!
And this is everything I have for me."

Who has not Congress, lobster, love, luau,
the Regency Room, the Statue of Liberty,
runs. A sloppy amalgamation.
A mistake.
A cliff.
A hymn, a snare, and an exceeding sun.

Chicago Artists Coalition Art Open and Prompt!

Besides the other events during Chicago Artists Month, the CAC has launched a new magazine called Prompt!

Olga Stefan, executive director of the Chicago Artists Coalition, Prompt editor, Jeremy  Biles and the rest of the staff did a great job addressing some issues on the minds of Chicago and other artists. You can get a free copy when you attend the Art Open at the Merchadise Mart until October 19. I am in an article in the Translations section called "Defining the Black Artist Today" by Dawoud Bey and Patric McCoy.

I am in the Art Open, too. My piece represents the South Side Community Art Center and is on this page.

Artists for Barack Obama: Fundraiser and Fun

Obamathon Salon: A Progressive Fundraiser

This event takes place "Baracktober 12!

And looks like fun while  it serves a great purpose. Click on the above to see details...

ALL proceeds will go to the Barack Obama-Joe Biden Democratic bid for the presidency of the USA.

I love that it is a "progressive" event...
we sure need progressive solutions to the quagmire the United States is in!

(forgive me for stating the obvious!)

Please take a look at the events and go if  you can.

Thanks to Dan Wang.

Chicago Artists Month...Juarez, Dalton and Cousandra

Chicago Artists Month is so fabulous. It is amazing the commitment this city has made to art. My  son was a Gallery 37 kid, working with the renown Calvin  Jones to paint a mural! Kyle Anderson's  drawing is seen below (he's my other son, now taking his first college drawing class; the drawing below was produced a couple of years  ago.)

This is a great city for art and artists.
I am really enjoying posting these shows. The Chicago Artists Month website has more listings, so check it out, too. Did I tell you I am on the Advisory Committee?
I am also excited because I have work going to Liberia tomorrow.  So that makes me an  international artist, right? I have prospects for another international exposure.




Will let you know. (the painting below, left, is going along with one other.)



SUMPIN' COOKIN'

An Exhibition of works by Dalton Brown and Juarez Hawkins

Join Dalton Brown and Juarez Hawkins as they make visual gumbo, throwing their talents and collective experience into the creative pot. Bring your appetites—they’re cooking up food for thought!

Artist’s Reception: October 11, 2008, 6–10 pm
Gallery Talk: October, 17, 2008, 6–10 pm
Closing Reception: November 7, 2008, 6–10 pm

Floyd Atkins’ Underground Studio
2215 S. Michigan Avenue, 2nd Floor   
Chicago, IL

For a sneak peek at the work:
www.myspace.com/juareztheartist
www.geocities.com/juarezhawkins

See more of our work online:
www.artbarge.com
www.daltonbrownart.com
www.artmajeur.com/floydatkins

See our work at the Hyde Park Art Center!
Not Just Another Pretty Face Exhibition
Oct 18, 2008 – Jan 11, 2009
www.hydeparkart.org

Sumpin’Cookin’ and Floyd Atkins’ Underground Studio are part of Chicago Artists Month, the thirteenth annual celebration of Chicago’s vibrant visual art community organized by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and is made possible through the Presenting Sponsorship of 3Arts and the Lead Sponsorship of the Sara Lee Foundation. For more information, call 312/744-6630 or visit www.chicagoartistsmonth.org.

                                                       
ReplyReply All

                                                           
Here is an email from  Cousandra Armstrong about her show:
Try to view this special showing of art at  4556 s. Emerald at Emerald House.
The theme is "A CALL FOR EQUITY", an exhibition showing the inequities of People of Color and the abuses, hunger, unemployment, homelessness, lack  of healthcare, violence,  etc.  It is put on by the women out of the group Creative Artists Association.  Open on Saturdays only.  October 4, 11, 18, and the 25th. from 1 until 5.    For more information call 773 924 3505.

There is beauty all around us,

it provides peace and tranquility .

It is on loan and we must take care of it..........

COUSANDRA

Left above image is "Always"  by Joyce Owens (and is on the way to Liberia.)
Right is Juarez Hawkins "Nappy Headed Manifesto"

Chicago Artists Month Collector's Tour

The Diasporal Rhythms Collectors group opens their individual private spaces for a regular tour of their extensive collections. This group of  people, who are educators, scientists, entrepreneurs, and extraordinary art lovers are committed to supporting Chicago-based LIVING  artists, especially African American artists, but they don't discriminate against other ethnic groups. They are dedicated to supporting artists and have demonstrated their interest in many ways.  Each year they select 5 artists to honor. (I was honored.)  Below are this year's batch of artists whose art you can see if you take the tour! Click on image to enlarge:

Chicago Artists Month...MORE comics: Black Age of Comics

"The Blacker The Hero"group exhibition and lecture by Turtel Onli will open Oct. 10th at the African American Cultural Center at UIC. 5pm to 8pm. 820 South Halsted, ADDAMS HALL. The show will last the entire month and feature a variety of illustrations from the Black Age of Comics Movement. This is part of this year's annual "BLACK AGE XI" event. www.dablackage.blogspot.com.

The works of Ashley A. Woods, Turtel Onli, and many other Black Age greats is in the "Out Of Sequence" exhibition at the Krannert Museum in Champaign-Urbana opening Oct.24th and running until Jan. 4th. It will show a variety of under represented works in the field of sequential art and illustration. Woods along with a few others will travel to Japan in Novemeber representing the show. The entire show will travel to Denver after its current run.

Other artists in the Krannert exhibition:
Artists: Ben Alcantara, Dawud Anyabwile, Ryan Armand, Gus Arriola, Kyle Baker, Alison Bechdel, Dale Beran and David Hellman, Ray Billingsley, Bentley Boyd, Mark Staff Brandl, Nell Brinkley, Dawn Brown, Marjorie Henderson Buell, Elmer Simms Campbell, Stanford Carpenter, Denys Cowan, Jenny Craft, Phonzie Davis, Christa Donner, Colleen Doran, Grace Drayton, Kris Dresen, Edwina Dumm, Brummett Echohawk, Donovan Foote, Shaenon Garrity, Nicholas Gurewitch, Oliver Harrington, Ethel Hays, Shepherd Hendrix, Leilani Hickerson, C. Hill, Raye Horne, Tom Hunt, Phil Jimenez, Ryan Kelly, Keith Knight, Mshindo Kuumba I, Hope Larson, Jenn Manley Lee, Jim Mahfood, Scott McCloud, Dylan Meconis, Dale Messick, Eric Millikin, Tarpe Mills, Andrei Molotiu, Brian Moore, Danica Novgorodoff, Rose O'Neill, Turtel Onli, Jackie Ormes, Ken Patterson, Mikhaela Reid, Trina Robbins, Stan Sakai, Richard Santiago, Melody Shickley, C. Spike Trotman, Ann Telnaes, Hilda Terry, Dann Tincher, Lance Tooks, Tak Toyoshima, Drew Weing, Brian Wood, Masheka Wood, Ashley Woods, Larry Yang, and Lev Yilmaz. 

Chicago Artists Month ROCKS!!!!!

BLACK AGE FOREVER!!!!

(Thanks, Turtel!)

Chicago Artists Month and BEYOND....postings

Artist Wesley Kimler, aka "The Shark," in conjunction with the other members of the Sharkpack, will begin presenting art exhibitions and events on a semi-regular basis within his vast studio space, which will also soon have a radical expansion. Thus it is now officially designated THE SHARKPIT.The first event is an "apero and Vernissage" (to use European words), that is an opening and display of smaller works by the EuroShark Mark Staff Brandl on THURSDAY OCTOBER 16 from 7:30 pm on (see below or here), presented as an addendum to his Krannert Art Museum installation. A preview of Kimler's huge recent paintings will also be visible. Infollowing months a complete exhibition of these works will occur. Stay tuned!

International artist Mark Staff  Brandl, a Chicago  native now living in Zurich, will be showing in Chicago and, downstate, at the University of Illinois. These are great opportunities to see his work inspired by   many ideas including comic books!

Try to fit one of these shows into your jam-packed month, OK?

From Mark:
An invitation, or two. SHARKPIT and KRANNERT ART MUSEUM.

I will be in the US in October and would love to see you — and show you work.

The dates and contact info: 
I will be in Chicago fromMonday October 13^th through morning of Friday October 17^th. There will be an OPENING (vernissage, apero)

THURSDAY OCTOBER 16 from 7:30 – 11:00 pm (or so)

 and a small SHOW of smaller works at the
SHARKPIT
Wesley Kimler's Studio
2046 W. Carroll
Chicago, IL USA 60612ark phone phone: 312 942-9078 

YOU ARE INVITED!

After that, I will be in Champaign, Illinois from Friday October 17^th through the morning of Saturday October 25^th, that day pm I will fly home to Zurich.
I will be installing a very large painting-installation in

KRANNERT ART MUSEUM
500 E. Peabody Dr.
Champaign, IL  61820

 

The opening for that show ("Out of Sequence") will be:

THURSDAY OCTOBER 23 from 6:00 – 8:00 pm
(Wherein I will also give a "gallery conversation")

 

YOU ARE INVITED!

(Please let me know if you want to reach Mark. I have some numbers, etc.)

Check back for more listings... 

(Please  come back for more listings)

 

 

 

Chicago Artists Get Their 15 Minutes! SUBMIT your shows!!!!!

I have been trying to post about Chicago Artists Month since the Sept. 29 kick-off at the Hyde Park Art Center, but the activities have kept me so busy I  have not until now!

I will revert to a real web diary style and post  a few events at a time. Please add yours to the comments! I can  copy your info into new posts. The city has a link that lists all the  activities as well as sponsors WTTW and WFMT.

The opening event was terrific! Dawoud Bey's photography show, that he curated,was still up as well as the Dale Washington show presenting his varied styles of portraiture from line drawing to impressionistic representation through abstract expressionism using every medium you can imagine.

Theastor Gates, ceramic artist and sculptor, performed with a group called the Black Monks of Mississippi. (Click on the link to see the guys...I think one of the monks was passing...) They were phenomenal AND ironic, and could really sing! 

The  food was great,  too! And, of  course, Eva Silverman and Cynthia Quick and the other WONDERFUL and hardworking Department  of Cultural Affairs crew were at their charming best (as always)!

Every October, for the  past  13 years, Chicago's Department of Cultural Affairs promotes artists residing in Chicago. This began through the Chicago Artists' Coalition who held, and still do, The CAC Art Open, a first-come, first-served non-juried art exhibition that has evolved over time to  have curator choices, emerging artists sections, students and professional artists showcased. I am in a new category where I was nominated by an organization, The South Side Community Art Center. Diane Dinkins Carr, her fabulous board and Faheem Majeed, the exec. director are really adding to the brand of this WPA art center!

But the CAC is only the beginning.  (Below is "Woman in Tied Blouse" in the Merchandise Mart at the CAC show)

October is now like Black History Month is for African American  artists. The joke is that every black artist can get a show  in February. Well, every artist I know has a show for October and we are all running around trying to figure out how to get to everything.

So here are my first 3:

October 3,  Griffin Gallery, "Legacies"
October 3, Gallery Guichard, group show.
October 3,  Chicago Artists  Coalition's Art Open

The CAC  launched their new art publication called"Prompt".  My work is featured in an  article, "Defining the Black Artist Today" written as a conversation  between  preeminent Chicago-based photographer Dawoud Bey and president of Diasporal Rhythms, prominent art collector and arts advocate, Patric McCoy .

"Survivor Spirits in Black and White" group is featured in the first issue of "Prompt".

The amazing artist, Preston Jackson will be at Maison Rouge
Maison Rouge Gallery

Reception, Saturday October 11th
5pm - 10pm

2828 North Clark Street

Century Shopping Centre - Chicago Illinois, 60657

P: 773.472.3421 E:

[email protected] W: www.maisonrouge.net

NI'JA Whitson has sent a flier for her exhibition the at  South Side Community Art Center. (please click on either image to enlarge).