Alan Lerner, a Chicago-based musician, screen printer and conceptual artist who makes sculptural and installation works, has an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. His work deals with personal imagery, war, fashion, and political events that shape and define the individual psyche and mass psychology. He has an upcoming show in May at Art on Armitage, a window gallery in Chicago dedicated to exhibitions and installations that redefine street art.

ArtStyle: When did the “intellectual” component of your work begin to develop in your art?

Alan Lerner (AL): In the 1970s, as an undergrad, I started making drawings of actions I would fantasize about but not necessarily accomplish. Many of these planned actions would involve bad manners and behavior on the group level, leaving behind evidence in the form of dirty suburban interiors as a comment on the sterility and purity of the impossibly neurotic standards of daily life. I worked in ceramics for many years, and also designed and built furniture. These activities helped form my ideas of how objects function as art separate from the functional craft object. At the time I did a stint at security at the MCA and used the library there to help form my early experiences as an artist.

Alan Lerner. An Ocean Of Drink. Acrylic clipboards, paper,
screenprint ink, neoprene, 15’ x 15’.

Read more »

Technorati Tags: musician, screen printer, conceptual artist, street art

Pat Otto. Reclining Head. 2004. Beeswax and oil paint on wood,
height 6.5″ x 9.5″ x 4″.

Patricia Otto’s house in Edgewater is a gallery, a studio space and a home shared with her husband, painter Kristopher Dodd. At the entrance, beneath a large mirror, there is a tray with what looks like bones of a human spine. The walls are filled with small, detailed paintings in decorated old frames. Kimonos made out of paper, fabric and painted canvas, hang on large walls. Resting on shelves are ceramic sculptures of nude figures with horses. Miniature vessels with painted parts of anatomy are scattered around like some relics used in sacred rituals. Three-dimensional encaustic portraits hang on smaller walls.
Read more »

Bradford Hansen-Smith has been an illustrator, jewelry maker, sculptor, filmmaker, author, toy maker, and educator. His website, www.wholemovement.com, focuses on the wonders of geometry through sculptures created from paper plates.

Bradford Hansen-Smith. Extended Spiral (side view). Chicago. 2008.
Folded paper circles. Approx height 12” x 12” x 9”. Each unit is
a circle folded in the same way using diameters from 7″ to 3/4″.
The change in curve is how they fit one into the other. A computer
image was printed on 20 lb paper, then cut into various diameter
circles, folded and joined by tying with thread.

Read more »

Technorati Tags: geometry, sculpture, paper plates

I have been following Dianna Frid’s progression of work for the last 6 six years, and I have to say that her current exhibition is the most exciting to date. The Vertical Shadows is showing at Devening Projects + Editions, with a gallery talk on April 12th at 1 p.m. The exhibition is up until May 7, 2008 and will be available for viewing on Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and by appointment.

Dianna Frid. Untitled #1 (Cloud, Mountain), from the series
The Vertical Shadows. 2007. Cardboard, wood, cloth, plaster,
plastic, paper, acrylic, wax and papier-mache, 5.5’ x 2’ x 2.25’.

Read more »

The Chicago Artists To Watch program is an effort to showcase talented CAC members from communities who have been under-represented in the past. Our goal is to increase awareness of artists from a wide variety of backgrounds and support artists of any age, cultural or ethnic background, at any stage of their careers.

Terry Dixon shows us there’s something more to watch for in an artist than just artistic talent. Born in Washington, D.C., earning a BFA from Atlanta College of Arts, and receiving an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Terry is a traveler of cities and of the mind — always exploring the significance of his surroundings. Here we travel with Terry through his thoughts and over his canvases.

An Interview with Terry Dixon, Chicago Artist To Watch
By Miguel Jimenez

Terry Dixon. Courtesy of the artist.

Read more »

Technorati Tags: Chicago Artists To Watch, Terry Dixon