Nancy Charak studied photography and design at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and painting and drawing at Northern Illinois University, where she received her MFA in 1979. Her work has been shown in several significant juried exhibitions, including the Chicago and Vicinity Show at the Art Institute of Chicago and the Davidson National Print and Drawing Competition in NC. She was awarded a purchase prize from the Chattahoochee Valley Art Association in GA. Charak’s work has also been represented by several galleries, including Van Straaten and Bernal in Chicago and Genesis in New York.

She recently juried the Drawing on Experience show at Woman Made Gallery, 685 North Milwaukee Avenue, Chicago. The exhibition is June 27 through July 24, 2008, with an opening reception on June 27th from 6 to 9 p.m.

Nancy Charak. Field No. 1077. 2007. Oil, pencil on linen canvas,
height 30″ x 40″.

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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'.

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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.
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New Work. Courtesy of Aviva Alter. Photo: Darrell Roberts.

Aviva Alter, 53 years young, is currently exhibiting in Soft Life at the Hyde Park Art Center. She recently created pieces for the Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef Project, which was on display at the Chicago Cultural Center last fall. Working in the fiber arts steadfastly for the last 3 years, Atler grew up in Waukegan but has lived in Chicago proper for the last 36 years, where she spent many years working with clay. She has upcoming shows featuring her textile art in Los Angeles, London, and New York.
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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.

CAC sat down with February’s “Chicago Artist To Watch,” Stephanie Graham, to learn about this artist’s fresh eyes through a conversation about her photography and relationship with the city.

An Interview with Stephanie Graham, Chicago Artist to Watch
By Miguel Jimenez

Self Portrait. Courtesy of Stephanie Graham.

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