2014: South Logan Arts Coalition @ Milwaukee Avenue Arts Festival

Above: "Tre" on the North Stage, outside the South Logan Arts Coalition at the Milwaukee Avenue Arts Festival, June 28, 2014.

South Logan Arts Coalition (SLAC)
"Trip Hazard"
June 27-29, 2014
2775 N. Milwaukee Avenue
Milwaukee Avenue Arts Festival (MAAF)
Chicago, IL

Artists: Amanda Brown, Melanie Brown, Stephanie Burke, Stephanie Del Carpio, Simone Chagoya, Helen Maurene Cooper, Diana Gabriel, Jessica Harvey, Stacee Kalmanovsky, Raeleen Kao, Austin Ross Knierim, Gabriel Mejia, Zach Mory, Courtney Prokopas, Kelly Riker, Morgan Sims, Noah Vaughn, Nathan Vernau, Natalie Virafuentes, Bryan Volta, Jenyu Wang, Gwendolyn Zabicki

http://southloganarts.org/

http://milwaukeeavenueartsfestival.org/

Above: South Logan Arts Coalition's "pop-up" gallery space,  inside (vacant) 2775 N. Milwaukee Avenue, June 28, 2014.

June 28, 2014: To the south, Milwaukee Avenue was closed at Logan Boulevard and Kedzie Avenue; to the north, it was closed at Diversey Avenue and Kimball Avenue.  At both points of closure a large stage was erected.  And the roadway between the two stages was given over to vendors of food, drink, and various crafts.

It's a scene is found repeated, with a change only in location, throughout the whole of the Summer.

Distinctively in the case of the Milwaukee Avenue Arts Festival: vacant storefronts too were employed for the purpose of housing exhibitions of fine art.  Of current interest, one such property, formerly a "Warehouse Furniture" showroom, was divided between two local groups--the South Logan Arts Coalition (upper-level) and Comfort Station (lower-level)--from June 27-29, 2014.

Above: The view onto Diversey Avenue from the northern window of (SLAC) 2775 N. Milwaukee Avenue, June 28, 2014.

It's needful to emphasize that 2775 N. Milwaukee Avenue was not a "visually neutral" space; it was not a white cube.  And it's needful to acknowledge that the environment in which artwork is exhibited sometimes affects the experience of its audience.  In fact, it's widely, if not universally, accepted that the placement of a found object in a particular context might amount to the whole of an artist's practice--at which point the distance between the artist and the curator has closed.

Above: Stephanie Burke in the South Logan Arts Coalition's gallery at the Milwaukee Avenue Arts Festival, June 28, 2014.

Stephanie Burke and Noah Vaughn were among the twenty-odd artists included in the exhibition curated by the South Logan Arts Coalition, on the upper-level of 2775 N. Milwaukee Avenue, at the Milwaukee Avenue Arts Festival, in 2014.

Stephanie Burke's three photographic prints (shown above in situ) were drawn from "CANTO," a 2013 solo show at Rational Park gallery in Chicago.  Though such historical knowledge was unavailable to most SLAC/MAAF visitors, Burke's subject matter was readily identifiable: the landscape of the American West stood in vivid contrast to the wall upon which it was hung.

Above: Detail of the third panel, "Part 3 - Sphere 6; Puritan Grey (Jupiter)," 2013, in Stephanie Burke's SLAC/MAAF triptych.

Looking closely at the color swatch held aloft in the foreground of the third panel in Burke's SLAC/MAAF triptych, it too was found to be composed of three chips.  Whether such placement was a matter of concern for either the artist or the curator is doubtful; nevertheless, a sort-of picture-within-a-picture was available to be seen here.  And it was made yet-more interesting when Noah Vaughn's photographic work was considered.

Above: Detail of Noah Vaughn's 2014 SLAC/MAAF triptych, formatted as Burke's 2013 color swatch.

Opposite Burke's pristine exteriors, Noah Vaughn presented prints which detailed corrupted interiors.  So that if Burke first benefited from the contrast of the ground provided by the crumbling property at 2775 N. Milwaukee Avenue--then Vaughn benefited from the contrast provided by Burke's work.  Vaughn was otherwise maybe at risk of being lost for the similarity between the place which he depicted and the venue in which his pictures were hung.

Above: Noah Vaughn in the South Logan Arts Coalition's gallery at the Milwaukee Avenue Arts Festival, June 28, 2014.

Here too the manner of the works' presentation played a role: Burke's pieces were unglazed, and their thick, black frames left them well-defined from the room; Vaughn's pieces, glazed, reflected the bare bulbs overhead, and the thin, white frame was not distinct from the matte or the wall.

By way of both comparison and also contrast, Burke and Vaughn did well together.  And it would have been good to see their works physically brought nearer to one another within the (5000 square foot?) room.  But this wasn't a two-person show, built around square aspect ratios, medium format film, triptychs, mise en abyme, sensitivity to the environment, American decline, or any other such thing--which simply happened to be found within the show which did exist.

Above: The door to 2775 N. Milwaukee Avenue, into which people ran when the rain began to fall.

Above: "Sierra Leone’s Refugee All-Stars" performing on the South Stage at Milwaukee Avenue Arts Festival, June 28, 2014.

Above: "Sierra Leone’s Refugee All-Stars" performing on the South Stage at Milwaukee Avenue Arts Festival, June 28, 2014.

Above: "Sierra Leone’s Refugee All-Stars" performing on the South Stage at Milwaukee Avenue Arts Festival, June 28, 2014.

Above: Dimo's Pizza guy at Milwaukee Avenue Arts Festival, June 28, 2014.

Above: "Tre" on the North Stage, outside the South Logan Arts Coalition at the Milwaukee Avenue Arts Festival, June 28, 2014.

Above:
Image (5) Copyright Stephanie Burke, 2013;
Image (6) Copyright Noah Vaughn, 2014;
Images (1-4 and 7-13) June 28, 2014;
Copyright Paul E. Germanos.