2015: Christopher Ottinger @ Bert Green Fine Art

Above: Christopher Ottinger's "If you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency, and vibration," 2014-2015, wood, enamel, plasma ball, lab stands, rubber, sound, electronic components, on view January 17 - February 28, 2015, at Bert Green Fine Art, Suite 620, 8 S. Michigan Avenue, Chicago, IL.

Christopher Ottinger
"Magnificence of the 3, 6 and 9"
January 17 - February 28, 2015
Bert Green Fine Art
Suite 620
8 S. Michigan Avenue
Chicago, IL

http://www.bgfa.us/

http://christopherottinger.com/

"Christopher Ottinger works with electricity as his medium. This installation is conceptually inspired by the work of Nikola Tesla, specifically his ideas about wireless power transmission. The [BGFA] project space will be populated with several works which affect one another as well as in combination with an audience. These are intended to be interactive; viewers are encouraged to move parts around and touch things which affect the operation of the flows of electricity and sound."

Quotation above from: http://www.bgfa.us/artists/ottinger/index.html

Above: A detail of Christopher Ottinger's "There is something within me that might be illusion," 2014-2015, wood, enamel, lab stands, glass, copper, video, electronic components, on view January 17 - February 28, 2015, at Bert Green Fine Art, Suite 620, 8 S. Michigan Avenue, Chicago, IL.

Above: An overview of Christopher Ottinger's "There is something within me that might be illusion," 2014-2015, wood, enamel, lab stands, glass, copper, video, electronic components, on view January 17 - February 28, 2015, at Bert Green Fine Art, Suite 620, 8 S. Michigan Avenue, Chicago, IL.

Above:
Images (1-3) January 23, 2015;
Copyright Paul E. Germanos

2015: Ryan Duggan @ Rational Park

Above: Ryan Duggan standing before his artwork within "Discipline & Drunk Animals," during the show's opening reception on January 23, 2015, at Rational Park, 2557 W. North Avenue, Chicago, IL.

Ryan Duggan
"Discipline & Drunk Animals"
52 Prints / 52 Weeks
Hosted by Johnny Sampson
Rational Park
2557 W. North Avenue
Chicago, IL

http://www.rational-park.com/

http://www.ryanduggan.com/

"The year-long 'Print of the Week' series is coming to an end! The last print (POTW #52) will make its debut at this opening on Friday, January 23rd, 2015. All 52 prints from the series will be on display. Remaining stock of the prints will be for sale as well a small number of framed artist proofs for posters that have sold out. It's been a crazy year, come have a beer and see what I've been doing..."

Quotation above from: https://www.facebook.com/events/646983575407750/

Above: "POTW #52" 2015, 16x20 inches, hand-printed ink on paper, edition of 15, a self-portrait, and the final object in Duggan's year-long print-a-week project.

Above: Duggan's self-portrait affixed to Rational Park's storefront window, found during the show's opening reception on January 23, 2015, at 2557 W. North Avenue, Chicago, IL.

See related post:

http://chicagoartworld.blogspot.com/2014/02/2008-ryan-duggan-people-projects.html

Above:
Images (1 & 3) January 23, 2015;
Copyright Paul E. Germanos
Image (2) Copyright Ryan Duggan, reproduced here for commentary, criticism, and archival purposes only.

2015: Traci Fowler @ Hairpin Arts Center

Above: Traci Fowler's "Winter Wear for Warm Weather Plants" 2014, yarn and plants, within the opening of "Crystal Palaces in Cockaigne," January 24, 2015, at Hairpin Arts Center, 2810 N. Milwaukee Avenue, Chicago, IL.

"Crystal Palaces in Cockaigne"
Ursula Andreeff, John Bannon, George Berlin, Traci Fowler, Tucker Hagge, Cindy Hinant, Brandon Howe, CJ Hungerman, Taehoon Kim, George Larson, Charlie Megna, Selden Paterson, Jovencio de la Paz, Jack Ryan, Luis Sahagun, Josh Samuels, Thorsten Sahlin, and The Utopia School
January 24-31, 2015
Hairpin Arts Center
2810 N. Milwaukee Avenue
Chicago, IL

http://hairpinartscenter.org/

"Lion VS Gorilla, in partnership with the Hairpin Arts Center, is proud to announce the opening of the group show for 'Crystal Palaces in Cockaigne,' an art show and mini-exposition on utopias. In the spirit of the medieval myth of Cockaigne, which imagines an ideal land of endless ease, luxury, health, and hedonistic pleasure, this show features work by established and emerging artists on idiosyncratic, futuristic, transhuman, and personal visions of utopias."

Quotation above from: http://hairpinartscenter.org/events/event/lion-vs-gorilla-presents-crystal-palaces-cockaigne/

Above: Traci Fowler's "Winter Wear for Warm Weather Plants" 2014, yarn and plants, within the opening of "Crystal Palaces in Cockaigne," January 24, 2015, at Hairpin Arts Center, 2810 N. Milwaukee Avenue, Chicago, IL.

Above: Traci Fowler's "Winter Wear for Warm Weather Plants" 2014, yarn and plants, within the opening of "Crystal Palaces in Cockaigne," January 24, 2015, at Hairpin Arts Center, 2810 N. Milwaukee Avenue, Chicago, IL.

Above: Traci Fowler's "Winter Wear for Warm Weather Plants" 2014, yarn and plants, within the opening of "Crystal Palaces in Cockaigne," January 24, 2015, at Hairpin Arts Center, 2810 N. Milwaukee Avenue, Chicago, IL.

Above: Jovencio de la Paz standing before his artwork, "Long Song (for Jimmy Scott)" 2014, indigo on cotton, batik, during the opening reception for "Crystal Palaces in Cockaigne," January 24, 2015, at Hairpin Arts Center, 2810 N. Milwaukee Avenue, Chicago, IL.

Above: Tucker Hagge in performance during the opening reception for "Crystal Palaces in Cockaigne," January 24, 2015, at Hairpin Arts Center, 2810 N. Milwaukee Avenue, Chicago, IL.

Above: The view of the six-corners (Milwaukee Avenue, Diversey Avenue, and Kimball Avenue) intersection as available from the second floor window of the Hairpin Arts Center, 2810 N. Milwaukee Avenue, Chicago, IL, during the opening reception for "Crystal Palaces in Cockaigne," on January 24, 2015.

Above:
Images (1-7) January 24, 2015;
Copyright Paul E. Germanos.

2015: All In @ Riverside Arts Center

Above: Magalie Guerin standing before her paintings, "Untitled (hat-red room)" 2014, oil on canvas, 16x24 inches, at left, and "Untitled (hat-lingerie)" 2014, oil on canvas, 20x16 inches, at right, during the opening reception for "All In" at Riverside Arts Center on January 25, 2015.

"All In"
Diana Gabriel, Magalie Guerin, Alexander Herzog, John Phillips, Melody Saraniti, Scott Stack, Christopher Smith
Curated by Karen Azarnia
January 25 – February 21, 2015
Riverside Arts Center
32 E. Quincy Street
Riverside, IL

http://www.riversideartscenter.com/

"The Riverside Arts Center is pleased to present 'All In,' a group exhibition featuring artists who share a love for painting and a reverence for abstraction. With an insistence on the haptic qualities of the hand-made object, the work included in this exhibition ranges from the imperfections of the loose gesture to the precision of hard-edge abstraction. Throughout all, the fundamental elements of line and shape present an entry point that strikes a balance between intellectual and emotional intelligence. Working within a set range of parameters, ranging from conceptual, to process-based or the performative action of mark and gesture, each artist commits themselves to fully mine and explore a particular avenue of formal inquiry. With rigorous practices, in which nuanced variations function to generate richly complex iterations, the insistence on the basic use of line and shape creates provocative visual relationships and a shared lyricism. The simplicity of these basic formal elements can be deceptive; there is risk and the danger of failure. The greater the risk, the greater the reward. - Karen Azarnia"

Quotation above from: http://www.thevisualist.org/2015/01/all-in/

Above: Chris Smith standing before his painting, "Untitled IM32" 2014, acrylic, oil, charcoal on panel, 40x36 inches, during the opening reception for "All In" at Riverside Arts Center on January 25, 2015.

Above: Diana Gabriel standing before her painting, "Shifted" 2015, acrylic on panel, 16x16 inches, during the opening reception for "All In" at Riverside Arts Center on January 25, 2015.

Above: Scott Stack standing before his painting, "Untitled" 2013, oil on canvas, 78x66 inches, during the opening reception for "All In" at Riverside Arts Center on January 25, 2015.

Above: Melody Saraniti standing before her piece, "Hexylene,", acrylic on wood, 44x14 inches, during the opening reception for "All In" at Riverside Arts Center on January 25, 2015.

Above: Kim Piotrowski, Board of Directors' President, at left, and Karen Azarnia, Director of Exhibitions, at right, standing before a painting by John Phillips, "Untitled" 2014, acrylic on canvas, 77x64 inches, during the opening reception for "All In" at Riverside Arts Center on January 25, 2015.

Above: Alexander Herzog's "Graft 1" 2015, oil on LDF, 43x43 inches, at the opening reception for "All In" at Riverside Arts Center on January 25, 2015.

Above:
Images (1-6) January 25, 2015;
Copyright Paul E. Germanos.
Image (7) Alexander Herzog.

2015: Michael Kaysen @ 65GRAND

Above: Michael Kaysen standing before his ceramic installation, "Look Long, Look in Vain," in 65GRAND gallery, at 1369 W. Grand Avenue, Chicago, IL, during the show's opening reception on January 23, 2015.

Michael Kaysen
"Look Long, Look in Vain"
January 23 - February 21, 2015
65GRAND
1369 W. Grand Avenue
Chicago, IL

http://65grand.com/

http://gallerysidecar.com/

"65GRAND is pleased to present 'Look Long, Look in Vain,' Michael Kaysen's first exhibition with the gallery. On view is a selection of vessels from Kaysen's ongoing investigation of a specific form. This bottle form is something the artist goes back to over and over again. It is a starting point, a jumping off point. Most simply it is the idea of a bulbous body with an almost closed off opening. The form comes from Gertrud & Otto Natzler, Austrian potters who emigrated to California and who helped raise ceramics to the status of fine art.

'When I was younger I saw this bottle form the Natzler's played with. It intrigued me. It's a difficult form. It's visually simple but it's deceptive. It's difficult to execute and it allows you this endless variation,' notes Kaysen. The artist's approach to glazing is in direct contrast to the regularity of the form. 'I visually try to cut across the form. There isn't a lot of asymmetry in patterning, generally. Most of the surface treatment is usually to accentuate the form,' Kaysen goes against it. 'I think of the glazing as bisecting. I also try to do this up and over the piece. This is where the idea of 'cutting across' the piece comes in.' He doesn't use patterns, but the way Kaysen glazes his pieces, you are led around them visually. It puts an extra level of importance on the fact that what we are looking at is not flat. 'You can't look at one side and get it. You have to deal with it as a thing in the round.' The artist explains that his interest in the bottle form extends, 'to the fact that it contains space. It carves out a form in space. It's not something you put things in. What does it do? It holds space.'

Michael Kaysen lives and works in Hammond, IN and teaches ceramics at Calumet College of Saint Joseph. He received his BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago."

Quotation above from: http://65grand.com/kaysen_release.php

Above: Erik Wenzel, left, and Vincent Uribe, right, candid during the opening reception for Michael Kaysen's "Look Long, Look in Vain," in 65GRAND gallery, at 1369 W. Grand Avenue, Chicago, IL, on January 23, 2015.

Above:
Images (1-7) January 23, 2015;
Copyright Paul E. Germanos.

See related post which includes documentation of the artist at work, firing and glazing, in his Hammond, IN, studio: http://chicagoartworld.blogspot.com/2014/04/2014-clare-britt-ccsj-sidecar-gallery.html