Deanna Krueger ~ Fields

"Fields", the Deanna Krueger exhibition at Gallery 180 of The Illinois Institute of Art-Chicago will be installed tomorrow. The exhibition presents powerful mixed media forms created from recycled medical diagnostic film layered with monotypes. The film is torn, repositioned, and then stapled together to create various multi-faceted surfaces. The semi-reflective surfaces create a mesmerizing, gem-like quality. Krueger's given titles hint at the conceptual nuances, which imply humanity's collective search for meaning.

Drop by Gallery 180 to experience this exhibition Monday through Friday from 9am to 6pm and Saturday 9am to 5pm. A catered reception will be held on Friday, April 23rd from 5:30-7:30. The reception is open to the general public and all works are available for purchase. Gallery 180 of The Illinois Institute of Art-Chicago is located at 180 N. Wabash—at the corner of Lake and Wabash—in Chicago's Loop. The Krueger exhibition runs through June 3rd.

Additional work by Deanna Krueger may be seen at: deannakrueger.com

Poroshina Closes April 15th

On April 15 the Alina Poroshina exhibition at Gallery 180 of the Illinois Institute of Art-Chicago will conclude. This series of oil paintings symbolically explores the passions, desires, insecurities, aspirations and inspirations of woman. Typically inspired by historic and mythic events, poetic and often painful, the paintings examine the impact and reactions to sudden change, loss or separation. Born in Moscow and currently painting in New York City—Poroshina was a refugee who moved to Lancing Michigan when she was ten years old. She currently lives in Brooklyn where she is working on a new series of paintings motivated by historic and contemporary incidents of genocide.

If you're in Chicago and have the opportunity to visit the exhibition, it will be worth your while. Gallery 180 of The Illinois Institute of Art-Chicago is located at 180 N. Wabash—at the corner of Lake and Wabash—in Chicago's Loop. The gallery is opened Monday-Friday, 9am-6pm and Saturday, 9am-5pm. All works are available for purchase. The exhibition is on view until April 15, 2010.

Glistening "Fields" ~ New work by Deanna Krueger

Save the date... Friday, April 23rd, 5:30-7:30pm

In just a few weeks, "Fields" by Deanna Krueger will open at Gallery 180 of The Illinois Institute of Art-Chicago. Krueger produces powerful mixed media forms created from recycled medical diagnostic film layered with monotypes. The film is torn, repositioned, and then stapled together to create multi-faceted surfaces. These semi-reflective surfaces create a mesmerizing, gem-like appearance.

A loose and contemporary interpretation of the Color Field Paintings of the fifties and sixties, appropriately, Krueger draws upon the word “Fields” as a jumping off point for this particular body of work. The various meanings of the word can evoke actual, theoretical and—of course—technological implications. The latter reference speaks to the collection of data, which reflects back to Krueger’s intriguing choice of discarded medical film as creative material. Krueger offers insight of her creations with each given title—many referring to elements within science and technology with secondary implications to humanity’s search for understanding and purpose. Krueger explains:

"I am interested in humanity's collective search for meaning in the absurdity that is this life.” “…Serving as a marker of this time of transition, the materials speak to the recent evolution of information storage. When virtual documents replace paper, the lowly staple will become an artifact of an earlier information age. Modes of diagnostic imagery are shifting as well: X-Rays and MRI scans are increasingly being recorded solely in the digital realm."

Mocking obsolescence and questioning the purpose of life and death, the glistening imagery offers memorizing surfaces on which to focus, meditate and contemplate. The work of Deanna Krueger will be presented at Gallery 180 of The Illinois Institute of Art-Chicago through June 3rd. This exhibition is free and open to the public. Works are available for purchase. Gallery 180 is located at 180 N. Wabash—at the corner of Lake and Wabash—in Chicago’s Loop. The gallery is open Monday through Friday 9-6 and Saturday 9-5.

Image: Deanna Krueger, "Sencha" - Detail, mixed media, 63"x 63", 2010

Matisse: Radical Invention

The Matisse Exhibition, at The Art Institute of Chicago, will open to the public this Saturday. The exhibition previewed today for members. To be clear, it’s a wonderful exhibition.

The show titled “Matisse: Radical Invention”, covers the work he created during the five years between 1913 and 1917. From the Institute’s web site, the exhibition “…examines what is without question the most innovative, momentous, and yet little-studied time in the artist’s long career. Nearly 120 of his most ambitious and experimental paintings, sculptures, drawings, and prints from the period are on view.”

It continues…

“Rigorously purged of descriptive detail and sharply composed, the works Matisse produced between late 1913 and 1917 are among his most demanding, experimental, and enigmatic. While these works have typically been seen as unrelated responses to the influences of Cubism and World War I, this exhibition illustrates the deep connections between them and their critical role in an ambitious, cohesive project of developing what Matisse called “the methods of modern construction”—a process in which the act of creation itself was the main focus.

Unlike his earlier art, which was characterized by rich color and arabesque line, these new paintings, sculptures, prints, and drawings are often rigorously abstracted, heavily reworked, and dominated by black and gray. Canvases typically show a multitude of paint layers and a nearly sculptural approach to scraping and incising; sculptures display a remarkable emphasis on geometry and structure; prints reflect and reinform the incising and scraping that the artist devised for his paintings; and drawings are frequently composed of a network of erasures and stumping, and elegant, spare line.”

Truly a beautiful exhibition, the work is presented in a series of open and very manageable rooms. Stephanie D’Alessandro, Gary C. and Frances Comer, Curator of Modern Art at the Art Institute of Chicago, and John Elderfield, Chief Curator Emeritus of Painting and Sculpture at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, curated the show.

Take the time to see this exhibition. It’s quite amazing. The show continues through June 20th.

Roland Kulla ~ "Urban Patterns" acrylic on canvas

This past weekend, I went to New York to attend the opening reception of a painting exhibition by Chicago Artist, Roland Kulla. A long time friend, I've watched Kulla’s imagery evolve from simple graphic elements to obsessively complex patterned structures. For more then a decade, his passion has been the steel structure of bridges. He has found inspiration in the bridges of Boston, Pittsburgh, Chicago, and New York—creating bodies of work on each subject. This current body of work, titled “Urban Patterns,” is Kulla’s continued exploration of the built environment. The works idealize and celebrate society’s structural accomplishments. Kulla is obsessively passionate of “the monumentality of the forms and the creativity necessary for their existence”.

Roland Kulla’s exhibition will run through April 17th and may be seen at the George Billis Gallery, 555 West 25th Street, New York. If you are unable to see the exhibition in person, you can review the work at: georgebillis.com. Older works can be seen at: rolandkulla.com… Enjoy!


Above: Kulla discusses his work with a patron.

Jon W. Balke... In the Absence of Color

I work downtown in Chicago’s Loop, just steps away from Millennium Park, The Art Institute of Chicago, and The Chicago Cultural Center. Occasionally before classes—or when I just want to clear my head—I’ll walk over the Cultural Center and explore the latest exhibit. Today was one of those days.

The Cultural Center usually presents a number of wonderful exhibitions. One of the exhibitions—currently on exhibit—is a show of brilliantly rich black & white photographs which can be found in the Renaissance Court Gallery. The show titled “In the Absence of Color”, is the work of the self-taught photographer, Jon W. Balke. Balke creates environmental images with a large format camera and develops the prints in his darkroom using the traditional silver gelatin process. Balke’s black & white prints capture the natural world with amazing lighting and force the viewer to explore the elements of texture, line, surface, and pattern. The above image, "Peeling Paint" is one of the more abstract images in the exhibition. Many of the pieces are direct nature studies.


From the materials that I read while in the gallery, Balke studied darkroom techniques with Ansel Adams & John Sexton, and photographic composition with Willard Clay. If you have an opportunity to visit this show, you will not be disappointed. The imagery is really quite wonderful. The show continues through March 21st. The Chicago Cultural Center is located at 78 E. Washington Street in Chicago. You can also review Balke’s work on line at: balkephotography.com

...Enjoy.

The Poroshina Reception

Tonight's Alina Poroshina reception at Gallery 180 of The Illinois Institute of Art-Chicago was well attended. Poroshina [not pictured] flew in from New York to attend the event.

Born in Moscow, Poroshina moved—with her family—to Lansing, Michigan as a refugee at the age of ten. As her life continued, she earned BFA in Painting, with a minor in Illustration, from Kendall College of Art and Design of Ferris State University. She continued her education and in 2007 earned an MFA in Studio Art, attending Kendall's graduate program on a merit scholarship.

In describing her paintings, Poroshina explains:

“The hidden symbolism—found in my paintings—creates a multi-lingual narrative that is interpreted in accordance with the unique cultures of the viewers. Seemingly different, all my paintings reflect my internal struggle, my passions, and the painful analysis of the fears and hopes of my generation.”

The Alina Poroshina exhibition continues through April 15th at Gallery 180 of The Illinois Institute of Art-Chicago. The exhibited works are available for purchase. Gallery 180 is located at 180 N. Wabash—at the corner of Lake and Wabash—in Chicago's Loop.