The Rebecca Moy Reception at Gallery 180

The Rebecca Moy Exhibition opened this past Friday, at Gallery 180, with a wonderful reception catered by the Culinary school of The Illinois Institute of Art-Chicago. The Moy exhibition consists of eight large-scale canvases, elegantly manipulating the spacial relationships of line, form and color. If you're in Chicago's Loop, this is a "must see" exhibition. The show continues through January 17th.

Gallery 180 is free and open to the public. All works will be 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 Thursday from 8am-8pm; Friday, 8am-5:30pm and Saturday 9am-5pm. Additional information can be found at gallery180.com.

Nancy Rosen ~ More is More

I received a call from Artist, Nancy Rosen last week. We haven't talked in awhile and she wanted to get together. She told me that she had an exhibition up and that she wanted me to see it. And so I did.

The show—of more then 100 paintings—was hung in an unconventional space on West Hubbard. Hung salon style—in a number of rooms—the variety of paintings offers the viewer some insight of Rosen's figurative journey. Covered with patterns and textures, the nontraditional renditions of women—primarily of their relationships with other women—cover almost every wall of the industrial loft space. A well-attended reception was held last month but their is still time to experience the work by appointment. If interested, contact Nancy Rosen through her web site nrosen.com

Rebecca Moy: Visceral Reaction

"Against The Grain", Acrylic on Canvas, 44" x 60"

Gallery 180 of The Illinois Institute of Art-Chicago will be presenting the paintings of Rebecca Moy from November 15 through January 17th with an opening reception on Friday, November 19th from 5:30-7:30... so save the date!

Manipulating the spatial relationship of shape and color, Moy creates an intriguing world with hard-edged abstraction. The works explore the reactions that she—and the viewer—has to variations of color and form relationships. Moy explains:

“I’ve always been fascinated with the reaction of the body and mind to the visceral relationship between color and shapes. …This series of paintings becomes the physical embodiment of this investigation, as it takes place within me. I’m intrigued by the thoughts and feelings evoked by precise orchestrations of color and shape. Layer by layer, these forms create a place to remember, or perhaps a place to forget… to wonder and wander through the times and places we’ve all journeyed; perhaps these are the moments and memories which define us.”

Moy works in an abundant sanctuary—her studio—were massive canvases surround a central workspace. Here, she obsessively applies layer after layer of acrylic, inventing—and reinventing—new meditative imagery, which addresses psychological reaction to line, shape and color. Some of the compositions are presented in quiet color palettes while others seem charged with electric vibrancy... each conveying an individual mood or personality. The paintings seem to explore the color theories of Stanton MacDonald-Wright [1890-1973], which defined specific psychological interpretations of color. Moy takes these color theories a step further by incorporating shape and line into her imagery. These images provide an intriguing sensory experience.

The work of Rebecca Moy will be presented at Gallery 180 of The Illinois Institute of Art-Chicago through January 17. An Opening Reception will take place on Friday, November 19, 5:30-7:30 pm. Gallery 180 is free and open to the public. All works will be 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 Thursday from 8am-8pm; Friday, 8am-5:30pm and Saturday 9am-5pm. Additional information can be found at gallery180.com.

Also, take a moment to drop by Gallery 180 to visit the amazing paintings of Frances Cox through November 11th.

Filter Photo Festival

What a wonderful idea...

With a mission to bring fine art, commercial and documentary photographers together with some of the Midwest's top gallerists, photo editors, educators, and curators, Chicago's Filter Photo Festival will take place this October 6-10th at the Chicago Photography Center. Included in this year's event are workshops, exhibitions and lectures with world-renowned photographers. Also included is a portfolio review segment where photographers have an opportunity to meet face-to-face with educators, photo editors and curators, for feedback. The reviews are scheduled to be held on Saturday, October 9th and Sunday, October 10th from 9 am – 5 pm. Participants can sign up for either 4 or 8, twenty minute reviews to receive candid advice about their work, as well as tips for getting photographs published and exhibited.

On Sunday, October 10th, I will be participating as a reviewer.

The Filter Photo Festival will be held at The Chicago Photography Center, located at 3301 North Lincoln Avenue. Find more information on this event at chicagophoto.org
.

Call for Work: photo'11

Following is a link to the prospectus for the upcoming photo‘11 Exhibition. If you are not working with photography, or using photographic content within your work, please pass this information on to someone who may be interested.

photo‘11 is a National Juried Exhibition of work using photography or photographic content for its creation. The exhibition will run from January 17 through March 3 with an opening reception on Friday, January 17th.

This call for work can include everything from traditional to experimental imagery but all must be original. Each artist may submit up to 3 images for consideration. A $30 entry fee is required. The Illinois Institute of Art-Chicago will present at least one Purchase Award, with the acquired piece being added to the school’s fine art collection. All imagery selected for the exhibition will be included in a printed exhibition catalog.

Submissions must be received by the end of day November 5, 2010.

The Important Part:
Gallery 180 of The Illinois Institute of Art-Chicago is supportive of working artists as well as the community at large. With the intent of promoting individual artists and supporting charitable organizations, Gallery 180 will be donating their portion of the commission split to Heartland Alliance for their Human Rights effort. The exhibition will be highly publicized and multiple sales will be encouraged.

You can download the prospectus from the gallery 180 home page at: gallery180.com

Image, from the Fine Art Collection of The Illinois Institute of Art-Chicago:
Sarah Hadley, "Loss" photograph, 13" x 19"

Frances A. Cox: The Human Side of Botanics

Gallery 180 of The Illinois Institute of Art-Chicago will present the work of Frances A. Cox from September 14 - November 11 with a reception scheduled for Friday, September 17th from 5:30-7:30.

I spent some time with Cox in her studio a few weeks ago—selecting the pieces to be exhibited for this show. The pieces are a collection of oil paintings which introduce the viewer to an abstract-surreal reality where inconspicuous portraiture is composed of plant and still life forms. Cox utilizes these forms to create her own secretly significant visual language. This personal language—comprised of a variety of recognizable components and a vivid color palette—becomes the focus of each canvas as the subtle reference to the human form recedes.

Cox explains, “When I look at plant forms, I view them as botanical singularities having the characteristics of other living things. I transfer to plants, metaphors for human feelings and appearances.”

The work of Frances A. Cox will be presented at Gallery 180 of The Illinois Institute of Art-Chicago through November 11th. An Opening Reception will take place on Friday, September 17, 5:30-7:30 pm. This exhibition is free and open to the public. All 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 Thursday from 8am-8pm; Friday, 8am-5:30pm and Saturday 9am-5pm.

Rebecca Moy: Coming this Fall

I believe that I became acquainted with the work of Rebecca Moy during the preparation of the 2009 Art Against AIDS event. Intrigued by the work during the jury process, I selected Moy’s painting to be included in the Preview Exhibition, which was presented at Gallery 180 of The Illinois Institute of Art-Chicago. While the show was installed, I explored the piece and considered it for my personal collection. Like many collectors, I knew I wanted the piece but I was trying to decide where to place the work within our home. I put off the purchase.

The piece didn’t sell during the Preview Exhibition and it was scheduled to be on live auction at the main event. Both my partner and I decided that the Moy painting would be a refreshing addition to our growing collection. We agreed on the price we would pay and continued on with the evening. Friends and collogues filled the room. Distractions were everywhere and before we realized, the auction of the Moy painting had concluded. We had missed our opportunity.

After the auction, I approached the impeccably dressed Artist to express my interest in her work. I wanted to see more. I did. The work was consistent, intriguing and professional. I scheduled a solo exhibition for the 2010 exhibition season and asked that she stay in contact with me as the show began to solidify.

Well... I met with Rebecca—this past week—in her studio. I was invited into the abundant sanctuary were massive canvases surround a central workspace. Here was where—I imagine—the painter would obsessively apply layer after layer of acrylic, inventing—and reinventing—new meditative imagery. Some of the compositions were presented in quiet palettes while others seem charged with electric vibrancy... each conveying an individual mood or personality. They're amazing.

Above is a detail of one of the paintings in progress. The Rebecca Moy exhibition will be presented at Gallery 180 of The Illinois Institute of Art-Chicago in November. It’s a show that shouldn’t be missed. I’ll keep you posted.