Reviews Robert Walton “Exhuming Johnny” at the Chicago Cultural Center Manisha Anil Rita May 19, 2019 Chicago Cultural CenterRobert Walton The narrative is most compelling when each of the cast members shares a memory or message they would leave for people in their lives from the past. Their bodies are active and hypnotizing in the sequences of traveling back in time as they alternate and repeat their parts.
Reviews Lia Kohl and Katinka Kleijn, “Water On The Bridge” at the Eckhart Park Pool Iris Bernblum May 12, 2019 Chicago Park DistrictKatinka KleijnLia Kohl They gather the instruments, struggling to wrap their bodies around them, use them as floating devices. More often than not the cellos do not cooperate.
Reviews AJ McClenon, “Led Zeppelin Can’t Steal My Daddy’s Black” performed at Links Hall Holly Lee Warren April 21, 2019 Links HallAJ McClenonJamillah HinsonSimone SimoneXris Espinoza There is no southern mystique.
Reviews “not to scale” at Heaven Gallery Gareth Kaye October 14, 2018 Heaven GalleryMatt BrettShir Ende The user of these strange shapes and shelters becomes aware of a multiplicity of potential functions and experiences contained within the structure that goes far beyond the depths of the image/thing’s surface. In this sense, the mutual interdependence of both architecture/object and the human body/object establish an actual intimacy by not privileging ease of use, but rather the action of use.
Interviews Residing at F4F: An Interview with Jared Brown and Amina Ross Max Guy September 23, 2018 Femme 4 FemmeAmina RossJared Brown So how do I subvert these skills and aesthetics to really genuinely open up my space to people who live near me, to people who live beyond me? That was the intentional thing about wanting to make sure that everyone who was or is in residence is also a native Chicagoan. Just to be like, OK, that is one thing covered.
Reviews Santina Amato “Monster” at Heaven Gallery Janet Cheung July 7, 2018 Heaven GallerySantina Amato When the dough was ready, she broke it into balls and stuffed one after another into the small vessels––as if injecting a fertilized egg into a womb. This anomalous conception beckoned chaos.
Reviews Emily Jones “Sand Dollar Sea Biscuit” at Prairie Micah Schippa April 11, 2018 PrairieEmily Jones At any given moment, at any given scale, Jones’ work skateboards back and forth (or perhaps tendrils out like a cephalopod) between organism, population, community, ecosystem, biosphere, almanac, or even dramaturgy.
Reviews Exhibition as Dramaturgy: “Falling for You” at Triumph Brit Barton March 19, 2018 TriumphCatherine SullivanChristalena HughmanickJoel ParsonsMichaela Murphy At center stage was veteran artist Catherine Sullivan who arranged a slew of theatrical props. Decipherable among them were: wooden handles, brushes, marching drums, a wooden spoon—splayed and organized, ready to be picked up as part of the performance.
Reviews Isabelle Frances McGuire “I’m a Cliche” at Prairie B. Ingrid Olson February 26, 2018 PrairieIsabelle Frances McGuire In its imbrication of food, imagery, text, and sound, the experience of the exhibition elevates common rituals surrounding food, albeit in an absurdist fashion.
Reviews “Ritual”: The 2nd Floor Rear Festival, Part 1 Brit Barton February 21, 2017 2nd Floor RearHumeTritriangleAnnie KielmanFontaine CapelJCSpaceRadioJosh PattersonThe Trickster Quartet Still, more troublingly some of the performers played directly to the camera, seemingly valuing the photography or filmmaking over the live audience. Having “good” documentation is par for the course in work based in time and space. But, does that “good” documentation have to happen concurrently with a present audience?
Reviews Brain Frame: Performative Comix Reading Bill Bacarella October 19, 2012 Brain FrameBrad RohloffCarter LodwickLyra HillMarissa DeitzNicholas O'Brien The real-life protagonists played themselves.