River North Galleries: Catherine Edelman & Stephen Daiter

This week, my Photography in Chicago class visited two great galleries in the River North District: the Catherine Edelman Gallery and the Stephen Daiter Gallery. We made our first stop at Catherine Edelman's to talk to the gallery's Assistant Director, Juli Lowe. After wandering through the semi-subterranean, white space and absorbing the type of photography and mixed media that Edelman features in her gallery, we asked Juli some questions about the operation of the gallery and the pieces that we saw. The front half of the gallery was dedicated to a series of photos called Double Life that were taken by Kelli Connell, a Chicagoan photographer. She told us that their gallery aspires to feature as many local artists and students as they can. This was also evident in the eastern half of the gallery, where many of the featured artists were from Chicago. But the gallery also features artists from all over the world, such as Roger Ballen who currently resides in Johannesburg, South Africa. Juli informed us that a crucial way for her and the other staff at the gallery to find new artists is by perusing blogs. This method is so important, in fact, that a section of their gallery is dedicated to artists they have found online. She went onto explain that much of how they run their business is by looking through blogs and viral marketing. The Catherine Edelman gallery has their own website, a Twitter, a Facebook, a blog, and email subscription lists. I also found it interesting that the gallery now has an online store, so all the the art in the gallery is available for sale to people who may have not even seen it in person. Below is on of the photos on display now at the Catherine Edelman gallery. It's by Roger Ballen and is titled Dirkie.

Our second stop of the day was across the street at the Stephen Daiter Gallery. As opposed to the Catherine Edelman space, the Stephen Daiter Gallery was on the fourth floor in a space that would not be found by someone unless they knew exactly where they were going. The gallery was also very different from the Catherine Edelman Gallery because the space was darker (filled with blacks and shades of gray, rich woods, and less natural light) and only featured one artist: Alex Webb. The contemporary photographer's work popped in the dim gallery, since his photos were highly reliant on the natural, vivid colors he captures. Although Alex Webb is a contemporary artist, the Stephen Daiter Gallery is also known for their collection of vintage 20th century photos, which was not on display during our visit. But during our time there, we were lucky enough to go behind the scenes a bit and see some of the amazing black and white prints from the 1930s and 40s in their possession. Below are two photos currently being featured as part of the Alex Webb collection at the Stephen Daiter Gallery that I loved.

The Art Institute of Chicago & 'Commercial Art Gallery' by Edward Winkleman

This week we visited two exhibits at the Art Institute of Chicago: Dolls & Masks by Ralph Eugene Meatyard and Avante-Garde in Everyday Life. The two exhibits were wildly different. The first we explored was the Dolls & Masks exhibit that celebrated the life and work of Ralph Eugene Meatyard. Previous to our trip that day, I had never heard of Meatyard or seen any of his work, but I was pleasantly surprised. His monochromatic, mid-century, somewhat sombre portraiture was right down my alley. At first glance, the photos displayed around the subterranean gallery looked very mysterious and all the portraits, as the exhibit title demonstrated, were masked giving the photos a sense of anonymity. As we talked to Liz Segall, the Assistant Curator Director, she told our class the story behind these dark photos and found out that most of the faces behind the masks were members of Meatyard's family. Segall shared with us that the grim mood captured in his photography was purely accidental. The masks, however, were more intentional. Meatyard loved to confuse the identity of his subjects and also preferred to take staged pictures, which the use of dolls and masks combined with blurred or shadowed faces achieved. Below is a photo from Meatyard's Ambrose Bierce series.

We also visited the Avante-Garde in Real Life exhibit in the contemporary wing of the Art Institute. This exhibit was a combination of photographs, photomontage, and photographically illustrated posters and books in addition to other objects, such as dishware, from eastern Europe during the first half of the 20th century. As a whole, I think the collection had an incredible message that art should be integral to everyday life. From the cultural photo collages, the invention of book cover art, and comical altered political photographs on the covers of the AIZ Magazines, the collection reminded our class of the infinite ways that photography can be used to shape the evolution of society. Here is an example of one of the many AIZ Magazines that the Art Institute has on display:

The Universal Survey Museum & 'Our Origins' at the MoCP

This week we read a great introductory piece on the purpose and impact of the museum experience called The Universal Survey Museum by Carol Duncan and Alan Wallach. In the reading, Duncan & Wallach argue that museums often serve as iconic representations of authority. Throughout history, museums have served as both political figures (such as the Roman displays of war trophies) or as more cultural icons of a place (as seen through the architecture of many museums that mirror the tradition of mausoleums and royal temples.) Much of The Universal Survey Museum also addresses the fact that museums, whether people like to admit it or not, have historically brought separation between classes. As Duncan & Wallach state, "the museum helps foster the illusion of a classless society." They then go on to make a valid statement that "there is almost always a contradiction between the ideal visitor as defined by the museum and the actual visitor." Through my interpretation of the the reading, Duncan & Wallach bring forth an interesting argument that although the modern survey museum may not be as "universal" as the title of their piece may lead one to think. Of course, all who want to visit a public museum are more than welcome, but the leisurely time it takes to stroll a museum's hallways and the level of knowledge it takes to fully appreciate the pieces on display are "available only to a narrow elite." With this in mind, it was interesting to look at the class I'm taking as part of my higher education, Photography in Chicago Now, and our course schedule. Much of our time this semester will be dedicated to doing exactly these two things: using our class time to visit museums and educate ourselves. I've created some food for thought that has no correct answer: Are we, the students of Columbia College Chicago, apart of a narrow elite? Are we preparing ourselves to be? Hmmm...

For our first class of the semester we took a (very short) trip to the Museum of Contemporary Photography, which is conveniently located on the Columbia College campus. The museum is currently showing a great exhibit called Our Origins which, as you can probably assume, displays a talented group of artists and their work related to human existence and consciousness. The first collection of photographs we looked at was by Alison Ruttan from her series Four Year War at Gombe. The pictures were inspired by the notes of British primatologist Jane Goodall and her discovery that the lives of chimpanzees often reflect the tendencies we have as humans. So, with this as her inspiration, Ruttan photographed a few people showing the diverse emotions that both man and ape share: anger, hostility, love, and familial comfort. In addition, the clustered way in which the photos are displayed creates a sort of storyboard and helps the viewer to feel immersed in this primal jungle setting.

Although there were three floors to this exhibit, my favorite photographs in Our Origins was located directly across from Ruttan's. From having no previous knowledge of the artist, the two photograms by artist Aspen Mays initially resembled a couple of small Rothko paintings. But upon taking a closer look and reading about the work, Mays' was inspired by NASA’s claim that 1 percent of television static is caused by cosmic radiation left over from the Big Bang. To think about this strange theory and how such a distant pre-historical event could be at all related to the technology that our current culture thrives on was so intriguing to me. But to see this odd cosmic idea translated into two beautiful shades of blue and orange had me completely baffled. The variation of the work at the Our Origins exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary Photography was amazing, but the stories behind each piece was what I enjoyed most.