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: