2010 Artopolis

There seem to be two reasons why something makes it into the contemporary end of this multi-gallery show. Either it looks good, or it looks weird. And this year, there seemed to be more good stuff than in years previous. Even if two of my favorite galleries from the past, Marlboro and Arcadia, were both absent. Has the artworld taken a turn toward the conservative?

Wayne Thiebaud (b. 1920) It's hard to believe this painting was made this year. May we all be so vigorous at the age of 90 Jan De Vliegher Tourists and pidgeons can be found all over the world. But where else could this be other than Piazza San Marco? The artist must have been looking out the window of the Doge's Palace. But I would have been looking at the Veronese and Titian Thelma Paddock Hope (1898-1991) Port of Chicago, 1940 Charles Sheeler (1883-1965),Winter Landscape, 1928 There was a big Sheeler show at the Art Institute 4 years ago, but nothing like this was included. John Santoro I first saw this Chicago artist last year Robert Chaillout (1913-2006) "Honesty" I can't help but imagine finding this one in a narrow hallway in the immaculate apartment of a lady I would like to visit. Richard Garbe (1876-1957) This British sculptor is best known for his architectural pieces. He served a taste that was a little too effete for my own, but I'd certainly like to have this figure in the garden. Richard Norton still hasn't sold this Hovsep Pushman, and I hope he never does if he continues to bring it to the Antique Fair Peggy Bacon (1895-1987) Best known as a witty, fashionable cartoonist, here's how she pictures the life of an artist. (this drawing was in a box, rather than up on the wall, so I had a hard time shooting it) Noel Martin (1922-2009) Here's my last post about this typographer. Don't these shapes remind you of type faces? Chuck Walker This was the only exhibit that caught my attention on the 7th Floor, and since that area, called the "Next" exhibition, was dedicated to emerging artists and galleries, I had figured that this artist was in his twenties. Wrong! He's my age, and it just goes to show that there is an ageless interest in imagining low rent scenes with zoftic young women. As the artist says in this interview " I had no interest in “cartoon” based styles. I was always wondering how I could get weight and presence and the pungency of the flesh in there somehow." Which is a very rare quality nowadays, and exactly why I find him so interesting. Plus -- he really pays attention to the space behind the figure, which separates him from neo-academic drawing. Every year, there's a gallery that brings some more Manzu to Chicago. And thank God for them! Man Ray (1890-1976) I'm not especially devoted to the Paris avant garde scene of the early 20th C., but Emmanuel Radnitzky was clearly a talented fellow. Don't know the name of this contemporary sculptor But I like what he does (his name is Juan Martinez Lax) John Talleur (1925-2001) Here's another Chicago artist. It looks like he started with Surrealism, and ended up with the more clean, abstract and pleasant style appropriate for universities where he taught. Johann Berthelsen (1883-1972) (Park Avenue looking south from 52nd St.) This would be way too sentimental except that it's a sentiment that I share, as it reminds me of late Decembers in New York, out shopping with grandma, about 50 years ago Harry Vincent (1864-1931) ("The Harbor Bringing home the Catch") I get the feeling that this guy had a hard time disconnecting from his paintings Gideon Bok (b. 1966) Night, 2010 Once again, I love images of cluttered rooms and savor the exhaustion Evol O.K. it's as gimmicky as his name. But he really is good, and I love paintings of the urban wasteland George Gardner Symons (1861-1930) Yet another Chicago painter, though he left in 1903 and ended up in Brooklyn. It's interesting to compare him with John Santoro, shown above. Despite their similarities, they seem separated by at least 80 years of history. A different kind of tension. Francis Chapin (1899-1965) A fun cartoon. The cute red head seems so much more modern than the painting she is copying. Eugene Montgomery (1905-2001) What a good painting by this Chicago artist whose legacy as a portaitist and muralist has not yet reached the internet. The woman pictured is his wife. Charles Demuth (1883-1935) Misty Morning, 1915 A delicious little piece that could almost be the glaze on a Chinese pot. Copeland Burg (1889-1961) What a fun story! Copeland Burg was a crime reporter who started dabbling in art, attacked Mrs. Logan's "Sanity in Art" screed, and was told by his boss to "Stick to rape and murder" And his father was a circuit judge who was lynched by ranchers in Montana? No wonder his life was so confusing, and eventually, he quit his day job at the newspaper, and just spent his life painting. Not all of his pieces are quite as minimalist as the one shown above Charles Hoffbauer (1875-1957) "Country Club, Pittsburgh", 1910 A French artist who came to America to glorify our good life, and our wars . Charles Harold Davis (1856-1933) Carl Schmitz (1900-1967) Dancer Not an especially famous sculptor, but a familiar name to me since he was my father's faculty advisor when he got an M.F.A. at Michgan State in the late forties. My father admired his technical knowledge, but not his sculpture. So this piece makes an interesting comparison with the "Dancer" made by his other teacher, Milton Horn: (note: I've never seen a Milton Horn statue in any of the Chicago art or antique fairs) Ben Aronson (b. 1958) With Chicago painter Enrique Santana now making pictures of New York: Enrique Santana it's only fair that Ben Aronson travel west and do a few of Chicago He really does rule the genre of urban scene To quote Donald Kuspit: "The “new” art is no longer “shocking” let alone new, nor is modernity: the dislocations of both have been assimilated and become trite. Art has moved on, and so has modern life, which no longer seems as “heroic” as Baudelaire thought it was. Aronson has brilliantly adapted to these changes rather than nostalgically beating an old drum about the tribulations of modernity and harping back to the old idea of “primitive” in-your-face painting." And a little debate about this artist can be found here Anita Huffington I don't really care for most of what Anita Huffington does. When she goes flamboyant, she loses me. But her simple, female torso feels like the twin sister of the male torsos from the golden age of Greece. Wei Dong I'm not sure the above painting was shown in Chicago But I did see one of Wei Dong's meaty mermaids, concerning which the art blogger, Chris Rywalt had this to say: "Very definitely PAINTINGS. They're skillfully executed in a strong academic style with just the right amount of idiosyncrasies. Wei Dong exhibits all the superficial skills to denote Art, to tell anyone looking at his paintings that these are certainly Art. And the subject matter is just weird and baffling enough to qualify as Contemporary Art -- no stuffy still lifes or pious saints for us! No, we need meaty rotting Chinese mermaids with disturbingly over-rendered sex organs. In short, this show is slick, soulless, and not worth anyone's time." O.K. -- a fair criticism -- and I would also like to see painting that provokes reverence instead of disgust. But if it's really "not worth anyone's time" neither of us would have written about it. Andre Masson (1896-1987) Here's the kind of nightmarish stuff I really can't stand. Except that -- I couldn't stop looking at it, like this creepy statue from the Aztec empire. Jamie Adams Here's a huge painting that was hard to ignore, perhaps because of those "superficial skills that denote art" As a viewer, I feel like John Belushi in "Animal House", peering through the window of a sorority house. Oh no! The ladder is starting to fall backward! Ephraim Rubenstein This is a very large painting, so the open drawer really intrudes into the viewers space. How Baroque! Lots of fun, and perfect for the person who's got way too much stuff in her life. Aron Demetz (b. 1972) There are so many Tyrolean sculptors named "Demetz"! Is Aron related to this family of church woodcarvers that goes back 400 years ? Or to this woodcarving Demetz who's a bit more postmodern? Aron is a more secular than the one, and less contemporary-trendy than the other. Daniel Bodner This artist has been shown in Chicago for 15 years now, but this is the first time I've seen him, perhaps because his gallery specializes in abstraction. Like the other painter of urban scenes, shown above, these are obviously begun with photographs. Here's an interview with a local art blogger. Charles Wilbert White (1918-1979) "Bare chested man", 1935 This African American artist went on to have a career as a muralist and painter of socially relevant themes. But none of his later work seems as exciting as these life sketches that were on display. ********************** BTW, a completely different tour of this show can be seen here: here , here , here , and here It's as if Paul Klein and I had seen two entirely different shows! .. including this gallery of "old masters" They must be authetic, since Paul tells us that "a committee has walked around and removed anything of questionable authenticity." But I can't believe that Monet, Pissarro, and even Bouguereau were capable of such poor work.