A:List Artists

Dettmer, Brian

2008-07-02T21:40:49Z

Artist Information

Born: 1974, Naperville, IL
Currently Resides: Atlanta, GA

Contact Information:

Email: imbtd (at) hotmail (dot) com

Medium(s) Worked in:
Painting
Sculpture
Paper/Book
Mixed-media
Audio/Sound
Installation

Artist CV:
Download file

Teaching Certified: No

Available for Commission: Yes

HPAC Exhibition

2007, Another Story
2005, Just Good Art
2003, Zounds

Artist Statement

Any communication or expression must have a medium to carry it. The medium always exists as a physical object or established system with an implied function that evokes an expectation within the recipient. Our understanding of truth and information is constantly shifting while at the same time we are increasingly saturated with new materials and mediums that communicate faster and louder than their established predecessors.

Old books, records, tapes, maps, and other media frequently fall into a realm that too much of today’s art occupies. Their intended role has decreased or deceased and they often exist simply as symbols of the ideas they represent rather than true conveyers of content. They are reduced to status symbols or decorative devices; often displayed as trophies of intellect or hoarded and stored like nostalgic memories.

When an object’s intended function is fleeting the necessity for a new approach to its form and content arises. By altering preexisting materials and shifting functions, new and unexpected roles of old materials emerge. This is the area I currently operate in. Through meticulous excavation or concise alteration I edit or dissect a communicative object or system such as books, maps, tapes and other media. The medium’s role expands. Its content becomes recontextualized and new meanings or interpretations emerge.

Artist Bio

Dettmer is originally from Chicago, where he studied at Columbia College. He currently lives and works in Atlanta, GA.

Dettmer’s work has been exhibited and collected throughout the United States, Mexico and Europe. In 2007 he had solo shows in New York, Chicago and San Francisco and he is scheduled to have solo shows in Barcelona, New York, and Berlin in 2008. His work has been represented at several international art fairs including Bale Latina (Basel, Switzerland), Pulse (Miami), Flow (Miami), MACO (Mexico City), ARCO (Madrid), ARF Fair (New York), Scope (London, Miami), Art Chicago (Chicago) and the Bridge Art Fair (Miami, Chicago, London). He is currently represented by Kinz, Tillou + Feigen in New York, Packer Schopf in Chicago, MiTO Gallery in Barcelona and Toomey Tourell in San Francisco. He has also exhibited with Art & Idea/Haydee Rovirosa in New York, Unit B Gallery in San Antonio, Hotcakes Gallery in Milwaukee and Romo Gallery in Atlanta among several others. Dettmer’s work has been exhibited in several museums and art centers throughout the country including the International Museum of Surgical Science, the Hyde Park Art Center, South Bend Regional Museum of Art, the Rockford Art Museum and the Illinois State Museums in Chicago and Springfield. His work can be found in several private and public collections throughout the U.S, Latin America, Europe and Asia.

Dettmer’s bibliography includes The Village Voice, The New York Times, Time Out, Chicago Tribune, Toronto Star, Proceso Magazine, The San Francisco Bay Guardian and National Public Radio, among others. His work has also been featured on several book covers and music CDs. In 2007 he was selected as the feature artist by the Illinois Art Education Association and posters of his work were distributed to Illinois grade schools with developed lesson plans for student art projects inspired by his work.

Additional Information

Press:
Artner, Alan, “Art Reviews” Chicago Tribune, April 6, 2007

Balzer, David, “Eye Candy” Eye Weekly, Aug. 30, 2007 (Reproduction)

Bischoff, Dan, “Small space, big talents” New Jersey Star Ledger, May 25, 2007

Faiwell, Sara, “Art of the Ordinary” Daily Herald, February 1, 2007 (Reproductions)

Genocchio, Benjamin, “Tougher Than the Rest” The New York Times, July, 1, 2007

Goddard, Peter, “Summer in the City of Dreams” Toronto Star, August 30, 2007 (Reproduction)

Klein, Paul. Online review Art Letter, February 2, 2007 (Reproduction)

Leaverton, Michael, “Digging Into a Good Book” San Francisco Weekly, July 9, 2007

Loerzal, Robert, “Artistic Surgeries create unusual work” Pioneer Press, February, 2007

Martin, Stacy, “ReMixed Media” San Francisco Bay Guardian, July 25, 2007

Nikolopoulos, Stephanie, “You Are What You Art” www.gothamist.com, January 1, 2007

Rosas, Blanca Gonzalez, “Maco 2007”, Proceso Magazine, May 6, 2007

Schechter, Fran, “Ideal Worlds”, Now Toronto Magazine, Aug. 30, 2007 (Reproduction)

Tyson, Josh, “Spine Surgery” Time Out Chicago, March 29, 2007 (Reproduction)

Varner, Jon, “Cut to the chase” Closerlook.com, May 1, 2007

Whiteside, Jessica, “Brian Dettmer- Remixed Media”, www. artbusiness.com July 5, 2007

Baker, R.C. “Best in Show, Buzz-Worthy” Village Voice, December 21, 2006

“Don’t Miss”, Time Out Chicago, Issue 46, January 12-19, pg.54 (Reproduction)

Cain, Amina. “The Inner Light, Brian Dettmer: Visual Art DJ” CAC Newspaper, June 2006 (Reproductions)

Gilmour, Amy Ritthaler. “Reconstructing the Mundane” Online Review, www.mightbegood.com, March 24, 2006

Gonzalez Valdez, Michelle. “In Review” Online Review, www.glasstire.com, May 6, 2006

Holland, Richard. “Bad at Sports Episode 19” Podcast review -www.badatsports.com, January 8, 2006

Slingerland, Cara. “Hotcakes showcases love’s saucier side” The Marquette Tribune, February 10, 2006

Walworth, Catherine. “Reconstructing the Mundane” Online Review, www.artoridiocy.com, March 22, 2006

Walworth, Catherine. “The Art Capades” San Antonio Current, April 5. 2006 (Reproduction)

Camper, Fred. “Reading is Incidental” Chicago Reader, December 23, 2005, Sec 2, p. 24 (Reproduction)

Catania, Lance. (director, producer) Cup of My Blood, Movie, 2005 (Artwork in Scene)

Klein, Paul. Online review Art Letter, December 9, 2005 (Reproduction)

Sill, Robert. (curator, writer) think small!, Exhibition Catalog, p. 14-15, 26, 64, 2005 (Reproduction)

Snyder, Jason. (editor) New Standards fiction journal anthology, 2005 (Reproductions )

Sundell, Ivy. (editor) Living Artists Crow Woods Publishing, 2005, p. 70-71 (Reproduction)

Biles, Jeremy. (curator) “Vulnerescence”, Exhibition Catalog, p. 1, 2003 (Reproduction)

Dutchover, Yvonne. “Holy Art” f NEWS, April, 2003

Faulkner, Tamara. “Galleries and Museums” Chicago Reader, March 7, 2003, Sec. 2, p. 25 (Reproduction)

Faulkner, Tamara. “Galleries and Museums” Chicago Reader, August 1, 2003, Sec. 2, p. 28 (Reproduction)

Feigley, Amy. “Politics as Usual in Unusual Artistic Gallery” Islam Online.net, Aug. 30, 2003 (Reproduction)

Gehring, Kristin. “Reading paper entrails” Chicago Journal, November 2003, p.1, Sec. 2 (Reproduction)

Iannacci, Elio. “Of Artists and Icons” UR Chicago Culture, April 15, 2003, p.31 (Reproduction)

Iannacci, Elio. “Short & Sweet…” UR Chicago Culture, July 17, 2003, p.19 (Reproduction)

Mast, Audrey Michelle. “Glossing, Politics as Usual”, f NEWS, November, 2003

Weins, Ann. “Vibrant Viewing” The Chicago Collection, Fall/Winter 2003, p. 62. (Reproduction)

Lautman, Victoria. (radio DJ, critic) “848 radio show review”, WBEZ 91.5, May, 2002

Misc.: Miscellaneous

2007 Lecturer- Elgin Community College, Elgin, IL

Workshop Instructor- Pasadena City College, Pasadena, CA

Lecturer- Pasadena City College, Pasadena, CA

Feature Artist- Illinois Art Education Association, Illinois

Lecturer- University of Chicago, Chicago, IL

Lecturer- Harper College, Chicago, IL

2004-07 Lecturer- Columbia College Center for the Book and Paper Arts, Chicago, IL

2003 Juror- Columbia College, Hokin Honor Exhibition, Chicago, IL

2001 First Place- Barking Dogma, Union Street Gallery, Chicago Heights, IL

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Forster, Catherine

2008-07-02T20:00:57Z

Artist Information

Born: Tacoma, WA
Currently Resides: Chicago, IL

Contact Information

Email: cf (at) catforsterl (dot) com
Website: www.catforster.com

Medium(s) Worked in:
Painting
Sculpture
Photography
Film/Video
Mixed-media
Installation
Audio/Sound

Available for Commission: Yes

HPAC Exhibition

2008, They Call Me Theirs

Artist Statement

Puzzles, riddles, word games, quizzical looks, unexplained (and obvious) behaviors, all command my desire to uncover the cause and effect of occurrences. I find nothing more seductive than the process of searching for what underlies a look, a pose, a picture, a headline, or an accidental drop of paint. I choose to work in multiple mediums, because it reflects how I receive and assimilate input. My first format for exploration was through a microscope as a microbiologist. The formal aspects of painting and the ritual of examination inform my work, whether the project presents as photography, painting, video or installation.

Artist Bio

Catherine Forster is a filmmaker, artist, curator and educator. Her artwork explores themes of identity, social development, and the impact of mediation on relationships with others and the environment. She completed her MFA at The School of The Art Institute of Chicago. Catherine Forster exhibits internationally, recent screenings and exhibitions include: Carnegie Art Museum (Oxnard CA), Echo Park Film Center (Los Angeles), South Bend Regional Art Museum, Orange County Contemporary Art Center, Exit Art (NY), Contemporary Art Centre (Vilnius, Lithuania), Hyde Park Art Center (Chicago), Liverpool Biennial The Projection Gallery (United Kingdom), Kasia Kay Art Projects (Chicago), San Diego Women Film Festival, Magmart Film Festival, Casoria International Contemporary Art Museum (Italy), and the Portsmouth Film Festival (United Kingdom). Forster is the founder and director of LiveBox Gallery, a non-for-profit focused on filmic and new media art. Curatorial projects include programs for The Directors Lounge, Berlin; Three Walls, Chicago; Kasia Kay Art Projects, Chicago; and the Around the Coyote Art Festival, Chicago,, and Artropolis Chicago Art Fair Video Lounge.

Press

Time Out Chicago, “Intelligent Design’, 2007

Art Style, “Nature in a Box”, by Anna Joelsdottir, 2007

ARTINFO, Miami Basel review, Robert Ayers, 2006

New City, by Michael Wrokman, editor of bridge magazine, review of “Rachael’s Makeover”, exhibition CrossMediale, Gosia Koscieklak Gallery, Chicago, 2006

New York Arts Magazine, invitational coverage, July/August, 2006

Misc.: ARTropolis New Media Lounge, 2008

Looptopia, ATC Animation Digital Antidote, 2008

Around The Coyote Art Festival, Video Art and New Media Lounge, Chicago, 2007

Directors Lounge 2007, “In Focus”, Berlin, Germany, 2007

Kasia Kay Art Projects, “Notions of Wilderness”, Chicago, 2007

Three Walls, “Place in a Flat World”, Chicago, 2007

LiveBox Gallery at Mindfield, “Space, Place and Interface”, Chicago, 2006

LiveBox at Hejfina, “MOD” 70s, Chicago, IL 2006

The Directors Lounge, “Forming Motion”, with Kim Collmer, Berlin, 2006

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Keller, Rebecca

2008-06-27T17:03:11Z

Artist Information

Born: 1958, Rockford, IL
Currently Resides: Oak Park, IL

Contact Information:

Email: rkelle (at) saic (dot) edu
Phone: (708)358-1460
www.rebeccakeller.com

Medium(s) Worked in:
Painting
Sculpture
Textile
Installation

Teaching Certified: No

Artist CV: Download file

Available for Commission: Yes

Past Commissions:

Glessner House

Tartu Art Museum

WaldKunst, Darmstadt

Represented by:

HPAC Exhibitions

2008, Victory Garden for the New Millenium

Artist Statement

I think of my role as an artist not only a maker of objects, and as a researcher, but also as someone who negotiates private meaning-making and public symbolism. My work focuses on the intersection between art, audience, and the wider society. A refusal to sequester aspects of my identity (woman, mother, citizen) imbues my artistic practice. My work has an underlying ethic: a definite worldview that values engagement with place and history.

My work has an underlying ethic: a definite worldview that values engagement with place and history.

I am drawn to projects with historical, literary or political connotations. Projects include site-specific interventions that interrogate the history and fictions of a particular locale; installations that engage contemporary social issues; and an ongoing series based on inventories of domestic objects.

My work flows from the conviction that meanings and histories buried in these sites and objects can be connected to contemporary social and community issues. In addition, it extends the reach and importance of contemporary art, asserting its ability to engage complex questions, illuminate alternative ways of seeing and connect with audiences beyond galleries and the art community.

I see my work in terms of excavation and infusion. I excavate stories, poetic connections, and political/economic meaning from historic sites or found objects, and infuse art objects and installations with that knowledge. The work traces attitudes from the past to our present circumstances, expanding dialogue about our economic and social arrangements. Through the medium of objects and installations, knowledge migrates from one cultural arena to another. I want to bring critical insight to our relationship to history by focusing on stories that shape our public historic spaces, and sense of civic engagement, especially in combination with urban myth, political realities and social agendas.

Artist Bio

I am an artist, teacher, community member, writer, citizen, and parent, as well as artist. My work has taken me to several countries for exhibitions and projects. I have lived and made artwork in Brazil, Estonia, and Scandinavia.

I worked for many years in museums, including the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago and several others, and am now on the faculty at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Both experiences feed directly into my work with objects with historic sites/museums/objects. I am also deeply involved with my community, doing collaborative and participatory public projects in neighborhoods and schools in addition to other aspects of my practice. I have exhibited and written widely, and have received numerous grants and awards, including a Fulbright scholar/artist award, an American Association of Museums International Fellowship, and a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Press & Publications

Other Information

I have curated and organized numerous exhibitions, and also been very involved in several community based art projects, including murals, collaborative building projects, and working with teens.

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Kao, James

2008-06-24T20:38:08Z

Artist Information

Born: 1975 Houston, Texas
Currently Resides: Chicago, IL

Contact Information:
jkao (at) saic (dot) edu
www.jameskao.org

Medium(s) Worked in:
Painting
Pen/Pencil

Artist CV:

Available for Commission: No

HPAC Exhibitions

Artist Statement

My paintings and drawings record direct and repeated observations. Each reiteration of similar motifs marks an increasing intimacy with the world and moves an observational practice closer to a private meditation.
p(callout).

Artist Bio

Press & Publications

Pattanayak, Anjali. “Kao paints with mixed meanings”, The Knox Student, February, 21, 2008.
“BAC Auction Offers Original Art”, The Villager, February 2008.
“Winners Announced for 2007 Plaza Art Competition”, The Villager, December 2007.
Flavorpill Chicago, Issue 132, March 31, 2007.
Chicago Reader, March 29, 2007.
Hawkins, Margaret. “‘Classic Hits’ from the past still a real blast”, Chicago Sun-Times. March 23, 2007.
Myers, Terry. “Time is on Our Side”, exhibition catalogue for Slowness.
Kuntz, Katrina. “Drawn to Drawing”, F News, July 2005.

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Wasniewski, Casey Ann

2008-06-22T17:58:58Z

Artist Information

Born: Hinsdale, IL
Currently Resides: Chicago, IL

Contact Information:
cwasni (at) gmail (dot) com
www.caseyannwasniewski.com

Artist CV:
Download file

Medium(s) Worked in:
Sculpture
Textile

HPAC Exhibitions

2008 Dirty: New Work by Paul Nudd and Casey Ann Wasniewski

Available for Commissions: Yes

Artist Bio

Casey Ann Wasniewski currently lives in Chicago, IL. She received her BFA from The School of the Art Institute in 2003 and her MFA in Fiber and Material Studies in 2005. She has shown in New Mexico, Chicago, Pennsylvania, Texas and Florida.

Artist Statement

Sometimes we think we know something, but we only know it in the most abstract way, which means we may not know it at all. I am interested in making objects that can be seen to have an immediate association with our bodies and nature. I would like to elicit contradictory feelings of repulsion, familiarity, and attraction.

The sculptures are an accumulation of the unknown, a world far beneath the peripheral view we have become accustom to.

My work ceaselessly establishes connections between the body and nature. The sculptures are an accumulation of the unknown, a world far beneath the peripheral view we have become accustom to. They can be seen as a conglomeration of the dirtiness hiding within everyday life and the abstract beauty lurking far beneath the ocean’s surface, forest’s bottom, or the outer layers of the human skin.

The materials I use are simple wool yarns embroidered together, knot after knot, an accumulation of knots on top of a thick piece of felt. My hand and needle punctures, pulls, folds, and shapes the felt intuitively by the knotting process. The yarn is knotted layer upon layer, transmogrifying the fat, luscious, fleshy industrial felt, into something much more mystifying of an obscure nature. By combining these elements into clump masses, the work takes on a decidedly dirty and fleshy quality. A transformation from a clean rational understanding to one that is visceral is central to the understanding of my work.

Exhibition History:

2008
Hyde Park Art Center, Dirty, Chicago, IL
Artropolis, The Artist Project, Chicago, IL

2007
10 +1, Polite Gallery, Chicago, IL
New Frontiers: An Exhibition of Contemporary Fiber Art, McAllen, TX
Lancaster Museum of Art, Lancaster, PA
Fiber Arts Fiesta, Albuquerque, NM
Collaborations, Bailiwick Theatre, Chicago, IL
Stretching the Threads, Atlantic Center for the Arts, New Smyrna Beach, FL

2006
Ambulant Traveling Art Showcase, Chicago, IL
Holiday Art Show, Around the Coyote, Chicago, IL

2005
Fiber Focus, Art Saint Louis Gallery, St. Louis, MO
Art with a View, Lucid Artist Co-op Gallery, Chicago, IL
MFA Show, Gallery 2, Chicago, IL

2003
Screen Printing, Fiber and Material Studies Department, The School of the Art Institte, Chicago, IL
Computer Imaging for Fiber: Books, Fiber and Material Studies Department, The School of the Art Institute, Chicago, IL
Exhibition, Le Passage, Chicago, IL
BFA Show, Gallery 2, Chicago, IL

2002
Material Voices, The School of the Art Institues of Chicago, Chicago, IL
Fall Art Sale & Show, The School of the Art Institues of Chicago, Chicago, IL
Fresh: A New Perspective, Navy Pier-Festival Hall, SOFA Show, Chicago, IL
103 hours and 17 minutes of January 2002, The School of the Art Institues of Chicago, Chicago, IL

Publications:

2008: Hyde Park Art Center, Quarterly Newsletter, Chicago, IL
2008: The School of The Art Institute, Alumni Calendar, Chicago, IL
2006: Lancaster Museum of Art Catalog, Lancaster, PA

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Duffy, Mary Jane

2008-05-23T16:54:51Z

Artist Information

Born: IL
Currently Resides: IL

Contact Information:

Email: mduffy (at) depaul (dot) edu
Phone: (773)878-5886

Medium(s) Worked in:
Painting
Watercolors

Teaching Certified: No

Artist CV:
Download file

Available for Commission: Yes

Represented by: Flatfile Galleries, Chicago, IL

HPAC Exhibitions

2003, Operation Human Intelligence

Artist Statement

These works are meditations on the sublime. The idea of the sublime sometimes describes one’s experience of nature as a force that is beautiful and yet overwhelming. Today our relationship to nature has changed. The sublime now is reserved for man and man-made things. Technology, the globalization and other aspects of contemporary culture now inspire a feeling of overwhelming awe and fear.

Paint is used in a romantic, emotional way; meant to intoxicate, dazzle and seduce the viewer.

In these paintings at times the viewer sees only dots and a flat space, at other times the work might seem deep or endless. Dividing lines reference a landscape, or a technological space- TV static or a computer’s division of screen. The dot or mark in the work has multiple references. Sometimes they might appear as TV snow, other times pixels. They are bits of information streaming across the web. They can also be thought of as the most basic elements of the universe. The viewer focuses on one dot or mark while in their peripheral vision, a multitude of dots swirl and pulse. Paint is used in a romantic, emotional way; meant to intoxicate, dazzle and seduce the viewer. Scale, mark and color are used to express one’s experience of the sublime; overwhelming, uncontrollable, constantly shifting.

Artist Bio

Mary Jane Duffy holds an MFA in painting and drawing from Northwestern University. She has exhibited her work in numerous group and solo shows in the U.S. and Mexico, including a solo show titled “Sparkle, Glitter, Glow” at La Masmedula Galerie, Mexico City in 2003, a solo show titled “Shimmer/Shine” at Flatfile Galleries in Chicago in 2006, and in 2006 a group show titled “Surface Tension” at The Painting Center in New York City. She is represented in Chicago by Flatfile Galleries. She has taught painting and drawing at various universities and colleges, and since 1997 Duffy has been teaching Foundations, Fine Arts and First Year Program courses at DePaul University.

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Thames, Felandus

2008-05-05T19:48:17Z

Artist Information

Born: Jackson, MS
Currently Resides: Jackson, MS/New Haven, CT

Contact Information:
felandus (at) hotmail (dot) com
http://felandusthames.com
(601)953-0483

Medium(s) Worked in:
Painting
Photography
Printmaking
Mixed-media
Installation

Available for Commission: Yes

Represented by:
The Attic Art Gallery, Vicksburg, MS
South Side Art Gallery, Oxford, MS
Tilford Art Group, Los Angles, CA & New York, NY

Artist Statement

A central fixture in my work is and has always been social injustice. A subject such as this has fueled emotions, started revolutions, and shaped the fabric of society, re-inventing and re-creating civilization as we know it. Discovering the origins this deep seeded complexity, one must understand the role of colonial powers, and how they have established a fertile environment conducive to provoke immediate change. Poverty, degenderfication, institutionalized racism, and the intricate class system based on ethnicity are byproducts of this system which sole purpose is to rape non-western societies of their resources, dignity and identity.

My work exposes the hand of impure democracy as it wills its capitalistic power on the rest of the world

My work examines the every essence of these malfeasances, exposes the hand of impure democracy as it wills its capitalistic power on the rest of the world, and subjects it to the masses. Through artistic expressions the revolution can be conceptualized, visualized, and actualized.

Artist Bio

Felandus Thames is a socially and politically percipient visual artist who places his thoughts on canvas. His imagery incorporates personal experiences and the historical consciousness of America. “Missing”, Thames’ solo exhibition at the Smith Robertson Museum garnered accolades for its powerful content.

A native of Jackson, MS, Thames has studied nationwide and will earn a BFA in Painting and Design from Jackson State University Spring 2008. Fall of 2008, he will begin his MFA studies at Yale University in Painting and Printmaking. He has been recognized as an actively contributing member of the artistic community in Jackson and received numerous commissions including the Medgar Evers Institute, Jackson Medical Mall Foundation, the City of Jackson and the University of Mississippi Medical Center. The Mississippi Arts Commission has also awarded Thames a Mini Grant and an Individual Artist Fellowship.

As an instructor in cultural diversity through the arts, Thames has vigorously proceeded with his efforts in the forward thrust of art and his undying mission to cultivate young artists in his city and enrich the lives of all those around him.

Past Commissions

*Mississippi Heritage Trust Fund, Ten Most Endanger Places in Mississippi - “African American Sons & Daughters Hospital” 2007 (Painting)
*Design commission from the City of Jackson “Catfish on Parade” 2003 (Public Art)
*Portrait of Sade Batiste for the University Medical Center 2003
*Portrait of Dr. Aaron Sherly for the Jackson Medical Mall Thad Cochran Center 2002

Press

*Warner, Mary, “The Burden that is Art,” Oxford Town Newspaper, Oxford, MS, February 22, 2007, Review
*Cambell, Sarah, “Seen Through Our Eyes,” Headerman Brothers Press, Jackson, MS, Contributor, 2006, Book
*Lucas, Sherry, “Artists ‘Emerge’ at Municipal Art Gallery” Clarion-Ledger June 10, 2003, Article
*Alford, C. Keith, “Port Gibson Bicentennial Invitational Show,” Port Gibson, MS, 2003,

Additional Information

Grants and Awards
Greater Jackson Arts Council Individual Artist Fellowship 2006
Mississippi Arts Commission Individual Artist Fellowship 2005-2006

Collections
Cassandra Wilson (Jazz Singer)
Merlie Evers-Williams (Activist/Former President of NAACP)

Residencies
Smith Robertson Museum & Cultural Center 2003

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Alter, Aviva

2008-02-27T18:21:30Z

Artist Information

Born: Chicago, IL
Currently Resides: Chicago, IL

Contact Information

Email: avivastitch (at) gmail (dot) com
Website: www.4fdesign.net
Phone: (773)474-8067

Medium(s) Worked in:

Printmaking
Textile
Mixed-media

Artist CV:
Download file

Available for Commission: Yes

Representation: Lasso Gallery, Chicago, IL

HPAC Exhibition

2008, Soft Life

Artist Statement

My work is about posing questions and statements that define human nature and experience, questions that have no certain answer.

Each of us navigates through life both physically and mentally looking for meaning on our journey and towards our eventual end.

The materials I use are familiar to me in that they have been worn by or fashioned after people I know or have known. These people are those that I have strong attachments through love, hate and that which ties us together. I use a lot of military garments and blankets when I work (life has always seemed a bit of a battle to me). I use both hand and machine stitching the hand ties me to my work and the machine brings speed and extra strength to the material when I need that.

By using military gear I have found a correlation to the bigger conflicts that affect not only my small place in the work but the battles that rage between nations and religions, and the false belief that there is a single answer.

Artist Bio

Born 1954. College education at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, 73-77 and San Francisco Art Institute in 1976. In 1977 began studying ceramics with studio potter Bruce Cash at Lill Street Studios, went on to do a year of apprenticeship at Big Hart Pottery.

In 1979 moved back to Chicago to become a studio potter, worked in partnership with husband, Alan Lerner making pottery until 1991. During those years I exhibited in numerous group and solo ceramic exhibitions making ceramic objects and sculpture, as well as making a wholesale line of decorative ceramic in my studio business.

In 1991 joined the staff of Lillstreet Art Center as an administrative staff and in 2000 became the Director of Lillstreet Art Center.

At the same time that I worked at Lillstreet Art Center I began embroidering; making a series of small thickly stitched self-portraits. In 2003 I began taking classes with fiber artist Rebecca Renquist where I found an endless way to work and express myself in a mobile and unlimited way. In 2003 I began to exhibit again using fiber and thread as my main medium. The bodies of work I am working on are currently text based and question oriented.

Misc.

Curator Lillstreet Gallery

2001-2006

Production Potter 1978-1991

Current skills involve piecing together and altering exisiting garments and cloth, garment and accessory construction using faux fur and felted wool, silk screen on cloth, hand and machine embroidery

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Mansmith, Danny

2008-02-27T17:20:44Z

Artist Information

Born: Harvey, IL, 8/26/1971
Currently Resides: Chicago, IL

Contact Information

Email: scrap4919 (at) sbcglobal (dot) net
Website: scrap-dannymansmith.squarespace.com
Phone: (773)474-8067

Medium(s) Worked in:

Sculpture
Textile
Mixed-media
Installation

Artist CV:
Download file

Available for Commission: Yes

HPAC Exhibition

2008, Soft Life

Artist Statement

In an improvisational way I use the sewing machine to put together everyday materials or scraps in a manner that is well constructed, and inspired by a love of naive expression-like children’s art work or bad sewing.

Artist Bio

Making art is a response to feeling apart from others.

When people see you as different and you feel outside of things, I think this frees you up.

I was the sensitive redhead growing up: the one that was picked on. So, from the very beginning, I was sort of pushed upon a path of feeling different and apart from others.

Most of the time I have stayed to myself, being alone is not a bad thing for me. Solitude allows you to make your own roles and give you the opportunity to make your own decisions without being influenced by others.

What we need is inside ourselves—we just have to find it.

Making art for me is my identity. I started making clothes for myself—for some reason, it seemed very important once I decided to stop trying to fit in and to start looking like my own person. So because of my need to be my own individual, I started to make clothes.

I began to use my grandma’s supplies. She had given me my first art lessons and made my clothes growing up.

I experimented with fabric and my grandma’s sewing machine. I remember not being able to sleep during that first month. I took apart all my clothes and tried to follow and learn the patterns. I remember thinking to myself that I needed to be good at this.

Of course, I wasn’t good at following directions. So I used the basic patterns from the clothes I purchased to begin to make my own shapes and to fit them to me. I looked at the details of store bought clothes and vintage clothes to see different constructions and to see how to finish seams.

I didn’t want to take a class to be taught how to sew. I needed to do this my way. I love bad sewing. When you see something put together really roughly, you see—despite the individual’s apparent lack of skill and perfected technique—creativity. I think you see the individual’s passion—that fire at their feet.

I wanted this energy—the look of the human hand with its flaws. At the same time, I still wanted what I was making to be well made and finished on the inside.

It took almost all of the ‘90’s to develop a way of sewing that looks naive and disheveled, but still well made.

There’s this really hard work ethic I have. But working and making art is my joy and freedom. It’s my survival.

Press

Elizabeth Rich, “The Creative Space of Danny Mansmith”, Fiberarts Magazine, November/December, 2006

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Peltz, Lorraine

2007-10-01T19:16:27Z

Artist Information

Born: Brooklyn, NY
Currently Resides: Chicago, IL

*Contact Information:*
lpeltz (at) artic (dot) edu

Website: www.lorrainepeltz.com

Medium(s) Worked in:

Painting
Printmaking
Paper/Book
Pen/Pencil

Artist CV:
Download file

Available for Commission: Yes

Represented by: Gosia Koscielak Gallery, Chicago, IL; Wroclaw, Poland

HPAC Exhibitions

2006, Cosmic Hostess)
2006, 2007, Just Good Art

Artist Statement

My paintings are landscapes of both the exterior world and an interior space of dream, desire, hope, and memory.

By combining various painting languages including recognizable imagery, signs and symbols, and painterly abstraction, I attempt to mimic and reconcile how information comes to us, and how meaning is made, bit by bit - real life alongside memory, poetry next to prose. My images of plums, pears, and even cupcakes, and most recently chandeliers, commingle the language of 17th century still life painting with the pop imagery of lightning bolts, puffy clouds, painted lips, rainbows, strolling legs, swans, daisy chains, and ominous blackbirds.

Lisa Wainwright, Dean of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and Professor of Art History, wrote in 2006 about my work: “Here are worlds aqueous and cosmic, airy and verdant. The paintings glow with uncanny resonance and optical sheen. And then Peltz interrupts the dreaminess to cast a range of signs into ethereal spaces. Myriad symbols in their speech bubble niches hint at a narrative that unfolds from picture to picture. Both of nature and from culture, her icons speak to the polemic between essentialism and social construction that still grips feminist discourse. ….. the mix of aesthetic delight and conceptual reading makes …. Peltz’s strongest work to date.”

Artist Bio

Born in Brooklyn, New York, I received my MFA from the University of Chicago and my BFA from the State University of New York at New Paltz. I’ve had numerous one person shows and been included in many group exhibitions including the Hyde Park Art Center, Galerie Piltzer in Paris, Arden Gallery in Boston, Olga Dollar Gallery in San Francisco, Carrie Secrist Gallery in Chicago, Printworks Gallery in Chicago, the Rockford Art Museum, the Renaissance Society in Chicago, the Herbert Johnson Museum at Cornell University, and many others. My most recent exhibition “Chandeliers, Starbursts,etc.” opened at the Gosia Koscielak Gallery this September. I live and work in Chicago and teach at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
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Chavez, Juan Angel

2007-08-27T18:49:18Z

Artist Information

Currently Resides: Chicago, IL

Contact Information

Email: info (at) juanangelchavez (dot) com
Website: www.juanangelchavez.com

Phone: 312.421.9597

Medium(s) Worked in:

Sculpture
Mixed Media

Available for Commission: Yes

Exhibitions

- Spider Project, Solo Exhibtion, Education entrance Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, 2007
- Fusi-form, Collaborative Exhibition, Rhys Gallery, Boston, 2007
- Speaker project, Solo exhibition, Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago, 2007
- Hilo, Solo Drawing Exhibition, 32 and urban gallery Chicago, 2007
- It’s a Long Walk Home, SPACE 1026, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Collaborative group show, 2006
- Group show, Pursuit Gallery, Burlington , Vermont, 2006
- Group show, Scion Installation, Los Angeles, California, 2005
- Group Show, M80 Gallery, Milwaukee, 2005
- Tragic Beauty, Open End Space, Chicago Collaborative group show, 2005
- Group show, Judy Saslow Gallery, Chicago, 2004
- Solo exhibit at Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs, Open studio Program,
Chicago, 2004
- Solo exhibit at Chicago department of cultural Affairs, Open studios at mort Cooper, Chicago, 2004
- Solo Exhibit at the 12X12 space of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, 2003
- Xicago, Group exhibit, Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum, Chicago, 2002
- prestar=borrow+lend, Group exhibit, Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago, 2002
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Zelazny, Mary Lou

2007-08-13T18:56:38Z

Artist Information

Born: Chicago, IL
Currently Resides: Chicago, IL

Contact Information

Email: mzelaz (at) saic (dot) edu
Website: www.artic.edu/~mzelaz

Medium(s) Worked in:

Painting
Photography
Printmaking
Mixed-Media
Watercolors
Pen/Pencil

Available for Commission: Yes

Represented by:
Carl Hammer Gallery, Chicago, IL
Bucheon Gallery, San Francisco, CA

Exhibitions

*Creative Imagining, The Howard A and Judith Tullman Collection
The Mobile Museum of Art. Mobile AL
IUN Gallery for Contemporary Art, Indiana University
The Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago
The Rockford Museum,Rockford, IL
Transcultural Visions: Polish-American Contemporary Art, Szczecin, Poland, 2001
Just Good Art, almost every year, since Art A Go Go, 1987

Artist Statement

I rely on many kinds of visual stimuli, often at the risk of chaos, in order to distill an image which skirts the logical protocols of picture making.

My paintings are figurative narratives inspired by art history, contemporary culture, and personal experiences and musings. The technique ranges from pure realism to abstraction, and combinations of the two.

Almost all my work incorporates cut paper collage, which I use to map the subjects and spaces. The precise cut edges made with scissors and the soft marks made with a brush are integral to my process. While most of this added material is culled from abstract paintings I make on paper, in some paintings I use collage from printed commercial sources.

The method I use to create my paintings and drawings is intricate. I rely on many kinds of visual stimuli, often at the risk of chaos, in order to distill an image which skirts the logical protocols of picture making. The richness of the choices and the editing process are exciting, colliding movement and improbability.

Artist Bio

Since 1990 painter Mary Lou Zelazny has been Adjunct Professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She has had numerous solo exhibitions since 1980, with an exhibition of new work opening at the Union League Club in November of 2007, and a recent solo show at Carl Hammer Gallery in March 16,2007. Numerous other one person exhibitions have been held at distinguished art venues: The Herron Gallery, Indianapolis, IUN Gallery for Contemporary Art, Indiana University, Thomas McCormick Gallery, Phyllis Kind Gallery, Roy Boyd Gallery, Peter Miller Gallery, Chicago Cultural Center and the Rockford Art Museum. Recent group exhibitions include the National Museum of Szczecin in Poland; Aaron Packer Gallery, Jean Albano Gallery, University of Illinois Gallery 400, Lake Forest College and Hyde Park Art Center in Chicago; Barrister’s Gallery in New Orleans’ and the Indiana University Fine Arts Gallery, Bloomington Indiana, The Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, and The Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago. Titles of some shows indicate some of Ms. Zelazny’s interests: “Evoking Histories/Memory of Water,” “Pasted On, a Survey of Collage Strategies,” “The Velvet Show,” “Pink,” “Revelries,” “Views of a Lady,” “Pleasure (Beyond Guilt),” and, especially, “Visual Feasting.” Ms. Zelazny’s paintings present the figure in various guises and are absorbed in and by various cultural associations familiar to women such as jewelry and handbags. Rich drapery and folds of fabric reminiscent of John Singer Sargent seduce the viewer of her work. Her frequent use of collage both calls attention to surfaces and presents unique hybrids. Always lush, her recent paintings tend to be about painting itself, even while they present the figure. Ms. Zelazny has been a visiting artist at various colleges and universities. Her work is owned by the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, First Chicago Bank, Kemper National Insurance Company, Nagin and Associates in Miami, Prudential Insurance Company, the Rockford Art Museum, Weichman and Associates. Her work also appears in numerous private collections.

Past Commissions

McCormick Place West Expansion Project, 2007

Mr.& Mrs Charles Manker, 1995

Press

Kevin Nance,”Artist’s eclecticism runs more than canvas-deep”, Chicago Sun Times, Marc, 28, 2007

Robert Loerzel, “Piecing perfect puzzels”, Pioneer Press, April 5, 2007

A complete bibliography and resume is available on the artist’s web site.
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Lipinski, Stacza

2007-07-26T15:25:49Z

Artist Information

Born: Pontiac, IL
Currently Resides: Chicago, IL

Contact Information

Email: staczalipinski (at) yahoo (dot) com
Website: www.staczalipinski.com
Phone: (773) 376-0366

Medium(s) Worked in:

Painting
Installation

Artist CV:
Download file

Available for Commission: Yes

HPAC Exhibition

2007, Hang Up

Artist Statement

The cut-outs reference animals, plants, architectural decoration, obsessive doodles, body parts …

My most recent work is a collection of large paper constructions cut out of painted vellum and attached to the wall. The shapes of the cut-outs reference animals, plants, architectural decoration, obsessive doodles, body parts; all overlap, weave, sweep up and down and turn in on themselves forming a continuous field of exploding color. The shapes and colors I use in the pieces are influenced by a number of things. Sometimes the images are personal, sometimes they are influenced by an exhibit’s theme, or it may be a B-movie or even the architecture and history of the building where piece will be housed that stimulate the way I approach an installation. “Zaftig” at the Noyes Cultural Arts Center simultaneously ascends and descends the staircase, using repeating black and pink images. The swollen, sensual shapes are at once voluptuous and creepy. In the piece “It begins and it ends,” the shapes and layers directly reference images from traditional vanitas paintings. Symbols of abundance, over-ripeness, and growth emphasize the brevity of life creating homage to the tradition of vanitas painting and a direct reminder to pluck the day. In the piece “House of Wax,” the shapes and layers reference the female form, dripping flesh, and red lipstick. For “Out of the Woodwork” at the Evanston Arts Center in 2006, I pulled from botanical imagery from the woodwork on the staircase to creep along the wall and up the window, echoing the vines on the outside of the building and bringing nature inside the space. Another piece at the Evanston Arts Center in 2007, “Snag,” was my response to a story about a shipwreck in Lake Michigan steps from the center itself.

Press

Eve Ewing, “Hung Up at the Hyde Park Art Center: Artist Stacza Lipinski turns a stairwell into a slice of summer,” Chicago Weekly, May 31 2007.

Misc.

My day job is as the manager of Display and Special Projects at Lowitz and Company, a hand made decorative tile company in Ravenswood.
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Himmelfarb, John

2007-07-07T20:42:50Z

Artist Information

Born: Winfield, IL
Currently Resides: Chicago, IL

Contact Information

Email: johnhimmelfarb (at) mac (dot) edu
Website: www.johnhimmelfarb.com

Phone: (773) 376-0366

Medium(s) Worked in:

Painting
Sculpture
Printmaking
Textile

Artist CV:
Download file

Artist Bibliography:
Download file

Available for Commission: Yes

Represented by:
FLATFILEGalleries, Chicago, IL
Luise Ross Gallery, New York, NY

Exhibitions

September 30 - December 17 2006, John Himmelfarb: Inland Romance: Gary, Indiana

Artist Statement

Himmelfarb revels in line’s evocative potential to create a synthesis of graphic sign, text and elusive image

John Himmelfarb is an artist whose lush, calligraphic drawings and paintings have always been driven by an unceasing devotion to line. Consistently blurring the boundaries between drawing and painting, Himmelfarb revels in line’s evocative potential to create a synthesis of graphic sign, text and elusive image that challenges one’s ability to interpret visual language.

Past Commissions

2007 Bucktown/Wicker Park Library, Installation of library catalog card drawings

2005 Delta Terminal, Boston Logan Airport, Two paintings installed in satellite terminal.

2004 Chicago Transit Authority, One ceramic tile mural at Kedzie Station, Douglas Branch, Blue Line.

2002 University of Nebraska, Graduate School of Education, Two ceramic tile murals.

1992 Art Omaha, Two ceramic tile murals for Omaha Public Schools.

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Phillips, Mark

2007-07-05T17:15:17Z

Artist Information

Born: Washington, PA
Currently Resides: Chicago, IL
Birth date: 1969

Contact Information:
quote (at) graphicmarx (dot) com
www.graphicmarx.com
773-342-9144

Medium(s) Worked in:
Painting
Metalwork
Printmaking
Mixed-Media
Installation

Artist CV:
Download file

Teaching Certified: No

Available for Commission: Yes

HPAC Exhibitions

2007, Just Good Art
2006, Just Good Art

Artist Statement

Ideas emerge from the explorations of the creative mind, process, and new materials.

I have always been process oriented so I have a penchant for exploring the possibilities of the medium whether that be mixed media drawing, painting, or printmaking. Ideas emerge from the explorations of the creative mind, process and new materials. Recently I’ve been experimenting with alternative techniques in printmaking, stepping away from traditional paper and exploring new materials.

For the last few years my thoughts about prints and printmaking have
been under a microscope. I have attempted to look past tradition and
convention and see what could be possible with an open mind toward the
print. In this investigation I have been seeking new techniques and
materials, as well as new interpretations of old techniques; toward
redefining the Print as we currently know it. The printmaking world has
been bound by tradition and nostalgia; largely limited to the wall,
under glass and confined to a frame.

Anodizing Resist Printing
The original idea here was to get away from traditional materials and
investigate new techniques. Partly I was wanting to just explore and a
part of me was sick of framing paper prints. I decided to use the
inherient properties of aluminum like I would for choosing a paper. In a
paper printing I would consider whether a paper was better suited for
embossing, line etching or aquatints and make my choices accordingly.
Aluminum is one of only a handful of metals that can be anodized and the
process is sensitive to contamination. I used this sensitivity to my
advantage and printing blocking agents to acheive different colors on
the same piece; esentially sealing in the color stage and then dying a
deeper color. This took about six months of some suprising successes and
amazing failures. After I had the basic technique down, I began
exploring with other blocking agents and using traditional printing
techniques in a new way. I’ve coined this type of printing Anodizing
Resist Printing. Each of the images use the same size 4” × 6” aluminum
plates and the larger ones just a grid pattern of the same to size up
the image. These don’t use ink in any way in the final image.

Copper Etched Prints
Here I’m taking a traditional material used by printmakers and looking
at it in a different way. Copper has been used traditionally as both
printing plates and also as a substrate for paintings (Dutch). In these
prints I am printing onto the surface of the copper plate instead of
just considering the surface as a shiny substrate. I’m taking into
consideration the properties of copper. Copper can be etched with acids
and also patinaed. I have been experimenting with a combination of the
two properties. So, much like my Anodizing Resist Prints, I am using the
inherient properties of the material to develope the image using
traditional approaches yet in new ways. These also don’t use any ink in
the final image.

Artist Bio

Studied Painting and Printmaking at East Carolina University School of Art.
Owned my own Graphics and Sign Business for 5 years. I’ve been teaching Printmaking and Drawing privately since 2003. Have been a working as an artist and showing since 1991

Press

”Top 10 things to see in Chicago” Just Good Art, Crain’s Chicago Sept 2006

Lauren Weinberg: ”Printer Proofs: Printmaking in Progress,” Time-Out Chicago March 9th, 2006

KEVIN NANCE Art Critic: ”A Snapshot of Chicago’s Art Community,” Chicago Sun Times October 14, 2005
Download press clippings

Mark will be exhibiting at the Artist Project alongside Art Chicago, April 25-29.
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