The Art Institute of Chicago is only a few miles from the Ramada Inn Lake Shore!
Currently on Exhibition:
Saturday, July 28, 2012 – Sunday, January 13, 2013
Whether
centuries old or the latest contemporary creations, works on paper are
extremely light sensitive and can only be displayed in the galleries for
short and infrequent periods of time before they must be returned to
the safety of the dark, climate-controlled vault. Some of these works,
however, also make brief appearances in the Prints and Drawings Study
Room, frequently requested by professors for their classes to view as
exemplars of specific techniques. This exhibition brings together nearly
100 of these highly popular contemporary works on paper, many of which
have not been seen in our galleries in years (or ever), offering
visitors an intriguing look at how this rich collection is used
pedagogically.
While tools and artistic methods are often privileged over historical significance or connoisseurship in these educational sessions, the exhibition offers abundant examples by artists whose works on paper were celebrated in their time and continue to influence subsequent generations. Harlem Renaissance artist Romare Bearden’s iconic collage, The Return of Odysseus (Homage to Pintoricchio and Benin), makes a rare and welcome appearance, given that it is not often exhibited due to its fugitive materials—cut and pasted papers, graphite, and touches of black and gray wash. Also included are multiple works by Carroll Dunham, Martin Kippenberger, and Ed Ruscha, some being exhibited for the first time in Chicago. In addition, curators from the Ryerson Library have selected post–World War II comics publications by artists whose careers and aesthetic interests are related and sometimes influential to the other artists on view. Shown in this context are drawings informed by the conventions of graphic narratives, slapstick humor, and prescient social commentary.
Also on view are drawings by Chicago-based artists such as Julia Fish, who has a particular affinity for working on paper. Over the years, she has created drawings that not only extend her painting ideas but also exist as separate, self-contained bodies of work. Always focused on her immediate environment, Fish creates drawings based on memory and observations of the conditions surrounding her garden, as well as the properties of her house. She employs media specifically to evoke, rather than mimic, physicality, weight, touch, and time. Also a professor of art at the University of Illinois-Chicago, Fish is a frequent visitor to the Prints and Drawings Study Room herself and uses our diverse collection in part to teach students in the techniques demonstrated in this exhibition.
http://www.artic.edu/exhibition/rarely-seen-contemporary-works-paper
While tools and artistic methods are often privileged over historical significance or connoisseurship in these educational sessions, the exhibition offers abundant examples by artists whose works on paper were celebrated in their time and continue to influence subsequent generations. Harlem Renaissance artist Romare Bearden’s iconic collage, The Return of Odysseus (Homage to Pintoricchio and Benin), makes a rare and welcome appearance, given that it is not often exhibited due to its fugitive materials—cut and pasted papers, graphite, and touches of black and gray wash. Also included are multiple works by Carroll Dunham, Martin Kippenberger, and Ed Ruscha, some being exhibited for the first time in Chicago. In addition, curators from the Ryerson Library have selected post–World War II comics publications by artists whose careers and aesthetic interests are related and sometimes influential to the other artists on view. Shown in this context are drawings informed by the conventions of graphic narratives, slapstick humor, and prescient social commentary.
Also on view are drawings by Chicago-based artists such as Julia Fish, who has a particular affinity for working on paper. Over the years, she has created drawings that not only extend her painting ideas but also exist as separate, self-contained bodies of work. Always focused on her immediate environment, Fish creates drawings based on memory and observations of the conditions surrounding her garden, as well as the properties of her house. She employs media specifically to evoke, rather than mimic, physicality, weight, touch, and time. Also a professor of art at the University of Illinois-Chicago, Fish is a frequent visitor to the Prints and Drawings Study Room herself and uses our diverse collection in part to teach students in the techniques demonstrated in this exhibition.
http://www.artic.edu/exhibition/rarely-seen-contemporary-works-paper
