There are two new (ish) art blogs in town. Chicago Arts, and Chicago Art Review.
chicago arts
Of the four contributors, only this is evident: two are students, one is a female student at Columbia college. Chicago Arts Features a mix of listings and reviews. Heavy on the text. Lots o’ links.
“Dedicated to listing of art related events and gallery reviews of Chicago based artists.
Fine Art, Galleries, Museums, Sculpture, Performance, New Media...”
Chicago Art Review
May already be finished. Its second of two posts is from October, but it is worth reading. It only takes a second. Reviewed is Kumiko Murikami at Contemporary Arts Workshop and some show with dogs in it. And you know we love that! The blog is by Matt Tetzloff.
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
Has anyone else picked this up?
The Art Newspaper, in a roundabout way, reported that the Saatchi Gallery has been evicted from its space on the South Bank. The Saatchi had closed earlier and reopened to much fanfare in 2003 in the County Hall building across the Thames from Parliament and Big Ben. Research reveals BBC broke the story back in October, but this is the first Art or Idiocy? has heard of it. (Searching artblog kingpin Modern Art Notes yielded no hits on the subject either.)
The Triumph of Painting exhibition, which seems to have sequels with each new two-page spread in Artforum, is on hold. A highlights show is on view far to the North in Leeds. Damien Hirst is from Leeds, and the Who played live in Leeds once. The North of England has much the reputation that the South has here in America. The highlights show is unrelated to the eviction.
According to The Art Newspaper, Saatchi has had a falling out with his Japanese landlord, and this has led to the eviction. It seems kind of odd that owner of County Hall in London would be Japanese and not the city, or the government. In true Saatchi fashion, the gallery has already procured a new site, The Duke of York’s HQ in Chelsea. The website already has a virtual tour of it and Saatchi is scheduled to reopen “in about a year.”
For the full story, back from Oct ’05, click here.
Saatchi Gallery site
Gregor Schneider • Mann mit Schwanz/man with cock, Rheydt • 2004
• cast, mixed media (silicon, trousers, shirt, garbage bag)
• 21 x 186 x 70cm • from the Saatchi collection
The Triumph of Painting exhibition, which seems to have sequels with each new two-page spread in Artforum, is on hold. A highlights show is on view far to the North in Leeds. Damien Hirst is from Leeds, and the Who played live in Leeds once. The North of England has much the reputation that the South has here in America. The highlights show is unrelated to the eviction.
According to The Art Newspaper, Saatchi has had a falling out with his Japanese landlord, and this has led to the eviction. It seems kind of odd that owner of County Hall in London would be Japanese and not the city, or the government. In true Saatchi fashion, the gallery has already procured a new site, The Duke of York’s HQ in Chelsea. The website already has a virtual tour of it and Saatchi is scheduled to reopen “in about a year.”
For the full story, back from Oct ’05, click here.
Saatchi Gallery site
Dick Blick in Depth
After our excited post about the new Dick Blick opening in the heart of downtown Chicago, Art or Idiocy? felt it necessary to drop by and purchase a Faber-Castell black brush tip Indian ink - waterproof - maximum light - fastness PITT artist pen. The space is truly amazing, and it is like Forever 21 except with matboard. And now with the Quizno’s opening up at Adams and Wabash, I think it is safe to say that Chicago is on par with New York.
The Art or Idiocy? team ran into a bevy of Chicago art luminaries, including a trio from the Art Institute museum. Robert Hudson, Associate Director of Visitor Services, mentioned how Dick Blick has had branding issues, particularly with their online catalogue. Hudson asked a sales associate about why some stores are called "Dick Blick" and others just "Blick." The new one on State is "Blick Art Materials." "Where's the 'Dick'?" he had asked. “Their email can’t have ‘dick’ in the address because spam filters think it is porn,” he reported.
It also looks like there will be a coffee bar, so you can buy your art supplies and then hang out and be an artist in the coffee shop. Is it lame to be excited about this? What’s wrong with enjoying a store that caters to out demographic?
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
Sort of Art News
It is hard to argue against the re-gentrification of State Street downtown. For rent signs, and torn up buildings in disrepair on a major drag through the heart of Loop says a lot about Chicago, and none of it is good. But what is good is that these empty, gutted storefronts are being renovated and new businesses are opening up. Especially the giant two-story Dick Blick at State and Monroe. It’s gonna be SWEET! Yay! Tons of art supplies! Dick Blick will probably make about 80% of its money off of Art Institute students rushing to class from the dorms. If only they also sold drugs and used records.
Dick Blick is open now, but the Grand Opening, according to their website, is February 9th. Don’t shed a tear. Utrecht and Pearl are both chains too, and its not like Flax is the best thing under the sun in terms of supplies. It is more of a frame shop. So be happy, you will now be able to get tons of cool and neato stuff at the art world’s Ikea.
Last year Dick Blick Art Materials acquired all 11 The Art Store stores. So now The Art Store store on North Avenue by Old Navy is part of the Dick Blick family.
Here is some more fun history of the Blick legacy. Dick Blick was founded in 1911 by Mr. and Mrs. Dick Blick. (Mr. Dick Blick is pictured above) It was a mail order art supply company whose catalog was a small pamphlet and its store room a kitchen. Yadda yadda yadda it is now a huge art supply company with a massive mail order catalogue and several stores.
Dick Blick is open now, but the Grand Opening, according to their website, is February 9th. Don’t shed a tear. Utrecht and Pearl are both chains too, and its not like Flax is the best thing under the sun in terms of supplies. It is more of a frame shop. So be happy, you will now be able to get tons of cool and neato stuff at the art world’s Ikea.
Last year Dick Blick Art Materials acquired all 11 The Art Store stores. So now The Art Store store on North Avenue by Old Navy is part of the Dick Blick family.
Here is some more fun history of the Blick legacy. Dick Blick was founded in 1911 by Mr. and Mrs. Dick Blick. (Mr. Dick Blick is pictured above) It was a mail order art supply company whose catalog was a small pamphlet and its store room a kitchen. Yadda yadda yadda it is now a huge art supply company with a massive mail order catalogue and several stores.
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
SORRY!
The posting in the new year here on Art or Idiocy? has been admittedly slow. But the comments on the open best/worst experiment has started to pick up. You can view what others have said below, and weigh in with opinions of your own. Go For It!
Currently, our beloved director, The Artist Extraordinaire, is down in San Antonio preparing for an exhibition. It is Unit B (Gallery)’s inaugural reopening.
You may recall that Unit B was part of the Pilsen gallery scene in Chicago along with Apt. 1R (before it became just 1R, and then Van Harrison) and Bucket Rider. That was the second crop of galleries. Dogmatic, one of the very first, which has since joined forces with the Butcher Shop and moved to just beyond the West Loop. Pilsen is now seeing, a third(?) wave of galleries. With Vespine, Parts Unknown, Duhbe Carreno, The Chicago Art Department and the list goes on. Up the street is Derek Erdman’s Gallery Hamburger, as it is some times called when he was art receptions. Also, the ever present Polvo, which is off the beaten Halsted path, but easily accessible from the 18th Street Blue Line stop.
Pilsen is probably one of most influx neighborhoods for art. As many galleries, if not more, have closed shop as have moved on. This is all part of the useless, but interesting social history of our town.
For more info on the HOT SHIT exhibition at Unit B, Notes to Self, visit their site here and here.
So Art or Idiocy? will be back, hold tight.
Currently, our beloved director, The Artist Extraordinaire, is down in San Antonio preparing for an exhibition. It is Unit B (Gallery)’s inaugural reopening.
Erik Wenzel • I'm Sure There's Beer on it • 2005 • Pen on coaster
You may recall that Unit B was part of the Pilsen gallery scene in Chicago along with Apt. 1R (before it became just 1R, and then Van Harrison) and Bucket Rider. That was the second crop of galleries. Dogmatic, one of the very first, which has since joined forces with the Butcher Shop and moved to just beyond the West Loop. Pilsen is now seeing, a third(?) wave of galleries. With Vespine, Parts Unknown, Duhbe Carreno, The Chicago Art Department and the list goes on. Up the street is Derek Erdman’s Gallery Hamburger, as it is some times called when he was art receptions. Also, the ever present Polvo, which is off the beaten Halsted path, but easily accessible from the 18th Street Blue Line stop.
Pilsen is probably one of most influx neighborhoods for art. As many galleries, if not more, have closed shop as have moved on. This is all part of the useless, but interesting social history of our town.
For more info on the HOT SHIT exhibition at Unit B, Notes to Self, visit their site here and here.
- Unit B (Gallery), an artist-operated gallery space located on the corner of Stieren and Cedar Streets will reopen in San Antonio on Friday, January 20th, under the direction of local artists and friends, Kimberly Aubuchon and John Mata. We proudly present our first San Antonio exhibition, Notes to Self., featuring the work of Richie Budd and Zach Dunlap (San Antonio, TX), Chris Uphues (Chicago, IL), and Erik Wenzel (Chicago, IL), on view January 20 March 3, 2006.
So Art or Idiocy? will be back, hold tight.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)