ART OR IDIOCY?: Last and Only Chances

The first of three MFA shows from the Department of Visual Art at the University of Chicago opened Thursday. This Saturday an event by Joe Miller centered around his ongoing social/graffiti/art/work/experimentation at the Empty Bottle takes place. Look for more info on the MFA shows at the bottom of this post.
> BOTTLE

Gordon Matta-Clark
The Gordon Matta-Clark retrospective at the Museum of Contemporary Art closes this Sunday. So make sure you stop by for this excellent exhibition if you haven’t already. You can see the Art or Idiocy slide show of images taken at the media day on Flickr as well.
> FLICKR
> MCA

Howard Fonda
In Hyde Park there are several shows on view that are worth seeing, two of which close on Sunday. At the Hyde Park Art Center Howard Fonda: Nothing to Live Up To finishes and DIRTY: Work by Paul Nudd and Casey Wasniewski opens, although the reception isn’t until May 11th.
> FONDA
> NUDD&Co

Catherine Sullivan

The Smart Museum of Art is sending off its moving image cinematic extravaganza Adaptation with a talk by curator Stephanie Smith at 2P Sunday. The website/catalogue for the show is also worth visiting. It features clips from the videos on display and interviews with the artists. Adaptation features plenty of good work, but in particular offers a rare opportunity to see landmark works by Eve Sussman and the Rufus Corporation and by Catherine Sullivan.
> ADAPTION
> SMART

Jason Lazarus
At the Renaissance Society is Black Is, Black Ain’t. The exhibition includes Jason Lazarus’ Standing at the grave of Emmet Till, day of exhumation, May 31st, (Alsip, IL). When the piece was first exhibited in September of 2005 I wrote this about it:

[I]n the project room [of Bucket Rider Gallery] was a single large photo by Jason Lazarus ...And Then Finally, I Remembered. It was a blandish landscape of a cemetery. Some plywood boards added a nice beige to the pale green of the grass and the pale blue of the sky. These colors made the sunny day seem real, and to take you right there. Later I learned it was Emmett Till’s grave. That added a whole new twist to things. It was not heavy handed at all because I didn’t even realize it until later. There was also the tie in with Jeff Wall’s flooded grave piece. The two are so similar. So here we have Lazarus’ (apropos) “fake” Jeff Wall being a real grave.

> REN

UofC 2008 MFA Thesis Shows

In the DOVA Temporary restroom

...and somewhere in between through May 11
Manol Gueorguiev • Joe Miller • Clay Smith

Cryptomnesia May 15 (opening 6-9P) – May 25
Jeremy Pelt • Val Snobeck • Brett Tracy

One Brick Country in the Sea May 29 (opening 6-9P) – June 8
Jennifer Krantz • J. Thomas Pallas • Casey Smallwood

DOVA Temporary
5228 S Harper AVE / Chicago, IL 60615 / (773) 753-4821
Hrs: M–TH: 1–5P / F&SA: 10A–6P