Michael Workman

Yet another show with a tie-in to the Chicago Artist's Month theme of making connections through art, this exhibition was organized by the essential local artist's advocacy group, the Chicago Artist's Coalition. Its choice of location is significant: this is the first time an outside group has been allowed to use the Vietnam Veteran's Museum space, since its founding in 1996, for anything but works of soldiers in that tragic war. The works of more than 300 Chicago artists fill the 30,000-square-foot facility, ranging from mid-career to artists fresh out of art school, broken up into eight distinct categories ranging from photography to textile. While this show provides an impressive survey on its own, the overlap with the art of veterans provides a compelling contrast. Visitors will be well-rewarded for taking time out on their visit to view the more than 1,000 works both by American veteran artists, including art from Cambodia and South Vietnam and, most significant in terms of how art can connect in real-world ways, by those who counted themselves among the ranks of the Vietcong.

"7th Annual Chicago Art Open," shows at the Vietnam Veterans Museum, 1801 South Indiana, (312) 326-0270. Through Oct. 31.

(2004-10-13)

Also by Michael Workman

Big brothers
Carrying brushes four feet in length that at first glance could be mistaken for spears or clubs, two shirtless Chinese men with long, flowing black manes of hair...
(2004-10-06)

The Barack and Alan Show
It's hard not to think of the aisle between the pews as the much-touted great divide between the two political parties
(2004-10-06)

Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle
In the middle of the Fern Room at the Garfield Park Conservatory, an architect plays the role of nuclear physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer
(2004-10-06)

Eye Exam
Über-conceptualist Marcel Duchamp serves as the source for the "Infra-thin" show's conceptual theme
(2004-10-06)

Tip of the Week
(2004-09-29)

Eye Exam
(2004-09-29)

Chicago--yes, Chicago--Fashion Week
(2004-09-14)

Eye Exam
(2004-09-14)

Eye Exam
(2004-09-08)

Eye Exam
(2004-08-31)

Tip of the Week
(2004-08-25)

Eye Exam
(2004-08-25)

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