Michael Workman

I loved "Tragic Beauty" at the West Loop's Open End Gallery. I've also always liked this gallery and though I'm still convinced they're mostly a party gallery--as evidenced by the hour-long attempt to walk down the impossibly crowded stairs, as well as the rows of kids hefting thirty-packs when the gallery stash ran dry--this show's hands-down enchanting, inventive and strives to reach further than the artists individually could ever achieve (only because there's really just too much space). The same blind faith that fires these artists along also levitates them in an astonishing way across the usually insurmountable valley between two- and three-dimensional mediums. Be forewarned: it's a show that's impractical to absorb in a single visit, especially at opening night when the room's packed elbow to elbow with sweaty kids. But let's give it a try.

Newly minted art star Cody Hudson has successfully positioned himself as the spokesperson for the brand of urban art on display here using his Struggle, Inc. and ubiquitous design work; he has also seamlessly bound together several different worlds, from gallery to street, academy to urban art space. It's a carefully stage-managed image and, though I love Hudson and that image of his, I want a little callous reserve going in. Admittedly, it's also hard not to retain a certain preliminary skepticism about situating Hudson's work alongside that of fellow artists Chris Silva, Juan Chavez and Mike Genovese. Urban art squad, I thought--it sounds done before. Not to mention how graffiti art has long been construed as a self-promotional scheme: the myths of Basquiat and more recently, of Neck Face come to mind, with the low-rider and gangsta movements having long since piled up ground in the art/life divide with mountains of tricked-out cars, pimp chalices and scantily clad ladies. "Enough, enough!" I was prepared to cry.

But I was wrong. Maybe it was standing in front of the DJ platform mounted on the prow of their sunken ship or the sheer accumulation of custom-cut wood nailed atop the walls from the remnants of shop signs once hung beside posters on deserted buildings across the city. All of this has been selectively and knowingly garbage-picked for its status as a cultural relic, as the detritus of forgotten styles and abandoned movements. Many who attend will have actually seen bits and pieces of the accrued work here hanging across town, and that's the predominate mode for the majority of the artists involved. They're streetwise folks who want to keep their work connected with the pedestrian general public--art as outreach in the style of grafitti taggers and spray-paint muralists, but with an art-world dusting. When this show closes, in fact, every stitch will be returned to the streets from whence it came.

Another major positive: what you'll find in this massive, multi-part installation is an attempt to reflect the fashions and quirks of the street culture it emulates and strives not only to represent, but also to physically embody. That's what causes this "Nekker cube" effect of standing back, looking out at the show and seeing one seamless, whole piece--as if it were a canvas, for instance--then moving forward by degrees, first into that space and then into the three-dimensional works that comprise it. Art installations are their preferred medium--or at least they refer to what they've done here as an installation. But what they've actually done is closer to the original idea of an "environment," before the form was co-opted by museums (who "install" the work) as a way of showing a piece that could only be seen at the host institution. Specifically, it rolls back the concept to present an assemblage more like stage sets than "installations"--the aforementioned sunken ship, a faux wood shack, wall-hung sculptural pieces. Places you imagine visiting in a wish-fulfillment dream, a world of your own making and then too, packed to the gills with all those stunningly beautiful, tragically hip people who've come just to spend some time with you.

Corrections and a thank you
In last week's column, the artist was once referred to accidentally as Julie Henderson, when in fact her name is Paula; and a number of pieces cited, including the "Great Migration" series, are available for viewing but not considered part of the exhibition proper.

And thanks to all of you who wrote letters in response to my call for what you'd like to see in an art press a few weeks back. My inbox overfloweth so much, in fact, that I'll not likely do that again anytime soon. But a few also sent in argumentative piffle about how critics should strive first and foremost to produce foot traffic in the galleries they write about. As if. Not everything need have such a distinct utility and I prefer to think that art itself plays a larger role than any common exchange of currency. Helping gallerists make a quick buck or two, while fine and well, doesn't acknowledge the fact that some people, terrible as it may seem, also occasionally like to engage in that bizarre, useless activity we call reading.

"Tragic Beauty" shows at Open End Gallery, 2000 West Fulton, (312)738-2140. Through March 26.

(2005-03-08)

Also by Michael Workman

Eye Exam
In "Schematic Patterns," a new collection of paintings with drawing elements, Julia Henderson tackles the visual representation of Chicago's historically segregated racial populations
(2005-03-01)

Tip of the Week
It's not difficult to read a little Leon Golub into the choppily painted faces of Friese Undine's portraits of world leaders, and the comparison may prove apt
(2005-02-22)

Eye Exam
Seeing as many art exhibits as I do, few stand out, but "The Art of the Artist Statement," now showing at the Hellenic Museum and Cultural Center in the West Loop, certainly has its charms
(2005-02-22)

Tip of the Week
After a celebrated showing at Brooklyn's Pierogi 2000 Gallery, Chicago artist Tony Fitzpatrick brings his new book, "The Wonder: Portraits of a Remembered City" back to the city that's the source of his inspiration
(2005-02-15)

Eye Exam
(2005-02-15)

Eye Exam
(2005-02-08)

Tourist Class
(2005-02-01)

Eye Exam
(2005-02-01)

Publishing whores
(2005-02-01)

Tip of the Week
(2005-01-25)

Eye Exam
(2005-01-25)

Eye Exam
(2005-01-18)

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