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 Eye Exam The Worst of Times
In only its fifth show since opening in September, rowlandcontemporary,
the newest space to enter the development now spreading along the Fulton
Corridor, finds its place on the Chicago art-world map. In its little
space on the corner of Fulton and May, "Death Sex War" offers a
probing vision of a media consumerism obsessed with the worst life has
to offer. In the main room are large-scale pen-and-ink drawings by
Brooklyn artist Joan Linder that showcase the literal and figurative
transformations of the human body into objects. The show's signature
piece is her approximately life-sized drawing "Seven Eighty Two,"
which depicts a field-combat soldier in full regalia, including
camouflage uniform and night-vision goggles, a figure so removed from
the human that it becomes less difficult to understand how bureaucrats
can view death tolls as the mundane accumulation of numbers on a pie
chart rather than as the elimination of human lives defined by the
complexity of their own individual experiences.
Reducing people to numbers serves a distancing purpose not always put
to nefarious use, however, as demonstrated by her "05131," an image
that depicts a human cadaver post-autopsy, the loose flaps of freshly
lifted skin placed back over the lifeless frame like blankets over a
sleeper. Linder's remaining images, "Red Rope" and "Pink Rope" I and
II, remove the human figure from the image entirely, leaving only the
ropes with which those missing figures are tied. It's a sly bit of
poetry that the artist has used to transform the bindings that restrict
these figures to define their forms entirely, from the knots at their
ankles and wrists to the loose section wrapping the torso, mummifying
them in their role as prisoners and victims of forces larger than
themselves. Forces, in fact, for which their humanity matters as nothing
more than as tool toward accomplishing one goal or another, but for
which the artist offers no opinion of their relative value.
In the gallery's back room, which also doubles as its office, are a
series of digital inkjet prints by Chicago artist Stephen Nyktas. A
first-year graduate student at Northwestern, Nyktas has taken to
transforming objects by turning them inside out. They're often covered
in goo, remnants of their former lives as tubes, bottles, boxes or toys,
and all are titled after the objects they once were. "Inside Out Milk
of Magnesia," for instance. Or "Inside Out Petroleum Jelly," "Inside
Out Bath Toy (orange)," and "Inside Out Hand Soap." It's this last
among these which is one of the few identifiable objects in his series,
with its hand pump clearly visible upside down and suspended in the
center of its clear plastic bottle, still filled with liquid soap. It's
apt symbolism given the distinctly sexualized visual lexicon employed in
Nyktas' eviscerating practice: it's likely no unconscious intention on
that the artist has built in a resemblance of many of his objects to the
masturbation sleeves ready for purchase at most porno and sex toy shops.
Car Park
Jonathan Gitelson's new show at Peter Miller Gallery is too much fun
to miss. Gitelson, the story goes, began taking notice of the flyers
left on his car every morning and started collecting them. After
accumulating a few thousand, he hand-stitched them together into a car
cover, then parked and photographed his car in front of the various
nightclubs from which the flyers came. It simultaneously documents and
protests, an absurdist reaction to the city's publicity-starved
nightlife culture. Gitelson's a long-time part of Miller's stable of
young Chicago photographers along with Brian Ulrich and Matt Siber, and
it's nice to see him finally getting a little of the spotlight. His
camera's perhaps less flamboyant and a bit more searching than his
peers, but his images result in the most well-defined humor of the
three, an often difficult subject to render properly in photography.
These rise successfully to the task. Though Gitelson has had his "Car
Project" on display before, this is the first gallery show of the work
and worth a visit. Worthy Cause
Walking out of my office yesterday, I noticed a flyer hanging on the
door: as Version>06 approaches, organizers have announced plans for an
art auction to raise money for show expenses. Make plans to attend.
Titled "It's all about the Benjamins," the auction takes place this
Friday night at Heaven Gallery on Milwaukee Avenue with art available
from Chicago heavies going for no more than $100 each. The party will
also double as a release party for the latest issue of Lumpen magazine.
It's a worthy cause and a chance to own some miraculous work for a
pittance. Visitors will enjoy musical performances by "Bird In Hand,
Shirrelle C. Limes and the Lemons, and DJ Logan Bay," and shorts
scheduled to screen at Version>06 will be offered up at a sneak-peek
screening on the back deck roof of the gallery. Joan Linder and Stephen Nyktas show at rowlandcontemporary, 1118
West Fulton Market, (312)421-6275, through April 15. Jonathan Gitelson
shows at Peter Miller Gallery, 118 North Peoria, (312)951-1700, through
April 22. Version>06 Benefit takes place at Heaven Gallery, 1550 North
Milwaukee, March 24, 8pm. $10 admission.
Also by Michael Workman Eye Exam
Eye Exam
Eye Exam
Eye Exam
Eye Exam
Tip of the Week
Eye Exam
The Real Thing
Tip of the Week
Eye Exam
Kimmel Bits
Eye Exam
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