Emerson Dameron

These people get a lot of mail. The centerpiece of "You Are Beautiful: Four Years Later," a tribute to a catchphrase-based art project, is a pile of envelopes and a board plastered with requests for "You Are Beautiful" stickers. Some inquiries are witty or festively illustrated; some are endearingly blunt. Many contain the senders' own variations on the theme. During the last decade, web-browsing technology has swiped a good share of the postal service's business. But on this Friday night at Ai Gallery, collaborative "mail art" looks as potent as ever.

In the film "Roger Dodger," the cynical copywriter protag claims that the secret to crafting a successful ad campaign is to make people feel bad about themselves. The You Are Beautiful project claims the opposite ideological pole. Its simple credo has appeared in public spaces around the globe. Aside from the aforementioned stickers, it has also graced billboards and murals. This show includes documentation of some audacious, unauthorized "installations," specifying how long they lasted, whether hours or years.

Looking around, it's fun to speculate on who risked freedom and safety to propagate the YAB virus. By its nature, the project encourages anonymity and avoids galleries. A bunch of "You Are Beautiful" signs inside a room, without context, would be dumb. But this retrospective is a real cynicism-buster. Well before anyone seriously depletes the warm PBR, the laughter and conviviality flow.

(2006-10-10)

Also by Emerson Dameron

The Car Club
It's Sunday morning on Labor Day weekend, and despite some spillover from a street fair on Division, Humboldt Park is not crowded and seems even more huge than usual
(2006-09-12)

Cooking Class
"I guess it's my job to teach you how to cook meth," cracks John Martiyy of the National Jewish Medical Center. He's surrounded by matchbooks, coffee strainers, packets of Sudafed and other domestic commonalities used in do-it-yourself methamphetamine production
(2006-06-06)

Big Wheels
Earlier this year, Fat Tire, an amber ale concocted by the New Belgium Brewing Company in Fort Collins, Colorado, got a ceremonious rollout in Chicago
(2006-05-16)

Circle Jerk
"This entire presentation has been in English," complains a man in the front row. A sparse but ethnically varied crowd sits in Pilsen's Mexican Fine Arts Center, listening to CTA representatives discuss plans for the Circle Line project
(2006-05-09)

Racing in the Streets
(2006-03-14)

Barflies United
(2006-01-24)

King for a Minute
(2006-01-10)

Pour Showing
(2005-11-15)

Arts Attack
(2005-05-17)

The Last Howl
(2005-05-03)

Getting Personal
(2005-04-19)

Soul Vegetarian
(2005-03-15)

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