Sarah Dahnke

Contemporary art collecting is typically reserved for the well-to-do, as prices are usually out of reach for us lower-class folks. Sure, it's feasible to get your hands on a reproduced and framed print, but purchasing a small sculpture may require taking out a small loan. However, three local art spaces that recently held openings have embraced the fact that unique and coveted art can also be affordable to the buyer who falls within an average price range.

Prism Contemporary Glass, "START"

The basis for this exhibit of glass sculptures is to focus on a "new audience" of beginning collectors who may not be familiar with glasswork. The exhibit contains work from around twenty artists, priced from under $200 to just over $2,000. While established artists can charge an enormous amount, these established yet under-represented artists can charge a lower price for their equally stunning pieces. The exhibit features boldly colored pieces by Doug Randall, whose linear geometric patterns offset a series of curvaceous bowl-shaped sculptures. Particularly of note are the delicate sculptures by Cali Balles. Using photographs as her models, she replicates natural forms in clear glass, using texture to provide an additional point of interest. Ian Duncan's whimsical fish-lure-shaped sculptures embrace the space above our heads, which is rarely used for sculpture. His fish are airy, which allows the light to illuminate the sculpture much more than it would with a more opaque selection. Equally of interest is Etsuko Ichikawa, who doesn't create glass sculptures but instead imprints hot glass onto paper, allowing the scorch marks to form the work of art. The results are wispy, ghost-like sepia-toned "paintings" of varying sizes.

Columbia College Chicago Center for Book & Paper Arts, "Off the Grid"

This showcase of broadsides in the back gallery at the Book & Paper Arts center is full of breathtaking work from nationally known printmakers. As the name implies, the artists used letterforms to explore and create organic graphics. While the end results are vibrant and beg to be the centerpiece of any room, it's the process that will impress seasoned letterpress operators. The most striking pieces come from veteran printmaker Ken Daley, whose three pieces, "Country Fair," "Exhibition Announcement" and "Tea for Two" are bright and clean and truly showcase the graphic possibilities that can be created in letterform. Also included in the exhibit are graphic designer Sarah McCoy from the University of Iowa, Terry Horrigan, the woman behind Protean Press and Paper Road/Tibet founder Tom Leech. All of the works that are for sale in "Off the Grid" range from $30 to $750.

Sacred Art, various artists

This Roscoe Village-based store has managed to create quite a buzz in a short amount of time, as it is only celebrating its one-year anniversary this month. This art boutique was designed to be an alternative to the traditional gallery, allowing up-and-coming artists a place to display their works and providing a venue for those in search of unique and affordable art. The store's monthly openings have allowed Sacred Art to become a fixture of the strip of commerce near the intersection of Roscoe and Damen. At any given time, Sacred Art may display work from local collage artists, painters, photographers and sculptors, who have priced their work from anywhere to $20 to $500, with a significant number of quality pieces for sale around $150. Particularly notable artists who have a relationship with Sacred Art include printmaker Dolan Geiman, whose kitschy Lichtenstein-esque single-color figures are printed over colorful and patterned backgrounds. Joe Smigielski's blurry paintings are titled with trippy names such as "Raspberry Mountain" and "Breakfast on Blue Mountain," making them intriguing to some and frightening to those who may have had a bad acid trip in the past. And Megan Harrigan Cox's black-and-white photographs are accessible to all, capturing the essence of the Chicago winter through dead trees, broken bricks and cold patrons waiting for the CTA.

Insiders Tip: Tiny Showcase

While this particular "gallery" is not Chicago-based, it's worth mentioning among a list of affordable arts. Created by Jon Buonaccorsi and Shea'la Finch, each Tuesday TinyShowcase.com features one hand-selected artist's limited-run prints in a smaller-than-usual size, available for between $20 and $30. A percentage of the money from each print sold is donated to a charity of the artist's choice. Recent artists have included Gregory Euclide, Alexia Stamatiou and Ryan McLennan. But take note: the list of customers is huge, so you have to be one of the first in line to actually snag a print.

"Start" runs at Prism Contemprary Glass, 1048 West Fulton, through March 3. "Off the Grid" runs at the Center for Book and Paper Arts, 1104 South Wabash, through February 24. Sacred Art is located at 2040 West Roscoe.

(2007-02-13)

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