Jason Foumberg

Local self-published, art-related books and magazines are flourishing. Here’s a run-down of the most recent batch.

Bailliwick issue 05

Conceived by Surabhi Ghosh and Rob Hunt, and produced as a collaborative effort by a shifting group of artists, the current edition of the biannual limited-edition book Bailliwick features full-color reproductions of collage, photography, drawing and painting, comics and poetry. Several of the artists created work specifically for the book, while others provide a peek into media that strays from their well-known practice, such as drawing by sculptor Amy Honchell. Although the first 150 copies have sold out—which means that all the limited-edition goodies (screenprint, custom dust jacket, Herpes pamphlet) are also gone—the next batch will contain a disc of music by Brendan Codey. Chicagoans will recognize many familiar names, although other locales are also represented. Highlights include photography by Ed Panar and Melissa Catanese, whose snapshots evoke parallel moments of found melancholy; Chris Lin’s collage of hands, complete with a legend to illustrate the sources as if Lin were his own historian; Chad Verrill’s masterful illuminated manuscript pages, which converse with Carl Baratta’s sci-fi inspired folklore, which then touch on Jenny Kendler’s faux-mythological creatures. The book’s production value is top-notch: slick, a pleasure to hold and a treat to read. $25, from http://www.bailliwik.org/

The Small Science Collective

Andrew Yang has been distributing "one-page mini zines" on scientific subjects at various locations around town including libraries and benches. The tone is provocatively humorous and the topics provide little pieces of insight. Perhaps intelligent design is "not so ‘intelligent’ after all…" concludes the current edition.

Free, at various locations and http://www.andrewyang.com/sscpage.htm

The Platypus Review issue 1

Published by a group of Leftists, or neo-Marxists, participating in an intellectual revolution. Platypus engages heavy topics for heavy times. Featuring essays on art, history and contemporary politics. The first issue gives a history of the Left movement and discusses current U.S.-Iran relations.

Free, at various locations and www.platypus1917.org/theplatypusreview

BAT issue 5

This self-published art-criticism journal emerged amid a dearth of local arts criticism. But after just five issues, its members are moving on. This last issue features an interview with long-time local art critic Fred Camper, Lori Waxman’s live art critiques that were written in less than sixty minutes and exhibit reviews. The tone of the writing in BAT is serious and engaged, and its silence will be heard.

$4, available at various art galleries and www.batjournal.com

Paper & Carriage

In their second printed collaboration, Green Lantern Press and Three Walls present a literary and arts quarterly magazine. (Their first collaboration was the recently published "Phonebook," a compendium of local and national alternative art spaces with critical essays). In addition to promoting creative non-fiction, the journal contains installments from a graphic novel, an "artist centerfold project" and a silk-screened cover. Expect the book to be a quality piece of work, given Green Lantern and Three Walls’ commitment to strong and creative emerging voices.

$15, at Green Lantern Gallery and Three Walls

AREA #5

Full of insightful essays and commentary, AREA is an art, education and activism newspaper. The current issue, arranged around the theme "How We Learn," highlights underground organizations that spread benevolence and the drive to learn. Institutions highlighted in issue #5 include Pomegranate Radical Health Collective, Teachers for Social Justice and the Chicago Freedom School, as well as several artist-run alt-spaces. Free, available at various locations

Philip Von Zweck’s art-swap books

Von Zweck has asked thirty local artists to contribute a hundred pages each, which were then collated into a hundred limited-edition bound books. The range of media is diverse, from collage to Xerox to prints. The list of contributors reads like a who’s who of recent Chicago art history. The first book was released in July, and the second set of another thirty artists is due in February.

$30, available at Gallery 40000

(2007-11-19)

Also by Jason Foumberg

Eye Exam
Cody Hudson, or struggle inc, and Chuck Anderson, aka NoPattern, are both graphic artists with current exhibits in Chicago. In both cases, the context is the contemporary art gallery—white walls, clean presentation, explanatory labels—elevating the designer’s practice to a meaningful endeavor where it is elsewhere a vehicle for delivering product
(2007-11-13)

Eye Exam
Art is one of the rare few things that is self-critical of its workings, and so it is often at odds with itself, and readily recognizes this
(2007-10-30)

Eye Exam
Artist Justin Marshall, who currently shows at Thomas Robertello Gallery, is a TV junkie; not only do televisions blare in the background of his studio while he works on his art, but also his current solo exhibit foregrounds the sets—both the TVs themselves as well as the sets and props of popular televised emotions
(2007-10-23)

Eye Exam
Around the Coyote is re-figuring its role as a proponent of emerging artists, and has hired several new curators in specialized areas to help facilitate a rebirth. Ben Schaafsma and Stevie Greco collaborated as the curators of public art. Catherine Forster is one of the new film and video curators
(2007-10-09)

Tip of the Week
(2007-10-09)

Eye Exam
(2007-09-25)

Eye Exam
(2007-09-18)

Eye Exam
(2007-09-11)

Eye Exam
(2007-09-04)

Eye Exam
(2007-08-28)

Eye Exam
(2007-08-21)

Eye Exam
(2007-08-14)

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