Visual arts of Chicago refers topaintings,prints,illustrations,textile art,sculpture,ceramics and other visual artworks produced in Chicago or by people with a connection to Chicago. SinceWorld War II, Chicago visual art has had a strong individualistic streak, little influenced by outside fashions. "One of the unique characteristics of Chicago," saidPennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts curator Bob Cozzolino, "is there's always been a very pronounced effort to not be derivative, to not follow the status quo."[1] The Chicago art world has been described as having "a stubborn sense ... of tolerant pluralism."[2] However, Chicago's art scene is "critically neglected."[3] CriticAndrew Patner has said, "Chicago's commitment to figurative painting, dating back to the post-War period, has often put it at odds with New York critics and dealers."[4] It is argued that Chicago art is rarely found in Chicago museums; some of the most remarkable Chicago artworks are found in other cities (such as the brilliantly warped epic drawings ofHenry Darger at theAmerican Folk Art Museum inNew York City, orCarlos Cortez' collection of early 20th-century Chicago "Wobbly" (Industrial Workers of the World) woodcut prints, now in theWalter P. Reuther Library atWayne State University inDetroit).[5]
TheSchool of the Art Institute of Chicago was founded in 1879, from the remains of the Chicago Academy of Design, an earlier school founded in 1866 (thus the school predates the museum of the same name).[6] Early students and faculty were conservative and derivative in their tastes, imitating popular European models.Arthur B. Davies, a former SAIC student and one of "the Eight" was considered a disappointment for being a member of a radical group of urban modernists. In 1913, SAIC students held a protest with costumes and bonfires against the Chicago showing of theArmory Show, a collection of the best new modern art; the newspapers described the students' activity as a riot.[7]
Only a year later the African-AmericanrealistArchibald J. Motley, graduated from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago; he kept his modern, jazz-influenced paintings secret for some years after.[8]
For many years the Art Institute of Chicago regularly held annual exhibits of local artists,[7] but these ended decades ago.Mary Agnes Yerkes, (1886–1989), was an American Impressionist painter and one such exhibitor at AIC from 1912-1915. Born in Oak Park, she studied at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts, where she also taught, and then at the currently named School of the Art Institute of Chicago.[9] She is noted for her plein-air painting while camping the American West and its National Parks.
The time period between the World Wars witnessed an outpouring of artistic creativity in Chicago, led by artists of the caliber ofStanislav Szukalski,Todros Geller[10] andAlbin Polasek.
The Chicago art scene was not strictly an all-boys club however;Sr. Maria Stanisia was able to overcome the patriarchal attitudes both within early 20th centuryChicago and the hierarchy of theRoman Catholic Church to become acclaimed as one of the greatest painters in the field ofreligious art.[11] Anotherwoman artistGertrude Abercrombie who like Stanisia attended theSchool of the Art Institute of Chicago, sold hersurrealist paintings in art fairs that took place near theArt Institute of Chicago.[12]
Early evidence of Chicago's unique style came withIvan Albright, with his "excruciatingly detailed surfaces depicting things in states of decay."[13]Eldzier Cortor documented African-American life for theWPA.[3]Vera Berdich, an influentialsurrealist printmaker, taught many futureChicago Imagists at theSchool of the Art Institute of Chicago.[13]
Claes Oldenburg was born in Sweden and only spent a few years in the 1950s in Chicago, but he sold his first works here, 5 pieces at the57th Street Art Fair for $25.[14]
Post-War art in Chicago was more figurative and less abstract than theNew York fashion dictated, and was largely ignored by New York dealers and critics.[4] Chicago artists rejected the abstract aesthetics of New Yorkmodernists, preferring strong surrealism, "following their own vision,"[1] and "savage political satire."[5]
Claire Zeisler, a pioneering fiber artist, switched from weaving to large, free-standing fiber sculptures which "redefined the art form".[13] And inspired many fellow fiber artists during the 1960s and beyond to create textile work that challenges the conventional and bridges the divide between art and craft. Zeisler has shown numerous works throughout her long and notable career at the Art Institute of Chicago[15] and beyond Chicago's city limits.[16] But her legacy of experimentation was defined by this seminal period of artistic creation that was galvanized by her experimentation with fiber as sculpture in the 1960s.[17]
In the late 1960s, a group of former students of theSchool of the Art Institute of Chicago, many of whom had been mentored by teacher-artistRay Yoshida,[18] organized a series of exhibits at theHyde Park Art Center. Their art was notable for its surrealism and cartoon-influenced grotesques.
Strictly speaking, they were three different groups: The earliest was the "Monster Roster", which includedCosmo Campoli,Leon Golub,Nancy Spero, andKarl Wirsum; then the "Hairy Who", which includedArt Green,Gladys Nilsson, andJim Nutt; and finally theChicago Imagists, which includedRoger Brown,Ed Paschke, andBarbara Rossi.[3]
According to ImagistEd Paschke, the Imagists felt liberated by a lack of critical coverage. "There was a sense that no one much cared what we did here. We weren't going to get a whole lot of national attention. We could do what we wanted to do."[13] After Paschke's death, in 2004, a New York critic infamously said that Paschke's "contribution to the art of his time was somewhat obscured by his distance from New York."[19] At that same time, Chicago artistsTony Fitzpatrick andWesley Kimler and art consultantPaul Klein stirred outrage when they reported that not a single Chicago museum had any of Paschke's work on display (a claim that was later disputed).[20]
In 1972 the Chicago Imagists were given recognition in a show at theMuseum of Contemporary Art.[21]
Under the leadership ofPenelope andFranklin Rosemont, theChicago Surrealist Group came together with both artistic and political ideals.[22] In 1976 the group played a major role in organizing the World Surrealist Exhibition at theGallery Black Swan.[23]
Chicago produced severalphotorealists, includingArne Besser, andRichard Estes. Many photorealists were collected by Morton Neumann "against the grain of the prevailing critical thought at the time" (which espoused abstract expressionism), and exhibited at Chicago'sTerra Museum of American Art.[24]
Over the last few decades, many contemporary Chicago artists have become internationally successful. A persistent problem for the development of art scenes in Chicago has been the fact that, in the past, a large number of artists began in Chicago, but had to relocate elsewhere before gaining attention.Curator Robert Cozzolino sees this positively, stating that we must "recognize a powerful Chicago diaspora." Such artists includeClaes Oldenburg,Elizabeth Murray,Richard Estes,Robert Indiana,Joan Mitchell,Georgia O'Keeffe, and many others.[25]
Although no overarching theme or style characterizes Chicago's contemporary art, many contemporary critics contend that institutional support has favoredNeo-Conceptual work almost to exclusion. Chicago art is nevertheless diverse and pluralistic, as is art in general. Contemporary Chicago artists continue to explore personal styles. Although abstraction has never been as strong in Chicago as in New York, there are noteworthy Chicago abstract artists, such asWilliam Conger, who paints brightly colored, sprightly designs, andRodney Carswell, whose work is more formal and cooler; and conceptual artists such as photographerJeanne Dunning and installation artistKay Rosen.[26] Chicago's other notable contemporary artists are too numerous to name; but a few who would make any list areKerry James Marshall,Dan Peterman,Gregg Bordowitz,Julia Fish,Wesley Kimler,Tony Fitzpatrick andIñigo Manglano-Ovalle.
Robert Guinan paints psychologically penetrating portraits of bar patrons and jazz musicians which are very popular in France, but he is almost unknown in Chicago.[27]Laurie Hogin continues the grotesque Chicago tradition with lush, Dutch-style portraits of cartoonishly savage animals.[28] Ellen Lanyon's paintings show "fairy-tale gentleness and antiquarian whimsy."[29]Tony Phillips paints enigmatic figurative works combining soft modeling, fantastical or archetypal scenarios, and sometimes-dark psychological explorations.[30] Riva Lehrer, herself disabled, paints intense, sympathetic, surreal portraits of disabled persons.[31]Richard Loving paints luminous, spiritual abstractions.[3]Tim Lowly, who has mastered the difficult medium ofegg tempera, paints heartbreaking spiritual pictures of seemingly ill children.[29]Audrey Niffenegger paints beautifully weird surreal images and writes acclaimed fiction as well.[2]Frank Piatek paints not-quite-abstracts of giant, writhing tube-forms.[3]Judith Raphael paints pugnacious little girls posed like classical artworks.[2]Patrick Skoff leaves his paintings in public places for people to find and keep.[32]Matt Lamb, a self-taught artist, creates luminous expressionist paintings with bold uses of color, whimsical figures and symbols, and unlikely combinations of mediums.[33]Maria Tomasula paints exquisitely realistic, symbolic still-lives.[2]Wesley Kimler paints expressive, gestural, hybrid paintings that combine abstract and figurative elements in theatrical, sometimes grotesque and highly creative ways. John F. Miller taught for a few decades at theSAIC and, during the bulk of that period, produced paintings and some drawings in an abstract style. Since the late 1990s, Miller has produced most of his work using computers and graphics software.[34]Mark Staff Brandl combines the influences of comic books, sign-painting and philosophy in talented paintings and installations which are accessible, intellectually demanding, and warily subversive.[35]
Cat Chow constructs dresses out of subversive materials.[36]Neil Goodman is known for largely abstract bronze sculpture that ranges from still-life compositions and free-standing works to wall and floor installations to monumental public art.[37][38]Richard Hunt sculpts ruggedly abstract commentaries on social issues.[3]Kerry James Marshall paints and sculpts multi-media works commenting on African-American life.[13]
These same impulses also appeared in Chicago's livelyStreet photography scene, gaining notoriety through artists centered around theInstitute of Design such asHarry Callahan,Aaron Siskind,Leon Lewandowski as well as in the work of nanny-savantVivian Maier. Ray K. Metzker and Barbara Crane studied at the Institute of Design in the 1950s. They spread the ideas of the Institute of Design teaching photography in the second half of the 20th century.[citation needed] Metzker was Philadelphia based and Crane was based in Chicago.Bob Thall's beautiful, bleak photographs of Chicago-area architecture have also won much acclaim.[3]
Contemporaryillustrators includeJay Ryan, whose hand-silkscreened posters have advertised many a rock band,[39] and fantasistScott Gustafson.[40]Tony Fitzpatrick etches wild, detailed, tattoo-like pop images.[41]
Chicago had a revival, dating to the 1960s, of publicmural art, involving local artists and community members.[42] TheWall of Respect was one of the murals to spark this explosion. The mural was first painted in 1967 by the Visual Arts Workshop of theOrganization of Black American Culture (OBAC). It is considered the first large-scale, outdoor community mural, which spawned a movement across the U.S. and internationally.[43]
Chicago Public Art Group is a non profit cultural organization inChicago that organizes and promotes creation of community public art. Founded in 1971, the group has created numerous projects both painted andbricolage mosaics in cityunderpasses.[44][45]
In recent year's Chicago mural scene has exploded with projects likeThe B Line,[46] theWabash Arts Corridor,[47] TheBrown Walls Project,[48] and TheMile of Murals.[49]
Jeff Zimmerman paints photorealistic portrait murals, which can be found in various neighborhoods and restaurants in Chicago and Cincinnati.[50]
Chicago has a strong tradition of satirical, even grotesque art and illustration. The early books ofL. Frank Baum were illustrated with the strange work ofWilliam Wallace Denslow.[51] The Chicago tradition of political satire is seen in cartoonish artistHy Roth, and actual cartoonistsHeather McAdams andNicole Hollander.[5] Other Chicago cartoonists recognised by the art world includeLynda Barry,Dan Clowes,Jay Lynch andChris Ware (whose work was shown at the 2002Whitney Biennial).[52] Significant comics artists from Chicago includeJessica Abel,[53]"Herblock" (Herbert Block),[54] animatorWalt Disney,[55] adventure satiristPhil Foglio,[56] and goth cartoonistJill Thompson.[57]
"Chicago emerged early on as an outpost foroutsider art," according to critic Andrew Patner.[4]
Manierre Dawson was an early self-taught artist, who began painting abstracts in 1910. He was invited to display in theArmory Show.[13]
In the 1990s, a group of Chicago collectors, including Bob Roth, founder of theChicago Reader, and Ann Nathan and Judy Saslow, both of whom opened acclaimed galleries, organizedIntuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art, which leads tours of Midwestern self-taught artists and has its own exhibition space.[4]
Paul Waggoner, an eccentric himself, was an art dealer and champion of outsider art.[58]
Carl Hammer, an art dealer in Chicago, has handled much strange, figurativeoutsider art, including the epic novel, illustrated with hermaphroditic girls traced from coloring books, ofHenry Darger, and the naive portraits of society ladies ofLee Godie. Hammer also representsMr. Imagination, a self-taught bottlecap muralist.[4] Mr. Imagination, whose work is in several museums, also participated in the 2007 public art project, "Cool Globes: Hot Ideas for a Cooler Planet".[59]
In the 1980s, theMuseum of Contemporary Art, along with theArt Institute of Chicago and Chicago's Department of Cultural Affairs, attempted to put on a show of contemporary Chicago art. Called "The Chicago Show", it was supposed to celebrate Chicago's artistic diversity. Embarrassingly, 84 of the 90 artists chosen by the 5-member blind jury were found to be white. The organizers published an apology in the exhibit catalogue and invited twenty minority artists who had not been juried in to participate. Half of the invited artists, angered by this condescension, refused and organized a counter-exhibit at theChicago Cultural Center.[3]
On April 15, 1989, the same night that theHyde Park Art Center celebrated its 50th anniversary, a devastating fire destroyed most of an entire block of important galleries and art spaces in theRiver North gallery district.[4][60]
In spring of 1996, the Feigen, Inc. gallery's exhibit ofGregory Green's "10,000 Doses" and "Recipe for Making 'LSD' in the Kitchen" was raided by theChicago police, who confiscated and broke open the artworks. No drugs were found.[4]
In 1996 theMuseum of Contemporary Art, to get over the embarrassment of "The Chicago Show", attempted a survey of Chicago Art called "Art in Chicago: 1945-1995". It was criticized by the press as cramped, inadequate, and incomprehensive.[3][5] Its catalogue was judged a disappointment by Dennis Adrian, an art critic and participant, who called it "visually ... an atrocity of staggering proportions."[61]
Chicago Gallery News, a magazine founded in 1982 by Natalie van Straaten to cover the openings of the 'Original 16' group of galleries that had moved to or opened around Superior and Huron Streets in Chicago, continues to promote local and regional exhibitions and art openings. It has continually been published in print three times a year since its founding, listing gallery shows and events. Ginny Berg Van Alyea took over as publisher in 2007 and has featured interviews with artists, gallery owners, art collectors and other members of the art community. CGN continues to be the publication of record for the arts in Chicago and the region. Currently the magazine and website feature over 100 galleries and art spaces, as well as an art services directory.[62]
In the last decade, the major /national print publications based Chicago have ceased seriously covering the visual arts. In 2009, theChicago Reader, analternative weekly newspaper, reduced its formerly complete art listings of galleries and museums and regular art reviews byFred Camper to "a smattering of listings and pictures".[63] TheChicago Tribune, one of Chicago's two major newspapers, never had gallery or art listings and fired its sole dedicated fine arts reporter,Alan G. Artner, in 2009.[20]And theChicago Sun-Times, the other of Chicago's two major newspapers, has no gallery or art listings and no dedicated arts reporter, althoughKevin Nance has covered some fine art issues along with movies and popular culture.
Gallery Guide was a bi-monthly magazine with a Chicago/midwest edition which was similar in that it covered local arts listings, but it was published from New Jersey by Blouin Media and ultimately folded.
Additionally, TheNew Art Examiner (from Chicago) andDialogue magazine (Columbus, Ohio) reported on Chicago and midwestern arts communities until they both folded in 2002, though theNew Art Examiner relaunched in 2015'[64]
However, smaller online and print publications have continued to cover the art scene in Chicago and have increased dramatically in number in recent years. Since 1988,New City Magazine has covered the visual arts in Chicago, joined in the 1990s byLumpen Magazine.[citation needed].Gapers Block,[65] a Chicago-focused web publication established in 2003, added coverage with their arts and culture section. They were soon followed by Paul Klein's Art Letter[66] in 2004 and theBad At Sports podcast and blog in 2005. In 2008, print-based Proximity Magazine[67] was established, joined by two more print publications, Jettison Quarterly,[68] and The School of the Art Institute's F News Magazine[69] in 2009. Also in 2009, Chicago Art Magazine broke off of Art Talk Chicago, part of the Chicago Tribune-sponsored blog network, to start their own independent online platform.[70] Chicago Art Review, which ran from 2009-2011 and is currently in hiatus, began in 2009 as well.[71] In 2010, Sixty Inches From Center was established and includes The Chicago Arts Archive, a web publication focusing on visual art in Chicago.[72]
Additionally,Chicago Artists Resource, launched by the Department of Cultural Affairs in 2005, provides articles on visual art in addition to providing resources and tools for Chicago artists.
Local artists' interests are represented by theChicago Artists' Coalition, a nonprofit advocacy organization, which has a monthly newsletter, theChicago Artists' News.
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