Today before seminar, Martina and I went to the Hyde Park Art Center (HPAC) and then to the University of Chicago Renaissance Society. HPAC had a number of different exhibits in their various galleries. On the main floor, there was a show that seemed to Martina and me to be an examination of gender roles through the language and imagery of competitive sports. Most of the pieces were found or constructed sports objects where the artist had added arts and crafts elements. For example, a hockey stick might have been wrapped in a garland; shoulder pads might be laced with pink ribbon. Thus, the pieces were made stereotypically feminine not only through the notion of craft, but also through the utilization of cliche "girly" elements, like pink. One of our favorite pieces was a sports pennant that said "GO BITCHES" in hand-cut letters. Usually, when we see things like jerseys or helmets on display, it is to commend some heroic athletic feat--something that seems almost superhuman. To see these sports objects with frills and lace, then, made a mockery of the silly macho quality of it all in a very subtly smart exhibit.
Upstairs in Gallery 4 of HPAC had an exhibit called "Police and Thieves" that dealt with all the struggles of crime in an urban environment. My favorite piece was a sculpture by Ben Stone called "Neighbor" (2010). According to HPAC-provided information:
At the Renaissance Society, the show was called "The Age of Aquarius." It was, according to the Society's website, meant to address the "lingering cultural fallout of the 1960s." The show included a number of different types of work, including film, 2D and 3D. At the exhibit entrance there was a fantastical smattering of small objects, the kind of things you might keep in a little box for memories (only beautiful enough for an exhibition).
In the main room, there were life-size black and white standing cutouts of a man who seemed to be in various stages of either dancing or climbing stairs, but probably dancing. (Distraught voice: I don't know what this means!) Sandwiching these figures from either side were large black and white 2D pieces. One of them, pictured below, could be a Vietnamese woman or maybe just a woman to represent the generalized "other." She is holding dolls, though one of them seems to be sitting up on its own. Dotted lines that could be viewed as either rays or stitches radiate from the right corner of the painting so that it looks patchy and sewn.
In the other rooms, there were more 3D pieces, one made with string to provide a geometric representation of the sun, another made with peacock feathers. There was also a film piece about a man and a woman who experimented for years with a swinger lifestyle typical of the romanticized group love lifestyle of the 60s.
Upstairs in Gallery 4 of HPAC had an exhibit called "Police and Thieves" that dealt with all the struggles of crime in an urban environment. My favorite piece was a sculpture by Ben Stone called "Neighbor" (2010). According to HPAC-provided information:
"the impish sculpture [...] is based on the popular symbol for crime nicknamed 'Boris the burglar', featured on community watch signs posted in neighborhoods all over the country. The figure is neither menacing nor comforting and raises questions about what constitutes suspicious or acceptable social behavior."The sculpture was smooth, short, and all black. Its mystery made it alluring; it looked at first like a black traffic cone, then more like a cloaked chess piece sliding into unknown territory. It is this kind of ambiguity that is central to the nature and the language of crime.
At the Renaissance Society, the show was called "The Age of Aquarius." It was, according to the Society's website, meant to address the "lingering cultural fallout of the 1960s." The show included a number of different types of work, including film, 2D and 3D. At the exhibit entrance there was a fantastical smattering of small objects, the kind of things you might keep in a little box for memories (only beautiful enough for an exhibition).
In the main room, there were life-size black and white standing cutouts of a man who seemed to be in various stages of either dancing or climbing stairs, but probably dancing. (Distraught voice: I don't know what this means!) Sandwiching these figures from either side were large black and white 2D pieces. One of them, pictured below, could be a Vietnamese woman or maybe just a woman to represent the generalized "other." She is holding dolls, though one of them seems to be sitting up on its own. Dotted lines that could be viewed as either rays or stitches radiate from the right corner of the painting so that it looks patchy and sewn.
In the other rooms, there were more 3D pieces, one made with string to provide a geometric representation of the sun, another made with peacock feathers. There was also a film piece about a man and a woman who experimented for years with a swinger lifestyle typical of the romanticized group love lifestyle of the 60s.
And art from the University of Chicago Smart Museum, also free, which we visited after seeing the Renaissance Society and eating spinach feta croissants from the Medici Cafe:
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Water Lilies No. 34 by Donald Lipski |
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Water Lilies No. 34 by Donald Lipski |
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Great explanation given for Water Lilies |
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Totem III, Claire Zeisler |
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