Here Comes Tandem Trouble

Eyeporium Gallery Presents

Tandem Trouble
Works by
Fletcher Hayes & Kim Laurel

Friday, Sept. 4 through Sept. 26, 2009

at Eyeporium Gallery

Opening Reception — 7-10 pm Friday, Sept. 4
 
Closing Reception — 3-5 pm Saturday, Sept. 26, 2009

1543 N Milwaukee Ave, Chicago, (in the heart of Wicker Park/Bucktown)

This boutique venue showcases two independent Chicago artists' fun favorites and new works.

Fletcher Hayes pursues an ongoing investigation of the figure through drawing and painting, plus experiments with juxtaposed photographs.

Kim Laurel utilizes mixed media including printmaking, collage, drawing and painting in works that involve abstract symbol studies and iconic animal image forms.

An eclectic mix!

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Eye Want & Eyeporium Gallery
1543 N Milwaukee Ave.
Chicago, Illinois 60622
P: 773-782-1744 Fax: 773-782-1745


Open Monday - Friday: Noon to 7pm
Saturday: Noon to 5pm
Closed Sundays

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Eyeporium will have extended hours during the smART Show. Please call for details.

smARTshow
The Wicker Park/Bucktown Fall Arts Festival
When:
September 11 : 6 p.m. - 10 p.m.
September 12 : 12 p.m. - 10 p.m.
September 13 : 12 p.m. - 6 p.m.
Event Phone Number: 312-335-3000


The second annual fest showcases more than 150 artists inside the Flat Iron building and neighborhood spots. Live music and performance art round out the fest.

Chicago Artists Resource listing

Chicago Artists' Coalition listing

ArtSlant listing (with images)

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Sinister Reflections

An exhibition I viewed on Friday at the Avram Eisen Gallery titled "The End of the 80s" includes a couple of shadowboxes by Sean Culver. My guess turned out correct that the photographic images within the boxes were daguerreotypes, similar to ones I have come across in antique stores.

In a quick glance I saw formal portraits of a shirtless man holding an open book in one box, and a woman with eyes closed wearing a black dress in the other. On closer examination a disturbing object revealed itself in the center of each.

Inside each black-lined box a pair of daguerreotypes are mounted at 90º to each other. Being highly reflective by their nature, they share their imagery, which involves the person on one plate and a more sinister image on the opposite plate -- a skeletal hand and a scorpion, respectively.

To me these combined images signify mortality or some malady of the soul. I came away feeling like an anthropologist who has discovered what it was that killed someone's great-grandparents.


The exhibition continues through August 31, 2009 at 5204 N. Damen Avenue in Chicago.

Fame Spreads the Fortune

It's always a thrill to me when I come across a piece of my artwork in someone's home that I had forgotten that they owned.

Most artists, when they sell a work of art, feel that they are placing their "adoptive child" in a good home. The reality is that the artwork is a commodity that can change hands countless times without notifying the artist. It is unfortunate that subsequent sales of a piece of art by a living artist do not provide residual payments to the artist as the piece's value increases with each transaction.

The greater the artist's reputation, the greater the demand, and with higher demand come lofty values on artwork. It's too bad an artist who is working hard to develop recognition for his/her art doesn't receive a percentage of the profits from previously sold art that is presently worth a lot more to the current owners.

On the other hand, that is why art collectors invest in art in the first place. They know that if they catch a rising star and buy a piece when the prices are still low they will have something much more valuable as the artist gains reputation. That is, if the collector can stand to part with it after the artist has hit the big time.

I'm Enjoying Two Current Exhibitions

JoJo Baby and Sal-E as documented by Bernard Colbert
"52 Mondays: Getting Into Face"

(Sal-E at the opening reception)

Curated by: Annette Sollars

Eyeporium Gallery
1543 N. Milwaukee Ave
Chicago, IL 60622

July 10 - August 1, 2009
http://www.artslant.com/chi/events/show/60866-52-mondays-getting-into-face

and
"Size Matters" at Packer Schopf Gallery
(At the opening reception)

"Size Matters" at Packer Schopf Gallery: http://www.packergallery.com/

Includes my friends:

Victoria Fuller (website) - Safety Star — a starburst made from fluorescent orange street cones that appears simple until you peer into the steel structure

Renee McGinnis (website) - a heroic portrait of the Merchandise Mart flanked by Cupids, all underneath a gigantic thunderhead

Catherine Jacobi (website) - 'Mary' — a skull almost large enough for a person to hide inside and view out through the eye sockets

Friday's opening of “52 Mondays: Getting Into Face”might be a riot.

I got a sneak preview of the outrageous “52 Mondays: Getting Into Face,” Bernard Colbert's photographs document performance artists JoJo Baby and Sal-E as they get ready to host Green Dolphin Street's weekly “Boom Boom Room” party.

The opening 7–10 pm Fri, Jul 10, 2009 promises to be quite an event.

Eyeporium Gallery
1543 N Milwaukee Ave (between North Ave and Honore St)
Bucktown/Wicker Park, Chicago

773-782-1744
http://www.eyewanteyewear.com

http://www.artslant.com/chi/events/show/60866-52-mondays-getting-into-face

I kid you not, "About Wood" kicks butt!

I recommend the "About Wood" exhibition at Las Manos Gallery this month.

Show:
July 3 - 26 2009

Las Manos Gallery
5220 N. Clark Street (half block N. of Foster)
Chicago, IL 60640
(773) 728-8910
Hours: Sat and Sun 12-5 or by appt.

www.lasmanosgallery.org/

Fletcher Hayes: Observation Becomes Myth

In Vonnegut's "Slaughterhouse Five," the Tralfamadorians are able to travel forward and backwards in the continuum of time and space. They have seen the formation of the universe and its ultimate destruction, and so they appreciate all of the marvelous moments in between, which they can experience simultaneously in random order.

My artwork represents marvelous moments -- both real and imaginary -- juxtaposing events as I see fit. It tells how an unexpected event has the power to transform an ordinary day into a historic moment in time.

Those who happen to catch one of life’s fleeting mysteries are eager to find out who else has shared the experience. It could become a tale they will tell until the end of their lives.

Truth is only as accurate as the observer’s memory and level of comprehension allow. No two individuals will recount an event the same way. An important story will live on after the witnesses have departed. Each time it is told, it will be embellished and polished until it reaches heroic proportions.

My goal as an artist is to bring to life a moment in time, described in vivid detail, in order that it might stand on its own legs. It is art that explores the place where truth and lies meet.

Fletcher Hayes
April 11, 2007

Links

Fletcher Hayes website

Fletcher Hayes Saatchi gallery

Friends

Kim Laurel -- blog

Kim Laurel -- gallery

Craig Nutt

Mythopians

Randall Kramer

Roland Kulla

Tom Robinson

Art Galleries

Anatomically Correct

Chicago Printmakers Collaborative

Las Manos Gallery

Mars Gallery

Arts Organizations

Chicago Artists' Coalition

Chicago Artists Resource

Fernwork Arts Incubator

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