The 5 Artists Project: Darrell Roberts

Darrell Roberts was my first art instructor when I started art classes in 2006. The following year, he became one of bloggers for ArtStyle Blog, where his interview appeared in April, 2007. Starting his career as a figurative painter and then switching to an abstract style about ten years ago, he uses thick applications of oil paint mixed with pumice in multiple layers on relatively small canvasses.

Darrell Roberts. Sidewalk Voyages. 2008. Oil and pumice on canvas, 10" x 8".

"My current series is based on my walks back and forth from my studio and the path I repeatedly take. Each time with the month of the seasons changing like the wind, I encounter new inspiration. While walking I take photos with my cellphone and email them to myself for continued inspiration while painting. It may be a piece of trash that has blown by, weathered by the elements and faded in color, or it may be a pipe sticking out of the sidewalk with faded yellow paint and rusty browns, or a light blue metal frame of a door way, bent and abandoned, but a beautiful line, color and composition to me. Spray painted gray squares, where graffiti has been covered up make a lovely composition to me. The facades of buildings being torn down, the rubble of bricks and wood in dumpsters to the snow and colorful bits of spring vegetation creeping up through the cracks in the sidewalks inspire my art making daily."

Darrell Roberts. Sidewalk Voyages. 2008. Oil and pumice on canvas, 10" x 8".

Although he has said that while most of his inspiration comes from nature and the ongoing activity in the city, he is also captivated by the manmade colors of toys and household objects he finds in stores. He tries to recreate the same manufactured colors in some of his paintings, symbolically juxtaposing the natural and constructed elements he finds in his own environment.

Sidewalk Voyages, detail

The following is a write-up in the Chicago Connection: The 5 Artists Project catalogue, which was published in August, 2008.

Darrell Roberts
Email: darrellkr@gmail.com
Website: http://darrell-roberts.com/

Background - Painter with more than 10 years of professional experience
- MFA, BFA, School of the Art Institute of Chicago; BA, Art History, University of Northern Iowa
- Teaching experience: Taught painting at Hyde Street Art Center, Chicago
- Grants: Ludwig Vogelstein Foundation, career development, 12/07; George Sugarman Foundation, purchase of paint and career enrichment, 11/07; Dedalus Foundation, full fellowship to Vermont Studio Center, 11/24-12/21/07; Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, 3/07
- Represented by Thomas McCormick Gallery, Chicago
- Exhibiting since 1997

Selected Exhibitions
Fresh Paint - a group exhibition of Chicago Painters and Abstraction 2008: Summer Group Show, Thomas McCormick Gallery, Chicago, 2008; Luscious, Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago, 2007; i feel good, i feel great, i feel wonderful, L2 Kontemporary Gallery, with Ana Fernandez, Los Angeles, CA, 2007; Texture and Tone, with Meredith Brickell, Joe Pintz, Lillstreet Art Center, Chicago, 2007; The Texture of Change, with Robert Putnam, Brickton Art Center, Park Ridge, IL, 2007; material + light, with Ana Fernandez, Paola Cabal, Bill Morrison, mn gallery, Chicago, 2007; Urban Landscapes, Noir Gallery, Jacksonville, IL

Growing up in Eldon, Iowa, Darrell Roberts has lived and worked in Chicago since 1997. Influenced by art critic Harold Rosenberg and artist Hans Hoffman, he reveals that his painting process is similar to the “push and pull on the growing metropolis” – the never-ending construction and re-building of buildings and roadways in the city. He started his profession as a figurative painter and then found more enjoyment as an abstractionist.

Working with small canvasses (usually 12” x 12”), he uses oil paints mixed with pumice to build layer upon layer of color, lines, forms, and textures. Inspired by construction sites, nature, and found objects, he takes photos daily with his cell phone during his walks through the city. In his studio, he begins painting with a brush and then progresses to layering with a knife, which is also used to apply the paint-pumice mixture thickly. He constructs/deconstructs his paintings and builds layer upon layer of swirling paints in low relief -- sometimes extending to the sides of the canvas.

The colors in his paintings are very vivid and bring his compositions to life. Influenced by colors in his environment, he sometimes tries to duplicate interesting manufactured colors to include in his pieces. When he works in a series, which he usually does, and arranges the paintings side by side, one immediately senses a lyrical cohesiveness of the entire group. The pieces are tied together like a compelling narrative of the urban landscape. The conscientious viewer is immediately drawn into the paintings to get a closer look at the layers of paint and to uncover the mysteries that lie beneath.

The 5 Artists Project: Iris Goldstein

Left to right, Torso 1, Torso 2, Torso 3 detail

Iris Goldstein appeared in ArtStyle Blog in November, 2007, in an interview by Mirjana Ugrinov, another artist in the show. Mirjana and Iris have worked together as colleagues at ARC Gallery in Chicago, where Iris currently serves as an officer. I met with Iris earlier in the year in her studio, where she showed me her art and process.

For many years, Iris made large sculptures of hard wood and covered them with tiny marks with color pencils, enhancing the texture and color of the wood. Although she still uses color pencils in her drawings on paper, she now uses her current technique -- plaster-aluminum screening -- almost exclusively on her relief sculptures.


Iris Goldstein. Gesture 1, Gesture 2, Gesture 3, Gesture 4. 2008. Aluminum screen, plaster and acrylic paint, 15" x 19" x 4", 15" x 15" x 67", 17" x 13" x 4", 13" x 14" x 6", respectively.

Her process generally involves cutting pieces of aluminum screening, forming organic shapes, using wire to hold the shapes, attaching cheesecloth over the wire, applying wet plaster over the cheesecloth, and finally texturizing and painting the dried plaster.

Gesture, detail

Gesture, detail

Gesture, detail

"My relief sculptures, made of aluminum screening, create presences which explore the connections between surface form and an emotive exploration of color. The repeated patterns of the forms, which are geometric but also sensual, play against the subtle shiftings of the color.

The search is for equilibrium, a balance of formal relationships. The surfaces are rendered to appeal to the sense of touch. Repetitions and change are used to examine the power of texture and color to add to one's sense of well being or disquiet.

Abstraction enlarges one's ability to bring to an artwork personal reactions and experience, and I hope for an enlargement of my ideas and experiences through the reactions of others to my work."

Sometimes to develop the structure of her pieces, she uses a wood backing to provide a strong foundation to help enhance the surface area of the pieces. Visitors have commented that her Torsos remind them of female figures.

Iris Goldstein. Torso 1, Torso 2, Torso 3. 2008.
Aluminum screen, plaster, and acrylic paint, 33" x 17" x 3".

In addition to relief sculptures, Iris enjoys drawing with color pencils. Similar in form and color to her sculptures, the Gesture Grid drawings complement her other pieces in the show.

Iris Goldstein. Gesture Grid. 2008. Color pencil, 22" x 25".

Gesture Grid, detail

The following is a write-up in the Chicago Connection: The 5 Artists Project catalogue, which was published in August, 2008.

Iris Goldstein
Email: IrisGoldstein@sbcglobal.net
Website: http://www.irisgoldstein.net/

Background - Painter and sculptor with more than 20 years of professional experience - MFA, School of the Art Institute of Chicago; AB, Smith College, Northampton, MA. Studied sculpture with Leonard Baskin, also with Cosmo Campoli at the Contemporary Arts Workshop in Chicago - Taught children’s film making classes after school, University of Chicago Lab Schools - Artist-in-Residence, Haguro-Machi, Japan
- Member, ARC Cooperative Gallery, Chicago
- Exhibiting since 1979

Selected Exhibitions
5' by 2', Members Exhibition, ARC Gallery, Chicago, 2007; Muses and Musings, One-Person Show, ARC Gallery, Chicago, 2006; Open Studios, Exchange Exhibit, La Genie de la Bastille, Paris, France, 2005; W.A.S.P.S Chicago Exchange, Patriothall Gallery, Edinburgh,Scotland, 2005; EastWest, Group Show, Liu Haisu Art Museum, Shanghai,China, Catalogue, 2005; Small Objects, Group Show, TZ Gallery, Chicago, 2004; Articulations, Two-Person Show, Atelier Art International, New York, 2003; 30th Anniversary Exhibition, ARC Gallery, Chicago, IL, Exhibition Co-Chair and Installer of the work, Editor of the exhibition catalog, 2003; A Capitol Commute, Gallery 10, Washington, D.C., 2002; ARC in Japan, Matsugoaka Gallery, Haguro-Machi, Japan, Atelier Gym Gallery, Tokyo, Japan, 2001; Wer Weiss Wozo es Gut Ist? GEDOK Gallery, Hamburg, Germany; Art of the Third Coast, Red Head Gallery, Toronto, Canada, 2001

Observing Iris Goldstein’s plaster-relief sculptures, one wonders how the pieces stay upright on the wall, as they look like dense twisted pieces of wood, clay, or stoneware. Using plaster-covered aluminum screening, she creates relief sculptures that not only seem to defy gravity but also have an extra dimension to them with their wave-like and curved formations, similar to organic forms in nature or even wormholes in space.

Earlier in her career, she worked on labor-intensive wood sculptures and then discovered the plaster-over-aluminum-screening method from a friend. The process involves cutting pieces of aluminum screening and shaping them by hand and then using wire to hold the shape, stretching cheesecloth over the shape, painting several coats of plaster on the surface, and then painting and adjusting the shape as the plaster dries. As the piece starts to dry, she sands the surface for a smoother look, carves the surface, or leaves the paint brush texture. Sometimes the shapes are stapled onto a wood backing. After the piece is completely dry, she applies a protective coating on it. In the end, the piece is very durable, light weight, and easily transported.

With a palette ranging from earthy browns and grays to iridescent jewel tones, she explores the “connections between surface form and an emotive exploration of color.” The curvilinear geometric and natural shapes draw us in to take a closer look at the shifting colors, forms, and textures. Providing an almost meditative quality, the shapes sooth us with their undulations and repetitive patterns. Some of the pieces exhibit a subtle aura of sensuality and magnetic energy, and one has an urge to run a finger along the surface to connect to it.

The 5 Artists Project: Frank Connet

I first met Frank Connet when I interviewed him on ArtStyle Blog in July, 2007. Working as a textile restorer for much of his professional career in his studio in Oak Park, Frank has incorporated his intricate knowledge of natural dyes and textiles in his own Shibori-inspired wall hangings and sculptures.


Frank Connet. Estuary II. 2008. Indigo and walnut dye on handwoven hemp, 71.5" x 48.5". Courtesy of The Douglas Dawson Gallery.

"Memories of nature form the basis of my art. The rhythms and patterns of a leaf’s radiating lines, the cycles of growth and decay, the confluence of waters and silted sand created by currents are echoed in these cut and pieced textile hangings.

Line and form are created using the Shibori process. A series of hand sewn stitches are drawn tight to bunch or pleat the fabric into a dense mass which is then dyed. The process permanently alters the surface of the wool, hemp or cotton, creating lines, ridges and washes, both of color and texture. Layered natural dyes of indigo, madder root, cochineal, walnut husks and black oak bark, alone or in combination, create a limitless palette of hue and depth. Dye on fiber creates a density of color that continues to fascinate me.

"My work in textile conservation has deeply influenced my art. Studying and restoring a wide variety of ancient and historic textiles has allowed me the opportunity to appreciate pre-industrial image making and dyeing techniques. The fabric of a Japanese farmer’s patched and repaired indigo dyed kimono, the rhythm in a West African strip woven wrapper or the irregular geometry in a Peruvian funerary tunic provides a continuous source of instruction and inspiration."

His craftsmanship in using natural dyes with textiles such as handwoven hemp is evident in his two pieces -- Estuary II and Rift -- in the show. Using the Japanese Shibori dyeing technique, which uses pulled threads and clamps, he often dyes each piece of fabric up to 30 times to get the desired effects --layers upon layers of hue variations or repetitive pattern formations.

Estuary II, detail

Estuary II, detail

After he completes the dyeing process, he cuts the fabric and creates a collage to complete the composition. The individual elements are machine sewn to form the piece and then hand quilted to create texture. When the sewing is completed, he then attaches a lining to the back of the entire piece and then mounts the piece to a stretcher.


Frank Connet. Rift. 2008. Indigo and walnut dye on handwoven hemp, 46.5" x 78.5". Courtesy of The Douglas Dawson Gallery.

Rift, detail

The following is a write-up in the Chicago Connection: The 5 Artists Project catalogue, which was published in August, 2008.

Frank Connet
Contact: 6140 W. North Avenue, Chicago, IL 60639
Phone: 773.637.7007
Email: Textileres@aol.com
Website: http://www.frankconnet.com/

Background
- Textile restorer and artist with more than 20 years of professional experience
- BFA, Kansas City Art Institute, Kansas City, MO
- Teaching experience: Penland School of Craft, 2008; Visiting Artist, Kansas City Art Institute, MO; Evanston Art Center, Evanston, IL; Southern Illinois University, Fiber
- Gallery representation: Textile-based work, Douglas Dawson Gallery, Chicago; works on paper, Kate Hendrickson Fine Art, Chicago; Jane Sauer Thirteen Moons Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
- Exhibiting since the mid 1980s; started showing textile work in 1998

Selected Exhibitions
Material Difference, Group Show, Chicago Cultural Center, 2007; Clamped and Bound, Solo Exhibition, Douglas Dawson Gallery, Chicago, 2007; Silk Road Oasis, Illinois Artisan Program, Chicago Tourism Center, 2006; Frank Connet & Jiro Yonezawa, Jane Sauer Thirteen Moons Gallery, Santa Fe, NM, 2006; Fiberart Interantional 2004, Bellevue Art Museum, Bellevue, WA, 2005; Gift, Bequest, and Purchase: A Selection of Textile Acquisitions, 1998-2003, the Art Institute of Chicago, 2004-05; Fiberology: Six Extraordinary Contemporary Fiber Artists, Montgomery College Art Gallery, Rockville, MD; Museum of Arts & Design, New York, 2004; SOFA Chicago 2003, Heltzer, Navy Pier, Chicago

As a textile conservationist, Frank Connet has had the opportunity to study, analyze, and restore museum-quality historic textiles. With this knowledge and his interest in natural dyeing techniques, he creates abstract textile wall hangings that are “quilted” paintings, reminiscent of natural hand-dyed Japanese kimonos or West African strip woven textiles.

His artistic process starts with natural dyes and fabrics, which he sews and pleats and then dyes on average thirty to forty times to achieve the desired colors and patterns. He uses the Japanese Shibori process: “A series of hand-sewn stitches are drawn tightly to bunch or pleat the fabric into a dense mass, which is then dyed. The process permanently alters the surface of the wool, hemp or cotton, creating lines, ridges and washes, both of color and texture. Layered natural dyes create a limitless palette of hue and depth.” After the dyeing process, the fabrics are dried, cut, sewn, and pieced into textile hangings. He also creates Shibori “sculptural” pieces, which are many yards of dyed fabric pulled tightly into a three-dimensional form.

Many of his pieces are inspired by nature – transitions, cycles, patterns, symbols, and structures. His compositions are a series of mainly geometric shapes in monochromatic blues, grays, and browns, sometimes enlivened with a dash of red or yellow. What makes his pieces come alive is his instinctive layering of monochromatic blues, showing hidden depth in the background, and on top of that, a series of rectangles with different colors and line patterns, almost symbolizing windows into the unknown if one dares to look through them.

October, Chicago Artists' Month: Ossia Fine Arts Space

Chicago Connection: The 5 Artists Project.
Ossia Fine Arts Space. East windows.

As part of the blog installation for Chicago Connection: The 5 Artists Project, showing through November 1, 2008, and to celebrate Chicago Artists' Month, I will be writing a series about the five artists. To start the series, I will be answering questions I get asked quite often about the show. Please note that the following images are overall views of the gallery. Future blogs will depict artists' works in detail.

Chicago Connection: The 5 Artists Project.
Ossia Fine Arts Space. North entrance.

Are you one of the artists?
No, I'm actually the guest curator. I helped to put the show together with the gallery owner and curator, Karen Schulz-Harmon, and the artists (Frank Connet, Iris Goldstein, Darrell Roberts, Mirjana Ugrinov, Dale Washington).

Chicago Connection: The 5 Artists Project.
Ossia Fine Arts Space. Middle of the gallery.

Do you work as a curator?
I work as a freelance writer, editor, and illustrator. I'm currently working on writing and illustrating children's books and adult self-help books. Although this show may be the first and last one I curate, I would consider curating other shows in the future.

Chicago Connection: The 5 Artists Project.
Ossia Fine Arts Space. West wall.

How did the show come about?
Karen as well as all of the artists appeared in my art blog ArtStyle Blog, A Voice for Artists in Chicago, which I created in 2007 and stopped working on in April, 2008. The blog was a venue for artists, whom I thought were talented but the majority needed more exposure. I wanted to have a show to showcase the talent of some of the artists, and so I approached Karen about a show for some contemporary Chicago artists. Since her space is used as a gallery and performance space, we decided to include live musical performances for each reception. We have a reception coming up on Friday, Oct. 10th from 6-9 p.m., featuring singer / songwriter Lisa Danielson.

Chicago Connection: The 5 Artists Project.
Ossia Fine Arts Space. West wall from south.

How did you select the artists?
I realize that art is a very subjective and personal to a lot of people. I can say that it wasn't just because I liked the artists and their art. I also used the following criteria:
- Chicago artists who live and work in the Chicagoland area and who have professional experience and qualifications (education, exhibition / curatorial experience, teaching experience, art community involvement, and so forth)
- Craftsmanship and technical expertise developed over an extended period of time
- Creative use of color, form, and materials in a unique style
- Cultural relevance: representing or expressing Chicago's energy, people, landscape, and so forth; interpreting other art forms or cultural aspects of society
- Connection to the viewer: ability to connect to the viewer on a human level -- mentally, emotionally, and perhaps spiritually

Chicago Connection: The 5 Artists Project.
Ossia Fine Arts Space. South wall.

Why do you call this blog (Happy Faces Chicago) a blog installation?
An art installation uses almost any media to create a specific experience in a specific environment. If I'm going to be blogging specifically about The 5 Artists Project during the duration of the show, why not call it a "blog installation"? While I sit in the gallery every Friday until Oct. 31st, I interview people who come into the gallery by asking them what they think of the show and then I include any information about them in the blog. Of course, I have invited at least one artist every Friday so that we can include different artistic points of view.

Chicago Connection: The 5 Artists Project.
Ossia Fine Arts Space. East wall.

Blog Installation No. 7: Ossia Fine Arts Space

This blog installation is part of Chicago Connection: The 5 Artists Project, showing through November 1, 2008, at Ossia Fine Arts Space in the Fine Arts Building. For the duration of the show, anyone coming into the gallery on Fridays from noon to 4 p.m. will be part of the blog.

Caroline Anderson stopped by the gallery today. Her comments on the show: "I'm interested in art that is not cranked-out mechanically in response to some perceived commercial market. The strength of the show is the connection to humanity. The art is tactile and you want to touch it. You can almost experience the making of the art."

A painter, a digital art professor, and art entrepreneur, Caroline was born and raised in Minneapolis, MN, studied art with the Institute for European Studies in Vienna and Paris, and earned an MFA from Ohio University. Currently teaching at Illinois Institute of Art in Chicago, which has a European study abroad program, Caroline is studying German to be able to teach animation and interactive media classes in Berlin. She is working with a Berlin artist on the Confession Station Project, which is a "confession / gallery / collaboration" artistic hybrid.

Caroline Anderson. Switch Statement. 2008.
Mixed media, 24" x 24".

"My paintings are highly crafted, with very thick layers of paint and texture buildup. The 'handmade' character of the paintings is emphasized and is very apparent when you see them; each successive layer reveals a bit of what went before, as though one could visually excavate through time. The tactile quality of the paintings is in deliberate contrast to the flatland quality of computer-based art and computer generated imagery. I am interested in emphasizing the difference between handmade and machine-generated work."

Caroline Anderson. Spooner 2. 2008.
Mixed media, 24" x 24".

Stylistically, Caroline reveals that her work has been influenced by Kandinsky; Klee; Gee's Bend, Alabama, quilters; Gerhardt Richter; Sigmar Polke; and German neoexpressionists, among others. Reflecting her interests in crafts, travel, geography, language, and humanity, her paintings are mixed-media collages, including acrylic paints and mediums, pumice, building materials, and textiles.

Her recent shows and exhibitions include: 2008 London Biennale, England; Spectrum, North Shore Country Day School, Winnetka, IL, 2008; Caroline Anderson: Paintings, Gallery H, Three Oaks, MI, 2007; Fresh Faces, Judy Saslow Gallery, Chicago, 2007; Thank You, ARC Gallery, Chicago, 2007; Art Against AIDS, Gallery 180, Chicago, 2007; Caroline Anderson: Recent Paintings, Gallery 180, Chicago, 2006. She will be showing her work at Ginny Syke's Studio Rose as part of the Ravenswood Art Walk in early October.

For more information on Caroline and her art, please visit:
Personal website: http://www.carolineanderson.net
Business website: http://artandtechnology.net
Berlin blog: http://www.chicagoartist.blogspot.com

Blog Installation No. 6: Ossia Fine Arts Gallery

This blog installation is part of Chicago Connection: The 5 Artists Project, showing through November 1, 2008, at Ossia Fine Arts Space in the Fine Arts Building. For the duration of the show, anyone coming into the gallery on Fridays from noon to 4 p.m. will be part of the blog.

Nancy Bechtol, artist and videographer/photographer, stopped by the gallery. She commented, "The pieces show natural formations but you also get the sense of the urban. They are contained within boundaries, like a grid, but there is an expansiveness to them. You are brought into the pieces and they contain their own universe. You see an intensity of craftsmanship and beauty of an intricate nature."

A Chicago artist whose work spans several media and styles over a 25-year period, Nancy is currently getting ready for her upcoming ARC gallery member show (Does It Matter?), which will feature her Light Ride Series of digital photography. For this series, while her husband drove on the expressways and through small towns in Illinois, she sat next to him and "drew with her camera" to capture spontaneous impressions of direct and reflected light from objects around her in the early morning hours. She has also been working continuously since 1999 on another series entitled Freaks: Viruses, Trojans and Other Variants, which includes photographs of people with disjointed features to show them as symbolic viruses (like computer viruses with personalities).

Earlier in her career, she studied painting with Don Baum, artist and curator, and was influenced by the Hairy Who, the early Chicago Imagists. Earning an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, she was inspired by pioneering video artist Phil Morton, founder of the Video Area.


Nancy Bechtol. Graphic Woman Walks. 2007. From the UnReal Landscape Series. Digital photo manipulations. Printed on archival paper.

"My art is really a mixed bag. I adapt for my audience, and whatever works for the concept is what I have used or invented. Currently I work in digital photography and video, both experimental and documentary style. As an artist I often reinvent myself."

Her recent exhibitions include: 50 Years of PowWow, American Indian Center, production and postproduction of DVD/video Four Circles of PowWow included in the traveling show presented by the Field Museum of Chicago; Goosetopia, Bartlett Nature Center, James (Pate) Philip State Park, remounted DVD site-specific 3-channel video in collaboration with David Bechtol; Art Vibes, Chicago Access Network TV, 8-part series about peace marches with original content; The Promised Land, Athenaeum Theatre, Chicago, video of fashion show/live event with Fluxcore.


Nancy Bechtol. Moon Rabbit. 2008. From the UnReal Landscape Series. Digital photo manipulations. Printed on archival paper.

For more information on Nancy and her art, go to http://www.absolutearts.com/nancybechtol.

Blog Installation No. 5: Ossia Fine Arts Space

This blog installation is part of Chicago Connection: The 5 Artists Project, showing through November 1, 2008, at Ossia Fine Arts Space in the Fine Arts Building. For the duration of the show, anyone coming into the gallery on Fridays from noon to 4 p.m. will be part of the blog.

Louise LeBourgeois stopped by the gallery today. Her comments on the show: "What I get is the artists' love of materials. Color and material stand out in this show. There is the the sheer joy of color, even with a limited palette."

Born in New Orleans, Louise has traveled the world and has lived in Chicago for 30 years. She earned an MFA in painting from Northwestern University and had the opportunity to study with Maria Tomasula, Ed Paschke, Bill Congor, and Jim Valerio -- artists she refers to as "painters' painters." Working mainly with oils and using reference photographs as a starting place, she focuses on representational imaginary landscapes.

Louise LeBourgeois. Cane Field #353. 2007.
Oil on panel, 24" x 24".

"I paint using many layers of glaze. The end result is a smooth and reflective surface. From time to time, people will mistake my paintings for photos, which always surprises me because my landscapes often seem too dreamy or other-worldly to be photos. There's always an unreal quality to the images I make."

Louise LeBourgeois. Point #357. 2007.
Oil on panel, 24" x 24".

Acknowledging that living in different locals (New Orleans, England, South Carolina, Chicago) has influenced her work, Louise became very interested in how landscapes contain "potent signifiers of place." She believes that although people influence their surroundings, the landscape also dictates how the culture of a place will develop.

She is represented by Dolby Chadwick Gallery, San Francisco, and Gallatin River Gallery, Big Sky, MT. Her recent solo shows include Timescape, Alfedena Gallery, Chicago; Upward: New Paintings, Gallatin River Gallery, Big Sky, MT. Two group shows this year include one at Addington Gallery in Chicago and the other show at the Beverly Arts Center.

For more information on Louise and her art, go to her website www.louiselebourgeois.com.

Blog Installation No. 4: Ossia Fine Arts Space

This blog installation is part of Chicago Connection: The 5 Artists Project, showing through November 1, 2008, at Ossia Fine Arts Space in the Fine Arts Building. For the duration of the show, anyone coming into the gallery on Fridays from noon to 4 p.m. will be part of the blog.

Deirdre Fox, installation artist, stopped by for a visit. This is what she had to say about The 5 Artists Project: "There are two things that tie the show together. The textures are similar in how they affect the space and the eye. And the other thing is that there is a sense of the discovery process. You feel the artist working with the materials and discovering their piece out of their materials. You have the sense that you can get inside the artist's head."

I first become acquainted with Deirdre's art through the Cool Globes project, for which she created a globe called Tapping Geothermal Energy. With a degrees in painting and animation from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and materials science and engineering from Northwestern University, Deirdre specializes in drawing-based installations, using a wide variety of materials such as paper, window screen, yarn, and recycled items.

Deirdre Fox. Perish Into Being(Caro D'Offay Gallery). 2006. Drawing installation.

"I organize my artwork around drawing and painting conventions, expanding from the surface or the wall into physical space or virtual space. My installations are compilations of elements, some or all of which are mutable. Lately, I’ve been finding ways to re-imagine old materials like old wallpaper and newspaper. I am interested in identity, translation, transition, and in-between states, intentionally trying to have my work hover in the in-between, bridging representative elements and abstraction, 2D and 3D, and temporariness and permanence."

She is influenced by rock and cave art imagery, such as the animals in the Lascaux caves, and other art historical references, such as Celtic forms, re-engaging these old forms, which carry cultural and historical meaning in a contemporary context. "I draw structural ideas from Cezanne and from analytical Cubism, Kandinsky’s Point, Line and Plane, and Klee’s Thinking Eye, among others, as well as crystallographic structures.

Deidre Fox. Ponder Re-assembly (Evanston Art Center). 2007. Drawing installation.

Recently participating in New Life Visuals in Berlin and the City of Chicago Open Studio Program, Deirdre is currently involved in an exhibition at the Swedish American Museum (opening October 3rd with a panel discussion on October 5th) as part of Chicago Artists Month. The artists were each commissioned to make a piece of art inspired by an item from the museum's collection. She is creating a drawing-based installation out of balsa wood, depicting horse forms moving up a wall.

Her latest project involves miniature installations made of acrylic boxes containing human forms and imagery from rock art, showing the dialogue of humans and images in a spatial and historical timeline.

For more information on Deirdre and her art, go to her website http://www.artbydado.com/.

Blog Installation No. 3: Ossia Fine Arts Space

This blog installation is part of Chicago Connection: The 5 Artists Project, showing through November 1, 2008, at Ossia Fine Arts Space in the Fine Arts Building. For the duration of the show, anyone coming into the gallery on Fridays from noon to 4 p.m. will be part of the blog.

Brenda Thomas, painter and mixed media artist, who happens to have a neighboring studio, which she shares with Karen Tichy, mixed media artist, stopped by to view the show. She said, "It's amazing that five people with such diverse approaches with their art hanging side by side can look wonderful together. They all relate. Maybe that's why the show is called Chicago Connection."

Jennifer Thomas, book and paper artist, visited the show this afternoon. She also said, "I'm amazed at how disparate the techniques are and yet they flow and connect in terms of color and form. I'm responding to the torsos [Iris Goldstein] because they're so beautiful -- they're organic and you can still see figures as well."

Jennifer grew up in small towns in North Carolina and Virginia before moving to Chicago, where she earned an MFA in Interdisciplinary Book and Paper Art from Columbia College and spent a year at Landfall Press. She calls herself an interdisciplinary book and paper artist, making sculptural artist's books that are board games, cascading books that function as hangings and sculpture, and more traditional books and prints. Most of her work combines handmade paper and various printmaking methods, usually letterpress or screenprint. She showed me her fabulous interactive board game For Rent, which depicts the ups and downs a renter faces before home ownership.


Jennifer Thomas. For Rent. 2003. Handmade cotton/abaca paper, letterpress, screen print, 16" x 42" (open view). Edition of 10.

Influenced by pop culture and current social issues, she has recently exhibited in Sugarcraft, a group show at Kasia Kay Art Projects, with her I Do (I Don't) wedding cake / board game; and Fictional Characters, at Lillstreet Art Center in Chicago, featuring her wearable Harry Potter masks. Her upcoming solo show, featuring corsets, at Vespine Gallery in Pilsen is scheduled for May, 2009.


Jennifer Thomas. I Do (I Don't). 2004. Handmade cotton/flax paper, letterpress, 23" x 14" x 14" (closed view). Edition of 10.

Please visit the following websites to view more of her art.
http://veronicapress.etsy.com
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenthomas/

Blog Installation No. 2: Ossia Fine Arts Space

This blog installation is part of Chicago Connection: The 5 Artists Project, showing through November 1, 2008, at Ossia Fine Arts Space in the Fine Arts Building. For the duration of the show, anyone coming into the gallery on Fridays from noon to 4 p.m. will be part of the blog.

Today, Pat and Barbara stopped in for a gallery visit. Pat, who knows Darrell and Dale, said, "I really like the hanging of the art. The patterns flow, and the pieces have a conversation with one another. This is a really nice space."

In the meantime, Robert Minnerly, Brazilian singer/guitarist, stopped by to play a tune for us. Robert, who is part Brazilian, grew up in Chicago. He taught himself how to play the cavacinho, a 4-stringed Brazilian instrument similar to a guitar, when he was 3 years old. He later took clarinet lessons in grade school. When he was 5 years old, he taught himself how to play a 3/4-size guitar while listening to Segovia, the great Spanish classical guitarist. While Robert has worked as a horse groomer, tree trimmer, gardener, painter, and chef, among his many occupations, his first love is Brazilian guitar. He says it is classical guitar influenced by Portuguese, French, African, and Indian music. He plays and sings folk tunes, classical songs, and some of his own compositions. He has played his style of samba, bossa nova, macumba, jazz, and a mix of musical genres in various clubs in Chicago, New York, Portugal, Brazil, and Beijing. If you want to see him in person, he will be playing on Friday,Sept. 12th,from 6-9 p.m. at The 5 Artists Project in the Ossia Fine Arts Space.


Robert Minnerly, Ossia Fine Arts Space,
Chicago, Aug. 2008

Blog Installation No. 1: Ossia Fine Arts Space

This blog installation is part of Chicago Connection: The 5 Artists Project, showing through November 1, 2008, at Ossia Fine Arts Space in the Fine Arts Building. For the duration of the show, anyone coming into the gallery on Fridays from noon to 4 p.m. will be part of the blog.

Today is the first Friday I'm sitting in gallery. Unexpectedly, I found a group of people here trying out cellos. The Fine Arts Building is putting in new sprinklers throughout the building, and Karen's friend needed temporary space to allow the tryout. I'm like a fly on the wall listening to their conversation about which cello to eliminate. The young woman trying out the cello sounds like an accomplished cellist, and she is being advised by her relatives and teacher. They're talking about the "curvature of the bridge" not being quite right. She's playing Bach and somehow it all seems to fit in with the art on the walls -- soothing, flowing, and captivating.

My friend Beatriz Ledesma dropped by and this is what she had to say about the show: "What I enjoy about the show is the quality of the work to begin with and the energy that emanates from the work. I'm touched by the three torsos on the far wall because I can see the creative energy moving, the intuition of it, and I can see the spiritual aspect of it. I like the installation in the front. It's the whole idea of cages and spaces, and constant tension between freedom and lack of it. She's giving us choices with stairs that go up. It's so inspirational. The entire show is so inspirational."

Torsos by Iris Goldstein

Stones Installation by Mirjana Ugrinov

Zakkuri Brown, painter and poet, and Serene Wise, painter, also stopped by.

I was supposed to meet Robert Minnerly today but he re-scheduled for next Friday. He willl be playing Brazilian guitar at The 5 Artists Project reception at Ossia on Friday, September 12th, 6 to 9 p.m. Dale Washington, one of the artists in the show, did a portrait of Robert in 0il.

Robert Minnerly, 2008. Oil, 18" x 24".

Happy Faces Chicago Blog Installation

As part of The 5 Artists Project, I will be doing a blog installation every Friday from noon to 4 p.m. at Ossia Fine Arts Space from 8/15 to 10/31. Invited guests and any visitors on Friday will appear on Happy Faces Chicago. If you want to participate in this installation, please send me an email at happyfaceschicago@gmail.com. This Friday musician Robert Minnerly will be stopping by the gallery for a chat.

Does Music Enhance Art?

Olga and Kristijan at the Opening Reception

At last night's The Five Artists Project opening reception, the soprano Olga Bojovic, accompanied by pianist Kristijan Civljak, gave a stirring musical performance. In the intimate setting of the gallery, we were close enough to touch them physically, but it was the virtuoso piano performance and Olga's singing voice that captivated us and touched our hearts instead. Someone came up to me later and said the performance elevated/complemented the art in the show.

A few weeks ago, I remember talking with Kristijan about their program,and I sent the following quick sketches of the artists to him.

If I had to describe the art for the show: They are all contemporary abstract pieces based on the themes of nature, landscape, cityscape, geography, and spirituality.

Frank at the Opening Reception

Frank Connet. He uses Japanese dyeing techniques and natural dyes on natural fabrics, so his colors are mostly indigo with grays and browns. He uses reds and yellows sparingly. His art consists of cut-up fabric pieces sewn together in geometric shapes, like a mosaic painting. The work is very meticulous and well thought out. The art looks very Asian, like a Japanese kimono.

Iris at the Opening Reception

Iris Goldstein. She creates low-relief sculptures out of wire screen and plaster. Her abstract pieces look very heavy like wood, ceramic, or metal, but they’re very light in weight. After she shapes her sculptures by hand and the plaster dries, she then paints the pieces with acrylic paint. She uses interesting color combinations and sometimes paints lines in different widths and creates different textures on the surface. The pieces look like they’re moving, flying, or transforming. Sometimes they look like alien creatures or places.

Darrell at the Opening Reception

Darrell Roberts. He paints canvases with oils with pumice mixed in. He uses very bright and vivid colors and paints several layers on canvas. When he’s finished, the paint looks almost sculptural. His paintings are bright, lively, and energetic.

Mirjana at the Opening Reception

Mirjana Ugrinov. She uses acrylic paints and mediums in her paintings. She is going to create an installation for the show. She will be using text from a poem about stones as her inspiration and will be adding real stones embedded in boxes. She uses contrasting colors on her canvas. They are usually very vivid but there’s a mysterious quality associated with them but not melancholy. She usually has what looks like a doorway to another world in her paintings.

Dale at the Opening Reception

Dale Washington. He’s a very versatile artist. He draws, inks, paints, collages, assembles, and uses different mediums. His series has to do with portraits of people but in different styles and mediums. He tries to capture their personalities in their art. His art is very natural, flowing, spontaneous, and energetic.

Based on my descriptions and considerations for their repertoire, Kristijan and Olga came up with a program that included selections from W. A. Mozart, F. Poulenc, S. Rachmaninoff, A. Dvorak, G. Puccini, F. Lehar, and G. Gershwin.

We were so impressed with their performance that we invited them back for the show's closing reception on Saturday, November 1st. Don't miss them.

Chicago Connection: The 5 Artists Project Opening Reception

Tonight's the night for the opening reception for The 5 Artists Project. We spent hours in the Ossia gallery on Wednesday measuring the walls and art, hanging the art, and then re-arranging, adjusting, and trying to perfect the design, layout, and lighting. I think Iris has done an exemplary job with her museum-inspired hanging. And Karen, while wearing black embroidered house slippers and trying to balance on top of a 10-foot-high ladder to put hooks up on the groove near the ceiling, seemed almost acrobatic.

Since Olga will be singing with Kristijan accompanying her on the piano, we've had to think about where to put the baby grand -- not in a corner but near the windows and facing the door. The floor-to-ceiling windows on the east side of the gallery, located on the 5th floor, bring in natural sunlight during the day. Looking out the windows, you see the circular architecture hovering over a small courtyard below. In the evening, light reflected from the white walls of the neighboring studios bounce joyfully into the Ossia space.

One of the most interesting aspect of the Fine Arts Building, built about 1885, is the operator-assisted elevator. A man sits on a stool in the elevator, and he manually operates the elevator: He opens and closes the metal-gate over-glass doors, pushes the buttons, and adusts the elevator to meet the floor people want to get on or off. Traveling from the ground floor to the 5th floor to Ossia, you can see each floor go by and sometimes catch glimpses of people waiting for the elevator. It's as though you're on an amusement park ride and see life go by fleetingly.

Chicago Connection: The 5 Artists Project

I'm happy to be part of Chicago Connection: The 5 Artists Project, which has its opening reception Friday, Aug. 8th, at Ossia Fine Arts Space in the Fine Arts Building on Michigan. As the guest curator for the show, I've had the opportunity to work with Karen Schulz-Harmon, curator and owner of Ossia, and 5 fantastic Chicago artists: Frank Connet, Iris Goldstein, Darrell Roberts, Mirjana Ugrinov, and Dale Washington.

Here is the text for the catalogue I wrote to accompany the show.

Ossia Fine Arts Space

Karen Schulz-Harmon, professional cellist and educator, opened Ossia Fine Arts Space in the Fine Arts Building in December 2006. Located on the 5th floor, with nearly floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking a balcony and courtyard, the space has been host to shows by primarily Chicago-based artists. As a member of The Chicago Trio, she uses the space as an art gallery/performance venue to showcase talented artists and musicians. Ossia also features other special events, which have included a fashion/jewelry show and an environmental lecture/discussion. And this Halloween 2008, Ossia will host The Vanishing Art: An Evening of Magic featuring Chicago magician Ryan Lawrence. See Ossia’s Website for details on current/upcoming art exhibitions, concerts, and events.

Previous exhibitions at Ossia Fine Arts Space include:
-The Cello Series. “Musicians give you sound; I will give you my images.” Works by Eric Mecum.
- Spring. “Like each earthly spring, there is anticipation, then wonder anew as colorful new life bursts forth.” Works by Christine Ilewski.
- Initiation. “The fire-treated works embrace the volatility of life. They testify to the truth that all of our perceptions of beauty lie in the imperfections of man.” Works by Josh Garrett.
- Text and Time. Chicago-based composer Drew Baker and his brother Brett Baker, a New York-based, Guggenheim-winning painter, join forces to bring us Text and Time. Their collaboration seeks to overcome apparent barriers between the spatial and the aural/acoustic through that which is both – language.
- Snapshot. Can a snapshot be a remembered second of anyone’s life? Photography as fine art. Artists: Liza Berkoff and Marc McGowan.
- the unknown. Guest-curated show by Rebecca Martin and Samaiyah Wright. This exhibition featured works by 12 undiscovered Chicago artists, who happen to work together as employees of the Art Institute. Together, these 12 diverse artists are the “the unknown.” Individually, each is an undiscovered painter, photographer, sketch artist and sculptor. Artists: Steve Archer, Ruth Barabe, Amber Brown, Libby Burnette, Kristin Hulka, Boris Lucero, Jamie Medeiros, Casey Murtaugh, Tim Swezy, Pilar Tena, Christopher Wanklyn, and Jen Welsing. This show also featured undiscovered singer/songwriter Tovi Khali and her band (Jen Na Sais Quoi).
- UNTITLED. A study of contrasting styles and how they overlap. Artists: James Basile, Deborah A. Doering, Richard Laurent, and Eric Mecum.
- Coffee and Windows. Views of surrealism and social realism. Artists: Beatriz Ledesma and Anita Miller.
- Group Show. Focus on the juxtaposition of various painting styles of four Chicago-based artists. Artists: Jill McLean, Eric Mecum, Mie Tamura, and Sigfredo Vélez, Jr.

Contact
Ossia Fine Arts Space Fine Arts Building 410 S. Michigan Avenue, Suite 537 Chicago, IL 60605 773.220.2356. Gallery owner: Karen Schulz-Harmon. Email: karen@ossiaspace.com Website: http://www.ossiaspace.com/ Hours: By appointment. Call or email. Fridays, noon to 4 p.m. (call 312.506.7723) Saturdays, noon to 5 p.m. (call 312.506.7723)

Art Opening, Ossia Fine Arts Space,
Fine Arts Building, Chicago

Chicago Trio (left to right, Mirei Hori,
Christie Abe,Karen Schulz-Harmon)

Guest Curator, Amy A. Rudberg

I created the art blog ArtStyle Blog, A Voice for Artists in Chicago a year ago to interview promising artists in an e-zine format on the web. My goal was to make their art more accessible to the public. Now, while I am no longer involved with the blog, I believe that the works of these five contemporary Chicago artists should be showcased together in a public forum.

I have talked and met with these artists in their studios and homes and asked them hundreds of questions to get an idea of how and why they create their art. I have inquired about their lives, education, families, backgrounds, philosophies, beliefs, influences, techniques, practices, choices, and dreams. And yet, with all of this information, it is difficult to describe definitively how they create their works of art, but I do know that all of them are at the height of their artistic powers.

These five artists – Frank Connet, Iris Goldstein, Darrell Roberts, Mirjana Ugrinov, Dale Washington – have lived and worked in the Chicagoland area for most of their adult lives. Their work reflects the rhythms, patterns, and nuances of urban life and its natural surroundings, as well as inflections of social and cultural diversity. As professional artists, educators, and arbiters of their own unique styles, they create works of art that some may describe as “inner-directed” art, stirring something within the viewers to question something within themselves. These artists create contemporary art in hand-dyed textiles, relief sculptures and color-pencil drawings, abstract oils that are almost sculptures, abstract acrylics and textiles in installation pieces, and abstract ink drawings, mixed-media paintings, and assemblages. While each artist’s pieces reveal a unique style, the show conveys a sense of cohesiveness in terms of artistic vision, narrative content, and appeal to the senses.

Frank Connet

Contact
6140 W. North Avenue, Chicago, IL 60639
Phone: 773.637.7007
Email: Textileres@aol.com
Website: http://www.frankconnet.com/

Background
- Textile restorer and artist with more than 20 years of professional experience
- BFA, Kansas City Art Institute, Kansas City, MO
- Teaching experience: Penland School of Craft, 2008; Visiting Artist, Kansas City Art Institute, MO; Evanston Art Center, Evanston, IL; Southern Illinois University, Fiber Department
- Gallery representation: Textile-based work, Douglas Dawson Gallery, Chicago; works on paper, Kate Hendrickson Fine Art, Chicago; Jane Sauer Thirteen Moons Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
- Exhibiting since the mid 1980s; started showing textile work in 1998

Selected Exhibitions
Material Difference, Group Show, Chicago Cultural Center, 2007; Clamped and Bound, Solo Exhibition, Douglas Dawson Gallery, Chicago, 2007; Silk Road Oasis, Illinois Artisan Program, Chicago Tourism Center, 2006; Frank Connet & Jiro Yonezawa, Jane Sauer Thirteen Moons Gallery, Santa Fe, NM, 2006; Fiberart International 2004, Bellevue Art Museum, Bellevue, WA, 2005; Gift, Bequest, and Purchase: A Selection of Textile Acquisitions, 1998-2003, the Art Institute of Chicago, 2004-05; Fiberology: Six Extraordinary Contemporary Fiber Artists, Montgomery College Art Gallery, Rockville, MD; Museum of Arts & Design, New York, 2004; SOFA Chicago 2003, Heltzer, Navy Pier, Chicago

Artistic Process
As a textile conservationist, Frank Connet has had the opportunity to study, analyze, and restore museum-quality historic textiles. With this knowledge and his interest in natural dyeing techniques, he creates abstract textile wall hangings that are “quilted” paintings, reminiscent of natural hand-dyed Japanese kimonos or West African strip woven textiles.

His artistic process starts with natural dyes and fabrics, which he sews and pleats and then dyes on average thirty to forty times to achieve the desired colors and patterns. He uses the Japanese Shibori process: “A series of hand-sewn stitches are drawn tightly to bunch or pleat the fabric into a dense mass, which is then dyed. The process permanently alters the surface of the wool, hemp or cotton, creating lines, ridges and washes, both of color and texture. Layered natural dyes create a limitless palette of hue and depth.” After the dyeing process, the fabrics are dried, cut, sewn, and pieced into textile hangings. He also creates Shibori “sculptural” pieces, which are many yards of dyed fabric pulled tightly into a three-dimensional form.

Many of his pieces are inspired by nature – transitions, cycles, patterns, symbols, and structures. His compositions are a series of mainly geometric shapes in monochromatic blues, grays, and browns, sometimes enlivened with a dash of red or yellow. What makes his pieces come alive is his instinctive layering of monochromatic blues, showing hidden depth in the background, and on top of that, a series of rectangles with different colors and line patterns, almost symbolizing windows into the unknown if one dares to look through them.

A thought-provoking piece Estuary II is surely about nature with its watery and reflective blues and lines that look like ripples on the surface. But, one could also easily say that the piece symbolizes a cityscape, an urban jungle with tall buildings and stacked windows featuring zebra-pattern blinds.

Frank Connet. Estuary II. 2007.
Hand-dyed wool, cut and sewn,
50 ¼” x 84 ¼”.

Iris Goldstein

Contact
Email: IrisGoldstein@sbcglobal.net
Website: http://www.irisgoldstein.net/

Background
- Painter and sculptor with more than 20 years of professional experience
- MFA, School of the Art Institute of Chicago; AB, Smith College, Northampton, MA. Studied sculpture with Leonard Baskin, also with Cosmo Campoli at the Contemporary Arts Workshop in Chicago
- Taught children’s film making classes after school, University of Chicago Lab Schools
- Artist-in-Residence, Haguro-Machi, Japan
- Member, ARC Cooperative Gallery, Chicago
- Exhibiting since 1979

Selected Exhibitions
5' by 2', Members Exhibition, ARC Gallery, Chicago, 2007; Muses and Musings, One-Person Show, ARC Gallery, Chicago, 2006; Open Studios, Exchange Exhibit, La Genie de la Bastille, Paris, France, 2005; W.A.S.P.S Chicago Exchange, Patriothall Gallery, Edinburgh,Scotland, 2005; EastWest, Group Show, Liu Haisu Art Museum,Shanghai,China, Catalogue, 2005; Small Objects, Group Show, TZ Gallery, Chicago, 2004; Articulations, Two-Person Show, Atelier Art International, New York, 2003; 30th Anniversary Exhibition, ARC Gallery, Chicago, IL, Exhibition Co-Chair and Installer of the work, Editor of the exhibition catalog, 2003; A Capitol Commute, Gallery 10, Washington, D.C., 2002; ARC in Japan, Matsugoaka Gallery, Haguro-Machi, Japan, Atelier Gym Gallery, Tokyo, Japan, 2001; Wer Weiss Wozo es Gut Ist? GEDOK Gallery, Hamburg, Germany; Art of the Third Coast, Red Head Gallery, Toronto, Canada, 2001

Artistic Process
Observing Iris Goldstein’s plaster-relief sculptures, one wonders how the pieces stay upright on the wall, as they look like dense twisted pieces of wood, clay, or stoneware. Using plaster-covered aluminum screening, she creates relief sculptures that not only seem to defy gravity but also have an extra dimension to them with their wave-like and curved formations, similar to organic forms in nature or even wormholes in space.

Earlier in her career, she worked on labor-intensive wood sculptures and then discovered the plaster-over-aluminum-screening method from a friend. The process involves cutting pieces of aluminum screening and shaping them by hand and then using wire to hold the shape, stretching cheesecloth over the shape, painting several coats of plaster on the surface, and then painting and adjusting the shape as the plaster dries. As the piece starts to dry, she sands the surface for a smoother look, carves the surface, or leaves the paint brush texture. Sometimes the shapes are stapled onto a wood backing. After the piece is completely dry, she applies a protective coating on it. In the end, the piece is very durable, light weight, and easily transported.

With a palette ranging from earthy browns and grays to iridescent jewel tones, she explores the “connections between surface form and an emotive exploration of color.” The curvilinear geometric and natural shapes draw us in to take a closer look at the shifting colors, forms, and textures. Providing an almost meditative quality, the shapes sooth us with their undulations and repetitive patterns. Some of the pieces exhibit a subtle aura of sensuality and magnetic energy, and one has an urge to run a finger along the surface to connect to it.

Gesture 11 illustrates the artist’s ability to depict the flowing patterns found in nature in an abstract piece. Resembling a body of water with geography intermingling with the flowing tides observed from above, this piece provides a reminder of the beauty of nature and one’s own inner rhythms.

Iris Goldstein. Gesture 11.
Figures and Ground Series. 2008.
Aluminum screen, plaster, acrylic paint
on wood, height 16” x 9” x 2”.

Darrell Roberts

Contact
Email: darrellkr@gmail.com
Website: http://darrell-roberts.com/

Background
- Painter with more than 10 years of professional experience
- MFA, BFA, School of the Art Institute of Chicago; BA, Art History, University of Northern Iowa
- Teaching experience: Taught painting at Hyde Street Art Center, Chicago
- Grants: Ludwig Vogelstein Foundation, career development, 12/07; George Sugarman Foundation, purchase of paint and career enrichment, 11/07; Dedalus Foundation, full fellowship to Vermont Studio Center, 11/24-12/21/07; Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, 3/07
- Represented by Thomas McCormick Gallery, Chicago
- Exhibiting since 1997

Selected Exhibitions
Fresh Paint - a group exhibition of Chicago Painters and Abstraction 2008: Summer Group Show, Thomas McCormick Gallery, Chicago, 2008; Luscious, Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago, 2007; i feel good, i feel great, i feel wonderful, L2 Kontemporary Gallery, with Ana Fernandez, Los Angeles, CA, 2007; Texture and Tone, with Meredith Brickell, Joe Pintz, Lillstreet Art Center, Chicago, 2007; The Texture of Change, with Robert Putnam, Brickton Art Center, Park Ridge, IL, 2007; material + light, with Ana Fernandez, Paola Cabal, Bill Morrison, mn gallery, Chicago, 2007; Urban Landscapes, Noir Gallery, Jacksonville, IL

Artistic Process
Growing up in Eldon, Iowa, Darrell Roberts has lived and worked in Chicago since 1997. Influenced by art critic Harold Rosenberg and artist Hans Hoffman, he reveals that his painting process is similar to the “push and pull on the growing metropolis” – the never-ending construction and re-building of buildings and roadways in the city. He started his profession as a figurative painter and then found more enjoyment as an abstractionist.

Working with small canvasses (usually 12” x 12”), he uses oil paints mixed with pumice to build layer upon layer of color, lines, forms, and textures. Inspired by construction sites, nature, and found objects, he takes photos daily with his cell phone during his walks through the city. In his studio, he begins painting with a brush and then progresses to layering with a knife, which is also used to apply the paint-pumice mixture thickly. He constructs/deconstructs his paintings and builds layer upon layer of swirling paints in low relief -- sometimes extending to the sides of the canvas.

The colors in his paintings are very vivid and bring his compositions to life. Influenced by colors in his environment, he sometimes tries to duplicate interesting manufactured colors to include in his pieces. When he works in a series, which he usually does, and arranges the paintings side by side, one immediately senses a lyrical cohesiveness of the entire group. The pieces are tied together like a compelling narrative of the urban landscape. The conscientious viewer is immediately drawn into the paintings to get a closer look at the layers of paint and to uncover the mysteries that lie beneath.

This painting is part of his series Sidewalk Voyages. One is struck by the depth of the painting -- not just by the physical layers but the textures, colors, forms, and lines as well. Knowing that he is inspired by his surroundings in his daily walks, one senses the ebb and flow of nature, perhaps debris blowing in the wind, and life happening all around us.

Darrell Roberts. Untitled. Sidewalk Series.
2008. Oil and pumice on canvas, 8” x 6”.

Mirjana Ugrinov

Contact
Email: mugrinov@mac.com
Website: http://www.mirjanaugrinov.com/

Background
- Interior designer and painter with more than 20 years of professional experience
- Studied art history, Case Western Reserve Graduate School, OH; BFA, Studio Art, Kent State University, OH
- Teaching experience: Instructor of studio and commercial art and art history, Cooper School of Art, Cleveland, OH; Co-Director of Interior Design Department and Instructor, Virginia Marti Fashion Institute, Lakewood, OH.
- Director of Coventry Art Gallery, Cleveland, OH, 1978-81; Consulting Board Member, ARC Cooperative Gallery, Chicago
- Gallery representation: Art Metro Gallery, Cleveland, OH; Bonfoey’s Galleries, Cleveland, OH; Brenda Kross Gallery, Columbus/Cleveland, OH; Teresa De Chant, Art Consultant, Cleveland, OH; Center of the Earth Gallery, Charlotte, NC
- Exhibiting since 1980

Selected Exhibitions
Free art for your wrists, mixed media bracelets, TransCultural Exchange Project, London Bienniale 2008; Contemporary Art by American Women, Art in Embassies Exhibit, Belgrade, Serbia, 2008; Poetic Dialogue, installation with Robin Behn, ARC Gallery, Chicago, 2008; Le Genie de la Bastille, Francois Cosson Studio, Paris, France, 2005; Edinburgh Art Festival, Patriothall Gallery, Scotland, 2005; A.I.R. Gallery, New York, 2005; Eyelounge Gallery, Phoenix, AZ, 2005; University of West Florida, Pensacola, FL, 2005; Chicago Cultural Center, 2003; East West Gallery, Cleveland, OH, 1993-1997

Artistic Process
Working as a designer of commercial interiors with her husband, Branislav, at Ugrinov Associates, Inc., a space planning and design firm, Mirjana Ugrinov finds the time to create her own fine art in her studio. She walks about twelve blocks from her home to her studio, located a stone’s throw from the beach where she goes for inspiration when she needs it.

Growing up in the former Yugoslavia and then living in Ohio, and Chicago since 2001, she has incorporated nature, geography, landscape, and spiritual themes in her art. Her paintings and fiber art vibrate with vivid expressionistic colors. Working quickly, she uses acrylic paints mixed with various mediums to build layers and textures on the surface of her canvas. Sometimes she adds fibers and sand-like textures to her paintings. Her bold, warm-cool color combinations complement her mark-making and forms, giving them added depth. Recurring themes appear in many of her paintings, including geometric forms that look like doorways to hidden worlds.

In addition to painting, she is also a fiber artist and uses acrylic and manipulated paper: She wrinkles the paper, sprays it, manipulates it, dips it into acrylic, and moves the paint around to create a dimensional collage. Another aspect of her art is digital -- she draws and paints using software, a stylus and tablet to create high-resolution art.

More recently, she has begun to work with poets and uses the actual text of some of their poetry as part of her installation pieces. In her collaborative projects, she has written out the text, transferred it onto paper or canvas, and then used paint, medium, and fabric to complement the text. She thinks of these installations as two people collaborating in a “very specific way – two art forms fused and existing together.” She celebrates and honors the beauty of poetry in her own art.

Her Stones installation, inspired by a poem by Cynthia Hogue, consists of mixed media paintings and constructed boxes with real stone elements. The poem talks about “immoral stones, caged and imprisoned, kept on the shelf, near the window.” She has an intuitive ability to capture the metaphysical elements of text and bring them to life in her artwork.

Mirjana Ugrinov. Stones. Installation, detail.
2008. Mixed media on canvas.

Dale Washington

Contact
Email: washingtondale@yahoo.com
Website: http://www.hydeparkart.org/exhibitions/

Background
- Painter, illustrator, and assemblage artist with more than 10 years of professional experience
- Attended Columbus College of Art and Design, OH, and University of Wisconsin-Madison; BA, Advertising, Columbia College of Chicago
- Teaching experience: Chicago Public Schools, ART Program; Hyde Park Art Center; Catalyst Charter School After School Program
- Grants: CAAP (Chicago Artist Assistance Program) Grant from Chicago Cultural Center, 2007, (used in his latest series of portrait work of Chicago’s art collecting community)
- 2003 Artist of the Year Award from Southside Community Art Center, Chicago
- Featured artist in the catalogue African Art: The Diaspora and Beyond, documenting the collection of Chicagoan Daniel Parker, Gallery Guichard, Chicago, 2005
- Exhibiting since 1996

Selected Exhibitions
Kiss on the Cheek: Portraits by Dale Washington, 2008; Sunrise, 2007, Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago; Spirit of Sankofa, Group Show, Neleh Artistic Expressions, 2006, Chicago; After Qualls, Group Show, Southside Community Art Center, Chicago, 2006; Art Di Gras, Group Show, Gallery Guichard, Chicago 2006; Power of Creation, Francine Turk Gallery, Chicago, 2005; Color and Movement, Southside Community Art Center, Chicago, 2005; Reflections, Framing Mode Gallery, Chicago, 2005; 2004 Art Exhibition, Group Show, Steele Life Gallery, Chicago.

Artistic Process
Growing up on the south side of Chicago, where he now lives and works out of his home studio, Dale Washington has depicted in his art everyday people and situations in the urban landscape. His walls at home are covered with some of the art from his latest series – portrait paintings, drawings, and assemblages – of Chicago’s art collecting community.

His current work reveals the nuanced personalities of artists, collectors, and administrators in pen and ink, ball point pen, oil, acrylic, pastel, watercolor, and mixed media. Working in both figurative and abstract styles, he skillfully captures the essence of a personality in the natural pose of the body, facial expression, dress, and immediate surroundings.

A meticulous craftsman, he first takes photos of his subject and then does several sketches in ink. Working quickly, he then draws and paints different versions of the same subject one after the other, using different mediums. In his spontaneous style, he creates a languid pose of a collector with a ball point pen and just as quickly, a pensive portrait in colorful pastels. His compositions are well organized and carefully arranged with enough detail to make the subjects interesting, accessible, and compelling to the viewer. Even his skillful assemblages, made with found objects, come across as organic representations of the human figure.

Living and breathing drawing and painting, with sketch book in hand, he reveals, “There is a way of doing things in the right manner, being positive about it, being patient, trusting that the outcome of whatever aspect of what you’re doing will work through to everyone’s advantage. I approach my art in the same way.”

As part of his series on portraits of artists, collectors, and administrators in Chicago, he captures the essence of his good friend Robert Minnerly, a singer/guitarist of Brazilian and Portuguese music. The vibrant colors bring the musician and his energetic music to life.

Dale Washington. Robert Minnerly. Portrait Series.
2008. Oil on canvas board, 18” x 24”.

Copyright © Chicago Connection: The 5 Artists Project, 2008. All rights reserved. Text by Amy A. Rudberg. Cover design by Mirjana Ugrinov. Ossia Fine Arts Space and Chicago Trio images provided by Karen Schulz-Harmon. All other images provided by the individual artists.