August 2024 Newsletter

Aug 8

News from Indoor Exhibitions Committee

CSI x ALMA Closing Reception

2024 Chicago Sculpture International Juried Exhibition at ALMA Art and Interiors

CSI Project Space and Gallery News

Midsummer Dreams

Exhibiting Artists: Maeve McGale, Jeremy P Wong, and Micki LeMieux

Opening Reception: Saturday, July 20, from 6-9 pm.
Exhibition Dates: July 20 – August 11, 2024
Gallery Hours: Friday 2-6 pm, Saturday 12-8 pm, Sunday 1-5 pm
CSI Project Space is located at 1912 N Damen Ave.

Midsummer Dreams
Midsummer is for dreaming. It’s a time for celebration, romance, and new possibilities. This time has served historically as inspiration for European conceptions of fantasy, epitomized through the Scandinavian festival of Midsummer and the Shakespeare play A Midsummer Night’s Dream. In both examples, the forest sets a stage for magic and mischief.

Our tale takes a distinct Americana approach. Midsummer Dreams brings together three Chicago artists working in the Midwestern Surreal- a discourse that refers to integrating belief-oriented meaning mechanisms into secular systems. This is displayed through a midwestern sensibility, grounding whimsical imagery in familiar landscapes, rituals, and materials. In a forest of our own making, themes of bounty, desire, shelter, body, and landscape are explored and challenged in sculptural form. Fantasy becomes a powerful tool to reimagine and reflect our reality.

Exhibiting Artists:
Maeve McGale – The Landscape – Structural Installation
Jeremy P Wong – Figures and creatures
Micki LeMieux – In Between – Bronze collection

Visit www.chicagosculpture.org for more information.

Land Acknowledgement

The City of Chicago, and its surrounding areas, have always been and always will be, home to numerous Native American communities. As a team dedicated to the uplifting of Indigenous People's sovereignty everywhere, we recognize that each program and exhibition associated with this project is taking place on the traditional homelands of the Council of Three Fires - the Ojibwe, Potawatomi, and Odawa - as well as the Menominee, Miami, and Ho-Chunk Nations. Further, we acknowledge that Chicago is home to one of the largest urban Native American communities in the US. We therefore invite each of our non-Indigenous colleagues to learn more about the forced removal of many of the communities listed above from the state of Illinois and to incorporate Indigenous knowledge into their line of work. To provide immediate assistance to Native American Communities in Chicago, you can send donations to the city's American Indian Center here

Call for Entries

Existing is Political

Entry Deadline: Friday, September 27, 2024

Exhibition Dates: October 19 – November 22, 2024
Notification: Saturday, October 5
Artwork Drop-off: Saturday & Sunday, October 12-13, from 1-5 pm.

Opening: Saturday, October 19, from 6-9 pm.
Artwork Pick-up: Saturday & Sunday, November 23-24, from 1-5 pm.

Existing is Political explores the notion that simply "being" - existing in one’s body, culture, gender, or identity - carries political weight and significance. In an era marked by a two-party system with sharply defined platforms, this exhibition examines how the principles "equality and justice for all" fit into contemporary society. By showcasing diverse voices and perspectives, it aims to inspire dialogue and foster a deeper understanding of existence as a political act in order to inspire action towards a genuinely inclusive society.

Applicants must be current CSI members. To sign-up for membership: www.chicagosculpture.org/become-a-member
2D-3D work accepted – Sculptural installation work encouraged.
Open interpretations of the exhibit theme are welcomed.
Short paragraph statement about the work.
Artists must install their work.
Contact Info: Name, address, phone, email, website
1 to 3 jpg images (+ image details): Title, medium, size, price with 30% donation to CSI added

Submit on this Google form here: https://forms.gle/nhvWW3VKHjcGXZaGA

Please Note: We request exhibiting artists to cover 1 to 2 gallery-sitting shifts during the show.

Member News

Christine Forni, *Looking for refractions in the Light,* 2024,
Glass, oil & acrylic on canvas and metal

Location:
McHenry County College
8900 US Hwy 14
Crystal Lake, Illinois 60012-2761
Gallery Hours: Monday–Thursday 8am – 6pm, Friday 6am – 4:30pm

Natural Recall, Christine Forni solo exhibition

Christine Forni's solo exhibition, Natural Recall, curated by Trevor Power at McHenry County College is located in both Gallery One and Two consisting of thirty sculptures and paintings. Her work addresses the shifting landscapes of nature and memory through methodically deconstructing and then reinterpreting relationships merging from the past to the present. The installations capture moments of solitude with terrain using light's interaction with glass, porcelain, reclaimed minerals, and pigments. The work merges unused remnants or overlooked relics to evoke, recall, and remember. Salvaged and mounted together like specimens, they form a “beautiful but broken” material memory of a point in time. Unlike precious specimens, these are not preserved under glass but placed vulnerably on the surface with their fragility on display.

https://www.mchenry.edu/artist/

Exhibition Dates: August 6 - September 13, 2024
Artist Talk and Reception: Wednesday, September 11, 2024
2:30pm – Artist Talk, Luecht Auditorium, B170
3:30pm – Reception in Gallery One, A212x

*Photo Credit: Bethany Cordero Fabrication Studio Image/ Installation Image*

Bethany Cordero's Saints' Rest selected for Oak Park Art Council's 2024 Sculpture Walk

CSI member Bethany Cordero's work was selected for the Oak Park Art Council's 2024 Sculpture Walk. Her piece titled 'Saints' Rest', celebrates Oak Park's commitment to integrating diverse populations, promoting inclusive policies, and fostering a thriving artistic community. The sculpture is made of steel, woven rope, fabric, and thread. The strength of steel, the flexibility of rope, the softness of fabric, and the delicacy of thread all contribute to a cohesive whole, just as the varied backgrounds and perspectives of community members come together to create a vibrant and resilient society. This integration celebrates the richness of Oak Park's cultural tapestry. By using contemporary materials like steel in conjunction with traditional methods like weaving, she is reflecting on the community's embrace of both its heritage and its forward-looking vision. The juxtaposition of these elements highlights the community's ability to innovate while honoring its roots, reflecting a progressive mindset that values both tradition and change. The work will be on view until June 2025 and is located across from the Lake Theater in downtown Oak Park.

*Photo Credit: Surface Design Journal Photo Credit Bethany Cordero / "Lineage" Steel, Woven Jute, Onyx Lacquer*

In The Studio: Exploring Impermanence by Bethany Cordero included in SURFACE DESIGN 2024 Summer Journal

CSI member Bethany Cordero's writing and work were included in the Wrapping & Binding, Summer 2024 edition of Surface Design Journal. Her article entitled 'In The Studio: Exploring Impermanence by Bethany Cordero', discusses her studio practice working through an interdisciplinary lens using materials that have transformative properties such as clay, metal and textiles to create sculptural works that are visual abstractions of herself as a woman, exploring issues of identity, memory and the impermanence of self. The article explores the similarities between the vulnerability and deterioration of materials and the transience of human existence.

Roland Biermann, *Stations 3,* 2019, Guard rail beams, oil barrels, 14-2/3 x 1-2/3 x 14-1/3 ft. (cross), 2 x 2 x 3 ft. (oil barrels, each)

Roland Beirmann shortlisted for Liverpool Sculpture Prize 2024

Congratulations to London-based CSI member Roland Beirmann. His sculpture "Stations 3" has been shortlisted for the Liverpool Sculpture Prize 2024. This new work is part his "Stations" series, which previously have been exhibited at iconic venues, such as Barbican Centre, London, Trinity Wall Street, New York and Hermitage Museum, Amsterdam.1
www.grolandbiermann.com

The following are not CSI sponsored projects but may be of interest to our members:

Fortuned TRIALS - A Visual Art Exhibition

CSI Project Space and Gallery

Featuring Zsófia Ötvös large-scale multimedia graphite drawings and Lidoska Guietti with oil paintings inspired by their homeland Hungary and Italy respectively.

Guest artists:
Melissa Kolbusz with WIRED jewelry
Tonette Navarro with crochet sculpture

Dates: Exhibition runs from Aug 16- Sept 6, 2024

Opening Reception- Saturday, Aug 16th : 4-9 pm
Hungarian day- Tuesday, Aug 20th : 5-9 pm
Labor day pARTy, Sept 30th : 4am-9 pm
Closing reception- Friday, Sept 5th 4-9 pm

Fortuned Trials is following up on the recent exhibition Parts Apart, an exhibition that has been in the making for several years. Zsófia’s large-scale drawings are between 4 feet and 9 feet tall, and her medium is hard pencils ranging from HB to 5H, to be exact in her drawing. The needle-sharp points leave precise fine lines helping to prevent any accidental yet workable strokes. Instead, every line must be intentional and purposeful. The drawn figures are set in a painted abstracted environment.

Three-month residency for international artists at Westwerk, Hamburg, Germany

Announcement of residencies for 2025 and 2026
Closing Date for applications is August 28, 2024.

The Hamburg Ministry for Culture and Media is inviting applications for 8 three-month residencies in 2025 and 2026 in the Westwerk artists' centre in Hamburg. The residency is a residential and work grant that requires the artist to live and work at Westwerk and facilitates both work on an artistic project and networking with the Hamburg cultural scene. Westwerk is centrally located in inner-city Hamburg, in a relatively large complex of buildings on Fleetinsel that houses further studios, galleries and a small theatre.

Learn more about Westwerk HERE.
Further information about the residency and application details.
Online Application

Submit Your News

Have any news to share?

Shows, awards, residencies etc? Submit here and we'll include them in an upcoming newsletter.

While you're at it, your profile and images on CSI’s website are important. When CSI applies for grants and upcoming shows, images are solely chosen from those you have uploaded to our website. Please take a minute to look over what you have posted and make sure you are presenting the best work. Member Shelley Gilchrist sgilchristart@gmail.com has volunteered to help you if you need it, so feel free to contact her.

Cover Image: Micki LeMieux, Garlic Dreams, Bronze, from the Midsummer Dreams exhibit.

Chicago Sculpture International is partially supported by a grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events. Learn more about DCASE

Gene Skala