'are you serious?' opens this friday, july 21st

here is some press for my curatorial adventure with ms. lindsey delahanty. michael workman recommended the show as one of '5 shows to see now' and also wrote a sassy blurb about the show, saying, 'ignore the flacid attempt at statement making and enjoy the art.' this bodes well for a summer show that grabs attention, and, more importantly, gets people thinking about the concurrent relationship of various kinds of really strong, contemporary work. curating this show, I've been thinking a lot about the different ways artists engage the world over time, with some artists creating their own complex worlds in order to investigate themes, while others directly engage the society around them. hopefully, people will investigate the relationship amongst the trends and learn something.

serendipitously, Bucket Rider gallery has an opening the same night, "the beginning of the end of the beginning" in the main space, and "choking on a rainbow"(cody hudson) in the project roomp (more info at bucketridergallery.com). enjoy!

Wendy Cooper Gallery (119 N Peoria St, 312.455.1195) map price: links: Event Info

Co-curators Lindsey Delahanty and Jason Lazarus built their new exhibition, Are You Serious?, around the theme of artists practicing "within the discourse of the contemporary art world while circumventing stylistic trends." Accordingly, Serious' multifarious works reject the trendy and commercial in favor of political and cultural investigation. Featured pieces include Lady Killers, Noelle Mason's painted portraits of women who have died on Death Row, as well as her child-sized electric chair; photographer Greg Stimac's haunting documents of roadside memorials across the country; and a piece by Dutch artists Bas van den Hurk and Wouter Verhoeven that, at first glance, appears to be a Dutch Masters painting but reveals itself as a dark, moody video image. (AM) Note: This exhibition runs through Fri 8.25 (Tue-Sat: 11am-6pm).