Sweet Home Chicago: It's Where the Art Is!
By: Angela Kotso

Often called the “Second City” to New York, Chicago has thriving gallery districts that prove this city to be anything but. From glass sculpture to black-and-white vintage photography to contemporary painting and sculpture, Chicago’s River North art galleries feature a myriad of genres with an appeal to novice collectors, as well as to the more seasoned. This so-called Second City demonstrates that not only is it first class when it comes to the world of art, but it has a warmer, more inviting feel for visitors who appreciate art – both in the looking and the buying. A visit to three very different galleries in Chicago’s River North offers a closer inspection of three distinct genres, each of which beckons patrons to stay and savor the experience.

A “Glass” Act
What’s missing here? For Bonnie Marx, the art of glass sculpture needed a place to hang its hat in River North, and in 1990 she took the leap by opening what now is the Marx-Saunders Gallery, 230 W. Superior. Joined by Ken Saunders in 1995, this gallery hosts exhibits produced by prominent glass artists. Marx’s hunch about Chicago’s art scene needing a glass sculpture gallery proved to be right on the money; over the past ten years the gallery has experienced an ever-increasing influx of visitors who are partial to the medium. Answering to its success, the gallery will grow by another 5,000 square feet in the not-too-distant future.

It’s no wonder this gallery has thrived for more than a decade. Chicago’s central location makes it ideal for glass artists and art admirers alike. “Glass artists are all over and so are collectors,” says Saunders, gallery director. “A glass artist doesn’t have to come to a big city to create their pieces. They can work anywhere.”

But they don’t show just anywhere. A metropolis in the middle of the plains, Chicago draws millions of tourists and business people each year, many of whom have a keen eye for this clearly unique art form. According to Saunders, out-of-towners make up 70 percent of the gallery’s business. What attracts would-be collectors to glass sculptures? Unlike other genres of art, “glass sculptures are beautiful form and beautiful color and don’t make a political statement,” Saunders says. Essentially, everyone can appreciate this fun, yet exquisite art.

And Marx-Saunders will enable visitors and locals alike to appreciate this art form all summer long. From now until July 30, the gallery will present three exhibits showing entirely new works.

Through May 10. The gallery features the new designs of Vladimira Klumpar and Michael Pavlik. Klumpar studied glass sculpting in Czechoslovakia and began showing her sculptures throughout Europe and the U.S. in the early 1980s. Her pieces combine materials that are considered incompatible, such as glass and plaster, yet at the same time they reveal a connection to nature. Pavlik, too, began his glass-sculpting career in Czechoslovakia and incorporates opposing elements as well as basic geometric designs, refined finishes and color.

June 11-July 5. Glass paperweights are a perennial favorite for many collectors, so mark these dates on your calendar to view the new collection of glass paperweights by artist Paul Stankard. Enchanted with the outdoors since he was a young boy, Stankard eventually incorporated that fascination into art, sculpting glass animals in his free time. In the 1980s, he produced one of his major series of paperweights called “Botanicals,” as he continued to experiment with nature in his designs. Within each paperweight, Stankard seemingly captured a moment in a forest or in a field and embodied his lifelong romance with nature. His accurate depictions of flowers and insects in “Botanicals” and other works are so lifelike that it is difficult to believe they are glass, too. He has expanded his work further to include representations of the cycle of life and scenes of tiny “root people” within his glass worlds.

July 15-30. The latter part of the summer brings the work of Lino Tagliapietra. A native of the island of Murano near Venice, Tagliapietra was born to be a glass artist. Historically Murano has produced some of the finest glass-blown pieces in the world. Since his arrival in the U.S. in the 1960s, when the art of glass blowing gained in popularity, he has continued refining his skill as well as teaching American artists. Tagliapietra started gaining notoriety for his work in the 1990s, and today his pieces are highly sought after. His vividly colored pieces are defined through fluid shapes and various textures such as honeycombs and delicate undulations. The mesmerizing combination of color and texture often mimics movement, which can deceive and capture the viewer’s eye.

Life in Black and White
For art that definitely makes a statement, visit the Stephen Daiter Gallery at 311 W. Superior. The only gallery in the Chicagoland area specializing in black-and-white vintage photography, it shows primarily avant-garde experimental and social documentary-photojournalism. This spring and summer certainly will not disappoint photography collectors.

Through May 28. Beginning the spring season with a bang, the gallery features the works of a man many consider to be the “father of contemporary photojournalism,” André Kertész. It’s no coincidence that this Midwestern art hall showcases the work of a man who became a New Yorker. “Kertész was one of the first photographers that I became aware of and got very excited about,” said gallery owner Stephen Daiter, in a March 18 Chicago Sun-Times article. In fact, Daiter’s love for photography and admiration for Kertész, as well as a combination of other factors, inspired him to open his own gallery.

The exhibit, “André Kertész: Observations, thoughts, reflections,” features 50 of Kertész’s works. Though he was originally from Hungary, New York became the subject of much of his photography after he arrived in the U.S. in 1936. Visiting the Stephen Daiter Gallery and gazing at Kertész’s work, one cannot help but admire his obvious skill with the lens. But it’s not just that. Viewers of his work may not quite be able to put their finger on why his vignettes of everyday life evoke such wonderment; simply, it may be described as an ability to compose in an unusual way and an ability to time his lens to catch what others might not. Along with the Kertész exhibit, the gallery has created an informative catalogue showcasing the exhibit photos and biographical essays of the artist.

June 3-July 30. “Experimental Friends,” presents the works of Chicago natives, Nathan Lerner and Edmund Teske – lifelong friends who were instrumental in developing many modern photographic techniques. A painter, photographer and, in essence, an inventor, Lerner experimented with photo abstraction (a process through which the artist alters the original image in order to focus on a specific feature of the subject such as its shape, texture or colors). To this end he created the Lerner photogram machine, the smoke chamber and the light-box. Meanwhile, Teske relocated to L.A. and worked with stills for Paramount Pictures. While working for the motion picture business, he developed duotone solarization, a photo developing technique that reverses the light and shadow of the image(s). Through their experimentation, they often added more depth to what might have been simple black and white photographs.

June 17-July 30. For a modern, and more colorful, take on photography, visit Daiter Contemporary, adjacent to and a joint venture with the Stephen Daiter Gallery. This gallery features “young and mid-career artists that are off the beaten path of mainstream contemporary photography,” says Director Michael Welch. On June 17, the British are coming—in the form of “Summer in the UK: Martin Parr and the John Hinde Butlin Photographers.” Parr’s work tends to capture the lighter side of life. His collections, such as “The Last Resort” and “Bored Couples”, find humor in the mundane. Also true to modern form, Parr has a website, www.martinparr.com, showcasing his work. Capturing images that are anything, but mundane, the John Hinde Butlin Photographers worked with the intense color and activity of the Butlin resorts.

Modern Ideas on Canvas
Since 1988, the Gwenda Jay/Addington Gallery, located at 704 N. Wells, has exhibited many contemporary paintings, as well as other modern mediums of art. As an art writer for magazines, newspapers and television, gallery owner and president, Gwenda Jay gained thorough knowledge of art from all angles. Artist Dan Addington, today Jay’s partner and co-owner, joined her as gallery director in 1996, while simultaneously exhibiting his work and preparing the gallery for shows.

With years of combined experience, they look for strength, execution and originality of idea when they consider displaying pieces. In a world where commercialization runs rampant, one can still obtain impressive art that is one-of-a-kind. And this gallery, like many in River North, provides a venue where people can obtain this type of work. “It is important for people to realize that original art does not just belong in museums,” says Addington.

Through June 1. The gallery features the work of artist Ron Clayton. Using watercolors, oils and acrylics (sometimes together) Clayton creates his own brand of art that places viewers in a surreal world. Colorful geometric structures frame open doorways and windows through which one sees serene settings of fields and mountains. Clearly, Jay says, Clayton’s paintings “communicate a complex conglomeration of thoughts, ideas and sources.”

June 3- July 20. Following the Clayton exhibit, the gallery presents the works of Chicago native Thomas Monaghan. Working in luminous glazes of oils, he paints peaceful outdoor scenes inspired by the lakes, hills and valleys that surround him.

Art for All
Chicago art galleries present the works of some of the most important and innovative artists. From the lesser known to the more renowned artists, collectors of fine art can expect the best the art world has to offer. Contrary to misconceptions that fine art belongs in the sterile halls of museums such as the Louvre in Paris or the Art Institute, here in Chicago, fine art can be displayed just as easily in one’s home. And Chicago’s River North galleries, with a warm Midwestern welcome, make original artwork accessible to all.