Visual arts of Chicago
Since World War II, Chicago visual art has had a strong individualistic streak, little influenced by outside fashions.
"One of the unique characteristics of Chicago," said Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts curator Bob Cozzolino, "is there's always been a very pronounced effort to not be derivative, to not follow the status quo.
[8] For many years the Art Institute of Chicago regularly held annual exhibits of local artists,[7] but these ended decades ago.
[12] Early evidence of Chicago's unique style came with Ivan Albright, with his "excruciatingly detailed surfaces depicting things in states of decay.
[13] Claes Oldenburg was born in Sweden and only spent a few years in the 1950s in Chicago, but he sold his first works here, 5 pieces at the 57th Street Art Fair for $25.
[4] Chicago artists rejected the abstract aesthetics of New York modernists, preferring strong surrealism, "following their own vision,"[1] and "savage political satire.
Many photorealists were collected by Morton Neumann "against the grain of the prevailing critical thought at the time" (which espoused abstract expressionism), and exhibited at Chicago's Terra Museum of American Art.
Such artists include Claes Oldenburg, Elizabeth Murray, Richard Estes, Robert Indiana, Joan Mitchell, Georgia O'Keeffe, and many others.
[23] Chicago's other notable contemporary artists are too numerous to name; but a few who would make any list are Kerry James Marshall, Dan Peterman, Gregg Bordowitz, Julia Fish, Wesley Kimler, Tony Fitzpatrick and Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle.
Robert Guinan paints psychologically penetrating portraits of bar patrons and jazz musicians which are very popular in France, but he is almost unknown in Chicago.
[24] Laurie Hogin continues the grotesque Chicago tradition with lush, Dutch-style portraits of cartoonishly savage animals.
"[26] Tony Phillips paints enigmatic figurative works combining soft modeling, fantastical or archetypal scenarios, and sometimes-dark psychological explorations.
[3] Tim Lowly, who has mastered the difficult medium of egg tempera, paints heartbreaking spiritual pictures of seemingly ill children.
[29] Matt Lamb, a self-taught artist, creates luminous expressionist paintings with bold uses of color, whimsical figures and symbols, and unlikely combinations of mediums.
John F. Miller taught for a few decades at the SAIC and, during the bulk of that period, produced paintings and some drawings in an abstract style.
[31] Mark Staff Brandl combines the influences of comic books, sign-painting and philosophy in talented paintings and installations which are accessible, intellectually demanding, and warily subversive.
[33] Neil Goodman is known for largely abstract bronze sculpture that ranges from still-life compositions and free-standing works to wall and floor installations to monumental public art.
[13] These same impulses also appeared in Chicago's lively Street photography scene, gaining notoriety through artists centered around the Institute of Design such as Harry Callahan, Aaron Siskind, Leon Lewandowski as well as in the work of nanny-savant Vivian Maier.
[3] Contemporary illustrators include Jay Ryan, whose hand-silkscreened posters have advertised many a rock band,[36] and fantasist Scott Gustafson.
[48] The Chicago tradition of political satire is seen in cartoonish artist Hy Roth, and actual cartoonists Heather McAdams and Nicole Hollander.
[5] Other Chicago cartoonists recognised by the art world include Lynda Barry, Dan Clowes, Jay Lynch and Chris Ware (whose work was shown at the 2002 Whitney Biennial).
[49] Significant comics artists from Chicago include Jessica Abel,[50] "Herblock" (Herbert Block),[51] animator Walt Disney,[52] adventure satirist Phil Foglio,[53] and goth cartoonist Jill Thompson.
Imagination, whose work is in several museums, also participated in the 2007 public art project, "Cool Globes: Hot Ideas for a Cooler Planet".
[4][57] In spring of 1996, the Feigen, Inc. gallery's exhibit of Gregory Green's "10,000 Doses" and "Recipe for Making 'LSD' in the Kitchen" was raided by the Chicago police, who confiscated and broke open the artworks.
[3][5] Its catalogue was judged a disappointment by Dennis Adrian, an art critic and participant, who called it "visually ... an atrocity of staggering proportions.
Gallery Guide was a bi-monthly magazine with a Chicago/midwest edition which was similar in that it covered local arts listings, but it was published from New Jersey by Blouin Media and ultimately folded.
