Art Chicago is pleased to announce artists to be included in the 2009 edition of Partisan, a special exhibition of works that explore social and political ideas. Selected from Art Chicago and NEXT galleries by guest curator Mary Jane Jacob, independent curator and director of exhibitions at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Partisan works represent a multitude of political ideas and positions from around the world. Partisan will be divided into two sections on the Art Chicago show floor: Partisan and Partisan PROJECTS.
According to Jacob, “It is no wonder in this day and age that artists are reengaging one of the most critical subjects in art: the political and social climate, war and survival. Such human dramas that shape destiny have always existed in the history of art, but they are not usually found, no less highlighted, in the environment of an art fair. So this year's “Partisan” show is evidence of inescapable concerns on everyone’s minds and which have a place in every sector of the art world.”
There are things that we know we know...John Delk, courtesy of Thomas Robertello Gallery
Partisan Highlights
While Partisan offers global insights, the exhibition is anchored by the inclusion of politically-oriented works by American artists such Philip Evergood, who is known for practicing a brand of Social Realism in the 1930s and 1940s, as well as prolific artists Leon Golub and Nancy Spero, of whom works will be on view from the 1970s and 1980s.
Much of Partisan’s energy, however, comes from newer generations of artists whose project-oriented works not only demonstrate critique and resistance, but they also imagine new possibilities.
Highlights include a striking video installation, The Penal Colony, by Vietnamese artist Dinh Q Le, which depicts the inside the walls of a Vietnam prison historically known for abuse of activists and was inspired by the inhumane treatment of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay detention camp in Cuba; There are things we know…a large scale installation by New York-based artist John Delk features 26 security surveillance globes; and compelling portraits of housing project residents, part of Chicago-based photographer Paul D’Amato’s Be Free Now series. These don’t simply amplify social and political inequalities, but privilege each resident’s individuality and subjectivity. Finally, Maximo Gonzalez imagines new uses for obsolete vehicles in large drawings from the series Project for reutilization of vehicles obsolete after the extinction of petrol. Playful, yet unnerving, abandoned motorcycles become gardens and cars are oversized planters.
Exhibiting artists include: Anthony Cannon Walker, Base Gallery; Leon Golub, Nancy Spero and Tania Bruguera, Rhona Hoffman Gallery; John Kirchner Kim Foster Gallery; Peter Drake, Linda Warren Gallery; Hugo Bastidas, Nora Haime Gallery; Dinh Q Le, P.P.O.W.; Volker Steizmann, DIE Gallery; Guillermo Munoz Vera, La Ribera Galerie de Arte; Myeong Beom Kim, Thomas Masters Gallery; Paul D'Amato, Stephen Daiter Gallery; Cindy Tower, Bruno David Gallery; Michael Scoggins, Diana Lowenstein Fine Arts; Luo Qing, Eli Klein Fine Art; Susanna Coffey, Isabel Ignacio Galeria de Arte; John Delk, Noelle Mason and Conor McGrady, Thomas Robertello Gallery; Martin Cary Horowitz, Linda Durham Contemporary Art; Qin Fengling, Kasia Kay Art Projects; Philip Evergood, Forum Gallery; Denise Yaghmourian and Ron Adams, Zane Bennett Gallery; Maximo Gonzalez, Valle Orti; Grace Graupe-Pillard and Timothy Greenfield-Sanders, Carl Hammer Gallery.
For information on exhibiting artists please contact Jessica Cochran, jcochran@artchicago.com
Still Life, from Project for the reutilization of vehicles obsolete after extinction of petrol; Maximo Gonzalez, courtesy Valle Orti
Shavondra, Paul D'Amato, courtesy of Stephen Daiter Gallery
Ford and Kissinger, Leon Golub, courtesy of Rhona Hoffman Gallery
