Unless you're blessed with Eskimo blood, you've probably been cursing January and Chicago as of late. Clean up that mouth: there's an antidote for your winter blues. Take a vacation from your cabin fever and walk into the world of art. We guarantee that visiting some of these galleries and museums will re-ignite your spirit. You will feel warmer.
Catherine Edelman Gallery
"The G.E. Circus," "Sleep" and "Nine Symptoms"
through Feb. 26
If Barnum & Bailey met film noir, the marriage would be close to what Elizabeth Ernst is able to concoct in "G.E. Circus." Long before HBO produced "Carnivale," Ernst was photographically documenting her creation of a fictitious circus and the stories that take place within it. In Ernst's world, animals take on their handlers and freaks play the main parts. The cast of performers, modeled from Sculpey, are on display along with the one of a kind gelatin silver prints that celebrate them. Also exhibited are two series of calotype photographs by Dan Estabrook: "Sleep," which focuses on states of dreams, and "Nine Symptoms," which documents the physical symptoms of falling in love. Thanks to a recent expansion, the three shows fit nicely into the Catherine Edelman Gallery space.
Western Exhibitions
"Fuzzy Logic"
through Feb. 26
Don't mindlessly take the presence of paint in art for granted: Reconsider the purpose and power of paint in "Fuzzy Logic." Gregg Perkins traces patterns of light as they fall on canvas; Jeff Schaefer applies paint to found objects such as basketball posters and crushed cinderblock. Works by these two Chicagoan painters are installed in opposition to each other here, creating a visual dialogue that chatters about both the differing possibilities of and differing sets of logic concerning the relationship between paint and object. Though this theme sounds theoretical, no art degrees are needed to enjoy this show. Just bring your eyes, which will undoubtedly appreciate a vacation from the familiar: The eye's attraction to paint can be purely physical.
Woman Made Gallery
"Devils and Dolls"
through Feb. 24
The word "doll" conjures thoughts of Barbie, Cabbage Patch Kids or American Girl Place, right? When 45 female artists respond to the words "doll" and "devil," the outcome is instead a rich and varied range of objects that are not meant to be cradled. Creations include puppets whose heads sprout horns to fetishistic totems to seemingly banal doll heads attached to found objects. Several artists respond to the concept through representations in video, photography and painting. In a visual culture that airbrushes models and obsesses over "girls gone wild," a consideration of the origins of female imagery, particularly in religious texts and in our childhood toys, seems like a healthy practice, if not a vital one.
Hyde Park Art Center
"Sally Alatalo: The Wonderful (Lost) Achievements"
through Feb. 26
The World's Columbian Exposition of 1893 put Chicago on the international map as an important destination. Before the evolution of the modern media, such international fairs were historic affairs, and the only access people had to seeing new inventions, scientific discoveries, fresh products and other cultures, though they viewed them as exhibitors chose to display them. At the Hyde Park Art Center, a building suitably situated on a site used in the World's Fair, printmaker Sally Alatalo presents a fictional retrospective of exhibits excluded from this historical event. Alatalo includes print objects including posters and brochures, as well as found objects and "didactic panels" into her speculative account. This look into the possibility of what has been edited from cultural history may be as revealing as the history that remains.
Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum
"Treasures of Ancient Veracruz: La Magia de la Risa"
through Feb. 6
If you think holding a smile for the wedding photographer is hard, try holding it for 3,000 years. "Permagrin" takes on new meaning at the Mexican Fine Arts Center, where "Colosall Head No. 9," a four-ton statue of carved basalt stone created between 1200 and 900 B.C., greets you with a wide smile. "Colossal Head" is by far the largest, though many of the statues in this collection of more than 60 archaeological artifacts from ancient Mesoamerica are unmistakenly happy. This evidence of glee in the ancient Olmec people is inspiring in the face of so much overly serious art. Hurry though, as Chicago is the only U.S. stop for this inspirational exhibition, which will depart in two weeks.
Jane Addams Hull House Center for Arts & Culture
"Athens 2004: Chicago Photographers Capture The Action"
opening Jan. 21; 6-9 p.m.; free
through Feb. 25
Enjoy wine, hors d'oeuvres and a talk with the photographers and the opening reception and silent auction sponsored by Canon and the Chicago Tribune. The exhibit features images from the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens by Tribune photographers Nuccio DiNuzzo and Scott Strazzante. Proceeds from the silent auction of these signed photos will benefit Jane Addams Hull House Center for Arts and Culture.
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