By Ania Szremski
“Field Day” by Matt Saunders Photograph courtesy of The Renaissance Society
Matt Saunders at The Ren
February 28 – April 11
5811 S. Ellis Avenue
In its usual ahead-of-the-pack form, The Renaissance Society is presenting Chicago with Matt Saunders’ first solo museum show. This rising art world darling will be showing photographs, short films, drawings and paintings inspired by forgotten cultural figures (from scientists to film stars and TV actors) who lived from the early to mid-twentieth century, continuing with his predilection for exploring cinema and its iconic figures. The chances for pretension are moderate to high (this is, after all, a Yale and Harvard graduate based in Berlin who is doing pretty well for himself right now—yawn!), but I’m willing to take the risk.
Hal Foster at AIC
March 4, 6 – 7 p.m.
Art Institute of Chicago’s Fullerton Hall
111 S. Michigan
Legendary art critic-historian Hal Foster will expound on his favorite topic (the avant-garde, and specifically Dada) to what is sure to be a packed house. The notorious curmudgeon comes after T.J. Clark last October and before Michael Fried and Yve-Alain Bois this April and May as part of the Art Institute’s star-studded lecture series inspired by the opening of the Modern Wing. Get there early and be prepared for a long, long line.
Fair Use at Glass Curtain
March 1 – April 30; reception
March 11, 5 – 8 p.m.
Glass Curtain Gallery at Columbia College
1104 S Wabash Ave
Curated by Brandon Alvendia, this group show tackles issues like open source, the copyleft movement, piracy, appropriation and modes of (re)distribution. Artists including Siebren Versteeg, the Totem Collective, Kay Rosen and Salter/Snowden explore how new developments in technology and software, as well as how debates over intellectual property, effect, inform and expand their work. Alvendia’s also going to be working with ShopColumbia to create an adaptable, multi-purpose nomadic unit that can serve as a portable exhibition space or sales kiosk, intended to allow students to show and sell their work outside of mainstream distribution systems. Given the concept and the people involved, the show promises to be equal parts intriguing and provocative.
Tran, T. Kim-Trang at CATE
March 11, 6 p.m.
Gene Siskel Film Center
154 N State Street
It’s hard to choose just one evening from Conversation at the Edge’s ever-rich bevy of programming, but this showing of Tran, T. Kim-Trang’s famed Blindness Series is definitely at the top. The artist will be present to present five of the cycle’s eight videos, including, in CATE’s words, “a provocative documentary on hysterical blindness and the Cambodian civil war (‘ekleipsis,’ 1998); an essay on cosmetic eyelid surgery (‘operculum,’ 1993); and a meditation on the phenomenon of word blindness (‘alexia,’ 2000).”
