ZARA YOST
PUBLICATIONS
NEWCITY
"Laureled canvases, relief appendages and bouquet statuettes, Detroit-born-and-raised LaKela Brown’s exhibition, 'From Scratch: Seeding Adornment' envelops you like a love letter to the African diaspora." (Zara Yost)
NEWCITY
In case the rest of Chicago was wondering where Wesley Kimler was, he’s alive and well, kicking it outside of the city in what he lovingly refers to as his Hillbilly Homestead Fox Lair Kite Factory in Fairview, Michigan. Younger artists of today may not recognize this long-standing Chicago artist and figure, known for his Hunter S. Thompson-esque persona—he’s philosophical, direct and famed for being a loose cannon. Kimler is candid, raw and, like the rest of us, aging. However, age hasn’t stopped this seventy-one-year-old Chicago anti-hero from living and breathing his art. (Zara Yost)
NEWCITY
Distorted expressions of agony, rage and release line the walls one after the other. Mouths open mid-howl. Teeth gnashed mid-growl. The faces of women. The bodies and souls of women. Complexions crumpled, folded and twisted. These are not influencer, face-tuned faces with perfectly plumped lips. They are real expressions of real anger. They are the faces of our mothers, sisters, aunts and friends—the expressions of more than half the population. (Zara Yost)
NEWCITY
Carolyn Ottmers’ 2010 work, “Splice #16 (Co8AXEI),” floats featherlight among other cast sculptures in a room with a stone fountain and swinging chairs. The stainless steel twigs and leaves throw shadows on the gallery wall. The flora is delicate, durable, organic and manufactured. It’s as if Ottmers captured the life and death of the plant simultaneously giving it a new existence.
Culled and pulled together to create “Making Time,” eighteen artists—Ottmers included—establish the third exhibition at Secrist | Beach, in alignment with Stephen Eichhorn’s solo exhibition “Voidground.” (Zara Yost)
NEWCITY
Cotton tapestries with aquamarine acrylic paint and 22-karat gold leaf, sgraffito ceramics inlaid with obsidian and thread mimic ancient Tancol anthropomorphic vessels, copper as canvas paintings—some with brass inlays—and a short documentary film, “La cicatriz del Bosque 1, Curación,” occupy the exhibition space for Noé Martínez’s second solo show at Patron, “Las raíces conversan por debajo de la tierra,” which translates to, the roots talk beneath the earth. (Zara Yost)
NEWCITY
Formally trained in photography, Atlanta-based interdisciplinary artist Erin Jane Nelson first became captivated by ceramics after visiting threatened coastal regions in the South—where she began documenting the rapid erosion and threat of climate change in the area. Nelson became interested in calling attention to these issues by taking dirt and clay—fluid, decaying and malleable—to produce something immutable, fixed and perennial. (Zara Yost)
NEWCITY
The synthetic and natural materials affixed, sewn and fused together in Teresa Baker’s “Shift in the Clouds” stand out against the white walls of the gallery. The exhibition hosts thirteen of Baker’s abstracted landscapes on the first-floor public exhibition space of The Arts Club of Chicago.
NEWCITY
Narrator, storyteller, truth seeker, Delisha McKinney, West Side Chicago resident, is a new kind of orator. A teller of Black stories, Black lives, and a champion of Black youth. McKinney’s art depicts Black adolescence and antics. It’s playful in a way that rides the fine line of seriousness, nostalgia and imagination. (Zara Yost)
NEWCITY
"Isolated and above, the views and contemplations of Georgia O'Keeffe's 'My New Yorks' leave one considering not only the alien, futuristic dwellings of high-rise living but also the intimacy and omniscience of it." (Zara Yost)
WHITEHOT MAGAZINE
Wafting through carefully curated racks of texts, and into a back room, I see Sophia Marie Pappas perched on a chair with a clipboard and paper. She is swotting up a woman with black hair, dipping her calligraphy pen every so often into the inkwell beside her. Around the artist, six jumbo cloth tapestries of stamping, grandiose, and gesticulating figures hang behind sizable paper animals affixed with string and floating alongside their human counterparts. There are crimson and periwinkle tigers, cerulean hounds, and canary-coral horses with rouge hooves. The beasts gallop and gambol in garish hues between the black and white painted people—a contrast of color and scale. (Zara Yost)
NEWCITY
In “Persuasions,” Edie Fake’s neon gouache paintings on wooden panels take on influences of the American West. Like Native American weavings, Fake’s work encompasses bright patterns, hues and motifs similar to that of the traditional and complex indigenous textiles. (Zara Yost)
NEWCITY
Stretched over frames, her works in "Both Sides Now" are made up of watercolor, acrylic or gouache on paper and linen, wool/cotton. The Californian carefully weaves her works by hand with the use of a TC2 (Thread Controller) Jacquard loom that is hooked up to her computer. (Zara Yost)
NEWCITY
Under the counsel of guest curators Foy and Van Der Moere, artists Frances Roberts, Renata Berdes, Jean Wilson, Aki Goto, Vincent Trasov, Michael E. Smith, Stefan Harhaj, Marcelo Anon, Eugene Von Bruenchenhein and Noah Wieder invite the public to engage in play and engage with their works. (Zara Yost)
NEWCITY
There is an impression that one should do tarot at the start of this show, and though I didn’t get to pull from the deck on Friday, April 12 at the opening of Secrist | Beach, I did pull three cards before writing this piece. “Spectral Visions: A Feminist Collective Signals Magickal Futures” by Hilma’s Ghost is a solo exhibition in three factions and is part of a two-year experimental study of artists Dannielle Tegeder and Sharmistha Ray influenced by the works and practice of Hilma af Klint. (Zara Yost)
NEWCITY
Minuscule paintings, sculptures and installations swell the booths at Barely Fair, the fourth iteration and creation of Josh Dihle, Tony Lewis, Roland Miller and Kate Sierzputowski, the co-directors of Julius Caesar Gallery. Arranged in three main rows with stalls on either side, the thirty-six cubicles of notable international galleries is an artist-run fair—with a twist. All works are bite-sized. Barely Fair is a caricature of a real art fair with its one-to-twelve ratio; as its title suggests, it’s barely there. As Expo Chicago expands into Navy Pier with In/Situ Outside this year, Barely Fair shrinks to fit into Color Club’s second-floor ballroom. (Zara Yost)
NEWCITY
Amongst Expo Chicago’s extraordinary collection of impressive displays from around the world, Profile enables galleries to showcase compelling and noteworthy projects by either a solo artist or a collective. Among the many outstanding booths, Miami’s exhibits stood out and dominated the top five booths for Profile. (Zara Yost)
NEWCITY
The contents of Katrina Majkut’s exhibition, “In Control,” at the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art will stun you. For centuries, the art of textile work has been an essential part of human culture and history. However, the contributions of women laborers in this field have often been underestimated and undervalued. Ukrainian American artist Majkut challenges this notion and brings attention to the skill and artistry of embroidery and cross-stitching as more than a domestic craft. Majkut subverts traditional stereotypes through her artwork and uses embroidery and cross-stitching techniques as intersectional feminist activism. (Zara Yost)
NEWCITY
To celebrate LVL3 Gallery’s fourteenth anniversary, their latest exhibition, “Tooth for a Tooth,” features five artists who have previously exhibited at the gallery: Noël Morical, Erin Washington, Ryan Oskin, Kevin Umaña and Matt Mancini. (Zara Yost)
PETRICHOR
FABRICATION, FANTASIA, AND FLUIDITY AT THE MATTRESS FACTORY: PART 3
Marvin Touré’s the blood is the water at the Mattress Factor is the third exhibition to open alongside Isla Hansen and Catalina Schliebener Muñoz’s work at the Mattress Factory. Touré is an Ivorian-American interdisciplinary artist who examines the implications of death, consciousness, and love with fabricated anecdotes and objects of innocence. (Zara Yost)
PETRICHOR
Pittsburgh owes much of its celebration of childhood to Mister Rogers, whose award-winning television program aired from 1968 until 2001. It’s not surprising then that many Pittsburgh artists feel inspired to delve into their childhood experiences, creating works that explore themes of innocence and imagination. One such artist is Isla Hansen, who has taken a page out—or rather a scene out—of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood and intricately woven their imaginative world into a remarkable feat of adventure, reflection, and play. (Zara Yost)
PETRICHOR
Catalina Schliebener Muñoz’s solo exhibition, Deep, Deep Woods, opens on the first floor of the Mattress Factory. Visitors will immediately notice a curious installation in the middle of the gallery—giant legs and feet protruding from underneath a wall. It’s as if the museum just landed on top of them, much like the Wicked Witch of the East’s ruby-red slippers in The Wizard of Oz. (Zara Yost)
NEWCITY
Radical softness and sensuality saturate Miranda Forrester’s paintings at the Mariane Ibrahim Gallery. Forrester, a Black queer woman from London, paints her subjects—women and children of color—in the quiet luxury of a spacious home. The mood is a divine scene of domesticity, like an ethereal, heavenly snapshot of daily life. (Zara Yost)
NEWCITY
Rafferty, a Brooklyn-based artist, is known for her creative practices featuring photography and sculptures. She has been included in collections like the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Carnegie Museum of Art, to name a few. Rafferty’s latest exhibition continues to demonstrate her artistic originality. (Zara Yost)
NEWCITY
Known for her large-scale silhouette artworks against stark white gallery walls depicting outlandish and fantastical scenes of debauchery meant to bring awareness to the real-life horrors of slavery in the antebellum South, Kara Walker, the New York-based artist examines race, gender, sexuality and violence in her practice. (Zara Yost)
NEWCITY
“Freedom Square: The Black Girlhood Altar” is a solemn and powerful memorial to eight extraordinary women and girls who have left an indelible mark on this world. The individuals honored are Rekia Boyd, Latasha Harlins, Ma’Khia Bryant, “Hope,” “Harmony,” Marcie Gerald, Lyniah Bell, and Breonna Taylor. Every one of these women’s tragic deaths or disappearances has been a catalyst for the Black girl leaders of A Long Walk Home to become activists and artists, using their voices and talents to combat violence against women and girls. (Zara Yost)
PETRICHOR
Mike Butala has the disgruntled, satirical authentic record-store-owner-vibe down. An engineer by degree who worked in the corporate world, Butala was determined to make a significant shift in his life and realized he needed to move towards something more meaningful to him. You can find Butala slinging lungos and Americanos behind the bar.
SIXTY INCHES FROM CENTER
“Collector’s Corner” looks at the artistic, curatorial, and cultural forces behind the act of collecting. We visit the homes, businesses, garages, desks, and closets of artists and cultural producers who…
CHICAGO READER
While assembling “Feminism (n.): Plural,” her new show for Woman Made Gallery, Claudine Isé, the gallery’s new executive director, used Roxane Gay’s discerning essay collection Bad Feminist as her inspiration. The result is a display of work by 35 artists that encompasses various feminist themes. I recently interviewed Isé about the show and her thoughts on the role of feminism in the art world. (Zara Yost)
CHICAGO READER
The Museum of Contemporary Art exhibition “Doris Salcedo” provides the largest display of Salcedo’s work to date, from her earliest to latest artworks, including a documentary of site-specific public works and interviews with the artist. (Zara Yost)
CHICAGO READER
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CHICAGO READER
Jean-Marc Vallee’s Wild—adapted from Cheryl Strayed’s nonfiction book about her struggle with grief and addiction as she trekked across the Pacific Crest Trail—is something different, a multifaceted exposition of a mother-daughter connection so extraordinary and difficult it ranks with the ones in Catherine Hardwicke’s Thirteen (2003). (Zara Yost)
CHICAGO READER
Now in its 27th year, the show, arranged by the Art Dealers Association of America (ADAA), will have solo, two-person, and thematic exhibitions at New York’s historic Park Avenue Armory. Two Chicago galleries, Rhona Hoffman Gallery and Valerie Carberry Gallery, will be among the 72 ADAA members exhibiting this year. (Zara Yost)
CHICAGO READER
The most important issue no one’s talking about in the mayoral race
Racial segregation continues to inflict wounds on the south and west sides. And once again it’s ignored on the campaign trail.
Several mayoral candidates have framed their campaigns around the idea that downtown has been favored over Chicago’s other neighborhoods. But there’s rampant inequality between these other neighborhoods. When candidates do talk about these disparities, they usually neglect the role played by racial segregation and rarely propose desegregation as a solution. (Zara Yost)
FNEWSMAGAZINE
Sifting Through the Subconscious
Artist Elbe Ciña creates a space for freeing the mind
Sandbox is something in-between art, science, psychology and education. It’s an opportunity to re-visit one’s inner-child. It’s an aesthetic and reflective romp through the narrative delights of the subconscious. (Zara Yost)
FNEWSMAGAZINE
Wist for Wisconessee at Kasia Kay
Duncan R. Anderson and Daniel Bruttig share scraps of an imaginary realm.
Friday, Sept. 6th marked the infamous fall gallery openings in Chicago. Kasia Kay Art Projects, off North Aberdeen Street, opened with the concept child of the artists Duncan R. Anderson and Daniel Bruttig. (Zara Yost)
FNEWSMAGAZINE
Lilli Carré’s Debut Show at the MCA.
Presenting artifacts from a surreal and chimerical world, Chicago-based artist (and SAIC alumna) Lilli Carré debuts her first solo exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) Chicago. The show, BMO Harris Bank Chicago Works: Lilli Carré is made up of ceramic sculptures, experimental animations, and framed works on paper. (Zara Yost)
FNEWSMAGAZINE
Ruminations on Philip Seymour Hoffman
One writer’s thoughts on what we really knew about the actor and director.
Philip Seymour Hoffmann was born on July 23, 1967 in Rochester, New York and he studied at the New York State Summer School for the Arts and New York University. Having begun his acting career opposite Al Pacino in the 1992 film A Scent of a Woman, Hoffman soon landed supporting roles in the films Nobody’s Fool (1994) and Twister (1996). Although his acting had progressed to notable roles, Hoffman’s personal life was apparently less gratifying. (Zara Yost)
FNEWSMAGAZINE
Daniel Clowes’ Considerable Comprehension
Illustrations from “Ghost World,” part of the MCA’s “Modern Cartoonist: The Art of Daniel Clowes,” hint at a humanistic honesty.
“Modern Cartoonist: The Art of Daniel Clowes,” currently on view at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, showcases over 160 of the artist’s original drawings, cartoons, comic book series, and graphic novels. The exhibition was originally organized by the Oakland Museum of California and then traveled to the MCA, where it underwent considerable development through Nicholas de Monchaux’s exhibition design. The gallery walls complement the intensely hued comics and caricatures with a neutral, metallic finish, like that of a structuralist’s idea of a Victorian parlor. (Zara Yost)
FNEWSMAGAZINE
Craftivism: The Art of Craft and Activism
A conversation with blogger, knitter and textile enthusiast Betsy Greer on her new book and an upcoming North American tour on craft, creativity and activism.
Circa 2002, blogger, knitter and textile enthusiast Betsy Greer spearheaded the term “craftivism” with the help of a friend in her knitting circle. After a New York parade and a powerful display of partisan puppets, she began donating her knitting efforts, which then led her to fashion the website craftivism.com and editing the anthology Craftivism: The Art of Craft and Activism (Arsenal Pulp Press). The collection of essays, projects, interviews, and personal narratives in Craftivism is a craft in itself, woven together with a purpose. (Zara Yost)