artXposium 2.0 is a book chronicling the development of an annual multimedia art experience in the city of West Chicago. The event artXposium is the brainchild of local resident and internationally shown artist Anni Holm and former registrar of the West Chicago City Museum, Brian Reis. Together with assistant organizer Irene Pérez, many volunteers, and over sixty artists, they created a three-day event in the former Grobe's True Value store, a large space which lent itself to works ranging from painting, sculpture, and photography to interactive installations and video screenings. The ultimate goal of the 2007 exhibition was to develop an International Artists Residency for West Chicago, a goal that is being realized in late summer of 2008 with the arrival of Danish artist Gudrun Hasle. Gudrun's projects will be exhibited at the West Chicago City Museum, and she will be a part of the programming at artXposium 2008.

The book form for artXposium 2.0 began as an idea for a catalog that grew into a larger project, with essays by several participants and viewers of the 2007 exhibition, an introduction to the purpose and background of this project by Anni Holm, and images from over sixty participating artists. The launch for artXposium 2.0 coincides with a weekend-long exhibition and program of art events from September 19-21, 2008 in West Chicago, with details online at artXposium.org.

Anni Holm is a conceptual artist, with a soft spot for projects revolving around photography, installation, performance, and collaborative art. Born in Randers, Denmark, Anni holds a Studenter Eksamen in math from Randers Statsskole, Denmark. Before immigrating to the United States, she also attended Krabbesholm Art College in Skive and worked as a counselor at Amtscenteret Oustuplund in Kjellerup, both in Denmark. Thereafter she landed an Au Pair job, which brought her to Chicago, Illinois. She graduated with a BFA in photography from Columbia College Chicago 2004, where she managed to receive the Albert P. Weisman Memorial Scholarship twice. In 2005, she received an artist residency at the Atlantic Center for the Arts in Florida, was a Featured Artist during the Chicago Artists Month in 2006, and was named a Break Out Artist in Newcity Chicago magazine in 2007. Anni has performed and exhibited her work at various locations nationally including Ohio University Gallery, Ohio; Waterloo Center for the Arts, Iowa; Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minnesota; Williamsburg Art and Historical Center, New York; Space 301, Alabama; along with the Glass Curtain Gallery, the National Museum of Mexican Arts, the Chicago Cultural Center, and the Museum of Contemporary Art, all in Chicago. Since 2006 Anni has also toured the country with the  ever-expanding NetWorking knitting project. International exhibitions include the group exhibitions at Museum of National History at Frederiksborg Castle, Denmark, Hafnarborg Institute of Culture and Fine Art, Iceland, Amos Andersons Konstmuseum, Finland, Ljungbergmuseet, Sweden and Norsk Folkemuseum, Norway.  Anni co-founded Art Walks Chicago, an annual public performance art series on the streets of Chicago, with former performance partner Nyok-Mei Wong in 2004. She is the founder and curator of the three-day multimedia art exhibition artXposium and (soon to be) not-for-profit artINcorporators umbrella arts organization, both based in West Chicago, Illinois, where she also resides. Her day jobs include a position as Gallery Director and Curator at the Orleans Street Gallery in St. Charles, Illinois and a position as freelance Curatorial Assistant at the Bank of America LaSalle Photography Collection in Chicago.

Irene Pérez is a visual artist making work that explores place, perception, cultural identity, and language. She was born in Terrassa, Spain, near Barcelona, and currently lives in North Aurora, near Chicago, Illinois. Irene works on projects in many media, including works on paper, fiber pieces, and installations. Irene’s studies include work in art history at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, photography and fine arts at the College of Dupage in Illinois, and studio arts with a focus in sculpture and painting at the University of Illinois at Chicago. In addition to her practice as an artist, Irene has worked on a number of curatorial projects, serving as the Assistant Director at the Orleans Street Gallery in St. Charles, Illinois since 2007, co-curating RE:FUSE with Anni Holm there. She worked as the assistant organizer on artXposium 2007, and as the curator of the Library Art Exhibition Series at the College of Dupage Library. She recently co-founded the Second Bedroom Project Space in Chicago. Her recent solo exhibition Homeland of Many Nations was on view at Art on Armitage in Chicago.

Meghan Borato is Registrar for the Society for Photographic Education and lives in Cleveland, Ohio. She studied art history at John Carroll University and has previously worked as Assistant Director for Orleans Street Gallery. Meghan volunteers at the Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland and may or may not be found chasing stray animals through morning traffic or scissor-kicking anyone who dares to throw away recyclable plastic.

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artXposium 2.0 is now available to pre-order for its release on September 19, 2008.
Online orders ship out on September 19.
Find it at our online store.
US $19.95
ISBN 978-0-9802300-3-1/LCCN 2008933830