an artINcorporators project in West Chicago
edited by Anni Holm, Irene Pérez, and Meghan Borato
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Anni Holm editor, artXposium 2.0: an artINcorporators project in West Chicago, 2008 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. |
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Irene Pérez 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. |
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Meghan Borato 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. |
our contributors: Caitlin Arnold, Christian Arrecis, Joseph Baldwin, Kathryn Bernahl, Laura Boban, Clare Britt, EC Brown, Jessica Bruah, Burtonwood and Holmes, Jessica Caddell, Mia Capodilupo, Juliayn Coleman, Core Project, Stephanie Dean, Kristina Dziedzic Wright & Lea Graham, Angeline Evans, Lucia Fabio & Robert Andrew Mueller, Kathleen Fallucca, Mary Farmilant, Sally DeFauw, Alison Fraunhar, Benjamin Funke, Elise Goldstein, Gudrun Hasle, Annie Heckman, Krista Hoefle, Anne Elizabeth Høgh, Industry of the Ordinary, Gisela Insuaste, Agnieszka Jachymczyk Rowsey, Mathew Paul Jinks, JK collaborative, Anne Karsten, Nathan Keay, Agnieszka Kulon, Lisa Leighton, Paulina Lesiak, Jen Litterer, Matt Logan & David Johnson, Ashley Mathias, Andrew McComb, Robert Mead, Joseph Meiser, Richard Mutz, Lindsay Obermeyer, Catie Olson, Mark Ostermann, Sabina Ott, Jesus Oviedo, Erin Paulson, Sara Peak Convery, Caroline Picard, Naomi Pridjian, Mandy Rakow, John Rakow, Jason Reblando, Brian Reis, Alison Rhoades, Bridget Riversmith, Cole Robertson, Kit Rosenberg, Perrie Schad, Justyna Scheuring, Sara Schnadt, Mike Schwartz, Chris Smith, Brian Sorg, John Stanicek, Julia Stotz, Theodore Strandt, Kimberly Strom, Terttu Uibopuu, Mark Ukena, Michael Una, Renee Prisble Una, Rachel Weaver Rivera & Ingrida Sljuviene, Wiener Girls, April Wilkins, Margaret Wright, Joseph Weibler, Victor Yañez-Lazcano, and Steve Zieverink
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Christian Arrecis Christian Arrecis currently teaches photography courses at Kishwaukee College in Malta, Illinois and at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb. His work has been featured in several regional group and solo exhibitions including the 2008 Rockford Midwestern Exhibition, DeKalb Gallery (2008), the Freeport Arts Center Exhibition IV (2007) where he earned first place; the Thirty-second Annual Rock Island Fine Arts Exhibition (second place, 2008), Emerging Illinois Artists ’07 at the McLean County Arts Center in Bloomington, Illinois (an exhibition of Master of Fine Arts candidates in Illinois universities, 2007), artXposium in West Chicago (2007) and the Vicinity exhibition in St. Charles, Illinois (November 2007). He was recently selected as a Showcase Artist for Light Leaks Magazine, a journal of low-fidelity photography which published his pinhole photographs. His work was also included on the F-Stop Magazine website. He earned his MFA in photography from Northern Illinois University in May 2008. |
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Joseph Baldwin Joseph Baldwin was born in Belleville, Illinois in the United States. In the late 1990s Baldwin studied photography and sculpture at Southwestern Illinois College while working as a screen printer, and later went on to work in newspapers as an advertising designer and an editor with a Pulitzer Inc. publication. After a working education in the newspaper business Baldwin returned to making art full time and is currently studying in a MFA program for electronic visualization at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Baldwin recently finished a BFA there in moving image arts. This transition led to a series of publications and exhibits of video and print in St. Louis, Chicago, Los Angeles, Wilmington and Montreal in the Americas and overseas in Osaka, Seoul, Manila and Tokyo. Baldwin exhibits and publishes regularly in galleries, print, video, and on the web. He works in photography, video, sound, sculpture and mixed media. Find his work online at www.noisivelvet.com. |
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Kathryn Bernahl Kathryn Bernahl currently resides in Elmhurst, Illinois and is an art teacher at Lincoln Elementary School. Kathryn also taught on an international level, traveling to Buenos Aires, Argentina and instructing over 100 students per session. Besides teaching, she is a member of the Elmhurst Artists Guild and plans to further explore art through her new residency in the Chicago area. She currently focuses on painting serene landscapes and actively sells her work. Kathryn attended Bethel University in St. Paul, Minnesota for her undergraduate degree in Studio Art and Master's degree in Teaching. While at Bethel, she was also the recipient of the Performance Scholarship for Art and the Purchase Award in the Raspberry Monday Juried Exhibition. |
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Jessica Caddell Jessica J. Caddell is the Collections and Exhibitions Manager for the Freeport Arts Center in Freeport, Illinois. She is responsible for the organization and curatorial activities for temporary and permanent exhibitions in addition to managing the Freeport Art Center (FAC) collections. Jessica studied fine art at the University of Nebraska—Lincoln before moving to Texas and completing a Bachelor’s degree in Art History from Texas State University. She originally came to the FAC as an intern as part of the graduate program in art history and museum studies at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb. Before coming to the FAC, she organized exhibitions for a variety of galleries in Illinois and in Texas. |
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Stephanie Dean Stephanie Dean attended the California College of Arts Bachelor’s of Fine Arts program in photography. In 2002, she moved to Chicago to attend Columbia College Chicago. In 2005, she earned her Masters of Fine Arts in photography from Columbia College. She then traveled to Hungary as an artist-in-residence in Balatonfüred. During her residency she was invited to travel to Belgrade, Serbia where she was profoundly impressed by the landscape and the culture. She returned to Belgrade in 2006. During both visits she gained deeper knowledge of the human spirit, which she continues to ruminate upon in her current works. Upon return, she taught at both Columbia College Chicago and Oakton Community College. Subjects taught include photography and the history of photography. She is active in the Native American community, volunteering at the American Indian Center of Chicago and the Trickster Gallery in Schaumburg, Illinois, where she was artistic advisor for the Spirited Daughters inaugural exhibit and also designed the Spirited Daughters Poetry chapbook. Dean is proud to introduce her latest body of work Modern Groceries, focusing on the way we purchase and consume packaged foods at artXposium. |
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Kristina Dziedzic Wright Kristina Dziedzic Wright is an artist and curator who currently lives in Tempe, Arizona, but periodically calls Nairobi home. She has master’s degrees in rhetoric and art history from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Her academic research focuses on street artists in Kenya who are known as “jua kali” (Swahili for hot sun) in reference to the outdoor settings where they work. As an artist, Kristina creates assemblages, collages and installations from found objects and recycled materials collected throughout her travels. She is interested in the global discourse about environmental conservation, especially as it intersects with artistic practices, and believes that art serves as a powerful vehicle for cross-cultural exchange. For artXposium, Kristina and poet Lea Graham have created a site-specific participatory installation evoking the idea of a shrine or memorial. Upon entering the space, visitors find collages and other images, poems, and quotes alongside writing surfaces and a microphone with which they may record their wishes, secrets, poems or other thoughts. With each participant’s contribution, the space is constantly changing and evolving. While people leave behind their “offerings” at this shrine, they may take away a poem, prayer, wish, or fortune made or supplied by the artists. |
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Angeline Evans Angeline Evans is a visual artist whose work reflects her interests in music, landscape, culture, mass media and politics, especially in relation to animals. Angeline’s projects incorporate drawing, painting, photography, sculpture, video and installation. Her exhibitions include work at Old Gold Exhibitions, Chicago; Gallery 400 at UIC (Temporary Allegiance); Moore College of Art and Design, Philadelphia, as well as City 2000 Project, Chicago. Angeline grew up in Hong Kong and the United Kingdom, and immigrated to United States in 1988. She now lives and works in Lisle, IL. Angeline graduated from University of Illinois at Chicago in 1996. She is a frequent photo contributor to music publications such as Signal To Noise and Wire, and record labels such as Okka Disk, Atavistic and NuScope have commissioned her artwork. Angeline recently contributed an article to the artXposium 2.0 book. |
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Kathleen Fallucca Kathleen Fallucca studied commercial art, advertising, art history, drawing and painting in college. She became a landscape photographer, establishing KT Designs in January of 2006. As a fine art landscape, commercial, and real estate photographer, she has worked with and been mentored by artists from galleries, venues, and associations. She has displayed work in venues from Farmington, New Mexico to Racine, Wisconsin. Her travel, ambition, enthusiasm and contacts have helped her to become a national artist. She welcomes the chance to learn from the people around her as well as by nature. Even though she enjoys and appreciates the solitude and reflection time that photography offers; she also thrives on being part of an art family and sharing her results with other artists, friends, family and the community. |
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Lea Graham Lea Graham was born in Memphis and grew up in Northwest Arkansas. Since then, she has lived in Perth Amboy, New Jersey; Chicago; Santiago, Dominican Republic; Worcester, Massachusetts; and most recently, the Mid-Hudson River Valley. Her travels have taken her to places such as Cuba, Kenya, much of Western Europe, and most recently, the Galapagos Islands. Much of her work deals in some way with the connections between and among place and language. Graham’s poems, reviews, articles, translations and collaborations have been published in or are forthcoming in journals such as Notre Dame Review, American Letters & Commentary, Shadow Train, and the Capilano Review. Her work was included in two recent anthologies, The City Visible: Chicago Poetry in the 21st Century, and The Bedside Guide to No Tell Motel: Second Floor. Her chapbook, Calendar Girls, was published in 2006 by above/ground Press in Ottawa. She has a Ph.D. in english/creative writing from the University of Illinois at Chicago, and is currently Assistant Professor of english at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York. Lea created a collaborative installation with Kristina Dziedzic Wright for artXposium. |
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Mathew Paul Jinks Mathew Paul Jinks is an international artist based in |
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Andrew McComb Andrew McComb grew up in Cedarburg, Wisconsin. He is currently attending classes at Columbia College Chicago where he will earn his BFA in photography in 2009. Thus far, McComb's work has accrued interest through multiple group shows and one solo exhibition. He spends much of his time returning home to his parents, who have become a source for his work. When not pursuing art, McComb spends his time repairing bicycles at Working Bikes Cooperative. On his vacations he prefers to enjoy the rigors of long distance bicycle touring. McComb's last tour contoured the circumference of Lake Michigan. |
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Lindsay Obermeyer Lindsay Obermeyer has exhibited her knitted and embroidered art in over 100 venues in the UK, Italy, Australia, and Colombia as well as throughout the United States at museums including the Museum of Art and Design, Boston Museum of Fine Art, and the Milwaukee Museum of Art. Her community-based piece The Red Thread Project will be coming to St. Louis in collaboration with the St. Louis organization Springboard to Learning. Her work is included in the recent and upcoming publications Knitting America: A Glorious Heritage from Warm Socks to High Art by Susan Strawn, Knitting Art: 150 Innovative Works from 18 Contemporary Artists by Karen Searle and The Culture of Knitting by Joanne Turney. Obermeyer writes on craft theory and design with articles included in Fiberarts, Knit.1 and Reinventing Textiles: Gender and Identity, and is a project designer for Lark Books. Her website is www.lbostudio.com. |
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Sabina Ott Sabina Ott was born in New York and raised in Los Angeles, California. She attended the San Francisco Art Institute, where she received her BFA and MFA Degrees. By using materials such as digital media, vacuum-formed plastic, and architectural models, her paintings, drawings and installations explore the possibility, as stated by Gertrude Stein, of “the ever present present." Ott’s work expands the notion of flow and movement through elements that generate out of paintings, the imaginary world, into real space. Focusing on interdependent relationships, her work places the viewer inside a kind of virtual world in which the physical and conceptual connections between things are experienced in real time. Sabina's installation work has been included in international exhibitions such as the first Auckland Triennial in Auckland New Zealand, the Australian Contemporary Arts Center in Melbourne, Australia, the Cite International in Paris, France as well as the Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati, Ohio, the Contemporary Art Museum in St. Louis, Missouri and the Cleveland Center for Contemporary Art, Cleveland Ohio. She has received a National Endowment for the Arts Individual Artists Grant in 1990 and a Howard Foundation Grant from Brown University for research combining digital media and painting in 2001, as well as a series of residencies. Her work is in the collection of the Corcoran Museum of American Art, Washington DC; the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California; the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, New York; The Saint Louis Art Museum, St. Louis, Missouri; the University Art Museum, University of California, Berkeley, California, and the Orange County Museum of Art, Newport, California among others. She has taught at such institutions as Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, California; and was the Director of Graduate Studies and Associate Professor at Washington University School of Art in St. Louis, Missouri. She served as the Director of Graduate Programs and Faculty at the San Francisco Art Institute in San Francisco, California; and as Chair of the Art + Design Department at Columbia College Chicago. She is now a Professor of Fine Art at Columbia College Chicago. |
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Naomi Pridjian Naomi M. Pridjian is a second-generation Armenian-American artist, whose ethnic inheritance and sense of legacy informs her work. Naomi believes in the inclusive commonality of the human spirit, within the cultural diversity of an ever-shrinking globe. She sees personal self-awareness as an exploratory step toward tolerant inclusion. This belief threads its way through all of her work, which includes assemblage and digital montage. She is the curator and producer of the 2002 exhibition, Inheritance: Art and Images Beyond a Silenced Genocide. In her work, Naomi seeks to evoke an emotional response in the viewer that can support commonality with others rather than dissimilarity. Toward this end, she relies on the intrinsic beauty of color, form and content, along with skillful and subtle articulation of concept. Response from the viewer completes her effort. Naomi’s work can be seen on her website: www.inheritanceproject-2.com. |
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Cole Robertson Cole was born in sunny Arizona, but moved to frigid Chicago in 2003. He received his BFA in photography and art history at Arizona State University, and completed his MFA in photography at Columbia College Chicago. He has exhibited nationally and internationally. He has this to say: "I work in practically every type of photographic medium, including 19th century processes, type-C, digital imaging, and video. My work deals with issues of gender, sex, and sexuality—universal issues I feel are of pressing importance. I often attempt to seduce my viewers with beauty and humor, sometimes subtly playing with their brains (as so many seductions do)." |
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Justyna Scheuring Justyna Scheuring was born in Torun, Poland. She received her BA from Higher School of Applied Arts in Poznan, Poland, and her MA from the Academy of Fine Arts in Poznan, Poland, and is currently based in London. Justyna creates site-specific installations and performances, writes poetry, and works in video, drawing and photography. Her exhibitions have been informed by ongoing critique through research, group activity and participatory workshops. |
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Brian Sorg Brian Sorg received his BFA from Columbia College in 2006. He has been a featured artist in such shows as Tim Barber’s “Various Photographs”, DNJ Gallery’s “The Age of Adolescence”, The Chicago Art Open, the Version “New Trends in Photography”, and the Bridge Art Fair. He has exhibited work in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Miami. He was named by NewCity Chicago one of the “2007 Breakout Artists”. He received the Albert P. Weisman memorial scholarship, is a recipient of the John Mulvany Scholarship, and recently had photographs published in the book A Field Guide to the North American Family. He currently works as a fine art and editorial photographer in Chicago. See his work at www.briansorgfoto.com. |
