Chicago September 2010

I took a much needed weekend off and traveled to Chicago Friday - Sunday. It was great to catch up with old friends and one of my graduate school mentors in addition to seeing some artwork!

Barbara and I visited the Henri Cartier-Bresson exhibition at the Art Institute at a record pace (since we arrived nearly at closing time). His photographs are so low contrast and dusty. Barbara and I were discussing when photographers started to care about the quality of their prints and whether or not it was due to the fact that Cartier-Bresson was working for magazines and this wasn't a priority. We deduced that it wasn't until the 1980s that artists universally started to care about fine quality printing.



Henri Cartier-Bresson, Shanghai, 1948

Looking forward to Lewis Baltz's Photographs/Ronde de Nuit show on my next trip in November.

John Baldessari won the prize for best exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Photography.



One of my favorite parts of the trip was hanging out in Barbara's studio seeing her new work. She's preparing for exhibitions in Germany and England and is going to Marfa, Texas in two weeks for an opening at Ballroom Marfa.



Barbara Kasten
Studio Construct 17, 2007, 2/5
56 x 46 x 3 inches
Archival Pigment, print on Harman paper, mounted on Diebond

Ballroom Marfa
Immaterial
October 1, 2010 – February 20, 2011

From Glasstire: "Curated by Founder and Director Fairfax Dorn, Ballroom Marfa’s Immaterial is a show of abstract art. Though this seems fitting in the context of Ballroom Marfa’s neighboring Chinati Foundation, it’s a bit of a departure for a space that in recent years has focused more on installations and performances, and not so much on pretty objects. It being Marfa, their press release drops phrases like “the physical and psychic tensions between form, color and space” and “art’s potential to transcend conscious states through a plurality of visual languages” and “an image or object which can create both physical and psychological spaces.” But don’t let the poetical redundancies lull you to sleep or drive you to drink; instead note that Ballroom has put together a show that features a nice roster of international artists—all of whom are women—without describing it as a show of women artists! It's the most promising show in Marfa in a while. –RK"

I also had a great time hanging out with Alison Carey, ate a memorable dinner with Walead Beshty at the Skylark. Yes... Alison and I did do the Photobooth! Met Vicki Fowler, an amazing performance artist who I need to get to know better in the future. I also spent time with Kelli and Aaron who I also adore. I need to go back. Next weekend. Tomorrow. Now.