[visualculturist has been on sort of an un-planned hiatus, because its primary contributor has a different — and substantially more time-consuming - day job. but as he adjusts to the new rhythm, he promises to pick up the pace.
The new gig is shouting distance from the Schlesinger & Mayer/ Carson Pirie Scott/ soon-to-be Target store, site of the Sullivan galleries, where SAIC BFA candidates are holding their annual show. So I popped over to have a look.]
It’s been a while since I’ve read or heard anyone discussing the baby Art Star phenomenon — i.e. where an artist is plucked directly from a booth at a graduation exhibition and catapulted into [relative] fame and fortune. But it’s still early in the season for the shows, so we’ve still got time.
My guess, though, is that one isn’t going to emerge from the show of work by BFA candidates at the School of the Art Institute that’s up at Sullivan Galleries until next month. Which is not to say there aren’t some pieces that I liked. I’m not sure how the curators allocate space to the artists, but — at least the way I navigated the show, in more or less a counterclockwise fashion — it wasn’t until I got very close to the end that I saw anything which really seemed to suggest a lot of talent.
That is, at least until I found myself at the far northeast corner of the gallery space, where I was confronted with this arresting self portrait by Reisha Perlmutter.
I like the extreme close-up framing of the image and the sophistication of the brushwork. [While I really liked the landscapes on her website, I was a little disappointed with the other portraits she showed there because they just seemed more conventional.
I similarly like Lorraine Barger’s subtle and sensuous wool and indigo piece.
The cleverest thing I saw was Alexis Rodefer’s “Collected Research on Differentiating Monthly Housing Expenditures in Chicago:State and Madison” The artist has drawn watercolor renderings of several dozen Chicago houses, keyed to various locations on a city map, on each of which is indicated its monthly cost of occupancy.
The concept was interesting, and the execution was admirable — I’m a sucker for mostly anything involving maps, the little watercolors themselves are quite lovely.
and the whole piece is a great installation [although I’m not sure it qualifies as “installation” art].
(I can’t help but think that I’ve seen this idea before — at another SAIC graduate show — but I can’t substantiate.)
Finally, no matter what you think of the work in the show, it’s worth a trip to the 7th floor to look at the Sullivanian terra cotta framing the window reveals.
They are items of great beauty, and it’s great to see them this close, even if they’re not in pristine condition.