HEATHER GABEL SILENCED PRAYERS

DECEMBER 11, 2015 — JANUARY 22, 2016

OPENING FRIDAY, DECEMBER 11 FROM 7-10PM

Johalla Projects is thrilled to present Silenced Prayers, its fourth solo exhibition with the Chicago-based artist Heather Gabel. In her first gallery presentation since 2013, Gabel refines her collage-based practice with a new body of work that confronts ideas about systemic religion, gender, and representation. The exhibition will run from December 11, 2015 through January 22, 2016. An opening reception with the artist will be held Friday, December 11 from 7-10pm.

In Silenced Prayers, Gabel reimagines iconic Christian scenes and figures. Using found sample lithograph prints from the 1920s and a combination of vintage and Xerox papers, she recontextualizes the original content by inserting new objects, faces, and figures with the goal of replacing the components that are historically and traditionally restrictive or exclusionary. As a result of these subjective interventions, new visual juxtapositions lead to a variety of loaded interpretations and pose questions that challenge the inherent ideologies depicted in the found imagery.

Oddly, and elegantly, the formal qualities of the works are controlled and often unobtrusive in their composition. Seductively -- by Gabel’s implicit design -- the inserted imagery can often look as if it does exist as part of the original lithographs. This lends more power to her conceived combinations, as the viewer is confronted with alternating depths and powerful associations between her desire to rewrite an existing story and the original intent of the base materials.

Heather Gabel (b. 1977) is a visual artist and singer in the band HIDE. She studied photography at the Center for Creative Studies in Detroit and holds a BFA from Columbia College Chicago. She has been exhibiting both internationally and across the United States for nearly 10 years in galleries and alternative venues, including several public art installations with Johalla Projects in Chicago and New York City. Recent projects include a series of neon-based works addressing present/future death rituals in modern American society, a trilogy of video works, a collaboration with the Chicago-based designer Hvnter Gvtherer. Current projects include programming the Palace Film Festival and research for her first performance work.

We are also excited to announce that Heather Gabel: Silenced Prayers will be the first exhibition in our newly renovated gallery space. We look forward to welcoming you!

For more information, please contact info@johallaprojects.com.

A L'OUEST MARZENA ABRAHAMIK

A SOLO EXHIBITION MARCH 13, 2015 — APRIL 12, 2015

OPENING FRIDAY, MARCH 13 FROM 7-10PM

Johalla Projects is very pleased to present A l’ouest, its first solo exhibition of work by the Chicago-based artist Marzena Abrahamik.  Showing a new series of photographs that considers her intimacy with friends, Abrahamik delves into different, increasingly refined parameters for making that mark a departure from earlier bodies of work that have focused on more marginalized communities. The exhibition will run from March 13 through April 12, 2015. An opening reception will be held on Friday, March 13, 2015 from 7-10pm.

In a wide context, A l'ouest constructs a photographic world without origin or end. All loosely autobiographical in their conception, each of Abrahamik’s images evoke more complex themes that include feminine identity and representation, collaboration between sitter and artist, and interpersonal communication. Each photograph included in the exhibition, in meandering succession, is the result and complement of its connection to the other photographs and their subjects. Simultaneously engineered and organic, they are not always immediately truthful, as Abrahamik intends to point to the broader characteristics of the group of subjects that emerge from the scenes she is simultaneously fashioning and illustrating.

The exhibition’s French title A l’ouest (literally meaning “to the west”), can be colloquially translated here to reference “someone who is daydreaming” or “on another planet,” which further implicates Abrahamik’s nonconcrete, fluid process of composing and designing the images as the portrait sessions are taking place. The final storyline that emerges in each photograph is fueled by this arbitrary exchange, which ultimately contributes to a larger, constructed narrative.

Marzena Abrahamik lives and works in Chicago, IL. In 2013, she received a MFA in Photography from Yale University. She has exhibited nationally and internationally, with highlights including the International Photography Festival, Tel-Aviv, Israel (2014); the Gallery of Classic Photography, Moscow, Russia (2013); Aperture, New York (2013); and the Turchin Center for the Visual Arts, Boone, North Carolina (2012).

Lisa Lindvay's solo exhibition Hold Together is on view through January 18, 2015

HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM JOHALLA PROJECTS

TAKING A LOOK BACK AT THE PREVIOUS YEAR —  IN 2014, WE:

▪ Mounted seven exhibitions in the gallery. ▪ Partnered with Blue Moon Brewing Co. to #RaiseAMoon and produce a large-scale installation in Brooklyn. ▪ Collaborated with the Post Family to produce Soho House Chicago's inaugural Satellite Nights event. ▪ Returned to Pitchfork Music Fest with a new public art installation. ▪ Partnered with the Chicago Loop Alliance to ACTIVATE an alleyway in the heart of the city. ▪ Presented a new mural at Lollapalooza. ▪ Worked with street artist Don't Fret to produce a pop-up installation in the West Loop's former Chicago Wholesale Hardware store ahead of its demolition. ▪ Kept Home Depot in business.

MANY THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT, AND WE LOOK FORWARD TO ANOTHER YEAR OF EXCITING PROGRAMMING!

Check out some highlights of our year in photos below:

Raise A Moon event with Blue Moon Brewing Co. in Brooklyn, NY

Soho House Chicago Satellite Nights

Stephen Eichhorn's solo exhibition in the gallery

Geometric Village at Pitchfork 2014 | Photo by Zachary James Johnston

Measurable Inconsistencies in the gallery

ACTIVATE Chicago | Photo: James John Jetel for Chicago Loop Alliance | jjjetel.com

Chad Kouri's solo exhibition in the gallery

Join us THIS FRIDAY from 6-9PM for the opening of HOLD TOGETHER— Photographs by Lisa Lindvay!

HOLD TOGETHER PHOTOGRAPHS BY LISA LINDVAY

A SOLO EXHIBITION

DECEMBER 12, 2014 — JANUARY 18, 2015

OPENING FRIDAY, DECEMBER 12 FROM 6-9PM

Johalla Projects is very pleased to present Hold Together, a new survey of works by Chicago-based artist Lisa Lindvay. For the first time, Lindvay will exhibit a comprehensive look at her seven-year long series of photographs that depict her family members grappling with the effects of her mother’s mental health. The exhibition will run from December 12, 2014 to January 18, 2015. There will be an opening reception on Friday, December 12th, from 6-9pm. 

In order to make new discoveries, Lisa Lindvay returns home. From the time she began graduate school in 2006, Lindvay has been photographing her immediate family in their Pennsylvania home. The works portray her brothers, sister, and father as they co-exist amidst the tangible absence of a maternal presence.  Here, their house — however stricken by mess — serves as the unsuspecting background for the complex emotional currents that pulse between them.

Suggestively pointing to religious iconography, art historical tropes, and advertorial gestures, Lindvay’s photographs are formal in their execution and contemplation. With this in mind, she brings more substantial arguments about popular culture, social norms, and notions about “true” or traditional domesticity to light. Interestingly, the final versions of each image are conceived in collaboration with the subject. This partnership, in turn, challenges and enriches conversations around the works’ relationships with broader themes of purposeful Abjection and the subverting of traditional portraiture roles in photography. 

In a wider context, the photographs in Hold Together exist as a powerful, achingly honest illustration of the inner workings of the American family navigating its way through instability, financial adversity, and the growing pains of adolescence. Often, her images recall photographs by canonical figures like Larry Sultan, Jim Golberg, or Tierney Gearon in their delivery and content. Much like these artists, Lindvay’s body of work feels vital and relevant in its time by urging us to pause and look. 

Lisa Lindvay (b. 1983) lives and works in Chicago, IL. She received her MFA in Photography from Columbia College Chicago in 2009 and BFA in Photography from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania in 2005. Her work has been exhibited in numerous national and international exhibitions, with highlights including the Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover, MA (2013); the Turner Contemporary, Margate, UK (2012); the Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago, IL (2011, 2010); and the National Portrait Gallery at the Smithsonian (2009). She is the recipient of a number of awards that include the Artadia Award (2012); the Aperture Portfolio Prize (2011); and the 3Arts Artist Award (2011). 

For more information about this exhibition, please contact Tyler Blackwell at tyler@johallaprojects.com. 

Check out DON'T FRET in HANKSY'S Chicago episode of SURPLUS CANDY!

Join us this Friday from 7-10pm for the opening of No Wrong Answers: Paper Paintings & Various Editions by Chad Kouri. 

More about the exhibition. More about Chad Kouri.

NO WRONG ANSWERS — PAPER PAINTINGS & VARIOUS EDITIONS BY CHAD KOURI

A SOLO EXHIBITION

OCTOBER 17 — NOVEMBER 30, 2014

OPENING FRIDAY, OCTOBER 17 FROM 7-10PM By Appointment Only Please e-mail info@johallaprojects.com to schedule an appointment.  Johalla Projects is very excited to present No Wrong Answers: Paper Paintings & Various Editions by Chad Kouri, its first gallery exhibition with the Chicago artist. For Kouri, who will show works in a solo setting for the first time in nearly five years, there are no definitive categories — no concrete interpretations. While he consistently (and consciously) moves effortlessly between the fields of design, commerce, and studio practice, Kouri’s work here has reached a new, thoughtful apex. The exhibition will be on view from October 17through November 30. An opening reception will be held on Friday, October 17th.

At an initial level, No Wrong Answers delves into Kouri's ability to intuitively decipher and respond to primary forms and colors. The exhibition will showcase Kouri's new "paper paintings," which playfully reference Minimalist hard-edge geometric paintings and post-painterly abstraction. Here, cut papers replace the stern banks of paint and dividing lines are forged by blade, generating a self-referential conversation fueled by radiant hues, shapes, and relationships within each work’s plane. These works — graphic and direct in presentation — challenge the viewer to create their own dialog with each composition. Refreshingly, by enabling his works’ narratives to leave room for suggestion and contemplation, Kouri invites a new kind of visual literacy. 

Another vital part of Chad Kouri’s practice deals with his interest in and use of editioned materials. For this exhibition, he will unveil several different multiples projects that range from wearable designed objects to a collection of text-based, overheard reactions at the 2014 Whitney Biennial during its opening weekend. These types of ongoing, real-life “collections” permeate Kouri’s maker mentality and often act as stimulation and inspiration for his more formal works, emphasizing the importance he places on accessibility and relatability.

A catalog will be produced on the occasion of the exhibition. 

Chad Kouri (b. 1985) lives and works in Chicago, IL. His work has been included in solo and group exhibitions locally and nationally, with recent highlights including the Chicago Cultural Center (2014, 2011); Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art, Chicago (2013); the Chicago Design Museum (2012, 2013) the Rochester Museum of Fine Arts, NY (2012); and Jean Albano Gallery, Chicago (2011). Kouri also frequently serves as a visiting artist or lecturer, with recent appointments including Pratt Institute, NY; the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, IL; the Otis School of Art & Design, CA; and Purdue University, IN.  He is a co-founder of The Post Family, a Chicago-based art- and design-focused community engagement platform. 

  For more information, please contact Tyler Blackwell at info@johallaprojects.com.

Stephen Eichhorn's Various Fades at Johalla Projects

Installation view

Stephen Eichhorn at Johalla Projects

Alright Alright (Cactus Cluster Ultramarine), 2014 Collage on synthetic PVC, framed 64 x 42 inches

STEPHEN EICHHORN VARIOUS FADES A SOLO EXHIBITION SEPTEMBER 5 — OCTOBER 12, 2014 Opening Reception: Friday, September 5 from 7-10pm Johalla Projects is very pleased to present VARIOUS FADES, an exhibition of new works by Chicago-based artist Stephen Eichhorn. In his first solo presentation since 2012, Eichhorn reexamines his practice, producing collages that further complicate the dimensionality of the picture plane. The exhibition will run from SEPTEMBER 5 to OCTOBER 12. An opening reception will be held on Friday, September 5 from 7-10pm. Stephen Eichhorn’s method to making is at once quiet and intense. By working to establish new constants in his practice, Eichhorn manages to arrive at the unexplored — a middle ground that is overgrown and elegantly exotic. Here, the environment where Eichhorn’s current work resides is formal in its clustered stratification, hearkening to both gestural painting and the constructed photographic image. In this sense, spatial ambiguity becomes a steady, invigorating force that pulses through the exhibition. More so now than ever, the works in VARIOUS FADES exemplify Eichhorn’s keen sense of cultivation and compositional play – they seductively writhe, bloom, and swell, all while achieving an unnerving constancy. Moreover, the artworks range in size and include many large-scale pieces, which in turn has enabled the artist to erect his signature plant forms with a hyperconscious sense of balance between broader imagery and smaller, more intricately cut paper plant parts. For the exhibition, Eichhorn will install his works in simultaneous response to the gallery’s architecture and to the specificity of his materials, thus endeavoring to create a viewing experience that calls for an extended look at the vivid plantscapes.  Stephen Eichhorn (b. 1984) lives and works in Chicago, IL. In 2006, Eichhorn received his BFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. His work has been included in numerous national solo and group exhibitions, with highlights including CES Contemporary, Los Angeles (2014); Ebersmoore, Chicago (2012, 2011); the Elmhurst Art Museum, Elmhurst, IL (2012); Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN (2012); Bucket Rider Gallery, Chicago (2008); Josée Bienvenu Gallery, NY (2008); and Cairo, Seattle (2008). His work is included in the new Zioxla publication Strange Plants, which was released in July 2014 to critical acclaim.

MEASURABLE INCONSISTENCIES A GROUP EXHIBITION

JULY 25 — AUGUST 31, 2014

Opening Reception: Friday, July 25 from 7-10pm By Appointment Only Johalla Projects is very pleased to announce MEASURABLE INCONSISTENCIES, a summer group exhibition bringing together the artwork of three artists who work directly with shape, form, and structure. The exhibition will run from JULY 25 to AUGUST 31, 2014. An opening reception will be held on Friday, July 25 from 7-10pm. At a primary level, Richard Blackwell, Cole Pierce, and Zin Helena Song each employ the geometric shape, using its formal qualities to inform and populate their works. More interesting, however, is the true nature of these artists’ practices, which function further to create breaks in the rigid structure, to create new interactions, or to disassemble the form entirely. Color also plays a vital role in this assemblage of works and operates chiefly as a catalyst for vivid optical rhythms and compositional choices. Here, MEASURABLE INCONSISTENCIES explores these departures from pure form and instead inspects more subversive takes on geometric abstraction. By strategically incorporating unpredictable variations in the compositional framework of their respective works, Blackwell, Pierce, and Song arrive at a more engaging formula that encourages rigorous interactivity. MEASURABLE INCONSISTENCIES is curated by Tyler Blackwell. For more information, please contact Tyler Blackwell at info@johallaprojects.com. 

Some photos from this last weekend's GEOMETRIC VILLAGE installation at Pitchfork Music Fest.