Museum of Chicago Members’ Magazine Winter/Spring 2016 The value of art is impossible to quantify or measure. And yet, FACTS AND FIGURES WINTER/ THE MCA as a museum director, I must be able to evaluate the impact our exhibitions and programs have on our audiences. I must, for SPRING 2016 BY THE example, track our membership renewal rate, the number of The MCA’s newly redesigned website has many NUMBERS free tours we provide to Chicago public school students, the rave new features, including a series of graphs that use 01 Director’s Letter reviews we receive from visitors, and the complaints as well. In short, I need to use numbers to determine what we are doing numbers to tell the story of our exhibitions, 02 On View right and where we could improve. programs, events, and community. Steve Johnson, 04 By the Numbers ° Three is a Fortunately, since I accepted my position as Pritzker Director in of the Chicago Tribune, was particularly taken Magic Number 2008, I have had the pleasure of watching our standards of with one of the charts, which we’ve reproduced success rise steadily. And I have come to appreciate the beauty ° Making our and clarity of numbers—the way they demystify the work here. Describing it as “a delight among delights, Messaging Count that goes into sharing art with the world and help us maintain the key lime of pie charts,” he went on to write that ° A Decade of transparency and accountability throughout the museum. Forced Entertainment viewers who stumble upon it at the bottom of our ° MCAChicago.org In this spirit, I am delighted to announce that this issue of our new website are in for a treat: “What began as an Top Ten Reasons members’ magazine will be dedicated to numbers. Within these ° pages, you will see articles that address the theme quite informational transaction, a search, say, for current to Carry your MCA literally, through top ten lists and facts and figures. You will also exhibitions, has turned into one of discovery. That’s a Member Card see features that explore the topic more tangentially, say, 12 MCA Screen: Phil Collins by examining Kerry James Marshall’s interest in reimagining the pretty tough thing to criticize in a website.” 13 Kerry James Marshall: paint-by-number kits popularized in the 1950s. And I couldn’t Painting by the Numbers resist sharing a few of this season’s highlights in the form of a Many more graphs can be seen at: 20 Kyle Abraham numerical index: mcachicago.org /About/Facts-And-Figures. + Abraham.In.Motion = Big Numbers 118,220 weight, in pounds, of Alexandre da Cunha’s 22 Playing Koi 35-foot-tall cement sculpture, Figurehead WORKS THAT ARE TITLED 23 Surrealism: 2,191 collection pages on the MCA’s new website UNTITLED The Conjured Life the day it launched Lack of a title shouldn't be 27 Meet Omar Kholeif 400 online bids made over the course of our seen as a failure of creativity 28 Thirty Years in Three Acts 2015 Benefit Art Auction on the part of an artist: many 29 Enter through the 156 days Kerry James Marshall: Mastry will be on 21% Gift Shop Madeleine Grynsztejn Untitled artists title their works view at the MCA Untitled to encourage viewers 30 MCA Store 100 the number of damaged luxury cars former to draw their own 32 Mark Your Calendar MCA curator Beryl Wright helped secure for a conclusions. 33 MCA Seen work in her 1993 exhibition Art at the Armory: Occupied Territory—Wright was posthumously Museum Hours immortalized by artist Kerry James Marshall Mon Closed in the portrait on the cover of this magazine Tue 10 am–8 pm Wed–Sun 10 am–5 pm 7 years we have held our annual Dialogue, Admission is free for Illinois residents presenting speakers like W. Kamau Bell every Tuesday. 6 ensemble members in eighth blackbird, The Museum of Contemporary Art EXHIBITION Information 312–280–2660 the MCA’s 2015–16 artists in residence Chicago is honored to present a major Box Office 312–397–4010 CATALOGUE survey of one of America’s greatest Member Services 312–397–4040 6 duration, in hours, of Speak Bitterness, living painters: Kerry James Marshall. a performance presented at the Edlis Neeson Marshall recognized early in his life MCA Chicago is a triannual publication produced for MCA Members and donors of the MCA by the Design, Theater on February 20 that the history of Western art is, with Publishing, and New Media department, with the KERRY JAMES MARSHALL few exceptions, a history of white assistance of the Rights and Images, Membership, and 1 ranking of The Freedom Principle: Experiments Development teams. Mastry artists and white subjects. And, for the in Art and Music, 1965 to Now in the Guardian’s last four decades, he has been Typeface created by Karl Nawrot, all rights reserved. review of best American art exhibitions of 2015 challenging this biased view of history Unless otherwise noted, all photos © MCA Chicago. by presenting an alternate version Nathan Keay, Staff Photographer; Braxton Black and Jeremy Lawson for Jeremy Lawson Photography, in which black artists are credited and and Joshua Longbrake, contract photographers. black subjects are honored. I hope you enjoy reading this issue as much as our contributors The Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago is a nonprofit, enjoyed creating it and watch the quality of our exhibitions and tax-exempt organization accredited by the American Copublished by Skira Rizzoli Alliance of Museums. The museum is generously programs continue to improve from year to year. supported by its Board of Trustees; individual and corporate members; private and corporate foundations, Available at the MCA Store in March including the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation; and government agencies. Programming is mcachicagostore.org partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency. Museum capital improvements are supported by a Public Museum Capital Grant from the KERRY JAMES MARSHALL Illinois Department of Natural Resources. The MCA is a proud member of Museums in the Park and receives MASTRY major support from the Chicago Park District. Madeleine Grynsztejn Cover image: Kerry James Marshall, Portrait of a Curator a Title (In Memory of Beryl Wright), 2009. Acrylic on PVC panel; Pritzker Director Opens Apr 23, 2016 30 7/8 × 24 7/8 × 1 7/8 in. (78.4 × 63.1 × 4.76 cm). Penny Pritzker and Bryan Traubert Collection. Image courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York. © Kerry 3 DIRECTOR’S LETTER James Marshall. some ideas being considered photographs that demonstrate poignant works: el mundo no CURRENT for renovations to come. the enduring influence of escuchará (2014). The video, AND surrealism since its emergence which was filmed in Bogotá, MCA DNA: Rafael Ferrer in the first half of the features several teens crooning FUTURE Through Mar 6 twentieth century. A global to The Smiths. EXHIBITONS Puerto Rican–born artist Rafael movement that encompassed Ferrer fashions charming a variety of art forms, BMO Harris Bank Chicago and compelling objects out of surrealism continues to enthrall Works: Diane Simpson Johnston Marklee: Grid Is a Grid Is a Grid ordinary materials to explore artists and audiences to Feb 16–Jul 3 Is a Grid Is a Grid his heritage and personal this day. Chicago artist Diane Simpson experiences. presents four large-scale, MCA Plaza Project: Alexandre fashion-inspired sculptures set Design da Cunha against a backdrop that incor- Through Mar 27 Brazilian artist Alexandre da porates the geometric patterns The spirit of pop art Cunha is a poet of found of the Art Deco period. manifested itself as much in materials. He presents several CLOSING SOON design and architecture as large-scale works that reveal it did in the works of artists like the inherent form, beauty, Andy Warhol. Pop Art Design, and mystery of often- MCA Screen: Jos de Gruyter an exhibition organized Surrealism: The Conjured Life overlooked objects for the and Harald Thys by the Vitra Design Museum, museum’s fifth MCA Chicago Closes Jan 17 Germany, pairs iconic design Plaza Project. Im Reich der Sonnenfinsternis, objects with artworks an installation by Belgian artists from this celebrated era. Jos de Gruyter and Harald ON VIEW NEXT Thys, comprises two-hundred- The Street, the Store, and the plus paintings and a twenty- Silver Screen: Pop Art five-minute video. from the MCA Collection Kerry James Marshall: Mastry Through Mar 27 Apr 23–Sep 25 BMO Harris Bank Chicago Conceived as a complement to One of America’s greatest Works: Ania Jaworska Pop Art Design Pop Art Design, this exhibition living artists, Kerry James Closes Jan 31 celebrates the MCA’s holdings Marshall interrogates the Trained architect Ania of iconic pop art. During the MCA Plaza Project: Alexandre da Cunha prevailing art historical canon Jaworska explores the history 1960s and 1970s, many artists to present a new history in of architecture through gravitated toward the brash which black artists are visible, Installation view, Johnston Marklee: Grid Is a prints, drawings, scale models, colors, simplified designs, and black subjects are honored. Grid Is a Grid Is a Grid Is a Grid, MCA Chicago and functional objects. direct salesmanship of the The MCA is proud to present a Oct 1, 2015–Jan 2, 2016 Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown, Jaworska’s approach is marked burgeoning commercial world major museum survey that Las Vegas Study, 1968–71. Photographs taken by humor and a use of bold, and incorporated these showcases many of Marshall’s within the framework of the “Las Vegas Study.” Courtesy of Museum im Bellpark Kriens minimalist forms. strategies into their fine art most iconic paintings, along from the “Las Vegas Studio” project. © Venturi, practices. with recent works and Scott Brown and Associates, Inc., Philadelphia. selections from his Rythm Mastr Photo: Denise Scott Brown. ON VIEW NOW Kathryn Andrews: comic series. Mel Ramos, Zebra, 1970. Oil on canvas; 80 × 70 in. (203.2 × 177.8 cm). Collection Run for President Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Through May 8 The Propeller Group gift of Beatrice Cummings Mayer, 1991.88. Johnston Marklee: Grid Is a Kathryn Andrews turns a mirror Jun 4–Oct 23 Installation view, Kathryn Andrews: Run for Grid Is a Grid Is a Grid Is a on American culture to Helmed by artists Phunam, President, MCA Chicago. Grid investigate political, economic, Matt Lucero, and Tuan Andrew Enrico Baj, Punching General, 1969. Vinyl, To coincide with the inaugural The Street, the Store, and the Silver Screen: social, and cultural capital. Kerry James Marshall: Mastry Nguyen, The Propeller Group metal, cloth, ribbon, foam, cord, wood, Bristol Pop Art from the MCA Collection board, medals, coil, curtain hooks, spring, and Chicago Architecture This exhibition—her first solo creates energetic multimedia acrylic; 69 7/8 × 42 3/4 × 19 15/16 in. (177.5 × Biennial, Johnston Marklee has presentation in the United works that bridge that gap 108.6 × 50.6 cm). Collection Museum of intervened in the museum’s States—features sculptures, between fine art and popular Contemporary Art Chicago, gift of Joseph and current café space to create an installations, and works culture. The collective is Jory Shapiro, 1992.49. installation that refers to on paper situated against headquartered in Ho Chi Minh Installation view, MCA Chicago Plaza Project: the predominant grid of the the conceptual and pictorial City, Vietnam, and works Alexandre da Cunha, MCA Chicago. Kerry James Marshall, Scout (Boy), 1995. building’s original architect, backdrop of an election. in both Western and Asian Acrylic, collage, and mixed media on board; Josef Paul Kleihues, and hints at contexts. 36 × 36 in. (91.4 × 91.4 cm). Collection Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, gift of Surrealism: The Conjured Life the Susan and Lewis Manilow Collection of Through Jun 5 The Propeller Group MCA Screen: Phil Collins Chicago Artists, 2003.28. This exhibition presents more Jan 30–Aug 21 The Propeller Group, The Living Need Light Kathryn Andrews: Run for President than one hundred paintings, The MCA will screen one of and the Dead Need Music, video still, 2014. 4 ON VIEW 5 ON VIEW © The Propeller Group, Courtesy of James sculptures, drawings, and video artist Phil Collins’ Cohan, New York. THREE IS A MAKING MAGIC NUMBER OUR 3 2 1 MESSAGING COUNT

Naomi Beckwith They are three: The Propeller They are all trained They are two groups in one: Communications and Marilyn and Group consists of three filmmakers: While each artist The Propeller Group exists Community Engagement Larry Fields Curator artists—Tuan Andrew Nguyen, has produced work singularly as an art collective and a Team Phunam, and Matt Lucero— in several subjects, all three media production company each born in the mid-1970s share a love of and skill called TPG. When Vietnam and each educated in fine art in making films. In fact, for the liberalized its economy in and media culture. Nguyen majority of their projects, the 1980s (similar to the way Since its founding in 2006, The Living Need Light and the Dead Need and Lucero met while pursuing they make a film either as a China welcomed free markets Our communications team Music, video still, 2014. © The Propeller Group, the –based Courtesy of James Cohan, New York. MFAs at the esteemed component of their final in the 1970s), marketing and works together to shape the collective The Propeller California Institute of the presentation or as a way of advertising were new to most stories we tell about the Group has worked on several Arts, in , while documenting their process. of the country’s citizens. MCA and ensure that visitors projects that track the Phunam was trained in Their documentary films often As such, public advertising in have a top-notch experience growing commercialization of sculpture and, informally, in explore the legacy of the Ho Chi Minh City—so while they are here. culture and politics—using photography in Vietnam wars and how important to the American a healthy dose of humor and and Hanoi. Nguyen and traumatic landscapes have pop art movement—was Because new exhibitions, fantasy. The Propeller Group Phunam founded The since become tourist venues, almost entirely nonexistent. performances, and programs members coalesce their Propeller Group in 2006 and while their fictional projects The members of The are always opening at the skills to produce multimedia Lucero joined in 2009. portray the rich and Propeller Group were inter- MCA we have to think smart projects that combine The Living Need Light and the Dead Need spectacular mourning rituals ested in a culture of public and move fast to keep sculpture, video, and new Music, video still, 2014. © The Propeller Group, in Vietnam or construct a images, especially graffiti and our audiences informed. media installations. Their work Courtesy of James Cohan, New York. future utopian world full of the visual styles of hip-hop. has been featured in several plenty and free of commerce. The group set out to find a AN AFTER- international biennials and The artists, for instance, way to create visual work that HOURS EVENT Featuring major museum collections, invoke Hollywood films to could exist in the public DAN DEACON Museum of including the Guggenheim expose subconscious notions sphere just as Vietnam was Contemporary Art Chicago and the Museum of Modern and ideas we hold about discovering public advertising. mcachicago.org/now Art in New York, but they different cultural groups. Thus, they incorporated as a #MCAChicago have yet to present the PR company; in fact, the word FRI, OCT 2 breadth of their practice in propeller comes from the 7–11 PM one exhibition. In early June, The Living Need Light and the Dead Need letters “p-r.” TPG has produced the MCA will present the Music, video still, 2014. © The Propeller Group, music videos and television NOW AT first extensive showing of the Courtesy of James Cohan, New York. commercials and has even THE MCA NOW ANIA work they’ve made over the launched a rebranding OPEN JAWORSKA past ten years and their first campaign for Vietnam. TPG SEP 27 MCA STAGE: LEFT Roscoe Mitchell Photo: Joseph Blough

RIGHT ROSCOE MITCHELL, Ania Jaworska, Sign of Their Place, monographic publication. In also produces work for other 2012/2015. Courtesy of the artist. Major support for BMO Harris Bank TRIOS Chicago Works: Ania Jaworska is provided by BMO Harris Bank.

Additional generous support is anticipation of their arrival in fine artists such as Danish provided by the Sandra and OCT 3 FAMILY DAY Jack Guthman Chicago Works Chicago, here are three things collective Superflex, Vietnamese Exhibition Fund. To reach a diverse audience we often that are essential to know artist Dinh Q. Lê, and­—of advertise in local newspapers, like Newcity. about The Propeller Group. course—The Propeller Group! Our messaging is focused on The AK-47 vs the M16: Gel Block 21 of 21, three general areas: adver- 2015. Fragments of AK-47 and M16 projectiles The Propeller Group is presented in encased in ballistics gel. © The Propeller the second-floor Bergman Family Gallery, tising, editorial, and social 6 BY THE NUMBERS Group, Courtesy of James Cohan, New York. Lindy and Edwin A. Bergman 7 BY THE NUMBERS media. We pay for ads on the HERE, WE SHARE SOME OF OUR ADVER- A DECADE OF TISING CAMPAIGNS FROM THE PAST YEAR FORCED ALONG WITH SOME FACTS AND FIGURES, WHICH WE HOPE WILL DEMYSTIFY THE ENTERTAINMENT ART OF MARKETING.

web, in magazines, on bus ON AVERAGE WE TWEET EDITORIALS IN MAJOR Peter Taub Based in Sheffield, England, shelters, and on billboards. MORE THAN TWO NEWSPAPERS AND Director of Performance the collective is at once poetic We also work with journalists HUNDRED MESSAGES TO MAGAZINES OFTEN Programs and political. According to and other memebers of OUR FOLLOWERS DRIVE VISITORS TO OUR artistic director Tim Etchells the press, pitching stories to EACH MONTH FROM WEBSITE. the members work the writers, who in turn provide @MCACHICAGO. “territory between the real editorial coverage—from and phantasmic, between the an article in the Wall Street For more than thirty years actual landscape and the Journal to a review in Forced Entertainment media one, between the body Artforum. And we promote Approximately 11,560 people see our giant has made formative works of and imagination . . . the our own website, blog, and billboard at the Ohio Street overpass as they theater, performance, themes we have returned to social media channels drive to work in the morning. installation, and other media are love and fragmentation, to tell audiences about our expressions that search the search for identity, the offerings. for identity in a fractured, edges of sexuality, the need uncertain world. This to confess. There’s been Once we get audiences to 270 February we present a mini- a long commitment not to come in, our visitor services festival that offers Chicago specific formal strategies team takes over and offers audiences a rare chance but simply to challenging and them a comfortable OUR VISITORS TRAVEL to experience the dark humor provocative art—to work environment to experience NEAR AND FAR TO VISIT of their works. that asks questions and fuels art that is thought-provoking THE MCA. dreams.” and boundary-pushing. Our 2015–16 MCA Stage wall merges the playful One of the group’s anchor We monitor this audience- visual and linguistic aspects of our new identity. projects at the MCA is Speak focused approach by Bitterness, a six-hour-long collecting data throughout work in which a line of the year. We then use people take turns reading the data to chart a clear path confessions. First presented in to success, ensuring that 1994, Speak Bitterness is an our visitors continue to feel exhaustive performance that inspired and informed by Forced Entertainment, Speak Bitterness. Etchells and the other our exhibitions and programs. Photo: Hugo Glendinning. members of Forced Enter- tainment continue adding to. The text draws on the diverse cultures of confession in, for example, contemporary talk % OF VISITORS FROM shows, churches, and show 35% CHICAGO 1,015 VISITS TRACKED trials. The litany of wrong- 13% CHICAGO SUBURBS FOLLOWING A NEW YORK doing to which they confess 5% THE REST OF ILLINOIS TIMES ARTICLE ranges from big-time crimes 32% OTHER US STATES like forgery, murder, or geno- 15% OUTSIDE THE Thirty-two flags line our neighboring streets, Forced Entertainment, The Notebook. cide to nasty little ones, 8 BY THE NUMBERS showing off our new identity. 9 BY THE NUMBERS Photo: Hugo Glendinning. such as reading each other’s Lead support for the 2015–16 season of MCA Stage is provided by Elizabeth A. Liebman. Generous support for MCA Dance is provided “THERE ARE PLAYS THAT STAY WITH MCA A SMARTER WEBSITE by David Herro and Jay Franke. Additional generous support is provided by Caryn and YOU OVER THE YEARS AND THEN FOR A SMARTER MUSEUM King Harris and Lois and Steve Eisen and the CHICAGO. Eisen Family Foundation. The MCA Stage THERE’S FORCED ENTERTAINMENT” foundation season sponsor is Alphawood Foundation Chicago, and its preferred hotel ORG partner is Residence Inn. MCA Stage is a proud partner of the National Performance Network. —The Guardian MCA Chicago is a proud member of Museums in the Park and receives major support from the Chicago Park District. All MCA Stage performaces are presented in the first-floor Edlis Neeson Theater. The MCA website is made possible in part by the Kovler Web Fund. diaries, or refusing to take the THU The Notebook Susan Chun HOME EXHIBITIONS dog out for a walk. Dressed in 1 FEB 18– Forced Entertainment’s only play incorpo- Chief Content Officer suits, the performers compete FRI rating an existing text: the award-winning to confess the most horrific, FEB 19 novel by Ágota Kristóf, set during World amusing, or convincing things: 7:30 PM War II “We’re guilty of homemade bombs and homemade wine. We’re guilty of coldness and At 11:11 am on November 11, spite. We never laughed and SAT Speak Bitterness the MCA debuted a newly we never found the time . . .” 2 FEB 20 A six-hour durational piece; the audience redesigned website. A rich 4 PM may come and go throughout online resource with global In this work and others, reach on par with our excep- Etchells and Forced Enter- tional onsite work, the new tainment ask us to act as site serves as a comprehensive witnesses to an event, rather MON Tim Etchells Writing Workshop guide to our exhibitions, than passive viewers of a 3 FEB 22 Copresented with League of Chicago programs, publications, and spectacle: “To witness an 6 PM Theatres; see their website for ticket info collection. It reflects the event is to be present at it in MCA’s personality—curious, some fundamentally ethical welcoming, generous, way, to feel the weight and provocative—as well as of things and one’s place in TUE Institute of Failure our philosophy of integrating them.” Occupying a brightly 4 FEB 23 A free, live event—part of an ongoing web our exhibitions and collec- lit space with lights on 6 PM project by Tim Etchells and Matthew tions, programs and educa- the audience, Speak Bitterness Goulish of Chicago’s Every house has a door. tional activities. makes eye contact possible, Copresented with DCASE at the Chicago “so the two-way nature of Cultural Center Building the site has been every line was emphasized— a massive endeavor, and It was important to us to Our exhibitions section now something spoken, something we’re immensely proud of it. reimagine our homepage achieves something quite heard—eye contact made We’d like to share some since it’s where most visitors remarkable for a museum and then broken again, eye THU (In) Complete Works: Table Top Shakespeare of the changes with you. meet us first. The new page website. In addition to contact offered, rejected, 5 FEB 25– Solo performers create condensed versions features a scrolling banner featuring current and future then offered again—a series SAT of Shakespeare’s plays, comically and inti- that allows us to message exhibitions, it presents a of complex negotiations FEB 27 mately retelling them using a collection of visitors in real time, complete history of MCA about complicity, about 7:30 PM everyday objects. Copresented with Chicago announcing—for instance— exhibitions, going back all the who has done what or who Shakespeare Theater a free admission day for way to our founding in 1967. is implicated in what.” the Illinois community, the And each exhibition page now sale date for tickets to a includes links to print and major event, or a closing due digital publications, programs, to extreme weather. At collections, and reviews, as the upper left corner of the well as label copy. homepage, the main navi- Tim Etchells/Forced Entertainment is presented as part of IN>TIME Festival. Support for this project gation calls out key sections 10 BY THE NUMBERS is generously provided by the British Council. 11 BY THE NUMBERS of the site. TOP TEN STORE LESS TIME FREE THE NEW SITE RECOGNIZES THAT REASONS TO 10 DISCOUNTS 9 IN LINE, 8 ADMISSION OUR VISITORS ARE LOOKING FOR MORE MORE TIME TO THAN INFORMATION ABOUT OUR CARRY YOUR FOR ART MEMBERS’ CURRENT PROGRAMS. THEY ALSO MCA MEMBER PREVIEW WANT TO LEARN ABOUT OUR CARD STORY, OUR HISTORY, AND THE ART HISTORY THAT IS MADE HERE.

PROGRAMS COLLECTION Patricia Fraser FREE LAWN EXPRESS DISCOUNTED Director of Visitor Experience 7 CHAIRS 6 ENTRY TO 5 TICKETS Michelle Clairmont AT EVERY EVENTS AT THE BOX Manager of Annual Fund TUESDAYS LIKE PRIME OFFICE and Membership ON THE TIME ON TERRACE FEBRUARY 5, EVENT NEXT 2016 SUMMER (THROUGH THE MCA STORE)

Thank you for being a member! When you carry DELICIOUS SPECIAL YOUR CARD your card with you, it makes 4 DEALS 3 OFFERS THAT 2 DOUBLES AS it easier for us to show our AT THE MCA SPRING A BOOKMARK gratitude and appreciation. It also helps us grant you CAFÉ UP ALL THE FOR THIS special (and speedy) access to TIME FABULOUS events and exhibitions. MEMBERS’ When members flash their MAGAZINE cards, for example, they receive free admission to the museum and faster check-ins Our performances and events One of the elements we’re at events. now appear on the same most excited about is the page to highlight our multi- collection section of the site, Ten more reasons to carry faceted, multidisciplinary which—for the first time in your card can be found on offerings. Visitors can filter our history—provides access to the next page. events according to their the MCA’s entire permanent WHEN YOU OPEN YOUR preferences: for example, they collection. We also highlight WALLET AND SEE YOUR can focus on dance programs, recent acquisitions and the CARD, YOU’LL KNOW YOU’RE lectures, programs that provide favorite works of our curators, accommodations for accessi- staff members, and visitors. 1 SUPPORTING CONTEM- bility, member events—or any And we’re currently devel- PORARY ART IN CHICAGO combination of those. oping a special page for every artist in our collection, And, in case you need another good reason: showcasing the rich and vital our Premier-level members can visit more than relationships that we have 140 national partners for free. So don’t with the artists whose work leave home without your MCA Member card! 12 BY THE NUMBERS we collect. Let’s talk about firsts. Artist Phil Jan 30– Collins’s el mundo no escuchará Apr 23 – Karsten Lund Aug 21 (2004) is the first video in a Sep 25 Curatorial Assistant trilogy and the first of his works to enter the MCA’s permanent MCA SCREEN: collection. And on January 30, the MCA will screen it for PHIL COLLINS the first time since its recent acquisition. The title of the trilogy, which translates to the world won’t listen, is taken from a 1987 compilation album by the subjects’ environment, however, English rock band The Smiths, he focuses on the feelings who have provided the of isolation common to youth, Joey Orr soundtrack for many angsty so effectively embodied by teens. Sites for each contri- The Smiths. Andrew W. Mellon bution to the trilogy were Postdoctoral chosen because of Collins’s Curatorial Fellow interest in spots of political unrest. While in Bogotá, KERRY Colombia, Collins worked with local musicians to re-create the album, note-for-note, on a karaoke machine. Then he invited devoted Smiths fans to perform the songs while he JAMES filmed them. More specifically, he recruited “the shy, the dissatisfied, narcissists, and anyone who’s ever wished they could be someone else for a night.” Instead of underscoring MARSHALL the political contexts of his

el mundo no escuchará, 2004. Woodblock print on paper; 50 × 70 cm. Courtesy Shady Lane Productions, Berlin and Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York. The video captures a little swagger along with healthy doses of human vulnerability and absurdity, or as the PAINTING artist describes it: “the sweet agony of self-fulfillment and self-limitation.” Exploring the global infiltration of popular youth culture into dispersed geopolitical sites, the two subsequent installations of the BY THE trilogy were filmed—respec- tively—in Istanbul, Turkey, in 2005 (as part of the ninth International Istanbul Biennial) Above video stills: el mundo no escuchará, 2004. Video installation; colour, sound; 56 min. and in Jakarta and Bandung, Courtesy Shady Lane Productions, Berlin and Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York. Collection Indonesia, in 2007. Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Gift of Mary and Earle Ludgin by exchange, 2014.1. NUMBERS 14 EXHIBITIONS All MCA Screen works are presented in the fourth-floor Turner Gallery. Since the early 1990s, Kerry James Marshall has steadily gained renown as an artist working in a wide range of media. His upcoming survey at the MCA, however, focuses on his importance as a painter making major contributions to the history of art. Aware of the complexi- ties of this role, between 2008 and 2010 Marshall made a series of portraits of African American painters. These images also contain a subtle provocation: the paintings the artists are working on are all paint-by-number exercises. What does it mean for them to be painting by number?

Paint by number is a cultural phenomenon that arose in the 1950s, when it was used to market painting as an accessible new form of leisure. The user-friendly format Kerry James Marshall, Untitled (Painter), 2009. Acrylic on PVC panel; 44 5/8 × 43 1/8 × 3 7/8 in. (113.4 × 109.5 × 9.8 cm). Collection suggests that a lack of skill or vision is hardly Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, gift of Katherine S. Schamberg an obstacle to successful artistry; the method by exchange, 2009.15. © 2009 Kerry James Marshall. allows you to simply follow the pattern, to embrace the act of painting and forget the rest. At first this might seem to belittle the artists in Marshall’s portraits, casting them as aspiring hobbyists, but paint by numbers is potentially an empowering system that idealized figures—people who didn’t allows anyone to paint well (and even, necessarily exist but should have— perhaps, to make this system their own). Marshall redresses their historical absence The appearance of the figures supports this or exclusion. idea: each one is a majestic, monumental presence, gazing out confidently while It’s notable that all of Marshall’s painters gripping an oversized palette—an idealiza- are turning away from their figurative tion of the trope of the artist in the studio. compositions. Several hold up their paint- covered palettes, which look like passages Helen Molesworth, one of the cocurators of abstract painting within the figurative of Marshall’s upcoming retrospective at the tableau, perhaps acknowledging the belief MCA, observes in her forthcoming that abstraction can be a means of catalogue essay that the paint by numbers creative freedom, a way to avoid being fad in the 1950s coincided historically confined by one’s presumptive identity. with “the stirrings of the civil rights move- Ironically, paint by numbers is also a form ment, the beginning of a pervasive of abstraction. To generate this kind of discourse on the equality of black people numbered composition, a subject is first and the ethical and psychic necessity to broken down into smaller shapes, which take full part in the privileges of American are assigned generic color values. This citizenship." Marshall, attuned to this anodyne process becomes charged in the meaningful coincidence, responds by pro- case of skin color, when it requires ducing a kind of alternate history: he analyzing the subtle gradations of skin and conjures up the powerful image of African reimagining them as discrete chromatic American artists who are seen painting values. For his part, Marshall echoes the themselves into being. With these reductive gesture of paint by numbers in his paintings, Marshall is asking: “What does ongoing practice of always painting the an artist look like?” The answer to that skin of his subjects a dark black (in these question is hardly a given, though it’s often works and others), as if taking literally the treated like it is. By picturing these description of African Americans as black, (a common verbal shorthand that belies 16 EXHIBITIONS the wide, nuanced spectrum of brown skin

his paintings—not just his portraits but works in nearly every genre—almost exclu- sively with black figures. Work after work, painting after painting, he is making the numbers rise. A single painting alone, no matter how masterful, could hardly tilt the scale. In this respect, it’s significant that Marshall painted a series of portraits of painters. Marshall’s painters aren’t modeled after specific people but they are all individual- ized. Their varied presences reinforce each other. The numbers matter. Even as his paintings of painters make black artists commandingly visible, they are also, just as crucially, part of his larger body of work. These painters are part of Marshall’s evolving pantheon of African American subjects. These black artists show up in numbers, alongside the protagonists of Kerry James Marshall, Untitled (Painter), 2010. Acrylic on PVC Marshall’s other works, not just as myths panel; 47 1/2 × 43 in. (120.65 × 109.22 cm). Susan and Lew Manilow. © Kerry James Marshall. Image courtesy of the artist or ideas but as something very real. and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York.

OPPOSITE PAGE AND PREVIOUS SPREAD Kerry James Marshall, Past Times, 1997. Acrylic and collage on canvas; 114 × 156 in. (289.6 × 396.2 cm). Metropolitan Pier tones that actually exist). In doing so, and Exposition Authority, McCormick Place Art Collection. he exposes another pervasive, and hardly Kerry James Marshall, Untitled, 2008. Acrylic on fiberglass; 79 1/8 × 115 15/16 in. (201 × 294.5 cm). Private collection, innocuous, form of abstraction at work courtesy Segalot, New York. © Kerry James Marshall. Image in our culture. courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York.

Lead support for Kerry James Marshall: Mastry is provided by the The question of who is seen, and how, is at Harris Family Foundation in memory of Bette and Neison Harris: the heart of these portraits. As if to underline Caryn and King Harris, Katherine Harris, Toni and Ron Paul, Pam and Joe Szokol, Linda and Bill Friend, and Stephanie and John this further, in each of these works Harris; R. H. Defares; Mellody Hobson and George Lucas; Liz and Marshall paints a section of the background Eric Lefkofsky; Helen and Sam Zell; and Nancy and Steve Crown. Major support is provided by The Andy Warhol Foundation black as well, often just behind or beside, for the Visual Arts; The Bluhm Family Foundation; David Zwirner, the figure. This dark area, perhaps the wall New York; the Ford Foundation; the Joyce Foundation; the or a shadow, is often the only other National Endowment for the Arts; and Phillips. instance of black in the painting. Given its similarity to the figure’s skin, this part of the background suggests the possibility that the painter might blend in, might disappear, might, in effect, become invisible. Visibility and invisibility are longstanding concerns in Marshall’s work. In the founda- Additional generous support is provided by Dr. Anita Blanchard tional narratives of Western art history, and Martin H. Nesbitt, Stefan Edlis and Gael Neeson, Jack and African American artists are sorely under- Sandra Guthman, David Herro and Jay Franke, Jack Shainman Gallery, Gretchen and Jay Jordan, Anne Kaplan, Allison S. Davis represented and even unacknowledged. and Susan O’Connor Davis, Robert Rennie and Carey Fouks, The subjects of paintings found in museums Marilyn and Larry Fields, Cari and Michael Sacks, Lois and Steve Eisen and the Eisen Family Foundation, the Elizabeth Firestone over time have also been overwhelmingly Graham Foundation, Agnes Gund, Ashlee Jacob, the North Shore Affiliate of the MCA, the Robert Lehman Foundation, Ambassador white, outnumbering black subjects to the and Mrs. Louis B. Susman, Lynn and Allen Turner, Dick and Gloria point of near exclusion, especially before Anderson, Dr. Daniel S. Berger, Helyn D. Goldenberg and Michael Alper, Nickol and Darrel Hackett, Mary E. Ittelson, James W. the late twentieth century. Facing this pro- Kenyon, Nancy Lerner Frej and David Frej, the Martin and Rebecca found historical absence, Marshall populates Eisenberg Foundation, Eric McKissack and Cheryl Mayberry McKissack, and Sylvia Neil and Daniel Fischel. 21 EXHIBITIONS Kerry James Marshall: Mastry is presented in the fourth-floor Griffin Galleries of Contemporary Art. Pittsburg native Kyle Abraham dancers from beehive-clad Apr 28 – KYLE ABRAHAM makes dance that ventures women and men into painted May 1 + ABRAHAM.IN. ever further into the future by hunting dogs. This abstracted reimagining important visual is meant both to MOTION = moments of black history. His neutralize and exaggerate the BIG NUMBERS newest project, When the human condition, says Wolves Came In, is an evocative Abraham, “a recognition of take on racism and the legacy when people are confronted of the civil rights movement, with adversity, we unleash an with its birthing in antebellum inner animal.” The unbuttoned America and elsewhere. joyful choral work “A Good Understanding” by classical Abraham conceived the and indie-rock musician Nico evening-length performance Muhly mingles with the from a singular idea: a emotionally charged music of historical homage marking the composer and software 150-year anniversary of the designer Christopher Tignor. Emancipation Proclamation and the twenty-year Abraham performs the finale anniversary of the abolishment solo, Hallowed, to a stunning of apartheid in South Africa. structure by Ligon that incor- His inspiration is We Insist: Max porates film and light sculpture. Roach’s Freedom Now Suite, With floor-skimming speed he the composer and drummer’s spars with modern dance, 1960 album with lyricist Oscar ranking street dance and the Brown Jr. Their music shone highly stylized voguing of the a light on civil rights protests early Harlem ballroom scene. emerging in South Africa and enthralled a generation of Americans, including Abraham’s parents, who were avid music listeners. Yolanda Cesta Cursach The themes evoked by these Associate Director of historical milestones run deep Performance Programs in Abraham’s choreography and in visual artist Glenn Ligon’s set design. Ligon’s muted hues hint at secret histories and submerged meanings. Above: Kyle Abraham/Abraham.In.Motion When the Wolves Came In, Sam Pratt, Catherine Ellis Kirk. Photo: Tim Barden. The Gettin’, which begins the Opposite: Kyle Abraham/Abraham.In.Motion, work, is a movement in five The Gettin. Photo: Tim Barden. sections replete with kinetic references taken from Abraham’s Abraham made his MCA debut love of social dancing and in 2013 with Radio Show, for his self-described "postmodern which he received a prestigious gumbo" of movement Bessie Award for Outstanding exploration rooted in the 1960s Performance in Dance. A freedom marches. For this, Princess Grace Awardee for the Houston jazz and R&B artist Choreography, his work has Robert Glasper, who won a been performed by New York Grammy in 2013 for Black City Principal Wendy Whelan Radio, restructured the Roach and Hubbard Street Dance score We Insist. Chicago. Abraham is a 2013 MacArthur Fellow. The arresting middle section, When the Wolves Came In, Generous support for MCA Dance is provided forces viewers to consider the by David Herro and Jay Franke. Support for dual notions of freedom and When the Wolves Came In is provided by Lois and Steve Eisen and the Eisen Family Founda- the mentality of prosecution. tion. All MCA Stage performaces are presented 22 PROGRAMS Abraham transforms his eight in the first-floor Edlis Neeson Theater. PLAYING KOI Nov 21, 2015– Lynne Warren Jun 5, 2016 Curator

We’re delighted to report that our beloved koi fish have found a happy new home at the Garfield Park Conservatory. The fish were transported from the museum to the conservatory on October 20. Here are some fast facts about their journey and their new home: 1 The fish have taken up Dreamlike residence in the conservatory’s Fern Room, which was designed by famed landscape architect Jens Imagery, Strange Jensen in 1906. 2 The fish live in a large pond within the Fern Room that imitates their Juxtapositions natural habitat. 3 A nearby lagoon features sixteen glass lily pads constructed by popular glass artist Dale Chihuly. 4 The two oldest plants in the Fern Room, a male and a female, are about 250 years old; some Surrealism: koi experts claim that the fish can also live to be nearly that old. 5 The koi travelled 5.3 miles from the museum to the conservatory to The Conjured reach their new home. 6 The conservatory is open every day and offers free admission. It is located at 300 N Central Park Ave. garfieldconservatory.org Life Garfield Part Conservatory Fern Room. Photos: Ryan Kilpatrick, John W. Iwanski, 24 STORIES Jay Kleeman. Although Surrealism has never entirely the surrealist emphasis on exploring one’s gone out of favor, recent months have inner life and psychology. A more “pop” seen a new cycle of interest in the historic sensibility and color palette infused the movement and its legacy. Here at the work of the next Chicago generation, MCA, Surrealism is a formidable strength generally known as the Imagists, who rose of our collection, one that fuels the major to prominence in the 1960s. Yet their exhibition Surrealism: The Conjured Life. dreamlike imagery, strange juxtapositions, Born in Europe during the turbulent time and representational painting styles linked of cultural, social, and political change them to European Surrealism. following World War I, Surrealism was officially announced in a manifesto penned Many of the works in the exhibition were by Paris-based poet André Breton in 1924. graciously donated to the MCA by the “Surrealism, such as I conceive of it, asserts pioneering Chicago collectors who initially our complete nonconformism.” Breton brought Surrealism to their hometown. exhorted his fellow writers to surrender Joseph and Jory Shapiro and Edwin and themselves to such activities as automatic Lindy Bergman traveled to Europe, where writing (seen as the result of spiritual, they met members of the surrealist group occult, or subconscious forces), and the use and purchased works from their galleries of stimulants and intoxicants to access and studios. Mary and Earle Ludgin alternate worlds. In its early years, the collected in depth the works of eccentric movement was largely a literary one, but American painter Forrest Bess. Ruth by the 1930s visual artists from all over Horwich and her husband Leonard Europe joined forces to produce works that patronized Alexander Calder, who was were revolutionary in their bizarre, even associated with the Surrealists in 1930s shocking imagery. Paris, and supported succeeding gener- ations of Chicago artists, including the Given its Midwestern pragmatism, blue- Hyde Park Art Center’s Don Baum. These collar roots, and renowned modern arts patrons were among the founders architecture, Chicago may not seem a of the MCA, and when the museum began likely place for Surrealism to take root. collecting in the mid-1970 they donated Yet the “art of the irrational” has enjoyed major works. It is particularly wonderful great popularity here since collectors and that these works, so influential on the gallerists brought masterworks by René development of art in Chicago, remain in Magritte, Max Ernst, Matta, Yves Tanguy, our city for all to enjoy. and others to this city in the late 1940s. Chicago’s artists historically have supported figuration and representation. Accordingly, 87 number of artists in Surrealism: local artists were inspired by surrealist The Conjured Life ideas—like the “twilight states” described by Breton—expressed in imagery featuring 110 number of artworks in the show landscapes and cityscapes, fantastical 24 number of collectors represented creatures, and human-animal hybrids. in the exhibition who gifted works The tiny, mysterious paintings of Gertrude to the MCA Abercrombie, who enjoyed a large circle of artist friends, led the way in the 1940s. 21 gifts from Joseph and Jory In the 1950s, a group dubbed The Monster Shapiro, MCA Founding President Roster frequently dealt with themes of and his wife, in the exhibition decay and death, a favorite subject matter 9 number of gifts from artists or of the surrealists. The best-known of this their estates group, Leon Golub, probed this subject in a series of seemingly flayed and fragmented OPPOSITE PAGE heads. These works of haunting beauty Installation view, Surrealism: The Conjured Life, MCA Chicago. counterbalance the more down-to-earth Support for Surrealism: The Conjured Life is generously provided by sculpture produced by Golub’s colleague, The Pritzker Traubert Collection Exhibition Fund, Helen and Sam Zell, Carol and Douglas Cohen, Carolyn S. Bucksbaum, Anonymous, H. C. Westermann. A true original, Betsy and Andrew Rosenfield, Richard and Ellen Sandor Family, Westermann was nonetheless touched by and Mary E. Ittelson. Surrealism: The Conjured Life is presented in the second-floor Sylvia 27 EXHIBITIONS Neil and Daniel Fischel Galleries. Omar, who was the Curator MEET OMAR KHOLEIF at the Whitechapel Gallery in London prior to joining the MCA, has organized more than a hundred exhibitions and projects internationally. Truly a global citizen, he called five different countries home before the age of eighteen, and he has roots in Russia, Turkey, and Egypt. Omar also brings a global sensibility to his curatorial work. He believes that curators ought to work collaboratively with artists and professionals to share art with the world at large, to bring “the most urgent artistic voices to new audiences both locally and globally.” In addition to being a boundary- pushing curator, Omar is also an active writer, editor, and teacher. His written work has appeared in the Guardian, Art Installation view, Surrealism: The Conjured Life, MCA Chicago. Monthly, Wired, Frieze, Mousse, and Artforum International, and he has authored more than a dozen books, including You Are Here: Art After the Internet (2014), Jeddah Childhood circa 1994 (2014), and Moving Image (2015). And—when he isn’t working at the MCA or writing for various publications—he teaches classes at the Univer- sity of Chicago, where he has been appointed a Lecturer in the Division of the Humanities, in the Department of Visual Arts and the Department of Art History. Omar is also on the board of no.w.here in London and the editorial board of Documents of Contemporary Art for MIT Press (in After a thorough search for a Cambridge, Massachusetts, and new Manilow senior curator, we Whitechapel Gallery, London). We are thrilled to be working are pleased to announce that with someone whose expertise and enthusiasm are so well we have added an important suited to our museum, and we look forward to sharing member to our curatorial team: his future exhibitions and pro- Installation view, Surrealism: The Conjured Life, MCA Chicago. Work shown: Marcos Raya, excerpt from Night Nurse, gramming ideas with you. 1993/1996. Acrylic on canvas, cabinet, surgical instruments, mannequin, and found objects; Overall: 94 × 180 × 48 in. (238.7 × Omar Kholeif. 457.2 × 121.9 cm). Collection Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, restricted gift of Roy and Mary Cullen, 1997.81. 29 WHO WE ARE Apr 12– Peter Taub Taylor Mac dreams large— “Within this swirl ENTER THROUGH Director of Performance making theater that reconceives Apr 16 our common past and current of pleasure and THE GIFT SHOP Members receive Programs conditions, often at an a 10% discount inspiringly epic scale. The Obie entertainment, THIRTY YEARS Award–winning The Lily’s year-roundMCA Store at the Revenge, for instance, is a there is also IN THREE ACTS five-act, five-hour play with a cast of forty. Taylor created something quite this multidisciplinary extrav- aganza—part Noh play, part serious at stake, verse play, part dance, part something that film, part installation—as a highly imaginative response to we might hazard anti-gay marriage agendas. Bringing together a community to call the politics of artists and fostering bonds between artists and audience of historical members, Mac believes that “theater is community action, knowledge.” and as a playwright I am a community organizer. — The Helix Queer Performance Network A prolific playwright, actor, singer-songwriter, cabaret performing three hour-long performer, performance artist, sections, or three-decade director, and producer, Taylor acts. At the April 2016 MCA Mac has engaged audiences in performances we can the circus, strip club, regional experience a singular take on theater circuit, street, museum, the decisive years of 1956–86. FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: TRUSTEES HELYN GOLDENBERG, DORIE STERNBERG, AND opera house, and basement RHONA HOFFMAN WERE INSTRUMENTAL bar/sex club. Taylor’s theme for 1956–66 TO THE STORE’S EARLY SUCCESS. features Songs Popular In the Taylor re-imagines our shared Bayard Rustin Planning Room. Recognized by Fodor’s as “one twelve dollars.’ But we would history and culture in a grand Rustin is the activist and civil of the world’s best museum gift say, ‘that’s all right, because new work, A 24-Decade History rights lawyer who organized shops,” the MCA Store surprises, that wasn’t the only purpose of Popular Music. Each of the the 1963 March on Washington, delights, and entertains by pre- of the store.’ The purpose was twenty-four decades gets its one of the largest nonviolent senting products that embody also to be another place own thematic concert, from protests ever held in the United the creative process. “I think of where visitors could stop and our nation’s founding in 1776 to States—though he is also the store not as a ‘gift shop,’ talk about the exhibitions, today. The culminating work overshadowed in the history of or solely as an ‘extension’ of the and many did.” stitches them all together in a the civil rights movement museum, but as an integral twenty-four-hour-long because he was gay and had part of the museum—our pageant performed by Taylor been involved in socialist longest running exhibition. It Mac with varied musicians, causes. For 1966–76, Taylor has generated a loyal following TAYLOR MAC. PHOTO: VES PITTS dancing beauties, and special channels Songs Popular on the and served as another point guests. As Hilton Als writes in Stonewall Jukebox and dives of entry for participating in The New Yorker, “Mac’s musical into the uprising at the creative culture,” says Mark survey of the country that Stonewall Inn in New York— Millmore, the store’s director “FABULOUSNESS CAN COME made him and others like him widely seen as a turning point of retail. is offered in the spirit Whitman for the gay liberation IN MANY FORMS, AND TAYLOR had in mind when he said movement and the fight for Our audience has connected The MCA Store, with its constantly changing that he heard America singing.” gay and lesbian rights in the with designers and products of window displays, attracts visitors­ and serves MAC SEEMS INTENT ON United States. And 1976–86 distinction since the store as a first point of entry for many guests. MCA Stage first introduced this takes us into Songs Popular in was founded in 1969 by then Always current and ever- ASSUMING EVERY ONE OF project to Chicago audiences the Backroom to resurrect disco, Women’s Board members changing, the store continues two years ago by presenting funk, and 1980s grooves. Helyn Goldenberg and Rhona to be a platform for discovery, THEM.” Taylor’s uncanny and hilarious Hoffman. Goldenberg recalls, a hub of discussion about romp through a history of “At meetings someone might global art and design, and a —THE NEW YORK TIMES A 24-Decade History of Popular Music is political music. Now Taylor supported in part by the MCA Stage New Works say, ‘the store only made complement to the MCA’s is building toward a climactic Initiative. All MCA Stage performaces are cutting-edge exhibitions and 30 PROGRAMS finale by creating and presented in the first-floor Edlis Neeson Theater. 31 STORIES programs. MCA STORE 1 2 NEW 2016 SELECTIONS

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1 OVAL PLACEMATS Designed by Gaetano Pesche 2 COCO NECKLACE Designed by Rosalba Galati and Laura Santi 3 ULYSSES Designed by Marc Sardá and Londji 4 NOMESS SCISSORS Designed by Lex Pott 5 ORIGAMI BAG Designed by 5 Repleat 6 BRILLO SOAP NOTE PAD Designed by Galison in collaboration with the Andy Warhol Foundation 3 4 6

32 SHOP MCACHICAGOSTORE.ORG MARK YOUR lies that swirl around American MCA SEEN CALENDAR history. Kerry James Marshall: Mastry Preview April 21 Circle Donor Preview, 5:30–7 pm; Members’ Check your mailbox, inbox, Preview 7–9 pm and our website often Members are invited to for more information about preview an exhibition featuring CHERYL LYNN BRUCE AND KERRY JAMES MARSHALL these upcoming events. the works of one of America’s greatest living artists: Kerry mcachicago.org James Marshall. At this intimate A DINNER CELEBRATING THE OPENING OF evening event, you’ll be KATHRYN ANDREWS: RUN FOR PRESIDENT able to connect with other MCA Prime Time members while listening to February 5 MCA staff share insights 7–11 pm, 21+ about the exhibition and its MCA Prime Time is an after- most significant works. hours series that celebrates MCA Prime Time Chicago’s most creative Members’ Double individuals and organizations. Discount Days For this installment of the April 29–May 8 event, the MCA partners Members save 20% at the with indie music tastemaker MCA Store and at Pitchfork to transform mcachicagostore.org. TAYLOR HUGHES AND the museum in spectacular ELIZABETH HOUSEWRIGHT ways. Electronic musician MCA Prime Time STEVE AND LOIS EISEN Holly Herndon will headline May 6 the event. 7–11 pm, 21+ MCA PRIMETIME GUESTS Tapping into the creative MCA Talk: Architecture Is pulse of Chicago, Prime Time Art . . . Is Architecture Art? features an eclectic mix March 10 of live music, performance art, 6 pm video screenings, and inter- Tod Williams Billie Tsien active program. Cocurated Architects with Chicago’s long-standing Presented in partnership with independent music clubs, BRYAN TRAUBERT, PENNY PRITZKER, the Chicago Architecture the Metro and Smart Bar. MICHAEL DARLING, AND SYLVIA NEIL Foundation, this New York- eighth blackbird based firm is known for its MCA Screen: Black Radical KATHRYN ANDREWS deliberate designs. Imagination AND MADELEINE GRYNSZTEJN May 17 MCA Live: Felonius Monk 6–7 pm March 17 Black Radical Imagination 7 pm invokes the aesthetics of NICK CAVE, NAOMI BECKWITH, AND THEASTER GATES In conjunction with her Afrofuturism and Afrosurrealism exhibition, Kathryn Andrews through visual shorts. invites Felonius Monk and friends to perform a special MARTIN NESBITT AND ANITA BLANCHARD comedy act. eighth blackbird March 25–26 7:30 pm Ghostlight MCA Prime Time. October 7, 2015. This performance of new Video stills, eighth blackbird documentary, music by eighth blackbird MCA Chicago. Kerry James Marshall, Untitled (Mirror Girl), invokes the myths, truths, and 2014. Acrylic on PVC panel; 83 3/4 59 3/4 in. (212.7 × 151.8 cm). Collection Museum Kerry James Marshall Members’ Preview of Contemporary Art Chicago, gift of Marshall LARRY AND MARILYN FIELDS, MADELEINE 34 PROGRAMS GRYNSZTEJN, DON KAUL, BARBARA BLUHM-KAUL, Field’s by exchange, 2015.8. AND ANNE KAPLAN MCA MEMBER BIANCA BOVA WITH GUEST SEVY PEREZ Museum of Nonprofit org. U.S. postage paid Contemporary Art Chicago, IL Chicago Permit no. 4633 220 E Chicago Ave Chicago, IL 60611

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