Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago Members’ Magazine Winter/Spring 2018 WINTER/ A MUSEUM FOR It is appropriate that this issue of MCA Members' Magazine, MCA STORIES Topics About Search × the first of the MCA’s next fifty years, is dedicated to SPRING 2018 ALL OF US our friend and founder Lew Manilow, who played a major role in shaping the museum's first half century. Lew passed away in December, and a tribute on pages MOMENTS OF 01 Director’s Letter 28–29 celebrates his remarkable life and legacy. 02 An MCA for All of Us ° Accessible Offerings The museum’s first fifty years, supported by visionaries TRUTH at the MCA like Lew and inspired by the city and its people, Gerhard Bette, 2017 ° Radical Inclusion culminated last October in a free weekend of compelling as Radical Aesthetic programming, great company, and a notable honor: One of the museum’s longtime Trustees, Gerhard Bette, ° Seeing with Coyote Mayor Rahm Emanuel, in recognition of the museum’s identifies key moments in the MCA’s history. 11 Howardena Pindell: longstanding contributions to arts and culture of the city, Artist, Activist, Visionary proclaimed October 21 to be "MCA Day in Chicago." 15 Heaven and Earth: Shortly thereafter, on our front steps, Cheryl Lynn Bruce Alexander Calder and delivered a powerful poem—a story of the museum’s Jeff Koons history and an ode to the new and the now that 18 Edra Soto: Open 24 Hours captured the MCA “looking over the ledge, locked and 19 Endless Summer loaded, with potential, with promise, with possibilities.” 20 Picture Fiction: Kenneth Josephson There is, indeed, much to look forward to this year: MCA STORIES and Contemporary The Commons, a space for learning and engagement, Photography is now open and activated by the inaugural artist 21 Paul Heyer: Anything project, Edra Soto: Open 24 Hours. Off of the Pearson Can Happen Street entrance, Marisol and the Street offer visitors 22 Otobong Nkanga: a space to rest, work, socialize, and refuel. And on the To Dig a Hole That newly created third floor overlooking Lake Michigan, Collapses Again student and teacher programs are in full swing. These 24 MCA Screen: Paul Pfeiffer possibilities were unlocked by an ambitious and visionary 25 On View Madeleine Grynsztejn redesign that puts audience experience at the heart of 27 Claire Cunningham & the museum. SHOW TRANSCRIPT Jess Curtis: The Way You Look (at me) Tonight Other important undertakings at the MCA, though they 28 Celebrating TELL US YOUR STORY VIEW STORIES MCA CHICAGO may be less visible—and unaccompanied by cake and Lewis Manilow confetti—are just as integral to the museum's mission. I am 30 MCA Store tremendously proud of MCA staff, who work daily to The MCA Stories site at stories.mcachicago.org features interviews with important figures in MCA history. 32 Mark Your Calendar make the museum a welcoming destination for visitors 33 MCA Seen of all backgrounds and abilities. Thanks to Liz and Eric MCA STORIES Lefkofsky, we are also thrilled to offer free admission to Museum Hours Mon Closed Tue 10 am–9 pm visitors 18 and under, one of the ways we are making Wed-Thu 10 am–5 pm This November, in honor of our 50th anniversary, the museum Fri 10 am–9 pm the MCA financially accessible for all. This issue features Sat–Sun 10 am–5 pm articles that reveal some of the necessary and inspiring launched MCA Stories, a website that gathers the stories of Admission is always free for anyone 18 and under and for our community to celebrate and document the MCA’s history. Illinois residents every Tuesday. steps that the MCA and our fellow cultural institutions are Information 312–280–2660 taking to offer our public a radically inclusive experience— On the site, a picture emerges of the MCA as a place of Box Office 312–397–4010 excellence and experimentation, inspired by a committed group Member Services 312–397–4040 one that extends from the galleries, to the theater, and MCA Members’ Magazine is a triannual publication produced for of founders with a goal to build an institution unlike any other MCA Members and donors of the MCA by the Design, Publishing, even to people’s homes. and New Media Department, in collaboration with the Rights and in Chicago and for visitors with an appetite for the new. Images, Membership, and Development teams. Typeface created by Karl Nawrot, all rights reserved. This winter, in the spirit of generosity and hospitality that Unless otherwise noted, all photos © MCA Chicago. Nathan Keay, Staff Photographer; Braxton Black and contract photographers drives our work, I invite each and every one of you Many of the stories are told by our founders, patrons, artists, Jeremy Lawson for Jeremy Lawson Photography; and Kendall McCaugherty, Peter McCullough, Hall+Merrick, Maria Ponce, and and staff, but the site has been built to grow, and we are Michael Courier. to the MCA for new experiences with limitless potential. adding new stories all the time. Browse the Stories site and The Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago is a nonprofit, tax- exempt organization accredited by the American Alliance of Museums. The museum is generously supported by its Board of you’ll find very recent stories, including the text of Mayor Trustees; individual and corporate members; private and corporate foundations, including the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Rahm Emanuel’s proclamation of “MCA Day in Chicago,” and Foundation; and government agencies. Programming is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency. the poem that Cheryl Lynn Bruce wrote for our anniversary Free admission for visitors 18 and under is generously provided by celebration. And we hope to hear from you, our visitors and Liz and Eric Lefkofsky. Madeleine Grynsztejn The MCA is a proud member of Museums in the Park and receives members too. You can contribute your memories or stories major support from the Chicago Park District. Pritzker Director Cover image: Still from Howardena Pindell, Free, White and 21, through the TELL US YOUR STORY button on the MCA Stories 1980. U-matic (color, sound); 12 min., 15 sec. Gift of Garth Greenan and Bryan Davidson Blue, 2014.22. Photo courtesy of the site at stories.mcachicago.org. artist and Garth Greenan Gallery, New York. 1 DIRECTOR’S LETTER We are proud of our progress in making the MCA accessible to all, and in this special section of the MCA magazine, we highlight three current areas of activity: MCA Director of Visitor Experience Pat Fraser details the MCA’s implementation of best accessibility practices; Carrie Sandahl, of Chicago’s Above: Visitors from the Blind Service Bodies of Work, Association take a tour of Pop Art Design. an organization that Left: Visitors handle art objects on a touch tour supports the devel- of Chicago Works: Amanda Williams. opment of disability arts, discusses new models of radical inclusivity in the theater; and MCA Chief Content Officer Susan Chun describes Coyote, MORE THAN ONE the museum’s recently IN TEN ILLINOIS developed toolkit RESIDENTS LIVES that helps web users WITH SOME KIND who are blind or OF A DISABILITY. have low vision “see” images online—a game changer in the digital age.

nation based on disability—a major civil rights victory. The ACCESSIBLE OFFERINGS Pat Fraser celebration opened the eyes of the city and its cultural institutions AT THE MCA Director of to what it means to be truly accessible and welcoming. With Visitor Experience new insights, the MCA created a pan-institutional accessibility leadership team to take on the challenge of engaging an A year and a half ago, ADA 25 Chicago: Greater Together even broader audience. The team’s value statement reads, in part: celebrated the twenty-fifth anniversary of the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, a law that prohibited discrimi- Continued on next page

2 AN MCA FOR ALL OF US 3 AN MCA FOR ALL OF US “In keeping with the MCA’s commitment to access, inclusion, example of accessibility leaders such as Steppenwolf Theatre and equity, the museum’s Board, staff, and volunteers endeavor Company, we explored live–audio description for patrons, for to extend an authentic welcome to our building, exhibitions, which a “whisperer” in the sound booth describes the stage programs, and information at all times and to all visitors. This set and performers’ actions. The description is then wirelessly Visitors handle art objects on a touch tour of includes visitors with disabilities, that is: people with mobility transmitted to patrons’ headsets in real time. Additionally, we Chicago Works: Andrew Yang. problems, vision impairment, hearing impairment, and cognitive worked toward offering our first relaxed performance, for Julie disabilities, whether temporary or permanent.” Atlas Muz and Mat Fraser’s Beauty and the Beast. Many of our staff members were unfamiliar with “relaxed” performance, so we spent time learning how to provide a stage experience for visitors who feel uncomfortable in or excluded from traditional theater environments. Without violating the integrity of the performance, we made changes to light and sound and cleared Above: A member of JJ's List trains museum a path to come in and out of the theater that improved audience staff on the MCA Stage. members’ ability to move around during the show. This helped visitors with sensory disabilities feel at home in our theater, a Right: Visitors take an ASL tour of Merce Cunningham: Common Time. true first at the MCA.

Another invaluable method we learned from advocates in the Andrew Yang describes his work to visitors on field of accessibility was to take our most popular offerings and a touch tour of Chicago Works: Andrew Yang. tweak them to be universally accessible as well as consistent. Our biggest success? Touch tours provided by our Chicago Works artists. Andrew Yang led our first touch tour in December 2016 and gave visitors who are blind or have low vision a window into his microcosm of the universe by allowing them to hold his beautiful objects as he discussed his thoughts and practice. Chris THE MUSEUM'S Bradley went a step further by providing touchable objects THESE INTIMATE BOARD, STAFF, for the duration of the exhibition. These intimate experiences of EXPERIENCES OF ADA 25 Chicago cites that more than one in ten Illinois residents touching art are wildly popular with all visitors. AND VOLUNTEERS lives with some kind of a disability. The MCA accessibility TOUCHING ART ENDEAVOR TO leadership team realized the museum wasn’t fully addressing We are always looking for ways to make the MCA more ARE WILDLY this segment of our audience and decided to redress this deficit. welcoming and accessible for everyone. By assigning the Pearson EXTEND AN We started by partnering with JJ’s List—an organization that Street entrance a dedicated address, for example, patrons POPULAR WITH AUTHENTIC brings businesses and people with disabilities together for the can be easily dropped off at street level. We've also upgraded ALL VISITORS. benefit of both—to train our staff. JJ’s List brought in actors with assistive listening devices in the theater and made available WELCOME TO disabilities, who showed us the right and wrong ways that EnChroma color blindness–correcting glasses for individuals and ALL VISITORS. we might encounter visitors with disabilities. They also taught us tour groups. Behind the scenes we are also making improve- to use “person first” language, to describe a visitor as someone ments: taller and sturdier docent stools are on the way for those who is also blind or hard of hearing, for example, rather than as who have difficulty standing for long periods of time, and a blind person. We played the role of guides, offering to lead now every exhibition meeting includes time to envision a path the actors who were blind and—when the offer was accepted— for wheelchairs and mobility devices. giving them an elbow. Though it sounds simple, this took a lot of practice. Over and over, JJ’s List reminded us, “Just ask.” Assume True to what we’ve learned, our varied experiences enrich both nothing. We follow this advice all of the time now. the community at the MCA and the culture of Chicago. We hope you will join us for a museum experience meant for all. We then audited our accessibility offerings and found that, while we were doing good work in the theater, which has historically offered American Sign Language (ASL) and captioning for select performances, there was room for improvement. Following the

4 AN MCA FOR ALL OF US 5 AN MCA FOR ALL OF US University of Illinois at Chicago. The MCA is among our most active consortium members. Our membership believes that disabled people’s way of being in the world is a source of aesthetic innovation and that artists with disabilities contribute Above: Performance view with an ASL significantly to the contemporary art ecosystem. We make art Above: Performance view, Faye Driscoll, interpreter, Twyla Tharp, Minimalism and Me, Thank You For Coming: Play, MCA Chicago, MCA Chicago, Dec 7–10, 2017. because of disability, not in spite of it. Nov 9–12, 2017.

Right: Claire Cunningham and Jess Curtis, As a disabled artist, I am fully aware that the MCA’s unwavering Left: Performance view, ONEOFUS Julie The Way You Look (at me) Tonight. support of our work is not to be taken for granted. In 2009, my Atlas Muz & Mat Fraser, Beauty and the Beast, Photo: hagolani.com. colleague Dr. Carol Gill and I completed a three-year qualitative MCA Chicago, Dec 1–11, 2016. study funded by the National Endowment for the Arts on the barriers and facilitators to arts careers for deaf and disabled Americans. Disabled artists told us time and again how an imaginative teacher or organization made them feel they belonged in the art world. Artists told us that while civil rights laws such as the Americans with Disabilities Act have increased opportunity for participation, such laws do little to promote meaningful inclusion if gatekeepers lack imagination. The MCA has demonstrated imagination in spades by consistently programming some of the most innovative disabled performing RADICAL INCLUSION Carrie artists—from companies such as the Bay Area’s AXIS Dance AS RADICAL AESTHETIC Sandahl to Australia’s Back to Back Theatre—in their regular season. Additionally, the MCA provides The MCA’s mission and vision gives equal weight to the artist and access and accommodations to CONTEMPORARY the audience, understanding that the dynamic flow between disabled audience members, AS A DISABLED ARTISTS HAVE the two is what creates meaning. Describing itself as “audience- even going as far as removing ARTIST, I AM centered,” the MCA prides itself as a place where “culture seats to create more accessible LONG and ideas are shared and tested.” Contemporary artists have spaces for shows drawing large FULLY AWARE EXPERIMENTED long experimented with the artist-audience relationship as a numbers of wheelchair users. THAT THE MCA’S way of drawing attention to the permeable boundary between WITH THE ARTIST- art and life. The stage of the imagination can be a rehearsal for The MCA and Bodies of UNWAVERING AUDIENCE possible worlds to come. Work’s current collaboration SUPPORT OF OUR entails the incorporation RELATIONSHIP AS The MCA’s commitment to making our possible worlds radically of “relaxed performances” WORK IS NOT A WAY OF inclusive of the city’s diverse communities is evidenced in their into the performance season. TO BE TAKEN FOR openness to people with disabilities as both audience members Relaxed performance, DRAWING and artists. Both the former Director of Performance, Peter otherwise known as sensory- GRANTED. ATTENTION TO Taub, and current curator, Yolanda Cesta Cursach, were founding friendly performance, makes members of Bodies of Work, which is a city-wide consortium adjustments to the theater- THE PERMEABLE of individuals and organizations dedicated to the development going experience to make it BOUNDARY of disability art and culture. From initial conversations, to two accessible for the neurodiverse, city-wide international disability art festivals (2006 and 2013), which includes those with autism, sensory processing differ- BETWEEN ART to ongoing programming, the MCA has contributed significantly ences, and mental health issues. American Sign Language for AND LIFE. to Chicago’s reputation as an international epicenter of the the Deaf and audio description for those who are blind or disability art and culture movement. I am a disabled artist/ low vision are also available at these same performances so scholar, and the director of Bodies of Work, which is housed in the Department of Disability and Human Development at the Continued on next page

6 AN MCA FOR ALL OF US 7 AN MCA FOR ALL OF US that diverse members of the disability community can enjoy the experience together. Disabled people are often excluded from audiences due to what Above: 600 Highwaymen, The Fever. Photo: is most often considered our unseemly comportment: the need Maria Baranova. to move around, make involuntary noises, or have equipment that makes sound (such as a ventilator). Relaxed environments Right: An ASL Interpreter sits on the stage with the audience during Faye Driscoll's Thank You expand what is considered acceptable audience behaviors. The For Coming: Play at the MCA. production tempers the sensory intensity of a work by adjusting Kerry James Marshall, Untitled (Painter), 2009. lights and sound. The house lights are kept at a glow so audiences Acrylic on PVC panel; 44 ⅝ × 43 ⅛ × 3 ⅞ in. Opposite: Detail of the MCA's homepage Gift of Katherine S. Schamberg by exchange, showcasing Coyote image descriptions. can come and go as needed. Sensory “rest areas” are available 2009.15. © 2009 Kerry James Marshall. for audience members who need to take a break during the performance. Additional ushers are available to assist audience Image Descriptions ON members in navigating their expanded choices. Read more about the This is one of our earliest descriptions— image description layer. a Coyote-team favorite—written by former Curatorial Assistant Karsten Lund. This painted portrait depicts a young woman with jet-black skin holding a long, thin paintbrush up to a colorful, messy painter’s palette. She is shown in a three-quarter pose, gazing directly SEEING WITH Susan Chun at the viewer. Her face, which is central to the square composition, stands out COYOTE Chief Content against a large, white, canvas, almost blending into the pitch-black background Officer to her right. Closer inspection reveals, however, that her skin is subtly rendered, DISABLED ARTISTS In 2015, the MCA launched a redesigned website that showcases with various shades of contours and highlights. She wears two large hoop TOLD US TIME the museum’s exhibitions, programs, archives, and stories and earrings, three small hoop earrings, and features the lively identity developed for the museum by Mevis an oversized, boxy, high-collared jacket AND AGAIN HOW & Van Deursen. A less visible feature of the site is its purposeful made of stiff fabric. Her voluminous hair—black with an ochre sheen—rises in AN IMAGINATIVE attention to accessibility. Our efforts to create a site that adheres thick coils on top of her head. The canvas to best practices in accessible design—and that is also generous to her left shows a partly finished TEACHER OR and experimental in its accommodations for visitors with vision, paint-by-number self-portrait; in it, her likeness is broken up into smaller ORGANIZATION hearing, or cognitive impairment—led us to create Coyote, an segments with pale-blue outlines and open-source software and a project to create and publish visual numbers. She has outlined many of the MADE THEM FEEL This radical inclusion of disabled audience members necessarily descriptions of the images on our website. Coyote makes it segments and filled them in with colors from her palette: orange, blue, yellow, THEY BELONGED changes the dynamic between performers and audience possible for people who are blind or have low vision to fully pink, brown, and a few shades of green. members. For the better. Artists with and without disabilities experience our site by using software programs that read The paint-by-number canvas does not IN THE ARTS who collaborate with us on these performances, such as Mat aloud image descriptions. Helping people with vision impairment accurately represent the color and pattern of the jacket she wears, which WORLD. Fraser and Julie Atlas Muz of ONEOFUS, 600 HIGHWAYMEN, to enjoy our image-rich site is another way to send the message features mustard yellow sleeves and Faye Driscoll, and Claire Cunningham and Jess Curtis of Gravity, that the MCA is a place for everyone. collar and deep blue and maroon and have been enthusiastic, if sometimes a bit nervous, about changing light-yellow stripes. their work for a new environment. But ultimately, all involved Coyote descriptions are written by staff from many departments recognize that to truly imagine a radically inclusive world, our at the MCA, all of whom volunteer their time to contribute. artwork must model the way. Monthly description sprints, called “Donuts for Descriptions,” bring together curators, educators, publishing staff, security guards, store managers, visitor services team members, and others.

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8 AN MCA FOR ALL OF US 9 AN MCA FOR ALL OF US Together, we have learned how to write effective descriptions, and along the way discovered that there are poets among us. HOWARDENA Like many of the best projects, Coyote has taken us down some unexpected paths. As we began to share our descriptions with museum colleagues, patrons, and—most importantly—members of the disability community, we were asked over and over why these descriptions should be available only to people with screen readers. Our friends pointed out that the descriptions might be of interest to anyone who might sometimes feel Timothy Greenfield-Sanders, Howardena Pindell uneasy or confused in a museum. Heeding this advice, we from the series Art World, 1980. Gelatin silver print, edition 2 of 2; 13 3/4 × 10 ⅜ in. The developed a feature for the site, launching soon, that will allow Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Neil E. Kelley, 2006.867. © Timothy any visitor to mcachicago.org to “turn on” image descriptions Greenfield-Sanders, All Rights Reserved. H. C. Westermann, Memorial to the Idea of Man and to read them. Visit our site soon to check it out. Courtesy of Hiram Butler Gallery. If He Was an Idea, 1958. Pine, bottle caps, cast-tin toys, glass, metal, brass, ebony, and enamel; 56 1/2 × 38 × 14 1/4 in. Susan and Lewis Manilow Collection of Chicago Artists, 1993.34. Art © Dumbarton Arts, LLC/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY.

Sky Cubacub, creator of Rebirth Garments, a custom fashion line that celebrates people of all genders, sizes, and abilities, wrote a description of her favorite work on view at the MCA PINDELL for a recent Family Day.

A wooden box with a smaller wooden MCA staff gather on the stage to write Coyote descriptions. rectangle on top represents the shape of Naomi Beckwith Feb 24–May 20 a human. The wooden rectangular piece on top is smaller than the bottom and Our image descriptions will be in use beyond the web as well! Marilyn and represents the head. There are small A technology innovation grant from the Knight Foundation turrets on the upper box that make the Larry Fields Curator top of the head look like a castle, and a in 2017 supported the Coyote project and our idea to use visual single globe marble rests on the middle descriptions to create fun activities for sighted and unsighted turret. There is one big eye, white and visitors alike. We’re currently developing a city-wide scavenger outlined with blue with a red pupil and thin vein lines. The eye reaches almost hunt using descriptions of artworks in a mobile phone interface. all the way across the “forehead” of the top box, and little knobs for ears are Successful accessibility projects embrace the idea of “universal on either side of the head. A carved nose is directly below the eye. The mouth is design”—the idea that supporting one visitor, like someone lined in red and is wide open; the inside with vision impairment, will ultimately benefit all visitors. The of the mouth is indented into the wood. promise of Coyote, on the web and beyond, is its offer to use There is the shadow of a human figure inside the darkness of the mouth. Two tools developed for the blind to extend a radical welcome to all. ARTIST, wooden arms, one red and one blue, are bent to look like they are resting on hips. The arms are etched with squiggles. The torso section of the human box is open and inside the door are the letters HCW spelled out in bottle caps. The box is separated by a wooden shelf inside, and there are bottle caps that completely fill the back wall and the sides of the ACTIVIST, interior. The bottle caps are colorful, many are red, white, and blue. There are small Special thanks to the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and Lois and figurines on the top shelf of the box that Steve Eisen and The Eisen Family Foundation for their support of this project. look like upside-down human figures.

10 AN MCA FOR ALL OF US VISIONARY Over the last fifty years, Howardena Pindell (American, b. 1943) has interrogated the materials, methods, and motivations for making art. Her independent vision, which led her to not only shape new visual forms but also envision new possibilities for other women and artists of color, is showcased in the MCA’s major retrospective Howardena Pindell: What Remains To Be Seen. The exhibition presents the artist’s prolific output, from the early, abstract works to later, more overtly autobiographical pieces, arguing that there is more in common between these bodies of work than first meets the eye. HER WORK INTERSECTED WITH A GROWING SENSE THAT ONE CAN TAKE UP ADVOCACY FOR WOMEN AND ARTISTS OF COLOR WHILE RELENTLESSLY PURSUING

ART MAKING. Autobiography: Water (Ancestors/Middle Passage/Family Ghosts), 1988. Acrylic and mixed media on canvas; 118 × 71 in. Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, The Ella Gallup Sumner and Mary Catlin Sumner Collection Fund. Photo courtesy of the artist Pindell came of age in the 1960s, studying and Garth Greenan Gallery, New York. at Yale University under professors of the New York School and graduating with validate art. She was also well aware that, an MFA in 1967 (her classmates Judith PINDELL PUT PRESSURE though the art world purported to support Bernstein and Victor Burgin would also go ON THE VERY MEANING artists based on the quality of their work on to make influential bodies of work). alone, not everyone had equal access to After moving to New York City—and lodging OF PAINTING—AS galleries and museums. at a friend’s poorly lit apartment—she began making works that radically departed AN ACTION AND AS AN This much Pindell surmised while maintaining from her formalist training, her rapidly OBJECT. her studio practice and working at the evolving practice staying one step ahead Museum of Modern Art, where, as the first of the changing contemporary art world glitter, paper, powder, and perfume to her black woman to hold a curatorial position around her. works; and rather than using a paintbrush, at the museum, she observed how old tradi- she wielded a spray gun. In a flurry of tions and social relationships influenced By 1987, Howardena Pindell was twenty creation, Pindell put pressure on the very the museum’s decisions. This experience years into her professional life as an artist. meaning of painting—as an action and inspired Pindell to use social science tech- During that period, she was quietly as an object. niques to systemically document the racial innovating in her studio to produce radically demographic of artists shown in museums new objects: Instead of stretching her There is an important, if lesser-known, facet and galleries around New York. She first canvases on wooden frames, she left them of Pindell’s career, however, that emerged exhibited her findings in “Art (World) & to drape directly on the wall; she cut and during this time. She knew that any inven- Racism: Testimony, Documentations and sewed several patches of canvas together tions she created would mean nothing Statistics,” presented in 1987 at the Agenda to make ambitious, billboard-sized objects if she received no support from art world for Survival Conference at Hunter College, rather than standard-scale paintings; players, including commercial galleries New York. Several iterations followed— instead of exclusively using paint, she added Untitled #4, 1973. Mixed media on board; 10 × 8 in. Collection and fine art museums, that sell, collect, and Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York, Deaccession Funds, Above: Free, White and 21, 1980. U-matic (color, sound); 12 mins, 2014 2014-14.1. Photo courtesy of the artist and Garth Greenan 15 sec. Gift of Garth Greenan and Bryan Davidson Blue, 2014.22. 12 EXHIBITIONS Gallery, New York. 13 EXHIBITIONS Photo courtesy of the artist and Garth Greenan Gallery, New York. paths for subsequent generations, and she On the museum’s second floor, remains a model for artists who are Through Michael Darling delicate, abstract forms of wire, engaged in the world as much as they are Dec 16 James W. Alsdorf glass, and wood precariously in their studios. hang in stark contrast to a firmly Chief Curator planted bronze sculpture and basketballs floating in a fish tank. Yes, the pairing in Heaven and Earth: Alexander Calder and Jeff Koons is unexpected. But though the differences between the Heaven works couldn’t be more apparent, the artists actually have quite a lot in common: the simplicity of their aesthetics belies the Video Drawings: Track, 1976. Chromogenic print; 4 1/2 × 6 1/2 in. and complexity of their work, and, Courtesy the artist and Garth Greenan Gallery, New York. Photo as artists who revolutionized courtesy of the artist and Garth Greenan Gallery, New York. the field of contemporary art, they have played integral roles Earth in the MCA’s telling of contem- commonly titled “Art World Racism”—which Howardena Pindell in her studio, in front of Untitled (1968–70), c. 1972. Photo courtesy of the artist and Garth Greenan Gallery, porary art history. updated those figures, sometimes to sobering New York. effects. Pindell became one of the first schol- Calder (American, 1898–1976) ars to recognize and argue that the cultural trained as an engineer and used world was not immune to the prejudices Lead support for Howardena Pindell: What Remains To Be Seen is provided by the Harris Family Foundation in memory of Bette and Alexander Calder, Orange Under Table, his knowledge of mechanics all too common in the world at-large. Neison Harris: Caryn and King Harris, Katherine Harris, Toni and Ron c. 1949. Sheet metal, paint, metal rods, Paul, Pam and Joe Szokol, Linda and Bill Friend, and Stephanie and and steel wire; 72 × 82 in. diameter. to construct the floating wire John Harris; Kenneth C. Griffin; The Andy Warhol Foundation for the The Leonard and Ruth Horwich Family sculptures, later to be called Visual Arts; and Marilyn and Larry Fields. Major support is provided by Alexander Loan, EL1995.11.01–15. © 2018 Calder “mobiles,” for which he is best the National Endowment for the Arts, the Terra Foundation for Foundation, New York/Artists Rights American Art, Charlotte Cramer Wagner and Herbert S. Wagner III of Society (ARS), New York. known. Having established a the Wagner Foundation, and Liz and Eric Lefkofsky. Generous support is provided by Nathan Cummings Foundation, with the support and name for himself in the 1920s, encouragement of Jane Saks, Mr. and Mrs. Lee Broughton; Garth his esteem in Chicago only grew Greenan Gallery; Agnes Gund, Heiji and Brian Black; Lester N. Coney Calder over time. The MCA has and Mesirow Financial; Ashlee Jacob; Nickol and Darrel Hackett; Denise and Gary Gardner; Vicki and Bill Hood; Cheryl Mayberry McKissack exhibited his works throughout and Eric McKissack; Jeanne and Kevin Poorman; Desirée and Victoria the years, including in a major Rogers; Dr. John E. Ellis; Cathy Ross and Chris Liguori; and Lloyd A. Fry Foundation. retrospective in 1974 and in and Jeff MCA DNA: Alexander Calder (2013–15), which traced fifty years of the artist’s evolving, Koons influential ideas. Koons (American, b. 1955) helped usher in an era of art in the 1980s that took inspiration from Katrina Footprints Drawn, 2007. Lithograph; 21 1/4 × 26 in. the mundane—advertisements, Collection of James Blue and Florence Davidson, Australia. Photo EXHIBITION CATALOGUE courtesy of the artist and Garth Greenan Gallery, New York. celebrity paraphernalia, and This monograph celebrates domestic goods—and upended fifty years of Howardena the tastes of the contemp- Artist, curator, scholar, activist, educator— Pindell’s art, including orary art world. The MCA painting, works on paper, these are just a few of the hats that collage, photography, had the honor of organizing a Howardena Pindell has worn over her long film, and video. With young Koons’s first museum career, and the MCA’s exhibition What original essays by Sarah exhibition in 1988 and, in 2008, Cowan, Lowery Stokes presenting the mature body Remains To Be Seen brings together these Sims, Naomi Beckwith, strands to illuminate the legacy of this Valerie Cassel Oliver, of work by a seminal figure of unprecedented artist. Her work intersected Charles Gaines, Grace contemporary art. Deveney, and Brian Wallis. with a growing sense in the late twentieth We invite you to return to Heaven century that one could advocate for Copublished by and Earth throughout its women and artists of color while DelMonico Books•Prestel extended run and experience relentlessly pursuing art making. Pindell’s Available at the MCA the work of these artists—which lifelong dedication to expanding access HOWARDENA PINDELL: Store in February. Jeff Koons, Lifeboat, 1985. Bronze; 20 1/2 × 87 ¼ × 62 3/4 in. Gerald S. Elliott Collection, 1995.56.a–c. are periodically updated with and inclusion in the art world has opened WHAT REMAINS $58.50 for members © Jeff Koons. TO BE SEEN ($65 for nonmembers) substitutions by both artists—as mcachicagostore.org the museum has, again and again. 14 EXHIBITIONS 15 EXHIBITIONS

atmospheric, color that was Peter Alexander, Brown Black Wedge, 1969. Through JANUARY ENDLESS SUMMER influenced by the surf industry, Cast polyester resin; 91 3/4 × 4 × 3 15/16 in. Gift of the Estates of Walter Netsch and Dawn Feb 25 PARKOS ARNALL custom-car culture, and the Clark Netsch, 2014.54. Curator of Public legendary climate of Southern Jan 27– California. Distinct from the East Programs Coast artists who were creating Aug 5 a variant of minimalism, West Coast artists did not shy away from color; instead, they embraced new materials such as fiberglass, plastic, Michael Darling and resin and reveled in the vagaries of perception rather than Edra Soto James W. Alsdorf objective facts. Chief Curator In 2014, an important gift of seven works by the leading practitioners of this movement was given to the Visitors in the Commons, located in the Bluhm Family Engagement Zone, take MCA from the estates of Walter part in Edra Soto’s workshop during the 5Oth-weekend celebration. Netsch and Dawn Clark Netsch, drastically improving our ability to document this fertile chapter in art. Gathered together in Endless An experiment in communal Summer are works from that gift, joined by related works already in critical inquiry, Open 24 Hours the MCA collection. The range of work reveals the wide variety of is contemplative and hopeful, approaches that artists of this time and place were pursuing: Peter bringing MCA visitors together Alexander, for instance, became to explore the hidden stories best known for his delicate wedges of translucent, colored resin that of forgotten trash. taper off at the tops and blend with the atmosphere. Craig Kauff- man’s wild experiments with inequality and cross- ful, bringing MCA visitors vacuum-formed plastics and atom- cultural pollination that together to explore the ized spray paints merged painting began in World War II. hidden stories of forgotten and sculpture while also alluding trash. to commercial signage and In the space of the customized car designs. And Billy Commons, Soto invites Robert Irwin, Untitled, 1965–67. Acrylic lacquer Al Bengston borrowed from a community of collab- on shaped aluminum; 60 in. diameter × 4 in. hot-rod culture his material palette orators as well as the Gift of Lannan Foundation, 1997.40. © 2018 public to consider and Robert Irwin/Artists Rights Society (ARS), of bent metal, high-sheen paints, respond to her proposal New York. and stenciled symbols to push within an architectural painting in a new direction. With installation reminiscent of additional works by Robert Irwin, Edra Soto with her installation Open 24 Hours in the Commons. public gathering spaces in John McCracken, Larry Bell, and Ed the artist’s home country Taking its title from the classic Ruscha, Endless Summer brings the of Puerto Rico. Writing Bruce Brown surf movie from warmth and light of Los Angeles to stations prompt visitors to A soft sound drifts toward then joins others in Edra address their civic agency, 1966, Endless Summer offers a the MCA—the perfect exhibition you as you find yourself Soto’s installation for the and Friday-night programs snapshot of a particular type of for combating the winter doldrums singing along, “Blame it on Commons, Open 24 Hours. reflect on these written alluring painting and sculpture in Chicago! the booze, got you feeling contributions. Twice a that emerged from Los Angeles in loose, blame it on the ’tron, The project began a month, audiences collabo- the 1960s. During this period, LA got you in the zone, blame couple of years ago, when rate with Soto in bottle- was a hotbed of contemporary art it on the a-a-a-a-a-alco- Soto became dismayed making workshops while innovation: the city where Andy hol.”1 An artist approaches, by the epidemic of trash listening to a playlist Installation view: Edra Soto: Open Warhol first showed his seminal asking if you would like in her neighborhood. crafted by the artist Sadie 24 Hours in the Commons. soup can paintings, where Marcel to adopt a bottle, and the Noticing that the litter Woods, an auditory glint of translucent green was primarily liquor bottles, reflection on Soto’s ques- Duchamp (the godfather of glass catches your eye. she began to collect, tions. An experiment in conceptual art) had his first ever Its smooth surface belies revitalize, and research communal critical inquiry, museum show, and where pop art its rugged life spent these objects, scrutinizing Open 24 Hours is received one of its first museum discarded on the streets in particular the historical contemplative and hope- assessments. A regionally specific of East Garfield Park. You use of cognac in her pre- variant of minimalism also arose cover the vestige with dominantly African during this time. Sometimes called shells, laying claim to the American community. “Finish Fetish” or “Light and Space” refuse and transforming it. Inspired by her learnings, 1 Jamie Foxx featuring T-Pain. “Blame It.” Intuition, art, it was characterized by slick The collaborative artwork Soto posits a legacy of J Records, 2008. surfaces and dreamy, sometimes Ed Ruscha, News, 1970. Screen print on paper; portfolio of six, each sheet: 23 × 31 3/4 in., Lead support for The Commons is provided by Rebecca W. Knight and each framed: 29 × 37 1/8 in. Gift of Nicolo 18 COMMONS PROJECTS Lester B. Knight and the Thomas Wilson—Jill Garling Foundation. 19 EXHIBITIONS Pignatelli, 1979.29.3. © Ed Ruscha. PICTURE FICTION: KENNETH Jan 16– Erin Toale JOSEPHSON AND Jul 1 Former Curatorial CONTEMPORARY Assistant PHOTOGRAPHY

Apr 28– New York State, 1970. Gelatin silver print; framed: 17 × 21 in. Gift of Katherine S. Dec 30 Schamberg by exchange, 2014.4. © 1970 Kenneth Josephson Michael Darling Primarily drawn from the MCA’s Paul James W. Alsdorf renowned collection of concep- tually oriented photographs, Chief Curator which includes a recent influx of works by Josephson, the exhibition places the artist’s work in a Five Apples, 2015. Oil and acrylic on polyester; In an effort to align with the broader context of photo-based 50 × 70 in. Photo: Robert Heishman, courtesy citywide initiative Art Design provocations by contemporaries Heyer of the artist and Chapter-NY. Chicago, sponsored by the Terra such as Vito Acconci, John Foundation for American Art, the Baldessari, and Ed Ruscha. Like Chicago Works: Paul Heyer asks MCA felt the time was right to Josephson, these artists played you to press pause, to enter a construct an exhibition that looks with the supposedly unbiased and frame of mind where the things at the influence and achievements documentary nature of photog- that govern our lives—politics, of longtime Chicago artist raphy to provoke viewers into religion, addiction—are destabilized, Kenneth Josephson (American, b. thinking more carefully about the all the rules are off, and you are 1932). For many years Josephson’s “truths” they are fed. Their work free to play. In one room, a silver, work was appreciated primarily opened up a large field of inquiry cloud-like blanket fills the space within the specialist circles of fine in the world of contemporary art surrounded by large, vivid paintings art photography, but his early that has grown all the more on polyester. In another gallery, analyses of picture-making, pressing and acute in the digital blackened brooms hang from the incisive, and often humorous, have age. The exhibition presents work ceiling in a tight circle (a spooky had a much broader impact. He by younger practitioners, including model of the universe) near works has inspired other artists to reflect Rodney Graham, Anne Collier, and that ask viewers to be the sky or on the photographic medium and Xaviera Simmons, who are the live for ten thousand years. Though helped viewers look more worthy inheritors of Josephson’s the mood and the materials of critically at the images they pioneering pictures, making a case the works differ, a shared thread consume on a daily basis. Picture for a school of critical, photo- emerges in the sense of infinite Fiction: Kenneth Josephson and based art that claims Josephson as possibilities that they inspire. Contemporary Photography surveys one of its central early protago- some of the key works of nists. The exhibition celebrates this Heyer (American, b. 1982) thinks a Josephson’s half-century-long great artist who continues to live lot about alternate universes—not practice, while also tracing the and work in Chicago, a testament those beyond our Milky Way but development of conceptual to the rich, local artistic traditions the ones that we can imagine. By photography by his peers and that exert influence far beyond presenting familiar objects in subsequent generations of artists. Chicago’s borders. unfamiliar ways—such as brooms charred and strung from the ceiling Anything and pretty paintings marred by burn marks—the Chicago native reframes the world and asks, “What world will we create together?”

Picture Fiction: Kenneth Josephson and Contemporary Photography is made possible through support from the Terra Foundation for American Art. Can Generous additional support is provided by the David C. and Sarajean Ruttenberg Arts Foundation.

Stockholm, 1967. Gelatin silver print; sheet: 11 × 14 in., mat: 16 × 20 in. Illinois Arts Council Purchase Grant, 1980.13. © 1967 Kenneth Josephson. Picture Fiction: Kenneth Josephson and Contemporary Photography is part of Art Design Chicago, an Bandit, 2014, Oil and acrylic on silk chiffon; Generous support for Chicago Works: Paul exploration of Chicago's art and design legacy, an 29 × 35 in. Collection of Lukas Hall. Photo: Happen Heyer is provided by the Sandra and Jack initiative of the Terra Foundation for American Dawn Blackman, courtesy of Paul Heyer Guthman Chicago Works Exhibition Fund, Art with presenting partner The Richard H. Driehaus and Night Gallery. Night Gallery, Chapter NY, and Susie L. Karkomi 20 EXHIBITIONS 20 Foundation.EXHIBITIONS and Marvin Leavitt. Otobong Nkanga (Nigerian, b. 1974) is an innocent, almost cartoon-like fashion, exist artist who acts as part geologist, part in stark contradiction to the violence that Mar 31– Omar Kholeif geographer, and part social anthropologist. they enact. Sep 9 Manilow Senior She spends much of her time exploring how Africa’s natural resources, specifically The centerpiece of the exhibition at the MCA Curator and Director its minerals, are mined and captured by is the installation In Pursuit of Bling (2014). different groups and then exported into This work explores the metaphoric transfor- of Global Initiatives the West, forming covert trade routes and mation of raw materials into their finalized diverse ecologies. product. Mica is the starting point for the installation, a word that emerged from the The artist’s first ever US survey exhibition, Latin micare, which means “to twinkle” or To Dig a Hole That Collapses Again, takes “to glitter.” The mineral relates to Nkanga’s its name from the history of Tsumeb, a town fascination with “shine,” a concept she in Namibia that houses the “Green Hill” dubbed that conjures an image from her mine, one of the country’s “rare gems.” The childhood, of seeing the earth glimmer mine contained hundreds of minerals, and before her eyes. its rich reserves were historically protected by local tribes. Unfortunately, they were unable to guard the hill as they repeatedly NKANGA [CREATES] A tried to build a well to supply water. It is UNIVERSE IN WHICH claimed that the brittle, dolomite earth of the Green Hill caused the well to collapse, VIEWERS CAN WITNESS again and again. THE CAPTURE OF OUR WORLD’S NATURAL RESOURCES.

At the heart of this installation are two tapestries: one reveals a gemstone bludg- eoned by needles, and the other shows the legs of a man entrenched in a mining landscape. Around these are metallic forms that contain geological samples, photo- graphs, and minerals such as mica, malachite, Otobong and copper, along with texts printed on limestone. Nkanga can also be seen on two videos walking the streets of Berlin with raw materials on her head. In a corner of the installation lies one product of these Nkanga mineral exports into the West—makeup— which brings “shimmer” to the faces of Filtered Memories—Teargas, 1978, Yaba, Lagos, 2009. Acrylic and stickers on its users. Nkanga asks, what measures do paper; 16 1/2 × 11 � in. Private collection. we take in pursuit of bling, in pursuit of Courtesy of Lumen Travo Gallery, Amsterdam, and Galerie In Situ–Fabienne the shine and gloss that we aspire to project Leclerc, Paris. In Pursuit of Bling: The Discovery, 2014. Tapestry; 74 ⅞ × 70 ⅞ in. each and every day as we go out in the Edition of 5, aside from an artist's proof. Courtesy of Lumen Travo Gallery, Amsterdam, and Galerie In Situ–Fabienne Leclerc, Paris. world? To Dig a Hole That Collapses Again considers Nkanga maps contexts such as this in the divergent ways that we relate to the drawings, installations, and performances, environment. Will we protect it, or are we To Dig a Hole That creating a universe in which viewers can too concerned with using it again and again witness the capture of our world’s natural to satisfy our immediate, material needs? resources. For this exhibition, I began by looking at Nkanga’s works on paper, painterly drawings of amorphous figures engaged in Lead support for Otobong Nkanga: To Dig A Hole That Collapses constant battle. In The Apparatus (2015), Again is provided by R. H. Defares; the Harris Family Foundation in Collapses Again memory of Bette and Neison Harris: Caryn and King Harris, for example, a plethora of hands intertwine Katherine Harris, Toni and Ron Paul, Pam and Joe Szokol, Linda and Bill Friend, and Stephanie and John Harris; the Margot and W. as if they are about to destroy the earth George Greig Ascendant Artist Fund; and Helen and Sam Zell. beneath them. These hands, painted in an Major support is provided by Nancy and Steve Crown, and Elissa Efroymson and Adnaan Hamid. Additional generous support is provided by Jean-Marc Decrop, Galerie In Situ–Fabienne Leclerc, 23 EXHIBITIONS Paris, and CE Horton. Grace Deveney CURRENT how the body may Assistant Curator AND be subjected to power. We Are Everywhere FUTURE Through Jan 28 EXHIBITIONS We Are Everywhere show- cases artists who borrow from popular culture—using soup cans, movie stills, neon signage, and floor tiles to consider the ways that our social lives inflect our perceptions of the world around us. I Am You CLOSING SOON Through Apr 1 Through I Am You presents some of THREE FIGURES erasures, and repetition—the Woman with a Camera the most iconic and beloved May 20 IN A ROOM signature-style editing of Through Jan 14 Michael Rakowitz: Backstroke of the West artworks in the MCA’s Pfeiffer’s video work. Perhaps A testament to the expressive permanent collection that most striking is the complete power of the camera, this question how we relate The seamless synchronization absence of sound coming from remarkable selection of to and are shaped by our MCA SCREEN: of moving image and sound in the crowd, no cheering or fifty works by women photog- environments. film—often taken for granted— commentary. Pfeiffer edited raphers is drawn from the PAUL PFEIFFER is routinely achieved by an the pre-existing footage to tell 5Oth-anniversary gift from ON VIEW NOW intricate, behind-the-scenes a different story, one about Jack and Sandra Guthman. editing process. Ambient sound the strangeness of spectacle Michael Rakowitz: such as footsteps, creaking that becomes apparent when Edra Soto: Open 24 Hours Backstroke of the West doors, and others that aren’t the crowd is hushed and we Through Feb 25 Through Mar 4 easily picked up during the must focus on watching the Edra Soto prompts visitors to We Are Here: You Are Here Drawing on personal experi- filming process are added back main event. Without the noise consider the nature of urban ences, research, history, and during post-production. Sound of the spectators, the larger space, cross-cultural dynamics, popular culture, Iraqi-American technicians, known as Foley entertainment industry as well the legacy of colonialism, and artist Michael Rakowitz makes artists, are often the unseen as the violence and tedium of personal responsibility in work that invites viewers to source of these noises, re- the fight are heightened. this interactive installation in contemplate their relationship creating them in sound studios. the Commons. to the political world around Video artist Paul Pfeiffer Over the course of his career, them. The artist’s first museum (American, b. 1966) explores which includes a mid-career We Are Here survey features major installa- this aspect of filmmaking in his survey at the MCA in 2003, In honor of the MCA’s 5Oth tions, a new commission, recent work Three Figures in Pfeiffer has become known anniversary, the museum and culinary interventions. a Room, a video of Foley artists for videos and sculptural presents We Are Here, a major Edra Soto: Open 24 Hours at Kantana Sound Studios in installations that deconstruct three-part exhibition drawn Felix Bangkok whom Pfeiffer com- sports, music videos, and from the MCA’s collection. Through Apr 8 missioned to create an unusual other televised events in order The shows declare that art The MCA’s beloved sculpture soundtrack to accompany to shed light on the ways and culture have the power Felix is a nod to the Field footage from the “Fight of the that viewers participate in to change the way that Museum’s legendary T-Rex, Century,” a 2015 boxing match them. The museum debut of we see and act in the world. Sue, but in typical Maurizio between Floyd Mayweather Three Figures in a Room offers Cattelan fashion, the skeleton Jr. and Manny Pacquiao at the an opportunity to take your You Are Here is a gigantic cat rather than MGM Grand Las Vegas. place alongside the boxers and Through Jan 28 an actual fossilized specimen. Foley artists and witness the You Are Here examines Three Figures in a Room is a artist’s process of manipulating how the role of the viewer MCA Screen: Paul Pfeiffer two-channel video installation moving images to expose the has changed over time— Through May 20 that presents two audio techni- absurdity, complexity, and from passive onlooker to Paul Pfeiffer manipulates cians simulating the sounds of violence of popular spectacles. active participant—with media footage from sports and the boxers’ footsteps, punches, some artists forging new music culture, using repetition and the rustling of their silk physical relationships and omission to expose the Three Figures In A Room, 2015–16. Two synced between viewers and art absurdity, complexity, and shorts as they move through video channels on two projectors, four the ring alongside the TV synced audio channels, and Mac Minis; overall objects and others exploring violence of popular spectacles. dimensions variable, 48 minutes, looped. In its museum debut, Three footage of the fight, intermit- © Paul Pfeiffer. Courtesy of Paula Cooper 24 EXHIBITIONS tently interrupted by glitches, Gallery, New York. 25 ON VIEW Felix Figures in A Room (2015–16) deconstructs the infamous Picture Fiction: Kenneth FEB 8– Glasgow-based artist Claire Art Center, the MCA residency brings boxing match between Floyd Josephson and Contemporary Cunningham (b. 1977) creates multi- together for the first time Cunningham disciplinary performance works and two of her Chicago-based Mayweather Jr. and Photography FEB 11 often rooted in the study and use/ collaborators: writer-choreographer Manny Pacquiao in May 2015. Apr 28–Dec 30 misuse of her crutches as well Barak adé Soleil and media artist In playing with the unique as the exploration of the potential Chun-Shan (Sandie) Yi. Heaven and Earth: qualities of photography, of her specific physicality. The Alexander Calder and Kenneth Josephson changed self-identifying disabled artist— Lead support for the 2017–18 season of MCA Jeff Koons the way we think about pictures. recently selected for the coveted Stage is provided by Elizabeth A. Liebman. Through Dec 16 This exhibition considers Factory Artists residency with Generous support is provided by Lois and Steve Bringing together two of the his work in the larger context tanzhaus nrw, in Dusseldorf, Eisen and The Eisen Family Foundation, David Germany—makes her Chicago Herro and Jay Franke, Ginger Farley and Bob most important artists in of conceptual art and draws Shapiro, the Martha Struthers Farley and Donald debut at the MCA with Jess Curtis, C. Farley Jr. Family Foundation, Sharon and the MCA’s history, Heaven and parallels with contemporary performing The Way You Look Lee Oberlander, Maya Polsky, Carol Prins and John Earth: Alexander Calder and artists working in photography, Hart/The Jessica Fund, Susan Manning and (at me) Tonight, a lilting collage of Doug Doetsch, D. Elizabeth Price and Lou Yecies, Jeff Koons finds common film, and sculpture. movement, video, and music that and Ms. Shawn M. Donnelley and Dr. Christopher ground between these iconic, examines the ways that we, as a M. Kelly. Additional generous support for MCA Stage is provided by Enact, the MCA’s seemingly disparate artists. Joan Giroux society, perceive others of different performance affinity group. Heaven and Earth: May 1–Oct 7 Yolanda Cesta Cursach ages, bodies, and backgrounds. ON VIEW NEXT Alexander Calder and Jeff Koons Joan Giroux invites visitors to The MCA is a proud member of the Museums Curator of Performance Cunningham is receiving commis- in the Park and receives major support from the consider their roles in shaping sioning support and a residency by Chicago Park District. Chicago Works: Paul Heyer the future of public green the MCA to develop her forthcoming Foundation Hotel Jan 16–Jul 1 spaces in our cities, using the work Thank you very much . . . . Season Sponsor Sponsor Paul Heyer's most immersive formats of map-making and Conceived for five performers installation to date creates a board games to encourage including Cunningham, the piece dream-like realm with ethereal play, learning, and conversation. looks at the notions of imperson- paintings and spooky sculptures. ation versus tribute—of grooming I Was Raised on the Internet and training to be someone else yet never reaching the supposed ideal— Endless Summer Jun 23–Oct 14 through the lens of the Elvis Presley Jan 27–Aug 5 Due to new types of gaming phenomenon and the competitive Titled after the classic Bruce and entertainment and the rise world of Elvis tribute artists. Hosted Claire Cunningham and Jess Curtis, The Way Brown surfing documentary of social media and alternative later in February by The Hyde Park You Look (at me) Tonight. Photo: hagolani.com. from 1966, Endless Summer modes of representation, the offers a snapshot of the everyday is no longer what it alluring minimalism that used to be. I Was Raised on emerged in Los Angeles in Chicago Works: Paul Heyer the Internet looks at how these the 1960s. new technologies and trends Claire Cunningham have changed the way Howardena Pindell: we experience the world. What Remains To Be Seen Feb 24–May 20 & Jess Curtis Trained as a painter, Howardena Pindell has challenged the staid traditions of the art world Installation view, Michael Rakowitz: Backstroke of the West, MCA Chicago, Sep 16, 2017—Mar and asserted her place in its 4, 2018; Installation view, We Are Here: You history as a woman and one of Are Here, MCA Chicago, Oct 21, 2017–Jan 28, 2018; Installation view, Edra Soto: Open 24 African descent. Since the 1960s, Hours, MCA Chicago, October 21, 2017–Feb 2, she has used nontraditional 2018; Maurizio Cattelan, Felix, 2001. Oil on materials to stretch the bound- polyvinyl resin and fiberglass; 26 × 6 × 20 ft. The Way The Edlis/Neeson Art Acquisition Fund, aries of the rigid tradition of 2001.22. © 2001 Maurizio Cattelan; Alexander Calder, Performing Seal, 1950. Sheet metal, rectangular, canvas painting. paint, and steel wire; 33 × 23 × 36 in. The Howardena Pindell: Leonard and Ruth Horwich Family Loan, What Remains To Be Seen EL1995.7. © 2018 Calder Foundation, New Otobong Nkanga: To Dig York/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York; a Hole That Collapses Again Paul Heyer, I Am the Sky (Version 1: BORN), Mar 31–Sep 9 2016. Acrylic and charcoal on canvas; 21 × 25 You Look in. Collection of Meredith Darrow. Photo: Otobong Nkanga acts as a Robert Heishman, courtesy of the artist and Night Gallery; Howardena Pindell, Untitled cultural anthropologist, tracing #27, 1974. Mixed media on board; 13 3/4 × 12 in. the violent means by which Weatherspoon Art Museum, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, gift of Donald minerals and objects are taken Droll, 1983.3525. Photo: Courtesy the artist from their natural environments, and Garth Greenan Gallery, New York; and considers how they Otobong Nkanga, Social Consequences IV: The (at me) Tonight Takeover, 2013. Acrylic and stickers on paper; are transported to the West. two parts, each: 16 1/2 × 11 � in. Courtesy of Maurice van Valen, Eindhoven. Courtesy of Otobong Nkanga: Lumen Travo Gallery, Amsterdam, and Galerie 26 ON VIEW To Dig a Hole That Collapses Again In Situ–Fabienne Leclerc, Paris. 27 PROGRAMS On December 12, 2017, we lost one of our most formative influences, founding trustee and former Board Chair Lewis Manilow. A Harvard Law School graduate and prominent attorney, Lew was an incisive planner with a strong civic spirit. In 1967, he was invited by founding Board Chair Joseph Shapiro to join the first institution in Chicago devoted solely to contem- porary art. At just forty years old and the youngest serving trustee, Lew seized the opportunity to fuse his business acumen and love of visual art. He began his service as inaugural Exhibition Committee Chair, a Susan and Lew Manilow at the Circle Preview critical player in the burgeoning, for William Kentridge, 2001. Photo: Steve Becker. non-collecting museum. Seeking challenging and energizing art, Lew championed the iconic annex to create Circus: The Carribean MCA trustees thank Lew Manilow for taking on a fifth year as Board Chair at the annual Board of wrapping of our first building by Orange. (Once again, spending Trustees meeting, 1980. Christo; he watched over this time with the fire department!) exhibition, staying on-site to ensure it was not shut down by the Lew was vital to the relocation Chicago Fire Department. For Lew, of the MCA to its current building, AT JUST FORTY YEARS OLD AND THE the exhibition captured the spirit where he continued to support of the MCA: it was “avant-garde exhibitions and acquisitions. As believ- YOUNGEST SERVING TRUSTEE, in the best possible sense.” ers in the public good of donating art, Susan and Lew gifted works LEW SEIZED THE OPPORTUNITY TO A collector since his early twenties, such as a Kara Walker’s 150-foot- Lew soon advocated for establish- long installation of landscapes in FUSE HIS BUSINESS ACUMEN AND ing what would become the MCA’s the antebellum South, which Lew legendary permanent collection. famously was moved to purchase LOVE OF VISUAL ART. “When collectors dream of finding after seeing it at the Renaissance artists who will go on to become Society. The couple also gifted influential and valuable, they are Lew Manilow at the dedication of the Manilow one of the most important bodies dreaming of Lew’s eye, ability, Gallery at the Ontario St. building, 1982. of work by William Kentridge, and chutzpah,” James W. Alsdorf making possible his first US survey, Chief Curator Michael Darling co-organized by the MCA. said, “and lucky for the MCA, Lew brought that track record and Lew’s influence was not limited to energy to develop this museum into the galleries or the boardroom. the internationally recognized The dynamic MCA Stage season institution it is today.” that today’s audiences enjoy was LEWIS created through his activism. Lew As inaugural Chair of the Collection was instrumental in promoting Committee and in partnership the then-radical idea of having a with his fantastic wife Susan, Lew theater with year-round, original brought into the MCA iconic works programming in a museum. by artists such as Shirin Neshat and MANILOW H. C. Westermann and expanded In 2010, Lew was honored as an the holdings of work by Chicago MCA Life Trustee. The shape of artists including Jeanne Dunning, the MCA and the wealth of gifts Leon Golub, Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle, we share with the city of Chicago and Kerry James Marshall. The would be far lesser without MCA’s 5Oth-anniversary exhibitions Lew’s unflinching, brilliant, and Aug 11, 1927 – Dec 12, 2017 feature many of their visionary gifts. impassioned advocacy and dedi- cation. His legacy of pushing the Lew served a remarkable five-year boundaries and relevance of tenure as Board Chair (1976–81), contemporary art live on through securing much-needed space for an endowed senior curatorship the permanent collection and shows (held by Omar Kholeif), and he devoted to Chicago art. Unforget- will be remembered as we try tably under his watch, Gordon Judith Kirshner, Lew Manilow, and Pritzker to live up to his infallible optimism, Matta-Clark cut into the museum’s Director Madeleine Grynsztejn, 2011. indefatigable enthusiasm, and 28 LEWIS MANILOW soon-to-be renovated museum 29 LEWIS MANILOW bottomless generosity. MCA STORE 1 2

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30 STORE MCACHICAGOSTORE.ORG Mon, Mar 26, 6 pm MARK YOUR Talk: Teju Cole MCA SEEN CALENDAR Writer, art historian, and photo- grapher Teju Cole talks about his work and thinking around Check your mailbox, inbox, visibility and social dynamics in and our website often for advance of the exhibition more information about these Otobong Nkanga: To Dig a Hole and other upcoming events. That Collapses Again. Cole wrote an illuminating essay for mcachicago.org Claire Cunningham and Jess Curtis the catalogue, which, along with his other books, he will be signing after the talk. Sat, Mar 31, 2–4 pm JACK GUTHMAN AND BETH HELLER WILL HOKIN AND DAUGHTER AMY HOKIN Solid Maneuvers, 2 pm Tue, Jan 23, 6 pm Talk: Omar Kholeif with In Progress: Otobong Nkanga, 3 pm Access and Museums Join us for an afternoon with Join a conversation about Otobong Nkanga as we open access and inclusion with Otobong Nkanga: To Dig a Chicago-area museum workers Hole That Collapses Again, the and academics. Along with Nigerian artist's first US survey, MCA representatives, panelists beginning with a performance include Michael Christiano of by the artist in the galleries the Smart Museum, Kris Nesbitt and culminating in an insightful of the Shedd Aquarium, and conversation between Nkanga Carrie Sandahl of University of and curator Omar Kholeif. Illinois at Chicago. Wed, Apr 11 MCA 5OTH ANNIVERSARY OPENING CEREMONY PARTICIPANTS Thu–Sat, Feb 8–10, 7:30 pm; Annie Leibovitz Fundraising Luncheon and Sun, Feb 11, 2 pm Talk with Annie Leibovitz Claire Cunningham and Renowned photographer Jess Curtis Annie Leibovitz serves as the The Way You Look (at me) keynote speaker for a luncheon Tonight celebrating the MCA Women's Artist and leading disability Board's fiftieth anniversary. culture activist Claire Cunning- This special event helps raise ham and Jess Curtis’s sensory funds in support of the journey explores how we, as museum's new Learning Studios, a society, perceive people and which, throughout the year, the world. host artist-led tours and Teju Cole creation labs at no charge to Fri, Mar 23, 6 pm approximately 10,000 Chicago Talk: 1979! A Conversation Public School students, grades Inspired by Howardena 1–12. For more information, MCA MEMBERS AT THE MEMBERS’ PREVIEW Pindell call 312-397-4017. OF WE ARE HERE The year 1979 was a time of radical art and pop culture, and it had radical consequences for US culture and the art and Chance the Rapper life of artist Howardena Pindell. Join an esteemed panel of thinkers and artists invited by curator Naomi Beckwith as they consider this seminal Claire Cunningham and Jess Curtis, The Way moment in history. You Look (at me) Tonight. Photo: hagolani.com; Annie Leibovitz, 2012. Photo © Annie Leibovitz/Trunk Archive; Teju Cole. Photo: Martin Lengemann; Otobong Nkanga, Filtered Memories—Home, 1977, Yaba Lagos, 2009. Acrylic and stickers on paper; 16 1/2 x 11 7/16 in. Courtesy of Lumen Travo Gallery, Amsterdam, and Galerie In Situ—Fabienne 32 PROGRAMS Otobong Nkanga: To Dig a Hole That Collapses Again Leclerc, Paris. MEMBERS OF THE TEEN CREATIVE AGENCY DURING THE MCA 5OTH ANNIVERSARY WEEKEND 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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