Uchicago Arts Winter 2016 Events & Exhibitions Guide

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UCHICAGO ARTS WINTER 2016 EVENTS & EXHIBITIONS GUIDE IN THIS ISSUE Philip Glass Residency Satchmo Festival Monster Roster arts.uchicago.edu Monster Roster: Existentialist Art in Postwar Chicago Thu, Feb 11–Sun, Jun 12, 2016 Smart Museum of Art Spearheaded by Leon Golub, the Curated by John Corbett and Jim Dempsey, group of postwar artists nicknamed with coordinating support from Smart Museum Curator of Contemporary Art Jessica Moss and the Monster Roster established the Smart Museum Senior Curator Richard A. Born, first unique Chicago style. United by the exhibition features work by Robert Barnes, a shared interest in the figure during Don Baum, Fred Berger, Cosmo Campoli, a period that is typically seen as George Cohen, Dominick Di Meo, Leon Golub, dominated by abstraction, the group Theodore Halkin, June Leaf, Irving Petlin, | arts.uchicago.edu ARTS EXHIBITIONS & VISUAL Seymour Rosofsky, Franz Schulze, Nancy Spero, created deeply psychological works Evelyn Statsinger, and H. C. Westermann. that drew on classical mythology and ancient art. This is the first major exhibition to RELATED EVENTS examine the history and impact All events are free and open to the of the Monster Roster, which has public. For more information, visit been overlooked despite being one smartmuseum.uchicago.edu. of the most important Midwestern contributions to the history of Opening Reception: American art. It examines the complex Monster Roster aesthetics and personal styles of Wed, Feb 10, 7:30–9pm Golub and his compatriots—including Smart Museum of Art Cosmo Campoli, June Leaf, Dominick Di Meo, Seymour Rosofsky, and Nancy Monster Launch Party Spero, among others—and uncovers Thu, Feb 18, 5:30–7:30pm the Monster Roster’s relationships with Smart Museum of Art 9 preceding generations of Chicago artists and influences on the well- Colossal Figure Drawing known Chicago Imagists who followed. Thu, Mar 3, 5:30–7:30pm Smart Museum of Art Monster Roster brings together approximately 60 major paintings and A Night with Filmmaker sculpture from the Smart Museum Tom Palazzolo and other major public and private Fri, Mar 11, 7pm collections to provide the authoritative Logan Center, account of the movement, from the Screening Room formation of Exhibition Momentum in 1948 to the group’s dispersal in the Panel Discussion: mid-1960s. A fully illustrated catalogue Monster Mash Up will accompany the exhibition. Tue, Mar 22 Logan Center, Performance Penthouse Fred Berger, Untitled, 1958, Oil on canvas. Smart Museum of Art, The University of Chicago, Gift of Robert and Mary Donley, 2014.20. February 11–June 12, 2016 February all. Open to free. Always smartmuseum.uchicago.edu.

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Monster Roster: Existentialist Art in Postwar Chicago Receives First Major Exhibition, at University of Chicago’S Smart Museum of Art, February 11 – June 12, 2016
Contact C.J. Lind | 773.702.0176 | [email protected] For Immediate Release “One of the most important Midwestern contributions to the development of American art” MONSTER ROSTER: EXISTENTIALIST ART IN POSTWAR CHICAGO RECEIVES FIRST MAJOR EXHIBITION, AT UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO’S SMART MUSEUM OF ART, FEBRUARY 11 – JUNE 12, 2016 Related programming highlights include film screenings, monthly Family Day activities, and a Monster Mash Up expert panel discussion (January 11, 2016) The Smart Museum of Art at the University of Chicago, 5550 S. Greenwood Avenue, will mount Monster Roster: Existentialist Art in Postwar Chicago, the first-ever major exhibition to examine the history and impact of the Monster Roster, a group of postwar artists that established the first unique Chicago style, February 11–June 12, 2016. The exhibition is curated by John Corbett and Jim Dempsey, independent curators and gallery owners; Jessica Moss, Smart Museum Curator of Contemporary Art; and Richard A. Born, Smart Museum Senior Curator. Monster Roster officially opens with a free public reception, Wednesday, February 10, 7–9pm featuring an in-gallery performance by the Josh Berman Trio. The Monster Roster was a fiercely independent group of mid-century artists, spearheaded by Leon Golub (1922–2004), which created deeply psychological works drawing on classical mythology, ancient art, and a shared persistence in depicting the figure during a period in which abstraction held sway in international art circles. “The Monster Roster represents the first group of artists in Chicago to assert its own style and approach—one not derived from anywhwere else—and is one of the most important Midwestern contributions to the development of American art,” said co-curator John Corbett.
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Dan Nadel, Hairy Who? 1966-1969, Artforum, February 2019, P. 164-167 REVIEWS
ARTFORUM H A L E s GLADYS NILSSON Dan Nadel, Hairy Who? 1966-1969, Artforum, February 2019, p. 164-167 REVIEWS FOCUS 166 Dan Nadel OIi "Hall)' Who? 1966-1969 " 11:18 Barry SChwabskyon Raout de Keyser 169 Dvdu l<ekeon the 12th Shangh ai Blennale NEW YORK PARIS zoe Lescaze on Liu vu,kav11ge 186 UllianOevieson Lucla L.a&una Ania Szremski on Amar Kanwar Mart1 Hoberman on Alaln Bublex Jeff Gibson on Paulina OloW5ka BERLIN 172 Colby Chamberialn on Lorraine O'Grady 187 MartinHerberton SteveBlshop OavtdFrankelon lyleAshtonHarrl5 Jurriaan Benschopon Louise Bonnet 173 MlchaelWilsonon HelenMlrra Chloe Wyma on Leonor Finl HAMBURG R11chelChumeron HeddaS1erne JensAsthoffon UllaYonBrandenburg Mira DayalonM11rcelStorr ZURICH 176 Donald Kuspit on ltya Bolotowsky Adam Jasper on Raphaela Vogel Barry Schwabsky on Gregor Hildebrandt 2ackHatfieldon"AnnaAtklns ROME Refracted: Contemporary Works " Francesca Pola on Elger Esser Sasha Frere-Jones on Aur.i Satz TURIN.ITALY Matthew Weinstein on Allen Frame Giorglo\lerzottlon F,ancescoVeuoll WASHINGTON, DC VIENNA 179 TinaR1versRyan011 TrevorPaglen Yuki Higashinoon CHICAGO Wende1ienvanO1denborgh C.C. McKee on Ebony G. Patterson PRAGUE BrienT. Leahy on Robertlostull er 192 Noemi Smolik on Jakub Jansa LISBON 181 Kaira M. cabanas on AlexandreMeloon JuanArauJo ·co ntesting Modernity : ATHENS lnlormallsm In Venezuela, 1955-1975" 193 Cathr)TI Drakeontlle 6thAthensB lennele EL PASO,TEXAS BEIJING 1s2 Che!seaweatherson 194 F!OrlB He on Zhan, Pelll "AfterPosada : Revolutlon · YuanFucaon ZhaoYao LOS ANGELES TOKYO 183 SuzanneHudsonon Sert1Gernsbecher 195 Paige K. Bradley on Lee Kil Aney Campbell on Mary Reid KalleyandP!ltflCkKelley OUBAI GollcanDamifkaz1k on Ana Mazzei TORONTO Dan Adler on Shannon Boo! ABIOJAN, IVORY COAST 196 Mars Haberman on Ouatlera Watts LONDON Sherman Sam on Lucy Dodd SAO PAULO EJisaSchaarot1Flom1Tan Camila Belchior on Clarissa Tossln CHRISTCHURCH.
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Pat Adams Selected Solo Exhibitions
PAT ADAMS Born: Stockton, California, July 8, 1928 Resides: Bennington, Vermont Education: 1949 University of California, Berkeley, BA, Painting, Phi Beta Kappa, Delta Epsilon 1945 California College of Arts and Crafts, summer session (Otis Oldfield and Lewis Miljarik) 1946 College of Pacific, summer session (Chiura Obata) 1948 Art Institute of Chicago, summer session (John Fabian and Elizabeth McKinnon) 1950 Brooklyn Museum Art School, summer session (Max Beckmann, Reuben Tam, John Ferren) SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS 2017 Bennington Museum, Bennington, Vermont 2011 National Association of Women Artists, New York 2008 Zabriskie Gallery, New York 2005 Zabriskie Gallery, New York, 50th Anniversary Exhibition: 1954-2004 2004 Bennington Museum, Bennington, Vermont 2003 Zabriskie Gallery, New York, exhibited biennially since 1956 2001 Zabriskie Gallery, New York, Monotypes, exhibited in 1999, 1994, 1993 1999 Amy E. Tarrant Gallery, Flyn Performing Arts Center, Burlington, Vermont 1994 Jaffe/Friede/Strauss Gallery, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire 1989 Anne Weber Gallery, Georgetown, Maine 1988 Berkshire Museum, Pittsfield, Massachusetts, Retrospective: 1968-1988 1988 Addison/Ripley Gallery, Washington, D.C. 1988 New York Academy of Sciences, New York 1988 American Association for the Advancement of Science, Washington, D.C. 1986 Haggin Museum, Stockton, California 1986 University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia 1983 Image Gallery, Stockbridge, Massachusetts 1982 Columbia Museum of Art, University of South Carolina, Columbia,
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R.B. Kitaj Papers, 1950-2007 (Bulk 1965-2006)
http://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt3q2nf0wf No online items Finding Aid for the R.B. Kitaj papers, 1950-2007 (bulk 1965-2006) Processed by Tim Holland, 2006; Norma Williamson, 2011; machine-readable finding aid created by Caroline Cubé. UCLA Library, Department of Special Collections Manuscripts Division Room A1713, Charles E. Young Research Library Box 951575 Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575 Email: [email protected] URL: http://www.library.ucla.edu/libraries/special/scweb/ © 2011 The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved. Finding Aid for the R.B. Kitaj 1741 1 papers, 1950-2007 (bulk 1965-2006) Descriptive Summary Title: R.B. Kitaj papers Date (inclusive): 1950-2007 (bulk 1965-2006) Collection number: 1741 Creator: Kitaj, R.B. Extent: 160 boxes (80 linear ft.)85 oversized boxes Abstract: R.B. Kitaj was an influential and controversial American artist who lived in London for much of his life. He is the creator of many major works including; The Ohio Gang (1964), The Autumn of Central Paris (after Walter Benjamin) 1972-3; If Not, Not (1975-76) and Cecil Court, London W.C.2. (The Refugees) (1983-4). Throughout his artistic career, Kitaj drew inspiration from history, literature and his personal life. His circle of friends included philosophers, writers, poets, filmmakers, and other artists, many of whom he painted. Kitaj also received a number of honorary doctorates and awards including the Golden Lion for Painting at the XLVI Venice Biennale (1995). He was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters (1982) and the Royal Academy of Arts (1985).
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Thomas Newbolt: Drama Painting – a Modern Baroque
NAE MAGAZINE i NAE MAGAZINE ii CONTENTS CONTENTS 3 EDITORIAL Off Grid - Daniel Nanavati talks about artists who are working outside the established art market and doing well. 6 DEREK GUTHRIE'S FACEBOOK DISCUSSIONS A selection of the challenging discussions on www.facebook.com/derekguthrie 7 THE WIDENING CHASM BETWEEN ARTISTS AND CONTEMPORARY ART David Houston, curator and academic, looks at why so may contemporary artists dislike contemporary art. 9 THE OSCARS MFA John Steppling, who wrote the script for 52nd Highway and worked in Hollywood for eight years, takes a look at the manipulation of the moving image makers. 16 PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT WITH PLYMOUTH COLLEGE OF ART Our special announcement this month is a partnering agreement between the NAE and Plymouth College of Art 18 SPEAKEASY Tricia Van Eck tells us that artists participating with audiences is what makes her gallery in Chicago important. 19 INTERNET CAFÉ Tom Nakashima, artist and writer, talks about how unlike café society, Internet cafés have become. Quote: Jane Addams Allen writing on the show: British Treasures, From the Manors Born 1984 One might almost say that this show is the apotheosis of the British country house " filtered through a prism of French rationality." 1 CONTENTS CONTENTS 21 MONSTER ROSTER INTERVIEW Tom Mullaney talks to Jessica Moss and John Corbett about the Monster Roster. 25 THOUGHTS ON 'CAST' GRANT OF £500,000 Two Associates talk about one of the largest grants given to a Cornwall based arts charity. 26 MILWAUKEE MUSEUM'S NEW DESIGN With the new refurbishment completed Tom Mullaney, the US Editor, wanders around the inaugural exhibition.
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Art-Related Archival Materials in the Chicago Area
ART-RELATED ARCHIVAL MATERIALS IN THE CHICAGO AREA Betty Blum Archives of American Art American Art-Portrait Gallery Building Smithsonian Institution 8th and G Streets, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20560 1991 TRUSTEES Chairman Emeritus Richard A. Manoogian Mrs. Otto L. Spaeth Mrs. Meyer P. Potamkin Mrs. Richard Roob President Mrs. John N. Rosekrans, Jr. Richard J. Schwartz Alan E. Schwartz A. Alfred Taubman Vice-Presidents John Wilmerding Mrs. Keith S. Wellin R. Frederick Woolworth Mrs. Robert F. Shapiro Max N. Berry HONORARY TRUSTEES Dr. Irving R. Burton Treasurer Howard W. Lipman Mrs. Abbott K. Schlain Russell Lynes Mrs. William L. Richards Secretary to the Board Mrs. Dana M. Raymond FOUNDING TRUSTEES Lawrence A. Fleischman honorary Officers Edgar P. Richardson (deceased) Mrs. Francis de Marneffe Mrs. Edsel B. Ford (deceased) Miss Julienne M. Michel EX-OFFICIO TRUSTEES Members Robert McCormick Adams Tom L. Freudenheim Charles Blitzer Marc J. Pachter Eli Broad Gerald E. Buck ARCHIVES STAFF Ms. Gabriella de Ferrari Gilbert S. Edelson Richard J. Wattenmaker, Director Mrs. Ahmet M. Ertegun Susan Hamilton, Deputy Director Mrs. Arthur A. Feder James B. Byers, Assistant Director for Miles Q. Fiterman Archival Programs Mrs. Daniel Fraad Elizabeth S. Kirwin, Southeast Regional Mrs. Eugenio Garza Laguera Collector Hugh Halff, Jr. Arthur J. Breton, Curator of Manuscripts John K. Howat Judith E. Throm, Reference Archivist Dr. Helen Jessup Robert F. Brown, New England Regional Mrs. Dwight M. Kendall Center Gilbert H. Kinney Judith A. Gustafson, Midwest
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Corey Postiglione, Ukrainian Museum of Modern Art, Chicago, Dates TBD
C O R E Y P O S T I G L I O N E E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.coreypostiglione.com Born Chicago, IL Education MA The School of the Art Institute of Chicago 20th Century Art History, Theory, and Criticism Studied with Judith Kirshner, Craig Owens, and Richard Shiff BA University of Illinois Chicago Painting/Sculpture/Printmaking Teaching Experience 2013 - 14 Coordinator, Art History, Columbia College Chicago 1999 - 03 Coordinator, 2-D Design, Columbia College Chicago 1990 - 99 Coordinator, Art History, Columbia College Chicago Professor Art History, Critical Theory, and Studio Arts 1975-90 Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of Architecture, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago 1979-89 Instructor, Contemporary Art History, Drawing, Painting, 2-D design, Columbia College Chicago 1983-84, 86 Adjunct Assistant Professor, Drawing (Summer Session), University of Illinois Chicago 1981-83 Visiting Artist, Drawing and Composition, School of the Art Institute of Chicago 1971-79 Instructor, Contemporary Art History, Painting and Drawing, Evanston Art Center, Evanston, IL Selected One-Person and Upcoming Exhibitions 2021 (Two-Person) “Kindred Spirits: Recent Work by Kathie Shaw and Corey Postiglione, Ukrainian Museum of Modern Art, Chicago, dates TBD 2020 Two Person Exhibition, “Corey Postiglione and Kathie Shaw, Innovation and Collaboration,” Metropolitan Capital Bank, April-Sept. Chicago iL 2020 (Two-Person) “Kindred Spirits: Recent Work by Kathie Shaw and Corey Postiglione, St. Francis University, Joliet, IL, exact fall dates TBD 2018 (Two-Person) “Kindred Spirits: Recent Work by Kathie Shaw and Corey Postiglione, Koehnline Museum of Art, Des Plaines, IL, May 10 – June 24 2017 Featuring Corey Postiglione, Westbrook Modern Gallery, Carmel, CA (ongoing) 2016 “Population #5,” Experimental Sound Studio Gallery, Installation & Wall Painting, Chicago (Nov 5 - Dec 18) 1 2016 “Fusion: Tango Abstraction,” new work by Corey Postiglione, Gallery 116, St.
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Oral History Interview with Irving Petlin, 2016 September 13-15
Oral history interview with Irving Petlin, 2016 September 13-15 Funding for this interview was provided by the Lichtenberg Family Foundation. Contact Information Reference Department Archives of American Art Smithsonian Institution Washington. D.C. 20560 www.aaa.si.edu/askus Transcript Preface The following oral history transcript is the result of a recorded interview with Irving Petlin on September 13-15, 2016. The interview took place in Petlin's home in New York, NY, and was conducted by James McElhinney for the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. This transcript has been lightly edited for readability by the Archives of American Art. The reader should bear in mind that they are reading a transcript of spoken, rather than written, prose. Interview JAMES MCELHINNEY: Good. This is James McElhinney speaking with Irving Petlin at his home in New York, on Tuesday, the 13th of September, 2016, at quarter of 3:00 in the afternoon. The cat's playing with a wire. IRVING PETLIN: The cat's playing with— JAMES MCELHINNEY: That's—it's—[laughs]. IRVING PETLIN: Okay. JAMES MCELHINNEY: Yeah, the microphone wire. IRVING PETLIN: Okay. JAMES MCELHINNEY: It's okay. The transcriber can ignore that. I was reading your bio, and actually, a book that Doug Walla gave me of your pastels, when I attended the Kyle Staver opening the other night. When he was kind enough— IRVING PETLIN: Mm-hmm. [Affirmative.] JAMES MCELHINNEY: —to give me the book, which I hope you'll sign. And, I get—I get the sense that you had a kind of an interesting childhood growing up in Chicago.
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Bulletin 2015–2016 1 Smart Museum of Art 2015–2016 Bulletin Exhibitions Collection Support Staff & Leadership Financial Welcome
BULLETIN 2015–2016 1 SMART MUSEUM OF ART 2015–2016 BULLETIN EXHIBITIONS COLLECTION SUPPORT STAFF & LEADERSHIP FINANCIAL WELCOME 2015–2016 was a wonderful We continued to create opportunities for object-driven MISSION year for the Smart Museum inquiry at the University and beyond. We hosted an The Smart of Art. From our heralded inaugural forum on teaching from collections for faculty and Museum of Art and harrowing Monster graduate students, and welcomed 1,661 UChicago students at the University Roster exhibition and to the study room. We expanded our cohort of docents of Chicago opens an expanded docent and launched an innovative training program that empowers the world through program to an ebullient docents to become advocates for art and critical issues within art and ideas. and ever-growing installation by Jessica Stockholder, the their own communities. Smart continued to open the world through art and ideas. It has been a year of transitions, too. In the fall of 2015, Once again, we rehung our permanent collection galleries after 10 years, Anthony Hirschel stepped down from the dedicated to modern art and design, Asian art, European position of Dana Feitler Director, and the Smart Museum art, and contemporary art. The wall-to-wall reinstallation launched an international search that recently concluded initiated the Conversations with the Collection series, which with the appointment of Alison Gass. We also toasted allows us to share more treasures from the collection while Senior Curator Richard A. Born, who retired after 35 years also fostering conversations that cut across cultures and time at the Smart.
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Telling Stories, Again: Theories and Aesthetics of Narrative Political Art Cullen Wegman Master of Fine Arts in Art Thesis April
Telling Stories, Again: Theories and Aesthetics of Narrative Political Art Cullen Wegman Master of Fine Arts in Art Thesis April 16, 2018 ! 2! Introduction This is a story about storytelling. It is about the development of an artist – the search for an appropriate visual language, the philosophers and artists that inspire, and the inevitable politics of storytelling. According to those closest to me, I have been telling stories since before I can remember, but it has taken me until this point to realize the magnitude of my preoccupation as a storyteller, and its centrality in my artistic practice. Though I consider myself to be a political artist, I now have come to understand the subtle, yet indispensable differences between art about politics, and political art: art intended to produce results. I am not convinced the latter is desirable for me, as the former increasingly informs my decisions. As I made what proved to be a rather difficult transition into my advanced art studies, I rejected the familiar, if sometimes heavy handed, modes that proved successful for me in the past, and embraced wholeheartedly what I assumed was the proscribed level of conceptualization and abstraction often dubbed “High Art.” Though I had some initial conceptual successes tackling the social issues pressing on my conscience – primarily in the form of trashing a gallery floor with red iron oxide – my developing portfolio was eventually cluttered with a myriad of failures, and false starts that all too often produced undesirable reactions. In my rush to become a sophisticated political artist of the “highest” sort I forgot to take the time to reflect on my sources of inspiration, my motivations for producing, and sensibilities that made my artwork successful in the past.
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Karl Wirsum B
Karl Wirsum b. 1939 Lives and works in Chicago, IL Education 1961 BFA, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL Solo Exhibitions 2019 Unmixedly at Ease: 50 Years of Drawing, Derek Eller Gallery, NY Karl Wirsum, Corbett vs Dempsey, Chicago, IL 2018 Drawing It On, 1965 to the Present, organized by Dan Nadel and Andreas Melas, Martinos, Athens, Greece 2017 Mr. Whatzit: Selections from the 1980's, Derek Eller Gallery, New York, NY No Dogs Aloud, Corbett vs. Dempsey, Chicago, IL 2015 Karl Wirsum, The Hard Way: Selections from the 1970s, Organized with Dan Nadel, Derek Eller Gallery, New York, NY 2013 Derek Eller Gallery, New York, NY 2010 Drawings: 1967-70, co-curated by Dan Nadel, Derek Eller Gallery, New York, NY Jean Albano Gallery, Chicago, IL 2008 Karl Wirsum: Paintings & Prints, Contemporary Art Center of Peoria, Peoria, IL Winsome Works(some), Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago, IL; traveled to Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, WI; Herron Galleries, Indiana University- Perdue University, Indianapolis, IN 2007 Karl Wirsum: Plays Missed It For You, Jean Albano Gallery, Chicago, IL 2006 The Wirsum-Gunn Family Show, Jean Albano Gallery, Chicago, IL 2005 Union Art Gallery, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI 2004 Hello Again Boom A Rang: Ten Years of Wirsum Art, Jean Albano Gallery, Chicago, IL 2002 Paintings and Cutouts, Quincy Art Center, Quincy, IL Jean Albano Gallery, Chicago, IL 2001 Rockford College Gallery, Rockford, IL 2000 Jean Albano Gallery, Chicago, IL 1998 Jean Albano Gallery, Chicago, IL University Club of Chicago, Chicago, IL 1997 The University of Iowa Museum of Art, Sculpture Court, Iowa City, IA 1994 Phyllis Kind Gallery, Chicago, IL J.
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DARK LAUGHTER Curated by BARRY SCHWABSKY Genesis Belanger Ellen Berkenblit June Leaf Emily Mae Smith Private View Thursday
DARK LAUGHTER curated by BARRY SCHWABSKY Genesis Belanger Ellen Berkenblit June Leaf Emily Mae Smith Private View Thursday 24 October 6-8pm 25 October-23 November 2019 Ellen Berkenblit, Circus of Books, 2019, oil on linen, 193 x 121.9 cm, 76 x 48 in Pippy Houldsworth Gallery is delighted to present Dark Laughter, a exhibition curated by Barry Schwabsky running from 25 October to 23 November 2019. Four New York-based artists, Genesis Belanger, Ellen Berkenblit, June Leaf and Emily Mae Smith each use imagery that might at first seem to have a reassuring familiarity, but they view it with skeptical eyes and from off-center viewpoints, endowing it with an exorbitant representational energy to assert a rueful, sometimes sardonic attitude toward the strange world in which we seem to be stranded. Their work arouses dark laughter thanks to their acerbic view of the world we share, and against which they quietly rebel. The four artists represent three distinct generations. June Leaf (b. 1929)—part of the original Chicago “Monster Roster” along with Leon Golub, Nancy Spero, H.C. Westermann, and others—is one of the unheralded visionaries of contemporary painting and sculpture. Her work reveals the tragic aspirations and rational follies of existence. Like that of Belanger, Berkenblit, and Smith, it provokes a dark laughter. In “Dark Laughter” she is represented by painting, sculpture, and drawing. Her canvas The Painters, ca. 1975-80, presents its protagonists as a pair of mounted Don Quixotes doing battle with their brushes. Ellen Berkenblit (b. 1958) places her recurrent snub-nosed pictorial alter ego in an off-balance kaleidoscopically- shifting world of abstract shapes, domestic and wild beasts, and all the familiar trappings of daily life—with the exception of other people; her world is all for herself, even when it’s not quite as she’d want it.
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