THE RENAISSANCE SOCIETY ANNUAL REPORT 2017–18 2 2017–18 SEASON 3 LETTER FROM THE BOARD PRESIDENT Dear friends, This year marked the Renaissance Society’s On behalf of the entire Board, I’d also 103rd season. While the longevity of its like to offer a warm thank you to Anita activity is remarkable, what makes the Ren Blanchard who completed her tenure this a truly singular institution is the potent year. We are deeply appreciative of her blend of creative freedom and intellectual service. rigor it cultivates, and the dedicated The true engine of the Ren is the community such a platform attracts. incredible staff that work to support Nowhere is this more evident than in our everything from daily operations and 2017-18 program, which engaged a record programmatic planning to organizing number of visitors as it featured artists, tours and sharing information. At the scholars, and other contributors from as helm is Executive Director and Chief far away as Mumbai, Buenos Aires, and Curator Solveig Øvstebø, whose vision and Paris, and of course from right here in leadership inspire everyone she meets. Chicago too. Her staff is small and mighty and deserves What further distinguishes the much recognition: Jessica Cochran, Julia Ren is its ambitious commitment to com- DeRose, Max Guy, Michael Harrison, missioning new art. The 2017-18 season Colleen Kelly, Karsten Lund, Karen Reimer, featured more new production than ever Anna Searle Jones, and Pierre Sondeijker. before, and this is the direct result of the This group of talented individuals makes Next Century Fund, led by transformational the Ren an exceedingly special place. gifts from the Edlis Neeson Foundation, All that the Ren does is made the Pritzker Traubert Foundation, and the possible by its exceptional network of Zell Family Foundation. Their inspirational support, from individuals to foundations generosity has been joined by major gifts to educational and commercial entities. from many others. We are so grateful for the contributions In the spirit of taking risks and that are recognized in the following pages, exploring new ideas, in October we hosted and to all those who play an active part in our annual RenBen gala and art auction the Ren’s community. in Half Acre Brewing Company’s newly- opened Balmoral warehouse. With the faint smell of hops in the air, over 300 With gratitude, supporters of the Ren gathered to enjoy a Jorge Cauz night of great art, food, and conversation as we raised important funds for the Ren’s 2017-18 program. It was my honor to serve as one of the co-chairs with my husband, Ugo Alfano Casati, and our good friends Richard Wright and Valerie Carberry. My sincerest gratitude goes to the host committee, to all the attendees, and to the artists and galleries who donated work for the auction. The Board of Directors of the Renaissance Society is an esteemed group of individuals, and it is truly my pleasure to work with them. This year we were fortunate to add Jennifer Keller, and she Jochen Dehn performing Arches and Avalanches has already contributed tremendous value. JENNIFER PACKER, TENDERHEADED 6 2017–18 SEASON 7 DIRECTOR'S REPORT The Renaissance Society might be small group took part in a breakfast discussion in physical size, but this season showcases with artist Alejandro Cesarco, hosted a just what a significant impact we make— Student Night featuring member-led walk- on the artists with whom we work, on the throughs of Richard Rezac’s exhibition, and audiences who engage with our program, travelled to Milwaukee, where they met and on the field of contemporary art with Michelle Grabner and visited galleries around the world. and artist-run spaces. This can be seen in the powerful Other highlights this season include exhibition of new paintings by Jennifer presenting our publications at the New Packer, Tenderheaded, which marked York Art Book Fair, where we debuted her first solo museum show; it went on the catalogue for Between the Ticks of the to travel to the Rose Museum of Art at Watch. We were pleased to introduce Brandeis University, and we launched late gallery hours on Thursday evenings the publication at Printed Matter in New until 8pm, which aligns with a number of York during Frieze art fair. The other other campus institutions and offers more exhibitions this season have also featured flexibility for visitors. And, as you can see significant new production, in solo throughout the following pages, this is all presentations by Alejandro Cesarco and in addition to our rich and robust program Richard Rezac, as well as new works from of exhibitions, events, and publishing that Daniel G. Baird, Marissa Lee Benedict, form an unparalleled platform for critical Cécile B. Evans, and Xaviera Simmons for inquiry and dialogue. Unthought Environments. I would like to express my gratitude As a non-collecting institution, we to our brilliant and hard-working staff are often asked what happens to these team, to our unceasingly supportive Board projects that we commission. We were of Directors, and to all of those who have thrilled to announce in November that contributed to the success of this season, new work from three recent Renaissance whether financially, intellectually, or Society exhibitions had found homes in creatively. It is thanks to all of you that the collections of major international this institution maintains the strength and museums: Kevin Beasley’s installation ambition that are its hallmarks. and performance Your Face Is/Is Not When I came to the Ren in 2013, I Enough in Tate Modern; Sadie Benning’s felt that we were uniquely positioned to 40-panel work, Shared Eye, in the Museum support artists in pursuing projects that of Modern Art; and Mathias Poledna’s they couldn’t elsewhere. Our unwavering 2014 film,Substance , in the Art Institute faith in artists and their ideas, coupled with of Chicago. the incredible generosity of our supporters, The Ren’s community values our means that our work continues to play commitment to fostering ambitious artistic a vital and necessary role in the cultural experimentation, and the relaunch of our landscape of Chicago and beyond. membership program in February attracted new supporters from around the country. Enhanced benefits include monthly Solveig Øvstebø payment options, reciprocal admissions Executive Director and Chief Curator to peer institutions, and a whimsical tote designed by artist Peter Wächtler. Members of our Student Committee, too, serve an important role as ambassadors of the Ren, connecting us to the wider University of Chicago campus and gaining Solveig Øvstebø and Alejandro Cesarco during the latter's artist talk behind-the-scenes experience. This year the 8 SEP 9–NOV 5, 2017 NOV 18, 2017–JAN 28, 2018 9 JENNIFER PACKER ALEJANDRO CESARCO TENDERHEADED SONG The work of representing SEP 9, 2017 Between [the two video works] NOV 18, 2017 black subjects in a media Opening reception and artist talk Everness and Revision, Opening reception and artist talk with Solveig Øvstebø landscape saturated with SEP 24, 2017 I explore the idea of tempo, images of black victims of Screening: Dear Watchers in the Shadows phrasing, duration—the NOV 29, 2017 featuring films by Tomashi Jackson, Sable Reading: Wayne Koestenbaum state-sponsored violence is Elyse Smith, Sondra Perry, Cauleen Smith, musicality of looking. What indeed risky. How does one Martine Syms, and Steffani Jemison we consider tragic has shifted DEC 6, 2017 Discussion: Lynne Tillman simultaneously confront these OCT 11, 2017 in the past ten years, as have and Alejandro Cesarco oppressive forces without Exhibition walk-through the power and usage of words with Solveig Øvstebø JAN 10, 2018 allowing the nefarious visual and facts. So, to go back Exhibition walk-through order of surveillance to dictate OCT 14, 2017 to the problems of reading Karsten Lund Reading: CM Burroughs the ways in which those most and deciphering seemed JAN 20, 2018 Presented in partnership with the Screening: The Death of Louis XIV oppressed by it are seen? Program in Poetry & Poetics at the rather timely. by Albert Serra — Lauren DeLand, Art in America University of Chicago — Alejandro Cesarco, Artforum Based in observation, improvisation, OCT 25, 2017 Including video, photographs, and a wall- and memory, Jennifer Packer’s canvases Discussion: Christina Sharpe based screenprint, Alejandro Cesarco’s are intimate and contemplative, rendered and Cauleen Smith poetic installation suggested themes of in loose strokes and strong color. The new duration, refusal, repetition, and affective and recent paintings in Tenderheaded, NOV 4, 2017 forms. At the heart of the exhibition were the New York-based artist’s first solo Artist talk: Prisms, Trunks, and Branches two related video works: the first chapter Martin Beck of the artist’s 2008 video, Everness, which institutional presentation, exhibited a features an actor reciting a monologue, rigorous engagement with art history as Presented in conjunction with the Chicago written by Cesarco, on the meaning of well as a highly personal response to how Architecture Biennial black bodies navigate within the present tragedy; and Revision, a new remake of this political landscape. chapter with the same actor, now almost a Packer’s practice is marked by decade later. its restraint, producing works that are This presentation, as in the artist’s complicated, sometimes elusive, but broader practice, represented a sustained always generous. Whether portraiture or investigation into time, memory, and floral still lives, her paintings