Chicagoisms

A Sixth Chicagoism

Jane Thompson

The organizers of the exhibition Chicagoisms, at The Art Institute of Chicago, identify five key principles serving as the foundation for Chicago’s historic grandeur. These Chicagoisms are:  “Vision Shapes History”, “Optimism Trumps Planning”, “Ambition Overcomes Nature”, “Technology Makes Spectacle”, and “Crisis Provokes Innovation”.   These aphorisms point to such well known events as the Great Chicago Fire, the World’s Columbian Exposition, and the reversal of the flow of the Chicago River.

In the exhibition, nine architects use these principles to make 21^st century proposals for urban development that are curious, unconventional, and sometimes quirky.  The proposals are mostly depicted in aerial view architectural models under clear domes.  Each one invites us to peer down into the city, imagining and interacting with Chicago in new ways.

Similarly, Clutch Gallery invites us to gaze down into the exhibition Terra/Form.  Each of the diverse works of art suggests a way in which the artist observes or interacts with their environment, their terra. HERE by Landon Williams reminds us to stop, breath, and take note of where we are.  Fallen by Melody Bilbo connects the two cities where she lives and works.  Polyroots by Paulina Ramirez Parra commemorates all trees that are destined to serve our human wants. In Vitreous Enamel, Judy Radovsky shares the alchemical geology that has been part of her artwork for years.  LaAndrea Deloyce Mitchell uses collage in Ode to Memphis Gold to speak of the human interconnectivity that she knows in her community in Memphis.  Katie Doyle offers a porcelain flower to make the sense of intimacy permanent.  In Vessel, Tim Llop captures the remnants of his own love of wood working in a basket that was a gift from a friend (Images of these works may be viewed in the blog posts from November entitled Install Photos and Terra/Form Exhibition Opening)

Together in the intimate space of Clutch Gallery, these art works form a metaphoric garden.  In this gallery there are no clear domes, limiting the viewer’s engagement.  Audiences are free to touch each of the art works and even smell the Jasmine scent that Christen Calloway places in Terra/Form in remembrance of a Jasmine tree that was dear to her family.  Viewers are welcomed into the newly formed community and become part of its growth.

This intimacy and accessibility of Terra/Form suggest a sixth aphorism, “Nature Cultivates Community”