Art revolution underway throughout Pilsen area

By April Galarza

Pilsen’s vibrant art scene continues to morph and multiply, offering a haven for artists and heaven for art lovers. Along the way, it is revolutionizing how art is created, experienced, and sold, thanks to a “power to the people” point of view that seeks to make art part of everyday life and financially accessible to everyday people. From the bright colored murals covering nearly every available wall space—including garage doors and entire sides of buildings—to the galleries and studios on almost every block to the world famous Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum, Pilsen is thriving artistically.

That was not always the case. This historically tough section of Chicago located west of Canal Street, south of 16th Street, east of Damen Avenue, and north of the Chicago River had descended into economic desperation by the latter half of the last century, as many buildings stood vacant and abandoned. Its upswing began when artists looking for big yet affordable studio space started moving in. Along with many of the local residents, they believed in Pilsen’s potential.

Comebacks on the east and west
On Pilsen’s east side, John  Podmajersky Jr., a native of Slovakiawho immigrated to and was devoted to the neighborhood, began buying properties and renovating them into artists’ studios. He designed large loft spaces with plenty of natural light, offered them to artists for reasonable rent, and in exchange expected them to do what they did best: create. On the neighborhood’s west side, even more artists began to arrive, attracted by Pilsen’s affordable studio, gallery, and living space, not to mention the multicultural melting pot it had become after being home to Bohemian, Dutch, Irish, Czech, and now Mexican populations.

“Art which is inspired by the people of the community should belong to that community,” said Amir Normandi, a local gallery owner and photographer. Although intrinsic to Pilsen, this populist sentiment is unusual in the art community, where collecting generally is viewed as a hobby for the rich. Pilsen’s artists and curators seek to eliminate this elitism by making their community and their art commercially accessible to the average person.

Each gallery in its own way builds a connection among the art, artist, gallery, and average viewer. Those involved hope everyone, in all economic brackets, will realize the importance of art to our culture.

Unique galleries

4 Art Gallery, 1932 S. Halsted St., (312) 850-1816, www.4artInc.com. “I’m not here to reach out to the typical art collector, although of course they are welcome,” said Robin Monique Rios, owner and curator of 4 Art Gallery in East Pilsen. “My aim is to reach the potential art collector, the average Joe or Jane who hasn’t really thought about art before visiting 4 Art Gallery.”

She wants viewers to become familiar with artists and their work over time, so every four months 4 Art focuses on a new group of 12 artists of various backgrounds and working in various media. During that period, the gallery’s exhibit changes every month as artists bring in fresh work. During the monthly gallery opening, artists mingle with art viewers. By giving visitors opportunities to see artists grow over a period of time and connect a face and an experience with the art itself, Rios hopes people will gain greater appreciation not only for the art in her gallery but for art in general. This twostory venue in East Pilsen has regular hours and an extremely varied collection of art available for both viewing and purchase.

Colibri Studio/Gallery,
 2032 W. 18th St., (312) 773-8431. Whether the artists are teaching art to local youth; exhibiting traditional weavings from women in Chapas, Guatemala; or hosting tap dancers from Veracruz, Mexico, Colibri Studio/Gallery is a great place to experience Pilsen’s unique artistic Latino community. Colibri, which means “hummingbird,” seeks to expose the community to art and its connection to cultures both foreign and local. Located only blocks away from the Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum, it displays a combination of work by its Gallery 37 students’ Chicago Project and pieces by Roberto Ferreyra and resident artist and curator Montserrat Alsina.

Alsina’s art explores women, nature, and the goddess. Her surrealistic, Frida Kahlo-style creations often morph women and creatures of nature. Ferreyra’s pieces are visual historical montages of the history of Mexican immigrants and the ancients from whom they descend. With a style echoing Pilsen’s ubiquitous murals, his work often contains a selfportrait collaged alongside cultural icons. Every November, El Colibri hosts a major Day of the Dead celebration complete with a giant altar created by local artists.

Humility Gallery, 564 W. 18th St., (312) 243-7451, www.tirabassiart.com.  To Maria Tirabassi, a curator, event organizer, and artist at Humility Gallery in East Pilsen, giving art a home is only the beginning of her mission. The gallery also hosts musical events, film screenings, and political discussions— anything that brings people and art to the same place. A small, storefront gallery with recently added floor to ceiling windows, the gallery lives up to its name. Like many venues in the Pilsen Art District, Humility is a living gallery where an artist lives, works, and exhibits under the same roof. Tirabassi said this arrangement gives the viewer an uncommon connection with the artist. Bright, whimsical depictions of angels and of mothers and children line the walls along with pastel cityscapes. Tirabassi paints her dreamy, childlike images on traditional canvas and wooden slabs, including recycled doors and windows.

Her preference for the bright and optimistic and her sincere belief that art can uplift are exemplified in her motto of “Less ego and more laughter.”

Watermark Gallery, 1839 S. Halsted St., (312) 942-9420. Watermark Gallery is one of many spaces Podmajersky renovated on south Halsted Street. Keith Evans, Watermark’s curator and foremost artist, believes in connecting art to average viewers by allowing them to see art as it is created. Through that experience, he said, people will have a better appreciation for what artists do. Watermark features a traditional gallery space in front and a working studio in back. When visitors come to see its display of silkscreens and sculptures, they also can watch an artist at work at a press or silk screening beautiful images.

D’Last Studio and Gallery, 1714 S. Ashland Ave., (312) 942- 1200. D’Last asks “who and what is art for?  According to curator and photographer Amir Normandi, there should be a connection between art and history—not only the history of the past, but also history in the making. D’Last Studio opened two years ago with The Faces of Pilsen, an exhibit celebrating the neighborhood around it through photos of local business owners, workers, and neighborhood residents. Unveiled during an annual summer gathering in Harrison Park, the show was well received by the community, whose members were eager to connect familiar faces with nearby places. Today, D’Last is hosting an exhibit questioning discrimination against women, especially in Islamic societies. No Veil Required attracted political protest when exhibited at Harper College for its provocative images showing the connections between sensuality and repression. Women were pictured in several freeing poses, sometimes half veiled in hejab (the traditional covering required by Islamic run countries) and half nude.

“Art is not just for the elite,” Normandi said. “Art must think. It must intrigue both the brain and the senses.” When its current renovations are complete, D’Last Studio will consist of two floors with more than 8,500 square feet of gallery space. Upcoming exhibits will continue to explore the themes of No Veil Required, combining the photography with thought-provoking installation pieces.

Chicago Art Department, 1837 S. Halsted St., www.Chicagoartdepartment.org , (312) 226-8601. As the website of this Pilsen gallery proudly states, if you have a fire you call the Chicago Fire Department, if your house has been robbed you call the Chicago Police Department, and if you have an insatiable desire to create and experience art, you call the Chicago Art Department. Located in East Pilsen, this gallery/studio/school operates under the philosophy that art can come from anywhere. Although the gallery is known for video and digital photography, it is open to anything. Its most recent exhibition, Your Trash, explored its philosophy to the fullest with pieces that consisted of mixed media including materials found in garbage. An intriguing piece by K.S. Rives looks vaguely naturalistic at first glance, like a bamboo or birch sculpture—until you get close and realize it is made entirely of cigarette butts. Another piece uses cutlery to create crabs crawling along a sandy shore. The Chicago Art Department’s primary intent is not selling art but teaching classes, which are offered in all media and often result in an exhibition.

Colby Gallery, 1626 W. 18th St., (312) 421-8559, www.colbygallery.com . This gallery seeks connections between cultures because Colby Luckenbill, curator and owner, believes we can find our common humanity in art from every culture. “Inspirational art helps overcome challenges and inspires perspective on different cultures,” Luckenbill said. “Art is stimulating to the viewer; it awakens the spirit. We grow from being exposed to it.”  Colby Gallery currently hosts a retrospective of German artist Buchwald Hans-Ulrich, whose wood and linoleum cuts explore folk stories from around the world. The exhibit includes 200 works and can be viewed during regular hours. This is the last year of this exhibition, so Luckenbill highly recommends viewing this collection before it is gone.

Podmajersky Collection, 1835 S. Halsted St., (312) 738-8000. This collection exemplifies John Podmajersky Jr.’s mission for Pilsen, with its variety of media and technique. Ruth Duckworth’s  ceramic splendors of earthy textural browns and organic beiges, as seen in her Comment of Weather over Lake Michigan, hangs alongside Rhonda Gates’s geometric neighborhood art. Podmajersky and his family aim to create a nurturing environment in a close community for their artist tenants. Between the collection’s galleries sits a cozy, secluded garden oasis, where it feels as if you are no longer in the city. Bright flowers, trickling water fountains, and fruitful trees and shrubbery abound, and paths zigzagging through fresh greenery are lined with benches and sculptures.

A.P.O. Cultural Center, 1436 W. 18th St., (312) 286-6685. East Pilsen is known mostly for its galleries, while West Pilsen’s claim to fame is its studios, where dozens of artists live and work—sometimes under one roof. A handful artists including Jeff Maldonado, Antonio Martinez, Ricardo Santos Hernandez, Mauro Vasquez, and Gabriel Villa call A.P.O. Cultural Center home. You can see their work displayed periodically in the Pros Art Studio on the building’s first floor, and during the annual 18th Street Pilsen Open Studios event all the A.P.O. artists (and their colleagues throughout West Pilsen) open their doors to the public.

The Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum, 1852 W. 19th St., (312) 738-1503, ext. 116, www.mfacmchicago.org . The museum will celebrate The Day of the Dead (Ofrenda) with an exhibit featuring local and Mexican artists opening Friday, Sept. 22. Admission is free.

 

 

 

Viva la revolucion
These diverse galleries and studios and dozens more are part of the Pilsen art revolution. The best time to experience them is during one of their major events, several of which are just around the corner. Every second Friday of the month, East Pilsen hosts an Art Crawl; the next is scheduled Sept. 8 from 6 to 10 p.m. October is Chicago Artists Month, and Pilsen will host many events including the annual 18th Street Pilsen Open Studios, Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 21 and 22, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Details of these events and others can be found at www.chicagoartsdistrict.org  and www.pilsenopenstudios.com.