Thursday, December 27, 2007

James Jankowiak @ 32nd&Urban Gallery



James Jankowiak: Southside Spiritual

Opening Reception January 26, 2008 from 7-11pm

32nd&Urban Gallery
3201 S. Halsted
Chicago, IL 60608
www.myspace.com/32ndurban

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

CannonBall this saturday!!


Ahoy!

Annual Fundraiser and Holiday Party
Saturday December 15, 2007 8PM-12AM


Join us, for steins of Grog and get loaded to the gunwales! Shiver me Timbers! It’s a pirate Holiday Party!

Entertainment includes music by DJ Mr. E, a Hidden Treasure Photo Booth with Pirate Santa, Duncan MacKenzie. Ross Moreno will be up to no good, and there will be fortunetellers encouraging you to drink up, have fun, and support your favorite artist residency. Best costume gets a prize!

Admission is to the event is FREE. Collectable Chris Millar and Frank Haines artist-editioned beer steins can be purchased for an all-you-can-drink $25. Otherwise beer is $5 and mulled wine will be $3.

Silent auction will close at 10:30PM (cash or check due that night) and includes art by:
Miguel Cortez, Elise Rasmussen, Chelsea Tonelli Knight, Bernard Williams, Ann Toebbe, Lisa Boumstein-Smalley, Marc Hauser, Scott Anderson, Amy Mayfield, Elizabeth Lopez, Vincent Como, Heather Mekkelson, Barbara Koenen and more.

Three Walls
119 N. Peoria, 2A, 2D
Chicago, IL


Monday, December 10, 2007

Twine @ Polvo

Friday December 14, 2007 from 7pm -9pm
FREE ADMISSION

Join Twine for an evening of “Basant”: A celebration of the metaphor of spring in the cold of December in Chicago. We invite you for an evening of art, film, storytelling, and dialogue dedicated to building awareness about choices in art, craft, and design in relationship to nature and humanity.

-Viewing of “Basant” a sculptural piece inspired by the visual language of Sufi Basant that integrates fiber, natural dye and video to explore the process of resistance to destructive monocultural values through personal narrative and metaphor.

-Screening of “Basant” a short documentary about the Sufi Basant in India created by Delhi Based Filmmaker, Yousuf Saeed:. www.ektaramusic.ek

-“Why I went to Lubbock Texas” a presentation by Twine director, and Chicago based artist: Amy Mall, about her research in Sustainable Dye and Fiber. Amy has been researching the ecological and social concerns linked to cotton in India, where the rate of cancer and suicide in Punjab is growing. She recently traveled to Lubbock Texas, the center of the US cotton Industry, to visit with the Texas Organic Cotton Marketing Cooperative and try to gain a broader perspective of this global issue. www.twinenfp.org

-“What do handbags have to do with the Iraq war?”: Presentation by co-collaborator of Noon Solar, Marianne Fairbanks, about the start of her solar powered handbag company with Jane Palmer and the ecological and social motivations behind their careful material choices: www.noonsolar.com
-the evening will conclude with a conversation among all who attend. Please Join Us!

Twine, NFP is dedicated to the intersection of Art, Ecology and Social Justice Internationally.

POLVO
1458 W. 18th St., 1R(entrance on Laflin St.)
Chicago, IL 60608
www.polvo.org

Wednesday, December 05, 2007

ROBERTO FERREYRA

"Con La Patria a Cuestas"
Paintings, drawings and Prints
ROBERTO FERREYRA

The artist presents images from his past, they reflect common places in Mexico which sometimes evoque memories or dreams, with which we have made a connection and are carrying wherever we go.

Opening Friday, December 7, 2007
6:30pm - 9:30pm

CASA MICHOACAN ART GALLERY
1638 Blue Island Av.
773 610 0429

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Taking Back Thanksgiving



We invite you to share with us a night of spoken words,traditional music,and ceremonial dances.

Where we will talk about the origins of the American holiday of Thanksgiving. As well as to bring an awareness to the community of what this holiday actually represents.

Join us as we take back Thanksgiving.

The event will take place

Friday November 30th, 2007

Expresiones Artisticas Gallery
2214 South Sacramento Avenue
Program will begin at 6pm

The Nahaulli Aztec Dance Group is organizing the event. For more info email Kalpullinahualli@Gmail.com

FANDANGO ON 18TH STREET


Colibri studio/gallery
presents

FANDANGO ON 18TH STREET
featuring
Sones de Mexico Ensemble

Saturday, November 24, 9:30pm
followed by an open jam until midnight
Bring your instruments and dancing shoes!
$10 at the door
refreshments available

Colibri Studio/Gallery
2032 W. 18th St., Chicago, IL
for more info call (312) 733-8431

Thursday, November 15, 2007

Stop Global Warming Pollution in Pilsen/Little Village!

Concerned about the impending crisis of global warming? Notice a lot of pollution and related health problems like asthma in your neighborhood?
Wondering when Illinois, the 6th-largest polluter in the country, will clean up its act and protect our communities and planet?

Come to a Town Hall Meeting with leaders from Pilsen and the Little Village to learn more about global warming pollution and what our local and state leaders are doing to stop it! The time to act is NOW!

Tuesday, December 4th
7 PM
Rudy Lozano Library in Pilsen (18th St and S. Blue Island Ave)

Global warming is happening, and unless we act fast and act TOGETHER, the planet we leave for the next generation could be in pretty bad shape. Promoting clean energy and energy efficiency will seriously reduce the air pollution that now harms our health today. It will also create jobs and improve the economy!

If you are really concerned, get involved-- write a letter to the editor and/or help organize! Contact Emily at (312) 386-1043 or emily@environmentillinois.org for opportunities to help out. Even if you only have an hour or two, it would be most appreciated!

Friday, October 26, 2007

closing reception and concert


Closing Reception "Among Saints, Survival, War, and a Russian Friend," a group show featuring David Fernández, Ricardo Santos Hernández, Salvador Jiménez, Rudolf Kolitkov, Marcos Raya, James Shrimpf, and Gabriel Villa.

The live music will be performed by LFT, a local band from Pilsen. The hours for the closing reception are from 6:00pm to 9:00pm. APO Building 3rd Floor

On the same evening, ska en español in the lower level of the APO Building. The bands include Enemigos de Pakita, Nahuales, Tambores de la Rebellion, and much more. This is an 18 and over concert. The concert starts at 9:00 and ends at 1:00am

Casa de la Cultura Carlos Cortez on tha main floor of the APO Building will be presenting a group show of mexican art.

APO(Pro Workers Association)
1438 w. 18th St
Pilsen Chicago, IL 60608

Environment Illinois Meeting


Environment Illinois Meeting
come join us!

Saturday October 27th at 5pm

EFEBOS CAFE
1640 S. Blue Island Ave
Pilsen Chicago 60608

for more info:
emily@environmentillinois.org

Mission:
We all want clean air, clean water and open spaces. But it takes independent research and tough-minded advocacy to win concrete results for our environment, especially when powerful interests stand in the way of environmental progress. That's the idea behind Environment Illinois. We focus exclusively on protecting Illinois' air, water and open spaces. We speak out and take action at the local, state and national levels to improve the quality of our environment and our lives.

Environment Illinois is a statewide, citizen-based environmental advocacy organization. Our professional staff combines independent research, practical ideas and tough-minded advocacy to overcome the opposition of powerful special interests and win real results for Illinois' environment. Environment Illinois draws on 30 years of success in tackling our state's top environmental problem.

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

This is for you...

not Pilsen but I'll be part of it.

-mc
-------



This is for you...

James Beckman
Holly Sabin
Stephen Shapiro
Kyra Termini
Miguel Cortez
Sarah Perez
Arielle Bielak
Marc Salha
Michael Una
Renee Prisble Una
Nikki Hollander
Blake Lewis


Saturday November 10 from 7pm-midnight
ONE NIGHT ONLY!!

Happy Dog Gallery

1542 N. Milwaukee Ave.
Chicago, IL 60622

Friday, October 19, 2007

Migrants in Pilsen


Repertorio Latino Theater Company is initiating its fall season with a production of Migrants, based on the popular work The Uprooted by Mexican playwright Jose Humberto Robles.

The play is set in the 1950’s and tells the story of the Pacheco family who immigrates to the United States (Texas) from Mexico, fleeing from the social and political insecurity that plagued their country as a result of the Mexican Revolution at the beginning of the 20th century. But they pay a high price for the “security” they seek as they encounter a nation wrapped up in an imperial war that will kill several members of their family and convert their dreams into nightmares. They find themselves “living like a strange animal,” far from their home and immersed in a dominant culture that only values them as workers or soldiers for the war while treating them as second class citizens.


Migrants will run from Friday, October 26 through Sunday, November 17 of 2007 . Performances will take place on Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 pm and Sundays at 6:00 pm.


This timely play features the talent of Sarahy Knapp, Danilo Duran, Carmen Cenko, Freddy Cerrato, Angie Martinez and Jose Burgos, who is also the director.


There will be a suggested donation of $12 or $10 for students with valid identification.
For further information, please contact: Jose Burgos, Artistic Director Repertorio Latino Theater Company 312-415-0810

"GRACIAS POR APOYAR AL TALENTO LATINO!!!
"
-Repertorio Latino Theater Company


Opening night Friday October 26 @ 8pm


Meztli

556 West 18th Street
Pilsen Chicago, IL 60616

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Goin' Mobile

Goin’ Mobile

Out in the woods or in the city
It's all the same to me when I'm driving free
The world's my home
When I'm mobile
Going Mobile, The Who


Inspired by The Who song of the same name Goin’ Mobile is an on-the-road inspired traveling exhibition that investigates the literal sense of travel—point A to B, beginning to end, start to finish, back and forth, one way and dead ends—Goin’ Mobile ventures in every direction to guide the viewer on a trip to those familiar and unknown places along our traveled and explored routes.

Featured Artists:
Adam Blumberg (New York, NY)
Min-Tse Chen (Beijing, China)
Mark Hogensen (San Antonio, TX)
Michele Monseau (San Antonio, TX)
Tao Rey (Miami, FL)
Mark Schatz (Houston, TX)
Ethel Shipton (San Antonio, TX)


Curator:
Kimberly Aubuchon, Founder and Director, Unit B (Gallery), (San Antonio, TX)

Adam Blumberg’s photographic works explore travel by way of bicycle. Traveling back roads, Blumberg doesn’t take for granted the road less traveled. Min-Tse Chen’s drawings wander down roads and pathways that suggest no end but only a contemplation of what is. Mark Hogensen’s vibrant paintings are abstract views of rural roads and highways as architecture. Michele Monseau’s video walks you along a residential street passing by the passers by. Tao Rey’s street signs provide friendly reminders on the crowded highway known as life. Mark Schatz gives miniature sculptural examples of various routes via arranged childhood travels. Investigating the history of highway systems, Ethel Shipton’s wall sculptures entertain how these systems serve our needs and how motion dictates the shape of our landscapes.
Paying special attention to the driver’s seat view of landscapes in our daily and worldly travels, Goin’ Moblie is a memoir to places we expect to know.

Also this month's Mini-Exhibit: Amy Mall

Opening Friday November 16, 2007 from 6pm-9pm
November 16 – December 15, 2007

Polvo, www.polvo.org
1458 W. 18th St., 1R Chicago, IL 60608
773.344.1940
info(at)polvo.org

Friday, October 05, 2007

5th Annual - GRASSROOTS MEDIA FESTIVAL!

5th Annual - GRASSROOTS MEDIA FESTIVAL!
An outdoor celebration of Community, Culture and Alternative Media

Saturday, October 13th, 2007
4-11pm at the

Manuel Perez Plaza – 26th & Kolin, Chicago IL
(6 blocks west of Pulaski on South 26th Street in Little Village)

*Alternative Rain Location: 2657 S. Lawndale (West of Kedzie/ East of Pulaski) – ( the show must go on!)

The Grassroots Media Festival (GMF) is the combined effort of independent media producers, media organizations, artists, and those who appreciate the importance of independently produced media and diverse forms of cultural and community expression.

The 2007 Grassroots Media Festival will feature:
* Live Music & Cultural Performances
* Independent Video Documentaries
* Interactive Multimedia Arts Activities and Installations
* Information on local Independent media outlets and how to get involved!

GMF 2007 Schedule
4:00pm - Ng Family Martial Arts - (Chinese Kung Fu Martial Arts Demonstration)
4:30pm - A Flor de Piel - (Latin American Music)
5:00pm - Folkloric Dance - (Mexican Traditional Dance)
5:30pm - Matli - (Youth Contemporary Dance)
6:00pm - Fandanguero - (Son Jarocho Music)
7:00pm - Video Screening:
"Forgotten Revolt" by Video Machete
"Accept Us" by Community TV Network
"Global Issues" by Video Machete
"Breaking the Stereotypes" by Eli Whitney School

7:30pm - Crib Collective - ( Hip Hop Ensamble)
8:00pm - Video Screening:
"American Madness" by Keeping it Real Productions
"Fading Away" by Community TV Network
"People Think" by Eli Whitney School
"Broken Voices" by Free Spirit Media

8:30pm - Ramon Marino - (Trova Music)
9:00pm - Video Screening:
"Beginning of a better life" by Video Machete
"Primavera del Inmigrante" by En el Ojo productions

9:30pm - Gangadoppler - (Ska/ Punk Music)
10:00pm - Video Screening:
"Doing it – Sex, Disability and Videotape" by Beyondmedia

10:30pm - Palomazo - (Video images inspire a live music performance)
11:00pm - Closing


*Donations accepted but not required. All proceeds from the GMF are granted, via a micro grant, to support cultural or multimedia related community workshops.

For more information or to learn about the many ways you can contribute to the Grassroots Media Festival contact the Planning Committee via phone at 773.988.2252 or via email at alixmaria@yahoo.com.

PEDAGOGO, The Teaching Artists of Yollocalli Arts Reach


YOLLOCALLI ARTS REACH
A youth initiative of the National Museum of Mexican Art
1401 W. 18TH Street
Chicago IL 60608

www.yollocalli.org


PEDAGOGO, The Teaching Artists of Yollocalli Arts Reach

Reception: Friday, October 12, 2007, 6:00- 9:00PM
October 13 and 14 2007, 11:00AM-6PM

This event is part of 18TH Street Pilsen Open Studios and promoted through Chicago Artists Month “Creative Alliances” October 2007. This exhibition features the work of Yollocalli Teaching Artists celebrating the creative individuals and collaborative forces that assist, inspire and mentor students at Yollocalli Arts Reach.

Featuring works by:
Alejandro Medina
Rahmaam “Statik” Barnes
Ricardo Santos Hernandez
Maria Gaspar
Rachel Perrine
Vanessa Sanchez
Juan Carlos Macias
Antonio Martinez
Max Reinhardt
Jose Luis Gutierrez
Leo Ruiz
Gabriel Villa
Monica Cruz

LATINO INTERNATIONAL ARTIST OPEN THEIR STUDIOS:



18th St: Pilsen Open Studios
Saturday and Sunday Oct 13-14, 2007
from 11am-7pm


37 Spaces, 60 plus artists, 18th Street to Cermak Rd., Western to Racine

18th STREET, PILSEN – On October 13th and 14th artists from the Heart of Pilsen will open their doors to the public in the 18th St. Pilsen Open Studios, the largest opening of Latino/a International artists’ studios in the city of Chicago.

The weekend event features 37 spaces-most of them private studios-and more than 60 artists. Dozen of artists who grew up in the area or have lived and worked for years in the community will participate. Neighborhood cafes and community art spaces are also showing work from artists who have connection and participate in the neighborhood.

Participating artists include well-known painters, muralists, sculptors, performers, installation artists and printmakers as well as emerging artists.

Pilsen has long been known for its murals and culture and dozens of artists’ studios and homes are scattered throughout the Latin American and Mexican/Mexican–American neighborhood. This is the sixth year Pilsen artists have opened their studios.

The weekend represents an opportunity to get insight into the art, the artists and a closer glimpse to the process of creating works of art. During the weekend of the 13th and 14th interested individuals will have the opportunity to share a unique experience with the artist(s), ask questions and discuss ideas. The space where art is created has a doorway to the past while the artists create in present time. To Gabriel Villa, an oil painter and participating artist, “You get to see how an artist really works-you’re in the environment. You get to see how an artist think”.

There will be a free bus provided by LATINO EXPRESS between studios all day Saturday and Sunday.

Participating Artists Include:

POLVO shows cutting-edge and contemporary art, run. This year artists participating are Harold Mendez, Brandon Alvendia, and Derek Chan. 773.344-1940.

Visual artist, MARK NELSON, will exhibit a workshop of mysterious political-parody paintings, sculpture and artifacts dealing with current events. He has received several Fellowship Awards from the Illinois Arts Council. This past summer the State Department purchased a mural from Nelson which was installed at the new U.S. Embassy in the Republic of Panama as part of their permanent collection..

MONTSERRAT ALSINA born in Venezuela and has been making art in Chicago since 1985 when she came to the School of the Art institute of Chicago where she attended the Masters program in Performance. She is a multi-disciplinary artist whose works include drawings, paintings, prints, installations and performance. The Aztec Culture and traditions of the native people of the earth in all the Americas and around the world play a big role in her life. She has practice the Aztec tradition for the last 15 years. She also explores the role of woman throughout the ages in her series called “The Re-awakening of the Goddess”, and her earth installations express her concerns with socio-political issues in the world. She will be showing her surrealistic expressionistic landscapes and a new series of paintings based on endangered species at her studio/gallery Colibri. 312.733-8431

ROBERTO FERREYRA He studied at the School of Fine Arts “La Esmeralda”, in Mexico City. He has a long list of solo and group exhibits in Mexico, Canada, Cuba, U.S.A., and other countries. He has been a professional artist since 1978. Ferreyra came to Chicago in 1993 for the first time invited by Urban Gateways and later in 1995 through the Sister Cities International Program when he decides to make Chicago his permanent residence. His works are like life codexes, images influence by his Mexican heritage with strong colors, characters, stories, almost taken from a dream. He prefers watercolors but his draftsmanship is outstanding, and is an accomplished printmaker.

FRANCISCO MENDOZA has been the lead artist on many of the neighborhood mosaic murals including the Virgin of Guadalupe mural outside the 18th Street train stop and the murals outside the new Orozco School on 18th and Damen. He has been working on a mosaic for the Irving Art Center. Showing in his studio at APO and at Café Duvall. 773.890.1433

JEFF ABBEY MALDONADO will present a series of paintings that “combine contemporary female figures in an interior or exterior settings with hints of magic, mystery and menace.” 312.498.2669

ANTONIO MARTINEZ will exhibit at the Yollocalli Arts Reach his narrative style paintings that are inspired from various human relationships, commonly rooted in the world of everyday, where beauty plays an important role.733.501.6298

GABRIEL VILLA a painter and printmaker presents works of art that isolate an idea giving each painting an individual object, challenging the viewer to participate. 312.829.
5117

Recognized Chicago spray-paint artist RAHMAAN “STATIK” BARNES has a number of murals in the area and shows his oil paintings and spray works. 773-454.0233

FOR A COMPLETE LIST OF PARTICIPATING ARTISTS AND MAP OF THE STUDIOS PLEASE VISIT: www.pilsenopenstudios.com

TRANSPORTATION: CTA 54/CERMAK BLUE LINE, exit at 18th street, Damen and Western.

DOWNLOAD POSTER
DOWNLOAD MAP


Monday, October 01, 2007

No better, no worse, no change


No better, no worse, no change
Harold Mendez


Also this month:
Mini-exhibit: Brandon Alvendia and Derek Chan

Opening Friday October 12 from 6pm-10pm

October 12 - November 10, 2007

Taking the notion that silence is an expression of something, Harold Mendez presents No better, no worse, no change, his second solo show at Polvo. Mendez´ large drawings and sculptures depicting barren landscapes, conflicted sites and borders circumscribe space into place by searching politically charged sites with significant histories as they address conventions of place and humanity where something has seemed to occur.

Sifting through the everyday, politics, literature and criticism, Mendez forges iconic forms and spaces into a socially familiar here and now. With references to past events, using memory and photography’s ability to index history, he employs stark and haunting compositions; open to interpretation, delicately juxtaposing disparate media including black silicon carbide, marking chalk, popcorn, natural dyes, reflective beads and other transient materials.

A serenely muted river, central to the exhibition, offers little or no recognizable evidence of either historical incidents or recent conflict. Hinting towards the sublime, Mendez´ fossilized sculpture Winter in America leads us to bring our collective knowledge and experiences between place and loaded landscape with human experience to find emptiness of an exposed history. A drawing of an eroded interior with a window reflects the sentiment that something has occurred, and nothing has occurred, nothing at all.

Gloom and beauty make recognition difficult.

Harold Mendez received his MFA from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2007. He recently exhibited with Western Exhibitions in a two-person show and will be participating in Consuming War, an upcoming group exhibition at the Hyde Park Art Center in November. He's been included in group shows at the Commerce Street Warehouse in Houston, vuspace in Australia, the University of North Umbria in the United Kingdom and the University of Science & Technology in Ghana, West Africa.

Brandon Alvendia and Derek Chan’s first collaborative project will consist of a sculptural installation investigating the sites of contestation inherent in spaces of heterogeneous populations. Questioning the promises offered by the developing built environment, Chan and Alvendia locate a moment in the cycle of renewal, stasis, and decay.

Brandon Alvendia completed his MFA from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2007. Since 2004, under the guise of artLedge, Alvendia along with co-curator Caleb Lyons has facilitated the work of upwards of 150 emerging and established Chicago artists, in venues both nationally and abroad. He is currently planning an independent curatorial venture entitled Peso Neto that will be exhibited overseas at Quartair Contemporary Art Initiative, The Hague. He was recently appointed to sit on the advisory board of the Chicago public art initiative Hammer and Chisel. Alvendia’s own practice is concerned with the relationship of the individual to material and societal architectures.

Derek Chan recently received his MFA from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2007. Challenging the conventions of representation and abstraction Chan's paintings investigate the constructs of place as tied to the self. He has been included in group exhibitions in Los Angeles and Chicago.

Polvo, www.polvo.org
1458 W. 18th St., 1R (entrance on Laflin St.)
Chicago, IL 60608
773.344.1940

The Little Village Arts Fest

The Little Village Arts Fest is back!
October 12-14th
12-8pm

* More spaces to check out
* The Grassroots Media Fest is part of this year's Fest
* Art workshops, performaces, photography, painting, sculpture and much more...

ALL THE EXHIBITS, PERFORMANCES, WORKSHOPS ARE FREE!!!

For more info please visit www.lvcdc.org/artsfest or e-mail analia@lvcdc.org

The Little Village Arts Fest is presented by the Little Village Community Development Corporation.

Monday, September 24, 2007

THE PODMAJERSKY SHOW



THE PODMAJERSKY SHOW
Opening Friday, September 28th
5pm - 9pm

(Special presentation and discussion at 7pm)

In an unofficial collaboration with the 'Pisen East Artists Open House', the Plaines Project proudly presents the first annual "Podmajersky Show". For several decades the Podmajersky family (East Pilsens most powerful landlords and coordinators of the open house event) have largely been responsible for the social and economic changes that have occured in East Pilsen. Though there are many who praise the Podmajersky family for cultivating a community that is centered around the arts, the Podmajerskies have also been widely criticized for displacing the predominantly working class residents of the neighborhood by capitalizing off of real estate that is marketed exclusively to middle class artists. Currently operating under the slogan of "building Soho in Chicago", the Podmajerskies as a social force provoke many questions of the use (or abuse) of artists as catalysts of for such forms of urban development.

In this exhibition, The Plaines Project seeks to use the Podmajerskies as a point of departure for a broader investigation of gentrification as a phenomenon that is conditioned by global capitalism, and to pose challenging questions regarding what role artists, as a social category, tend to play in this process.

This exhibition includes solo and collaborative installations by Amanda Gutierrez, Andreas Warisz, Polvo Collective, and Soni-Gram, as well as a presentation from guest lecturer Laura Schmidt.

The Plaines Project
1822 S. Des Plaines.
Chicago, IL

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

18th St: Pilsen Open Studios



18th St: Pilsen Open Studios
Saturday and Sunday Oct 13-14, 2007
from 11am-7pm


Pilsen Open Studios is an artist run art walk that takes place during the second weekend in october. Each year artists, galleries, spaces and cafes open their doors during special hours. Over 30 spaces, 60+ artists from May St. to Leavitt St. and from 16th St. to 23rd st , will open their studios to the public.

Special Opening reception: Friday Oct 12, 2007 from 5pm-10pm
"Made in Pilsen II: group show of artists participating in the Pilsen Open Studios"
Prospecus Art Gallery
1210 W. 18th St.
(312) 733-6132

DOWNLOAD POSTER
DOWNLOAD MAP


for more info go to www.pilsenopenstudios.com


Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Yolotecuani en concierto

Meztli Galeria y Organizacion Cultural
Presenta

Yolotecuani en concierto
“Una Noche de Son”

Septiembre 8, 2007

Apertura de grabados 6:30-8:20 PM
“Rostros de Son” de Veracruz, Alec Dempster
Apertura de concierto de ”Pilsen” Chicago,
Fandanguero
Continuando de Guerrero, Yolotecuani 8:30–11:20 PM

Donacion $12

Meztli
556 W. 18th Street Chicago Il
(312) 738-0860
meztlicinema@yahoo.com
www.meztli.net

The Amazing Hancock Brothers in Chicago!


Ladies and Gentlemen... Boys and Girls,
Saturday September 1st, 2007

6:00 to 10:00 pm-ish

at Motherland
1125 W. 31st St.

Chicago, Il 60608

http://www.mutherland.org


For our final show of the Season.....
Motherland is proud to present:
http://hancockbrothers.com/

The Amazing Hancock Brothers -- itinerant printmakers from central
Texas -- bring their carpetbag full of hopes, dreams, dirty britches, prints, and poems to Motherland in bucolic Bridgeport. The Brothers are known for their morbid, scatological and darkly humorous subjects, often printed on a variety of surfaces with wild abandon and disregard for printmaker etiquette. They are sure to please and/or piss someone off. Show opens Saturday September 1st and closes the 30th.

Motherland is open 3-6pm on Thursdays or call for an appt. 312-924-3602
Motherland is accessible via the Orange line
CTA (Halsted station) and the #62 Archer bus (get off at Loomis). There is plenty of parking.

Please see the below blog calendar for detailed maps and directions.
http://www.mutherland.org Please see The Amazing Hancock Brother's recent write up! http://www.timesrecordnews.com/trn/entertainment/article/0,1891,TRN_5654_561486,00.html

Monday, August 27, 2007

Urban Recline


Urban Recline:
new work by

Adriana Baltazar
Miguel Cortez


Opening Friday September 7 from 6pm-10pm

September 7 - October 6, 2007


Polvo begins the fall schedule by showcasing 2 local artists, Adriana Baltazar and Miguel Cortez. Even though their styles are different they find common ground in the influence of the urban environment, its surroundings and how this affects them.


Adriana Baltazar
A sincere goal of mine as an artist is to celebrate and document my time and surroundings in an effort to record history in the making. The late 18th c. French writer Sebastian Mercier recorded life in the streets of Paris in his day to day existence and has given the world a priceless view of a time and place we did not have to live in to know. He captured the type of things that slip out of the pages of history books. With our faces and digits fumbling over one of the plethora of gadgets available to us, I fear we put ourselves at risk as always to lose track of some irreplaceable gems. I feel compelled to record those things which we will undoubtedly miss only after they are finally gone. - Adriana Baltazar

Born in southwest Chicago, Adriana Baltazar has grown up to be a near hermit. By night, she is drawing away and by day working in an office to pay off art school debt. She received her BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2004. As a child she searched for stray pets to nurture and now it appears she is the stray. Find her wandering streets and woods seeking sublime inspiration and escape in vacant lots or other plots of dirt overridden with trees and foliage.

Miguel Cortez
Several years ago I did a series of paintings that dealt with imaginary aerial landscapes. With this new series of work I go to the opposite end and imagine microscopic environments plus imaginary abstract forms and shapes. For inspiration I looked at decaying textures that I came across such as found rusted and cracked objects, paint peeling off walls and buildings, oils stains on the pavement and other examples of urban/nature decay. - Miguel Cortez, August 2007

Miguel Cortez is an artist living in Chicago and born in Guanajuato, Mexico. He has studied at Columbia College and at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Miguel also has exhibited his work for more than a decade in Chicago and elsewhere. Recent exhibitions include a show in Dallas at Mighty Fine Arts Gallery, also in Austin at Studio 107 Gallery, Pool Art Fair in Miami, Milwaukee International Art Fair, "Lo Romantico" at Glass Curtain Gallery and "Lies that Bill Gates told me: Exploring the Digital Divide" at VU Space in Melbourne, Australia. Miguel is also one of the founders of Polvo.

Polvo, www.polvo.org
1458 W. 18th St., 1R Chicago, IL 60608
773.344.1940
info(at)polvo.org

Saturday, August 25, 2007

Noam Chomsky coming to town...


In Defense of Academic Freedom
October 12, 2007

2:20pm -7:10pm
Rockefeller Chapel
University of Chicago

Part 1

Event Commence Time: 2:20 pm
Event Closing Time: 5:00 pm

Chair: Tariq Ali, Verso Inc.

1. Dr. Akeel Bilgrami
Johnsonian Professor of Philosophy
Columbia University

2. Dr. Noam Chomsky (Invited)
Institute Professor and Professor of linguistics (Emeritus)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

3. Dr. Tony Judt
Director
Remarque Institute
New York University

4. Dr. John J. Mearsheimer
R. Wendell Harrison Distinguished Service Professor
Department of Political Science
University of Chicago

Panel Discussion

4:00PM – 5:00PM

Moderator: Tariq Ali (will lead the discussion panel) with Q&A
Break and Book Signing

Part 2

Start Time: 5:10pm
End Time : 7:10 pm

Moderator: Tariq Ali

Speaker: Dr. Norman Finkelstein; Dr. Mehrene Larudee,
Neve Gordon (Ben-Gurion University

Friday, August 24, 2007

The Whole World is Being Watched!

Exhibit expands on the art of surveillance, how it affects today’s world

by Jessica Del Curto
Extra News
Posted on 08-16-2007

When a number of crime cameras began popping up around Pilsen, Miguel Cortez, director of Polvo Art Gallery, found his idea for his latest exhibit.

“I thought I would reach out to other artists and have them react to what is going on,” he said.

The latest exhibit, “Echelon: Who is Watching You,” consists of various art pieces that relate to surveillance, both on a local and international level.

He said all of the artists portrayed surveillance as a negative thing in society.

One piece, created by Drew Browning and Annette Barbier, shows a list of library books projected onto the floor of the studio. These books have been flagged by the government at the Harold Washington Library. As the viewer walks past the artwork, an infrared camera picks up his or her image, placing it behind the text, and tracks whether he or she goes left or right.

Artist Noelle Mason paid Mexican artisans José Antonio Flores and Jonathan Samaniego to create a 6-by-8-foot rug that is a map of the California-Mexico border. Mason paid the artists what it would cost to bring a family across the border. The point, Cortez said, is to show that satellite tracking is also in existence. “You can access any point on Google Earth and access any building. The whole world is under surveillance,” he said.

Cortez said audience members can take with them what they like from the exhibit.

He hopes people at least gain some awareness of the fact that they are being watched everywhere they go. “They can analyze the good and bad of that,” he said. “It may solve crime in some cases, but you also lose your privacy.”

As far as Cortez is concerned, George Orwell got it right in his book 1984. “He predicted it too soon. Now it’s actually happening,” he said.

Las Mujeres de la Caucus Chicana

Sorry----not exactly Pilsen, but Bridgeport...check it out. /mc
-------------
The Institute is pleased to be a co-sponsor of the Las Mujeres de la Caucus Chicana Film Release Party on Saturday, September 1, 2007 at the Hoover Leppen Theatre at the Center on Halsted. Please join us for this event. Details can be found below:



Six Women. Ten Years. One Goal. Equality.

Las Mujeres de la Caucus Chicana

Margaret, Andrea, Ruth, Martha, Pauline and Lupe

Film Release Party 9.01.07 6-8PM
HOOVER LEPPEN THEATRE AT THE CENTER ON HALSTED
3656 N. HALSTED, CHICAGO ILLINOIS

SPONSORED BY:
AMIGAS LATINAS, AFFINITY COMMUNITY SERVICES, THE CENTER ON HALSTED, CHICAGO FOUNDATION FOR WOMEN - LESBIAN LEADERSHIP COUNCIL, MUJERES LATINAS EN ACCIÓN, INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF WOMEN & GENDER IN THE ARTS & MEDIA, COLUMBIA COLLEGE CHICAGO


A VOCES PRIMERAS, LLC PRODUCTION
Produced and directed by Linda Garcia Merchant
Cinematographer/Editor: Steven Lemieux Jordan
Still Photographer: Kathryn Haviland

Featuring: Margaret Cruz, Andrea Rivera Cano, Ruth 'Rhea' Mojica Hammer, Martha Cotera, Pauline Martinez and Lupe Anguiano
Length: 90 minutes
Contact information: Gaylon Alcaraz 312.330.5506

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

TRAVELABLE GEOGRAPHIES: Works by Mizraim Cárdenas


Join us for the Opening Reception and meet artist/printmaker from Morelia, Michoacan:

This Friday, August 24 from 6-9 PM


TRAVELABLE GEOGRAPHIES:
Works by Mizraim Cárdenas
(August 24 – September 23, 2007)

The constant passing over a geographic area provokes routes to remain in the memory of everyone. In this geography, we can draw our daily dreams on a piece of paper. Though, the real travelable geography is maybe mankind’s utopia, the one that has clearly marked limitations over the distance. I paralleled the quality of these images with the actual artistic creation since it is the actual act of drawing a search for our own path.

More decidedly, a path that turns clearer when it becomes the contour of something that must be constant.
A visual tour of Mizraim Cardenas body of work allows us to observe a figurative language that does not get on the way of a well defined search. Here he makes the surroundings as his own to create atmospheres and where the characters can freely walk over travelable geographies.

Casa Michoacan Gallery
1638 S. Blue Island Avenue

Chicago, IL 60608
Tel 312/491-9317 312/491-0379

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

“Diálogo” at the National Museum of Mexican Art


A Humble Abode
by Jessica Del Curto, Extra Newspaper

In a new exhibit titled “Diálogo” at the National Museum of Mexican Art, three artists set out to create a conversation between seven mother-daughter pairs in Pilsen and Little Village.

About two-and-a-half months ago artists María Gaspar, Adriana Baltazar and Esmeralda Baltazar took video cameras into the homes of seven local women and videotaped them having discussions with their daughters.

“The conversations touched on identity, love, being a mother, sex, going away to college, being a leader,” said Gaspar. “All of these kinds of ideas and concepts that we form as we are growing and becoming adults and mothers.”
In the art installation exhibit, which runs until Dec. 31, the artists recreated the homes of the women they visited, with a bedroom, a living room, a dining room and a kitchen. Furniture and decorations were actually lent to the museum from the women they interviewed.

“When we interviewed all of these women, we would be really mindful as to how their house looks. Almost all of the items, including refrigerators and stoves, were all donated by friends and families and the women who participated,” Gaspar said. “So the installation is kind of an eclectic mix of all of these different homes that we went to.”

The exhibit was created with the sense that a home is a sacred concept, “Since some of us are trying to get away from home, some of us are trying to return home, and all of us either feel comfortable or uncomfortable at home,” Gaspar said.

The interviews between mother and daughter are then projected onto a wall in the kitchen so visitors can watch the dialogue as they roam through the home.

“In this installation we are trying to present the dynamic lives that these particular women have had, as well as representing women from various stereotypical roles that we have all kind of accepted, showing that these women are housewives, leaders, artists and visionaries,” Gaspar said.

The women’s ages ranged from 5 to 67. The children were prepped with conversation topics, and the adults were, for the most part, free to discuss whatever they wanted.

One conversation in particular, includes a 17-year-old daughter speaking about sex with her 40-something mother.

“I was really surprised, the mother really wanted to talk about it, and the daughter was like, ‘This is really weird,’” Gaspar said. “The mother says, ‘You are going off to college, and you are going to be 18, and it’s going to happen and I just want you to be careful.’ I think, stereotypically, we think mothers are the ones who don’t want to talk to their children about sex.”

Gaspar said she learned a lot while videotaping the mother-daughter conversations, and in a way she felt like a counselor, although she never said anything.

“It was just so personal, and I felt very humble to be allowed to witness the conversations,” she said.

Mostly, it made her want to be closer to her mother.

“I was sitting there filming, and it gave me a moment to reflect on my relationship with my own mother. I thought, ‘Man, life is short,’ and I have a pretty amazing woman in my life, and I really want to be able to share things with her. I think sometimes we get caught up in our lives, especially as young professionals.”

For more information on “Diálogo” go to http://www.myspace.com/refleccionesproject

Thursday, July 26, 2007

Damen L Stop

I took some photos today while on my way downtown.

/mc






excellent mosaic mural by Juan Angel Chavez

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

FANDANGO

FANDANGO* FANDANGO*
Saturday 28 at 9:00pm
( Last saturday of every month)

For everybody who likes dancing(zapateado) or play any instrument................or simply watch and enjoy a Torito Jarocho or a beer.

Performance starts with: "LOS PICHARDO" (music from Mexico) at 9:00pm

"GUSTAVO LOPEZ"

Cantautor mexicano autor e interprete exintegrante de los folkloristas, gran difusor de la musica tradicional at 10:00pm

fandango from 11:00pm to 12:00am
con LOS QUE LLEGUEN a tocar y zapatear!!!!!!

Colibri gallery/studio

2032 w. 18th st
312- 7338431

$8 donation is for musicians
please.....!

*also in Chicago Public Radio this Friday at 9:00pm Fandango in Pilsen program recorded in "Colibri Studio" last month featuring Tarima Son and other groups from Chicago!!!!!!!!!

Monday, July 23, 2007

DIALOGO


DIALOGO a video/installation project by:
Maria Gaspar
Adriana Baltazar
Esme Baltazar


Opening:: July 27, 2007

National Museum of Mexican Art/KRAFT gallery
1852 W. 19th St

312.738.1503
www.nationalmuseumofmexicanart.org

Dialogo explores the contradictory roles that women are expected to play in society with a video and installation that recreates the home environment.
Local mothers and daughters share their lives (and furniture!) in memories, fears, hopes, and dreams for the future!

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

echelon: who is watching you?


echelon: who is watching you?

Opening Friday August 3 from 6pm-10pm
August 3 - September 1, 2007

"One cannot use spies without sagacity and knowledge, one cannot use spies without humanity and justice" - Sun Tzu

"It was terribly dangerous to let your thoughts wander when you were in any public place or within range of a telescreen. The smallest thing could give you away. A nervous tic, an unconscious look of anxiety, a habit of muttering to yourself—anything that carried with it the suggestion of abnormality, of having something to hide. In any case, to wear an improper expression on your face… was itself a punishable offense."
- George Orwell, 1984, Book 1, Chapter 5

US surveillance began centuries ago with the concept of slave passes, which allowed slave-owners to monitor and control the mobility of their "chattel." Yet the slave pass system was sometimes subverted by the rare slaves who could write, such as Frederick Douglass. These literate slaves could create their own passes and might thus gain freedom for themselves and other slaves. Trafficking in passes and "free papers" soon became a burgeoning business, one that the slave system grappled with for nearly two centuries.

From slaves, the history of surveillance next turns to the infamous Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which restricted Chinese immigration to the United States. All Chinese laborers were forced to register with the government and subject themselves to being photographed and fingerprinted. A whole apparatus of surveillance was created.

In the 1920s, government surveillance spread to political radicals, especially workers trying to organize union activity. J. Edgar Hoover headed this government surveillance unit which would later become the FBI. As the 20th century advanced, computer technology proved a powerful enhancement to the regime of surveillance. This allowed most devices and databases to be monitored and evaluated, including automobiles, Your car can be tracked by GPS, and your spending habits can be gleaned from accessing your credit card records. Internet and email are monitored in the workplace and cameras are just about everywhere.

For this show artists will explore the history of surveillance and how this affects us at this present time. They will in turn create work dealing with this theme which will include 2D work, installation, and new media.

ARTISTS PARTICIPATING:
Anni Holm
Drew Browning and Annette Barbier
Dustin Klare
Elvia Rodriguez-Ochoa
Finishing School
Gretel Garcia
Ian Simmons
Jesus Macarena-Avila
Noelle Mason
Patricht Lichty
Tom Sibley
T.W. Li
Venia Bechrakis

Polvo, www.polvo.org
1458 W. 18th St., 1R Chicago, IL 60608
773.344.1940
info@polvo.org



Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Meztli

Meztli Galeria y Organizacion Cultural Presents

Salsation! Theatre Company, NFP

Three special presentations before their
2007 Hispanic Attack Tour
“Comedy with a Latin flavor”

September 16, 27 & 30, 2007
Hours - 7:00 P.M.
Suggested Donation $ 6.00

Meztli
556 W 18th Street (Pilsen) Chicago Ill.
(312) 738-08-60
meztlicinema@yahoo.com
www.meztli.net

Parking available at Ken- Tone’s, 551 W18th St.

Protest LULAC aiding military recruiters this FRIDAY

Protest LULAC aiding military recruiters this FRIDAY!

Latino recruitment is up 22% since the beginning of the Iraq war. Recruiters court us with their false promises. Instead of telling us the truth about the recruiters' lies, LULAC is helping the military suck more latino youth into the war machine. Recruiters will be at their national JOB FAIR FOR YOUTH!!!!

CAMi (Comité Anti-Militarización) has been planning a protest and press conference on July 13th at 10:30 am. LULAC has caught wind of our plans and they are freaking out a bit. Their national president, Rosa Rosales, has even offered us a speaking position to stop our protest.

Our actions can cause change!

We continue planning our event. It will either continue as scheduled. Or we can meet to celebrate our victory.

LULAC's event is another sad example of our own people selling us out. For example, at the Puerto Rican Parade in June, the military recruiters had booths and displays. There were soldier images on stage and even recruiters speaking from the stage and doing push up competitions! No doubt they will be at the Fiestas del Sol as well.

The armed services has relaxed their entrance standards to be a new soldier. They did this because their recruitment numbers have been declining (excluding latinos!). We will not be suckered in with their lies and half truths.

WE REFUSE TO BECOME CANNON FODDER IN THEIR IMPERIALIST WARS!

WE STAND IN SOLIDARITY WITH YOUTH WHO REFUSE TO BE SUCKED INTO THE MILITARY!

NO MORE WARS OF AGGRESION AND IMPERIALISM!!!

Join us Friday, July 13th

10:30 am @ Main Entrance to Navy Pier
At the front gates by the Globe artwork that is in chains

Agenda for Friday, day of the youth job fair. You can see how the military will be infused from the "Department of Defense Youth Luncheon" to the " U.S.Armed Forces Academy Presentations". The whole agenda can be found at the following link

http://www.lulac.org/events/convention/cyouth2007.html

Friday, July 13, 2007

7 to 12, 2 to 5 Youth Convention Registration ............................................Terrace A East
7:30 am to 9 am LULAC National Educational Service Centers Breakfast ................Grand Ballroom
9 to 12, 2 to 4 Exposition, Job Fair, and College Fair Open ...................... Exhibition Hall A
9 am to 3 pm LULAC Youth-Collegiate Federal Career and Recruitment Forum
9 am to 2 pm College, University and Rising Seniors Grade 12.................................325-326
9 am to 12 pm High School Grade 9-11............................................................309-312
9 am to 12 pm Middle School Grade 6-8 ........................................................ 302 & 304
12:15 to 1:15 pm Department of Defense Youth Luncheon............................201-207
1:15t o 2:15 pm U.S. Armed Forces Academy Presentations.............................. 302 & 304
Captain James Henden, U.S. Army – West Point (New York)
Lt. Tony Lewis, U.S. Navy – Naval Academy (Anapolis)
Lt. Trier Brayn, U.S. Air Force – Air Force Academy (Colorado)
Lt. Ashley Housley, U.S. Air Force – Air Force Academy
2:15 to 3:15 pm Parliamentary Procedures (Ray Mancera, Nat'l Parliamentarian)................ 302 & 304
3:15 to 5:15 pm Young Women's Summit Presentation (Irma Ayala, VP-Young Women........ 302 & 304
7 pm to 11 pm Presidential Awards Banquet, MALDEF CEO John Trasvina.............Grand Ballroom
American GI Forum National Commander Antonio G. Morales
9 pm to 11:30 pm Youth DJ Dance ..............................................................Hyatt Burnham