Curated by Dana Turkovic and Anne Wischmeyer
In his essay, "On Inventing Our Own Art," Ibram Lassaw describes the attitude being formed by artists of his generation: "They feel that the important thing for art is to be alive, to be full of suggestion and possibilities, to enlarge our sensibility and to intensify experience…." It is precisely this synergy that becomes apparent in the work of these new Chicago photographers. Free Rein / Full Play is an exhibition that attempts to explore this phenomena, to capture this energy, with a combination of fantasy and performance, whether it utilize the body, object, or material. Although each work maintains its conceptual individuality, this association of freedom and playfulness produces a common uninhibited conceptual approach, which is enhanced by the photographic medium. Lassaw also suggests: "The artist no longer feels that he is 'representing reality,' he is actually making reality… Reality is something stranger and greater than merely photographic rendering can show." This is apparent in the collection of works by these artists, each of them produces images that in some ways, reveals a subconscious effort at Lassaw's idea of a "new reality". Free Rein / Full Play is a small, but concentrated attempt of capturing a spirit of art-making, in this case Chicago, and one that continues in its claim of "endless opportunity."
free rein/full play: new chicago photography
FREE REIN / FULL PLAY: New Chicago Photography
Ellen Curlee Gallery
February 16 – March 31, 2007
Participating Artists:
Adam Ekberg
Jenny Kendler
Mayumi Lake
Lilly McElroy
Lindsay Page
David A. Parker
Sabrina Raaf
Esteban Schimpf
