This Old Palette: October 2009

Where Do I Belong?

"Where Do I Belong?"

"offers visual artists and poets the opportunity to exhibit their art and to work in collaboration with another artist, each using their chosen medium and unique perspective to answer the question “Where Do I Belong.”

(located in an empty storefront on California
that may or may not
be the Bellavista gallery)

And above is Mary Qian's contribution
to a poem that begins:

I walk along the morning shore,
lost in a sea of thought.
A scatter of jellyfish dots the sand,
a string of aspic jewels.

.....................

I'm not sure about the poetry....
but admit that I'm attracted
by the desperate Romanticism of Mary's vision.

The heroic artist!
facing the dragon,
a tiny paintbrush
her only weapon.

(and obviously
Mary belongs
at the Palette and Chisel)

Exhibit: Helena Engle and her Converging Divergences

Thankfully, the last serious attempt
by the Palette and Chisel
to keep up with the perpetual avant garde
was back in 1915.

(and even then, it was mostly tongue in cheek)

But, let's face it,
there are 25 contemporary artists in Chicago
for every square foot of gallery space,
so why not let some of them show
their work at 1012 N. Dearborn?

This show was curated
by Helena Engle
(that's her piece above the fireplace)

Other artists include:

Anastasia Mak, Benton Lenz, Brad Pogatetz,
Deirdre Fox, and Peter Gray

Freedom of expression is a wonderful thing.

But I'm certainly glad
this kind of show
is the exception
rather than the rule
at the Palette and Chisel.
(which is, itself,
an exceptional institution,
and, hopefully,
will stay that way)

Sally Strand Workshop

On the way to the coach house sculpture workshop last Sunday,
I came across this charming scene
in the P&C garden

That's Ann McMurray
posing as
"Lady in bathrobe with bird-feeder"
to be used that day
by the students in Sally Strand's workshop

(and those are a few of the sculptors
in the background,
patiently waiting for our model)

Here's a scene of Sally doing a pastel demo,
kindly sent by Kathleen Newman

(I try to get photos of the completed demos
for these events,
but only sometimes am successful)

Zhiwei Tu Paints Andy Chan

Here's the portrait
that Zhiwei Tu
painted of Andy Chan
at a demo
one Saturday last month.

There's so much energy
buzzing around,
he could be a Taoist saint.

Something like Pai Mei

BTW,
Zhiwei Tu
is the only
member of the Palette and Chisel,
past or present,
who, to my knowledge,
has a museum
dedicated to his work.

(no - wait - there's Albin Polasek museum
in Florida.)