Art & Art History
Critical Regionalism
Artists: Dan Coma, Neil Denari, Elizabeth Diller and Ricardo Scofidio, Laurie Hawkinson, Michael Kalil, Katherine Krizek, Taeg Yoshinobu Nishimoto, Kyong Park, Peter Pfau and Wes Jones, Allan Wexler, and Lebbeus Woods
Critical Regionalism highlights drawings and models by twelve architects and architectural teams from New York City. Selected by Glenn Weiss and Kyong Park of Storefront for Art and Architecture, the works all projected a strong visual presence. These architects considered themselves artists as well as designers, and the group shared a strong social commitment, working to create new visionary forms instrumental in shaping a more harmonious society. Included in the exhibition were Dan Coma, Neil Denari, Elizabeth Diller and Ricardo Scofidio, Laurie Hawkinson, Michael Kalil, Katherine Krizek, Taeg Yoshinobu Nishimoto, Kyong Park, Peter Pfau and Wes Jones, Allan Wexler, and Lebbeus Woods.
The architects in this exhibition did not fit comfortably into the reigning “post-modern” categories. Rather than mine past epochs for architectural forms, they drew inspiration from the contemporary art world, incorporating concepts from Minimalism, Conceptual Art and other 1970s movements. Through self-initiated design projects, they sought to create a new wholeness rather than dwell on the fragmentation and loss of meaning characteristic of modern life.
Glenn Weiss and Kyong Park were Co-Directors of NYC’s Storefront for Art and Architecture. This not-for-profit space, founded in 1983, sponsors exhibitions and other activities which cross the boundaries between architecture and art. Storefront is a forum for ideas about socially conscious design and visionary forms.
Critical Regionalism is presented concurrently with The Coming of Age of Chicago Design: 1920-1945.
Glenn Weiss is the founding manager for the Times Square art program and former professor of city planning and architectural design. His practice focuses on bringing contemporary art to public spaces and expanding community engagement. Weiss is known in New York for his early work as co-director of the Storefront for Art and Architecture and curator for Architecture at PS1. He was recruited from south Florida where he worked as an urban planner, university professor and consultant specializing in the role of public art and arts events in the life of civic space and municipalities. He has written on art, architecture and urbanism for twenty years in journals such as Arcade Magazine, Seattle Magazine, and ArtsJournal.com through the blog Aesthetic Grounds. Weiss received a BA from Bucknell University, PA 1979 and an MA in Architecture from Columbia University this year.
Kyong Park is an architect, artist, curator, theorist and co-founder of Storefront for Art and Architecture in New York, a place to confront international design and politics through architectural exhibitions. Park ’s work focuses on the city and the conditions that give rise to shrinking and expanding cities as well as to the formation and reconstruction of border cities. Park received a BS in Architecture from the University of Michigan in 1978.
Press Release
Dan Coma, Neil Denari, Elizabeth Diller and Ricardo Scofidio, Laurie Hawkinson, Michael Kalil, Katherine Krizek, Taeg Yoshinobu Nishimoto, Kyong Park, Peter Pfau and Wes Jones, Allan Wexler, and Lebbeus Woods
Critical Regionalism
Gallery 400
Chicago, IL
January 15 – February 7, 1986
Opening Reception: Wednesday, January 15, 1986, 5-7 pm
Curator Lecture: Wednesday, January 15, 1986, 4 pm
“CRITICAL REGIONALISM” highlights drawings and some models by twelve architects or architectural teams from New York City. Selected by Glenn Weiss and Kyong Park of Storefront: Art and Architecture, the works all project a strong visual presence. These architects consider themselves artists as well as designers. And, the group shares a strong social commitment, working to create new visionary forms instrumental in shaping a more
harmonious society.
The architects In the Gallery 400 exhibition do not fit comfortably into the reigning “post-modern” categories. Rather than mine past epochs for architectural forms, they draw inspiration from the contemporary art world, incorporating concepts from Minimalism, Conceptual art and other 1970s movements. Through self-initiated design projects, they seek to create a new wholeness rather than dwell on the fragmentation and loss of meaning characteristic of modern life.
Glenn Weiss and Kyong Park are Co-Directors of N.Y.C.’s Storefront: Art and Architecture. This not-for-profit space, founded in 1983, sponsors exhibitions and other activities which cross the boundaries between architecture and art. Storefront is a forum for ideas about socially conscious design and visionary forms.
Postcard: Critical Regionalism
EXHIBITION SUPPORT
Critical Regionalism is supported by the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Art and Design’s College of Architecture, Art and Urban Planning.