Art & Art History
High Profiles: Graduates of the UIC School of Art and Design
Artists: Annette Barbier, Joann Carson, Arturo Cubacub, Anita David, Nancy Davidson, David Helm, Hartja Petrauskas, Michael Peven, Corey Postiglione, Gordon Powell, Edward Rankus, Matt Reed, and Daniel Smajo-Ramirez
High Profiles: Graduates of the UIC School of Art and Design presented works by thirteen artists, all alumni of the UIC School of Art and Design. Featuring recent paintings, drawings, sculpture, installations and videotapes, this was the first exhibition to highlight the outstanding achievements of the UIC artist-graduates who attended school here between 1967 and 1985. Curated by artist Mary Min (1972 BA), High Profiles featured very recent graduates as well as those receiving the first degrees granted by the School: Annette Barbier (1974 BA), Joann Carson (1976 BA), Arturo Cubacub (1974 BA, 1983 MFA), Anita David (1976 BA), Nancy Davidson (1972 BA), David Helm (1983 MFA), Hartja Petrauskas (1976 BA), Michael Peven (1971 BA), Corey Postiglione (1971 BA), Gordon Powell (1980 MFA), Edward Rankus (1975 BA), Matt Reed (1985 MFA), and Daniel Smajo-Ramirez (1975 BA). This group has garnered prestigious prizes and awards, including two Rome prizes and numerous Illinois Arts Council Individual Artists Grants, as well as impressive exhibition histories.
While works in High Profiles testified to the artists ’ diverse sensibilities, several unifying themes emerged. Foremost was the love of materials and the will to experiment instilled by the UIC art curriculum. The UIC has long been associated with abstract strains in Chicago art. And, indeed, High Profiles included eloquent examples of non-objective art, such as Daniel Smajo-Ramirez’s austere black and gray diptych and Nancy Davidson ’s patterned markings on paper and canvas. Matt Reed, though using the figure in his small, nearly monochrome paintings, explores formal problems seated in geometry, as does Corey Postiglione in a number of his drawings.
Joann Carson, who delights in crossing the boundaries between painting, sculpture and collage, presented the antithesis of austere abstraction in her playful, ambitiously scaled reliefs, which combine illusionistic drawing with “real” objects. Michael Peven irreverently scratches and cuts into his color photographs, even adding fish hooks and novelty eyes to enliven his comments on the American vernacular. Marija Petrauskas, a photographer, created large-scale installations. David Helm, using projections and celebrity photographs, is also an active creator of installation art.
The video program, featuring two to three short tapes by Annette Barbier, Arturo Cubacub and Edward Rankus, was one of the strongest components of the exhibition.
While the UIC School of Art and Design was a relatively new Chicago training ground for artists, it produced early on numerous highly dedicated and accomplished professional artists. High Profiles provided an opportunity to study the impact since 1968 of the UIC campus on the local art scene. This exhibition also highlighted the latest wave of Near Westside development – evident in the renovations of office and residential buildings all around Gallery 400, the opening of Presidential Towers nearby, and the groundbreaking for UIC dormitories across the Eisenhower Expressway from the gallery. Most importantly, this exhibition demonstrated the wide-ranging activities of artists grounded in the fundamentals of their crafts at the UIC.
A catalog accompanied the exhibition.
MEDIA COVERAGE
Review: “High Profiles at Gallery 400” At Chicago, May 13, 1987.
EXHIBITION SUPPORT
High Profiles: Graduates of the UIC School of Art and Design is supported by the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Art and Design’s College of Architecture, Art and Urban Planning.
This exhibition is also funded by the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency; the UIC Student Activities Funding Committee; and the UIC Alumni Association.
High Profiles: Graduates of the UIC School of Art and Design
Foreword and acknowledgments by Laurel Bradley and
curator’s statement by Mary Min
Gallery 400, School of Art and Design,
University of Illinois at Chicago, 1987
28 pp., 8.25 x 11 in., with black and white reproductions
This catalogue can be purchased for $XX.00 plus shipping by calling Gallery 400 at 312 996 6114.
Mary Min ’s deep involvement with the Chicago art community is of long standing. She has distinguished herself both as an artist and a leader in local not-for-profit, artist-run organizations. Min has maintained a consistent exhibition record as a sculptural installation artist. Among significant group shows are: The Mile of Sculpture 1980, 1983; sponsored by Klein and Young/Hoffman Galleries; What Artists Have to Say About Nuclear War 1983, Nexus Gallery, Atlanta; Group Invitational 1978, Wustum Museum of Fine Arts, Racine, WI; and the Illinois State Museum Invitational 1975, Springfield, IL. Min worked as Executive Director of the Randolph Street Gallery and was a founding member of A.R.C. Gallery, where she served in various capacities. The Illinois Art Council named Min a member of the Visual Arts Advisory Board. Min graduated from the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Art and Design in 1972 and received an MFA from Art Institute of Chicago.
Postcard: High Profiles: Graduates of the UIC School of Art and Design
EXHIBITION CHECKLIST
Annette Barbier
Forced Perspective, 1986
Videotape, 3:00 min.
Inside, 1984
Videotape, 1:30 min.
Mixed Emotions, 1983
Videotape, 10:30 min.
Joanne Carson
The Broken Pitcher, 1982
Oil on wood with objects, 96 x 80 x 22 in.
Collection Lee Wesley, Chicago, IL.
Where the News Gets Printed, 1986
Oil paint on wood and museum board, 48 x 60 x 9 in.
Courtesy Ruth Siegal Gallery, New York, N.Y.
Artura Cubacub
Ahluvjalike, 1983
Videotape, 6:10 min.
Between the Dots, 1981
Videotape, 3:31 min.
Orbit, 1986
Videotape, 2:42 min.
Anita David with Michelle Fire
Salon Des Artwhores, 1987, 1985, 1984
Video installation
Nancy Davidson
Chorsis II, 1987
Oil on canvas, 12 x 24 in.
Courtesy Marianne Deson Gallery, Chicago IL.
Tractus I, 1987
Oil on paper, 80 x 36 in.
Courtesy Marianne Deson Gallery, Chicago IL.
Tractus III, 1987
Oil on canvas, 12 x 24 in.
Courtesy Marianne Deson Gallery, Chicago, IL.
David Helm
Common Oddities, 1987
Ten DH1 projectors (designed by artist).
Marija Petrauskas
LANDMARK MEMORY PROJECT, 1984
4 color photographs, each 16 x 20 in.
Untitled, 1987
Installation with photographs.
Michael Peven
Cadillac Ranch, 1981-83
Color photograph, 95 x 6 1/4 in.
Custom Cuts, 1981
Color photograph, 6 x 9 in.
A Dry Picture of Water, 1981
Color photograph, 6 x 9 in.
Pninn Picture (Bible Believers), 1979
Color photograph, fish hook, thread, 6 1/4 x 9 1/4 in.
Pninn Plant, 1980
Color photograph, 6 x 9 in.
Sizzler, 1981
Color photograph, pins, 9 1/2 x 6 in.
Triceratops Stampede, 1983
Color print, mixed media, 6 x 9 in.
Vicki’s Friend Nora, 1981
Color photograph, craft eyes, 6 x 9 in.
Watts Towers, 1981
Color photograph, craft eyes, 6 x 9 in.
Wolf Skulls, 1981
Color photograph, safety pins, 6 x 9 in.
Corey Postiglione
Abyss II, 1984
Pastel and charcoal on paper, 20 x 26 in.
Portal, 1984
Pen, pastel and wash on paper, 26 x 20 in.
Reverie #4, 1985
Charcoal and graphite on paper, 20 x 26 in.
Sketches for Portal, 1984
Pen and charcoal on paper, 26 x 20 in.
Gordon Powell
Bent Caryatid, 1986
Scrap wood, paint, 69 1/2 x 8 1/2 x 10 in.
Courtesy Roy Boyd Gallery, Chicago, IL.
Elgin’s Gift, 1986
Scrap wood, paint, 15 x 7 1/2 x 5 in.
Collection Ann and Roy Boyd, Chicago, IL.
Souvenir, 1986
Scrap wood and paint, 36 x 10 x 9 in.
Courtesy Roy Boyd Gallery, Chicago, IL.
Edward Rankus
Naked Doom, 1980-83
Videotape, 17:00 min.
She Heard Voices, 1986
Videotape, 10:00 min.
Matt Reed
Untitled ( Figures with Arrow), 1987
Oil on acrylic board, diptych, 22 1/2 x 46 in.
Courtesy Dart Gallery, Chicago, IL.
Untitled (Figures with Mailbox), 1987
Oil on board, diptych, 27 x 55 in.
Courtesy Dart Gallery, Chicago, IL.
Untitled (Figures with Tables), 1987
Oil on board, diptych, 16 x 52 in.
Courtesy Dart Gallery, Chicago, IL.
Untitled (Three Figures with Animal), 1987
Oil on board, diptych, 15 1/2 x 42 1/2 in.
Courtesy Dart Gallery, Chicago, IL.
Daniel Smajo-Ramirez
Celestial City #18, 1983
Graphite on paper, 22 x 30 in.
Courtesy Roy Boyd Gallery, Chicago, IL.
Celestial City #20
Graphite on paper, 22 x 30 in.
Collection Ann and Roy Boyd, Chicago, IL.
Contemplation of the Son by the Son: Variation # 3, 1981
Latex and acrylic on unprimed canvas, 96 x 120 1/2 x 1 in.
Courtesy Roy Boyd Gallery, Chicago, IL.