To sit or not to sit: Jessi Reaves shows her furniture sculptures in ‘All
possessive lusts dispelled’ at the Arts Club
Read the full article by Lori Waxman HERE.
Saturday May 20
Public Program: Arts Club Garden Projects
In-person program
Program 12:00 – 2:00 pm
If you’ve never heard of liming, come to the garden to find out more. Groundation, by Chicago-based, Jamaican artist Yasmin Spiro, utilizes the fence at the Arts Club of Chicago as a structure to build a semi-transparent weaving. The installation serves as an homage to Jamaican wicker weaver and Rastafarian, Sylvester, who created an immersive woven wicker environment in his home in St. Ann, Jamaica that also functioned as a community gathering space. For this program, Spiro is joined by weaver Emily Winter and sound artist Ralph Darden for a collaborative performance and community opening event.
Free and open to all
Register HERE.
Image: Annkathrin Murray
Saturday June 17
Artist Talk
1:00 – 2:30 pm
In Drink from the river, her first solo exhibition in the United States, Brenda Draney (b. 1976, member of Sawridge First Nation, Treaty 8) draws from complex memories and an evolving sense of identity, painting narrative canvases marked by economical brushstrokes and expanses of white space. The cumulative portrait that emerges in Brenda Draney’s paintings references a collective self that encompasses not only her own experience but that of past generations and current community members. Recurring and recognizable motifs of specific figures, pieces of furniture, or architectural features, alongside more generalized joyful and traumatic encounters leave Draney’s oeuvre open to association and to individual connection. Draney discusses her own associations with Arts Club Executive Director and Chief Curator Janine Mileaf.
Register here:
This event has passed.
Public Program: Music
Concert 6:00 pm
The musicians of D-Composed are architects of creativity, honoring the legacy and brilliance of Black composers and changing the entire field of classical music on their terms. They come to The Arts Club with a concert of works spanning time and genres, ranging from classical to contemporary, from soul to jazz to pop – with pieces by Florence Price, Joseph Bologne, Tomeka Reid, Sam Cooke, and a few surprises here and there. Don’t miss this passionate, precise, and energetic ensemble lighting up the stage with a program that’s equal parts heart-rending and mind-bending.
Free and Open to All
Artist Bio:
Started in 2017 and led by their mission to uplift and empower society through the music of Black composers, this Chicago-based creative incubator acts as a bridge between the past and present to the future of representation, music-centered experiences, and the communal power of Black composers and their impact. This group of changemakers is purposeful, creating their own rules around access and reimagining safe, culturally-based spaces that reflect the Black experience. As the only all-Black ensemble and the only ensemble that focuses exclusively on the works of Black composers in Chicago, D-Composed partners with institutions with a proven commitment to communities of color. They made history as the first classical music ensemble for Today at Apple on Michigan Ave and have collaborated with The Rebuild Foundation, MCA Chicago, Arts & Public Life with the University of Chicago, and many more. D-Composed has collaborated with hip-hop artist Chance the Rapper and featured on the Colbert Show alongside Jamila Woods.
Concert Program:
This event has passed.
Wednesday April 12
Evening Public Program: On the Exhibition
In-Person Program with option to view remotely
Program 6:00 pm
An intergenerational panel of art makers and thinkers come together to speak about process and materials. Art historian Kate Nesin moderates a conversation between artists Diane Simpson and Jessi Reaves (whose exhibition is currently on view at The Arts Club), both of whom incorporate furniture and design sources into their sculptural practices, exploring functionality, inherent formalism, and cultural reference.
