Works on Paper Juried Exhibition @ Around the Coyote

Works on Paper Juried Exhibition @ Around the Coyote by Steve Ruiz

July 16, 2009, 6:57 pm
Filed under: Chicago

The full title of this latest show from Around the Coyote (2nd Annual Joseph Frasca Memorial Works on Paper Juried Exhibition) may be all the introduction you need. This is indeed a works on paper exhibition, the second in as many years, and it is in memory of Joseph Frasca. If you haven’t read the history of Around the Coyote, spend a hot minute reading it here. For more recent history, including the exodus from the Flatiron Building to the Splat Flats spaces, dig through this juicy Chicago Reader article too.

Around the Coyote (not pictured: the Flat Iron building)

As interesting as the space’s story is, as with all things its what’s inside that counts. With so many artists represented, this exhibition brought pause and praise in the same breath – for a juried exhibition, there is a lot of work, but almost all of that work is well done or better, and reflected the polished, high aesthetic that has been sneaking into studios this year.

Its hard to complain, but I did feel the show as a whole would have breathed better had a few pieces been left out. If nothing else, the breadth of what Zg Gallery‘s Myra Casis and Meg Sheehy chose to juried in spoke to the amount of quality work that had been submitted, so ten points there to the artists.

Elizabeth Kauffman, Amoeba

Stephen Mishol, TAMP

Some highlights from the show include Stephen Mishol‘s painting TAMP (above), a baffling vinyl paint construction and one of the most eerily balanced compositions I’ve seen this summer, Kristin Reger‘s Moths, Hans Habeger‘s Composition with Orange Door, Susan Wolsborn‘s Housefire, and Josh Reame‘s Insatiable.

Those picks may seem slanted toward painting, but so was the show. And after all, what better surface for the young 21st century painter than paper, free from the presumptions of canvas and at a fraction of the cost? Crank out a hundred paintings, burn all but the ten best!

Kristin Reger, Moths

Hans Habeger, Composition with Orange Door

I liked this show and enjoyed almost all of the work included, though it could have been cut down a little. While satisfying on its own, it helps that two other galleries are having their own excellent summer shows just around the block, making Wicker Park / Noble Square a significant clutch of art this month.

I give it a:

8.2

The 2nd Annual Joseph Frasca Memorial Works on Paper Juried Exhibition runs July 11th, 2009 through August 15th, 2009 @ Around the Coyote, 1817 W. Division St.

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