Filed under: Chicago
There are still a few hours left in 2009, so here are my top five for the year. Since I started the blog well into the year, and have by no means the exposure to form any conclusive pool to reflect upon, I’ll only go with what I know. I can’t say that the following list even suggests the quantitatively best shows of the year in Chicago, but they are the shows that stand out in my memory as excellent, influencial art viewing experiences.
1) Pop Sizzle Hum, Single Channels @ Tony Wight
As a painter, Pop Sizzle Hum was a pleasure to see. The pieces were outstanding, extremely well balanced, and showed what overlapping talent there is in the city. Single Channels was an almost perfect counterpart, with Timothy Hutchings’ and Allison Schulnik’s works some of the best video I’d ever seen.
2) Signs of the Apocalypse / Rapture
Signs of the Apocalypse / Rapture brought together an incredible amount of stellar work. It was a great big gorgeous show, and I enjoyed the hell out of it.
3) Dutes Miller @ Western Exhibitions
Miller was able to make a really enjoyable show out of images and ideas that are too often given a mediocre and boring treatment. Night Falling is one of the best pieces I saw this year.
4) David Horvitz @ Believe Inn
Intimacy and sincerity are two things I rarely see, but Horvitz’s work was thick with both and still ice cool. Every piece in his show at Believe Inn was interesting, which is a great accomplishment.
5) Brennan McGaffey‘s Fire & Judgment
There were a few really cool performances and one night events, but Fire & Judgment was so strange and hypnotic that I still find myself thinking about it. No list of my favorite shows of the year would be complete without it.
That’s five! I wish I could include Big Youth from Corbett vs. Dempsey, as I consider it the best painting show of the year, but I didn’t really go to it enough to comment on it thoroughly. See you next year!
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