Museums

Jurassic-Oceans
MuseumsSpring 2022

Exploring Prehistoric Waters

Isaac Jacobs

When people hear the word “Jurassic,” perhaps one of the first things that come to mind is the T-Rex, that imposing giant that ruled the lush lands of pre-historic Earth. Perhaps your mind envisions the sprawling pterodactyl scaling the skies and swooping down to snatch up its prey. Thanks to Steven Spielberg and a not-so-small contingent of Hollywood production studios that have brought the dinosaur age to life on the big screen, anybody that hasn’t lived under a rock for the past 20 years has an incredibly vivid picture to conjure when it comes to imagining Jurassic life. And yet that image is truly only part of…

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Rendering-of-Keck-Keck-House-of-Tomorrow
ArchitectureArtMuseumsWinter 2022

“Houses of Tomorrow” to Lead Elmhurst Art Museum’s 25th Anniversary Programming

Isaac Jacobs , 

Throughout the Elmhurst Art Museum’s 25th year anniversary effort to inspire its community, the museum will host a year-long celebration with a focus on the three major hallmarks of its mission: architecture (Spring), education (Summer), and art (Fall). Central to the Spring season is the new multimedia exhibition, Houses of Tomorrow: Solar Homes from Keck to Today. The exhibition is open February 5 through May 29, 2022 within the museum’s galleries, with an accompanying light-based installation by Chicago-based artist Jan Tichy within the museum’s historic McCormick House. 

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Frida-Immersive-Dream
ArtMuseums

Chicago Set to Experience FRIDA: IMMERSIVE DREAM

Isaac Jacobs , 

Lighthouse Immersive, North America’s leading producer of ground-breaking experiential art exhibits, and Maestro Immersive Art announce their newest immersive art installation, FRIDA: IMMERSIVE DREAM. On the heels of their critically acclaimed show, Immersive Van Gogh (now on-view in 15 cities), Lighthouse Immersive and Maestro Immersive Art have set their sights on the art and life of Frida Kahlo (1907-1954), the beloved 20th century Mexican artist best known for compelling self-portraits and radiant pieces inspired by her life in her native country of Mexico. The exhibition features some of the artist’s best-known works “brought to life” by the world-renowned master of digital art, Italy’s Massimiliano Siccardi, again accompanied by composer Luca Longobardi’s resonant score. Vittorio Guidotti is the show’s Art Director. A brilliant, bold and uncompromising painter, Kahlo’s work is globally recognized for its raw emotional vitality, vibrant color work and unflinching intimacy.

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Dream-Exhibition-at-Hyde-Park-Art-Center
ArtMuseums

Hyde Park Art Center Presents Biennial Exhibition, “Dream”

Oscar Peterson

Chicago’s Hyde Park Art Center has announced Dream, an exhibition of new works culminating the Art Center’s biennial Center Program, a professional development program for the elevation of emerging and mid-career artists, now in its 10th year. Guest-curated by Asha Iman Veal, this exhibition will occupy the entire first floor galleries from December 12, 2021 – March 20, 2022, featuring works by twenty artists from Center Program’s 2020-21 cohort.

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Marvel-Exhibition
ArtAutumn 2021Museums

Marvel Up Close and Personal

Patrick Curran

Growing up, my friends and I all had our favorite, go-to Marvel Comic superheroes.  The number of which is a long and varied. Spanning over 80 years, with iconic heroes like Captain America, Spider-Man, The Thor and Black Panther and larger-than-life villains like Doctor Doom, Magneo and Thanos, the library of super-personas emanating from the Marvel universe has always offered great fodder for escape, creating written storylines that have gone one to become part of American culture. Today more than ever, that is true, with the library branching out into the cinematic universe. Marvel has become more than just a niche escape for fans of comic fantasy seemingly influencing everything from commerce to culture.  It’s contemporary popularity notwithstanding, Marvel Comics and characters have actually been influencing popular American culture, in some form, for over the last 80 years.  A new exhibition at The Museum of Science and Industry (MSI) entitled Marvel: Universe of Super Heroes and its curator, Ben Saunders, hope to enlighten visitors about Marvel’s true influence while bringing to life the legendary characters we’ve all come to know. 

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Dancer-Ruth-Page
Museums

Newberry Library Exhibit Pushes Boundary Breaking Women to the Forefront

Isaac Jacobs ,  ,  ,  ,  , 

A new exhibition from the Newberry Library puts the spotlight on Chicago as a site of historic, boundary-pushing experimentation in art, literature, and dance. At the center of the exhibition are five women whose lives and careers embodied a uniquely Chicago style of avant-garde creativity in the 1930s, 40s, and 50s: Artist Gertrude Abercrombie, poet Gwendolyn Brooks, dancers Katherine Dunham and Ruth Page, and curator Katharine Kuh.

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