"Black Bullets"
"Forecast Form: Art in the Caribbean Diaspora, 1990s–Today" opens in just one week on November 19!
Come view an exhibition that uses the concept of weather and its constantly changing forms as a metaphor to analyze artistic practices connected to the Caribbean, understanding the region as a bellwether for our rapidly shifting times.
"Black Bullets," by Jeannette Ehlers (@jeannetteehlers), features a procession of
Black figures who are reflected across the horizon line of a silvery sky as if mirrored by water. As these figures waft across the screen in a trancelike ritual, they gradually merge with their reflections, morphing into black bullets before eventually dissolving.
The video envisions the mobilization of Black bodies as weapons
of resistance, honoring the spirit of revolt that characterizes the roots of Haitian history.
View "Black Bullets" in person at the opening of "Forecast Form: Art in the Caribbean Diaspora, 1990s–Today" on November 19. Become an MCA Member and see it one day early on November 18 at the Member's Preview.
Jeannette Ehlers
Black Bullets, 2012
Single-channel projection
4 minutes, 33 seconds
Sound: Trevor Mathison; Technical Assistance: Markus von Platen; Camera: Jette Ellgaard & Jeannette Ehlers
Private collection
"Domino Effect (Efecto dominó)" - Donna Conlon and Jonathan Harker
Opening on November 19, the MCA is proud to announce "Forecast Form: Art in the Caribbean Diaspora, 1990s–Today", organized by Marilyn and Larry Fields Curator Carla Acevedo-Yates.
This major exhibition is an innovate rethinking of “Caribbean art,” focusing on art in the Caribbean diaspora and featuring an intergenerational group of 37 artists who live and work across the Americas and Europe. Challenging conventional ideas about the region, "Forecast Form" reveals the Caribbean as a place defined not by geography, language, or ethnicity, but by constant exchange, displacement, and movement.
Join the MCA as a Member to see it early during our Members’ Preview on November 18.
Make sure to catch our Talk | On Thinking and Being Caribbean: A Roundtable Discussion, on November 19, 2:00 pm - 3:30 pm.
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Video:
"Domino Effect (Efecto dominó)" - Donna Conlon and Jonathan Harker
Talk | An Evening with Great Women Painters and Madeleine Grynsztejn
Chicago Works: Gregory Bae
Would you consider running in place a failure? It depends on what your goal is: a discernable trajectory, motion, exercise, or something else.
In Gregory Bae's, "24-7, 365 (#5)," the artist invites the viewer to consider the spectacle of failure. A tire painted a variation of the sam taegeuk colors seen on South Korea's national flag, rotates in place on a treadmill. The piece's meaning is not immediately discernable, inviting the viewer to draw their own conclusions.
"Chicago Works: Gregory Bae" is on view until January 29, 2023
Dialogue: Wendy Red Star with Katerina Stathopoulou and Gaylord Torrence
Talk: Cliff Rome and Jason Hammel on Nourishing Community
Family Day at the MCA
Family Day is this Saturday!
This month's theme is, "Telling Our Stories." Come participate in a full day of activities for you and your loved ones from 11 am — 3 pm
🎨 Get creative and create your own mobile inspired by Alexander Calder’s exhibition "Intricate: Calder and the Poetry of Science."
🎵 Take a dance break with SoriBeat, the youth Korean music ensemble presented Korean Performing Arts Institute of Chicago.
💄 End your day with Drag Queen Story Hour. This is an English and American Sign Language Interpreter performance.
Plan your visit and learn more here 👉 https://bit.ly/3RN2tfs
"Spinner Forest"
Whenever our 4th-floor elevators open, a chorus of soft exclamations emerges along with the visitors. Nick Cave's ( Nick Cave - Visual Artist) "Spinner Forest" greets you in the fourth-floor lobby, immediately surrounding you with thousands of kinetic spinners. If you visit at the right time of day, the sun catches on each one creating this dazzling effect. Come get lost in "Nick Cave: Forothermore" before it closes on October 2.
Nick Cave "Forothermore"
We've had nearly 100,000 visitors to "Forothermore," one of our most visited exhibitions yet, but that's not nearly as many pony beads it took to make "Beaded Cliff Wall." After you pass through the "Spinner Forest," you're met with the "Beaded Cliff Wall," a piece that is made up of millions of pony beads threaded onto shoelaces by hand. Listen to Nick Cave - Visual Artist describe how he builds a cloth within some of his work. See "Nick Cave: Forothermore" today before it closes on October 2.
Nick Cave: "Forothermore"
There's just 1 week left to view "Nick Cave: Forothermore." Hear from the Chicago artist Nick Cave - Visual Artist as he discusses his process and how it was informed, in part, by his youth, family, and community members.
Book your tickets today. ➡ https://bit.ly/CaveMCA
Nick Cave "Forothermore"
Spend your weekend exploring the first career-spanning retrospective of Nick Cave's
(Nick Cave - Visual Artist) "Forothermore." Time is running out so catch it before it's gone! Book your tickets today.
🎫 https://bit.ly/CaveMCAw
Nick Cave: "Forothermore"
There are just 2 weeks left to see Nick Cave's (Nick Cave - Visual Artist) “Forothermore”. Explore this ode to those who've lived their lives as the “other," and the joy that remains. Book your tickets before it closes on October 2. 🎫 https://bit.ly/CaveMCA
Bimbola Akinbola for Chicago Performs | September 16
Chicago Performs: Erin Kilmurray
"I make performance because I feel like it's a way to be seen . . . I think it's important to be witnessed in who you are." Covering what performance in Chicago is, and how she goes about constructing a performance, learn more about artist Erin Kilmurray who presents "the Function" as part of Chicago Performs on September 15 & 16. Book your tickets here: https://bit.ly/3e6A2KT
Video: Sovereign State Recordings
Motion: Drew Wittler
Design: Jonathan Sangster
Chicago Performs: Derek Lee McPhatter
A cyber punk rock opera following water rights activists as they seek hope despite ecological crisis and resurgent fascism, Derek Lee McPhatter presents "Water Riot in Beta" as part of Chicago Performs. Learn more about McPhatter's vision and how it relates to Chicago in this video, then join us September 15 & 16 for Chicago Performs; book tickets now: https://bit.ly/WaterRiot
Tuesdays on the Terrace
Tomorrow is the final Tuesday on the Terrace performance of the season and just like in video from 2019 Junius Paul Music has invited some special guests to join him: Makaya McCraven on drums, Corey Wilkes on trumpet, De’Sean Jones on saxophone, Jahari Stampley on piano, and Jackson Shepard on guitar. Walk-up tickets are available day-of performance at the MCA back gate.
The perfect appetizer to the Chicago Jazz Festival this weekend!
(Video from 2019 Tuesdays on the Terrace performance by Mashaun Hardy, used by permission.)
Chicago Performs Trailer
Chicago Performs arrives at the MCA September 15 and 16! Get to know the 3 artists behind this two-day event, Bimbola Akinbola, Erin Kilmurray, and Derek Lee McPhatter. We'll be sharing more about the artists and their work in the coming weeks, but don't miss out on getting tickets to Chicago Performs now: https://bit.ly/mcaperforms
The Power of Party: Otez Gary in Conversation with Lori Branch
In advance of The Power of Party Talk and Soundtrack at DuSable Museum of African American History on August 27, Curatorial Assistant Otez Gary interviews House music pioneer Lori Branch. They touch on Branch's first experiences of House as a haven for LGBTQ youth, the connections between her art practice and AIDS advocacy, and the expressive fashions of the '80s Chicago House scene.
Join us at The DuSable on August 27: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/power-of-the-party-chicago-house-and-nick-cave-tickets-400444368887
There’s still time to enjoy summer at the MCA! Two Tuesdays on the Terrace concerts remain, tomorrow enjoy Black Diamond - CHI and on August 30 Junius Paul Music closes out our 2022 season. Walk-up tickets are always available day-of performance: mcachicago.org/jazz
Chicago Performs Trailer
Get to know the three artists in Chicago Performs, Bimbola Akinbola, Erin Kilmurray, and Derek Lee McPhatter, and about the new works they will be presenting at the MCA September 15 and 16. Get tickets and learn more: bit.ly/mcaperforms
Interview with artist Wendy Red Star excerpt
Exploring fact, fiction, and the gray area between, "Based on a True Story . . ." closes this weekend after August 14. Former TCA apprentice Angelina Cofer had the opportunity to sit down with artist Wendy Red Star to discuss her work in the exhibition "The Last Thanks," (shown in this video) that was recently acquired by the MCA.
(Artwork shown: Wendy Red Star, "The Last Thanks." 2006. Collection Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, gift of Robert N. Haggerty and Susan and Lewis Manilow by exchange. © 2006 Wendy Red Star. Photo: Nathan Keay, © MCA Chicago.)
Mezcal vs. Pulque - a conversation
with artist Rirkrit Tiravanija,
Madeleine Grynsztejn, director of the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago,
and Kythzia Barrera, director of Innovando la Tradición / Cooperativa 1050º
A conversation about the creative process and collaboration between Cooperativa 1050º and Rirkrit Tiravanija that culminated in the current exhibition at kurimanzutto, which celebrates the tradition and agency of Oaxaca’s artisan communities.
Fire and Clay - the handmade art of Oaxaca pottery and the art of Rirkrit Tiravanija meet and mix in mutual creativity in this warm evening among friends old and new.
Tuesdays on the Terrace Trailer
A summer tradition returns tomorrow, June 7, as the 2022 Tuesdays on the Terrace season gets started! Join powerhouse vocal duo Margaret Murphy-Webb and Bobbi Wilsyn lead two sets backed by Chuck Webb’s swinging band Guru Tonic.
Sneak peek of "Nick Cave: Forothermore"
TOMORROW! "Nick Cave: Forothermore" opens as an ode to those who, whether due to racism, homophobia, or other forms of bigotry, live their lives as the “other.” Make sure you book tickets in advance for this week, tap the link in our bio.
Sneak Peek of "Nick Cave: Forothermore"
Next week on May 14, "Nick Cave: Forothermore" opens to everyone, but here's a sneak peek of what's coming up! The exhibition from Nick Cave - Visual Artist is an ode to those who, whether due to racism, homophobia, or other forms of bigotry, live their lives as the “other”—and a celebration of the way art, music, fashion, and performance can help us envision a more just future.
The Sara Albrecht Artist Talk: Andrea Carlson
This year’s Sara Albrecht Artist Talk, sponsored by Emerge, features Andrea Carlson in conversation with Assistant Curator Gibran Villalobos. The artist will discuss her 2014 work Ink Babel, which was acquired by the Emerge group for the MCA Collection in 2020. Carlson will also discuss recent and upcoming projects, and the founding of the Center for Native Futures, a nonprofit in Chicago dedicated to Native artists, with cofounder and artist Debra Yepa-Pappan.
This annual Emerge-sponsored artist talk honors Sara Albrecht, MCA Trustee and former Chair of Emerge. It was organized by the Pamela Alper Associate Curator Bana Kattan and Assistant Curator Gibran Villalobos.
Trailer for On Stage: Entanglement
Live performance returns to the MCA's stage with the On Stage: Entanglement series focusing on how the ways we connect are sometimes fleeting, sometimes enduring. Learn more about the three distinct performances engage with our many entanglements: https://bit.ly/3D0IDr9
Artist Talk: Bani Abidi
On the occasion of her solo exhibition at the MCA Chicago, join us live for a virtual lecture by artist Bani Abidi, introduced by Pamela Alper Associate Curator Bana Kattan and followed by an audience Q&A.
This event is presented in partnership with the Visiting Artist Program at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where Abidi earned her MFA. Abidi has been working with the moving image for the past two decades. She has consistently blurred the lines between fiction and fact while finding inspiration in the dark absurdities of everyday life. Her staged scenes and various characters struggle with enacting small gestures of resistance within broader dynamics of state power and nationalism. Abidi, who also draws and photographs, uses humor in all its gravity and firmly believes in the agency of laughter.
This talk is presented in partnership with the SAIC Visiting Artist Program and SAIC Alumni Engagement.
Major support for Bani Abidi: The Man Who Talked Until He Disappeared is provided by the Zell Family Foundation, Cari and Michael Sacks, R. H. Defares, Charlotte Cramer Wagner and Herbert S. Wagner III of the Wagner Foundation, and Anonymous.
Generous support is provided by Murat Ahmed and Katherine Mackenzie, and by the Shulamit Nazarian Foundation.
This exhibition is supported by the Women Artists Initiative, a philanthropic commitment to further equity across gender lines and promote the work and ideas of women artists.
Talk: Art + Activism in Latin America
Continue the exploration of Art + Activism inspired by the work of Andrea Bowers currently on view at the MCA, with an exploration of the overlaps between art and activism in the context of Latin America led by scholar Jennifer Ponce de Leon. The conversation convenes two artist collectives that consider activism, political art, and art’s power as a tool in advocacy. The collectives Frente 3 de Fevereiro and Iconoclasistas tackle social issues through different approaches empowered by civic engagement. The discussion challenges ways these relationships shift in different cultural contexts from Latin America to the US.
Art + Activism talks for the exhibition “Andrea Bowers” are organized by Curator January Parkos Arnall and Assistant Curator Gibran Villalobos, with Otez Gary, Curatorial Assistant.
Talk: Art + Activism with Andrea Bowers, John Quigley, and Marcos Ramirez ERRE
Contemporary artists often inspire us to think differently about the world around us, posing questions and proposing alternatives to the status quo. Activists likewise use art and design to visualize their ideas and calls to action, and to expand their reach. In the first of two engaging conversations exploring the intersections of art and activism, inspired by the exhibition Andrea Bowers currently on view at the MCA, Bowers joins artists and activists John Quigley and Marcos Ramirez ERRE to discuss the bounds and overlaps between their creative practices and social justice missions.
The exhibition Andrea Bowers showcases more than twenty years of the artist's work inspired by, and in collaboration with, communities of activists. Long-standing friends and compatriots of Bowers, Quigley and Ramirez ERRE will begin the conversation by sharing their own artistic work before entering a frank conversation with Bowers about their common causes, their collaborative work, and the bounds and overlaps of their lives as artists and activists.
Art + Activism talks for the exhibition Andrea Bowers are organized by Curator January Parkos Arnall and Assistant Curator J. Gibran Villalobos, with Otez Gary, Curatorial Assistant.