In 2010, Daniel Beltrá spent two months photographing the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The result, Spill, is an arresting group of images that shows the vastness of the beauty and destruction he witnessed. For his work on the Gulf oil spill, he received 2011 Wildlife Photographer of the Year Award, the Lucie Award for the International Photographer of the Year – Deeper Perspective, and was chosen as a finalist for Critical Mass for Photolucida. Spill is on exhibit at the Catherine Edelman Gallery March 8-April 28.
Grace Before Dying is on exhibit March 8-April 28 at Roosevelt University's Gage Gallery. The show is the work of Lori Waslechuk, a documentary photographer whose photographs have appeared in publications like Newsweek, Life and the New York Times. She has also produced photographs for several international aid organizations including CARE, the UN World Food Program and more.
The March exhibit at the Chicago Photography Center is called Profusion/Essence. Featured are the work of photographers Lawrence W. Oliverson (example above) and Jill Bedford (image has been removed at the request of the photographer). "While both artists’ aesthetics are opposite, Oliverson being a minimalist, capturing zen-like peace and calm, and Bedford creating images fairly overflowing with life, each of these two mature artists composes their images with clear intent, and pure color," says curator Susan Aurinko.
The Limits of Digital Photography concludes its run at the Museum of Contemporary Photography at Columbia College March 25. W.J.T. Mitchell, a professor of English and Art History at the University of Chicago will give the final exhibit lecture March 20 at Ferguson Lecture Hall. According to MoCP, he argues against the view that digital photography does not have the firm grip on reality that was claimed by traditional photography.
Opening March 29 at the MoCP: Talkin’ Back: Chicago Youth Respond brings together student work from six different Chicago public schools and communities created in programs sponsored by the MoCP and Project AIM at the Center for Community Arts Partnerships (CCAP), Columbia College Chicago. Guided by professional photographers and writers, participating students created works that explore the narrative potential of photographs inspired by images from the MoCP’s collection. This exhibition features works such as Kevin, 2011 (above) and ends April 4.
15 international artists are part of the MoCP exhibit Survival Techniques: Narratives of Resistance, which runs from April 12 through July 1. Pictured above: Ghost Teen by Thai filmmaker and photographer Apichatpong Weerasethakul (left) and Liberation War 1971, by MRK Palash, a photographer from Bangladesh.
A solo show by Eric Holubow will be at the Chicago Cultural Center from March 31 to July 9 (opening reception April 13). "Being a Chicagoan, I have always been attracted to the beauty of architecture," he says. "While some celebrate a structure’s construction, I am drawn to its deconstruction; when these industrial, commercial and residential buildings transition into ruins. It is at these moments when the energy needed to preserve extinguishes; when a building’s existence is no longer deemed viable or valuable. In these forgotten and overlooked places, I see not just loss, tragedy, or decay, but the chaos in which a new architect’s vision may be born."
The Schneider Gallery is showcasing work by Xavier Nuez (above left) and Valerie Oliveiro (above right). "Though veritably different in style and technique, these two photographers reveal places under night light," say the folks at Schneider. The exhibit runs from March 2 to April 28. Nuez's "Glam Bugs" are also part of the National Art Premiere 2012 group show at the Elmhurst Artists Guild gallery through March 28. Elmhurst, IL More info on the Schneider show here.
Photography by Ken Konchel is on exhibit at Gallery 180 at the Illinois Institute of Art through May 3. "My ambition is to raise awareness of, and appreciation for, architecture by presenting it as engaging and dynamic geometric arrangements and interactions," Konchel says.
Chicago-based photographer Gary Hoover traveled to Berlin to capture the images in his The Art of the Wall show, at the Elephant Room gallery through April 13. "Shortly after the Wall fell, more than a hundred artists from around the world came together and transformed what was once a symbol of oppression into a symbol of freedom,” Hoover says. “My goal was to bring back — through selective enhancement — the color, vibrancy and emotion those works originally expressed, while keeping intact the public’s euphoric response to the art.”
Yto Barrada's Riffs, featuring photographs from her native Morocco, opens March 18 at the Renaissance Society's Bergman Gallery. Read a review in the Chicago Reader.
At the Art Institute of Chicago: Muxima, the first film by Chilean-born artist Alfredo Jaar (still image, above). Described as “a cinematic elegy dedicated to the people of Angola,” the structure of the film is deeply rooted in Jaar's love for African music. Muxima (meaning “heart” in the indigenous Angolan language, Kimbundu) is guided by five interpretations of a local folk song and edited into ten cantos, each depicting an aspect of Angola’s devastating history.
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