My NW Indiana and More: Zhou B Art Center

Showing posts with label Zhou B Art Center. Show all posts

Friday, March 15, 2024

Awakening Earth: Narratives of Spring - curated by Sergio Gomez

Art is meant to move you. To give you an emotion. To speak to you, at you, converse with you. As I calibrate my own desire for art I find that I now get excited about one or two pieces. Not an entire gallery. The gallery does move me. Just that I now recognize the difference to what I want vs. what I desire. What I want is to feel exuberated, alive, I want it to represent me and my morals, ethics, what I work for to make the world a better place.

Well, I found such a piece tonight at the Zhou B Art Center's 3rd Friday open exhibitions of the month, hosted by the resident artists and the gallery. This months exhibition titled "Awakening Earth: Narratives of Spring" was curated by Sergio Gomez. Sergio is a super nice guy. I met him through my friend Lou Shields. At one time I tried to attend a Lightroom (or maybe it was Photoshop) class from him, however had to cancel because of personnel reasons. Tonight Sergio was so welcoming, as I had remembered him to be some 12 years ago.

So, the piece I found is mentioned later in this blog. In the mean time, follow my journey as I arrived and started on the 4th floor, working myself down each floor.

Sergio's curated show, "Awakening Earth: Narratives of Spring" . . .

This next piece of art is the one I fell in love with. The piece of art that defines what I need (not desire) in this world. If I had the means, I would buy it.

This is the work of my wonderful and talented friend Diana Leviton Gondek. The story goes that her cat Bansky was very fond of flower, so Diana indulged him. However she noticed that he was not feeling well over time, to the point he was just laying around. Sort of a flopsy mopsy I am guessing. She took him to the vet and found out she was actually "killing him" with flowers. They were toxic for to Bansky. So now he does not get to enjoy flowers. Those thoughts, the feelings for Bansky, is why Diana created this piece. You really have to see it in person to understand the beauty of this. The added textures, though ever so slight, makes the painting pop.

Zhou B Art Center

1029 W. 35th Street

Chicago, IL 60609

(773) 523-0200

Website

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If you get a chance, check out my black and white blog post. This is my form of art that I like you to see and enjoy. (click here)

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Friday, October 15, 2021

Zhou B Art Center 3rd Friday - 10/2021

Since the pandemic started, it seems local arts have suffered the most. Perhaps because everything is based on rebounding financially before you spend it on art, as it seems with the Zhou B Art Center.

This is the second month in a row now that I have been back to the 3rd Thursday open studio at the Zhou B Art Center in Chicago. It has changed. In May 2012 when I began it was very lively, entertaining, very inviteful. It felt like family, especially when you would see many of the gang from Paul Henry's Art Gallery in Hammond attend, or even exhibit. People like Brabant Lenting, Lou Shields, Jen Jackson, Sandra Tomara.

As I had written before, there were multiples of everything here. Different styles of artists, multiple floors, multiple types of people on each floor. Today, however, none of this seemed to be true.

What I miss the most is the first floor. This month and last month it had been roped off for special events. I cherished being able to walk around on the 1st floor to look at curated art from the studios, or special guest. The openness and guiding walls made it feel inviting and secluded. As if it was just for you. For special occasions you could see/listen to a musical performance. This was before the 2nd floor re-opened which began to host such events.

It would appear that the Zhou brothers have place more emphasis now on money. I understand. You have to keep the building operational. Finding people to pay to hold private events is big bucks. However, the Zhou brothers who are artists themselves, appear to have forgotten the other artists and the public. Why would you book an event that excludes or makes it difficult for the public to attend the 3rd Friday of the month?

I have a desire now to keep attending to support the artists that remain. To write my blogs in hope that the Zhou brothers will do more to showcase just the artists on the 3rd Friday of the month.

Many of these artists have become my friends. The Arts in general need to remain, need to become, the focal point of our society. Life is simple. It takes greed to make it complicated. People get wrapped up in their "big picture", the plan of the man, the ultimate goal in life, when in reality what life is, is all around you.

Here are a couple photographs from the evening. It was a short visit because it saddened me to stay there any longer. I hope that changes for next month.

The above three photographs are of Diana Leviton Gondek's studio #413A (4th floor).

The above photograph was taken on the way home off the Indiana Tollway, of BP.

Note to the Zhou B Art Center. Take a look at my blogs back to May 2012. If you see a photo you can use to help populate your 3rd Friday page from then to August 2014, please contact me and I will send you the photo. (Or even a few months from August 2014 to now that you may be missing.)