Love/Hate

Love/Hate: A Collaborative Exhibition

Opening Friday, December 11th 6-11pm

TOJO Gallery
1418 W Division, Chicago, IL 60642



Love/Hate is a collaborative art installation by Revise CMW and CZR PRZ. Two renowned staples in the Chicago underground art scene, Revise and CZR PRZ have been good friends, collaborators, and art enthusiasts for years. Individually they have diligently worked to curate exhibits, produce live art events, and host numerous group shows.

Love/Hate artistically highlights the interaction these two artists have within their creative scene, between other artists, friends, co-workers, and family members and within life as a whole. The show encompasses emotion, relating to both artist’s respective artistic style and experience, and how that influences their work.

The subversive nature of street art can aesthetically and traditionally challenge the framework of how art is viewed. Instead of working outside of the white walled space to define a new audience, Love/Hate challenges the viewer and the institution to use context and material to engage subculture within the space.

Finally, the live critique of the artist’s work by each other references the need for peer criticism within the art scene.

Love/Hate is curated by Allison Glenn
Sponsored by Flair Max Paint.
Music by DJ Once a Month

Opening Friday, December 11, 2009 Closing Sunday, December 20, 2009.

Gallery Hours :
Saturday, December 12, 2009 12-6pm--->Live Painting Demo
Saturday, December 19, 2009 12-6pm

In addition, TOJO Gallery is open by appointment: 773. 726. 4545

Jon Rafman: Kool-Aid Man in Second Life

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2009 10PM-2AM Empty Bottle 1035 N Western Ave Chicago Free With RSVP: rsvp@emptybottle.com


The Empty Bottle, Grolsch and Curator Allison Glenn bring you a film screening by Montreal-Based filmmaker Jon Rafman:

Kool-Aid Man in Second Life

and

DU3L

as described by mimi luse: "setting up an avatar for himself on second life in the guise of the kool-aid man, rafman wanders its underworld like an internet flaneur. of course, the often clichéd graphics and CG stock characters of second life are no weimar berlin, but rafman still takes considerable psychological risks, entering into some of the most out-there fantasy lands, sexual and otherwise. sometimes a voyeur, other times an annoyance to those who play SL in earnest, in his absurd rotund costume, he positions himself as the anti-avatar, in complete opposition to romantic characters (pneumatic babes, furries, extreme goths) that the majority of players fashion for themselves. like a tourist, rafman’s kool-aid (username: theodore hartono) documents his travels, and over time, the artist has compiled a hilarious album of snapshots. in each, kool-aid man’s indefeatable grin renders the role-playing a little absurd, proving that context is everything, even in the artificial reality of second life."

Jon Rafman is a Montreal-born film-maker and new media artist. He holds a MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a BA in Philosophy and Literature from McGill University. One of Jon’s project’s Google Street Views .com is currently being featured in Harper’s Magazine. He is presently working on a feature length film about professional video gaming with the support of grants from the Quebec and Canadian Council of the Arts.
www.jonrafman.com

Accompanied by the musical styling of:

DEVLIN AND DARKO
DJ/rupture and Matt Shadetek
DJ TREW

Baltimore DJ duo CHRIS DEVLIN and RONNIE DARKO met back in 98 over a obsession for 80s hip-hop and scratch DJ's. Best known for being members of the amazing live act SPANK ROCK, they've also DJed with BECK and GNARLS BARKELY as well as starting the successful monthly booty-bouncing parties Baltimore Bass Connection in their hometown and Fully Fitted in NYC. Beat deconstructionist DJ / RUPTURE, whose able blending of genres and cultural elements makes for an encompassing musical mix unlike any other will be joined by beatmaker extraordinaire MATT SHADETEK. Just last week, the two innovators released Solar Life Raft via The Agriculture, a three-disc set created with a "shared appreciation for engaging with streetwise dance music from a ground-up, participatory perspective, as well as more experimental sounds."



Featuring a live performance by DanceFam Chicago.

www.fullyfitted.blogspot.com
www.allisonglennphotography.com
www.jonrafman.com
www.dancefamchicago.com
www.groundliftmedia.com

Grolsch will be on special all night long.

Come on by, pop open a swingtop and enjoy...

Undercolor

Grolsch and Curator Anna Cerniglia bring you an Opening Night Party for “The Undercolor” Artwork and Film Premier

Opening Night Party for “The Undercolor” Artwork and Film Premier

Date: Thursday, November 12th, 2009

Location: Rodan - 1530 N. Milwaukee Avenue

Time: 9 p.m. ­- 2 a.m. (free entrance)

Special menu available and 4 USD Grolsch

In partnership with Rodan and Curator Anna Cerniglia, Grolsch will present "The Undercolor" the primer of life. This collaborative art and film series by Elevation creative partners Erik DeBat and Brian Keller features burlesque star Angela Eve and newcomer Becca Brown. The two creative partners explore several surreal glamour themes of modern day Americana.

The Rodan Bar & Restaurant’s superior kitchen will be serving a special menu all evening complemented by one free Grolsch. Come celebrate art, film and experience the adventurous examination of the underside of culture with vignettes of image, action, color, and emotion by Elevation Productions. Elevation is the creative union of artist/designer Erik DeBat and filmmaker/producer Brian Keller.

The Artwork and Film Installation exhibition shows Friday 13 ^– Tuesday 17 November at Johalla Projects - 1561 N. Milwaukee Avenue, 2nd Floor

Power Detroit

I'm going to Detroit this weekend to catch up with my family, but most importantly, I am checking out a collaborative art project:

Power House Project
www.powerhouseproject.com

I came across this project during a break from Art on Track last weekend. I walked into the Borders on State Street and grabbed the October issue of Juxtapoz Magazine (which is horrible btw, ugh...I hate death metal artwork. Pushead is an awful curator) which did not hold my interest one bit-other than the interactive articles where you have to go to the Juxtapoz website and translate them.

The front cover of the magazine advertised the 15th Anniversary of Juxtapoz Magazine in collaboration with Power House Project Detroit.

Excellent marketing for PHP. Anyway, I emailed them about my visit Monday, and have not heard anything back. They have probably been bombarded with emails since the Juxtapoz October issue came out. But, I'm goin anyway. I wonder what it would take for me to do this...hold that thought.

www.powerhouseproject.com

http://www.powerhouseproject.com/

http://powerhouseproject.com/blog/

1 day left to make Run Blago Run! Art Show a Reality!

Recently, graffiti art stencils of Illinois' disgraced former governor jogging in a track suit and looking over his shoulder are finding their way onto buildings and alleys around the city, the Chicago Tribune reports.

I'd like to host an art show on this phenomenon and invite artists to interpret the classic jogging pose. INVEST in this project and help make this a reality.

Run, Blago Run! Show
A 3-day pop-up art gallery of work depicting ex-Governor Rod Blagojevich aka Blago. Maybe you've seen him jogging or lighting campfires in Chicago. Or maybe you've heard the self-professed 'hard working cowboy' compare himself to Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The Run, Blago Run! Show will allow these dreams to come true. Brought to you by CRO + friends. Artists will interpret the classic jogging pose in any medium.

The show will take place in a vacant storefront in Wicker-Park, Chicago. Location TBA.

Date: July 2009

10% of show sales donated to Street-Level Youth Media. (www.street-level.org)

Thanks to everyone that has already pledged your support for the "Run Blago Run" Show but we STILL NEED YOUR HELP. Give as little as $1!

Blago did a great job taking money AWAY from arts funding while in office, why not use this imagery and this saga to inspire and support the arts?

Only You Can Make This Happen...

Go donate at: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1362834962/run-blago-run-show

The Movement Worldwide Visual Art Division Launch Event

The Movement Worldwide, Inc. celebrated its newly formed Visual Art Division with a launch party held at the beautiful RIGHT Loft in Chicago.


The division, which is being headed by the movement's own Allison Glenn, manages such talented artists as: Ray Noland, a Chicago graphic artist, known as the originator of the DIY Obama street art campaign; Hebru Brantley, nationally known gallery artist whose work is currently being featured in Switzerland at the famed Art Basel; Revise CMW, a muralist from the elite Chicago’s Most Wanted graffiti crew; Abbey Taylor, the make-up artist for Jennifer Hudson, whose previous clientele includes Kid Sister and Kanye West; and Shala, renowned art director and producer, with his character Seven Spoon, the eccentric, fashion fierce teen that observes the world's hypocrisy and the ‘grown-ups’ that nurture it.


Upon entering the RIGHT loft, guests were greeted by a trendy scene: gold, silk curtains draped the windows over looking the River North art district, bottles of RIGHT gin lined the back of the bar, hip music floated lightly over the crowd, featured art was displayed prominently, and the black edgy decor of the bar accentuated the room.


The Launch party proved to be a success as guests came and enjoyed an absinthe fountain, a delicious array of food, and creative RIGHT gin cocktails, all provided by the RIGHT loft.


RIGHT gin has been hailed as creating a new category for gin. According to Nick Gallegos, international mixologist, "the real magic in the RIGHT gin cocktails is where it sits with its flavors, which has shown a HUGE opportunity to show how mixable RIGHT gin is." The cocktails provided at the launch party were delicious and enjoyed by all who attended.


More information in RIGHT gin can be found at http://www.rightgin.com/







Photos courtesy of Darcy Kyffin http://www.motherdiablo.com/

Project Art Chicago!

Check out the new Project Art Chicago Video:

Project Art Chicago 2009 Launch from Jeremy Hodges on Vimeo.