Archives: 2004

Una perspectiva de la felicidad
13 de agosto, 2004
Peggy Carranza, HOY NEWSPAPER

Chicago -- Desde el 6 hasta el 28 de agosto se estará exhibiendo en la Galería de Arte Polvo la obra "In Pursuit of Happiness" del artista cubano Hugo Michel-Hernández. La muestra consiste en una instalación interactiva compuesta por 500 barcos de papel: 250 construidos con el diario "Granma", el órgano oficial del partido comunista de Cuba, y el resto con páginas de libros para colorear de Walt Disney. Un contraste que cuestiona la condición del inmigrante y lo que para éste representa la felicidad.

Hugo Michel-Hernández se crió en la Florida, lugar donde desde muy pequeño comenzó a mostrar interés por el dibujo y la pintura. Hace 10 años se residenció en Chicago para estudiar una maestría. Durante sus estudios tomó un programa de arte interdisciplinario en el cual tuvo la oportunidad de mezclar el arte, la literatura y las ciencias políticas.

Por otra parte, la galería, continuando con su objetivo de prestar sus espacios a artistas emergentes que tengan propuestas alternativas y contemporáneas, también presenta la mini exhibición "Obras en papel" de un colectivo español llamado "functionvariable". La misma es producto de un intercambio entre el grupo español y el colectivo Polvo que permitirá al grupo de Pilsen presentarse el mes de noviembre en Barcelona.

Tuvimos la oportunidad de hablar recientemente con Michel-Hernández sobre su obra:

¿Por qué escogiste la Galería de Arte Polvo?
Me gustan los espacios alternativos y porque está en la comunidad. Me gusta lo que es el espacio "underground". Polvo se está moviendo mucho. Yo los conocí a través del internet, los contacté y les hice la propuesta.

¿Por qué eliges la figura del barco para tu obra?
Yo como inmigrante llegué en barco. El barco para mí significa mucho como caribeño, como cubano. Es algo que se ve a diario viviendo al lado del mar. Inconscientemente es una imagen que utilizo con frecuencia, sea en un dibujo o, en este caso, en barquitos de papel.

¿Dónde obtuviste los ejemplares del "Granma"?

El "Granma" lo conseguí en Cuba. Allí estuve en julio y noviembre del año pasado porque participé en la Bienal de La Habana. De ahí me traje los que pude, le pedí a todo el mundo que me los regalara porque ya tenía este proyecto en mente. Me traje una bolsa tan grande que todavía tengo muchos.

¿En qué consiste "In Pursuit of Happiness"?

Es una comparación conceptual. De un lado están los barcos hechos con el "Granma" colocados sin un orden en específico, lo que constituye mi llegada como inmigrante. Del otro lado están los barcos hechos con las páginas de libros para colorear de Walt Disney ya ordenados, en representación de lo que significa los Estados Unidos, lo que terminó siendo para mí la vida en este país y lo que le da al inmigrante en realidad, que en cierto modo es una fantasía. Yo lo comparo con ir a Disney World, el cual es el sueño de muchos inmigrantes aunque parezca patético.

¿Podrías decir que tu obra es irónica?

Sí, es irónica. Uno sale de los países latinoamericanos por problemas económicos no por otra razón. Estoy cambiando todo lo que muestra este periódico por esa fantasía que te va a traer felicidad en lo económico, que te va a traer abundancia, más nada.

¿A quién va dirigido este mensaje?

Va dirigido a muchas personas: a la mayoría de los inmigrantes, a los cubanos, a mucha gente que viene, que abandona todo lo que tiene por venir aquí y tener simplemente esas cosas que para mí son artificiales. A todo aquel que por tener un poquito más de dinero y cierta comodidad abandona todo lo que para mí es más importante. Aquí uno alcanza muchas cosas pero definitivamente no lo es todo.

¿Estás tomando una posición política con tu obra?

Personalmente, apoyo el sistema socialista en Cuba en muchos niveles. Trabajo mucho con el país, defiendo la ideología y de alguna manera lo estoy haciendo con mi obra. Precisamente en este momento que se acaba de vivir una guerra, me doy cuenta de muchas cosas y lo defiendo aún más.

GUIA
CUANDO:Hasta el 28 de agosto

DONDE: Polvo Art Studio, 1458 W. 18th St., 1R

HORARIO: Sábado, 12-5pm o por cita.

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Archives: 2004

The other artists' colony

Chicago Artists' Months offers a behind-the-scene peek at Pilsen's ascendant art scene
By Lauren Viera
Photography by Todd Judge, Stuart-Rodgers Photography
(from The Chicago Social magazine October 2004)

Robin Rios and Jerod Schmidt of 4Art Inc.

Despite soaring property values and gentrification, Pilsen has preserved itself as an artist colony largely untouched by the commercial exploitation that's robbed the Wicker Park art scene of much of its former autonomy and innocence. During the city's ninth annual Chicago Artists' Month in October, Pilsen welcomes intrepid art lovers to the doorsteps of more than 100 studios and live-work dwellings.

The month is bookended by a pair of free weekend events that showcase two sides of the neighborhood's artistic prowess. East Pilsen hosts its venerable 34th annual Artists' Open House on October 1-3, while West Pilsen presents its second annual Pilsen Open Studios on October 30-31. One might assume that a neighborhood seemingly divided, albeit for the purpose of real estate zoning, would suffer civil competition. But in this case, the art, artists and ethics vary so dramatically within Pilsen that comparisons are practically moot.

The East Pilsen event falls under the aegis of the recently christened "Chicago Arts District," which--according to representatives of Podmajerksy Management, Inc., the third-generation, family-owned real estate company that owns many of the buildings in the neighborhood--encompasses an area along Halsted Street from 16th Street south to Cermak Road. The Podmajerkskys have long fashioned themselves as advocates of rehabbing vintage buildings and storefronts into studio/loft spaces ideal for artists. Artists' Open House was first organized in the summer of 1970 by developer John Pdmajerksy, Jr.'s wife, Annelies, who by that time had helped establish a successful artists' community of lofts and studios within a 12-square-block area.

Vespine Gallery

"There's been a lot of art going on here for a long time," says Artists' Open House director Cynthia West. "The Podmajerskys wanted people around the city to discover the artists here, but they wanted to do it in a way that was intimate and would make people feel welcome."

Encompassing the neighborhood and its gardens (lush attractions in their own right), the Artists' Open House has grown to include as many as 120 established and emerging artists. The event also includes galleries along Halsted (who welcome visitors to show openings year-round on the second Friday of every month) and communal gallery spaces reserved for artists whose studios lie just beyond walking distance from the strip.

Though a handful of progressive East Pilsen galleries--Meat Yard, Fleur, Drivethru Studios and Bucket Rider Gallery--have recently closed or relocated, newcomers have sprung up along Halsted. 4Art Inc. was opened last October by Illinois Institute of Art graduate Robin Rios and business partner Jerod Schmidt, and the two credit the open house event for increased traffic. "A lot of people are starting to come around and see what's going on here," says Rios, adding that, since her gallery's debut, she's noticed a different type of crowd. "At first it was just gallery-hoppers and after-hours partiers. But now people are looking to buy art."

Dubhe Carreño

Dubhe Carreño, a Venezuelan-born ceramicist and an instructor at the School of the Art Institute, is opening a gallery on Halsted this month. She plans to show contemporary ceramic art bye emerging and mid-career artists from the United States and abroad. The gallery's first show will feature new works by Venezuelan sculptor Mariana Monteaguado. "I had been a visitor at the Artists' Open House before, and was amazed at how many people came and how much energy there was in the area," Carreño says. "I'm here because I hope the area will become more gallery-oriented." Other recently opened galleries on Halsted include Opposite Gallery, Vespine Studios & Gallery, Sally Ko Studio and Pilsen Photo Group.

West on 18th Street, a slightly more intimate, grassroots crowd sets the scene for the Pilsen Open Studios event. Its participating artists' studios are tucked into the predominantly Mexican-American neighborhood centered around the stretch of 18th Street from Ashland west to Damen. Community centers, cafés and the exemplary Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum will also show works by local artists. Free shuttle vans will be on hand to ferry visitors from one cluster of participants to another.

The seeds of this event were sown last October, when Pilsen muralist Hector Duarte was chosen as one of 12 artists spotlit in Chicago Artists' Month, a citywide visual-arts initiative coordinated by the Department of Cultural Affairs. Duarte, who has deep roots in Pilsen, was asked by the city to help organize what became the first annual Pilsen Open Studios.

Hector Duarte

Duarte got the ball running in a hurry. "In one wee, I reached 13 to 14 studios. After two weeks, I had about 20," he says. Ultimately, 26 venues, including both artists' studios and public spaces, signed on, and Duarte's wife, Daily Southtown reporter Linda Lutton, was brought on in to handle planning and media logistics for the event.

Salable works are not the point in West Pilsen, says Duarte: "it's not a business, it's a small town. It's more important that people come to see your space and what you make. It's not like, 'How did you make that? Why did you put an image of a heart in your work?' And we answer, 'It's part of the Mexican culture."

Miguel Cortez of Polvo Art Studio

Miguel Cortez, a founding member of Polvo Art Studio, helped to rally the first Pilsen Open Studios and will participate again this year. Polvo, which also puts out a politically charged arts publication of the same name, has occupied four different spaces over its eight-year existence and the current space doubles as Cortez's living quarters. Both the physical gallery space and the publication support conceptual and political multicultural arts, with and emphasis on work by latino artists.

Artists with diverse backgrounds are drawn to the neighborhood for both its Mexican culture and the rawness of its buildings, Cortez says. Polvo's modest 700-square-foot space is located in an old building on 18th Street, and the center of its floor is warped like a speed bump.

The studios provide a telling glimpse of how intrinsic art is to the lifeblood of this community. They're clustered in colorful storefronts and in converted basements, often in buildings that predate the Chicago Fire of 1871. These private spaces, such as the joint studio of Jeff Abbey Maldonado and drawing/text artist Diana Solis, and painter/sculptor Mark Nelson's self-deprecatingly named "Gringolandia" studio, are strewn with vibrant works and ideas in the process of being brought to life.

"It's definitely less glossy here," Cortez says. "I don't have track lighting, and for most of the artists who have studios, it's similar. But with this event, they're opening their doors to the public so people can see where they work, how they work, and what they produce.

© Chicago Social Magazine 2004

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Archives: 2004

Polvo studio brushes the 'dust' off controversial art
By Rochelle S. Russo
Columbia Chronicle - Staff Writer

In the midst of the Chicago art community, Polvo Art Studio offers more than just wall space.

Polvo, or “dust” translated in English, is an alternative art studio in the Pilsen neighborhood that presents contemporary art, installations, new media, and performance mediums.

Located at 1458 W. 18th St., Polvo was created by Miguel Cortez, Jesus Macarena-Avila and Elvia Rodriguez-Ochoa due to the lack of alternative art spaces in Chicago. 

“The majority of the galleries were restricted to wall space showing paintings or drawings as opposed to installations and alternative art,” Cortez said. 

In search of an outlet to advance the alternative art community, Polvo was created in 1996 and recently moved into its new space in August of 2003.

Displaying somewhat controversial exhibits such as those in the current show,—“Under” by Ayanna Jolivet Mccloud, which is thematic to life and death, and the previous exhibit “Tu Casa Es Mi Casa” which was based on gentrification —fit into the untraditional realm that Polvo originates from. 

Cortez said when he curates shows he looks at content. As long as they’re pushing it and it’s not just traditional art. I want something new, fresh and different.” 

“Under” reflects the Haitian phrase “anba dlo” meaning “under the waters” that symbolizes water separating the living from the dead.

The first part of “Under” includes photographs of large-scale drawings of water-filled holes covering the earth. In addition to Ayanna Jolivet Mccloud’s images she will include a participatory piece entitled “nlangu,” which means “separated by water.” Members at the gallery are asked to place any item to represent their living self on one side and an item symbolizing the dead on the other side. 

Polvo recruits a lot of its artists by using both the Internet and people off the street. There are usually one or two group shows a year held at Polvo such as the previous exhibit, “Tu Casa Es Mi Casa,” which explored the terrain of the gentrification process in hopes of awakening awareness within the Pilsen community. 

“Gentrification is happening so fast to the Pilsen community people don’t have time to react,” said Hugo Michel-Hernandez, a Columbia faculty member and an artist whose work was previously on display at Polvo. 

The purpose of “Tu Casa Es Mi Casa,” which ran March 19 through April 10, is to bring awareness to the people in the community. 

“The people walking around the streets may not be aware of what’s happening. But they’re aware because they see the different crowd coming in slowly,” Cortez said. “The show is about awareness, because how can you stop gentrification?”

Some pieces from “Tu Casa Es Mi Casa” that document the gentrification process are Jesus Macarena-Avila’s series of real estate cards mimicking those of Century 21 Real Estate with Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley’s headshot and text that reads, “Rich Daley 18th TIF [Tax Increase Financing] Specialist.” 

Jaime Mendoza had an installation of a coffee cup dispenser with an image on the cup of a running family that represents the minority’s displacement due to urban renewal and text below the image that reads, “Invading one Barrio [neighborhood] at a time.” 

Miguel Cortez was inspired to create a sticker of 25th Ward Alderman Danny Solis that reads “Pilsen for Sale” after he read an article about a plan to build a high-end housing project in Pilsen.

Alderman Danny Solis and Concord Homes Inc., were collaborating to build 132 two bedroom, two bathroom condominium units within 13 buildings along 16th to 18th streets on Peoria Avenue that cost as much as $280,000.

“It was obvious who the target was for those condos; it wasn’t the labor families,” Cortez said. 
The six-figure housing project was stopped due to the Pilsen Alliance which was able to attract 200 community resident protesters against the project. 

Hernandez said it is a common theme for artists to be blamed when a neighborhood is gentrified. Artists seeking cheap rent are notorious for making the neighborhood hipper and safer.

“You see the changes really close to Pilsen,” Hernandez said. “When you get around UIC ... one week something’s knocked down and the next week something is up. Artists have always been blamed for this sort of phenomenon, but there are other issues around it.”

Hernandez said he fears all of the Chicago neighborhoods eventually turning into the same thing based around Starbucks and Dominick’s.

“Chinatown is next I think,” Hernandez said. “I went to school and I can make decent money. But some of these people can not do that, so where do they go?” 

Besides opening receptions for new exhibits, Polvo is open for public viewing every Saturday from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. and by appointment. For more information or to schedule an appointment, call (773) 677-1914.

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from the 2003 Polvo archives

Duct tape as art of war
By Michael Hirtzer
Columbia Chronicle, A&E Editor

 Duct tape, the all-purpose silver tape, is finding its way into a surprising amount of art as of late. In response to the government touting the tubular tape as a precautionary measure against biological weapons, artists have incorporated it and other unusual items into their work.

The heightened state of awareness toward war and terrorism, both home and abroad, has no doubt inspired the work; after all, war probably ranks second only to love as a source of artistic muse.

At the Polvo Art Studio, a small gallery in Pilsen at 1257 W. 18th St., an exhibit entitled “Terrorist Art: Protesting War,” which runs through Saturday, April 19, displays a variety of works, all adverse to the war with Iraq.

Some of the works are comical, like Juan Compean’s “Terrorist, Death and Freedumb Fries,” a chalk-and-charcoal drawing over a screenprint on brown craft paper with three degenerative portraits of President George W. Bush. The first shows a funny-faced Bush saying: “Hey! Who sprinkled anthrax on my freedumb fries?”

The second has Bush wearing a suit and a cowboy hat saying: “Yee-haw! I’m gonna git me a terrorist.” And the final drawing has Bush dressed as the grim reaper, scythe and all, saying: “I am the angel of death.”

Miguel Cortez’s “Homeland Security Trifold Wallet,” is an actual brown leather wallet offering free duct tape inside. Cortez, a former student of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a Columbia film student who designs packaging and belt wallet presentations for the Chicago-based Humphreys Accessories, said, “I’m just trying to be absurd about protecting my money from terrorists.”

Columbia photography instructor Jno (pronounced like Jon) Cook’s “Four Rivers” is a holdover from the early 1990s. It was made in response to the Persian Gulf War. Referring to the four rivers in the book of Genesis, signifying the location of Eden, Cook wrote in his artist statement: “We are about to bomb Eden back to a Paleolithic Age.”

Other works in the exhibit include a digital collage titled “Pax Americana” by Tomas Sibley depicting a human skull with old pocket watches as eyes and a large bomb as a body and Jesus Macarena-Avila’s work, which is simply the word “Protect” spelled out on the gallery wall in duct tape.

“The Homeland Insecurity Variety Show,” one of the many events included as part of Version 3, a multimedia festival held at several venues throughout Chicago at the end of March, aimed at exploring “current performance platforms and the theme of reclaiming intellectual property rights and appropriation.”

The variety show included performances by the Evolution Control Committee, which was basically a gray-haired man dressed in a white lab coat mixing breakbeats with samples of the rock band AC/DC and the voice of CBS news anchor Dan Rather saying words like murder and disease.

The show also included a session on how to avoid terror. Utilizing retro iconography, the session informed audience members about the proper steps to take during a biological attack or nuclear winter.

Likewise, the new government website, www. ready.gov, utilizes iconography inspired by airline safety procedure cards. The website, launched in February, coincidentally corresponds with the publishing of the book, Design for Impact: 50 Years of Airline Safety Cards.

The mission of the website—part of the Tom Ridge-headed U.S. Department of Homeland Security—is to prepare for disasters; “For Americans, preparedness must now account for man-made disasters as well as natural ones,” the website states. “Knowing what to do during an emergency is an important part of being prepared and may make all the difference when seconds count.”

And while the website, created by a division of the New York public relations firm Ruder Finn Inc., more often than not states the glaringly obvious (one informs people not to walk into burning buildings), the low-tech graphics are visually appealing.

Perhaps war-inspired art—for all its worth—is best summed-up by an exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary Art. Running through May 18, the exhibit is named after the soul singer Edwin Starr’s song “War.” The song’s refrain repeats: “War, what is it good for? Absolutely nothing.”

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Polvo on 18th and Allport, Feb 2003

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polvo @ NFO Xpo - Version 08

http://www.versionfest.org/nfoxpo.html

NFO XPO DIRECTORY



April 19 & 20, 2008

NFO XPO
Viaduct Theater
3111 N. Western (link)

Hours: 1pm to 3am on Saturday
1pm to 2am on Sunday
$8 ($10 for 2-day pass)

Polvo @ NFO XPO

Participating artists:
Miguel Cortez Edra Soto Jaime Mendoza

Miguel Cortez will be showing an ongoing project of mixed media artworks dealing with the concept of "recycling" that began in 2006. I am taking this idea and creating multi-media works, such as digital photos, computer drawings, Flash animation, business cards, and bumper stickers. In April part of this project will be shown at the Krannert Museum in Champaign IL in a show titled "Landscapes of Experience and Imagination: Explorations by Midwest Latina/Latino Artists". For more info on this series go to: http://recycle-ideas.blogspot.com/


Edra Soto will exhibit her "Greatest Companions(series)

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Alternative Art Spaces Panel Discussion

Chicago Alternative ArtSpace Panel
Wednesday, April 2, 2008. 6 pm

A lively panel discussion with a fantastic line up of speakers will give you a new perspective of the "alternative space" scene from the 80's to the present day. Learn about Chicago's rich history of alternative space and how that feeds what is happening today!

Included in the panel:
Elizabeth Chodos of Three Walls will moderate. Elizabeth is a graduate student at SAIC, Director of Public Programs at 3 Walls and on the selection committee at Green Lantern.

Peter Taub, Director of MCA Performance Program and former Director of Randolph Street Gallery.

James Yood, Theory and Criticism and Art History Faculty SAIC and Regional correspondent: Artforum; Art and Auction, tema celeste; GLASS magazines.

Elvia Rodriguez of Polvo: Member of the Polvo artist collective, Elvia is a strong advocate for local artists.

Salem Collo-Julin of Temporary Services and Mess Hall. Salem works in collaboration to create socially dynamic situations and spaces for dialogue.

Betty Rymer Gallery
280 South Columbus Drive
Chicago, IL 60603

• DOWNLOAD MP3: 127mb
• LISTEN TO IT ON "THE INTERNET ARCHIVE"

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Polvo Magazine compilation

I made a compilation of some of the content from past Polvo Magazine issues from 2003-2006 and placed them on lulu.com. If you'd like a copy you can purchase it HERE.

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Twine @ Polvo

Friday December 14, 2007 from 7pm -9pm
FREE ADMISSION

Join Twine for an evening of “Basant”: A celebration of the metaphor of spring in the cold of December in Chicago. We invite you for an evening of art, film, storytelling, and dialogue dedicated to building awareness about choices in art, craft, and design in relationship to nature and humanity.

-Viewing of “Basant” a sculptural piece inspired by the visual language of Sufi Basant that integrates fiber, natural dye and video to explore the process of resistance to destructive monocultural values through personal narrative and metaphor.

-Screening of “Basant” a short documentary about the Sufi Basant in India created by Delhi Based Filmmaker, Yousuf Saeed:. www.ektaramusic.ek

-“Why I went to Lubbock Texas” a presentation by Twine director, and Chicago based artist: Amy Mall, about her research in Sustainable Dye and Fiber. Amy has been researching the ecological and social concerns linked to cotton in India, where the rate of cancer and suicide in Punjab is growing. She recently traveled to Lubbock Texas, the center of the US cotton Industry, to visit with the Texas Organic Cotton Marketing Cooperative and try to gain a broader perspective of this global issue. www.twinenfp.org

-“What do handbags have to do with the Iraq war?”: Presentation by co-collaborator of Noon Solar, Marianne Fairbanks, about the start of her solar powered handbag company with Jane Palmer and the ecological and social motivations behind their careful material choices: www.noonsolar.com
-the evening will conclude with a conversation among all who attend. Please Join Us!

Twine, NFP is dedicated to the intersection of Art, Ecology and Social Justice Internationally.

POLVO
1458 W. 18th St., 1R(entrance on Laflin St.)
Chicago, IL 60608
www.polvo.org

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