CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Two new exhibitions open this month at I space, the Chicago gallery of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Both shows are on view Oct. 10 through Nov. 29.
The group exhibition “After Whiteness: Katherine Bartel, Suk Ja Kang Engles, Kojo Griffin, Tana Hargest, Laurie Hogin” includes installation and video work, paintings and drawings by these five diverse artists, whose individual work coalesces in new ways as part of a collective exploration of racial identity issues associated with the concept of “whiteness.” Curated by Suk Ja Kang Engles, a graduate student in Illinois’ School of Art and Design, the show has been organized in tandem with the symposium “After Whiteness: Race and the Visual Arts,” which will take place on the Urbana campus on Oct. 11.
Kang Engles said the exhibition juxtaposes work by artists who are both “of color” and “white,” the intent of the mixing being to “clarify features of works by those who are overtly racialized – ‘minority artists’ – and by those who tend to be covertly racialized – ‘white artists.’ “
The other new show at I space, “Jim Shrosbree: (n) scale” features small, ceramic sculptural pieces that sometimes incorporate found objects. The artist positions the pieces in intensely personal, poetical constructions to take advantage of the psychological and physical space that they occupy. Critics have described Shrosbree’s work as being rooted in surrealist and Dadaist traditions.
An opening reception for both exhibitions is scheduled to take place from 5-7 p.m. Oct. 10 at the gallery, 230 W. Superior St., Chicago.
I space gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
