Woman Made Gallery is pleased to announce the opening of "The Child in You" and solo exhibitions by Chicago artists, Roberta Reb Allen and Karen Rechtschaffen. The Artisan Gallery at Woman Made exhibits work in 'Contents Include: Metal Clay.'
Evoking innocence, playfulness, and deceiving simplicity, the works in "The Child in You" create a cohesive look at the relationship between artist and childhood. In the last century, the art world witnessed debates regarding the relationship between art and the work of a child. Alfred Stieglitz exhibited children's drawings at his famous 291 Gallery. Jean Michel Basquiat combined influences of graffiti and popular culture to create works that evoke the feeling of coloring books and sketches made by children. Many contemporary artists push the boundaries of form, line, and content when making art from the point of view of a child. The works included in "The Child in You" demonstrate both literal and conceptual interpretations of childhood.
Roberta Reb Allen, a Chicago artist who served as juror for the exhibition writes, "I was looking for works which captured some aspect of a child's experience without overly revealing the hand or thought processes of the adult artist. There were works which touched on the darker, more confusing and scary side of childhood as well as works which made me laugh out loud in delight. I hope I have succeeded in putting together a show that appeals as much to the child in you as it did to the child in me."
Included in the exhibition, Heather Klinkhamer's No, I Didn't Eat Your Lipstick from her SPAZ series recalls a child's fascination with makeup and inculpability. Klinkhamer explains, "The SPAZ series is based on my childhood experiences, mostly humorous. Each painting explores moments of blissful naiveté, in which a child is confident that she has mastered an appropriate way to navigate the world but is grossly mistaken in her calculation. Her brash enthusiasm contrasts with her obvious failure to achieve desired outcomes."
Participating artists include: Pilar Acevedo, Jaime Andersen, Lynda Andrus, Lisa Marie Barber, Mary-Glynn Boies, Ya Ya Chou, Cynthia I. Cloutier, Gail Flack Crandus, Pamela Deitrich, Nitasha Deogun, Jenn DeWald, Jennifer Drucker, Pat Dumas-Hudecki, Phyllis Edels tein, Tina Marie Garcia, Elizabeth Featherstone Hoff, Sarah Kaiser, Sarah Kargol, Laura Kaufman, Mary King, Karen Klein, Heather Klinkhamer, Elaine Langerman, Sharon Lee, Laura Sherrill Ligon, Rosemary Luckett, Marianne McCarthy, Shervone Neckles, Joline Paulson, Judith Pollock, Shannon Robinson, Carol Ross, Vanessa Shinmoto, Eden Stern, Tamara Tarasiewicz, Pamela Tarbell, Susan Tecktiel, Rachael Van Dyke, Rosalind Faiman Weinberg and Nancy Williams.
The exhibition is on view through May 17, 2007. -- www.womanmade.org
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