by Alicia | Dec 27, 2013 | Hyperallergic
CHICAGO — For the past three Christmas seasons at The Suburban, an artist-run project space in Michelle Grabner and Brad Killam’s Oak Park backyard, artist Diego Leclery has decided to become a polar bear. On Sunday, December 21, the polar bear situated itself in the...
by Alicia | Dec 27, 2013 | Hyperallergic
CHICAGO — The unwieldy synthetic materials of late capitalism’s throwaway culture are worth their weight in gold spray-painted styrofoam bricks. In her solo exhibition Ornament at the Riverside Arts Center’s Freeark Gallery, curated by Anne Harris, artist Sabina Ott...
by Alicia | Dec 24, 2013 | Hyperallergic
CHICAGO — In the age of social-networked identities, when every private thought is often public declaration, what does it mean to be “good” or “bad”? Our words become performances, our self-portraits become selfies, and we are present as online brands. It becomes hard...
by Alicia | Dec 23, 2013 | Hyperallergic, Selfie Column
CHICAGO — Just because “selfies” was named Oxford Dictionaries’ word of the year and Barack Obama shot that funeral selfie doesn’t mean these internet self-portraits are a passing fad. No, my friends, selfies are here to stay, both in a public discourse and art...
by Alicia | Dec 23, 2013 | Hyperallergic
CHICAGO — The Midwest is no place for haters, slackers, and anyone who can’t admit that they secretly love hot dogs and regularly daydream about living on a farm, or at least somewhere in the woods. Michelle Grabner, co-curator of the 2014 Whitney Biennial, conceived...
by Alicia | Dec 18, 2013 | Hyperallergic
CHICAGO — Thick snowflakes drift from the gray sky above, the energy-sapping inflatable Christmas decorations are in a constant state of blowing across front lawns citywide, and even my parents’ German Shepherd needs a sweater. It must be that time of year again, when...
