JOEL ROSS in collaboration with JASON CREPS Alleys and Parking Lots
September 15 - October 27, 2012 Reception for the artists Saturday, September 15, 4-7pm
This exhibition features new work by Joel Ross in collaboration with photographer Jason Creps. This series continues Ross's interest in public signage, veering off the open road to examine text as it interacts with the built environment: the in-between spaces of alleys and parking lots. The artists construct signs, which they clandestinely install, photograph, and abandon at locations between Chicago and Southern Illinois, resulting in a series of large-scale, color photographs.
"We looked for fissures and vacancies, roadside spaces we could take advantage of, and then wrote narratives and built sculptures to fill them. We also wrote stories and then searched (sometimes exhaustively) to find locations with the right conditions for those characters. The sculptures are declarations, and they take possession of their site, however briefly, with confidence, humor, urgency, and sometimes aggression." - excerpt from Joel Ross and Jason Creps' artist statement 2012
Joel Ross (American, born 1966, lives Urbana, IL) holds an MFA from the Cranbrook Academy of Art and a BFA from Tufts University. Born in Port Arthur, Texas, he is the son of a police sergeant and the grandson of a Baptist preacher. He received a discharge from the United States Marine Corps in 1984. Currently he is an Associate Professor in the School of Art and Design at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Recent exhibitions include It's Not My First Time, Beta Pictoris Maus Contemporary Art, Birmingham AL; (No) Vacancy, Carrie Secrist Gallery, Chicago IL; and Write Now! curated by Nathan Mason, Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago IL.
Jason Creps (American, born 1975, lives Chicago, IL) received his BFA from Columbus College of Art and Design in his home state of Ohio and promptly entered the world of commercial photography. He then spent as much time as possible living in vans and busses while touring as a musician. Chicago became home in 2000 and from there, he works as a photographer, performs with the bands Man Is Man and The Glorious Vapors and makes multimedia installations with One Degree Off.
Also on view at moniquemeloche
... on the wall: TYPE A Target
September 15 - December 29, 2012 Reception for the artists Saturday, September 15, 4-7pm
For their first exhibition in Chicago, Type A will exhibit a sculptural installation in neon, recently featured in their solo show at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Denver earlier this year.
"Created in New York City in the 1960's, "The Thug," aka Advanced Silhouette SP-83a, aka B-60, became the standard paper target utilized by the New York Police Department for target practice. It was soon adopted by other cities and gun enthusiasts. Today, it is the official target of the United States Department of Homeland Security. "The Thug" is meant to symbolize an actual, physical threat that must be met with deadly force. Not a circular target or anonymous silhouette, the hunched corpulent figure aims a gun right at you." - excerpt from Type A artist statement 2012
Type A is the collaboration between New York-based artists Adam Ames (American, born 1969) and Andrew Bordwin (American, born 1964) established in 1998. Using a variety of media, Type A explores the ways men compete, challenge, and play, and the resulting social and psychological imbalance. In addition to the MCA Denver, Type A has had solo shows at The Aldrich Contemporary Museum, DeCordova Sculpture Park + Museum, The List Visual Arts Center, Addison Gallery of American Art, and the Santa Barbara Museum of Art. A major commissioned sculpture, Team Building (Align), is permanently installed at the Indianapolis Museum of Art 100 Acres: The Virginia B. Fairbanks Art & Nature Park.
Special thanks to The Commission of Wicker Park / Bucktown (SSA #33) for their support of the on the wall series.
