Between Places: Chicago-Detroit

Opening: Saturday, December 8, 2012
6018 North Kenmore, Chicago, IL

Between Places is an exchange and exhibition project between students from:

CCS (College for Creative Studies, Detroit, faculty Chido Johnson) 
SAIC (School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, faculty Kirsten Leenaars) 

exploring the following:

What it means to have a sense of place and belonging. 
The dream of leaving which is as powerful as its countervailing dream of roots. 
The desire of wanting to go elsewhere while at the same time experiencing or creating a sense of displacement.

The first event will be in Chicago, hosting the CCS Students at 6018 North on Saturday December 8, the second event will be in Detroit, hosting the SAIC students at the PLAV gallery, 3105 Holbrook St, Hamtramck, MI, on Sunday, December 16.

Participating students:

CCS: Austin Brady, Megan Leigh Jessup, Sean Maxwell, Tom Burns, Fatima Sow, Andrew Mehall, Maggie Kozma, Benjamin Thompson, Eric Maurer, Kristina Sheufelt, Shaina Kasztelan, Jen Wang, Leucochloridium Paradoxum, Joanna Marie Care, Jordan Stohl. Faculty: Chido Johnson
SAIC: Jonathan Fleming, Nicholas Narai Garcia, Yutao Huang, Jacob Dimuzio, Cassie Kelsey, Kalee Peters, Kelly Sullivan, Savannah Snead, Kendra Bergman, Abby Chieppa, Teak Ramos, Erin Gelke, Lauren Butler, Chrissy Laing. Faculty: Kirsten Leenaars
Both faculty members Chido Johnson and Kirsten Leenaars were included in Koffer Kunst: Suitcase Art: Chicago + Detroit

Twenty artists’ works each from the Midwest cities of Chicago and Detroit were brought together via suitcases to meet with the work of two Hamburg artists. Featuring painting, drawing, collage, video, artists' books, photography, and sculpture, the exhibition highlights these distinct urban areas as manifested through art. The individual artworks invited both parallel and contradictory readings in the encounters that happen between the works and the cities in which they are produced. Presented at Kunsthaus Speckstrasse – Hamburg’s famous artists’ community space – the exhibition was co-curated by Tricia Van Eck, from Chicago’s 6018NORTH and Kerstin Niemann from FILTER, Detroit.

Chicago Artists:

Noelle Allen (Drawings), Carol Jackson (Leather collage), Jason Lazarus (Photographic newsprint), Kirsten Leenaars (Drawing), Harold Mendez (Sculpture), Lucky Pierre (Book), Cheryl Pope (Banners), Deb Sokolow (Drawing), Deborah Stratman (Video), Jan Tichy (Video, book, and lightbox) 

Detroit Artists:

Brian Baker (Book, print), Christina Galasso (Collage), Scott Hocking (Photography and sculpture), Steve Hughes (Zine magazines), Chido Johnson (Video), Melanie Manos (Video), George Rahme (Collage), Gilda Snowden (Painting), Corine Vermeulen (Photography), Graem Whyte (Sculpture)

Special guests: Cordula Ditz (Hamburg); Karin Jobst (Hamburg)

Extra Events:

Book presentation and lecture talk by Hamburg photographer, Karin Jobst.
Date: November 25, 4pm
Location: Kunsthaus Speckstrasse, Gängeviertel, Speckstrasse 85, Hamburg
Her publication, “Karin Jobst – Detroit for John, Mary Lou and Mr. Duke,” was recently published by Kerber Verlag.

Lecture discussion by Tricia Van Eck and Kerstin Niemann: “Art and Art Production in Chicago and Detroit”
Date: November 21, 7pm
Location: Amerikazentrum Hamburg
Am Sandtorkai 48, 20457 Hamburg
Afterwards the curators will give an exhibition tour at Kunsthaus Speckstrasse.