• Kay Rosen
    Blue Monday, 2015
    Continuous loop on DVD
    9 minutes, 12 seconds
    Edition of 100

Was/Is/Ought

September 18—December 18, 2021


 

Whitney Bedford
Zach Bruder
Antonia Contro
Stephen Eichhorn
Brendan Getz
Diana Guerrero-Maciá
Hilma’s Ghost
Anne Lindberg
Chuck Ramirez
Kay Rosen
Amanda Ross-Ho
Scott Stack
Oli Watt
Agustina Woodgate

Over the last two years, since the beginning of the pandemic, time has proven to be the great equalizer within the world wide population. The end of 2019 will mark history in most of our lifetimes as the last we knew as “normal” or what Was life as we knew it. The new world landscape of 2020 ushered a paradigm shift toward intensely present living, for what we understood to be what Is began to shift precariously and constantly beneath our feet. The unchartered, ever-changing situation redefined any efforts toward planning or prediction as a fool’s errand. As the dust begins to settle, we move toward a hopeful and trepidatious post-pandemic world, carrying forward resolutions in science, politics and personal reassessment of purpose / importance of all things. 2021 is the first year of what is next, and how it Ought to be.

Dating back to the cave paintings of Lascaux to the present day, artists have revealed their core purpose… to be the translators of time. They are the interrogators, the interpreters, the reporters, the recorders and ultimately the myth-makers – utilizing time as a medium for storytelling to present generations and those centuries yet to come.

Moving forward from the known or the Was, philosopher Herbert Marcuse generally stated that the present (is) creating what (ought) to be, i.e. future/world building and imagining...This interpretation states that time – as an entity – is in two places: 1. the present (ie what is happening this very instance) and, 2. the future (or, what ought to be happening next). So, in order to get the future successfully, or meaningfully, one has to be wary of complacency and use their imagination – in order to achieve it (the future). And this imagination is where art making/creativity is planted.

The fourth in our series of survey exhibitions in 2021, Was/Is/Ought will follow the participating artists through the arch of what could arguably be described as the most pivotal time in contemporary life.

OPENS SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 12-5PM

Images

  • Whitney Bedford
    Veduta (Vuillard Park), 2021
    Ink and oil on panel
    38 x 27 inches

  • Zach Bruder
    Insignia, 2020
    Acrylic and Flashe on linen
    50 x 60 inches

  • Antonia Contro
    Existential (per Siri), 2016
    Die cut wood veneer, colored paper
    11.25 x 15 inches
    Unique edition

  • Stephen Eichhorn
    Déjà vu (never-ending) detail, 2021
    Collage on acrylic coated panel
    60 x 48 inches

  • Brendan Getz
    Framed view, studio window (air conditioner), 2013-2021
    Oil on stretched canvas
    48 x 36 inches

  • Diana Guerrero-Maciá
    A Perfect Day, detail, 2020
    Wool, Dye, deconstructed clothing, rock & on canvas
    57.5 x 49.5 inches

  • Anne Lindberg
    temperatures, detail, 2021
    Graphite and colored pencil on mat board
    24 x 81 inches (3 panels)

  • Chuck Ramirez
    Quarantine: Pink Ribbon, 2000, 2011
    Pigment inkjet print
    46 x 34 inches
    Courtesy Ruiz-Healy Art

  • Kay Rosen
    Blue Monday, still, 2015
    Continuous loop on DVD
    9 minutes, 12 seconds
    Edition of 100

  • Amanda Ross-Ho
    TIME WAITS FOR NO ONE, detail, 2011
    Urethane plastic, hand-dyed, hand-plaited wool
    36 x 89 x 1 inches

  • Scott Stack
    2021
    Oil on canvas on panel
    40 x 30 inches

  • Hilma’s Ghost (Dannielle Tegeder + Sharmistha Ray)
    Not everything is as it seems right now. You are unsure as to which way to go next. It feels uncomfortable to be so unsure, but you must make a decision because standing still or remaining in place is not an option. Make your choice., 2021
    Acrylic and flashe on canvas
    60 x 48 inches

  • Oli Watt
    Duck Decoys, 2020-2021
    Wood, various materails
    Dimensions vary

  • Agustina Woodgate
    Over Time, 2019
    National Time wall clock, sanding sticks, 8’ orange power cord
    14” diameter
    Courtesy Spinello Projects

  • Installation view of Was/Is/Ought, Carrie Secrist Gallery, Chicago, IL. 2021. Photo by Nathan Keay.

  • Installation view (Amanda Ross-Ho + Zach Bruder) of Was/Is/Ought, Carrie Secrist Gallery, Chicago, IL. 2021. Photo by Nathan Keay.

  • Installation view (Augustina Woodgate + Scott Stack) of Was/Is/Ought, Carrie Secrist Gallery, Chicago, IL. 2021. Photo by Nathan Keay.

  • Installation view (Antonia Contro) of Was/Is/Ought, Carrie Secrist Gallery, Chicago, IL. 2021. Photo by Nathan Keay.

  • Installation view (Zach Bruder + Oli Watt + Kay Rosen) of Was/Is/Ought, Carrie Secrist Gallery, Chicago, IL. 2021. Photo by Nathan Keay.

  • Installation view (Oli Watt + Kay Rosen) of Was/Is/Ought, Carrie Secrist Gallery, Chicago, IL. 2021. Photo by Nathan Keay.

  • Installation view (Diana Guerrero-Maciá) of Was/Is/Ought, Carrie Secrist Gallery, Chicago, IL. 2021. Photo by Nathan Keay.

  • Installation view (Chuck Ramirez) of Was/Is/Ought, Carrie Secrist Gallery, Chicago, IL. 2021. Photo by Nathan Keay.

  • Installation view (Stephen Eichhorn) of Was/Is/Ought, Carrie Secrist Gallery, Chicago, IL. 2021. Photo by Nathan Keay.

  • Installation view (Hilma’s Ghost) of Was/Is/Ought, Carrie Secrist Gallery, Chicago, IL. 2021. Photo by Nathan Keay.

  • Installation view (Whitney Bedford) of Was/Is/Ought, Carrie Secrist Gallery, Chicago, IL. 2021. Photo by Nathan Keay.

  • Installation view (Brendan Getz) of Was/Is/Ought, Carrie Secrist Gallery, Chicago, IL. 2021. Photo by Nathan Keay.

  • Installation view (Anne Lindberg) of Was/Is/Ought, Carrie Secrist Gallery, Chicago, IL. 2021. Photo by Nathan Keay.