A Pick-Me-Up

The local exhibition I’m in, Sweet Home Chicago, is one of Sixty Inches from Center’s July Art Picks! Thanks, Sixty!

The show opens in exactly one week at the Bridgeport Art Center’s 4th Floor Gallery, 7-10pm. It’ll be fun; there are over 70 participating artists!

Great Lakes

“Jenny, stand here and look like you’re telling me where to put this.”

Today was day 2 of artwork install (here’s day 1) and pictured is a regram from Stafford Smith, who drove all the way from Grand Rapids, Michigan, and is one of the 22 artists in SLAYSIAN 2.0, which opens this Saturday!

Also, the exhibition is one of Sixty Inches from Center’s November Art Picks—thank you!

Steam

This year, I’m celebrating the 10th anniversary of Artists on the Lam! (It was on June 6, 2011, that I published my first blog post here!) Get excited for all sorts of fun stuff (online, of course). Including… DECAHEDRON. Stay tuned!

This week: I’m proud to announce that I’ve been invited to speak at the Leonardo LASER Talk “Resilience: From Cells to the Human Experience” this Friday (February 26), 6-7pm CST, on Zoom. A program that combines art and science—my kind of event. Attend if you’re free!

Another announcement: The launch of my Shop! Purchase original handmade drawings and paintings by yours truly. (In the past I handled art sales via email, which I can still do. Choose whichever method is more convenient for you!) I also have a Redbubble shop where you can purchase prints (and tons of other products like stickers, mugs, and more) of my original photography (all taken on my iPhone 5s, which has been hanging on for dear life).

Fun stuff in the form of short clips: In addition to other social media channels, I’m on TikTok now too; say hello if you’re over there! And here’s a voicemail message I left Sixty Inches from Center that they turned into an entire animated video; it’s amazing and I love it.

And if you’d like to hear a magical little story: Here’s a short thread about a coyote at my door.

Can you tell me how to get

Artists, take charge of your own historical narrative! Submit your ephemera to the Chicago Artist Files at the Harold Washington Library; refer to the last paragraph on this page for details. I started a file of my own at Sixty Inches From Center’s Chicago Archives + Artists Festival this past Sunday, which was, well, amazing. (Here’s another [completely unrelated] reason why Sunday ruled.)

And:

As I’d mentioned in this caption, although I was born in Chicago, I’m actually ESL; Cantonese is technically my first language and I picked up Toishanese listening to my maternal grandpa. I taught myself English as a baby by watching Sesame Street on WTTW, the local PBS station. PBS is funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, one of about a dozen agencies (along with the NEA and NEH) that will be eliminated under the proposed Trump Budget. These programs literally change lives. In my case, they start them. #Resist.

Power

Happy New Year! I was interviewed for the political documentary Transition to Power, and my episode’s up! In collaboration with Sixty Inches From Center, On The Real Film’s web series “dives into the aftermath of the election through the eyes of artists.” Thank you, again, for asking me to participate, Erin Babbin and Michael Sullivan! (Special cameo by my “Rebel Scum” sweater.)

(How do y’all like my new Facebook cover photo?)

(And, uh, related to something I said in the video, this happened.)

As mentioned in the previous post, there will be an Anti-Inauguration Screening of the film (including new episodes and unreleased footage) on January 20, 7-9pm, on the 5th floor of Mana Contemporary Chicago in Pilsen. Snacks and beverages will be available, and the event is free and open to the public. (Then go protest!)

[Update: Apparently OTRF made a print of the transcript!

All profits from sales of this poster will go to the good cause
and organization of your choice.

From an amazing night with amazing people at the Action Session.]

Another freebie for locals: The Art Institute of Chicago’s Free Winter Weekdays for Illinois residents begin today. Also, free year-round museum admission has been extended to Chicago teens ages 14-17.

Lastly, the response to “Hope,” my year in review and words for the future, has been overwhelming. Thank you, everyone. Keep reading, keep sharing, and keep commenting!

On the Lam on the Real

Just got interviewed for Transition to Power, a documentary about the election’s aftermath. Thank you for inviting me to be a part of your series, Erin Babbin and Michael Sullivan! Everyone, stay tuned for the video [of me being too concise for my own good / giving you ridiculous but free ideas for political art].

On The Real Film at Mana Contemporary Chicago. 

Here’s some much needed good news, courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago. Love is love.

All my non-local drawing commissions have been mailed! (I’ll still, however, be accepting requests indefinitely!)

Again, happy holidays to you all!

Gifts

Monday night:

Sixty Inches From Center's "Wrote One." Photo by Tempestt Hazel.

Above photo by the great Tempestt Hazel (thank you again for organizing this!). Idea for us shorties to pose like that by Jennifer Patiño Cervantes (“we have to do this now”). (I’m also cackling at Kwame Shorter in the back there.) If you missed the first of this series of gatherings and coalition building, don’t worry; there will be more to come, and they’ll be at different locations throughout Chicago!

Made possible thanks to you.

To those who’ve commissioned me for holiday drawings, thank you for supporting the ACLU, Amnesty International, and NRDC! (30% of my art’s proceeds this season have been and will continue to be donated to those organizations.)

Warmth and wellness!

Wrote

I’ll be at “Wrote One: A Convening of Chicago Writers + Media Makers” tonight! 6:30-8:30pm at Rootwork Gallery in Pilsen, hosted by Sixty Inches From Center.

Photo by Claire Demos, courtesy of Sixty Inches From Center.

I love the event’s header photo (pictured above) and everyone in it. Called “Writing in the Margins: Who Do You Write For?” and held in 2014, the discussion was about building platforms for artists who are traditionally marginalized and was the first panel I ever spoke on. So, so good. Also I feel like this picture captured such a wonderfully typical Sophia Nahli Allison (who took these photos at the opening night of my interactive art show I CAN DO THAT) moment and I (wearing my Metropolis t-shirt) look like I’m her proud mom or something?

(And another throwback featuring another first here.)

And a reminder: 30% of my art’s proceeds will be donated to the ACLU, Amnesty International, and NRDC. Fight for our future with me.

Happy holidays!

What Comes Next: An Interview with Edra Soto

All right. I think I’m finally done mourning (which was Step 1 in my call to action in the previous post), helped in part by seeing The Cool Kids live with friends and being introduced by one of said friends with “She’s like Michael Jordan, but more efficient because she’s compact,” and now it’s time to work: I had the honor of interviewing Edra Soto for Sixty Inches From Center (thank you, Sixty, for referring to me and Edra as two of your favorite people) and CONNECT Hyde Park! Cross-posted from SIFC:

Edra Soto. Photo by Daniel Hojnacki.

Born and raised in Puerto Rico, Edra Soto is a Chicago-based artist, educator, curator, and gallery director of an outdoor project space called The Franklin. I’d looked up to her for a while and from afar, and a couple months ago we both happened to be invited to speak on an artist panel (where I finally met her in person and gushed over her like the fangirl I am). The panel was called “What Matters,” and when the main topic was brought up, she discussed her dedication to local artist communities and helping them outside of a more conventional gallery system.

But who is Edra, as an artist, herself? In anticipation of CONNECT, where she’ll be showing some of her own artwork, I had the honor of interviewing her; read our conversation below to find out.

Jenny Lam: How did you first become interested in art?

Goosebumps

Thursday night. Thank you, thank you, thank you. To the other panelists of “Writing in the Margins”—Sophia Nahli Allison, Olivia Cole, Felicia Holman, and Diana Pando—for being so inspiring. To Tempestt Hazel, Jennifer Patiño Cervantes, and Reuben Westmaas of Sixty Inches From Center for organizing it all. To everyone who came and sat in the audience and took notes throughout the discussion and had brilliant things to say themselves. Also hey thanks childhood hero R.L. Stine for replying to me on Twitter after I told you I name-dropped you during the panel I can die happy and haunt a house now.

@TheJennyLam Thank you for the kind words, Jenny.
— R.L. Stine (@RL_Stine) July 18, 2014

Get Your Kicks

Sixty Inches From Center’s “Dialogue: Writing in the Margins” event is this Thursday, 6-8pm. Come! It’ll be my first time on a panel and I’d love to see your beautiful faces in the audience.

Illinois residents: The Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago is free every Tuesday! Spend a summer evening on their terrace with some live jazz.

Obligatory MCA spiral staircase shot.

  

And congrats to Germany for winning the World Cup! Fact: Exactly 10 years ago, I was living in Germany. (In high school, thanks to an übernerd program I was in, I got to be a part of a foreign exchange, spending 3 weeks in Hamburg and 1 week frolicking all over the south.)

Atop the Zugspitze, Germany's highest mountain,
summer 2004.

Verrückt.

Writing in the Margins

Image via Sixty Inches From Center.

I’ve been invited to speak on a panel about building platforms for artists who are traditionally marginalized, happening July 17. Thanks, Sixty Inches From Center!

Happy 4^th, ‘murricans!

Forever Golden

Brooks Golden in front of his mural on 16th & Paulina.
(Photo via Brooks' Facebook.)

Rest in peace, Brooks. The Chicago art community truly was and is golden thanks to you.

(More after the jump.)

2013 Greatest Hits

Photo by Jessica Pierotti.

Ah, 2014 cometh. There’s already much to look forward to:

• I’ve just been invited to be the guest juror for Water Street Studios’ spring show, opening April 11. Thanks, Steven Lockwood!

• I’ve also received a VIP invite to the second edition of Art Basel Hong Kong, happening in May. (Here’s my recap of the inaugural fair.) And right after Hong Kong, I’ll be in New York City for my 5-year college reunion (holy shit).

• But before all that: My visiting artist workshops at the Chicago Children’s Museum are this Saturday and Sunday and next Thursday. Chicagoans, bring your kids to Navy Pier and let me be a bad influence on them. I mean, yeah. (I’ll also be showing them the weird stuff I drew when I was around their age.) A fun way to kick off the new year.

Opportunities:

• Artists: The CTA is seeking art for Blue Line stations. Apply! Submissions are due January 6.

• Illinois residents: The Art Institute of Chicago will be free every weekday from January 6 through February 12! Warm up this winter with art.

Photos from my last two adventures of 2013:

• Sixty Inches From Center and Autotelic’s birthday bash (photos by Claire Demos and Jessica Pierotti).

• My highlights from Art Basel Miami Beach and the rest of Miami Art Week (including parallel fairs, concurrent exhibitions, and public art throughout Miami) on Facebook and Flickr.

And now for the year in review. Here are your top 10 most read posts of 2013:

Agora

From laughing with friends during egregiously inappropriate moments to selling four artists’ works* to emerging, past one in the morning, onto the craziest roof after climbing up three ladders through the craziest attic with a bunch of crazy people (I love you all), Saturday night was amazing. Thank you, everyone.

*(James T. Green’s Post-Black animated GIF, Robin Rios’ Quiet aluminum print, several pieces from English Prevo’s Agora series, and Jessie Winslow’s Untitled mixed media photo collage.)

Party photos forthcoming.

English Prevo.

An excerpt from (and an addendum to) last month’s “King of Kowloon” post got published in Rad Brown Dads, which is pretty rad itself.

Event to attend: New Yorkers, go to this celebration hosted by my friends Stephanie Lindquist, Courteney Ervin, and Glendalys Medina. Learn about different ways to expand your creativity.

Events to find me at: I’ve just received VIP invitations to PULSE and UNTITLED, both of which I loved last year (you can find out why in one of the most read posts of 2012). I’ll be there, as well as the Art Basel Miami Beach VIP Vernissage and everything else I scored free passes to (that’s the way to do it).

Americans, enjoy your Thanksgiving weekend! Everyone else, stuff your faces anyway!

Forward

Sixty Inches From Center and Autotelic’s birthday bash—with an exhibition curated by yours truly—is tonight! I just finished installing the art last night, and, you guys, the show looks so. good. So good. Can’t wait for you all to see it!

A teaser.

Chicago, come party with us. There will be cake. And cocktails. And tamales. And performances. And games. And raffle prizes. And tarot readings. And cake.

And tamales.

After the jump, peep a few installation shots I’ve taken over the past week:

Uptown Pearls

Curating a show, in a space like this, within one month (slash two weeks since I just finalized the list of artists and the opening’s on the 23^rd)? Challenge accepted.

Photo by Heather Fritz.

(In case you didn’t see the update in the previous post, the building used to house a bank, and, according to Uptown-er and excellent local history source Jeffrey Littleton, it was originally a vaudeville theater. What a place for an art exhibition.)

[And an update for this post: Take a look at the first art installed. Jason Hawk is the man.]

And for the ultimate “Throwback Thursday”: Wrote this when I was 5.

King of Kowloon

First, two things:

I’ve been invited to guest curate a show for Sixty Inches From Center’s birthday party at Autotelic {Studios} on November 23. Thanks to Tempestt Hazel for the opportunity! [10/31 edit: Now at Flats Studio / a massive old bank building. Like, there’s a vault and everything. Here’s a photo of the space. And, according to Tempestt, I have unlimited power over it. Get excited / be afraid.]

It’s 4Art Gallery’s 10^th anniversary. I wouldn’t be where I am today without Robin Rios, the gallery’s owner and my dear friend and mentor. (This post—one of this blog’s first!—includes a photo from Somnambulist, the wall-less exhibition I curated with her back in the day.) Show Robin some love! Check out the two exhibitions she’s curated this month at the Zhou B Art Center: Centerline on the building’s main and second floors and Shattered Mirror in 4Art on the fourth floor.

Now, on to what prompted me to post today:

Mei Ho House before renovation, 2009.
(Photo via ARTINFO Hong Kong.)

My heart spun when I saw today’s news from ARTINFO Hong Kong, with the headline “Defunct Housing Block for Homeless Now a Museum” and the above photo. This is where my dad was born and raised, where he spent his entire childhood. This is Shek Kip Mei.

(If you haven’t looked through the photo albums from my most recent Hong Kong trip: My dad and his brothers grew up in the Shek Kip Mei public housing projects, a resettlement estate that was essentially a slum. Multiple families were crammed into concrete units 120 sq. ft. in size. The only window in each unit looked out onto a narrow outdoor corridor, which ran along the exterior of a 7-story-tall H-shaped building. Bathrooms were communal; tenants bathed with small pails. Kitchens were nonexistent; tenants cooked in the corridors.)

As a little boy, my dad saw it all here. Teens snorting coke in the stairwells. People jumping to their deaths from the balconies. Gang members disemboweling each other in the courtyards below. The cops—who were white and British—rolling in (that’s when you knew shit got real). Gang members teaching each other Confucius’ Analects. People waking early to hawk wares on the streets. Kids crowding into the one unit that had a TV. My dad, three years old, watching a neighbor play the erhu and trying to emulate him with a pair of chopsticks. On those hot and humid summer nights, residents brought their cots outside and slept on the corridors. No one locked their doors (“What’s there to steal?”), and everyone looked out for each other. “Life was tough and people were poor,” my dad once said to me, “But happy.”

My dad as a 15-year-old BAMF / Boy Scout.

I don’t know how I feel about this “revitalization project” just yet. I do know, however, that visiting this place will be a top priority when I go on my annual Hong Kong trip in May.

For Art Basel.

Can Aubrey Canada Dry Graham Drake surrender “Started from the Bottom” to my family ‘cause like…

EXPO CHICAGO 2013 // An Interview with Tony Karman

Expo Chicago 2012 Vernissage.
(Image courtesy of Carol Fox and Associates Public Relations.)

Art lovers, clear your schedules. This week, Expo Chicago, the International Exposition of Contemporary and Modern Art, is back for its second year. Art from 125 premier galleries will grace Navy Pier’s Festival Hall, transformed once again by Jeanne Gang and Studio Gang Architects into an engaging interior environment. Also returning to Expo are EXPOSURE, a platform for emerging galleries; IN/SITU, a showcase of large-scale installations and performative works; the culmination of  /Dialogues, a roster of discussion panels featuring leaders in the art field; and a VIP Program.

New this year are Expo Video, a section for cutting-edge film and new media, and Expo Art Week, an ambitious, city-wide celebration of Chicago’s rich cultural landscape. Highlights of Expo Art Week include museum exhibitions and gallery openings; public art projects; music, theater, and dance performances; special dining experiences, and more. Shuttles will be available to take visitors from Navy Pier to the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the River North and West Loop gallery districts.

As if that weren’t enough to sate your art and culture appetites, there will also be two new satellite fairs: the inaugural EDITION Chicago at Chicago Artists Coalition in the West Loop; and the Chicago debut of the alternative-minded Fountain Art Fair at Mana Contemporary in Pilsen.

What sophomore slump?

I sat down and chatted with Expo’s President and Director, Tony Karman, for a preview. (He also shared his opinion on the rise of the mega-fair, gave [actually good] career advice to young artists and arts professionals, and talked about his favorite things to do in his [rare] spare time, which may or may not involve having a beer at the Hideout.) Continue reading below.

Sun in Leo

How much you impress people is inversely proportional to your time spent on this planet. (Last day being 25 = Deleting my age from my bio everywhere.)

I met with a Dreams of a City assistant a couple days ago and she showed me this gorgeous mural she helped design. Still in progress, much of it is being created by local teens hired by Green Star Movement through After School Matters. Very inspiring.

Underpass at Hiawatha and Kinzua, Edgebrook.

And more art for Chicagoans to be excited about: In September 2014, the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago (which is free every Tuesday!) will be the U.S. venue for the world tour of the David Bowie is exhibition. (That gives me about 13 months to fix my broken Aladdin Sane bottle cap necklace.)

Have a wonderful weekend!