 |
1458
W. 18th ST 2F Chicago, IL 60608 http://www.polvo.org 773.677.1914 |
TU CASA ES MI CASA:
artists respond to gentrification
Opening Friday March 19 2004 from 6-10pm
March 19 - April 10
gen·tri·fi·ca·tion
: the process of renewal and rebuilding accompanying the influx of middle-class
or affluent people into deteriorating areas that often displaces earlier
usually poorer residents
Tu Casa Es Mi Casa: Artists Respond to Gentrification hopes to bring awareness of the changes that are occurring across Chicago, neighborhoods that are considered low-Income areas are being bought out, rehabbed, while the residents are being displaced and pushed out. Some say artists are partly to blame, since they make the neighborhoods safe for urban professionals or real estate companies to come in and buy property as an investment. Artists are usually on the low-end of the income scale and that is a major reason why they look to move into areas that offer cheap rent. What is an artist to do?
Artists:
Amanda Gutierrez
Amy Mall
Antonio Patlan
Dianna Frid
Elvia Rodriguez-Ochoa
Hector Duarte
Hugo Michel-Hernandez
Jaime Mendoza
Jesus Macarena-Avila
Juan Compean
Kimberly Viviano
Marcy Sperry
Mark Nelson
Miguel Cortez
Saul Aguirre
Tom Sibley
| Amanda Gutiérrez was born in Mexico City in 1978, studied philosophy at UAM (Metropolitan University) and received a BA degree in stage design from the National School of Dramatic Arts. She is a multi media artist, combining installation, sound, stage design, digital media and performance. |  "Casa
de bolsa 1"mixed media installation 2004 Amanda Gutierrez |
Amy
Mall is an artist, currently living in Chicago
and is earning her B.F.A. at the School of the Art Institute. She
believes in the full integration of living, learning, doing, and
art. She divides her time between Chicago and the Indian Himalayas. |
"Listenings:
a small collection of interviews about Chicago, community and home" audio cassetes 2004 Amy Mall
|
| Antonio Patlan is a Chicago based self-taught artist. He is currently working on a digital photography project documenting storefronts/architecture in the Pilsen neighborhood. |  "Pilsen storefronts" digital photography 2004 Antonio Patlan |
Dianna Frid was
born in Mexico City and since 1983 has lived in Canada and the U.S.
As an undergraduate, she studied Anthropology at Hampshire College
(Amherst, MA) before completing her BFA at the Art Institute of Chicago.
Dianna Frid has exhibited her work in Mexico, Canada, the U.S., Europe
and Brazil. She was a Trustees Merit Scholar in the Fiber and Material
Studies Department at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago
where she completed her MFA (2003). Dianna Frid is Collegiate Assistant
Professor at the University of Chicago’s Midway Studios where
she is a Harper-Schmidt Fellow. She recently showed her collaborative
project, “The Field,” at Gallery 400 as part of the At
the Edge series.
|
Some thoughts on gentrifications and landscaping The two earlier works in this suite of works ("Study for Labyrinths" and from "Forest 2") were done at a time when, while living in New York City, I thought frequently about my relationship to landscape in the form of formal gardens and city parks. I had been looking at a pictographic dictionary used for translating from English and Spanish, and I kept coming back to a the forestry pages in which technical line drawings of loggers and their tools were catalogued and described in bilingual terms. In addition to this didactic image source, I had been collecting another didactic tool, the museum and library floor map. I became interested in how museums in the city were located next to parks, and in how landscaping played a role in shaping gardens into plans that ranged in from naturalistic to symbolic, as in the respective examples of Olmstead's Central Park, and the much earlier Italian garden labyrinths. The latter ones paid homage to the idea of the mythical labyrinth, while making the concept of being lost "in nature" into a safe pastime. I spent many hours "being lost" in museums, looking at art. Before I moved to New York from Canada, I spent very little time doing that; rather, my activities revolved more around the forest near where I lived. Environmental concerns were part of the cultural landscape there, because gentrification often involved tearing down more evergreens. These earlier two works very loosely address the idea of gentrification by addressing transformation of place in the form of what we call "nature". The idea of gentrification is complex in that it implies the layering that occurs in a given place. Cities become palimpsests that seemingly erase the past, either in the name of "beautification" or as a result of decay and abandonment. This decay is often more beautiful than the generic structures that developers build. The third piece in this suite, "Bridge Fragment," points towards the rich landscape of decay. - Dianna Frid |
| Elvia Rodriguez-Ochoa has been active as a multi-disciplinary artist, educator and has exhibited in many galleries and centers in Chicago, Minneapolis, and has had work tour various states in Mexico and the U.S. Elvia received her B.A. in Fine Art from Trinity Christian College in 1992 and is currently earning her M.F.A. at Columbia College. Elvia is the Director of Community Programs at Pros Arts Studio. |  "Bienvenido
a su Nuevo Vecindario / Welcome to Your New Neighborhood " Paper Sculptures(Sobo Glueand cut file folders) 2004 Elvia Rodriguez Ochoa As an artist that is facinated by the different styles of Architecture found in Chicago, I have been very dissappointed by all the plain, ugly, cookie cutter "insta-houses" that are going up all over the city. These cheaply built glorified cardboard boxes are simply an easy out for developers that want to maximize their profits by cutting out "unessential items" that give a building durability and beauty. Yet many of these slapdash creations are being sold at outrageous prices because they are in a "hot" area. Even the much maligned Chicago Bungalow seems palacial by comparison. No more Dearborn Parks, No more University Villages.  |
| Hector Duarte was born in 1952 in Caurio, Michoacan, Mexico. He studied mural painting at the workshop of David Alfaro Siqueiros in 1977. Since moving to Chicago in 1985, Duarte has participated in the creation of more than 45 murals. He has exhibited his paintings and prints in solo and collective shows at such venues as the School of the Art Institute, the State of Illinois Gallery, the Chicago Historical Society, and the Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum, and Casa Estudio Museo Diego Rivera in Mexico. Duarte has received a number of awards, including a 1995 Chicago Bar Association Award for best work of public art and a 1994 NEA project grant. Duarte is the co-founder of the Julio Ruelas Print Workshop in Zacatecas, Mexico, La Casa de la Cultura in Zamora, Mexico, and Taller Mestizarte in Chicago. He has been a resident in the Pilsen neighborhood the past 19 years. |  "Los
Nuevos Vecinos"mixed media on paper 2004 Hector Duarte |
Hugo Michel
Hernandez is a Chicago based artist and educator,
born in Havana, Cuba in 1972. His primary work is painting and installation
work. He has exhibited throughout Mexico, Cuba, Colombia and nationally.
His most recent exhibit was at the 8th Bienial of Havana, Cuba. He
is currently a faculty and staff member at Columbia College Chicago. |
 "What
do I represent"mixed media installation 2004 Hugo Michel-Hernandez " What do I represent" Is a performative installation, that attempts to ask and or create questions in regards to the discriminatory actions and outcomes that take place within the gentrification process. What do you represent withing your own neighborhood?  Who are your friends in that neighborhood? Who would you like to have as a neighbor? If you were to move, which neighborhood would you select & why? Based on these questions, which can be generalized, the spectator will be allowed to take one of the images from the table an alter it by cutting, drawing, gluing, and finally wearing it, which will altimately become a mask. Each person that finishes a mask will have to wear it in the gallery and will be photographed. The photographs will become the visual outcome of the installation, they will be exhibited in the show for the remaining time of the exhibition. |
Jaime Mendoza,
based in Chicago, received his BA in Studio Arts from Northeastern
Illinois University and a MFA in Studio Arts from the University
of Illinois at Chicago. Mendoza, is among the few Chicano artists
in the Midwest who continues to redefine and reestablish the dialogue
between community and artist. His installations confront society
with an in your face approach to socioeconomic cultural politics
in the US. Mendoza’s use of video and large scale prints embodies
the idealisms of Chicano Art theory and Contemporary art practice
by forging and fostering a visual language that explores the perspective
of multiculturalism in the US through the eyes of the undocumented
and bicultural/bilingual community. |
 “La
Sirenita Café” 2 x 2 Glossy Labels 3 red 36 inch cup dispensers with 16 oz. paper cups 2004 Jaime Mendoza Traditionally, the image of the running family is used on highway signs along the US-Mexican border to warn drivers of individuals attempting to cross illegally into the US. Since its creation, this image has become a heroic icon for immigrants who are forced to leave their countries because of political and socio-economic hardships. Now, hundreds of miles away from the US-Mexican border, the running family is once again forced to cross borders due to Chicago’s “urban re-newel” plan. This latest trend in gentrification is usually marked by the influx of corporate coffee houses into the urban landscape. As a result of this process, La Sirenita Café is partially to blame for the displacement of hundreds of minority families in Wicker Park, Humboldt Park, Lakeview, and soon Pilsen. -Please feel free to take a cup- |
Jesus Macarena-Avila is
a Chicago based artist and studied at the School of the Art institute
of Chicago and Vermont College of Norwich University. He is a 2003
recipient of grants from the Illinois Arts Council and the Department
of Cultural Affairs, City of Chicago. |
 "TIF Specialist" computer generated business card 2004 Jesus Macarena-Avila I have been living in Chicago for over ten years. I have lived in different areas to see the strong implications of a fast moving urban renewal phase that Chicago faces. Many immigrant and poor families are being shuffled around going west or south to suburban pockets of poverty. Though, one could argue that new economic opportunities has been given to a new generation of Chicagoans, but the fact stills remains that this change benefits in majority, a particular community: wealthy and middle-class white professionals. "Home" can have an universal definition for some, but, for many people, home means a sense of belonging whether it means to something tangible (like a house) or intangible (like community spirit). The importance of "home" and the idea of "community involvement" is not what motivates this renewal phase for Chicago. I hope that my piece only will make people think about how economic choices can define their own concepts of "home" and "community involvement". The mock-up business card
design I made represent a language that is understood in this urban
renewal process. The language of "real estate value" becomes
apparent as I have seen over the years in the Pilsen community among
other Chicago neighborhoods. Buildings being sold and destroyed with
new businesses and the rehabilitation of old apartments for new coming
professionals and their families, is Chicago changing for the better
or worse? |
| Juan Compean studied fine art at Columbia College. His work has been featured in Polvo Magazine and Hasta Cuando?, a local magazine dealing with art and politics. He is also a musician and tours with his hardcore-punk band I-ATTACK. |  "I
just wanted to be the first..."gouache on paper 2004 Juan Compean |
| Kimberly Viviano is a Chicago artist currently earning an M.F.A. at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (Visual Communications) and received her B.F.A. at Kendall School of Design (Illustration), Grand Rapids, MI, also did an undergrad study in Florence, Italy. Recent exhibitions include the Betty Rymer Gallery, Chicago, IL, Joan Flasch Artist’s Book Collection and Around The Coyote. |  "A
Game of Economic Segregation by the Bourgeois Brothers" Installation, Limited Edition Magnetic Game 2004 Kimberly Viviano I illustrate how the landscape of an old neighborhood changes dramatically as it's inhabitants begin to become upwardly mobile. Through my Gentrification game I strive to bring awareness, and compel the viewer to think about identities, stereotypes, and consumer culture. The viewer is encouraged to match the corresponding magnetic squares, and read the layers of information on the back. The viewer brings their own experiences to bear which complete the appropriation of familiar themes and icons with fresh perspectives and gain deeper insight of societal and cultural shortcomings. - Kimberly Viviano
|
Marcy Sperry is
a multimedia artist currently completing her M.A. in art education
at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago where she is a teaching
assistant. Most recently she has been involved in community arts
education at a youth-based HIV/AIDS awareness organization and was
a co-instructor for a collaborative web project at Street-Level Youth
Media.  |
I see the meaning and uniqueness of neighborhoods being eroded by conditions resulting from corporate dominance and hypercommercialism. The goals and economic interests of a neighborhood's locals, including small independent businesses, are often conflicted with this. When small businesses leave and corporate businesses take their place, what effect does this have on a sense of place? Uniqueness in terms of place/locality is flattened by a cultural landscape dominated by commercial fast food chains and other corporate structures that mandate a certain visual conformity and their attendant prescribed, ritualized codes of conduct. To enter the florescent-lit multiplex sprawl of a Walmart in Muncie, Indiana is the same as entering a Walmart in Portland, Maine, or anywhere else in the nation. It is all the same-- you could be anywhere. Even more unsettling is the way some corporate businesses often (unsuccessfully) co-opt and appropriate the personable look and feel of the local businesses they drive out. The unique character
of a neighborhood should not be a commodity. We are our neighborhoods,
and we are not for sale. |
| Mark Nelson is employed as an artist-in-residence at Stone Academy of Chicago where he directs youth in creating permanent site-specific works of fiber, ceramic mosaics, limestone monuments, painted murals, and technological media. Mark received an M.F.A. from the University Of Illinois at Chicago and a B.F.A. from the School of the Art Institute. His studio is in Chicago's "Pilsen" neighborhood. |  " Give Blod" Mixed media installation with offering vessel full of paper miniature red cross tents signed "el Gringo" 2004 Mark Nelson |
Miguel Cortez is
an artist living in Chicago and born in Guanajuato, Mexico in 1970.
He has studied filmmaking at Columbia College and fine arts at the
School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He has exhibited his work
for more than a decade in Chicago, Mexico, and Spain. Recent exhibitions
include a group show at Centre Civic de Barceloneta in Barcelona,
Spain and one in Madison, Wisconsin at the Commonwealth Gallery. |
 " Pilsen for sale" computer generated sticker 2004 Miguel Cortez The inspiration for this sticker came about when I was reading an article regarding the plan by the Concord Homes Inc.'s (with the support of Alderman Danny Solis) to build a a high-end housing project from 16th street to 18th street and Peoria Avenue. Specifically, this developer wanted to create a residential community comprised of thirteen buildings containing a total of 132 residential condominium dwelling units. Each dwelling would have included two bedrooms and two baths running from $280,000 and up. The organization Pilsen Alliance created a coalition of community organizations and community residents to oppose the project. Over 200 community residents were mobilized in a short period of time to advocate against the project at a community meeting held by Alderman Danny Solis and Concord Homes. Currently, the project is "dead" due to the organizing of the community against the project. It was an historic victory for a community that is feeling development pressures from all sides in the neighborhood. -Miguel Cortez |
| Saul Aguirre studied at the School of the Art Institute. Recent shows Include Beacon Street Gallery, Butcher Shop and La Llorona Art Gallery in Chicago. Saul's work can be found in several private collections throughout Alexandria, VA; Chicago, IL; Washington, DC; ANCASH-Huaraz, Perù; Rome, Italia and Mèxico City, Mèxico. |  "untitled"Natural Grass on Corn Husk and Sea Grass Matt 2004 Saúl Aguirre Gentrification has happened even before industrialization. Colonization displaced people and land: the indigenous (people of the fields) were the first ones affected by these events. After that it was industrialization, now the information age. Funds are neglected in neighborhoods of lower income and are used in richer areas in order to continue creating a big gap with programs like TIFs ( Tax Increasement Finanzing Zones ). Meanwhile, people with income potential are buying land and transforming it into expensive areas and pushing the working class to move where there is cheaper rent, allowing richer people to move into totally rehabbed places, and changing our neigborhoods. Suburbanization of the inner cities is the result. Starbucks, Seven Eleven, Caribou Cafe, and the list goes on, with major national chain stores and upscale restaurants, making it difficult for full families to survive in white collar singles neighborhoods. -Saúl Aguirre |
| Tom Sibley is a multi-media artist. He studied at the School of the Art Institute and over the past 10 years has worked on experimenting with sound, Installation and digital video. He is a frequent contributor to Hasta Cuando?, a local magazine dealing with art and politics. |  "Pilsenopoly "computer print 2004 Tom Sibley |
ABOUT POLVO ART STUDIO: Polvo Art Studio is an alternative space located in Chicago's Pilsen neighborhood and is operated by Polvo (an artist collective originally formed in 1996). Polvo's history consists of organizing artistic and cultural venues with Pilsen-based community spaces. In addition to venues, Polvo generated a magazine focused on arts and culture followed by an online website that initiated an international array of visual artists, writers, and cultural critics (Polvo maintained a Pilsen gallery space in 1999). Since February 2003, Polvo has been organizing and curating art exhibits at the Polvo Art Studio space where we showcase contemporary art including installation projects, new media and performance by a diverse group of emerging and established artists.
Opening Friday March 19 from 6-10pm
March 19 - April 10
Polvo Art Studio
1458 W. 18th ST 2F
Chicago, IL 60608
http://www.polvo.org
773.677.1914
Hours: Sat. Noon-5pm
or by appointment