Our new website is finally live! We have officially moved all of our info and announcements to:

http://gallery400.uic.edu/

Check the new site for all current Gallery 400 related info. This blog is now retired, effective as of this post. But don't worry, there is a new blog on the new site and many other exciting features as well. Check it out now!

Momme Portrait Series (Shadow), 2008, gelatin silver print

LaToya Ruby Frazier
Wednesday, November 9, 5pm

LaToya Ruby Frazier (born 1982) explores her family’s intergenerational lineage through photographs and videos that blur the line between self-portraiture and social documentary. By appearing on both sides of the camera and engaging her mother as a co-creator of her images, Frazier effectively turns the traditional relationship between camera, subject, and author on its head. Shot in her hometown of Braddock, Pennsylvania, Frazier’s images capture the effects of the spectacular decline of this former steel mill town. Though her focus is specific, her work examines the role that family dynamics play both on a personal level and in society at large.

Her work has been included in the exhibitions Commercial Break, Garage Projects, 54th Venice Biennale (2011); the 2011 Pittsburgh Biennial, The Andy Warhol Museum; VideoStudio: Changing Same, The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York (2011); Greater New York, MoMA/PS1, New York (2010); and Generational: Younger Than Jesus, the New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York (2009). She earned a BFA from Edinboro University, an MFA from Syracuse University, and attended the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. She is the Associate Curator for the Mason Gross Galleries and teaches photography in the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey.

Links:

http://www.art21.org/newyorkcloseup/artists/latoya-ruby-frazier/

http://www.latoyarubyfrazier.com/

Kevin Killian

In the Light

Thursday, September 29, 2011, 5:00 pm

Gallery 400 Lecture Room

Kevin Killian (born 1952) is a poet, novelist, critic, and playwright. A founder and former director of Small Press Traffic, and an original member of the notorious San Francisco-based “new narrative” circle including Dennis Cooper and Kathy Acker, Killian has long been a hidden favorite of gay literary San Francisco. In this talk, Killian gives an account of his career in screen-based media and discusses how a writer “takes his own life and wears his heart on his sleeve, mining his most neurotic and embarrassing moments for his art.”

Killian has published numerous books, including three short story collections: the Pen award-winning Little Men (1996), I Cry Like a Baby (2001), and Impossible Princess (2009)—winner of the 2010 Lambda Literary Award for Best Gay Erotica. His work has been widely anthologized and has appeared in, among others, Best American Poetry 1988 (ed. John Ashbery), and Discontents (ed. Dennis Cooper). He has written on the Bay Area art scene for numerous journals, including Framework, Artforum, and Artweek. With his wife Dodie Bellamy, he edits the long-running poetry zine, Mirage/Periodical.

Andrea Fraser, Untitled, 2003, still from videotape

Rhea Anastas

A Woman in an Orange Dress, A Man in a Blue Sweater, An Untitled Artwork by Andrea Fraser

Tuesday, September 27, 5pm

Gallery 400 Lecture Room

Rhea Anastas is an art historian and critic whose scholarship has appeared in numerous books, catalogues, and journals. She is currently the interim director of the Master of Arts program in Art and Curatorial Practices in the Public Sphere at the Roski School of Fine Arts, University of Southern California, where she also serves as Assistant Professor of the Practice of Art Criticism. She is also a Visiting Critic in Residence in Fine Arts at Otis College of Art and Design. Anastas is currently writing a book about Andrea Fraser’s Untitled (2003).

From 2001 to 2008 Anastas taught at The Center for Curatorial Studies and Art in Contemporary Culture, Bard College. She was co-founder of Orchard—a cooperatively organized exhibition and event space in New York's Lower East Side, which ran from 2005 to 2008. Anastas co-edited Dan Graham: Works 1965-2000 and Witness to Her Art: Art and Writings by Adrian Piper, Mona Hatoum, Cady Noland, Jenny Holzer, Kara Walker, Daniela Rossell and Eau de Cologne. Recent articles include "The Artist Is a Currency," with Gregg Bordowitz, Andrea Fraser, Jutta Koether, and Glenn Ligon in Grey Room and "A Rendezvous Under the Counter: On David Joselit and Gareth James at Elizabeth Dee Gallery, New York," in Texte zur Kunst. Anastas received a BA and MA from Columbia University and a PhD from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York.

Kenneth Anger, Puce Moment, 1949, 16mm, 6:30 min. (still)

Second Self

Film and video screening curated by Jesse McLean

Wednesday, September 21, 7pm

Screened in tandem with Intimacies, on view at Gallery 400 September 9-October 22, 2011, this program of videos and films locates itself on the interstice between screen and receptive audience mind. The artists included have allowed the camera to function as a portal, and awarded the viewer access into their own lives, or at least the lives of their developed personas. Through this portal they impersonate celebrities (Schwanse), decide what to wear (Anger), what not to wear (Nelson), instruct (Youngman), guide (Rafman), kiss (Benglis), rage (Crocker), and desperately try to communicate (Acconci). These artists aren’t looking to be simply observed but rather to push outward at the audience, and demand a reaction. More desperate than angry, the gesture is an invitation for the viewer to step across the thin fabric of the screen and become someone new.

Featuring: Open Book by Vito Acconci (9:10 min., video, 1974), Puce Moment by Kenneth Anger (6:30 min., 16mm, 1949), Female Sensibility by Lynda Benglis (13:05 min., video, 1973), Leave Britney Alone! by Chris Crocker (2:12 min., video, 2007), Take Off by Gunvor Nelson (10:00 min., 16mm, 1972), Kool-Aid Man in Second Life: Interview by Nicholas O'Brien by Jon Rafman (18:01 min., video, 2009), k-a-t-e (s) by Nina Schwanse (10:41 min., video, 2010), ART THOUGHTZ: The Female Gaze, with Special Guest Tamara Suber (NSFW) by Hennessy Youngman (8:14 min., video, 2011).
Total Running Time 78:00 min.

LaToya Ruby Frazier, Mom Making an Image of Me, 2008, silver gelatin print

Intimacies

Curated by John Neff and Lorelei Stewart

September 9-October 22, 2011

Reception: Friday, September 9, 5-8 pm

Elijah Burgher/Tom Daws | LaToya Ruby Frazier | Desirée Holman | Leigh Ledare | Laurel Nakadate | Michael Sirianni

In the six artists’ works in Intimacies the camera is an active agent in the creation of social events, not just a recording instrument in the hands of an autonomous documentarian. The primarily photographic and video works, some of which include painting and sculptural elements, focus on charged interpersonal encounters. Beyond serving as indices of such encounters, the included artworks reveal the reconfigured effects of such exchanges, disclosing the complexity of authorship, agency, and viewership in today’s world.

In school or recently out of school and looking for great on-the-job experience? Well, you're in luck because Gallery 400 is looking for amazing interns!

Internships at Gallery 400 offer education and professional work experience at a dynamic public art venue and university resource. Interns, working under the guidance of gallery staff, assist in the day-to-day gallery work, which ranges from special projects and research to clerical support. Gallery 400 welcomes internship applications from undergraduate or graduate students and recent college graduates.

Internships are currently available in the areas of Communications, Community Engagement, and Graphic Design. Appointments are typically a semester in length and require a commitment of 10-20 hours per week, depending on the appointment. A major in art history or fine art is not required. All internships are unpaid.

To apply, please send a cover letter and resume to uicgallery400@gmail.com with “internship” in the subject line by Monday, July 25.

Archive/Website Internship

Gallery 400 seeks an undergraduate or graduate student intern interested in assisting in the final stages of the gallery’s effort to present its entire archive on its new website.

Job duties include:

• Reviewing, editing, and updating the website
• Drafting text for website
• Managing contact with artists and constituents to ensure accuracy

Desirable skills in a candidate include a high degree of organization and attention to detail, writing skills, and knowledge of Photoshop, Excel, and Adobe Bridge.

This is a non-paid internship.

Communications:

Gallery 400 seeks an undergraduate or graduate student intern interested in assisting with gallery marketing for exhibitions, lectures, film and video screenings, and other programs.

Job duties include:

• Assisting the marketing staff to maintain the marketing calendar
• Archiving press clippings
• Assisting in updating social networking tools within established gallery conventions
• Maintaining mailing list
• Assisting with documenting exhibitions
• Assisting with distribution of marketing materials

Desirable skills in a candidate include a high degree of organization, attention to detail, and excellent proofreading skills. Familiarity with social networking websites, digital cameras, and knowledge of Photoshop, Excel, and Adobe Bridge is preferred.

Community Engagement:

Gallery 400 seeks an undergraduate or graduate student intern interested in assisting with outreach by creating visibility for Gallery 400, its exhibitions and programs, and in attracting new audiences.

Job duties include:

• Conducting research on prospective audiences, both within the UIC community and in greater Chicago
• Assisting in the development of student-oriented programming
• Direct communication with student or campus groups
• Coordinating and ensuring the availability of gallery resources to students
• Developing teaching resources for educators
• Assisting in social networking and marketing

Desirable skills in a candidate include a high degree of organization, familiarity with Chicago-area communities, attention to detail, ability to work independently, and excellent communication skills. Familiarity with social networking websites, digital cameras, and knowledge of Photoshop, Excel, and Adobe Bridge is preferred.

This is a non-paid internship.

Graphic Design Internship

Gallery 400 seeks an undergraduate or graduate student intern interested in assisting the gallery with the design of all marketing materials for exhibitions, film and video screenings, lectures, and other programs.

Job duties include:

• Using Adobe InDesign and Illustrator templates to create posters and flyers
• Creating new design for other printed and digital materials

Desirable skills in a candidate include a high degree of organization and attention to detail, excellent proofreading skills, ability to create materials in a timely manner, and ability to stay on task without supervision. Candidate should possess knowledge of Adobe InDesign, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Dreamweaver, and HTML. Please submit two designed objects with your application.

This is a non-paid internship.

Gallery 400 invites proposals for exhibitions and new projects! Established artists and recent MFAs, we'd love to hear from you!

Gallery 400 accepts exhibition proposals of new or existing work. In addition to exhibitions in the gallery space, Gallery 400 has the capacity to present a number of different projects, including public objects or architectural installations outside of the gallery; installations; events, seminars, or web-based projects; new media, video, and/or film installations; prototyping displays; sound works or radio plays; performance pieces; printed ephemera; and projects of a similar scope. We invite artists and curators from the Chicago area, as well as national and international proposals.

Proposals are accepted for the gallery's three exhibition spaces, one larger gallery (1,500 sq. ft.) and two smaller galleries (250 sq. ft. and 410 sq. ft.). Gallery staff and faculty advisors from the College of Architecture and the Arts at UIC review all proposals on a quarterly basis.

To propose an exhibition, please bundle all of your documents into a pdf binder (for information on how to create a pdf binder, please follow this link). Email the binder as an attachment to our email account dedicated solely to exhibition proposals: gallery400proposals@gmail.com. Please include your last name in the subject line of your email.

In your pdf binder, please include:

1. A resume.
2. An artist's statement and/or other background material.
3. An Exhibition Proposal. In the proposal please be specific and descriptive about what it is that will be created, how it will be achieved, and what larger implications you expect of the work - we call this the "what, how, and why."
4. Documentation of the work to be shown. Or, if the proposal is for new work, please include documentation that demonstrates your ability to complete the proposed project, work and possibly mock-ups for the new work.

For Visual Arts, Design or Architecture include:

• A minimum 10 and maximum 25 images of your work, one image per page of the pdf (website links are not accepted for images).
• Be sure to integrate your image captions into the image presentation. Captions should include a title, date, dimensions, media and any other descriptive clarifying information for each work.
• For proposals for new work, mockups of the planned work, in addition to past work, are accepted.

Please reduce image size so that emails do not exceed 10MB in size.

For Film, Video, Digital Art, Sound or Performance include:

• A website, Youtube or Vimeo link(s) to documentation of your work.
• A list of works featured on the link(s) along with the title, date and length of the submitted works. (Please note the order in which you’d like work to be viewed. We will view up to 15 minutes in initial review.)
• Any descriptive information that will clarify the presentation.

Please be clear and informative when indicating how the work will be exhibited. This is particularly important for film, video, digital, performance, and sound work.

**Please note that Gallery 400 will no longer accept hard copy applications. In addition, we will not consider any application that is not submitted in the format described above.

If you have any questions, please contact the gallery at 312-996-6114 or at gallery400proposals@gmail.com.