Sunday, November 10, 2019

A Eulogy for Linda Warren Gallery






My recent eulogy for Shane Campbell's gallery
got me thinking about another exhibition space
that recently closed.


Like Campbell,
Warren is still in business,
it's just that she does not 
mount exhibitions any more.



Unlike Campbell, who taught art history at the Art Institute,
Warren relied much more on her eye than on academic ideas.
I doubt that French theory means a damn thing to her.

She showed things that were gorgeous, upbeat, and just a bit quirky.

I really miss her.










posted by chris miller at 10:29 AM 1 comments

Saturday, November 09, 2019

A Eulogy for Shane Campbell Gallery






  
Chicago and Vicinity


I'm embarrassed to say that I only discovered Shane Campbell's gallery in 2015 --- fourteen years after he opened it in Oak Park. (which is where I live)

Ouch.

How could I have missed it ?  Looking back at his list of exhibitions , he 's a bit closer to the contemporary  artworld mainstream than I've ever been.  He finds fashionable alienation much more attractive than I do.  But still, there's quite a few I wish I'd seen.

In 2016  he opened the south side gallery shown above.










It was a huge and gorgeous space.






He also had a satellite apartment gallery in a Lincoln Park high-rise designed by Mies Der Rohe.

How cool was that!


Apparently, he recently realized that he wasn't having fun any more.  He hasn't sold his building or shut down his website -- but he's no longer  mounting any shows.

I hope that eventually he will change his  mind - if he can still afford to do so.

Maybe he could downsize a bit.
He ran a very small gallery for more than a decade. Why not do it again?

As Thomas McCormick has proven -
you don't really need a big staff and a big, gorgeous space
 to sell big gorgeous art.



( The links below are to my New City reviews )




Elliott Hundley














posted by chris miller at 3:36 PM 0 comments

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