“What They Said” Art Exhibit’s Historic Opening

Chicagoland non-profit Arts of Life, celebrating its 25th anniversary, and the art studio Facility Chicago came together to present the “What They Said” art exhibit and had a historic opening reception on March 28. The exhibit will be open until May 9 and will have open hours with the guest curators on May 2, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

At the Circle Contemporary Chicago venue, over 200 people showed up to view the artwork. Nick Schutzenhofer, the gallery manager, said it was “the largest turn-out ever.”

The exhibit was guest-curated by artists Nick Cave and Bob Faust, who sought to “make a beautiful show to visit, but more importantly, one that built connections,” as Faust put it. The two wanted to put work together that would naturally begin conversations between paired artists.

Featured artists in the exhibit include: John Bateman, Shenequa Brooks, Saumitra Chandratreya, Joel Ebner, Dan Gamble, Ted Gram-Boarini, Ted Hamel, David Krueger, Lawrence M., Tim Stone, James Schenck, Lisa Solar, Oly Trindl, Maria Vanik, Frank Vega, and Jean Wilson.

When asked about the significance of the exhibit title, Faust said that “it’s important in that it is a phrase we say, where we are in wholehearted agreement with a perspective someone else in a group just shared.”

He went on to explain that if Cave stated, “Webster’s makes the best doughnuts in Chicago,” and Faust replied, “What he said,” it demonstrates an agreement that parallels the agreement between paired work.

When curating, Faust explained how they began viewing the Arts of Life’s artists’ individual pages online. Due to there being two of them, the small list of works was selected because they “stirred emotion” in both of them. From that shortlist, they selected eight pieces that “felt cohesive.”

Once Faust and Cave knew their selected artists from Arts of Life, they decided to examine their own network, the art studio Facility, and made selections determined by whether they paired with the “aesthetic” and “perspective” with the other eight artists.

“We all come at and use art in very different ways,” said Faust.“For me, seeing the similarities even though we don’t know each other,” said Vega, one of the artists. “The things that we somewhat are looking for or sense for when we are making the work. I’ve been to the space and a couple of exhibitions in the space so it was really nice to be asked to be part of it. It was an honor to be a part of the show and to be a co-creator with the Artists of Life.”

“It was nice collaborating and doing different exhibitions with artists who come from different experiences and ways of working,” said Vega.

Vega hopes that the way the space is set up with the artworks sparks conversations, and is interested in people’s reaction to his work in relation to others, as he uses “unconventional materials” such as industrial materials and objects from nature. He likes to see how time challenges these objects and presents them in a new way.

“It was interesting to see people’s take to my approach with materials through abstraction,” said Vega.

Motivated by material, Vega often brings back things from his walks, such as loose fence spears. He enjoys recording spaces through new innovative ways rather than through a “general or archival” lens in the way photos present images. The memory the object holds is critical to his work, with Vega trying to move away from “rigidity of having a practice that is without discipline.”

“It’s never a clear sort of thing, I’m always thinking about it in fragments and how to organize or put together disorganization by moving around public spaces,” said Vega.

“There’s a lot of diversity of works and seeing the similarities and differences creates a dialogue to hopefully create new conversations through the work,” added Vega.“I’m always intrigued to share my practice.”

“In order to bring in more objects and be able to find a focus on the things I’m doing I’ve started thinking about something I call ‘Des Encanto’ to relieve the object of its historical function through like a sound, changing the format and breaking it down to use the material. When we think of feathers, they have cultural significance and they’ve been used throughout history in rituals for its beauty but at the same time it is a material,” said Vega. “In this time of specificity, how can I move away from that?”

Arts of Life shouted out Artist Frame Service for their support of the exhibition.

Given it was the 25th anniversary, Arts of Life looked back on its history, celebrating their impact, and casting eyes toward the future. The “What They Said” exhibit followed the recent launch of the new artwork-filled hardcover book “2wenty 5ive – Arts of Life 2000-2025,” which they noted as a “retrospective highlighting the organization’s history of supporting artists with disabilities” in their press release.

Additionally, the artwork was presented at EXPO Chicago’s Contemporary Art Fair at Navy Pier’s Festival Hall on April 25 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. and on the 26th from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m..

The book’s national launch happened at the Outsider Art Fair, which took place from Feb. 27 until March 2. Arts of Life continues its anniversary year with a dedicated exhibition at the Design Museum of Chicago from August 11 until Sept. 30. They will also be correlating with the feature projection of Art on theMART from Sept. 11 to Oct. 6.

Their annual Arts of Life Benefit Art Auction will be taking place on Oct. 3 at the Epiphany Center for the Arts.