The scenery in Chicago, from landmarks like Lake Michigan and Willis Tower to the local bar and barber, are endless inspiration for artists and painters alike. The results of that inspiration were on display at the 47th Ward office of newly sworn in Alderman Ameya Pawar last evening at Pawar’s office at 4243 North Lincoln.
The curator for the evening, Patricia Larkin-Green, explained that the event entitled, Open Wall: Faces and Spaces, was geographically themed. Artists, both painters and photographers, displayed work from representations of a mini mart on the Northwest Side by Mary Phelan to paintings of Lake Michigan. Larkin was doing double duty as she also had several of her paintings on display as well.
Bill Bartlett displayed a painting of a dark alley on a snowy night. Bartlett explained that he took several photos of this alley one evening. After, he went home and drew several small sketches from those photos. Laying all those out, Bartlett then drew the final product an acrylic on canvas representation of that alley.
Phelan described a similar process with her oil on linen. “It’s representational,” said Phelan of her work. Phelan and Bartlett explained that a representational painting interprets real landscapes rather than attempts to copy them wholesale. The two artists then proceeded into an esoteric debate about the differences in styles.
Andrew Steiner displayed some interesting black and white’s in the back and Welles Park Bulldog’s own Jane Rickard also had some of her work featured. Phil Ponce, host of WTTW’s Chicago Tonight, made an appearance to admire some of the work that included canvas paintings by his wife Ann.
The price for some of this work ranges from slow of $200 all the way to $5,500.
Ms. Green says that Pawar’s office is looking to put on three more shows over the next year each with a different theme. Th artists included: Hiroshi Ariyama, Bill Bartelt, Nico Carmargo, Meredith Dytch, Patricia Larkin Green, Bill Moran, Mary Phelan, Ann Ponce, Emily Rapport, Hugh Spector, Larry Zgoda, Andrew Steiner,and Bulldog photographer Jane Rickard.
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Thank you for covering OpenWall: Faces and Spaces of the 47th Ward. We appreciated the Bulldog’s press! OpenWall is both a celebration of the work of the local artists and an invitation to other area artists to get more involved in the local art community. Our new Alderman, Ameya Pawar believes that his walls should be open to the Artists of the Ward to invite the community to interact with his office. We plan to have four events per year!
Please note that the artists mentioned are Mary Phalen (not Molly) and the dark alley painting you described is Bill Bartelt’s.