BLUENESS
@ BEN RUSSELL
1716 S Morgan St, 2F, Chicago, IL 60608
Opening Saturday, March 20th, from 6PM - 9PM
On view through Saturday, April 17th
From lapis lazuli to Lactarius indigo, Painter Smurf to the throat chakra, Lee Mynung-Bak’s house to one-half of the Grecian Flag, and Palestinian Nav’i Protesters to Eifel 65, your friends at BEN RUSSELL invite you to wave hello (and goodbye) to all things BLUE on this, the first day of Spring. For a city steeped in so much historical BLUENESS (see: the Chicago Blues, the CTA, the Blue Man Group) and a discipline awash in so much azurite, ultramarine, and cerulean blue (see: Madonna with Child, Picasso’s Blue Period, Der Blau Reiter), it only makes sense that these histories would merge (at last) in the form of a five-person group exhibition – BEN RUSSELL : BLUENESS.
And so: BSOD got you down? Blue screen causing you to question the nature of reality? Your favorite LeAnn Rimes/ Jesus Lizard/ Simply Red album got a scratch? C’mon – stop/start feelin’ blue! Pay no attention to them blue devils, listen close to that bluebird of happiness, leave your (blue) balls on the floor, and pop a Jarman/ Nelson/ Kieślowski DVD into the player. There’s no need to be disconsolate, melancholy, or despondant – the Midwestern winter is at an end! It’s all clear blue skies and turqoise lakes from here on out, and team BEN RUSSELL is going to show you the way. In the name of art, we’ve got inverted flames (KEN FANDELL), flickering fish (GERARD HOLTHUIS), heavenly bodies (JEROME ACKS), sculptural transcendence (KENDRICK SHACKLEFORD), and total mystery (KIMBERLY BAKER) – more critical BLUENESS than IKB could shake a painted naked lady at, to be sure!
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