In the beginning sometimes I left messages in the street is a public art exhibition that couples artists and practices with the materiality of the built environment. Through the use of billboards, sculpture, performance, media, and sound, the artists in the exhibition will consider the landscape of Chicago. The brevity of space and opportunities for engagement with the less traversed areas of the city become exciting moments for critical inquiry, site-responsiveness, and the activation of interstitial spaces.

Opening with a public reception on Sunday, June 12, In the beginning sometimes I left messages in the street is a public art exhibition that couples artists with the materiality of the built environment. Creating a cartography of Chicago that encourages viewers to traverse rich and varied expanses of land, this exhibition begins simultaneously in the Northwest and Southeast—Logan Square and Woodlawn respectively—and weaves through Pilsen, Little Village, East Garfield Park, Washington Park, Humboldt Park, and Hyde Park. The core of the exhibition is a series of 10 billboards, spanning approximately 19 miles across the aforementioned neighborhoods, which will be on view from June 6 – July 10, 2016.

Participating artists include Carris Adams (b. 1987 Dallas, lives Chicago), Derrick Adams (b. 1970 New York, NY, lives New York, NY), Lisa Alvarado (b. 1982 San Antonio, TX, lives Chicago), Assaf Evron (b. 1977 Ramat HaSharon, Israel, lives Chicago), Becky Grajeda (b. 1978 Los Angeles, CA, lives Chicago), Faheem Majeed (b. 1976 Chicago, lives Chicago), Ayanah Moor (b. 1973, Norfolk, VA, lives Chicago), The Black Athena Collective (Dawit L. Petros, b. Asmara, Eritrea Lives New York, and Heba Y. Amin, b. 1980 Cairo, Egypt, lives Cairo), Nazafarian Lotfi (b. 1984 Iran, lives Chicago), Martine Syms (b. 1988, lives Los Angeles), Cheryl Pope (b. 1980 Chicago, lives Chicago), Amanda Williams (b. 1974 Evanston, IL, lives Chicago). Interspersed within the billboard locations are a series of neighborhood-specific days that will feature artist-led programs, as listed below:

PROGRAMS AND EVENTS:
Sunday, June 12, 12-6pm: Little Village + Pilsen: Derrick Adams and Ayanah Moor
Saturday, June 18, 3-4pm: Washington Park + Woodlawn: Nazafarian Lotfi
Sunday, July 9, 2-5pm: Woodlawn + Auburn Gresham: Amanda Williams
Sunday, July 10, 6:30pm: Pilsen: Lisa Alvarado (Natural Information Society)

Billboard locations will be announced in late May. Please contact info@messagesinthestreet.com for more information.

PROGRAMS:
Opening Reception: June 12, 12-6pm: Pilsen

Performance: Ayanah Moor with Jamila Raegan, Krista Franklin, and Anthony Williams
UNTITLED, (OFFERINGS)
2pm: Location: 18th + Paulina Plaza

Untitled (Offerings) is a collaboration between Ayanah Moor, Jamila Raegan, Krista Franklin and Anthony Williams that will explore notions of healing, cleansing and ritual in relation to black cultural practices that utilize water. At a time when graphic video of black trauma and death flood digital and print media, how might we recognize injustice while allowing space for expressions of memorial and self care?

Video screening: Derrick Adams
3pm: filmfront / 1740 W 18th Street

Continuous screening of Party Crashers (2002), Worship (2012), and Jesus Piece (2014), three videos by Derrick Adams that are rooted in philosophies of Deconstructivism, and the formation and perception of ideals attached to objects, colors, textures, symbols and ideologies.

Artist talk: Derrick Adams in conversation with Allison Glenn
5-6pm: ACRE Projects / 1345 W 19th Street

Join us for a conversation between Derrick Adams, a multidisciplinary New York based artist working in performance art, painting, sculpture, music and collage, and curator Allison Glenn, as they discuss Adams’ focus on the fragmentation and manipulation of structure and surface, and how he communicates and explores ideas of self-image and forward projection.

Saturday, June 18, 3-4pm: Washington Park and Woodlawn
Public walk: Nazafarin Lotfi, Temporary Public Art

A walk through Washington Park, led by Nazafarian Lotfi, which will end at the billboard located at 1130 E. 63rd Street, which features the work of Amanda Williams
Meeting place: Green Line Garfield stop

Saturday, July 9,​ 2-5pm​: Woodlawn and Auburn Gresham
Artist Talk: Amanda Williams, It’s A Gold Mine:​ Making Invisible Landscapes Valuable
Program Location: Corner of 63rd and Ellis​
Join artist, Amanda Williams, in conversation with community organizer and creative placemaker, L. Anton Seals, Jr. as they discuss how Williams fosters imaginative possibility in her work through the color gold. Audience participation will be encouraged.

Sunday, July 10, 6:30pm: Pilsen Finissage
Live Music Performance: Natural Information Society
18th Street / Blue Island / Loomis Plaza

Please join us for a closing performance featuring Joshua Abrams, Lisa Alvarado, and Mikel Avery of the avant-garde, experimental music ensemble, Natural Information Society.

Official Website

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Tags: Allison Glenn, Amanda Williams, Anthony Williams, Assaf Evron, Ayanah Moor, Bad At Sports Top V List, Carris Adams, Cheryl Pope, Chicago, Dawit L. Petros, Derrick Adams, Faheem Majeed, Heba Y. Amin, Jamila Raegan, Krista Franklin, Lisa Alvarado, Martine Syms, Messages in the Street, public art, The Black Athena Collective