Artist Talk: Loretta Bourque & Rob Bondgren
Saturday, July 19, 2:00pm

If you missed last Friday’s terrific opening reception for our summer exhibition, “Bourque, Bondgren and bourbon,” the Artist Talk with gallery artists Loretta Bourque and Rob Bondgren is the perfect opportunity to meet the artists and check out the show! For all of you who made it to the opening, we invite you to come back to hear Bourque and Bondgren discuss the works they have each made individually for this exhibition, as well as the unique collaborative works they create under the name “bourbon.”

Bourque and Bondgren began making collaborative work as early as the late 1990s. The “bourbon” works in this exhibition are recent pieces from 2012 to the present, and reflect the pact Bourque and Bondgren made that “anything goes,” and any censoring is left to the end. The artists share imagery, both found and made, unapologetic, nostalgic, religious and campy, and these works represent the no-holds-barred, liberated approach to the deeply personal content at the core of these two artists’ practices.

About the artists:

Originally from New Orleans, Loretta Bourque received her BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and her MFA in Painting from the University of California at Davis. Bourque has an extensive exhibition record including exhibitions at Danforth Museum of Art, MA; White Columns in NY; Morehead State University in KY; Center for Contemporary Art in CA; Evanston Art Center in IL; and Manchester Metropolitan University, UK. She is the recipient of a number of fellowships, awards and residencies including the Roger Brown River House Residency, the Vermont Studio Center Residency and the Earle C. Anthony Fellowship from the University of California, Davis. Bourque is an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the School of the Art Institute of Chicago’s department of Contemporary Practices, and she currently lives and works in Chicago.

Chicago-based artist Rob Bondgren was born in Buffalo, NY, and received his BFA and MFA at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Bondgren’s work has been featured in venues including Peregrine Program in Chicago, Lennox Contemporary in Toronto, Louisiana State University, and McNeese State University, Lake Charles, LA. The artist has been awarded residencies such as SAIC Roger Brown Faculty/Staff Residency in New Buffalo, MI, and the Professional Artist Residency at Ox-Bow Summer School of Art and Artists’ Residency in Saugatuck, MI. Currently, Bondgren is the Dean of Continuing Studies at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

“Bourque, Bondgren and bourbon” is on display through August 16, 2014.

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Tags: artist talk, Linda Warren Projects, Loretta Bourque, Rob Bondgren, West Loop