ANNIE HECKMAN

You thought that you were alone but I caught your bullet just in time (detail), 2009, paper, graphite, phosphorescent paint, dimensions variable, installed at The Art Center Highland Park

For a Limited Time Only opened on Friday to a huge crowd at The Art Center. It was a lively event and we’re grateful to everyone who came to check out the show. Kathryn Born has written a great piece about the exhibit for ArtSlant, “Art Is Not Eternal.” You’ll see work from the other artists in the show on that site; they were a dream to work with, and it’s also time for another shout out to our curator Olga Stefan for bringing us all together.

My piece evolved to include a wall installation on the outside of the enclosure, signaling its contents to viewers. This came up following a suggestion from the gallery director and really improved the way the work sat in the space; without the wall piece the enclosure, a light-controlled gallery-within-a-gallery, had the potential to look deceptively like a sort of un-enterable boxy sculpture. It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these wall pieces; in this one the various parts are all balanced on pins or on one another, with no adhesive and no pins actually tacking them down. Here’s an image:

You thought that you were alone but I caught your bullet just in time (exterior view), 2009, paper, graphite, phosphorescent paint, dimensions variable, installed at The Art Center Highland Park

Now that the work is in place I’m going through photos of the project and moving on to make a few drawings (on flat, rectangular paper — no bone shapes) in the vein of the Becoming Formless project (think: maggots). That animation is on its way to a few upcoming shows in New York and New Jersey — updates soon!

I started the day by driving up to Highland Park and organizing bones. There are so many of them and I know that building the structure will be easier if I can quickly locate how many femurs (for example) are available, so I laid them all out on plastic on the floor. Something about seeing this in a gallery, rather than in an apartment or a big industrial space, is a little less creepy.

The vendor of the day is Pololu. Pololu is a company based in Las Vegas that makes robot kits and electronics (and cut paper bones of course). They made this project possible by laser cutting all these tiny pieces of paper. Each piece is drawn by hand, and the pieces are cut from a hand-drawn design, but I will never attempt to cut through 300 lb. paper again after using Pololu. And they’re nice, and patient, and fast, and worked really hard on my spooky project.

After sorting out all those little pieces at the Art Center, I drove to the studio to make more curtains for the enclosure, and stayed there for a while setting things up and checking things off my never-let-crazy-forget-something-at-the-studio list. Once you start hearing the same NPR stories for the second or third time in a day, things get a little blurry. In honor of that blurry feeling of feverish creative work during a long, cold winter, I bring you this clip from one of my favorite movies.

I had a great studio visit with Darrell Roberts yesterday (who has an upcoming solo show at Thomas McCormick Gallery in Chicago opening next week). The coolest part of looking at the in-progress bone piece with Darrell was watching him arrange the pieces and getting a sense of how someone might approach them to build out of them. This was in my studio away from home, in East Garfield Park, where it’s easier to stage things and set up installations. Meanwhile the factory — painting both sides of the paper pieces with phosphorescent paint — continues:

in progress - painting the cut-outs

I also got a chance to visit The Art Center in Highland Park this week. Their space is huge and I’m working on plans for how to best build an enclosure so the piece can be viewed in the dark/light cycle it needs to glow and recharge.

Annie Heckman, You thought that you were alone but I caught your bullet just in time (in progress), 2008

Here’s our initial press release for the show coming up in March. Please forward widely and get in touch if you have any questions about the show or the work!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

What:
For a Limited Time Only, exhibition featuring 5 emerging artists, of whom 3 are Chicago-based.  Curated by Olga Stefan.

Who:
Artists: Annie Heckman, Marci Rubin, Jess Witte, Shawn Stucky and Wendy Kveck.

Where:
The Art Center Highland Park
1957 Sheridan Road
Highland Park, IL 60035
phone: (847) 432-1888
fax: (847) 432-9106
Our Winter Hours:
Mon-Fri: 9:00am-4:00pm
Sat: 9:00am-3:00pm

When:
March 6-March 29, 2009
Opening Reception: Friday, March 6, 6:30-9pm
Wine and appetizers will be served.

About the exhibition:
For a Limited Time Only explores the ephemeral nature of art, and by extension, humanity’s imprint and the artist’s mark, through works that will exist only for the extent of the exhibition.  The projects deteriorate, or even disintegrate completely, during the course of the show. For a Limited Time Only concentrates on the urgency of the work, and encourages the artists, as well as audiences, to consider these projects philosophically, focusing primarily on the idea of the work as temporary experience rather than artistic mark, and memory rather than document.

Catalogue printed on wafer paper with edible inks will, with essay by Olga Stefan, and design by Shawn Stucky, will be distributed at the opening.  In keeping with the concept of the exhibit, guests are requested to dispose of and/or consume the catalogue upon reading.

About the artists:
Annie Heckman is an artist based in Chicago.  Her work explores mortality and afterlife ideologies through sculptural animation installations and works on paper. She has shown her work in numerous spaces, including exhibitions in Chicago, New York City, and Budapest. She is the founder of StepSister Press.

Marci Rubin is a Chicago-based sculptor and printmaker.  Her work focuses on transformations through process and materials.  Marci has exhibited throughout the city and has received her MFA from the University of Chicago.  Her work can be seen at Framing Mode, a business that she manages and owns.

Wendy Kveck is a multi-media artist living and working in Las Vegas, Nevada, but has shown throughout the country, and in Chicago.  Wendy received her MFA at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and her BFA in Painting from The University of Iowa, Iowa City.  Her work focuses on women’s role in society and humanity’s obsession with consumption.

Shawn Stucky is a Chicago-based printmaker.  His work makes a strong bond among music, feelings, and experiences in life. For Shawn, music can create feelings that he cannot manage to put into words, but feels compelled to create art that gives those feelings a tangible form.  Shawn has exhibited at Around The Coyote, the Chicago Art Open, and other venues throughout the city.

Jess Witte is a St. Louis based artist, originating from Illinois, where she received her MFA from Northern Illinois University.  Her work has been exhibited throughout the Midwest at museums and art organizations.  Jess has worked in arts administration for many years and is currently the gallery assistant for the Pulitzer Foundation Art Gallery in St. Louis.

About the curator:
Olga Stefan was the executive director of the Chicago Artists’ Coalition, from 2005-2008 and the executive director of Around the Coyote from 1998-2003.  From 2003-2005, Olga was the grant writer for Woman Made Gallery.  She has curated several exhibitions, including an international show, “Palpable Disequilibrium: Contemporary Art in Romania” at the gallery of Barat College and LIPA Gallery in Chicago, “Resurrection” at Yello Gallery and the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art, “Please Print” and many others at ATC Space.  She has also served as juror for several festivals, shows, and granting agencies.  Olga currently resides in Zurich, Switzerland.