Chicago Sampler exhibited at USF
The University of St. Francis presents a Chicago Sampler, an exhibition of works on paper produced in Chicago, featuring the art of Carl Kauffman, Geoffrey Todd Smith, Matt Irie and Frank Trankina. The show runs Dec. 8, 2005 through Feb. 5, 2006 in the Moser Performing Arts Center gallery.
Chicago Sampler taps four Chicago-based artists as a means of exposing the varied approaches to painting and drawing in Chicago.
Kauffman's heavily-textured paintings and collages mine the icons of anthropological history to link the contemporary act of painting with its ancient heritage of materiality and symbolism.
Irie's varied projects, both graphic and performative, infiltrate the complex social structure of contemporary art consumption and criticism as a means of undermining convention in contemporary art practices.
Smith's dazzling networks of patterns and globular forms exist as decorative and obsessive outgrowths of the artist's interests in non-visual media, such as music and television.
Trankina's calculated and often disturbing oil paintings reference his interests in pop iconography and kitsch. Avoiding the sweetness of pure sentimentality, Trankina's skilled paintings produce a suspicious archive of material excess.
Gallery hours are 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays; 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Fridays. For weekend hours or other information, call (815) 740-3404.
The University of St. Francis is at 500 Wilcox St. in Joliet. For more information about University of St. Francis programs, visit www.stfrancis.edu.