Catalyst
Im/migration and Self-taught Art in Chicago
Aldobrando“Aldo” Piacenza, Untitled (St. Peter’s)
Catalyst: Im/migration and Self-taught Art in Chicago, the first exhibition to open in Intuit’s newly-renovated museum, is part of Art Design Chicago, a citywide collaboration initiated by the Terra Foundation for American Art that highlights the city’s artistic heritage and creative communities.
It is the first major exhibition to focus on the importance of immigration and migration in the genre of self-taught art. The exhibition underscores the creative contributions of migrants and immigrants, broadening the scope to include artists deserving of greater attention, while posing questions about access to the art world and how art comes to be defined and valued. Considering artists in the context of their migration experience, cultural backgrounds and communities invites new insights into their work. Chicago, a city with a significant and ongoing history of immigration and migration, is fertile ground for investigating the rich array of academic and nonacademic influences—cultural, communal and familial—that enrich artistic production. The exhibition aims to be inclusive of the experiences of immigrants and migrants while acknowledging social and legal differences.
Catalyst: Im/migration and Self-taught Art in Chicago explores catalysts for leaving home, for coming to Chicago and for pursuing an art practice. The range of personal and political subject matter and artistic styles reflects artists processing distinct cultural traditions, memories and experiences of living far from one’s homeland. Themes in the artworks on display range from belonging and longing for homeland, to labor and individual expression, to bearing witness to history, to assimilation.
The narrative centers on the rise of self-taught art in Chicago during the second half of the 20th century, opportunities for artists leading up to this time, and the continued importance of im/migration and self-taught art to Chicago today.
Participating Artists
Featuring more than 75 works from both local and leading collections, the exhibition spotlights works by 22 artists in a range of media, including drawing, painting, collage, sculpture, printmaking, textiles, ceramics, woodcarving and installation. Artists include:
Carlos Barberena
active in the United States, born Granada, Nicaragua
Isamu Guy Conners
active in the United States, born Tokyo, Japan
María Enríquez de Allen
American, born Allende, Mexico
Albina Felski
American, born Fernie, Canada
Stefan Harhaj
active in the United States, born Stuttgart, Germany
Aaron Kleeblatt
active in the United States, born Poland
Tae Kwon “Thomas” Kong
American, born Hwanghae Province, North Korea, raised in Incheon, South Korea
Alfonso “Piloto” Nieves Ruiz
active in the United States, born Querétaro, Mexico
Marion Perkins
American, born Marche, Arkansas
Aldobrando “Aldo” Piacenza
American, born S’Anna-Pelago, Italy
Marva Lee Pitchford-Jolly
American, born Crenshaw, Mississippi
Pooja Pittie
American, born in Coimbatore, India, raised in Bombay/now Mumbai, India
Pauline Simon
American, born Nesvizh, Russia/now Belarus
Genya “Jennie” Siporin
American, born Łódź, Russia/now Poland
Drossos P. Skyllas
American, born Kalymnos, Ottoman Empire/now Greece
Dr. Charles Smith
American, born New Orleans, Louisiana
Bronislaw “Bruno” Sowa
American, born Lubomierz, Poland
Stanislaw “Stanley” Szwarc
active in the United States, born Krotoszyn, Poland
Jesús Torres
active in the United States, born Silao, Mexico
Charles Warner
American, born Prussia/now Poland
Derek Webster
American, born Puerto Castilla, Republic of Honduras, raised in Belize City, British Honduras/now Belize
Badaskhan “Betty” Zakoian
American, born Harput/Kharput, Armenia/now Turkey
Badaskhan “Betty” Zakoian, Turks Attack Me
Badaskhan “Betty” Zakoian, Lost Journey
Aldobrando “Aldo” Piacenza, Untitled (Dido and Aeneas)
Bronislaw “Bruno” Sowa, Untitled
Aldobrando“Aldo” Piacenza, Untitled (St. Peter’s)
Stefan Harhaj, Buildings with American Flags
Drossos P. Skyllas, Greek Bishop
Jesús Torres, Untitled (Vase)
Pooja Pittie, Be In Softness
Pooja Pittie, Be In Softness
Carlos Barberena, Exodus
Carlos Barberena, Riding the Beast
Carlos Barberena, Santo Pollero
Genya “Jennie” Siporin, Yoshke Goes Away
Alfonso “Piloto” Nieves Ruiz, In the Name of Progress
Alfonso “Piloto” Nieves Ruiz, In the Name of Progress
Marva Lee Pitchford-Jolly, Ceramic sculpture of a limbless torso or body with mask-like face
Stanislaw “Stanley” Szwarc, Untitled (Box)
Stanislaw “Stanley” Szwarc, Untitled (Box)
Stanislaw “Stanley” Szwarc, Untitled (Box)
Stanislaw “Stanley” Szwarc, Untitled (Box)
Stanislaw “Stanley” Szwarc, Untitled (Vase)
Stanislaw “Stanley” Szwarc, Untitled (Vase)
Derek Webster, Untitled (turtle with up turned head)
Derek Webster, Seurat Lady
Derek Webster, Queen
María Enríquez de Allen, Deer Skull
Derek Webster, (Woman plate #3)
María Enríquez de Allen, Saint Lucy with Pearls and Shells
Charles Warner, Cathedral III
Charles Warner, Cathedral III
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