“Resonant Objects” // 2015-16 AIR Exhibition | July 8-August 28 | Center for the Study of Race, Politics, and Culture

“Resonant Objects” // 2015-16 AIR Exhibition | July 8-August 28

Opening Reception: Fri, Jul 8, 6pm-8pm
Logan Center Gallery and Arts Incubator

Exhibition on View: Jul 8 - Aug 28, 2016

Resonant Objects showcases the breadth of production by Chicago-based artists Greg Bray, Aquil Charlton, and Nazafarin Lotfi during their participation in the University of Chicago’s Arts + Public Life and Center for the Study of Race, Politics & Culture Artists-in-Residence Program. On view from July 8 until August 28, 2016 at the Logan Center Gallery and at the Washington Park Arts Incubator, Resonant Objects features works that examine the artists’ shared interest in the social and spatial conditions of their surroundings.

"Arts + Public Life is pleased to celebrate Greg Bray, Aquil Charlton, and Nazafarin Lotfi,” said Theaster Gates, Director of Arts and Public Life and Professor in the Department of Visual Arts and the College at the University of Chicago. “What strikes me as particularly interesting with this cohort is the vast variety of interest and skill, strong desire for growth, and reflection on the complexity of urban space among all three residents. Our artists-in-residence have made steep inroads in the South Side through authentic engagement and practice, which we hope will continue to grow deeper. "

Over the course of ten months, Bray, Charlton, and Lotfi worked in close proximity to each other in studios at the Washington Park Arts Incubator, generating research, artworks, and happenings that fostered interactive relationships with diverse publics and spaces on Chicago’s South Side.

"Logan Center Exhibitions is pleased to once again collaborate with the Arts + Public Life Initiative and the Center for the Study of Race, Politics and Culture on the APL/CSPRC artists-in-residence exhibition,” said Yesomi Umolu, Curator of Logan Center Exhibitions. “It has been a delight getting to know the artists and their work through the course of planning Resonant Objects. This exhibition extends Logan Center Exhibitions commitment to supporting artistic practices on the south-side.”

Working across painting and sculpture, Greg Bray blends collage and assemblage with an exploration of random structures. For Resonant Objects, Bray presents abstract sculptures informed by his research into the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear purge that occurred in Eastern Japan in 2011. Fashioned from discarded chairs, Bray’s works are uncanny contortions of wood, plastic, metal & electrical cords. At once acquiring anthropomorphic guises and suggesting new forms, Bray’s sculptures speak to humanity’s resilience and capacity to create anew following moments of rupture.

As the resident musician in this year’s cohort, Aquil Charlton’s work focuses on his music education, sound design, and songwriting practices; as well as his research into the life and work of influential American singer/songwriter Eugene “Gene” McDaniels. McDaniel’s politically motivated recordings garnered success in the late 1960’s and in recent times various hip-hop producers including Prince Paul and Q-Tip of Native Tongues have sampled his work. Following this lineage, Charlton’s presentation infuses music creation with a deep social consciousness and pedagogical intent. Culling elements from McDaniel’s music and lyrics, as well as from his own repertoire Charlton presents a series of sound installations that interpolate the unique acoustic and spatial qualities of the presenting galleries. Also on view is Charlton’s Mobile Music Box, an interactive vehicle made in partnership with Ava Grey Designs and West Town Bikes that features instructions and recycled materials for making musical instruments.

Nazafarin Lotfi’s sculpture- and performance-based practice explores the relationship between object, body, and space. Lotfi engages in daily rituals of walking between her home and several spaces across Chicago’s Hyde Park and Washington Park neighborhoods, accompanied by large-scale, boulder-like sculptures crafted from papier-mâché. These mundane experiences—often reserved solely for the artist and without a prescribed audience—are recorded in physical impressions on the object’s delicate surfaces as they are rolled on the ground, as well as through the artist’s own body as she negotiates holding and carrying them aloft. For the exhibition, Lotfi presents a series of sculptures with distressed and painted surfaces alongside video and photographs documenting her actions in the public sphere.

Resonant Objects is organized by Yesomi Umolu, Logan Center Exhibitions Curator; Alyssa Brubaker, Logan Center Exhibitions Coordinator; Nadia Sulayman, Associate Director for Community Arts and Programs, Arts and Public Life; Lauren Basing, Interim Program Manager, Arts + Public Life; and Dara Epison, Program Coordinator, the Center for the Study of Race, Politics & Culture and is presented by the University of Chicago’s Arts + Public Life Initiative; the Center for the Study of Race, Politics & Culture; and Logan Center Exhibitions.

Resonant Objects will be on view July 8 through August 28, 2016 at Logan Center Gallery, 915 E 60th St in Chicago and at the Arts Incubator, 301 E Garfield Blvd. Exhibitions are always free and open to the public.

RELATED PROGRAMMING

Friday, July 8, 6–8pm
Resonant Objects Opening Reception
Logan Center (915 E 60th St) and Arts Incubator (301 E Garfield Blvd)
A shuttle bus will run continuously between the Logan Center and the Arts Incubator during the opening reception.

Friday, July 8, 8:30–10:30pm
Opening Reception After Party
TAC's Lounge, 5114 S Prairie Ave
With a performance featuring Aquil “AQ” Charlton and his band, Simpson X

Saturday, July 9, 1–2pm
Workshop with Aquil Charlton and the Mobile Music Box
Arts Incubator, 301 E Garfield Blvd
The Mobile Music Box is a bicycle & solar-powered music class, instrument-making workshop, and street studio. Charlton, a musician and teaching artist from Chicago’s South Side, has developed the Box to provide innovative and intuitive music education in communities where there is limited access to such programs.

Saturday, July 9, 3–4:30pm
Resonant Objects Panel Discussion
Arts Incubator, 301 E Garfield Blvd
Join us for a conversation with Resonant Objects artists Greg Bray, Aquil Charlton, and Nazafarin Lotfi led by Yesomi Umolu, Logan Center Exhibitions Curator and Tempestt Hazel, independent curator.

Sunday, August 21, 6–8pm
Head Cleaner, a performance by Wheat Paste Viaducts
Logan Center, 915 E 60th St
Head Cleaner is the final event produced by 2016 Artist-In-Residence, Aquil ‘AQ’ Charlton, for the Resonant Objects exhibition currently on display at the Logan Center and Arts Incubator. This is also the first of several performances and recordings planned by Wheat Paste to publicly display and develop material for their debut release.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS >>

Presented by Logan Center Exhibitions; Arts + Public Life; and the Center for the Study of Race, Politics & Culture

Center for the Study of Race, Politics, and Culture at the University of Chicago