Sep 20th 2019

EXPO CHICAGO 2019: Dialogues September 20

@ Navy Pier

600 E Grand Ave, Chicago, IL 60611

Opening Friday, September 20th, from 11AM - 6PM

On view through Sunday, September 22nd

Presented in partnership with the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC), /Dialogues offers panel discussions, conversations and provocative artistic discourse with leading artists, curators, designers, and arts professionals on the current issues that engage them.

SYMPOSIUM: ON UTOPIA
Within the modernist imagination, utopias once functioned as fictitious sites of yearning—not necessarily as artificial spaces, but as indicators of what could be. Within a twenty-first century context, concepts of utopia have remained relevant, fueling discussions within fields of politics, art, architecture, and culture. The 2019 /Dialogues Symposium: On Utopia, gathers scholars and artists to discuss the various ways in which utopias are continuously being imagined through a series of panels, performances, and book signings that examine how the ‘ideal’ can exist within contemporary structures.

11:30AM–12:00PM
PERFORMANCE | CONCERT FOR A FLY (1988)
by llya and Emilia Kabakov (Artists | GALLERIA CONTINUA, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac)
The Kabakovs present a new iteration of Concert for a Fly, a string orchestra performance and sculpture work centered around the conductor: a fly hanging from the ceiling. This performance will enact a piece by composer Dmitri Shostakovich (1906–1975), entitled Quartet No. 3 in F major, Op. 73.

12:00–1:00PM
THE KABAKOVS | ON UTOPIA
Panelists | Emilia Kabakov (Artist | GALLERIA CONTINUA, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac), Matthew Jesse Jackson (University of Chicago), and Sheikha Hoor Al Qasimi (Sharjah Art Foundation). Moderated by Jill Snyder (moCa Cleveland).
Artist Ilya Kabakov, a main figure of the Moscow Conceptualists, began working with Emilia Kabakov upon relocating to America in the late 1980s. The Kabakovs have produced work together for over thirty years, imagining utopic possibilities that originated from painting to found a new genre known as ‘total installation.’ Conceived in Russia at the height of the Cold War, early ideas within the Kabakovs’ works have served as monuments to universal themes such as history and memory. Throughout their career, the duo has placed utopia as a potential outcome and influence of their work. Presented in partnership with The Art Newspaper.

1:00–1:30PM
BOOK SIGNING & PERFORMANCE
Concert for a Fly (1988) by Ilya and Emilia Kabakov
Painting the Stage published by Skira

Following the panel, a book signing for Painting the Stage by Denise Poray-Wendel will be presented in partnership with Skira. A special edition of the publication created and signed by Mario Botta, with an edition by the Kabakovs, will be included in this Chicago debut. A second rendition of the Kabakovs’ Concert for a Fly performing Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s (1844–1908) Flight of the Bumblebee will occur throughout the signing. Select titles by Matthew Jesse Jackson, published through the University of Chicago Press, will also be available.

2:00–3:00PM
WALKS TO THE PARADISE GARDEN: HISTORIES OF THE AMERICAN SOUTH
Panelists | Phillip Jones (Curator and Writer), Jeffrey Gibson (Artist | Kavi Gupta), and Tau Lewis (Artist | Monique Meloche Gallery).

“We make up beauty out of air, and out of nowhere.”
—Jonathan Williams

The recently published book Walks to the Paradise Garden takes a deep look into the utopian desires of artists in the Southern United States to make a paradise for themselves—from the front yard to the back garden, the parlor to the basement. The editor of the publication, Phillip March Jones, will be joined by individuals whose work has sought to revisit the histories of these artists, many of which remained little-known until the late-twentieth century.

3:00–3:30PM
BOOK SIGNING AT INDEX ART BOOK FAIR
Walks to the Paradise Garden published by Institute 193 Press.

3:30–4:30PM
HAVE YOU EVER SEEN A DREAM WALKING?
Panelists | Samson Young (Artist) and Avery Trufelman (99% Invisible). Moderated by Orianna Cacchione (Smart Museum of Art).
Hong-Kong-based artist Samson Young’s first museum solo exhibition in the United States, Silver Moon or Golden Star, Which Will You Buy of Me?, draws inspiration from a song by Bing Crosby in 1933 and the utopic ideals of the Chicago World’s Fair, subtitled “A Century of Progress,” of the same year. Joined by Avery Trufelman of 99% Invisible and Orianna Cacchione of the Smart Museum of Art, Young’s film installations will be discussed alongside the futuristic themes of the world’s fair, as well as its impact on global history years later. Presented in partnership with Ocula.

4:30–5:00PM
BOOK SIGNING & SCREENING
Samson Young catalogue published by the University of Chicago Press
The New Bauhaus by Opendox
Following the panel, join this book signing with Samson Young for his most recent monograph, published through the Smart Museum of Art with the University of Chicago Press, alongside a screening of excepts from the newly released film The New Bauhaus, an Opendox production, which traces the legacy of how László Moholy-Nagy brought the international movement to Chicago.

5:00–6:00PM
100 YEARS OF BAUHAUS | FUTURE/PAST: BAUHAUS PALMISTRY AND ASTROLOGY
Panelists | Jan Tichy (Artist | Fridman Gallery, Galerie Kornfeld) and Laura Forlano (IIT)
The Bauhaus is often remembered for its signature austere aesthetic, yet its foundational members were motivated by unconventional subject matter. Focusing on László Moholy-Nagy’s experimentations with palmistry, Chicago-based artist Jan Tichy will relate these archives to Future/Past: Crossing Lines, his solo exhibition at IIT’s Mies-designed Carr Chapel. Moderated by Laura Forlano, IIT faculty member and editor of Bauhaus Futures, this conversation will trace these lesser-known histories to define a different type of ‘future.’ Presented in partnership with 100 Years of Bauhaus, IIT Institute of Design (ID), and Wallpaper*.

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