Following is a list of curatorial projects, exhibitions and workshops I am curating or participating in the next couple months.  Hope to see you around town.

1. National Wet Paint MFA Biennial Exhibition. Curated by Sergio Gomez

Opening: Friday, January 17, 2014 from 7 to 10 pm
Zhou B Art Center
1029 W. 35th Street
Chicago

The National Wet Paint MFA Biennial Exhibition 2014 is an outlook and an overview of top MFA painting programs in the United States. Wet Paint refers to the idea that this is a fresh group of artists. They are MFA (Masters of Fine Arts) candidates and recent MFA recipients working primarily in the medium of painting. Now on its fourth edition this growing and highly competitive juried exhibition will bring to Chicago some of the most talented emerging artists in the country. Wet Paint 2014 is fully funded by the Zhou B. Art Center which makes it possible for graduate students to submit works for consideration at no cost. Wet Paint 2014 takes place from January 13 to February 15 in the spacious second floor gallery of the Zhou B Art Center. Wet Paint is juried and curated by Sergio Gomez, MFA.

2. Mixed Bag. Solo Show by Steve Sherrell

Opening Reception: Friday, January 17 from 7 to 10 pm
33 Contemporary Gallery
1029 W. 35th St
Chicago

This month I am pleased to present in my gallery a very special friend and artist. I met Steve when I started college back in 1990. He was one of my first art professors.  I am so excited to see his new show at 33 Contemporary Gallery. An active member of the Chicago art scene for many years and a prolific artist who is not afraid to reinvent himself and redefine his art making process, Steve Sherrell will showcase his most recent body of works.  Steve Sherrell was born and raised in Muncie Indiana. He began college at Ball State University but transferred after a few years to the school of the Art Institute of Chicago where he earned received his Master of Fine Arts in 1978. He studied with many fine professors but his main influences were Ray Yoshida and Whitney Halsted. Sherrell’s work is in various public and private collections and he has shown very extensively in the Chicago, nationally and internationally. He is represented by 33 Contemporary Gallery in Chicago and is also a member of an artist’s group called the Mythopians. Steve Sherrell was a founding member of West Hubbard Gallery during the Hubbard Street scene days in Chicago and was represented by many galleries including Sonia Zaks’ Gallery.

3. Lost and Found. Paintings by Sergio Gomez

Opening: Saturday, January 18, 2014 from 2 to 4 pm
Benedictine University
5700 College Rd, Lisle, IL 60532
Exhibition Dates: January 14 to March 21, 2014

 

I am excited to present a selection of large scale figurative works at the main campus of Benedictine University. The exhibition was organized by Teresa Parker.

4. I AMerican. Curated by Sergio Gomez

Opening: Friday, January 24, 2014 from 7 to 10 pm
Water Street Studios Gallery
160 South Water Street
Batavia, IL
http://www.waterstreetstudios.com/gallery/i-american

The I AMerican exhibition aims to explore the intricate meaning of being an American from the eyes of a variety of artists of diverse cultural experiences. Each artist selected for the exhibition brings about a different layer of understanding to the complex conversation of identity in today’s cultural context. Using a variety of mediums such as video, painting, sculpture, poetry and drawing, these artists pose through their personal interpretation of the theme an open ended question of who is an American.  I American seeks to invite the viewer to explore and expand his/her understanding of the multicultural implications of being an American today.

5. Photoshop Basics Workshop with Sergio Gomez

Saturday, February 1, 2014 from 10 am to 2:30 pm
33 Contemporary Gallery Showrrom
Zhou B Art Center
Lower Level
1029 W. 35th Street
Chicago
Cost: $55 (includes lunch)

For the last few years I have been asked repetedly to organize digital workshops geared for visual artists. I believe that now more than ever, learning to manage our own images digitally is an important asset every artist wishing to navigate in today’s world should have. From designing postcards, color correcting artwork to posting your digital images in social media, you are in control of your own career. Let me help you get better at it by teaching you the basics of Adobe Photoshop at this intensive hands-on workshop.

For more info and to register: http://www.33contemporary.com/LearnPhotoshopBasics.html

6. Chicago Artists Interpret Shakespeare in 2014. Curated by Anne Farley Gaines, Robert Kameczura and Maureen Warren

Jan 10 – Feb 9
Reception Feb 1, 7 – 9pm
East Gallery
Beverly Arts Center
2407 W. 111th St., Chicago, IL 60655

I am happy to be one of the selected artists for this group exhibition. An encore showing of works by 47 established Chicago area artists demonstrating that the poetry and magic of Shakespeare’s great works continue to remain relevant to artists of today.   Curated by Anne Farley Gaines, Robert Kameczura and Maureen Warren, presenting  paintings, drawings, prints, fiber, ceramic, and sculpture in various media: some highly realistic depictions of Shakespeare’s themes, some illustrative and fanciful, others semi-abstract. It will be filmed as part of a half-hour WTTW documentary on how the plays, sonnets and characters of William Shakespeare have influenced the arts in Chicago.  The documentary is scheduled to be aired on April 23, 2014, the 450^th birthday of the English Bard.

7. The Transient Figure. Curated by Sergio Gomez

Opening Reception: February 21, 2014
33 Contemporary Gallery
1029 W. 35th Street
Chicago

A figurative based exhibition exploring the short-lived and momentary transitions of the life experience. The works in the exhibition evoke a narrative of passage, subtle change, transcendence, transitory time, and memory.