below are all of the photographs i made for the living (in)animate show at the carrie secrist gallery. not everything made it into the show mostly for reasons of space and also because i seem to have something against dolls and until we saw it all large it wasn't apparent how serious my vendetta was. that aside, i am very happy with my new work and i want to share it with you. all of these (including the older work) are limited edition 28"x42" c-prints available through the carrie secrist gallery.


scalped



fun horror



stuffed goose



aisle of the dolls



mannequin



horses on 18th



off color


also included in the show were some older works:

curbside



dead baby + toes



tattoo + porcelain

living (in) animate, my first big gallery show, is closing this saturday the 17th. If you haven't yet, i hope you get a chance to see this show. the response has been fantastic and it has even received some good press. thanks to damien james for the great article in New City a local weekly paper here in chicago.





carrie secrist gallery
835 W Washington Blvd
Chicago IL 60607
312.491.0917
carrie secrist gallery
tues-fri 10:30am-6pm
sat 11am-5pm

a huge thank you to everyone who made it out to the opening last night. it was so great to share it with you. and for those who did not make it to the opening, the show will be hanging until january 17th, 2009. i will share pictures soon. in the meantime come to see the show, it is much better in person. i am very excited about this show. and to share my first show with and meet the fantastically sweet and wonderful liliana porter was an honor.

here is the email that went out from the gallery(pics included this time).
Living (In) Animate
December 12 - January 17, 2009
Liliana Porter- New Work / Liza Berkoff- New Photography
Project Room- Richard Hull- New Drawings




carrie secrist gallery
835 W Washington Blvd
Chicago IL 60607
312.491.0917
carrie secrist gallery
tues-fri 10:30am-6pm
sat 11am-5pm

Carrie Secrist Gallery is pleased to announce a new exhibition-- Living (In)Animate-- which pairs the aesthetics of internationally renouned Argentina born artist Liliana Porter and emerging Chicago based photographer Liza Berkoff. The common denominator of this curatorial pairing is how both artists equally address a sense of philosophical intensity and playfull whimsey. In their practice, both artists investigate the secret life of inanimate objects and those moments in life that make us question what is real. Their works individually challenge and lure us into a world of childhood fantasy that questions our understanding of the absolute and artificial.

Liliana Porter's work playfully rebel's against tradition, disrupts time and challenges our notion of reality. Using a wide range of media, Porter brings together the ridiculous with the logical, creating bizarre situations that seduce us unwittingly into the world of her idiosyncratic set of characters. Drawing from an eclectic collection of figurines, knickknacks, toys and souvenirs, Porter features these characters in unforeseen combinations and circumstances. The unique situations she invents, where distinct events occur simultaneously, or dissimilar protagonists interact, wittily invite political, philosophical, and existential interpretation. In Porter's eerie installations we, the viewer, see ourselves in the cast of characters that she has so sharply created.

Liza Berkoff, in her first exhibition at the Carrie Secrist Gallery will be exhibiting photographs that display her passion and interest in the uncanny. Berkoff is interested in the peculiarity and the uniqueness of place and the incongruity that can occur in everyday life. Berkoff says about her work, "I am inspired by the way people manipulate their surroundings, I see this in the display case of a butcher shop, the sparse geometry of a construction site or a scrap of Astroturf left behind in a warehouse". In Berkoff's work the strange is examined, whether it is a decapitated Barbie found on the city streets or someone's figurine's lined up on the sidewalk as if ready to perform a play. Most of us are interested in those niches in life that make us take a second glance, that cause us to look up from our newspaper, that make us question what we know, it is these moment's that shine in Liza Berkoff's photography.

In the gallery's Project Room, established Chicago artist Richard Hull presents a new series of charcoal drawings that examine an abstract relationship between organic and architectural forms. His signature layered mark making (both structured and sinewy)seem to morph from the one to the other in the series, finally creating a symphony of complex and striking imagery.

Porter has shown internationally, including exhibitions at the Centro Cultural Recoleta, Buenos Aires; the Museo Castagnino, Rosario, Argentina; Palacio Aguirre, Cartagena, Spain; and the Phoenix Art Museum, Arizona. Her work is in numerous public and private collections in Latin America, Europe and the United States, including the Museum of Modern Art, New York; The Metropolitan Museum, New York; Philadelphia Museum of Art; Smithsonian Museum of American Art; Danos-Latinoamerica Collection, Zurich; and Tate Modern, London.

Liza Berkoff studied at Bard College with photographer Larry Fink and is a graduate of Columbia College in Chicago, IL. She is a Curator's Choice Selected Artist from Around the Coyote in Chicago and has exhibited widely in Chicago art organizations.

Richard Hull has exhibited widely nationally and is in numerous public exhibitions including The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL; The Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL; The Chase Manhattan Bank Collection, New York, NY; and The Smithsonian, Washington D.C.

Richard Hull


thanks again for all of your support.
xo.

i am in the midst of getting ready for my big gallery show (details below), but i just wanted to get something up here to let you all know about it. and to give you this little teaser.


stuffed goose

living (in)animate at the carrie secrist gallery.
new work by liza berkoff and liliana porter.
december 12, 2008 - january 17, 2009

opening:
friday, december 12, 2008
6pm - 8pm
835 west washington blvd.
chicago

i will be showing 11 large format (28" x 42") photographs: 7 are brand new - never seen before (well, now you've seen the goose), 4 are old favorites. i won't be posting all of the images until after the opening, so come to see them all in person. (if you know you can't make it and just can't wait until december, shoot me an email and i will be happy to share them with you).
if you are interested in receiving something in the mail from the gallery about my shows - let me know and make sure i have your preferred address.

hope to see you there!
xo.

book now to save now.
great deal on portrait sittings


sofie

the time has come for me to raise my prices, starting january 1st, 2009.
act now to get a sitting at current prices.

do you need new pics of _______?
a) your kids
b) your pets
c) yourself
d) you and your lady/boy
e) all of the above

what you get:
a (digital) photo sitting at the location of your choosing.
a disc of everything i shoot, to do with what you will
(print them, email them, post them, hang the cd from your rearview mirror, whatever).
an enjoyable relaxed experience and a guarantee that you will love the results.

what you pay:
$400

do you have a preference for film? prices upon request.


meghan

here is an excerpt of the article in cs interiors (just the part about me).



for the full article (and it is good) pick up your free copy of the magazine on a street corner near you.
thanks meghan and rebecca!