Art Collection Chicago Office January 2022 Presented by
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Bruce Niemi Bruce Niemi is a second-generation sculptor who studied under his father, Frank J. Niemi (an ornamental iron artist and self-taught sculptor). Niemi learned how to weld at his father's studio in 1968. His father was a major influence in the style and craftsmanship that goes into a Niemi sculpture. In 1974, Niemi entered Northern Illinois University and graduated in 1981 with a B.F.A. in Sculpture. He's been welding and creating sculptures for 47 years; full-time for 29 years. To date, Bruce has over 54 permanent public sculptures across the United States and Europe.
Bruce Niemi (b. 1956) Kenosha, WI Rising Up, 2019 Stainless Steel
Nicole Gordon (b. 1976) Glencoe, IL
Apex, 2021 Oil on canvas
Nicole Gordon “My paintings function as dreamscapes that juxtapose the observed with the imagined. The paintings weave together elements of childlike innocence with darker undertones, a dynamic that echoes the makeup of human existence. The heightened colors and out-of-place objects create absurd and sometimes disturbing stage-like scenes that cannot possibly exist in nature and become an alternate reality. The landscapes reference fairy tale settings in which complex and often disturbing narratives are revealed within a context of dreamlike prettiness. The disturbance to the serenity animates the setting and breathes new life into the space, highlighting the tension between the artificial and the real.”
Ben Tinsley (b. 1981) Chicago, IL Green Thumb, 2018 Oil on canvas
Ben Tinsley “I was born into an artistic family. My father Barry Tinsley is a sculptor, my mother is a very creative person, and my sister is a fashion designer. We lived in a two-flat in Oak Park with another family of artists, which made for a rich and inspirational childhood. I struggled in academia and school as a kid. Making art was always something that came naturally to me and was a great escape. My parents were very supportive in all my art endeavors. They sent me to The Chicago Academy of the Arts, an art high school in the city of Chicago. My high school experience truly changed my life. Not a lot of kids have figure drawing and art history class in high school. I then went on to get my BFA at the Maryland Institute College of Art for painting. During my time at MICA I focused on landscape painting with Mark Karnes. My work really started coming into focus after some classes with Timothy App, an abstract painter. I was totally burnt out from art school and felt like I needed some time living in the real world, so I moved back to Chicago and worked at the Museum of Contemporary Art as a preparator. I was fortunate enough to work on a large-scale mural with artist Franz Ackermann in the lobby of the museum. I continued working in the art installation field, at Methods and Materials, a fine art rigging company. Throughout my decade there, I really focused on problem solving and growing as an artist, as well as enriching experiences such as installing artwork in places as far as Morocco. During those years at Methods and Materials, I spent some time installing artwork in Bloomington, Indiana and fell in love with the city and university. In 2012, I received my MFA degree at Indiana University for painting. You could say I’m living the artist’s dream. I live in Bridgeport, Chicago now with my beautiful wife and two amazing kids. I have a converted garage studio, representation by McCormick Gallery, and I’m now a full-time artist.
My roots began in a traditional foundation with a lot of observational work. In my early years, I felt a strong connection to the figure, which then developed to a real passion for the landscape. Landscape painting was the first step towards a more abstract way of thinking about my work. Shadow and light, and the breakdown of space and color relationships became more of a focus than the object I was painting. I find inspiration in my daily life, in things that exist within and around me. I’ve always been drawn to the imperfections I observe, like a glitch in the screen/monitor or a torn billboard revealing an image underneath. To me, these imperfections have potential with endless possibilities. My paintings are objects, spaces, walls, and windows, all intersecting and trying to inhabit a physical space. But it’s also a removed space that can be here or not, at the same time.”
Didier Nolet (b. 1953) Evergreen Park, IL Up North, 2011 Oil on canvas
Didier Nolet is an artist who was born and raised in Paris, France. He wanted to be an artist since a very young age. For many years every summer he traveled throughout France with his parents. These trips left a very strong impression on him. At the age of eighteen he entered the Beaux-Arts School in Paris to study painting. This is also something that had a strong impact on him. He finally could be himself and could do what he wanted to do the most in the world: to paint. After he met a young American who was traveling through France, he moved to Chicago in 1979. She became his wife. This move had a strange effect on him. It brought back many of his childhood memories. These memories were so strong that he knew he had to put them on canvas. He started to paint imaginary landscapes that reflect a blending of his childhood memories (he never uses photographs or any other visual support). Over time, these paintings became more and more an expression of his state of mind, which in turn was affected directly by what happened in his life. Some paintings came out serene, others dark and somber. More recently he started a new series of paintings (some very large) reflecting the storms of his life; big crushing waves and surf. His paintings are started with very small sketches. He then paints small oil studies and finishes with a large piece. He always allows himself the possibility of changing anything while he is working on the final painting. He does not want to simply copy the studies. Didier Nolet has been showing in Chicago and across the United States since 1980. The Chicago Cultural Center and the Rockford Art Museum in Rockford, Illinois both organized a ten-year survey of his work. He has shown in many galleries in Chicago, including Struve Gallery, Eva Cohen Gallery, Ann Nathan Gallery, Lydon Fine Art, Perimeter Gallery and Addington Gallery (his current dealer). He has exhibited in Laguna Beach, California at Shona Gallery, Munson Gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico, MC Gallery in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Suzanne Brown Gallery in Scottsdale, Arizona and Marilyn Pearl Gallery in New York City. Didier is represented in numerous corporate art collections and art museums throughout the United States, has won many prizes and awards for his work, including an Illinois Arts Council Fellowship, and has been the subject of dozens of newspaper and magazine articles over the years.
Sheri Rush is a Chicago based painter whose practice includes photography and collage. Rush holds a BFA from Texas Christian University and a MFA from the University of Chicago. Rush’s work explores the ineradicable nature of memory and the contemporary diminishing experience of the sublime. Recent exhibitions include the Rockford Art Museum, Ralph Arnold Gallery, The Art Center Highland Park and a solo show at Hyde Park Art Center. Recent awards include a fully funded residency to the Pouch Cove Foundation in Newfoundland and a grant from the Illinois Art Council Agency to fund an upcoming solo show at the Evanston Art Center.
Sheri Rush (b. 1959) Chicago, IL Renewing Our Minds, 2020 Spray, acrylic and oil paint
Didier Nolet (b. 1953) Evergreen Park, IL Terre Marecageuse, 2017 Oil on canvas
Ben Tinsley (b. 1981) Chicago, IL A Far Field, 2017 Oil on canvas
Raul Ortiz (b. 1968) Chicago, IL Untitled, 2021 Acrylic on canvas
Raúl Ortiz Born in Ocampo, GTO, Mexico Lives & works in Chicago, IL Born in Diego Rivera’s hometown of Guanajuato, Mexico in 1968. Ortiz attended Columbia College as a photography student, but a year later transferred to the University of Illinois at Chicago, to study painting. Under the tutelage of Rod Carswell, Julia Fish, and Kerry James Marshall he received a BFA in Painting and Printmaking in 2001. He has since exhibited his work at the University Club of Chicago; the Evanston Art Center; National Museum of Mexican Art; the Rockford Art Museum; the Wright Museum of Art at Beloit, Wisconsin; the Painting Center, New York; James May Gallery, Wisconsin; and the Meadows Gallery at the University of Texas. Ortiz’s paintings can be found in many private and public collections throughout the United States. Ortiz was an artist-in-residence at The Cliff Dwellers Chicago in 2005.
Raúl Ortiz is a Chicago-based painter whose work is inspired by line, architectural elements, color, pattern, and nature. An active printmaker for over ten years, Ortiz's current paintings reflect his practice (from printmaking) of layering, obliterating and gradually focusing/refining an image. His compositions inform and unravel the images that spring out of his canvases as he adds to and peels away layers of paint. While recent works are decidedly less descriptive, a series of works from a few years ago mirrored Monet's water lily compositions but in Ortiz’s studies Giverny was the vegetation surrounding the Lincoln Park's north lagoon with its overhanging trees that cast light and shadow on the mirror-like waters. Born and raised in Diego Rivera's hometown of Guanajuato until age five and grew up in Chicago's Little Village, his work has always reflected a penchant for color and contrast.
Nicole Gordon (b.1976) Glencoe, IL Alice’s Garden, 2021 Oil on canvas
Alicia LaChance is a self-taught painter whose motivation has been fueled by a love of family, her community and our contemporary climate. Born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, LaChance lived and worked in Europe and on both coasts before returning to her hometown to raise her three children. In addition to becoming a full-time painter in 2002, she co-founded Hoffman LaChance Contemporary in 2004. LaChance's works have been selected to 'New American Painting' by Julie Rodriguez Widholm, currently the Director of the DePaul Art Museum and by Kelly Shindler, former Associate Curator of The Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis. Most recently, her New Village series was exhibited at The Evansville Museum of Art, History and Science. Her body of work, Ornament of Grammar was selected by 'Art News' contributing writer, Jason Hoelscher, for a three-woman exhibition, Flat Bed Picture Planes at Georgia Southern University (2017). Duane Reed Gallery of St. Louis featured the New Village series at Art Palm Springs (2017). Her works have also been placed in significant collections including Twitter, Estée Lauder Headquarters, UCSD Jacobs Medical Center, New York University, Temple University, St. Louis International Airport, among others.
Alice LaChance (b.1970) St. Louis, MO Homecoming, 2021 Acrylic on canvas
Shane Walsh (b. 1981) Milwaukee, WI Untitled, 2019-2020 Oil and acrylic on canvas
Shane Walsh’s paintings are the result of an interest in collage, both in a literal sense and as a conceptual framework for understanding the legacy of abstraction. His process begins with small-scale collages constructed from photocopies of various shapes and marks - some expressive, others graphic or digital - which respond to the history of abstract painting. His interest in the technique owes as much to the punk and hip-hop ephemera of the artist’s youth as it does to modernist collage traditions. The photocopy itself also serves as an important metaphor. Just as an image repeatedly reproduced on a copy machine will become distorted over time, so our understanding of abstraction is altered as paintings are transmitted and reproduced through time and culture. For Walsh, these distortions are something to celebrate, and provide him with the opportunity to re-construct an image of abstraction that feels appropriate to his time and place. Shane Walsh lives and works in Milwaukee, WI. He received his MFA from the University of Washington in 2006, and his BFA from Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design in 2001. Solo exhibitions include The University of Wisconsin-Madison; Artstart, Milwaukee, WI; The Alice Wilds, Milwaukee; Portrait Society Gallery, Milwaukee; Thelma Sadoff Center, Fond Du Lac, WI; and Blindfold Gallery, Seattle. Group exhibitions include Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, WI; Juxtapoz Projects at Mana Contemporary, Jersey City, NJ; Young space, New York, NY; Museum of Wisconsin Art, West Bend, WI; Open Gallery, Portland, OR; Usable Space, Milwaukee; Transients Gallery, St. Louis, MO; and Francine Seders Gallery, Seattle. Walsh is a two-time Mary Nohl Suitcase Fund recipient, and has received press from Art F City, Artsy, New American Paintings, Shepherd Express, and Journal Sentinel.
Cole Pierce I implement a relief painting process by masking off geometric-based grids and applying several bold gradients of acrylic. The masking is removed to reveal rigid layers of accumulated paint that have formed triangle, circular and fractured shaped patterning across the canvas. Although my use of geometry is informed by the Op Art movement of the late twentieth century, I dedicate my practice to confronting the expectations of the errorless, measured precedent set by Op Art. My subtle inconsistencies and accumulated textures violate this expected, calculated abstraction and lend itself toward a more unpredictable form. The interruptions circumvent the viewer’s perception and create a phenomenological experience by challenging the viewer’s ephemeral transition between comprehension and delusion.
Cole Pierce (b. 1978) Chicago, IL 222(Play All), 2019 Acrylic on canvas
Kathleen Waterloo My works are architectural fantasies which attempt to record the urban/urbane/mundane observances seen on a daily basis. Utilizing space planning methods, and with a reductive approach towards simplicity, an elevation, aerial view, or structure is transformed into its final composition. Previously trained in interior architecture, lines are a recurring theme. Recent and past inspirations have been racetrack maps, midwest aerial landscapes, Wall Street Journal graphs, international airport floor plans, geologic fault lines, rodeo bucking chutes, ‘mapquest’ routes, Chicago streets, and architectural elements in many forms.
Kathleen Waterloo (b. 1950) Chicago, IL Equinox, 2021 Encaustic
Bonnie Peterson (b. 1955) Houghton, MI Chicago Portage, 2015 Mixed media
Bonnie Peterson Chicago Portage, 65 H x 68 W Embroidery and heat transfers on satin, velvet and brocade, stitched.
The story of Marquette and Joliet's historic 1673 exploration of Wisconsin and Illinois, is embroidered and surrounds early Lake Michigan maps. The French explorers used a faster way for the return part of their journey to the northern part of Lake Michigan. They carried the canoes across a portage from the Des Plaines River to the Chicago River and returned via Lake Michigan, instead of paddling up the Mississippi to the Wisconsin River and portaging to the Fox. The outer embroidery is from Joliet's journal. Il n'y auroit qu'une seignee a faire, coupant demye lieue de prairie seulement, pour entrer du fond du lac des Ilinois dans la riviere de St. Louis (It would only be necessary to make a canal, by cutting through but half a league of prairie, to pass from the foot of the lake of the Illinois to the river Saint Louis.) http://drupal.library.cmu.edu/chicago/
Gail Mancuso (b. 1968) Chicago, IL Chicago Synchroncity, 2015 Photograph
Gail Mancuso
Through her lens, award-winning artist Gail Mancuso captures the ubiquitous but often overlooked silhouettes and reflections of the urban landscape, as well as the nuance, beauty and strength of the female form. With a discerning eye for color, balance and composition, she utilizes materials uncommon to traditional photography, including paint, torn papers, glass and fabric, along with digital imaging to subtly blur the boundary between photography and painterly impressions. In her evolving abstract compositions, she uses the art of photography as a medium of experimentation. She often uses fragments of photographs together with other artistic elements to explore and develop ideas. Her diverse process is influenced by an ever-evolving aesthetic, which often leads to reinventing something new from its original context, lending a different perspective to the familiar.
Gail has received international recognition as the recipient of numerous photography awards, including those in France, Russia and Japan. She has shown her work in both solo and group exhibitions in the US and worldwide, including galleries in Chicago, New York, Venice, Paris, and Tokyo. Beyond creating large-scale art for public and corporate installations, her limited-edition works are held in the mayors’ offices in Chicago and San Francisco, in the permanent collection at UIMA museum in Chicago, as well as private collections throughout the US, the UK and Italy. Gail has been featured in various media, including World Art Dubai, Michigan Avenue, Modern Luxury and Chicago Woman Magazines, Inside Artists, Splash and on television with NBC Universal’s “Chicago Justice.”
"As an observer of nature, I am repeatedly stopped in my tracks to wonder, "How in the world did this happen?" My intention is to capture my wonderment and love for the mysteries of woodland environments in a way that forms connections for viewers."
Lisa Frank has been influenced by early natural history painting. Before the advent of photography, scientists and artists alike combined myth, observation, and varied levels of artistry to document the natural world. Drawn directly from nature, subjects seemed keenly observed but were often imaginatively interpreted. Frank's artwork mimics this fanciful tradition. These tableaux are staged scanographs composed in the studio. Using an ordinary scanner as a camera, Frank places plants and flowers directly on the scanner glass. A small scaffolding is built over the scanner bed to suspend objects such as textiles and handmade paper, creating a greater depth of field and opportunities for enhanced lighting effects. Lisa Frank holds an MFA from the Design Studies Department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where she now works as a lecturer. She has an extensive background as a working artist in New York City, where she designed wallpaper, textiles, and innovative surface treatments for residential and commercial interior projects. In 2013, she was invited to teach photography at the Penland School of Crafts .
Lisa Frank (b. 1957) Belleville, WI Untitled, 2021 Photograph
Jordan Scott is an award-winning Chicago based artist and photographer. Represented by art galleries nationwide, he has also taught at several prestigious art centers and at Robert Morris University in Chicago. His mixed-media artwork pays homage to his beliefs in the interconnectedness of the universe and is inspired by theories of the collective unconscious and Scott’s 35 years of martial arts training and teaching. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Indiana University and a Certificate of Photography from the Chicago Photography Academy.
Jordan Scott (b. 1968) Chicago, IL Beautiful Dawn, 2021 Used postage stamps and resin on canvas
Hallway photographyOpen edition
Stairwell Chicago Street Artists - Vinyl
Anthony Lewellen
Christopher Tavares Silva
Rubén Aguirre
Nate Otto
Anthony Lewellen
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