SCENE WRITTEN BY LAURA HINE
TALKING SHOP CKS COLLECTIVE
After over a decade working within the Chicago design scene, last August Christina Karvelas Stavropoulos took a leap and opened a small boutique showroom in West Town featuring the work of the 11 artisans that she represents through CKS Collective. “I started the company in my basement in March and orders were really strong,” she says. “But I needed a living, breathing space to show these emerging talents.” Of the artisans she represents, lighting designer Gabriel Scott is probably the best known, but it’s important to Stavropoulos to also find and represent newer and lesser-known artisans. The gallery has a few ready-to-go pieces, but the vast majority are custom made, and Stavropoulos welcomes the chance to facilitate collaboration among the client,
designer and artisan to make a unique piece perfectly sized for a specific space. And because she only chooses artisans and collections that she loves, a side benefit is that pieces can be combined across lines in the same room. “All the lines play well with each other,” she says. “It’s been great to see designers order 10 pieces from different lines and they all look fabulous together.” ckscollective.com
ON VIEW
At its new location in Bucktown, Pagoda Red is hosting an exhibition of artist Michael Thompson’s kites through March 12. “Each one is its own meditative color story,” says Betsy Nathan, owner of Pagoda Red. “There’s a different spirit to this group; they’re very beautiful and abstract but you see cohesion there.” Thompson has long played with the medium of kites and has exhibited groups of these split-bamboo-frame collages in large spaces, like the lobby of the Goodman Theatre and the exhibition hall at Navy Pier. Not to be outdone, Pagoda Red seems uniquely suited to house an installation of Thompson’s kites. During the pandemic, they moved their gallery and retail into their warehouse space and have found advantages to having the whole business in one place. “It’s a voluminous space with raw timber and 40-foot ceilings,” Nathan says. “The juxtaposition of fine art, old furniture and old architecture feels very current and modern.” pagodared.com
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TALKING SHOP: GRACE FEDERIGHI. ON VIEW: AERIFORM KITE BY MICHAEL THOMPSON, COURTESY PAGODA RED.
MICHAEL THOMPSON