Logan Square gallery puts ‘Process’ on a podium

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Courtesy The Overlook

“Process: what it was when it wasn’t” will put the minds of its artists on full display with work from Barbara Polster, Sarah H. Reynolds, John Steck, Jr., and more, starting Feb. 3 at The Overlook, 3323 W. Armitage Ave.

By Mayan Darbyshire

Audiences can get a look behind the curtain with “Process: what it was when it wasn’t,” an art exhibition that puts artist’s  process on display and explores the relationship between finished works and what it took to create them.

The exhibition will run from Feb. 3 until March 17 at The Overlook, 3323 W. Armitage Ave., a multidisciplinary art space in Logan Square. Jenn Fagan, founder and director, said The Overlook specializes in providing a platform for emerging young artists. 

“I wanted to make a space for the gap between undergrad[uate] and grad[uate] school and the next step in an artist’s life,”Fagan said. 

The Feb. 3 opening night runs from 6 p.m.–9 p.m. and will feature live demonstrations and processes of artists of varying race, gender and media. The latter includes the development of  photographs and images saved to Google Drive. 

Fagan, whose work has been exhibited at Woman Made Gallery and the Museum of Contemporary Arts Chicago and also participated in a residency through the Chicago Artist Coalition, said she is optimistic about the new  wave of emerging artists. 

“The Chicago art scene is so amazing because it’s really accepting,” Fagan said. “You can pretty much walk into any space for the most part, especially with these emerging DIY art spaces.” 

“Process: what it was when it wasn’t” is the first exhibition curated by The Overlook’s Assistant Director Alexis Brocchi, who took inspiration from her own creative process, she said. 

“It came from my obsession with going to a museum, or going to a gallery and being really interested in reading wall text and museum labels,” Brocchi said. 

Brocchi said the exhibition will showcase art elements not typically seen in other galleries. 

“I really wanted it to be an artist’s reflection of how they work and hopefully learning about their process themselves,”

John Steck, Jr., an adjunct professor of Photography at both DePaul and Loyola universities, will give a live demonstration of a long-duration photogram and said it is crucial for young artists to understand their process. 

“I’m all about [students] experimenting with as many processes as possible,” Steck said. “Also allowing the process itself, the duration of time or the  steps that it takes to become something that’s actually enjoyable.”

The Overlook has featured a diverse range of artists, hosted multiple monthly reading series and art exhibitions and is also currently seeking submissions for a yearly  collaborative, themed publication titled “Multitude.” This year’s theme is “trauma.” 

“The only mission that  is of worth right now is to provide a platform for emerging thoughtful, creative and socially engaged work,” Fagan said. 

 

 

Update 2/2/2018 at 11:45 a.m.: The Overlook’s Assistant Director Alexis Brocchi was incorrectly identified as Alexis Brocci. The Chronicle regrets this error.