2/22/12

Prima Sakuntabhai /Opens Friday, March 2nd 6-9pm




Prima Sakuntabhai 

 3/2/12-3/18/12

RECEPTION
Friday, March 2nd
6pm-9pm
Cobalt Studio
1950 W. 21st St, Storefront
*Right off of Pink Line Damen Stop















Sculpture/Installation/Photography work by 
Prima Sakuntabhai, March 2012

The Mayan temple of Chichen Itza in Mexico is one of the examples of ancient constructions which strove to render a perceptive experience. During the spring and the autumn solstice, the sun casts a form of a serpent on the steps leading to the top of the pyramid. Mathematics and engineering serve the religious purpose of provoking awe.

21st century Chicago, a widely-spread urban architecture of parking lots also
becomes a field of experimentations with perception. The Traders Self Park on Wells
Street, facing the Willis Tower, is composed of two identical buildings linked on the
4th floor by a bridge. 

The particular location offers, not the view of the landmark
tower but a construction site that marks the end of the Loop. It is scaled, not to
human but to vehicles, an uninhabited space whose function is only at the service
of technology. It epitomizes the metropolis culture that has developed since the
urbanization imposing a structural similitude between major cities.

The locations or sites, whether actual or imaginative offer parallel constructions
which distort a former view of the space. I either borrow the architectural
vocabulary or create an incision into the space of what is balanced, ordered,
constructed by subverting objects such as tires or mirrors.

My concern for rational, scientific questionings, rendered physical through art
forms may relate to the fact that having no homeland, drifting between Thailand,
England, France and now the United States of America, I seek not diversity but
unity that holds Mankind, a common drive of humanity. In the mental construction
of geometrical space, Man appropriates it for himself and takes profit to build
spaces for his own purposes. At the same time, vehicles, from cars to trains are the
expression of a profound desire to breach the distance in a territory that do not
match his scale. They say that the 20th century has been about the conquest of space
and the 21st century concerns itself with time.

PRIMA (Primsuda Sakuntabhai) 13th March 1989, Bangkok. Studies at the School of
the Arts Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois.

2/8/12

Proyecto Latina Reading Series//Feb.20, 7pm //Christina Elizabeth Rodriguez//


Join us for a conversation with diabetes activist Christina Elizabeth Rodriguez. Guests are encouraged you to bring any diabetes themed stories, poems, essays and share your story during the open mic or simply come to connect and learn from Christina’s inspiring story of how she combats diabetes.

Monday, February 20, 7PM - 9PM

Cobalt Studio
1950 West 21st Street – Storefront
Chicago, IL 60608
CTA: Damen Pink Line Stop / #50 Damen Bus

Arrive early to sign up for the open mic and remember the Chisme Box is ready to be fed!

Christina Elizabeth Rodriguez is the editorial director at Extra Bilingual Newspaper and has been living with Type 1 diabetes for the past 20 years of her life. Developing a need to educate her peers and those around her about the long-lasting and lethal effects of unhealthy living especially within the Latino community, Christina started blogging for ChicagoNOW on her blog titled Check Yo’ Self, which delves into the complications, nutritional insight, stresses and successes of living with diabetes. In addition, she is also the Communications and Social Media committee chair for the American Diabetes Association Young Professional’s Board. Christina has been a featured guest on Poco A Poco radio as a diabetes activist, is a monthly guest blogger for Latinos in Social Media’s Salud Saturdays and also talks to high school health classes when asked. To get more of her musings and diabetes insights, follow her on Twitter at @kiki416 and @kikisbetes.

Proyecto Latina is a multi-media project that amplifies the success and impact of Latinas in our community. Our initiatives include a reading series and a website that allow us to: create a culture of self-empowerment, spotlight emerging and established Latina talent, create safe spaces in under served communities, and provide a virtual platform to chronicle stories, share resources and start dialogue.

2/1/12

Anthony Marcos Rea: The Ones I remember / Reception Saturday, February 11th, 2012



    • My artwork extends itself from an internal investigation of memories, male role models and the location of men in both urban and rural spaces that influenced how I perceived what it means to be a man. Through photographic portraiture I have attempted to catalogue the locations where I witnessed these men (together) in working-class, cultural and queer groups. By merging these sites of contention I am attempting to recreate the ongoing tension between my desires in men as a queer man of color and the vulnerabilities within my identity developed by these early constructions of masculinity.

      As a young boy I quickly became aware of gay cruising parks and locations in and around urban centers where family gatherings and picnics were taking place. Through portraits of men in local forest preserves and parks, I am isolating the individual from the group, focusing on each person’s identity within a recreated location and moment in order to reconstruct conflicting relationships and overlapping layers of masculinity and sexuality, class and ethnicity, hidden and visible spaces.

      Repeatedly the landscape and surfaces are part of my art-making and thought process. Here I construct land masses; organic forming surfaces and topographical studies of imagined cities through intricate line-work. The collage and assemblage of appropriated pages of magazines are an extension of my interest in the layers of information found within surfaces. Whether photographs, drawings or appropriated images, my work relates to an understanding of what was and what can be in the construction of identity and surfaces.

      --Bio
      Born and raised in Kansas City, MO – Anthony Marcos Rea conducted studies at The University of Missouri – Kansas City where he studied under Photographer, Bill Gaskins. In 1999, he transferred to The School of the Art Institute of Chicago where he continued a focus in Photography, Performance, Video & Visual Communication. Upon receipt of his BFA, Anthony Rea began working in community-based arts organizations, institutions, and literacy programs within Chicago. Currently Anthony Marcos Rea works and resides in the near-west suburban (mostly Latino) enclave of Cicero, IL.


      Anthony Marcos Rea
      2011

      //http://anthonymrea.com/home.html//