Jill Birschbach – Secrets of Interior Worlds

Throughout lengthy artistic careers by any serious artist there is experimentation. This can be accomplished via a deeper dive into a medium long worked with, analysis of ideas and theories, or exploring new materials and techniques. Jill Birschbach was trained as a photographer and has worked in the photography ... Read more

Miguel Cortez – Recurring Abstract Themes: Tactile & Virtual

At this point in my career I have become interested in revisiting artist's studios and musician's practice spaces. Reflection, persistence, rejuvenation, and change-in-focus, tend to be recurring threads in these encounters. This week, the COMP Magazine took the Pink line down to Marshall Square (Little Village) to do a ... Read more

Olivia Zubko – Lifecycles of Objects & Belongings

In this post-pandemic period there are those who located the relevance of family, the importance of (often overlooked) quotidian art approaches, and how to stay busy. Olivia Zubko is one such artist. What is even more appealing is how, in youth, she is expanding dialogues in contemporary ceramics. This ... Read more

Jeffrey Grauel – Life Cycles: Antiquated Patterns to Funerary Wreaths

Having been raised out west in the 1970s in a family where arts and crafts activities were common, it is not entirely surprising that Jeffrey Grauel's aesthetic practice uses materials often aligned with this time period. What becomes fascinating is how and why Grauel, while working today with seemingly ... Read more

Jno Cook – Recalling Kitchen Conversations & Most Unusual Art Inventions

Jno Cook lived many most productive lives. Jno was an artist, educator, engineer, historian, provocateur, thinker and most importantly, a father and husband. I knew Jno, firstly, as an artist who created spectacularly unorthodox kinetic sculptures, artist books, corresponded with and wrote upon photographer Robert Frank and maintained the ... Read more

Boris Ostrerov – Iniquitous Poo, Colorful Forms, & an Uzbek Voice

Boris Ostrerov makes a lot of "shit". This simple statement can certainly be misinterpretated. I trust you will set aside my overly drole and literal note and focus moreso upon the quality and revelatory production of this young and exciting artist. Ostrerov is that rare breed who has taken ... Read more

Holly Cahill – Propositions of a Female Craftsman

Working in loosely connected spheres of inquiry, Holly Cahill is known to frequent a wide range of disciplines simultaneously. Be it architecture, choreography, fiber arts, painting, sculpture or hyperdimensional phenomena, one finds a distinct interconnectedness in her approach to formal ideas and materials. This week the COMP Magazine visited ... Read more

Julie Weber – Subtleties in Light, Form, and Being

There is a sensual luminosity in the elegant approach to visual meditation in the practice of artist/photographer Julie Weber. In her photobook REMNANTS, published by Chicago's Skylark Editions, light experiments, and installation works one finds a clean and clear translation expanding investigation that references formal elements and ideas that ... Read more

Michelle Wasson – A Sizable Unencumbered Aesthetic Approach

Without doubt, entering the massive studio of Michelle Wasson one will note a sense of ephemeral thoughts in contemplation. An immediate realization of scale is located due to the size of the space, the large works, and her apparent reflective production. Wasson's practice and conceptual approach is fluid, substantial, ... Read more

Robin Dluzen – Bloodroot, Ameraucana & the Midwest

Robin Dluzen is a whirlwind of energy. Since landing in Chicago, Dluzen has established a healthy art practice, curated a number of insightful exhibitions, and written regularly on the city's visual arts. This week the COMP Magazine trekked up to Avondale to discuss with Dluzen the role family plays ... Read more
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