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New Location!

2019 N. Damen Ave • Chicago, IL • 60647

Current Exhibition

Beth Herman Adler: We Are All Vessels

Opening Reception: Saturday, April 1, 2023
4-7pm

Artist Talk: Sunday, May 21, 2023

2pm

Exhibition continues through May 21, 2023

"A body is a vessel. A vessel is a body.”

–Claudia Brittenham, Vessels: The Object as Container

Influenced by the variety, ubiquity, and incredible durability of vessels from ancient cultures, Beth Herman Adler created the Ancient Vessels Project, in which photographs of ancient vessels are printed on present-day food boxes using the process of cyanotype. Each work notes the vessel’s age and culture of origin as well as the type of food box used, offering a commentary on our disposable culture.

The Ancient Vessels Project forms the cornerstone of the show We Are All Vessels, opening April 1, 2023, at Firecat Projects, 2019 N. Damen Avenue, Chicago. A related collection of Adler’s cyanotypes and monoprints, based on iconic vessel shapes, is also included in the show.

PHOTO: Ancient Vessel Project, 2023, Various reused food boxes with images of ancient vessels cyanotyped on the reverse side of boxes and reconstructed inside out.

Credit: Jack Kraig Photography.

UPCOMING

Kurt Herrmann : Water Water Everywhere

Opening Reception: Friday May 25, 2023
7-10pm

Exhibition continues through July 22, 2023

I’ve been making watercolors since I first traveled to Siberia as a student in1994.

That trip changed my life and sent me home with my first serious body of work. I’m drawn to the fragility and spontaneity of the medium. Time is crushed into the present and if I don’t follow suit the painting can be lost spectacularly quick. I prefer to work outside to feed off the landscape without trying to be overly representational. I let the atmosphere permeate the work while I try to stay out of the way.

Whether traveling abroad or working in the mountains of Appalachia where I live, painting outside is the only time I will sit still and deeply observe nature. By picking up a brush and trying to make sense

of my environment my senses are instantly heightened. One of my favorite aspects of working outside is that there is zero time to think and only time to react. It’s a cliché but when working this way, I feel more like a vessel for the paint to flow through rather than the source. In my practice I work on large

scale oils, acrylics, sculpture, and assemblage, but nothing is as personal and intimate as my watercolors. It’s a treat for me to show them at Firecat Projects where they have the stage as the lead role and not a supporting actor.