ART BEAT: MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART CHICAGO APPOINTS CARLA ACEVEDO-YATES NEW CURATOR

MCA Welcomes Carla Acevedo-Yates 

as New Marilyn and Larry Fields Curator 

Michael Darling, Chief Curator of the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, announced today that internationally recognized curator and scholar of Caribbean and Latin American art Carla Acevedo-Yates has been appointed the new Marilyn and Larry Fields Curator at the MCA. Acevedo-Yates was most recently the Associate Curator at Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum at Michigan State University. She will assume her new position at the MCA on July 1, 2019.

Image: Carla Acevedo-Yates. Photo courtesy of Eat Pomegranate Photography.

"Carla's curatorial interests and goals have an incredible overlap with the ambitions of the museum's, which makes her a perfect addition to our team," says Michael Darling. "Carla is well-versed and well-traveled throughout Latin America which will allow us to continue to build bridges to the artistic communities there. It was also her passion for Caribbean art, and that of Puerto Rico in particular, that was exciting to me because of the large Puerto Rican community in Chicago. I feel that she will be a champion and advocate for artists from that region that we still know too little about. Carla will be a great new asset to the creative community of Chicago."

Carla Acevedo-Yates is committed to context-responsive curating and working with artists living in Latin America, the Caribbean, and the US of Latin American descent. She is interested in understanding the connections and shared histories between these artistic communities, and engaging in conversations about how art and artists address the urgent issues of today. She says, "I am honored to be joining the talented team at the MCA as the Marilyn and Larry Fields Curator. With their commitment to both local and international artists, and interdisciplinary inquiry, Director Madeleine Grynsztejn and Michael Darling have made the MCA into one of the most influential cultural institutions in the world. The MCA consistently features the most relevant contemporary voices of our time, and I look forward to contributing to that legacy. Chicago is a vibrant city with a rich and diverse cultural history, and I am excited to connect with the many communities that the museum serves."

Carla Acevedo-Yates, who was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, is an international curator, researcher, and art critic working across Latin America, the Caribbean, and the United States. As Associate Curator at MSU's Broad Art Museum, Acevedo-Yates organized solo exhibitions of new work by Johanna Unzueta, Claudia Peña Salinas, Jesús "Bubu" Negrón, Duane Linklater, and Scott Hocking. She recently organized the major exhibition The Edge of Things: Dissident Art under Repressive Regimes, which explores the climate of fear and censorship in experimental artworks from the 1960s through the late 1980s, and Fiction of a Production, an exhibition of work by Argentinian conceptual art pioneer David Lamelas. She also co-curated Michigan Stories: Mike Kelley and Jim Shaw.

She earned her MA in Curatorial Studies and Contemporary Art from the Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College, where she received the Ramapo Curatorial Prize, and a BA in Spanish and Latin American Cultures from Barnard College, where she received the Clara Schifrin Memorial Spanish Prize in Poetry. In 2015, she was awarded a Creative Capital | Andy Warhol Foundation Arts Writers Grant for an article on Cuban painter Zilia Sánchez. She is the author of numerous catalogue essays and her writing has appeared in publications such as Art Agenda, Small Axe: A Caribbean Platform for Criticism, Artpulse, La Tempestad, Mousse, and South as a State of Mind. She was a curatorial resident at Espaço Fonte in Recife, Brazil, in 2014 and R.I.C. in Santiago, Chile, in 2015.

MCA Women's Board honors iconic artist Judy Chicago at second annual luncheon event April 30, 2019

VISIONARY: CELEBRATING JUDY CHICAGO

Tuesday, April 30, noon

MCA Women's Board honors iconic artist Judy Chicago at second annual luncheon event 

The Women's Board of the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago has announced renowned feminist artist Judy Chicago is the featured guest for the second annual MCA Women's Board Luncheon, Visionary: Celebrating Judy Chicago. Dedicated to honoring exemplary women artists around the world, the luncheon brings together the city's most influential leaders in support of arts education and public outreach programs that inspire local youth to find their civic voices. Guests enjoy a curated program featuring a conversation between MCA Chief Curator Michael Darling and Judy Chicago, discussing her work as an artist and activist.

Judy Chicago is an artist, feminist, educator, author, and influencer whose career spans five decades. A pioneer of feminist art and education since the 1970s, Chicago is best known for her work The Dinner Party (1974-76), a monumental multimedia project that has been exhibited in six countries and celebrated in countless publications. An author of numerous books, Chicago's work has been translated into numerous foreign editions, bringing her art and philosophy to readers worldwide. Visionary: Celebrating Judy Chicago is organized by event co-chairs Janet Anixter and Nicole Drexler with Women's Board President Ellen B. Wallace, and takes place at the Standard Club on Tuesday, April 30, at noon.

ABOUT JUDY CHICAGO
Judy Chicago founded the Fresno Feminist Art Program at California State University in the early 1970s before turning her attention to the subject of women's history for her celebrated work, The Dinner Party. Having observed an absence of iconography about the subject of birth in Western art, Chicago created Birth Project (1980-85), a series of birth and creation images executed by 150 skilled needle workers around the country. Her inquiry into issues of power and powerlessness led to projects such as PowerPlay, which examined the gender construct of masculinity, in addition to The Holocaust Project: From Darkness Into Light.

Chicago's most recent body of work, The End: A Meditation on Death and Extinction, debuts at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington DC in the fall of 2019 to coincide with the publication of a major monograph by Scala. Chicago's work is included in the collections of the British Museum, Moderna Museet, Metropolitan Museum of Art, National Gallery, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles, Hammer Museum, Getty Trust and Getty Research Institute, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Tate Modern, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Art Institute of Chicago, and over 25 university art museums such as Brandeis, Cornell, Harvard, Michigan, UCLA, Canterbury (New Zealand), and Cambridge (UK).

ABOUT THE MCA WOMEN'S BOARD
The proceeds of the Visionary: Celebrating Judy Chicago luncheon support the Women's Board Learning Studios and the museum's work with schools, teachers, and teens. The MCA's reputation of being at the forefront of learning is directly linked to the Women's Board, which celebrated its 50th anniversary last year with inaugural Visionary Luncheon honoree Annie Leibovitz. Upon the museum's founding in 1967, a group of impassioned women created the MCA's Women's Board to connect the museum and its community through dynamic educational programming and events for visitors from Chicago and beyond. The Women's Board's significant contribution to name the Learning Studios continues to support the initiatives of the museum's Learning and Public Programs department.

LUNCHEON TICKETS
Ticket prices are $10,000 (Sponsor) or $5,000 (Benefactor) for a table of 10; or $500 (Patron) or $300 (Individual) for one ticket. All tickets include valet parking and a commemorative dinner plate and can be purchased at www.mcachicago.org/visionary or by calling 312.397.4017.

TATSU AOKI BRINGS THE THUNDER OF THE JAPANESE TAIKO DRUM TO THE MCA THIS DECEMBER 8th AND 9th

ChiIL Live Shows on our radar

TATSU AOKI’S TAIKO LEGACY 15 AND REDUCTION 6

BRING THE THUNDER OF THE 

JAPANESE TAIKO DRUM

TO THE MCA THIS DECEMBER

Reduction 6 –“Kanreki” Special, Dec. 8, 7:30 p.m. Taiko Legacy 15 Dec. 9, 2 p.m.

Special Workshop “Chindonya” (Street Troubadour) Dec. 9, 5:30 p.m.

The iconic and expressive thunder of the taiko drums celebrate the 15th Anniversary of the Taiko Legacy with a bang in two programs directed by multi-instrumentalist and media artist Tatsu Aoki, Saturday, Dec. 8 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, Dec. 9 at 2 p.m. at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, 220 E. Chicago Ave. The 15th Anniversary celebration also includes a special “Chindonya” (Street Troubadour) workshop Sunday, Dec. 9, 5:30 p.m.



Tsukasa Taiko is a program of Asian Improv aRts Midwest and the Japanese American Service Committee of Chicago and is supported in part by the Illinois Arts Council, the MacArthur Fund for Arts & Culture at The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, the Alphawood Foundation, CDH. P.C, JCCC Foundation, Gaylord & Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, The Field Foundation of Illinois. 

Reduction 6 – “Kanreki” Special; Saturday, Dec. 8, 7:30 p.m.
Tickets: $20; children under 12 and seniors $15. Visit taikolegacy.com

The Reduction concerts are a rich, erudite counterpoint to mainstream taiko drumming usually seen on contemporary stages. They find roots in the authentic origins of taiko, but continues to expand and deepen the artistic palette drawing on the rich traditions of classic and contemporary jazz. This year’s presentation features special segments from director Tatsu Aoki’s renowned Basser Live concerts commemorating his achieving kanreki, or his 60th birthday. In Japan, this significant birthday celebrates the completion of one Zodiac cycle and is a kind of a “second birth” and time to reflect on the past, as well as look ahead towards the future.

Joining the drummers in this memorable kanreki ritual will be Chicago’s jazz artists Hamid Drake (drummer and percussionist), Michael Zerang (percussionist) and Nicole Mitchell (flutist/ composer) plus Chizuru Kineya (shamisen) and chindonya performer Yasushi Shimazaki.

Taiko Legacy 15, with Tsukasa Taiko; Sunday, Dec. 9, 2 p.m.
Tickets: $20; children under 12 and seniors $15. Visit taikolegacy.com

Taiko Legacy is a popular perennial celebration of Japanese cultural heritage featuring leading contemporary performers. Taiko literally means “drum,” and Taiko Legacy is known for its thunderous sound and stunning, stylized choreography. Joining the Tsukasa Taiko ensemble will be featured guests Melody Takata and the GenRyu Arts of San Francisco, classical music grandmasters from Japan, Chizuru Kineya and chindonya (traditional troubadour) artist Yasushi Shimazaki, leader of the 5:30 p.m. workshop (see below).

Special Workshop: Chindonya (Street Troubadour); Sunday, Dec. 9, 5:30 p.m.
Registration: $25. Visit taikolegacy.com

Taiko Legacy guest artist, Yasushi Shimazaki will present a special hands-on workshop tracing the origins of chindonya culture and explaining various instruments and routines, as well the theatrical implications of being a chindonya in today’s time.

Chindonya is a type of Japanese street musician hired to advertise for local shops and businesses. Believed to be part of Japanese culture for more than 150 years, these elaborately dressed performers parade through the streets playing music and singing to gather attention for their clients. Chindonya was especially popular around WWII and today the tradition is experiencing something of a resurgence in Japan.

About the Artists

Tatsu Aoki
Chicago’s Tatsu Aoki is a prolific composer and performer of traditional and experimental music forms, a filmmaker, and an educator. He was born in Tokyo in 1957 into the Toyoakimoto artisan family, a traditional house for training and booking agents for geisha. Aoki was part of his family’s performance crew from the age of four. In the late 1960s, he shifted his energies from the traditional to American pop and experimental music. By the early 1970s, Aoki was active in Tokyo’s underground arts movement as a member of Gintenkai, an experimental ensemble that combined traditional music and new Western forms.

Aoki left Tokyo in 1977 and is now one of the most in-demand performers of bass, shamisen, and taiko, with more than 90 recording projects and 35 years of international touring to his credit. Aoki is Founder and Artistic Director of Chicago Asian American Jazz Festival, which celebrated its 20th year in 2015. 

As Executive Director of Asian Improv aRts MidWest (AIRMW), an Asian American cultural arts presenter organization, he has initiated and managed several programs to advance the understanding of traditional arts and community through the arts, including the annual Chicago Asian American Jazz Festival, the Tsukasa Taiko Legacy, and the Toyoaki Shamisen arts residency projects. 

Aoki was selected by the Asian American Advisory Council of Illinois in 2017 for the Community Service Award from the Illinois Secretary of State, Jesse White. He also received the prestigious Commendation for the Promotion of Japanese Culture from the Foreign Ministry in Japan, which is given to individuals with outstanding achievements in international fields and acknowledges the recipient’s contributions to the promotion of friendship between Japan and other countries. 

This past May, Aoki was honored as the first recipient of the “George Award”, for his years of support, recording, and performance with renowned American Jazz and soul guitarist George Freeman.  

Tsukasa Taiko

The multigenerational ensemble Tsukasa Taiko, is a program of Asian Improv aRts Midwest and a resident at Japanese American Service Committee of Chicago (JASC). It anchors the traditional musical relationship between shamisen, dance, and taiko. This ensemble performance explores often-overlooked melodic capacity of the taiko using original compositions and arrangements rooted in a broad range of musical styles including ozashiki (geisha chamber music), minyo (folk music), ohayashi (classical/folk/theater music), and matsuri taiko (festival taiko music). 

Tsukasa Taiko is unique in that it presents not only the kumi-daiko style, but other forms of music that include other instruments, such as the shamisen (three-stringed lute) and the shinobue (transverse bamboo flute). The shamisen has a rich tradition in the folk and classical music of Japan as does the shinobue, which holds a prominent role in kabuki theater music as well as matsuri festival music. Tsukasa Taiko performs music that includes zashiki (chamber music), minyo (folk music) and ohayashi (classical/folk/ theater music) styles, representing many Japanese musical traditions that are now rarely heard. Tsukasa Taiko is proud to have a role in the preservation, development and presentation of these cultural art forms.

Asian Improv aRts Midwest (AIRMW)

In 1984, Chicago artist and community leader Tatsu Aoki founded Innocent Eyes and Lenses (IEL) in response to the need for an organization that was dedicated to presenting Asian American artists and programs that were relevant to the community. He sought to make IEL, an Illinois-based non-profit organization, a leading force in presenting the Asian American experience through the arts in Illinois.

In 2004, IEL changed its name to Asian Improv aRts Midwest. This change was made to to reflect the community that IEL has been serving since its inception as well as to recognize the partnership that has been established with the San Francisco-based Asian Improv aRts. Founded by musician and community activist Francis Wong, Asian Improv aRts has been a leader in building community through the Asian American cultural arts on the West Coast for two decades and AIRMW is honored to be a part of the Asian Improv family.

AIRMW has had tremendous success in connecting artists, community organizations and the city's cultural institutions and has presented programs featuring world-class artistry while remaining rooted in the Chicago Asian American community. AIRMW has collaborated with and/or received support from organizations that include the Japanese American Service Committee (JASC), the Jazz Institute of Chicago, the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Chicago Cultural Center, the Illinois Arts Council, the Illinois Humanities Council, the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Boeing Corporation, the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Chicago Foundation and Meet The Composer among many others. For more information about AIRMW, visit asianimprovartsmw.org.

THIS WEEKEND ONLY: Pop In at MCA's 1979 Pop Up in Wicker Park for FREE T's, Discounted Museum Admission and More...

ChiIL Mama's Chi, IL Picks List: 

Pop Culture Pop Up

1979's Calling!

Whether you remember the late 70's (yes, I was 12 in 79), or just wish you did, come discover why the music, art, pop culture, protest politics and more, still resonate today. It was my great pleasure to pop in to 1330 N. Milwaukee Avenue during Friday's sneak peek for the press and I highly recommend a stop for some 70's style fun, a free t-shirt, and free buttons that will give you admission to the MCA at 1979 prices. Check it out! Then head downtown to the museum for an in depth look at our collective past. You don't need to track down Dr. Who and his time machine Tardis to visit 1979. Chicago's Museum of Contemporary Art's got you covered through May 20th.

From XTC to Etch A Sketch... Sex Pistols to Star Wars, 1979 had it all. I was thrilled to see Joy Division and so many other favorites lining the walls. Check out my full set of Pop Up shots in the slideshow here and more favs embedded below:

MADE YOU LOOK

MCA Launches First Major Advertising Campaign 

in 20 Years with Ad Agency FCB

Featuring the MCA's First-Ever Pop-Up Experience 

Inspired By the Howardena Pindell Exhibition

This weekend, the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago officially launches MADE YOU LOOK, the first major advertising campaign for the museum in 20 years. The launch is in conjunction with the MCA's first-ever pop-up experience dedicated to the work of groundbreaking artist Howardena Pindell, whose retrospective is currently on view at the museum. 



This free, two-day pop-up experience takes as its theme the year 1979, which was a pivotal time in Pindell's life and work. Attendees can interact with and experience the music, art and pop culture of 1979, created by advertising agency FCB Chicago. The pop-up event takes place on Saturday, April 7 (10 am to 5 pm), and Sunday, April 8 (noon to 5 pm), at 1330 N Milwaukee Avenue in Chicago.



The Made You Look campaign was created to re-introduce the museum after a highly regarded major redesign of the building by architects Johnston Marklee that blurs the boundaries between art, food, design, and learning. The redesign includes a new, world-class restaurant, Marisol, with an immersive art environment by Chris Ofili; and a new social engagement space, the Commons, with a design by Mexican design duo Pedro y Juana. The museum also added two enormous new "MCA" signs in soft yellow lights on the front of the building, signaling a renewed welcome to the city.

Yes, I grew up in a living room with a crushed velvet sofa the color of the rug below, gold wall to wall shag carpet, and a TV as wide as it was tall. Snap a selfie in a pre-Snapchat world.

Made You Look is a fully integrated campaign that leverages immersive storytelling across digital, social, and print to re-introduce the MCA to new and returning visitors. One of the highlights of this campaign is a series of six-second, high-energy, high-impact videos that make people stop and think about what they are seeing. These lively and engaging videos present a selection of powerful images and text with a playful spirit that reflect the creative and stimulating experience offered at the MCA. The museum partnered with the Chicago office of FCB, an Interpublic Group global creative ad agency, to help translate the museum's vision into this exciting new campaign and bring to life one of its current exhibitions with the 1979 pop-up.





About the Pindell Pop-Up Experience
The experiential nature of the Made You Look campaign kicks off with the Pindell Pop-Up Experience, located in a storefront at 1330 N Milwaukee which is open this weekend ONLY (Saturday, 10 am-5 pm and Sunday, noon-5 pm) and is free to all visitors. Based on the work and inspiration from the Howardena Pindell exhibition, this pop-up experience offers a blend of art, music, fashion and fun centered around the pivotal year 1979. Visitors can discover augmented reality viewfinders, throwback video games such as Space Invaders, a record vinyl wall, a Walkman listening station and a Pindell-inspired wall mural made for selfies. Visitors can also read through comics and magazines from the 1970s, and get a complimentary screen-printed T-shirt with legendary quotes from Howardena Pindell that are still relevant today.





About Howardena Pindell
The Howardena Pindell exhibition at the MCA runs until May 20, and spans the artist's acclaimed, five-decades-long career. Tracing the themes and visual experiments that run throughout Pindell's work, the exhibition shows how she challenged the traditional art world and asserted her place in its history as an African-American woman artist. Pindell revolutionized painting from her early, radical explorations of color and shape to her later work that expanded to address human rights injustices such as war, famine, homelessness, racism, and the AIDs crisis. Howardena Pindell: What Remains To Be Seen is co-curated by MCA Curator Naomi Beckwith and Valerie Cassel Oliver, Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.

ART BEAT: Opening at Chicago's MCA, 6/6-9/24 TAKASHI MURAKAMI: THE OCTOPUS EATS ITS OWN LEG

TAKASHI MURAKAMI: 

THE OCTOPUS EATS ITS OWN LEG 

FEATURING A NEVER-BEFORE-SEEN MONUMENTAL MASTERPIECE

  
I'm super excited to be invited to the media preview for this exhibit on 6/2. Check back soon for our photo filled feature. I dig Takashi Murakami's edgy works, many of which are simultaneously cute and disturbingly dark. Save the dates. This exhibit is open to the public from June 6th through September 24th.

This summer, the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago presents the highly anticipated major retrospective Takashi Murakami: The Octopus Eats Its Own Leg, showcasing more than three decades of Murakami's paintings from his earliest mature works - many of which are being shown in North America for the first time - to his most recent, never-before-seen paintings. Across over fifty works, this seminal exhibition of extraordinary, monumental paintings reveals the consistent, universal themes that have guided his work, reflecting his exquisite level of craft and insightful engagement with history. Takashi Murakami: The Octopus Eats Its Own Leg is curated by MCA Chief Curator Michael Darling and is on view at the MCA Chicago from June 6 to September 24, 2017. The exhibition is presented in partnership with ComplexCon.

One of the most imaginative artists working today, Murakami has created a colorful cast of characters inspired by folklore, art history, and popular culture, that blurs the boundaries between high and low, ancient and modern, eastern and western. His signature style, which he calls "Superflat," pairs traditional Japanese painting techniques with a contemporary, animé-inspired aesthetic within a flattened picture plane. For this exhibition, Murakami has produced a new group of paintings that are being shown for the first time, including The Octopus Eats Its Own Leg, a 114-foot masterwork made up of over 35 panels that surround visitors in the gallery. The title of this work and the exhibition is a Japanese folk saying that hints at the process of rejuvenation. An octopus in distress can chew off a damaged leg to ensure survival, knowing that a new one will grow in its place. Similarly, Murakami often feeds off his own prior imagery, or that of Japanese history, in order for new work to emerge.

Murakami is widely known for both his fine art and commercial output - including collaborations with pop icons such as Kanye West and fashion house Louis Vuitton - and this exhibition presents the first serious survey of his work as a painter. It provides a sustained analysis of the artist's relationship to the traditions of Japanese painting while borrowing from the Pop Art tradition. Murakami picks up visual cues from the world of mass production and playfully equates himself with a corporate entity. These works can be seen as an early example of Murakami's interest in the power of branding and global commercialism.

Influenced by animated films (anime), comic books (manga), and global branding, Murakami created Mr. DOB, a recognizable character that would be his cartoon-ish alter-ego. This stylized mouse character continues to evolve to this day. Part brand ambassador, part self-portrait, Mr. DOB has paved the way for other characters throughout the artist's career. From his first, highly simplified version in 1993, Mr. DOB would become more complicated as time went on, turning into a radioactive mutating monster, but the core characteristics of round face and ears with the letters D, O, B are always consistent.

The continual adaptation of his iconic Mr. DOB figure reveals Murakami's interest in the mutant form stretching back to his earliest Nihonga paintings. Shown together, Murakami's cast of characters, including DOB as well as his palette of signature motifs, like anime eyes, jagged teeth, and bulbous letterforms, became demonstrations for the fluidity of his Superflat concept, a visual skin that could spread over and occupy any imaginable surface from paintings and sculptures to plush toys, stickers, and countless other consumer products.

For this exhibition, Murakami has produced a new group of paintings that revisit this creative partnership and will debut at the MCA. Murakami considers these extra-art-world collaborations "disruptions" to the expectations of a highly stratified system that prizes exclusivity and elitism, consistent with his superflattening of DOB characters into key chains, or jellyfish eyes onto luxury bags.

In Murakami's rarely seen early works, he synthesizes traditional Japanese methods, materials, and formats. Trained in the Nihonga style of painting, which utilized mineral pigments for powerfully pure colors and emphasized careful craftsmanship, Murakami created works in the 1980s that began with animal imagery and an almost spiritual earthiness and evolved into pure abstraction. At the same time, the artist began to introduce more explicitly contemporary content into the works, using centuries-old materials to reference the dangers of nuclear power, comment on global consumerism, and lampoon both the excess and the self-seriousness of contemporary art.

The merging of Eastern and Western artistic traditions moved into new territory in the late 1990s, especially around Murakami's development of his theory of the "Superflat." This ambitious concept was meant to explain the cultural attributes of Post-World War II Japan, especially the popular image of Japan as a producer of saccharine consumer products such as Hello Kitty. Within a Superflat world, the Otaku, or maladjusted comic book geek, became the true driver of contemporary culture. Murakami's paintings and sculptures of these years were shaped by these theories.

Mushrooms are popular in Japanese art history, but Murakami's surreal and hallucinogenic rendering in a seven-panel painting was his largest work at the time it was made. Likewise, his smiling technicolor daisies have become one of his most popular and recognizable forms. His daisies are featured in exquisitely painted canvases, as well as stickers, plush pillows, and skateboards, among other products.

Murakami's relationship to pop culture reached a high point around 2007, when he began to collaborate with rapper Kanye West on album covers and videos. The iconic character at the center of the visual identity was dubbed the "Kanye Bear," meant to stand in for an adolescent West. Murakami later made a sculpture of the bear in his signature cartoonish style, replete with a gilded "Jesus piece" necklace popularized in the hip-hop community. Murakami recently revisited his creative partnership with West for a new painting, presented here for the first time.

After finding himself at the center of luxury and celebrity cultures, he began to depart from the highly commercial, cartoon-inspired aesthetic that garnered him popular acclaim. He returned to classic Japanese paintings from centuries past and researched the imagery of Buddhist monks and figures. He drew upon this more serious source material for solace and inspiration when addressing the massive earthquake and tsunami that killed over 15,000 people in 2011 and affected him greatly.

He turned to historical paintings to find an appropriate response, attracted to a legendary band of Buddhist monks called Arhats who roamed the land in an attempt to heal and comfort people. This discovery fueled a growing body of paintings featuring wizened and highly individualized groups of Arhats, and other elements of Japanese and Buddhist cultural heritage.

Murakami founded the Hiropon factory (now called Kaikai Kiki) in Saitama in 1996, first as his studio and then as an art production and art management corporation to market his art and foster emerging artists. Since then, he has become known for several high profile commercial ventures, forays into comics and animation, and his own colorful, post-apocalyptic characters, all the while diligently incorporating the traditions of Nihonga painting.

Murakami's work is in private collections and foundations as well as major public collections including the MCA's collection. Murakami was born in Tokyo, and studied at Tokyo University of the Arts, Japan, earning a BFA in 1986, an MFA in 1988, and a PhD in 1993. MCA Chief Curator Michael Darling has known and worked with Murakami for twenty years, and curated the American presentation of the artist's Superflat exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, in 2001.

EXHIBITION TOUR
Following its presentation at the MCA, Takashi Murakami: The Octopus Eats Its Own Leg travels to the Vancouver Art Gallery in Winter 2018 and to the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth in Summer 2018.

EXHIBITION CATALOGUE
Takashi Murakami, a richly illustrated catalogue with more than 250 full-color reproductions accompanies the exhibition, with original essays by the show's curator Michael Darling, along with essays by scholars Michael Dylan Foster, Chelsea Foxwell, Reuben Keehan, and Akira Mizuta Lippit, as well as previously published texts by Murakami translated from the original Japanese. Concentrating on Murakami's synthesis of the contemporary and the traditional, as well as his exceptional level of craft, this catalogue presents three decades of the artist's paintings, from his earliest mature works-many of which are being shown in North America for the first time-to some of his most recent. The catalogue is published by Skira Rizzoli Publications, Inc. in association with the MCA and Kaikai Kiki New York, LLC.

RELATED PROGRAM
MCA Talk: Takashi Murakami
Friday, June 2, 6 pm
MCA Chief Curator Michael Darling joins artist Takashi Murakami in conversation to kick off the exhibition.

LAST CALL: FOODIE FUN at The Ritz-Carlton Chicago For David Bowie Is Inspired Food and Beverage Offerings #recipe

The Ritz-Carlton Chicago has decided to join in the celebration of one of the most pioneering and influential performers of our time, David Bowie. In honor of the David Bowie Is exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, guests can savor innovative Bowie-inspired dishes, while sipping a tasty Stardust Martini at deca RESTAURANT + BAR, through October 20th. 

The menu will feature three British plates that Chef Martin Knaubert specially crafted in honor of Bowie's favorite cuisine, and that of Bowie's own restaurant in Tokyo.  As an extra nod to this iconic figure, Pastry Chef Eric Estrella will prepare an assortment of macaroons, cleverly named after some of Bowie's top hits.

In addition to deca's restaurant offerings, the Hotel is also featuring a bold, artistic showcase of David Bowie in the lobby fountain and center floral arrangement, which is an exhibit in and of itself!

Chef Knaubert's Menu (available at deca RESTAURANT + BAR, from September 23 - October 20): 

“Bubble and squeak”
Brussels Sprouts, Tri-Colored Cauliflower, Carrots, Lardon, Marbled Potatoes

“Roast beef and Yorkshire pudding”
Classic Ribeye of Beef, fresh Yorkshire Pudding, Asparagus, Jus

“Bangers and Mash”
Homemade Sausages, Beet Mashed Potato, Gravy, Crispy Sweet Potato

Specialty Cocktail (available at deca RESTAURANT + BAR, from September 23 - October 20):
Stardust Martini

1/2 ozAbsolut Citron Vodka
1/2 oz  Peachtree Schnapps
1/2 oz Blue Curacao Liqueur
1 oz Sweet and Sour Mix
1 oz Pineapple Juice
1 splash Grenadine Syrup

Garnish with a red sugar rim and star-shaped pineapple, poured table side over dry ice

Assortment of Macaroons (in-room amenity option for guests visiting the exhibit, available through October):
CHINA DOLL:   Lime Green Macaroon / Yunnan Tea Filling
ZIGGY STARDUST:  Silver Dust Macaroon/ Strawberry Pop Rocks Filling
SPACE ODDITY:  Orange with Cocoa Nib Macaroon /Bittersweet Chocolate  Filling
YOUNG AMERICANS:  Sky Blue Macaroon/White Chocolate Cherry Filling
PRETTY IN PINK:  Pink Macaroon/ Rose Filling 

FREE TICKETS RELEASE THIS WEEK, JULY 8 & 9 Chicago Dancing Festival: August 20-23, 2014

ADDITIONAL PROGRAMMING ANNOUNCED FOR 

CHICAGO DANCING FESTIVAL

Chicago Dancing Festival founders Lar Lubovitch and Jay Franke are pleased to announce today additional works being added to the 2014 Festival lineup, including two more World Premieres, plus plans for a pre- and post-performance sponsors party around the “Celebration of Dance” Grand Finale performance, Saturday, August 23. Free tickets for the Festival’s indoor performances become available to the public this week, July 8 and 9.  The 2014 Chicago Dancing Festival, featuring top ballet, modern and hip-hop companies from Chicago and across the country, is set to take place August 20 – 23.

The Joffrey Ballet 

in 'Bells' by Yuri Possokhov

Dancers: Temur Suluashvili and Victoria Jaiani

Photo by Cheryl Mann

Additional Programming

Chicago-based choreographer Ron De Jesus, a former dancer with Hubbard Street Dance Chicago and now Artistic Director of Ron De Jesus Dance, has been commissioned by the Dancing Festival to create a new duet for the dancing male pair of Ben Wardell (Nexus Project, Lucky Plush Productions, formerly Hubbard Street Dance Chicago) and Michel Rodriguez (Nexus Project, formerly Hedwig Dances). Transition Zone will premiere as part of the Festival’s “Dances for 2” at the Museum of Contemporary Art, 220 E. Chicago Ave., in two performances, Friday, August 22.

New York-based choreographer Darrell Grand Moultrie, who has set work on and collaborated with pop stars like Beyoncé as well as highly regarded institutions like The Juilliard School, the Alvin Ailey B.F.A. Program and tap legend Savion Glover, has been commissioned by the Festival to create a new work for the student dancers of After School Matters, to premiere on the Pritzker “Celebration of Dance” program, August 23.

These new commissioned works are in addition to the previously announced World Premiere the Festival has commissioned from New York mixed-genre choreographer Kyle Abraham for the dancers of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, entitled Counterpoint. This work, to be performed at the Harris Theater as part of the “Classics and Creations” program August 20, is set to Tu Non Mi Perderai Mai by Peter Gregson and Brahms Piano Concerto No. 1 in D Minor: Third Movement, performed by Arthur Rubinstein.   The full schedule of performances follows below.

“Last Dance” Sponsors Party

This year, the Chicago Dancing Festival hosts “Last Dance,” a party to acknowledge the sponsors whose support is crucial to keeping the Festival’s performances free for the public.  “Last Dance” takes place Saturday, August 23, on the Terrace at the Harris Theater, 205 E. Randolph Street.  The evening includes pre-show cocktails beginning at 6 pm followed by reserved seating for the performance at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion, then a post-show picnic with cocktails and a chance to mingle with the artists.  Those interested in donating or learning more about sponsorship opportunities can visit www.chicagodancingfestival.com or, for questions, call 773-609-2335.

Ticket Release This Week

Tickets for the indoor performances at Harris Theater and Museum of Contemporary become available this week.  All tickets are free but tickets for indoor events must be reserved in advance through each venue’s box office. 

Tickets for the August 20 program at the Harris Theater will be released Tuesday, July 8 at noon, available in person at the Harris Theater Box Office, 205 E. Randolph Drive, or by calling (312) 334-7777.  Limit two (2) tickets per order; tickets ordered by phone will be held at Will-Call.

Tickets for the August 22 programs at the Museum of Contemporary Art will be release Wednesday, July 9 at noon, available in person at the MCA Stage Box Office, 220 E. Chicago Avenue, or by calling (312) 397-4010.  Limit two (2) tickets per order; tickets ordered by phone will be held at Will-Call.

No tickets are needed for the outdoor Pritzker Pavilion events, including the Opening Night Simulcast presented by the Harris Theater on August 20 and the Grand Finale performance on August 23. 

Any empty seats or tickets unclaimed at 15 minutes prior to curtain time will be released to those in a Stand-by line.  Stand-by lines begin one hour before each performance, in person only. All seating is general admission. 

Chicago Dancing Festival 2014 Schedule

Wednesday, August 20 – 7:30 pm

Harris Theater for Music and Dance, 205 E. Randolph Street

“Classics and Creations”

The Chicago Dancing Festival opening night program will be simulcast on the outdoor screen of the Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park, thanks to Presenting Sponsor, the Harris Theater. 

• Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Counterpoint, CDF original commission by Kyle Abraham          
• The Juilliard School, The Jig Is Up by Eliot Feld
• Martha Graham Dance Company, Errand into the Maze by Martha Graham
• Stars of American Ballet*, Fancy Free by Jerome Robbins
• The Joffrey Ballet, Bells (excerpt) by Yuri Possokhov

Chelsea Bonosky 

in 'Belladonna' by Adam Barruch

Photo by Nel Shelby

Friday, August 22 – 6 pm and 8 pm

Museum of Contemporary Art, 220 E. Chicago Avenue

“Dances for 2”

• Adam Barruch, Belladonna by Adam Barruch
• The Joffrey Ballet, Bells (excerpt) by Yuri Possokhov
• Martha Graham Dance Company, Errand into the Maze by Martha Graham
• Ron De Jesus Dance*, Transition Zone, CDF original commission by Ron De Jesus
• Pam Tanowitz Dance*, Passagen by Pam Tanowitz (live music)

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago Spring Series

"Falling Angels" Dress Rehearsal by Jiri­ Kylian 

Photo by Todd Rosenberg Photography

Saturday, August 23 – 7:30 pm

Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park, 201 E. Randolph Street

“Celebration of Dance” Grand Finale

• After School Matters, CDF original commission by Darrell Grand Moultrie
• The Joffrey Ballet, Nine Sinatra Songs by Twyla Tharp
• The Juilliard School, The Jig Is Up by Eliot Feld
• Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Falling Angels by Jiří Kylián
• Rennie Harris Puremovement*, Students of the Asphalt Jungle by Dr. Rennie Harris
• Stars of Washington Ballet Brooklyn Mack and Maki Onuki, pas de deux from Le Corsaire by Marius Petipa

All programs are subject to change.

*CDF Debut

About the Chicago Dancing Festival

Established in 2007, the Chicago Dancing Festival was founded to elevate awareness of dance in Chicago, to increase accessibility to the art form and to provide inspiration for local artists.  Its mission is to present a wide variety of excellent dance, enrich the lives of the people of Chicago and provide increased accessibility to the art form, thereby helping create a new audience.  Its vision is to raise the national and international profile of dance in the city, furthering Chicago as the “dance capital of the world” (as Mayor Rahm Emanuel put it at the 2012 Chicago Dancing Festival). 

Lar Lubovitch (Founder, Artistic Director) is one of America's most versatile and highly acclaimed choreographers and founded the Lar Lubovitch Dance Company 45 years ago.  In the years since, he has choreographed more than 100 dances for his New York-based company, which has performed in nearly all 50 American states as well as in more than 30 foreign countries.  Born in Chicago, Mr. Lubovitch was educated at the University of Iowa and the Juilliard School in New York.

Jay Franke (Founder, Artistic Director) began his formal training at Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Dallas, Texas.  In 1993, he was selected as a Finalist for the Presidential Scholar in the Arts and accepted into the Juilliard School.  Upon receiving his BFA in Dance from the Juilliard School, Mr. Franke went to work with the Twyla Tharp Dance Company, “THARP!”  Mr. Franke has since danced with The 58 Group, Lyric Opera Ballet Chicago, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago and was a leading dancer in the Lar Lubovitch Dance Company from 2005 to 2010.

The Chicago Dancing Festival is grateful for its 2014 supporters including: InterContinental Chicago Magnificent Mile, Official Hotel Partner; Museum of Contemporary Art; Harris Theater for Music and Dance; City of Chicago, Millennium Park; The Robert and Jamie Taylor Foundation; David Herro and Jay Franke; Illinois Arts Council; National Endowment for the Arts, Art Works; The Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation; The Chicago Community Trust; Arts Work Fund for Organizational Development; The MacArthur Fund for Arts and Culture at Prince; The Elizabeth Morse Charitable Trust; and the Irving Harris Foundation. The Harris Theater is proud to have the support of The Northern Trust Company as its 2014-2015 season sponsor.

For more information on the Chicago Dancing Festival, its history and programs, visit www.chicagodancingfestival.com.

FREE TICKETS FOR 7th ANNUAL CHICAGO DANCING FESTIVAL BECOME AVAILABLE NEXT WEEK #dance #multicultural

Ticket Release: July 16, 17 & 18 Chicago Dancing Festival: August 20–24

  Tickets for the 7th annual Chicago Dancing Festival, the “Free-to-All” Festival at venues across downtown Chicago, become available to the general public next week, beginning Tuesday, July 16 at noon.  During the Festival’s five-day run there are five completely free performance showcases, though tickets for indoor events must be reserved in advance.  Co-produced by internationally renowned choreographer and native Chicagoan Lar Lubovitch and highly esteemed Chicago dancer Jay Franke, the 2013 Chicago Dancing Festival features top ballet, modern, ethnic and rhythmic dance companies from Chicago and across the country, set to take place August 20 – 24.

Tickets will be released in a staggered format so that each venue releases its tickets on a different day, as follows:  Tuesday, July 16, 2013 at 12 Noon Tickets for the “The Harris at 10! Anniversary Special” performance on Tuesday, August 20 at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance will be available in person at the Harris Theater Box Office, 205 E. Randolph Drive or by calling (312) 334-7777.  Limit two (2) tickets per order. Wednesday, July 17 at 12 Noon Tickets for the “Dancing in Chicago” performance on Thursday, August 22 at the Auditorium Theatre will be available in person at the Auditorium Theatre Box Office, 50 E. Congress Parkway, online at www.ticketmaster.com/auditorium or by calling (800) 982-ARTS.  Not available at Ticketmaster Outlets.  Limit two (2) tickets per order. Thursday, July 18 at 12 Noon Tickets for the “Solitaire – A Game of Dance” performances on Friday, August 23 at the Museum of Contemporary Art will be available in person at the MCA Stage Box Office, 220 E. Chicago Avenue or by calling (312) 397-4010.  Limit two (2) tickets per order.

No tickets are needed for the outdoor “Celebration of Dance” Grand Finale performance at the Pritzker Pavilion, Saturday, August 24. 

Any tickets unclaimed at 15 minutes prior to curtain time will be released to those in a Stand-by line.  Stand-by lines begin one hour before the performance, in person only.  All tickets will be held at Will-Call.  All seating for all venues is general admission.  The full 2013 Chicago Dancing Festival schedule is below – program updates include the addition of Brooklyn Mack from the Washington Ballet and Tamako Miyazaki from Columbia Classical Ballet/Dortmund Ballet to the Tuesday and Saturday programs.

  CHICAGO DANCING FESTIVAL 2013 SCHEDULE

Tuesday, August 20, 7:30 pm – “The Harris at 10! Anniversary Special” Harris Theater for Music and Dance, 205 E. Randolph Drive · Brian Brooks of Brian Brooks Moving Company, I’m Going to Explode by Brian Brooks · Chicago Human Rhythm Project, In the beginning…^ by Lane Alexander and Bril Barrett (Premiere).  Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Little mortal jump by Alejandro Cerrudo · The Joffrey Ballet, Son of Chamber Symphony by Stanton Welch · Lar Lubovitch Dance Company, Crisis Variations+ by Lar Lubovitch · Brooklyn Mack from the Washington Ballet and Tamako Miyazaki from Columbia Classical Ballet/Dortmund Ballet, pas de deux from Diana and Actaeon by Agrippina Vaganova.

  Wednesday, August 21, 6:30 pm – “Solitaire – A Game of Dance” (Gala Performance & Benefit) Museum of Contemporary Art, 220 E. Chicago Avenue · The Chicago Dancing Festival celebrates seven years with its annual Gala, an evening celebrating solo artists from the world of classical, contemporary, Bharata Natyam and Flamenco dance.  This fundraising benefit includes a performance and benefit with an opportunity to mingle with many of this year’s participating artists.  Tickets are $250 per person and can be purchased by emailing info@chicagodancingfestival.com.  Space is limited.

Thursday, August 22, 7:30 pm – “Dancing in Chicago” Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University, 50 E. Congress Parkway • Ensemble Español Spanish Dance Theater* in residence at Northeastern Illinois University, Bolero by Dame Libby Komaiko · Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, piece to be announced ·        The Joffrey Ballet, Episode 31^ by Alexander Ekman (Chicago Premiere) ·        Lar Lubovitch Dance Company, Transparent Things+ by Lar Lubovitch

Friday, August 23, 6 pm and 8 pm – “Solitaire – A Game of Dance” (The Art of the Solo) Museum of Contemporary Art, 220 E. Chicago Avenue ·        Samuel Lee Roberts of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, In/Side by Robert Battle · Brian Brooks of Brian Brooks Moving Company, I’m Going to Explode by Brian Brooks · Camille A. Brown of Camille A. Brown & Dancers, The Real Cool (a solo excerpt from Mr. Tol E. Rance) by Camille A. Brown · Julia Hinojosa of Ensemble Español Spanish Dance Theater*+, Ensueños de mi Caribe by Julia Hinojosa · Johnny McMillan, David Schultz and Jonathan Fredrickson of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, PACOPEPEPLUTO by Alejandro Cerrudo · Victoria Jaiani of The Joffrey Ballet, The Dying Swan by Mikhail Fokine · Krithika Rajagopalan of Natya Dance Theatre*, Sthithihi by Krithika Rajagopalan

Saturday, August 24, 7:30 pm – “Celebration of Dance” Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park, 201 E. Randolph Street · Samuel Lee Roberts of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, In/Side by Robert Battle · Chicago Human Rhythm Project, In the beginning…^ by Lane Alexander and Bril Barrett · Giordano Dance Chicago, Two Become Three by Alexander Ekman (2012 CDF Commission) · Ensemble Español Spanish Dance Theater*, Bolero by Dame Libby Komaiko · The Joffrey Ballet, Interplay by Jerome Robbins ·        Philadanco*, Wake Up by Rennie Harris · Brooklyn Mack from the Washington Ballet and Tamako Miyazaki from Columbia Classical Ballet, pas de deux from Diana and Actaeon by Agrippina Vaganova. All programs are subject to change. *CDF Debut ^CDF Commission +Presented with live music

About the Chicago Dancing Festival Established in 2007, the Chicago Dancing Festival was founded to elevate awareness of dance in Chicago, to increase accessibility to the art form and to provide inspiration for local artists.  Its mission is to present a wide variety of excellent dance, enrich the lives of the people of Chicago and provide increased accessibility to the art form, thereby helping create a new audience.  Its vision is to raise the national and international profile of dance in the city, furthering Chicago as the “dance capital of the world” (as Mayor Rahm Emanuel put it at the 2012 Chicago Dancing Festival). 

  Lar Lubovitch (Founder, Artistic Director) is one of America's most versatile and highly acclaimed choreographers and founded the Lar Lubovitch Dance Company 45 years ago.  In the years since, he has choreographed more than 100 dances for his New York-based company, which has performed in nearly all 50 American states as well as in more than 30 foreign countries.  Born in Chicago, Mr. Lubovitch was educated at the University of Iowa and the Juilliard School in New York.

  Jay Franke (Founder, Artistic Director) began his formal training at Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Dallas, Texas.  In 1993, he was selected as a Finalist for the Presidential Scholar in the Arts and accepted into the Juilliard School.  Upon receiving his BFA in Dance from the Juilliard School, Mr. Franke went to work with the Twyla Tharp Dance Company, “THARP!”  Mr. Franke has since danced with The 58 Group, Lyric Opera Ballet Chicago, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago and was a leading dancer in the Lar Lubovitch Dance Company from 2005 to 2010.

  The Chicago Dancing Festival is grateful for its 2013 supporters including: InterContinental Chicago Magnificent Mile, Official Hotel Partner; Chicago Sun-Times, Print Media Sponsor; Museum of Contemporary Art; Harris Theater for Music and Dance; City of Chicago, Millennium Park; The Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University; The Robert and Jamie Taylor Foundation; David Herro and Jay Franke; Illinois Arts Council; National Endowment for the Arts, Art Works; The Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation; The Chicago Community Trust; Arts Work Fund for Organizational Development; The MacArthur Fund for Arts and Culture at Prince; and the Irving Harris Foundation.

  Click here for more information on the Chicago Dancing Festival, its history and 2013 offerings.