Opening June 20: Mass Contemplation by Hydeon

Maxwell Colette Gallery is excited to announce Mass Contemplation, new work from celebrated Chicago-based illustrator Ian “Hydeon” Ferguson. The exhibition will open on Friday, June 20 with a reception from 6-10pm.

Ferguson’s work blends street art, fine art, and graphic design into surreal contemporary Americana, full of metaphor, and designed to intrigue and provoke. Mass Contemplation will showcase Ferguson’s new india ink drawings on paper. It will will also present a site specific installation titled ‘Terra Firma Shelter’, which will re-create one of his tiny shelters in human-scale. In addition, the gallery will be releasing Ferguson’s first book ‘Early Morning Contemplation Over Coffee’. This limited edition book features reproductions of the india ink drawings in the show and is signed and numbered.

Read the entire press release for Mass Contemplation here.

Find out more about Ian Ferguson on his website Hydeonart.com

HELLBENT: Past Future Perfect

Maxwell Colette Gallery is excited to announce Past Future Perfect, a show of new paintings from J. Mikal Davis a.k.a. Hellbent. The Brooklyn-based Davis has achieved acclaim for his unique street art, which fuses intense colors with ornate stenciling of neoclassical patterns to create a bold, freeform geometry. This will be the artist’s first solo exhibition with the gallery and first show in Chicago.

The gallery will host an opening reception for Past Future Perfect on Friday, April 18 from 6 - 10pm. The reception is free, and open to the public. The artist will be in attendance.

Read the press release for Past Future Perfect here.

Check out more work from Hellbent, including his incredible murals, on his website hellbent art.com.

Opening January 11, 2014: Peeta and Alecks Cruz solo shows

Maxwell Colette Gallery is excited to be starting 2014 with two stunning solo shows exploring the cutting edge of post-graffiti letter styles. White Out will feature new paintings from the renowned Italian graffiti artist Peeta (Manuel Di Rita) and Redemption will premier large-scale cardboard sculptures from Chicago-based artist Alecks Cruz.  Both shows will open on Saturday, January 11 with a reception from 6pm - 10pm.

White Out will present white-on-white canvases inspired by the aesthetics of crystalline water: ice and snow.  Peeta states that the paintings in White Out are an “attempt to render the most deceptive condition that snow can cause; in which visibility and contrast are so severely reduced that no reference point remains, and the individual experiences a distorted orientation.” Far from cold, the new paintings  exude a bright, sparkling, total whiteness and convey a painterly sophistication and sumptuous monochromatism that feels very at home in the moment.

Redemption will debut six new sculptures from Alecks Cruz. The three dimensional sculptures are meant to be viewed from all angles, and range in height from three to five feet tall. These pieces, fashioned out of discarded cardboard, are Cruz’s personal reaction to the co-opting of graffiti by external forces. Through the act of slicing the branding and the commercial typography on the cardboard, destroying it, and ultimately reconfiguring it into a graffiti based form, Cruz is able to exact a measure of revenge for the distasteful marketing that threatens to reduce graffiti to cliche.

These two solo shows will run from January 11 - March 1 2014

Read the press release for peeta-white-out.

Read the press release for alecks-cruz-redemption.

Zore: Gettin' Down, Gettin' Up.

Check out this classic video by Brain Killer, of Mario Gonzalez Jr, (a.k.a. Zore) at work on a mural in his studio. Watching him create his signature hand styles with those broad strokes is just mesmerizing...

Artparasites has just published a fantastic interview with Zore that explores his history, his influences and his thoughts on how far graffiti has come in the past 20 years, and where it is headed. Read the interview and find out more about Zore here.

Rodrigo Level and Gabriel Kieling mural for SITE...

Rodrigo Level / Gabriel Kieling Chicago 2013

Rodrigo Level and Gabriel Kieling were invited to paint a mural for SITE, an outdoor mural project sponsored by the South Shore Chamber of Commerce. SITE was organized by Tristan Hummel and curated by Chicago street artist Don't Fret. The project will feature an eclectic lineup with murals to be completed and unveiled over the coming days.

Level and Kieling's wall is located at 7256 S Exchange street. It is definitely worth the trek down to South Shore to see this in person. Big shout out to our pals at Holiday Exploits! We couldn't have done this project without you!

Rodrigo Level / Gabriel Kieling, Chicago 2013