Don't Miss New Work By CRO Opening Tonight At Grand Bizzare
By Julia Weeman in Arts & Entertainment on May 18, 2012 4:00PM
To call CRO (Ray Noland) a “street artist” would be a gross understatement. Many Chicagoans are familiar with his “Run, Blago Run” series, which appeared around the city and was comprised of stencils of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich in a jogging suit. He’s also responsible for the stencils of Moammar Gaddafi and a nude Herman Cain that popped up around the city.
However, in Noland’s own words, “I am not a street artist. I’m trying to find every arena possible to get my art out in the world so people can see it…it gives a democratic relationship to the work.” He sees the environment his work is in, whether it’s spray painted on a building or in a gallery, as just another tactic to have his voice heard.
Noland’s voice ranges from serious and complicated to satirical and lighthearted, but it is always provocative. His work revolves around popular culture and begs a conversation about the subjects he depicts. “I like to think of my work as a diary—I’m just trying to document and make sense of whatever is going on in the world,” said Nolan of his process. “I am vessel of pop culture and I get the same references as everybody else and I make art about the ones that interest me…I just comment on the ridiculous world we live in.”
Noland's new work covers a variety of contemporary topics. He comments on street artists and the tendency in community for them to build brands off of street cred for things like spending the night in jail. “They’re drunk off street cred—I just kind of think that’s funny,” said Noland. He also created work with a series of prominent black figures in hoodies commenting on the Trayvon Martin incident. He talked about how there’s no “shoot me” clothing and it just made him wonder if he put famous black people in hoodies who are held in high esteem, would people think that was threatening?
Noland also has new work about the Occupy movement. “The motives and direction of the Occupy movement is a bit cloudy,” said Nolan. He spoke of how the Tea Party is getting people elected, so if you’re talking about actually effecting change, they’re winning in that sense. He stressed that though he has opinions, his work is more about having a conversation. “What I do is not being for or against anything, I just want to talk about it,” he said.
He has work that comments on drone use and says of it, “If this is what we’re about, we should be proud of it.” One of our favorite pieces we saw when we were interviewing him in his studio was about the Mitt Romney incident where he was criticized for putting the family dog on the top of the car. He mashed up that with the National Lampoon station wagon and spray painted it using stencils. His process is similar to screen printing, with each layer having a separate stencil, but the use of spray paint gives his work a unique textural quality that especially shines in this piece.
Check out Noland’s new work and experimental products at the opening reception for Sex, Spraypaint & Satire: Parody Without Humor tonight from 7-11 p.m. at Grand Bizzare in Wicker Park at 1418 W. Division St.