Artropolis 2009 NEXT Art Fair: Emerging Artists Galore

By Jen Hazen in Arts & Entertainment on May 1, 2009 6:50PM

Artropolis returns to the Merchandise Mart this weekend with its signature trifecta to celebrate global art and culture: Art Chicago, NEXT Art Fair, and the International Antiques Fair. Artropolis reminds us of the behemoth Lollapalooza—an amazing (overwhelming) roster, carefully selected participants, and non-stop ogling, since sometimes the crowd can be as riveting as the art.

Artropolis takes over several floors of the Merch Mart and teems with well-heeled Chicago socials, art nerds, and a few hipsters donning bowler hats and tiny clothes. We didn't even attempt to view the current and historic works showcased by Art Chicago's roughly 100 well-established participating galleries for our first visit. Instead, we spent two hours checking out NEXT's 86 emerging galleries / art media booths—and we weren’t dicking around, either. We highly recommend grabbing a map from the information desk.

NEXT's alt art extravaganza, which encompasses all media imaginable, is pretty impressive. And Chicago’s independent art scene is well represented by galleries like Kavi Gupta, Heaven, 65Grand, and Swimming Pool Project Space, as well as GOFFO's Featherproof Books, Golden, and No Coast.

Here’s some of our NEXT favorites:

• the blurred, photo-like paintings of German artist Florian Süssmayr which remind us of a punk version of Gerhard Richter’s works (Booth 7-6114)
• the large-scale photographs of Ben Gest, which capture single subjects lost in thought while performing mundane tasks (Booth 7-8093)
• From Spain, artist Marcelo Viquez draws intricate, sometimes hilarious, drawings. Pencil and paper, that’s it (Booth 7-8029)
• Detroit-based artist Bryan Cunningham’s mixed media pieces possess a cartoon'ish voodoo vibe and some of the most beautiful hand-drawn type we’ve seen in a while (Booth 7-9121)
• Imperfect Articles' brilliantly simple limited edition t-shirts featuring drawings by favorites like Cat Chow and Royal Art Lodge (Booth 7-8129)
• Free ice cream! Stop by the Dufala Brothers armored ice cream truck tank “sculpture” where the two Philadelphia-based artists serve up sweets for art’s sake
• NEXT will also host a series of panels—emerging artists, curators, and critics discussing complex issues of the contemporary art world. For a full list of these events, click here.

The Merchandise Mart, 222 Merchandise Mart Plaza, 7th Floor, Friday, May 1, 11 a.m. - 7 p.m., Saturday May 2, 11 a.m. - 7 p.m., Sunday May 3, 11 a.m. - 6 p.m., and Monday, May 4, 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. Tickets, which can be purchased onsite or online, allow admission to NEXT, Art Chicago and The Merchandise Mart International Antiques Fair. Adults: $20 daily or $25 multi-day pass; Seniors, Students or Groups: $15 multi-day pass; Children 12 and under are free.