Rebel Against Winter With 2nd Floor Rear's 34-Hour Art Festival Next Weekend

By Carrie McGath in Arts & Entertainment on Jan 29, 2015 8:00PM

Perambulatory Parade with Environmental Encroachment from 2nd Floor Rear 2014, photo by Slaveya Minkova

There's nothing like a 34-hour arts festival to battle the oft-bleak skies which bear down upon the emotional countenance of many Chicagoans during winter. 2nd Floor Rear celebrates art while also honoring DIY and alternative art spaces, both emerging and established, so gloriously prevalent in the city. The mission of 2nd Floor and its annual festival is to spotlight artists and spaces that are often overlooked, and to put the spaces and the artists displayed within them in clear view to as many people as possible.

On Feb. 7-8, the festival will span across a variety of spaces located along the Blue Line. Curation of this year’s fest considers the winter and Chicagoans coexistence with it showing artwork aiming to warm and seduce viewers to linger, look, feel and enjoy.

The democracy of this festival mirrors a lot of the democracy at work in Chicago’s art scene: a mixture of Midwestern work ethic and a physicality that rebels against the constraints of the often-elitist white cube tradition. This city gets its hands dirty and the payoff is artwork that is executed with a raw sincerity rarely witnessed in this current moment in art of overwrought zombie abstraction and overzealous “appropriation.”

To kick off the fest, Crown Liquors will open at noon on the 7th to showcase an art installation that will be on display as part of the 2nd Floor Rear Festival, ending with a dance party that kicks off at 10:30 p.m. to celebrate the fest and to usher in the continuation of events that will also be occurring throughout the day on the 8th.

The festival will be hosting art of many genres with everything from installations (some collaborative and encouraging the public’s participation), to performance and exhibitions, to screenings and even an etiquette workshop. To view a list of all events, including the where and the when, check out the 2nd Floor Rear’s website.

Come to this free event and rebel against the cold and gloom by basking in 34 hours of art of all kinds in a diverse array of spaces.