Happy Birthday, Ed Paschke: A Celebration Of Art And Community
By Carrie McGath in Arts & Entertainment on Jun 19, 2015 3:45PM
Monday will mark what would have been the 76th birthday of the Chicago artist and provocateur, Ed Paschke, and the celebration begins with a major collaborative exhibition between the Ed Paschke Art Center and Zhou B Art Center this weekend.
An incredible undertaking, this two-venue exhibition exemplifies the friendship and mutual respect these artists shared since meeting in 1986, when ShanZuo and DaHuang Zhou came to the United States from China and met Paschke. An installation called The Lover, by the Bridgeport-based artists and gallerists, the Zhou Brothers, took root last week in Jefferson Park and looks very much at home alongside the electrifying Ed Paschke mural that adorns an outside wall of the art center dedicated to the late artist.
Friends for many years, it is a fitting and visually riveting gallery swap to showcase the profound importance of these three artists' contribution to contemporary art. The Zhou Brothers' Bridgeport art center will exhibit work by Ed Paschke while the Ed Paschke Art Center will show works by the Zhou Brothers. These artists honor color and texture with an intoxicating kinetic energy that not only deeply affects the mind, eye and body, but also makes their work unabashedly fun.
The opening at Zhou B in Bridgeport takes place tonight, June 19, from 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. On June 21 the Ed Paschke Art Center's opening will begin at 10:00 a.m. and will usher in the "Paschke in the Park" event that begins at 11:00 a.m. and will include art activities, temporary tattoo stations and a petting zoo. Celebrate the bond that art creates in communities as the North Side unites with the South Side with these truly unique festivities to showcase these venerable figures in contemporary art.
Journey to Art: Ed Paschke, Zhou B Art Center, 1029 W. 35th St. and Journey to Art: Ed Paschke and the Zhou Brothers, Ed Paschke Art Center, 5415 W. Higgins Ave., both on view through August 2.