The Hills

Just a few things about the show...

2011-01-27T13:35:00.001-08:00

Brown Paper Bag
*Maren Miller Interview with The Post Family!
Art Cards Review for Maren Miller's recent show @ Important Projects in SF

LONG GONE by Maren Miller Opens Saturday, Feb. 12th from 8-11 PM

2011-01-20T18:09:00.000-08:00

LONG GONE/MAREN MILLER

The Hills Esthetic Center presents LONG GONE a solo exhibition of New York artist Maren Miller, with an opening reception on Saturday, February 12^th, 2011 from 8-11 PM; the exhibition will close February 26th. Miller’s work reflects the processes through which one’s surroundings condition cultural production. Her work recombines architecture, art, memorial, ornament, and design; questioning the distinction between abstraction and representation. LONG GONE explores forms that have existed in human consciousness since the dawn of image and object making. These include such representations as: the vessel, the wedge, the repeating pattern, the path, and the monolith. Remarking on each object’s revisionist history, Miller’s intent is to reveal the dually mundane and mystical qualities that these forms have acquired. Miller works in a range of media, blurring the line between sculptural “environment” and closed pictorial space. Her intent is to bring the viewer to the approximate moment when an external object becomes an internal image.

Maren Miller currently lives and works in New York. She received her BFA from Cooper Union in 2010. Since then she has attended Ox-bow Residency Program and has most recently shown at Important Projects in San Francisco. This will be her first Chicago exhibition. Her work can be seen at www.marenmiller.com.

Christmas FUNraiser this Saturday!

2010-11-30T09:06:00.000-08:00

Saturday 6:00-9:00pm at The Hills Esthetic Center

128 N Campbell St, Unit G, Chicago, IL

On December 4th we will be hosting a silent auction and raffle, in addition to a Christmas gathering, with hopes of raising funds for improvements to the gallery. Artists include Jason Lazarus, Michael Hunter, Chad Kouri, Jessica Taylor Caponigro, Leo Kaplan, Joseph Mohan, Scott Cowan, Greg Stimac, Drew Griffith, Katy Keefe, Ron Ewert, Dustin Ruegger, Michael Kloss, Ben Speckmann, Nicole Kita, Aron Gent, Emily Green, Caitlin Arnold and many others. The Hornswaggler Arts bar will be slinging handcrafted cocktails, live Christmas music on guitars and saxophones, carolers and a magician will populate the crowd. Please join us and continue your support and to celebrate our first successful year! *CASH AND CHECK ARE ENCOURAGED

OUR MAGICIAN!..... Award Winning Magic

www.brettschneidermagic.com

Brunch this Saturday and Openings....

2010-10-14T10:31:00.000-07:00

YOU ARE INVITED TO AN INFORMAL CLOSING DISCUSSION OF
Girls: A Solo Exhibition of Caitlin Arnold @ THE HILLS ESTHETIC CENTER 128 North Campbell Street, Unit G////Chicago////*MAP
////Saturday, October 16th FROM 1-3 PM
*coffee and muffins provided

IN OTHER NEWS.....

ADDITIONAL OPENINGS FOR "THE HILLS ESTHETIC CENTER" ARTISTS

All Black Everything
new works by michael kloss

OPENING RECEPTION: Friday October 15th from 7-10 PM

at Eastern Expansion 244 W 31st Street

All black everything is a new series of drawings exploring slightly outdated pop culture figures. Mainly men from Edward Furlong to Jim Brewer.

Existence Value

Paul Cowan and Scott Cowan

OPENING RECEPTION: Friday, October 15th from 6-9pm

at Roots & Culture 1034 N Milwaukee Ave.

"Existence Value" investigates the intrinsic value people and cultures give to things- how people with different understandings of the same thing can assume to agree according to the meaning that a thing has in their own life. We have options, an infinite amount of them, which we must see as wide-open variables to use or to deny. Every

decision made is made with intention. It isn’t about being ‘right’ or ‘wrong’, but rather the sequence of events and how they add up. In "Existence Value", a gesture precedes all considerations and assumptions, rendering immediate perception obtuse. These objects, losing all subjectivity; question their own role (real or imaginary) and the artist’s desire to create and be present in the work.

Mugs

Group Show of 30 artists including Katy Keefe and Jason Lazarus.

OPENING RECEPTION: Friday, October 22nd from 6-10 PM

at LVL3's Merchandise Mart Auxiliary Space 222 W Merchandise Mart Plaza

Coffee mugs represent a place of sentimental permanence. Mass-produced and in the homes of many, coffee mugs are an interesting way to gain cultural insight. They have a variety of functions. As an object, they are a symptom of consumer culture and tradition. We buy them, drink, collect and gift them.This project showcases the artist and mug as a unit.

2010-09-21T07:54:00.000-07:00

YOU ARE INVITED TO THE OPENING RECEPTION FOR

"girls"

A SOLO EXHIBITION of CAITLIN ARNOLD

THE HILLS ESTHETIC CENTER is proud to present the work of Chicago photographer Caitlin Arnold. This marks the two and half year point in Arnold’s project, a personal engagement with young women from across the US living in rural, suburban and urban environments. On display is an intimate group of portraits dealing with the breadth and complexity of the contemporary maturation period for girls. Please join us on Friday, September 24th from 8-11 PM at THE HILLS, located at 128 N Campbell Street, Chicago ILL.

THE ARTISTS WORK CAN BE FOUND AT www.caitlinarnold.com.

Beach Party 3!

2010-08-27T09:50:00.000-07:00

THE HILLS ESTHETIC CENTER

BEACH PARTY 3!!

THE HILLS ESTHETIC CENTER hosts their 3rd Annual Beach Party this Saturday, August 28th, 2010. A formal opening for the gallery of summer-inspired works, by a plethora of Chicago artists will take place from 8-11 PM. From 11 PM-on bands will begin, the tiki bar will open, and the party will ensue. Expect COCONUTS, BEACH CARS, A TWENTY FOOT GREAT WHITE, INFLATABLES, SUMMER MIX TAPES, A PILE OF WATERMELONS, AND THE REMINISCENT SOUNDS OF DICK DALE.

Chicago artists include Caitlin Arnold, Jessica Taylor Caponigro, Olivia Ciummo, Paul Cowan, Scott Cowan, Frank Van Duerm, Ron Ewert, Michael Hunter, Leo Kaplan, Katy Keefe, Nicole Kita, Michael Kloss, Ben Marcus, Joseph Mohan, Sara Mosk, Matt Nichols, Eddie Peters, Dustin Ruegger, and Lauren Walsh.

Chicago bands and DJ's include Deep Earth, The Alices (members of Glass Bricks and Altered States), DJ Rad Pitt, and DJ Jean Shorts.

THE HILLS is located at 128 N Campbell Street///Unit G///Chicago, IL///60618 *MAP

Closing Brunch for Jessica Taylor Caponigro this Sunday from 1-3 PM!

2010-08-10T10:52:00.000-07:00

YOU ARE INVITED TO AN INFORMAL CLOSING DISCUSSION OF

Jessica Taylor Caponigro's

LOOKS LIKE A PLACE I CAME IN

@THE HILLS ESTHETIC CENTER 128 North Campbell Street, Unit G////Chicago////*MAP

////SUNDAY, AUGUST 15th FROM 1-3 PM

FRESHLY BAKED MUFFINS AND COFFEE WILL BE PROVIDED, FEEL FREE TO BRING A DISH TO SHARE!

Opening Reception for Jessica Taylor Caponigro's Show, "Looks Like A Place I Came In" Opens this Friday!

2010-07-21T05:56:00.000-07:00

Jessica Taylor Caponigro

Looks Like A Place I Came In

The Hills Esthetic Center is proud to present a solo exhibition of Jessica Taylor Caponigro’s work; a site-specific installation titled “Looks Like A Place I Came In”. Caponigro’s response to the space draws influence from her family’s history by means of the decadent lacy fabrics juxtaposed with gaudy laminate flooring, jungles of houseplants, screenprinted temporary wallpaper and halls of astroturf.

Her work can be found at www.jessica-taylor.org.

THE HILLS ESTHETIC CENTER is located at 128 N Campbell///Unit G///Chicago, ILL///

OPENING RECEPTION will be Friday, July 23rd from 8-11 PM

ACRE Summer Benefit-Raffle and Auction @ Johalla Projects this Friday!

2010-07-08T09:30:00.000-07:00

ACRE's Summer Benefit

Silent Auction + Raffle

Friday, July 9th

6-11pm

Johalla Projects

1561 N Milwaukee Ave. 2nd Floor

Raffle and Auction items include paintings, photographs, drawings, and sculpture by local Chicago artists and ACRE’s 2010 residents. Entrance is $10, which includes 3 raffle tickets and a door gift. Additional tickets can be purchased for $4, or you can up your odds with 7 tickets for $20. The Silent Auction closes and Raffle winners are announced at 10:30pm. Funds raised go toward ACRE’s inaugural summer residency.

Featuring work by over 30 artists including:

Caitlin Arnold

Tom Burtonwood

Alex Chitty

Ben Driggs

Paul Erschen

Terry Evans

Scott Fortino

Rebecca Gordon

Elisa Harkins

Kelly Kaczynski

Irena Knezevic

Young Joon Kwak

Jason Lazarus

Aliza Morell

Claire Pentacost

Heidi Norton

Jennifer Ray

Matt Siber

Montgomery Perry Smith

Greg Stimac

Brian Ulrich

and more...

A couple of things about the ACRE show!

2010-06-22T13:52:00.000-07:00

Bad at Sports

TimeOut Chicago

Art Talk Chicago

Opening Reception this Friday from 8-11 PM for ACRE's Group Show "Remembering the Future"

2010-06-15T11:19:00.000-07:00

REMEMBERING THE FUTURE

ACRE Group Show

opening reception, Friday June 18th from 8-11 PM

A conglomeration of new photographs, drawings, sculpture, moving image and sound by the founding members of ACRE, Chicago's newest Artist Residency (that takes place in the great state of Wisconsin!). ALSO ... AN OPTIMISTIC TRASH HEAP, CONSTRUCTED UTOPIAS, ARTISTIC FLOURISH AND A DANCE PARTY!

*Join ACRE immediately following the reception for an after party hosted by Roxaboxen Exhibitions @ 2130 W. 21st Street. The Dance MASS-ACRE will feature short sets by experimental musicians and end with DJs spinning dance favorites.

ACRE can be found at www.acreresidency.wordpress .com

Participating Artists:

Melissa Damasauskus

Henry James Glover

Emily Green

2010-06-02T11:10:00.000-07:00

YOU ARE INVITED TO AN INFORMAL CLOSING DISCUSSION OF joseph mohan's work @THE HILLS ESTHETIC CENTER 128 North Campbell Street, Unit G////Chicago////*MAP ////SATURDAY, JUNE 5th FROM 1-3 PM THIS IS A BRUNCH-LUCK. BRING A DISH TO SHARE OR COME EAT WITH US AND DRINK TIKI BLOODY'S!

*please vote for "The Hills Esthetic Center" as your favorite art gallery on the Chicago Reader website*

Joseph Mohan's Solo Show Opens Friday, May 14th!

2010-05-05T08:57:00.000-07:00

You Can Do It Your Own Way (If It's Done Just How I Say)
Joseph Mohan

The Hills Esthetic Center hosts an opening reception on Friday, May 14th, 2010 from 8-11 PM at 128 N Campbell Street, Unit G, Chicago, IL. The show will close on June 5th, 2010. The Hills is proud to present the work of Chicago photographer Joseph Mohan in his exhibition titled You Can Do It Your Own Way (If It's Done Just How I Say). For this show, Mohan will be displaying photographs, sculpture and video works that address the progression of creative production/control from the 1980’s up to today. Mohan utilizes the language and structures of his professional career as a freelance photographer and photography editor to recontextualize and question creative influence, authorship, and originality.

The first part of the exhibition, titled Scenes from Kill ‘Em All: Since the Dawn of Thrash Metal,documents the aftermath and influence of Thrash Metal icons Metallica on Mohan’s generation. Born in 1981, Mohan is particularly interested in his generation’s creative production and consumption; he uses Metallica as a point of examination, or a common denominator, for the viewer to approach his works and reflect on these ideas. The 1980‘s generation was the first to adopt MP3’s and filesharing, and Metallica was the first famous band to stand in tone deaf opposition to that while they boasted an “opposition” to mainstream music culture. Despite these set-backs, everyone has some early experience and impression of Metallica that Mohan smartly portrays. The photographs are used as a means to transport the viewer back to their nostalgia towards the creative period of the 1980’s, the evolution of that creative exchange through the 1990’s, and the current state of affairs in 2010.

The second part of Mohan’s exhibition, I Own These Works You Assholes, is concerned with ownership rights, authorship, and derivative creation. Driven by frustration stemming from a professional assignment, Mohan had a first-hand experience with the loss of creative control. In this body of work, based on losing ownership to his photographs, Mohan comments on the legal basis of authorship. A direct result of the evolution of creative originality in our time, this exhibit stands as a stunning example to what Mohan explores in Scenes from Kill ‘Em All: Since the Dawn of Thrash Metal. Where Mohan’s mentality stems from his initial love towards the seductive, reactionary power of Thrash Metal, and as he saw his icons oppose the free, revolutionary exchange of their ideas in the 1990’s, it is of no surprise to find his photographs stolen from him in 2010.

Joe's work can be found awww.josephmohan.net.

LUMPY TROUSER DEMONS Opening @ Northern Exposure Friday Night

2010-04-28T11:22:00.000-07:00

Lumpy Trouser Demons
@ Northern Exposure (2236 W Belmont Ave)
6-10pm

The launch of a new art space initiative, Northern Exposure – a project that presents contemporary ideas and art across the conceptual and physical demarcation of the North and South Side of Chicago. Our first exhibition in this platform is a group of interactive landscape drawings with artist group Image Search LTD (Ron Ewert, Dustin Ruegger, Mike Kloss). Their influences include Dubuffet art sculpture, Monument with Standing Beast, linguistic maps courtesy Google image searches, and Art Brut.

The new issue of Proximity will be available at the show.

Afterparty at The Hills (128 N Campbell Ave, 10:30pm-foreverAM)

Just a Few Things Written About The Show!

2010-04-20T17:15:00.000-07:00

Upclose and Personal Interview with Scott Cowan and Katy Keefe-ORANGE ALERT
Write-up of Scott Cowan and Katy Keefe's Work-BROWN PAPER BAG
Photographer of Install-DAVID ROBERT ELLIOTT

2010-04-12T18:46:00.000-07:00

BRAIDED BREAD SCOTT COWAN & KATY KEEFE

opening reception, Friday April 16th 8-11 PM

This is a humorous exhibition that was made with an active balance between frustration and friendly relaxation (featuring: secondary objects, eye movement, paintings of paintings of paintings, patience, stability, the formation of doing things together, and 125 lbs. of wax).

THE HILLS ESTHETIC CENTER////128 N CAMPBELL STREET////UNIT G////CHICAGO, ILL///*map

www.thehillsgallery.blogspot.com

SCOTT CAN BE FOUND AT www.scottcowan.us

KATY CAN BE FOUND AT www.katykeefe.com

BRUNCH-LUCK this Saturday!

2010-03-31T23:21:00.001-07:00

YOU ARE INVITED TO AN INFORMAL CLOSING DISCUSSION OF FRANK VAN DUERM'S

SYMBOLS/SOUVENIRS

@THE HILLS ESTHETIC CENTER 128 North Campbell Street, Unit G////Chicago////

////SATURDAY, APRIL 3rd FROM 12-3 PM

THIS IS A BRUNCH-LUCK. BRING A DISH TO SHARE OR BUY A PLATE FOR $2. TIKI BLOODY'S FOR SALE!

Organizers of THE HILLS in 50 Aldermen/50 Artists Art Exhibition this Friday!

2010-03-17T08:39:00.000-07:00

Come join organizers of THE HILLS ESTHETIC CENTER at the group show "50 Aldermen/50 Artists", at Johalla Projects, 1561 N Milwaukee Ave, 2nd Floor, Chicago, IL on FRIDAY March 19th from 7 -11 PM. Ron Ewert, Dustin Ruegger, and Katy Keefe are a few of the many participants.

How many Chicagoans know what their alderman looks like? How many Chicagoans can tell you who their alderman is, and what he or she has been doing lately? We’re not pollsters, so we don’t have any hard data to provide answers to these questions — but we are artists, and we’re interested in using art as a vehicle in depicting and learning more about the aldermen who represent us at City Hall. To this end, we invite other Chicago artists to join us in producing 50 ALDERMEN/50 ARTISTS: A group exhibition of portraits that will enable people to learn more about the 50 aldermen who make up the Chicago City Council, and raise awareness of local government. On Friday, March 19, 2010 from 7-11pm, Old Style proudly presents 50ALDERMEN/50 ARTISTS at the Johalla Projects Gallery, 1561 N. Milwaukee.

2010-03-01T17:19:00.000-08:00

FRANK VAN DUERM

Symbols/Souvenirs

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
The Hills Esthetic Center hosts an opening reception on Saturday, March 6th, 2010 from 7-10 PM at 128 N. Campbell Street, Unit G, Chicago, IL. The show “Symbols/Souvenirs” is a site-specific shop built and created and by Chicago artist Frank Van Duerm. Enlarged representations of objects, originally produced for the express purpose of remembering people and places of geographic, cultural, and ideological significance, are present in surplus. Items on sale draw from cultural icons and symbols, including guided mediation DVD’s and Tanya Harding VHS sex tapes. These imprints of mass produced objects continue to inform Van Duerm’s practice, as the installation explores how memorabilia builds, abstracts and collides with cultural histories.

The Hills Esthetic Center is an artist-run space located in the depths of Chicago’s Western Corridor. Boasting a history as a music venue and installation-themed art loft with artists’ studios and an audio recording facility, The Hills Esthetic Center has opened their latest venture; a white-walled exhibition space. The space exists to promote a constant flux of challenging and undervalued contemporary artwork hosted in a non-commercial, artist-controlled environment.

Frank Van Duerm (American, 1982) works with art, music, and design. He received a dual-BFA in Sculpture and Industrial Design from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2007. After stints as a commercial package designer and display artist, Van Duerm currently has a set of solo shows in Chicago at The Hills Esthetic Center and Pawn Works.

Closing BRUNCH-LUCK @ The Hills Esthetic Center, Sat. 12-3 PM

2010-02-16T16:29:00.001-08:00

YOU ARE INVITED TO AN INFORMAL CLOSING DISCUSSION OF MIKE KLOSS' THE HILLS HAVE THIGHS

@THE HILLS ESTHETIC CENTER 128 North Campbell Street, Unit G////Chicago////

////SATURDAY, FEB. 20TH FROM NOON-3 PM

THIS IS A BRUNCH-LUCK. BRING A DISH TO SHARE OR BUY A PLATE FOR $2. TIKI BLOODY'S FOR SALE!

A few reviews written about the show...

2010-01-28T08:53:00.000-08:00

Orange Alert Interview with Mike Kloss

Chicago Art Review of Mike Kloss' Exhibition

Michael Kloss' Solo Show "The Hills Have Thighs" Opens on Friday!

2010-01-19T08:44:00.000-08:00

THE HILLS ESTHETIC CENTER, located at 128 N. Campbell in Chicago, Illinois

THE HILLS ESTHETIC CENTER hosts an opening reception on Friday January 22^nd, 2010 from 6-10 P.M. at 128 N. Campbell Street, Unit G, in Chicago, IL. The show “The Hills Have Thighs” features a mini-retrospective of Michael Kloss’ darkly imaginative pen and ink drawings, colorful detritus sculptures, and idiosyncratic minimal collages. Curated by his closest friends, this exhibition sifts through the deep pile of Kloss’ work and puts forth a strong display of his unique style. Kloss’ work ravages the pits of emotional, social and cultural despair in an effort to shed a hopeful and humorous light onto his own condition. This prehistoric sludge of lost love, drug and alcohol inducement, fear of society and the dark north woods all work towards the bright light of love and lust, purity found in nature, the warm tropics and humor over pop culture. Omnipresent are figures, cartoon-like blobs, and animals fixed in Kloss’ imaginary landscapes that reveal themselves to be alive. Rocks, mountains and hills develop breasts, eyes and thighs, grounding Kloss’ acid-soaked visions of the surrounding world. Through the development of composition, radical sense of humor, and acute attention to his intuition, grows a dark (and grimly hopeful) world. With darkness there is light.

THE HILLS ESTHETIC CENTER is a newly developed artist-run space located in the depths of Chicago’s Western Corridor. Boasting a history as a music venue and installation-themed art loft with Artist’s studios and an audio recording facility, THE HILLS ESTHETIC CENTER is opening their latest venture; a white-walled exhibition space. The space exists to promote a constant flux of challenging and undervalued contemporary artwork hosted in a non-commercial, artist-controlled environment. Come watch as we throw our proverbial hat (beer hat) into the ring of Chicago Alt-spaces.

Mike Kloss, (b.1978) received his BFA from the Milwaukee School of Art and Design in 2004. Recently Mike has been making motivational recordings and cutting stuff up.