On The Record

October 9 - November 13, 2020

Arts + Public Life presents On the Record, an exhibition featuring works by Greg Bae, Savannah Jubic, and Brittney Leeanne Williams. This exhibition is a presentation of works by artists who currently, or in the past, worked as artist assistants to notable Chicago artists. This common and accepted practice of making work for an artist, without being named, raises questions about labor, visibility, and ethics in the art world. In a field that places great emphasis and value on authorship and signature, the working artist-to-artist relationship remains relatively unexamined.

These labor and craft dynamics are not new and can be found throughout art history. And while it is not a secret practice for renowned artists to employ unnamed studio teams, the reality of this phenomenon is routinely obscured by the preference to celebrate the individual genius. Presented together, these artists and the variety of mediums exhibited, including textiles, painting and sculpture, form a starting point to contemplate issues at the heart of visibility, time, identity, and change.

Brittney Leeanne Williams| Time Passing | 2019 | Guache on paper  16x14 Inches

Detail of Time Passing | 2019 | Guache on paper 16x14 Inches

Brittney Leeanne Williams

 

Brittney Leeanne Williams is a Chicago-based artist, originally from Los Angeles. Her work has been exhibited in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami (Untitled Art Fair), Venice, Italy (Venice Biennale), London, Copenhagen, and Hong Kong, as well as in Chicago and throughout the Midwest.

Williams attended Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture and The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (2008-09). She is a Joan Mitchell Foundation grant recipient and a Luminarts Fellow. Williams’ artist residencies include Arts + Public Life (University of Chicago) and McColl Center for Art + Innovation, among others.

Greg Bae | It Shall All Be Mine | 2016 | Magnetized atomic clock, magnets, acrylic, engraving on glass 10.5 Inches diameter

Detail of It Shall All Be Mine

 
 

Detail of It Shall All Be Mine

Greg Bae

 

Gregory Bae (American, b.1986, on Groundhog Day) completed a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design and MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He has been awarded grants from The Pollock-Krasner Foundation, the Foundation for Contemporary Arts, the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, the Chicago Artists Coalition, and from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the Rhode Island School of Design.

He has attended residencies at The Fountainhead in Miami, Cheongju Art Studio and the Seoul Museum of Art, both in South Korea, and Hub-Bub in Spartanburg. Bae's work has been exhibited in Chicago, Brooklyn, Cleveland, Milwaukee, Milan, Seoul, Busan and Cheongju, He has recently taken position as a Lecturer at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and Adjunct Faculty at the University of Illinois, Chicago. (Previously Bae worked as an artist assistant, art handler, and exhibition preparator amongst other odd jobs across Chicago). He is a founder, curator and co-director of Bills Auto, an alternative artist-run exhibition space in McKinley Park

Savannah Jubic | I’m Just So Angry | 2019 | Warp painted tencel, embroidery 16.75 inches x 18.75 inches

Detail of I’m Just So Angry

Detail of I’m Just So Angry

Savannah Jubic

 

Savannah Jubic (b. 1993, York, Pennsylvania) is a Chicago based fiber and installation artist. She has been exhibited both in the United States and internationally since 2012, including The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL; Line Dot Editions, Chicago, IL: Sullivan Galleries, Chicago, IL; Archer Beach Haus, Chicago, IL; Kriti Gallery, Varanasi, India.

Jubic holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts (2016) from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where she focused in Fiber and Material Studies. In her time at SAIC, Jubic was the recipient of a Distinguished Scholar Scholarship and a John W. Kurtich Travel Scholarship. In 2017 Jubic was the recipient of the Mary Hambidge Weaving Fellowship Distinguished Fellowship from  the Hambidge Center for Creative Arts and Sciences in Rabun Gap, GA.Jubic currently resides in Chicago, IL where she works as an artist, educator, and activist.

 

Savannah Jubic | Thoughts Should Pass | 2019 | Warp painted cotton, applique 40 x 36 Inches

Detail of Thoughts Should Pass

Savannah Jubic | Your Gain Will Be My Loss | 2019 | Warp painted cotton, applique 16 x 12 Inches

Detail of Your Gain Will Be My Loss