A solo exhibition by BOLT Resident
Jennifer Mills

Opening Reception: March 15, 6 – 9 pm
Exhibition Dates: March 15 – April 2, 2013

#32, 2012, Hamburger dog toy, hamburger wallet, hamburger egg timer,
hamburger figurine, hamburger necklace, Dimensions vary.

BOLT Resident Jennifer Mills explores the potential rise and fall of an artist’s joke anthology. In this most recent body of work, Mills uses her playful aesthetic and interest in serial art making to explore the concept of a ‘one-liner’. In “101 one-liners; Falling Flat” Mills challenges the nature of these pithy jokes through 101 multi-media works that exist purely as concise, visual quips.  Even with flatness and evaporation as a goal, the accumulation of colorful and noisy gags overwhelms, evoking a sense of fullness and surplus. True to the form of a joke book or anthology, the mass of works range in success and direction.  The potential for any one of the works to fail within the larger body is implicit, and examines broader questions of success and failure, fullness and emptiness, surface and depth.

Inspired by her 6-year relationship to the comedy scenes in both New York and Chicago, Mills has been fascinated by the simultaneous power and hollowness of comedy in its various forms.   Mills has completed comedy training centers at The Upright Citizen’s Brigade in New York City and The Second City and Improv Olympic here in Chicago.

Chicago Artists’ Coalition, 217 N. Carpenter Street, Chicago, IL 60607. 312-491-8888
Gallery Hours Monday-Friday 9 am – 5 pm, and Saturday 12 pm – 6 pm
Viewings also available by appointment