Absurdity: In Dada We Trust
Woman Made Gallery (WMG) seeks entries for the Absurdity: In Dada We Trust exhibition, juried by WMG co-founders, Kelly P Hensen and Beate Minkovski and on display from July 22 to August 19, 2023.Absurdity, In Dada We Trust, is inspired by a collaboration between The Art Center Highland Park, Chicago Women's Caucus for Art, and Stola Contemporary Art and in honor of artist Helene Romer Smith who died in March 2022. When the world goes mad, the arts go Dada.In the US and across the globe, bullies have been applauded and emboldened to share self-serving rhetoric of nationalism and to act out sanctioned racism. Women's rights are being set back 50 years, and the LGBTQ community is dangling by a thread as individual rights are regulated but assault weapons are not. Social media has hijacked news and the term "alternate set of facts" has become the norm, no longer just the brunt of jokes. For artists, it is a clear call to look to the past for guidance and take a stand. How? In a word: Dadaism. Created as a reaction to the absurdity of war and the propaganda of WWI, Dadaism was the reaction of a group of artists from another time in history when the world was on the brink of madness. That is why Woman Made Gallery is joining this collaboration in building a coalition to fight back against the current trend toward insanity.
Exhibition Description:
WMG is inviting women and non-binary artists whose work addresses the theme of Absurdity: a world on the brink of madness to submit images of up to three works created in any medium that have not been previously exhibited at WMG. Please address the theme of this exhibition in your artist statement. The exhibition will be held at Woman Made Gallery, located in the Pilsen neighborhood at 2150 S. Canalport Ave., Chicago, IL 60608.
About the Jurors: Kelly P. Hensen and Beate Minkovski
Kelly and Beate are artists who established Woman Made Gallery in 1992. Their friendship and collaboration started at Northeastern Illinois University where they created art for their Senior Show, "Manmade Women." The two women rented a storefront in Chicago's Ravenswood neighborhood and that is how Woman Made Gallery began. Now, 30 years later, the organization is still going strong, having shown the work of more than 9,000 women and non-binary artists in around 440 exhibitions. Over the years both Beate and Kelly have juried exhibitions at WMG, served on its board of directors and volunteered their services in different capacities. Beate was WMG's executive director through December 2014 and continues to be active in shaping the organization.
