At first glance, a casual visitor might not expect Bridgeport to be an emerging hub for Chicago’s art scene: streets are stark, shops are scattered, and the wind chimes that dangle from residential houses break the silence. But lo and behold, on the southeast corner of 32nd and Morgan is the Co-Prosperity Sphere, one of the motors behind Bridgeport’s art renaissance. Read the rest of this entry »

Leave the pearls and Lily Pulitzer at home: Thursday evening, the Version festival begins at Country Club, a gallery in Wicker Park. According to the festival’s website, “Version is an annual springtime convergence that brings in hundreds of artists, musicians and educators from around the world to present some of the most challenging ideas and progressive art initiatives of our day.” Space 1026, a Philadelphia-based artist collective named after the address of their building in Philly’s Chinatown, will host Version’s opening show on Thursday evening. On Friday night, Version moves to the South Side’s Co-Prosperity Sphere for “The Dark Matter Group Show.” This former warehouse in Bridgeport was gutted and restored to reveal beautiful high copper ceilings, hardwood floors, and a fairly vast and, once preparations are complete, appealing contemporary gallery space. Music and theater performances are held in the basement, and an apartment complex occupies the second floor. Read the rest of this entry »

The Dayglo tones, the Spandex, the artists, the affected Williamsburg-party vibe: Lumpen’s “Return Flight” conclusion to this year’s space-themed Select Media Festival was a lot like the blast-off event a week previous. Beneath the cavernous ceiling, Lumpen impresario Ed Marszewski looked down on the crowd from his loft like the doyen of a mystical space council. The partygoers danced on the floor below just like the geeky white kids they were. All the light-colored clothing aglow from the black light, errant leotards hugging silhouettes and shaking to beats from U.S. Girls, the occasional dry-humping: “Return Flight” looked more like a seething neon jazzercise gangbang than a triumphant return from outer space. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s not normal to hear the words “don’t take any pictures until I turn on the blacklight” be taken seriously, but, seconds later, I was standing in front of a gigantic space station, lit up entirely by blacklight. Yes, strangely enough, hidden on the corner of 32nd and Morgan inside an old warehouse is a huge interstellar complex yet to be launched, CPS1 (Co-Prosperity Sphere 1) to be exact, art collective/magazine Lumpen’s beta test for its first intergalactic space colony. Read the rest of this entry »