HOME
"Form Follows Function off a short pier"

Opening:
Saturday July 20th
6:00 to 10:00 pm

Opening performance at 8:00 pm by John Preus, Tadd Cowen and Aaron Shapiro

Artists Marissa Lee Benedict, John Preus, and Kevin Reiswig have been commissioned to create specific items of furniture, structures, and/or modifications of existing things and spaces within and around the Nord/Shaeffer home. Each commission reflects both a practical and social wish, the fulfillment of which is tacitly bound up in the artistic process. The exhibition further explores home life as an arena that necessitates intervention and rupture from outside; domestic life is an incrementally self-imposed set of activities, habits, attitudes and rituals, born of archaic patterns, personal history; social life as an art form; the concept of home as the place most familiar, but founded upon the imaginary.

Closing Brunch:
Sunday September 22nd
11:00 am to 3:00 pm

This exhibit will develop over the course of its two month run. Visits after opening by appointment. Check in regularly to see progress on commissioned pieces at our blog sites - HOME gallery, on Facebook, or www.southsidehub.org

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Remodeling Home
Opening Saturday, March 16th
6:00 pm to 11:00 pm

After two years of dormancy, Home gallery is being reopened!

To celebrate its return, enliven its quietness and tend to its neglect, Laura Shaeffer and her family have decided to invite 15 Chicago-area artists to disrupt, displace, rearrange, harmonize, or otherwise intervene in the everyday rhythms, patterns and routines of their private family life.

By giving their fragile space into the hands of resourceful and unconventional artists they hope for a utopic model to arise that can then be opened and shared with the public.

Building on SHoP's former exhibit "This House is Not a Home" we continue to explore the concept of home "as a place and a mindset, a psycho-geography, a set of relationships with things and people, within the home, and surrounding the home, a stage set with social and material parameters, an idea that is perhaps never realized, a story that we tell ourselves and others that is both documentary and fiction…" John Preus.


*Artists include:

* Alberto Aguilar * Kayce Bayer * Marissa Lee Benedict * Jim Duignan * Paul Durica * Mejay Gula * Rachel Herman * Samantha Hill * Chris Lin * Jorge R. Lucero * John Preus * Kevin Reiswig * Norman Teague * Hui-min Tsen * Hoyun Son *

Featuring music by * Fluer De Lune * and other surprise
musical guests!

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Closing reception for
ARTISTS' BOOKS AND ORIGINAL DRAWINGS
featuring drawings, sketchbooks, and artist's books from Michael Brehm, Amanda Vahamaki & Michelangelo Setolo (Souvlaki Circus), Anders Nilsen (Big Questions, Dogs and Water), and Doug Shaeffer.

Home Gallery is located at 1407 E. 54th Place in Hyde Park, Chicago.

Closing reception and potluck brunch: Sunday June 13, 2010, 12:00 - 3:00 pm

PRESENTED BY: Home Gallery 1407 E. 54th Place, Chicago, IL

CONTACT:
Laura Shaeffer at laura.shaeffer@gmail.com, 773.363.5935



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THE SKETCHBOOK PROJECT AND ARTISTS' BOOKS

Home Gallery is proud to host Brooklyn, NY's Art House Co-op and the Sketchbook Project, a library of sketchbooks collected from artists around the world. In addition, Home Gallery will be featuring drawings, sketchbooks, and artist's books from Michael Brehm, Amanda Vahamaki & Michelangelo Setolo (Souvlaki Circus), Anders Nilsen (Big Questions, Dogs and Water), and Doug Shaeffer.


The library is open May 8th from 6:00 to 9:00 pm, and May 9th from 12:00 to 4:00 pm.

Home Gallery is located at 1407 E. 54th Place in Hyde Park, Chicago.

PRESENTED BY: Home Gallery 1407 E. 54th Place, Chicago, IL

Opening reception: Saturday May 8, 2010, 6:00 - 9:00 pm

CONTACT:
Laura Shaeffer at laura.shaeffer@gmail.com, 773.363.5935
Art House Co-op at questions@arthousecoop.com

ABOUT THE SKETCHBOOK PROJECT:
The goal of the Sketchbook Project is to create a giant collective of sketchbooks from around the globe and make it accessible to everyone. Artists sign up to receive a sketchbook, fill it up with art, and send it back, joining thousands of others that are made by artists from all over the world. Visitors will receive library cards and be able to view the books at exhibitions around the country.

ABOUT THE ART HOUSE CO-OP:
Art House started in 2006 by Steven Peterman and Shane Zucker with the goal of bringing art to the masses. Since they started, they have interacted with thousands of artists from around the world, all brought together with the common goal of creating art and sharing it with each other.


Art House hosts many of the exhibitions for their projects at their gallery in Brooklyn, NY called The Brooklyn Art Library. In an attempt to give artists as much recognition as possible, as well as providing the opportunity to see the exhibition that they're a part of in person, Art House has started taking select projects to guest galleries around the country.

ABOUT THE GALLERY:
Home Gallery is an ongoing experimental exhibition space run by Laura Shaeffer out of her home in Hyde Park, on Chicago’s South Side.


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NOWS: An Exhibition of Recent Work by Nathaniel Russell at Home Gallery

PRESENTED BY: Home Gallery 1407 E. 54th Place, Chicago, IL
Opening reception: February 6, 2010, 6:00-9:00 pm
Closing reception and brunch: February 28, 2010 12:00-3:00 pm

CONTACT:
Laura Shaeffer at laura.shaeffer@gmail.com, 773.710.5464
Nathaniel Russell at crookedarm@gmail.com

Nathaniel Russell makes drawings, prints, and paintings of mysterious figures, inspirational imagery, new age posters, primitive character study, dream thoughts, and references to our common subconscious connections.

His work is closely affiliated with the group of artists and designers associated with Mollusk Surf Shop in San Francisco, California. He has been a part of numerous art shows at the Mollusk Gallery and designed many of the shirts and graphics for the shop. His work has been exhibited internationally in numerous solo, group and traveling exhibitions in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York City, London, and, coming in early 2010, Tokyo. Zines of his drawings have also been published by small publishers in Scotland, Canada, and Germany.

His illustrations have been featured in the Listography series of books, Dwell, Magazine, and album covers for record labels such as Sub Pop, Bella Union, Asthmatic Kitty, and Brushfire.

He is currently living and working in Indianapolis, Indiana after recently relocating from Oakland, California.

ABOUT THE GALLERY:
Home Gallery is an ongoing experimental exhibition space run by Laura Shaeffer and Andrew Nord out of their home in Hyde Park, on Chicago’s South Side.

MORE INFORMATION:
Home Gallery’s website is thelarch.org
Nathaniel has a blog at crookedarm.blogspot.com

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The Opportunity Shop - Hyde Park

November 25 – December 31, 2009

The name "Opportunity Shop" was inspired by the term itself, which means thrift store in Australia. The idea that there could be a shop dedicated to opportunities filled my imagination with a kind of Turkish bazaar of colorful treasures, smells, meaningful encounters and free flowing ideas. A visual speakers corner came to mind. I wondered what this might be like in an art context. When we were offered a big space for a nominal fee by Mac Properties I decided it would be the perfect opportunity to try out the Op Shop.

We are inviting artists to bring their art, ideas, thoughts, and concerns to this space in Hyde Park in novel ways. We are open to all media. We hope to create a kind of total installation that is dynamic and constantly developing over the allotted time. The Op Shop is also set up to be a site of exchange, a place where participants are encouraged to identify their own resources and needs and come together to barter or sell objects, artworks, services, or particular skills. Artists' work and social exchange go hand-in-hand in this particular scenario.

This opportunity shop located at 1613 E. 55th Street is a short term, spontaneous pilot project for what we hope will become a series of exhibitions taking place in spaces in transition throughout Hyde Park and the south side of Chicago. By using vacant spaces with the cooperation of the owners for exhibitions, we can economize on overhead and also bring attention to unused urban space.

If you are interested in participating in The Op Shop, please contact us immediately. We need people to donate time to help run the gallery during open hours, and ask that artists help to hang work. The process is designed to be organic and free flowing, with rolling entries and departures. Many projects will be on view for the duration of the exhibition, although temporary events may occur on a nightly basis. If you wish to use the space for a meeting, a happening, a performance, a musical debut, a dance lesson, a workshop or reading, please let us know at least 2 days in advance. Alternately, work may be made on-site, developing over the course of the month.

We will also have a silent auction to raise money for the Home Gallery and Larch projects, art donations for which are greatly appreciated. We would like to have multiples and small, affordable art that will generate sales. 25% of the sales of art work will be used to cover costs with overflow to be used to fund other projects of this nature in the future.

If you know anyone who might be interested in this project, please feel free to forward this message.

We look forward to hearing form all of you!

The Op Shop will be located at 1613 E. 55th Street between the Metra station and Cornell on 55th street.

Dates: 11/27 Fri - 12/31 Thu
Visitor hours: 11am-7pm, Thu-Sun,
Evenings, coinciding with events.

Opening reception: 11/27 Fri, from 6-10 p.m.
Silent Auction: 12/5 Sat from 6-10 p.m
Closing party: 12/31 Thu from 6-10 p.m.

Space generously sponsored by Mac Properties Hyde Park


Contact us for more details and with any questions:

laura.shaeffer@gmail.com
www.thelarch.org

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Deedee Davis and Casey Roberts - Works and Collaborative Works

PRESENTED BY: Home Gallery, 1407 E. 54th Place, Chicago, IL 60615
Opening reception: Saturday, October 24, 2009, 6-10 pm

CONTACT: Laura Shaeffer - laura.shaeffer@gmail.com, 773.363.5935

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Patrick Fitzgerald - Travelling

Not long ago I passed by an art school for kids on Wilshire Boulevard here in Los Angeles and gazed through the window upon one of the paintings exhibited on a large bulletin board. Extending from the left margin was the rear end of a large blue car with several exhaust plumes puffing out the tail pipe. It looked like a 1959 Cadillac with those tail fins and pointed red lights. A small personal computer monitor and keyboard, some loosely rendered small architectural grid forms, and other smudged shapes were scattered about as well. Overall, the young artist had knocked out a compelling terrain that also featured a pyramid of Hershey's Kiss-shaped brown forms topped with a star on the upper left horizon. He or she drew an arrow pointing at this star and wrote "chocolate star" to make extra certain we knew what this is. The title "The Mysteries" was written toward the bottom right corner, and this worked well for me. I thought to myself: "this kid knows as much about landscape painting as I do." Perhaps one day, as an adult, he or she will need to revisit this mysterious landscape.

I travel often back and forth between the present day and my youth. I'm always trying to regain that excitement I felt as a kid when I created something special to me. I am more informed about art today, but I still need to return to that time of my youth - and that creative ambience - to sustain my artistic life.

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The Diorama Show

A curated show of imagined spaces
PRESENTED BY: Home Gallery, 1407 E. 54th Place, Chicago, IL 60615
Opening reception: Saturday, July 18, 2009, 6-10 pm
Brunch: Sunday, August 2, 2009 12-3 pm

CONTACT: Laura Shaeffer - laura.shaeffer@gmail.com, 773.363.5935

ABOUT THE WORK:
The Diorama Show explores our fascination with three-dimensional, constructed spaces that depict an imaginary moment in time. For nearly 200 years, dioramas have tested artistic, cultural and historical assumptions about reality and the world around us. We invited artists working in very different media to explore the tensions created in the diorama and its impact on the imagination.

ABOUT THE GALLERY:
Home Gallery is an experimental exhibition space run by Andrew Nord and Laura Shaeffer out of their home in Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood. Their mission is to show emerging as well as established artists whose work fits their "inhabited" space in scale and aesthetic, with the intent to further understanding of contemporary art. It broadens the artistic community by creating an informal and welcoming social space in which to view art as an integral part of everyday life.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS:
The artists invited to participate include:
Katrin Asbury and Shawn Greene
Jenny Buffington
Elke Claus
DeeDee Davis and Casey Roberts
Deborah Doering
Paul Durica
Patrick Fitzgerald
Conrad Freiburg
Sarah Kaiser
James Kao
Drue Langlois
Luftwerk
Miller and Shellabarger
Anders Nilsen
Paul Nudd
Jeremy Pelt
Frank Pollard
Kim Pence
David Preiss
John Preus
Doug Shaeffer
Bert Stabler
Rachel Tredon
Michael Weis
Patrick W. Welch
Zelienople

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"Today I went up a hill, tomorrow I'll come down"

Paintings and photographs by
Shauna Angel Blue and William Eckhardt Kohler

1407 E. 54th Place, Chicago

Opening Saturday, June 6, 2009
6:00 - 9:00 pm


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Anders Nilsen
Pictures of Dirt and Grass

1407 E. 54th Place, Chicago

Opening Saturday, April 18, 2009
6:00 - 9:00 pm

Brunch Sunday, May 3, 2009
12:00 - 3:00 pm


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RAFT
Curated Installation by Laura Shaeffer + Rachel Tredon

Finestra Art Space
Friday, February 13, 2009
5:00pm - 9:00pm
410 S. Michigan Avenue
Suite 516
Chicago, Illinois 60605-1456

HOME in Hyde Park has been invited to do a show at Finestra Gallery in downtown Chicago. Artists include: Conrad Freiburg, Katrin Asbury and Shawn Greene, Casey Roberts and DeeDee Davis, Rose DiSalvo, Doug Shaeffer, Anders Nilsen, Nora Mapp, Jesus Mejia, Dax Tran-Caffee, and Andrew Nord.