Dan Ziembo`s landscape paintings, at the Roy Boyd Gallery, 739 N. Wells St., depart from the large mural-like canvases of his commissions to embrace a quirkier format.
Here he experiments with a series of seven paintings, each devoted to a segment of a panoramic landscape in southern Wisconsin. The canvases do not abut, though the artist`s river-bank scene is continuous, stringing together close ups and long shots.
Ziembo paints with a small writhing stroke that distances his work from its photographic sources. The writhing combines with white underpainting and many interstices to give a look related to Joseph Raffael`s patches of oily beading.
In this way, each representational image shows a high degree of abstraction. The effect is often like viewing magnified threads in a roughly textured weaving.
The show also includes several single paintings and another, smaller, series that has been successfully broken up. (Through Feb. 27.)
– Earlier versions of two famous paintings in the Musee d`Orsay in Paris will be auctioned in New York City this May. Vincent van Gogh`s 1890
”Portrait of Dr. Gachet” is to be sold May 15 at Christie`s, 502 Park Ave. Pierre-Auguste Renoir`s 1876 ”Au Moulin de la Galette” will go on the block May 16 at Sotheby`s, 1334 York Ave. Each work is estimated to bring $40 to $50 million.
– An Austrian government commission has invited the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation in New York to conduct a one-year feasibility study on a proposed museum in Salsburg, Austria, designed by architect Hans Hollein. The study will be overseen by art historian Agnes Husslein.
– The Palette & Chisel Academy of Fine Arts, 1012 N. Dearborn St., has received a $25,000 grant from the Dellora A. and Lester J. Norris Foundation. The grant will be used for educational programming.
– The Chicago Art Dealers Association has inducted the Douglas Dawson, Ehlers Caudill, Nancy Lurie and Ricky Renier galleries
– Japanese artist Shin Shingu has installed four stainless-steel mobiles on the roof of the Sporting Club, a new $30-million health club opening Thursday at Illinois Center, 233 N. Michigan Ave. The works are visible from high-rise buildings surrounding the club.
– Pulitzer prize-winning cartoonist Jeff MacNelly will open an exhibition of his work from 6 to 10 p.m. Friday at the Animation Plus! gallery, 790 N. Milwaukee Ave. A free reception is scheduled from noon to 5 p.m. Saturday.
– Abstract painter Jil Evans will give a free talk about her work at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at the Sazama Gallery, 300 W. Superior St.
– The Kass/Meridian Gallery will hold a print auction beginning at 1:30 p.m. Sunday at the gallery, 215 W. Superior St. The event will be followed by dinner at the Eccentric restaurant, 159 W. Erie St. Admission to both is $25. For details and reservations, call 266-5999. Reservations are required.
– Esther Sparks, former acting curator of prints and drawings at the Art Institute of Chicago, will begin a four-session subscription series,
”Universal Limited Art Editions: The Paradigm of Printshops,” at 6 p.m. Tuesday (repeated at 10:45 a.m. Friday) in Morton Hall of the Institute, Michigan Avenue and Adams Street. Series admission is $40, $30 for museum members, $20 for students with IDs. Single admission (sold only at the door): $12, $9.50 members, $5 students.
– A panel discussion relating to the exhibition ”Abstract Expressionism: Other Dimensions” will take place at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Terra Museum of American Art, 666 N. Michigan Ave. Admission is $5, $1 for students. Details and registration: 664-3939.
