Michiko Itatani`s exhibition of recent paintings, at the Deson-Saunders Gallery, 328 W. Chicago Ave., includes a small group that shows the artist setting out in a new direction.
For some years, she exhibited large canvases roiling with Michelangelesque figures that always were faceless. Several of these paintings, in hot color and with much embellishment, are again on view. But the pale, small ones are really Itatani`s freshest.
Most of them have two irregular polygons, one overlapping the other. The images on each are faces-gray, softly painted and in extremis. The tension between them is mysterious. They clearly relate but not always as two people. They could be externalized aspects of the same person.
Itatani long avoided including faces in her large paintings for fear she would limit them by suggesting age or sex. But in the new small works, she focuses almost entirely on physiognomy and beautifully succeeds in keeping the images universal.
Sometimes the pictures give off a charge that feels extremely personal, yet each viewer still will find something of himself or herself in them, which is, of course, a highly prized condition. (Through Tuesday.)
– Sculptor Anish Kapoor has received the 1991 Turner Prize awarded by the Tate Gallery in London. The prize goes each year to ”a British artist under 50 for an outstanding exhibition or other presentation” in the 12 months preceding June 30. Past winners include Howard Hodgkin, Richard Deacon and Tony Cragg.
– The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C., has begun a major renovation of its 2.7-acre outdoor plaza. The project, which will include trees and a grassy exhibition area for sculpture, was developed by Maryland landscape architect James Urban in collaboration with the staff of the museum. It is scheduled for completion next December.
– Teri J. Edelstein, for the last year director of the David and Alfred Smart Museum of Art of the University of Chicago, has become deputy director of the Art Institute of Chicago, replacing Katharine C. Lee, who left the museum last June.
– Jim and Suzanne Rose, owners of the CompassRose Gallery, 325 W. Huron St., soon will begin showing works privately by appointment in a new, smaller space. The current exhibition of works by sculptor H.C. Westerman will close Saturday.
– The Art Institute celebrates the 200th anniversary of the birth of French painter Theodore Gericault (1791-1824) by showing a selection of his prints and drawings, including the recently acquired series of 12 equestrian and urban genre prints known as the ”English Set.” Only three complete sets are known, and this one is in pristine condition. The exhibition continues through March. A large Gericault retrospective exhibition, at the Grand Palais in Paris, will close on Monday.
– The African-American Cultural Center at the University of Illinois at Chicago has issued a call for visual artists of African and Caribbean descent for possible exhibition at the center. Artists should sumbit at least five slides of their work, a resume and a stamped, self-addressed envelope to Dr. Philip M. Royster, African-American Cultural Center, Box 4348, M/C 020, Chicago, Ill. 60680. Call 312-413-2705.
– Jan. 15 is the deadline for applicants wanting to show at the American Welding Society`s International Welding Exposition, from March 24 to 26 at McCormick Place East. Artists must submit a color slide or photograph of an original artwork along with an application form. A maximum of 25 artists will be selected. For applications, call 800-443-9353.
– Associate curator Lynne Warren will give a free gallery talk on the Museum of Contemporary Art`s exhibition of new acquisitions at 12:15 p.m. Tuesday in the museum, 237 E. Ontario St.
– Elizabeth Georgiopoulos will present a four-program subscription series on ”Women Artists: From the 16th to the 20th Century” beginning at 10:45 a.m. Jan. 10 (repeated the same time on Saturdays) in Morton Auditorium of the Art Institute, Michigan Avenue at Adams Street. Series admission: $40, or $20 for students with IDs. Single admission (sold at the door on the days of the lectures only): $12, $5.
