BERNARD Williams
WHAT: Williams, 43, investigates history, ethnology, archaeology and cartography in his works, which include canvases, sculptures and outdoor murals painted under the aegis of the Chicago Public Art Group. A Chicago native, he has degrees from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Northwestern University. He sees the United States as a place of conflict and convergence, fragmentation and sharing. In his work, he layers signs and symbols to speak to the complexities of history and culture.
WHERE: See Williams’ murals any time at Orr Community Academy High School, 730 N. Pulaski Rd.; Healy Elementary School, 3010 S. Parnell Ave.; Houston Playground Park, 5001 S. Cottage Grove Ave.; and coming this summer at CTA Red Line’s 55th Street Station. His work is always on view at G.R. N’Namdi Gallery and Thomas McCormick Gallery, both in Chicago.
WHEN: “It was important for me to find a space where I could make large-scale works,” says Williams of his 1,200 square foot space in West Humboldt Park. It is split into two rooms — one for cutting and working wood; the other for painting and living. “I like the mix of residential and industrial, and my building has a marble manufacturer on the first floor. Living around businesses that are producing or manufacturing objects inspires me.
“My whole move from painting to sculpture with metal and wood is due to living in this neighborhood. I use the materials that I see used in local industries,” he explains.
More artists you should know
Virginia Woolf realized the special relationship personal space has to creativity when she wrote “a woman must have … a room of her own if she is to write fiction.” The postulate applies to all creative types and inspired our quest to take a look at the link between artistic work and workplaces. This is the first of a series that will focus on Chicago artists; the first four we are highlighting have studios that are in the same location as their homes.
MONICA REZMAN
WHAT: Rezman, 49, is a painter who also makes works on paper and recently added photography to her oeuvre. She was a clothing and textile designer for 10 years, then went back to school in her early thirties at the Florence Academy of Art in Florence, Italy, and the School of Representational Art in Chicago.
WHERE: Rezman has a two-story coach house behind the Logan Square home she shares with her husband, Jamshed Writer, and 4-year-old daughter, Ruby. She uses the first floor as a gallery space and the second floor as a studio. “As a child, I used to watch my mother alter her hair with falls and wigs, and now I watch Ruby, who is often in my studio with me, experimenting with female adornment the same way. It prompted my new series on the relationship of hair to female identity.”
WHEN: Rezman’s work is represented by NavtaSchulz Gallery, 1039 W. Lake St., 312-421-5506, or by appointment (visit her Web site at www.monicarezman.com).
RHONDA WHEATLEY
WHAT:Wheatley, 34, is both an artist and a writer. In her artworks, which are multimedia text-based pieces that combine collage and painting, she says: “I pull language apart.” She is currently working on a series of paintings that visually interprets semi-conscious thoughts, which she calls “thought-forms.”
WHERE: “A room of her own” is a literal arrangement for Wheatley, who has exactly that with a Hyde Park apartment. But the space, which she describes as “a small room with a great big view of the lake” inspires her. “I’m always trying to push toward not seeing limits. I’m a night person, so when I’m at work and see the moon come up over the vast expanse of water, it reminds me of limitlessness and freedom … which is what being an artist is about to me,” she explains.
WHEN: Wheatley’s work is always on view at the River West gallery Flatfile, 217 N. Carpenter St., 312-491-1190, www.flatfilegalleries.com
BRIAN BONEBRAKE
WHAT: Bonebrake, 45, paints large-scale oils of the things he sees in everyday life, be it fruit, fish, Popsicles, tricycles or nudes. Until 1991, he was a professional skier, but found he was “unmarketable after a series of knee injuries.” At Christmas-time that year, he had the urge to paint and decided to go back to school. He has been a full-time artist since he received his master’s degree from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1995.
WHERE: Two years ago, Bonebrake and his family moved from West Town to this vintage three-story commercial building in River West for the visibility it would afford him as an artist, its proximity to his wife’s job as a psychiatry fellow at Rush Medical School and the extra space for his daughters, ages 1M-= and 2M-=. The first floor, which formerly housed a meat freezer, has a small retail space in front that he uses as a gallery and a 1,200 square foot cold-storage locker that he converted into his studio. He is the primary caregiver for his daughters, and finds inspiration in every aspect of his family life: “A trip to Garfield Park Conservatory led to a painting of a koi (fish), while my daughter’s first birthday made me do a piece of cake covered with sprinkles,” he says.
WHEN: Bonebrake’s work is on view at his gallery. Red Trike Art Company, 1111 W. Randolph St., 312-738-2038, Tuesday through Thursday, 10-4 or by appointment.
