Book Burial
Book Burial
Jenny Kendler’s Underground Library (2023) features a shelf of books about climate change that have been “biocharred.” Kendler returned to the gallery last night to bury the books at a private...
Exhibitions
The Chicago Cli-Fi Library
02.22.2023 – 06.10.2023
Inigo Manglano-Ovalle, 18 West 11th Street, March 6, 1970, 2006.
Exhibition Summary
This exhibition is a modest attempt to make sense of the paralysis that sets in when artists try to fashion a response to the complexity and enormity of climate change. Featuring recent works by Chicago-based artists Beate Geissler & Oliver Sann, Jenny Kendler, Inigo Manglano-Ovalle, and Dan Peterman.
Climate change is a great existential crisis for humanity, yet the apocalyptic prospect of global warming and other consequences of this great disruption hardly make themselves felt in the mainstream of cultural production. Whether we consider art, film, literature, or music, the specter of climate change has yet to produce the Anthropocene’s defining masterpieces. One could make the case that it is the very enormity of the challenge of imagining the unimaginable that causes this creative paralysis. The Chicago Cli-Fi Library is a modest attempt to make sense of this paralysis, suggesting that art’s response to the complexity and enormity of the issue at hand can only ever be piecemeal, ad hoc, and hyperlocalized – all of which must be understood as virtuous. Named after the emerging literary genre of “climate fiction,” or “cli-fi,” and accordingly bookish in both conception and outlook, this exhibition will feature the work of Chicago-based artists Geissler & Sann, Jenny Kendler in collaboration with Andrew Bearnot, Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle, and Dan Peterman.
Curated by Dieter Roelstraete.
Gallery
Exhibition Narrative
Carousel with 3 slides shown at a time. Use the Previous and Next buttons to navigate, or the slide dot buttons at the end to jump to slides.
Exhibition Video: The Chicago Cli-Fi Library
Exhibition Video: The Chicago Cli-Fi Library
Quartet for the End of Time: Earth Day at the Neubauer Collegium
Performance
Quartet for the End of Time: Earth Day at the Neubauer Collegium
This event featured a performative reading of classic "cli-fi" texts, a musical performance, and a short film screening.
Frieze Magazine: The Best Shows to See in Chicago Right Now
Frieze Magazine: The Best Shows to See in Chicago Right Now
Mousse Magazine Selects The Chicago Cli-Fi Library for "Chicago Oomph" Feature on the City's Best Art Exhibitions
Mousse Magazine Selects The Chicago Cli-Fi Library for "Chicago Oomph" Feature on the City's Best Art Exhibitions
Hyperallergic Review: "Art for the End of Time"
Hyperallergic Review: "Art for the End of Time"
"There are no common moves among artists in The Chicago Cli-Fi Library, except environmental grief as expressed through art-making," writes critic Lori Waxman.
The Aesthetics of Catastrophe
Workshop
The Aesthetics of Catastrophe
An interdisciplinary panel of scholars and artists discussed creative responses to climate change and resilience in the face of trauma.
Hyde Park Herald: "Chicago Cli-Fi Library Opens at Neubauer"
Hyde Park Herald: "Chicago Cli-Fi Library Opens at Neubauer"
Opening Reception for The Chicago Cli-Fi Library
Exhibition Opening
Opening Reception for The Chicago Cli-Fi Library
This exhibition was a modest attempt to make sense of the paralysis that sets in when artists try to fashion a response to climate change.
Carousel with 3 slides shown at a time. Use the Previous and Next buttons to navigate, or the slide dot buttons at the end to jump to slides.
Book Burial
Book Burial
Jenny Kendler’s Underground Library (2023) features a shelf of books about climate change that have been “biocharred.” Kendler returned to the gallery last night to bury the books at a private...
Quartet for the End of Time: Earth Day at the Neubauer Collegium
Performance
Quartet for the End of Time: Earth Day at the Neubauer Collegium
This event featured a performative reading of classic "cli-fi" texts, a musical performance, and a short film screening.
Carousel with 3 slides shown at a time. Use the Previous and Next buttons to navigate, or the slide dot buttons at the end to jump to slides.
Carousel with 3 slides shown at a time. Use the Previous and Next buttons to navigate, or the slide dot buttons at the end to jump to slides.
Frieze Magazine: The Best Shows to See in Chicago Right Now
Frieze Magazine: The Best Shows to See in Chicago Right Now
Mousse Magazine Selects The Chicago Cli-Fi Library for "Chicago Oomph" Feature on the City's Best Art Exhibitions
Mousse Magazine Selects The Chicago Cli-Fi Library for "Chicago Oomph" Feature on the City's Best Art Exhibitions
Hyde Park Herald: "Chicago Cli-Fi Library Opens at Neubauer"
Hyde Park Herald: "Chicago Cli-Fi Library Opens at Neubauer"
Opening Reception for The Chicago Cli-Fi Library
Exhibition Opening
Opening Reception for The Chicago Cli-Fi Library
This exhibition was a modest attempt to make sense of the paralysis that sets in when artists try to fashion a response to climate change.
Carousel with 3 slides shown at a time. Use the Previous and Next buttons to navigate, or the slide dot buttons at the end to jump to slides.
Hyperallergic Review: "Art for the End of Time"
Hyperallergic Review: "Art for the End of Time"
"There are no common moves among artists in The Chicago Cli-Fi Library, except environmental grief as expressed through art-making," writes critic Lori Waxman.
Carousel with 3 slides shown at a time. Use the Previous and Next buttons to navigate, or the slide dot buttons at the end to jump to slides.
The Aesthetics of Catastrophe
Workshop
The Aesthetics of Catastrophe
An interdisciplinary panel of scholars and artists discussed creative responses to climate change and resilience in the face of trauma.
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