Current

Whistling in the Dark

Carl Hammer Gallery | Chicago, IL
October 28 - December 30, 2022

740 N Wells Street
Chicago, IL 60654

info@carlhammergallery.com
www.carlhammergallery.com
Tuesday - Saturday  12:00 - 5:00 p.m.

Recent

The Center Will Hold, Glow Exhibitions | Chicago, IL

Opening Reception: TBA
May - July 2020
Curated by Mary Lou Zelazny

The Ukrainian Museum of Art | Chicago, IL

The New UnNatural, curated by Robin Dluzen and Mary Lou Zelazny. January - March 2019.

In "The New UnNatural," seven female artists examine the modern grotesque. The genre of the "grotesque" is ancient, with examples from every culture and period. Ranging from the fanciful to the hideous, hybridized figurative forms have been used by artists around the world as satire, commentary, ornamentation and ritual. For the artists in "The New UnNatural," Laurie Hogin, Amanda Elizabeth Joseph, Renluka Maharaj, Julie Potratz, Chloe Seibert, Maria Tomasula and Mary Lou Zelazny, the attraction to rough or deformed amalgamations is both personal and political. 

In embracing the unsettling, the absurd and the repulsive, the artists in this exhibition eschew the notion of the "beautiful," not as a feminist critique of "beauty" or its representation in art; rather, the grotesque offers a means of coping with the rising anxieties and overstimulation of our times: a callous of sorts to strengthen one's ability to withstand inescapable bombardment of stimuli. 

So too does the grotesque provide a vehicle for power and self-assertion, especially in the hands of women. Through the violent, technicolor chimeras of Hogin's paintings; Joseph's hyperreal, emphatically flawed female bodies; Maharaj's sensual, macabre rituals; Potratz's exaggerated, uncanny costumed performances; Seibert's ghastly, crudely wrought faces; Tomasula's viscous still-lifes; and the mongrel, Frankenstein-ed figures of Zelazny's works, each artist projects a vision of the unexpectedly terrifying that reveals a visceral female sensibility.

Elmhurst Art Museum | Elmhurst, IL

What Came After: Figurative Painting in Chicago 1978-1998, curated by Suellen Rocca, shows a major overview of Chicago figurative artists. September 2019 - January 2020.

Press:
~ What Came After’ Exhibition Explores Legacy of Chicago Imagism, WTTW, Marc Vitali, October 8, 2019.
~ Overdue Overview, The Chicago Sun Times, Kyle MacMillan, September 12, 2019.
~ Defining Chicago Imagism, NewCity Art, Chris Miller, October 4, 2019.

Keystone Gallery | Los Angeles, CA

Ineffable, curated by Lorraine Heitzman, includes a series of paintings by Lou Carney (alias of Mary Lou Zelazny).

Elmhurst Art Museum | Elmhurst, IL

The Figure, Humor and the Chicago Imagists, curated by Suellen Rocca, features paintings by Zelazny, several Chicago Imagists and other Chicago artists. A symposium and panel discussion with Dan Nadel, Frank Trankina and Mary Lou Zelazny accompanies the exhibition.

Stuart & Co. Gallery | Chicago, IL

Paintings by Lou Carney (alias of Mary Lou Zelazny) are shown for the first time in Images on File, curated by Robin Dluzen.

Frederick Holmes and Company | Seattle, WA

Come Back with a Warrant, curated by Tony Fitzpatrick, features works by Lou Beach and Zelazny among others. 

Press:
Top Ten, Art & Antiques, May 2019.

Carl Hammer Gallery | Chicago, IL

Vivarium, Zelazny's fifth solo exhibition with Carl Hammer Gallery, features new mixed-media floral paintings and tree portraits. 

Press:
~ Vibrant Bouquets from Mary Lou Zelazny, Judy Carmack Bross, Classic Chicago Magazine, April 22, 2018.
~ "Vivarium": Mary Lou Zelazny, Bruce Thorn, New Art Examiner, April 19, 2018.
 

The Research House for Asian Art | Chicago, IL

Analog RAM, curated by Mary Lou Zelazny, features the work of over 120 young artists in an extensive series of collaborative collages, assembled from drawings made over 6 years in Zelazny's course Figure Painting — From Photo to Memory.

See the collection now as a permanent addition to the Joan Flasch Artist Book Collection at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Viewings available by appointment.

Mildred's Lane & The Mildred Complex(ity) | Narrowsburg, NY

Selections from the Collection of Mildred's Lane Part 1 on view in Narrowsburg includes works by Mary Lou Zelazny, Mark Dion, J. Morgan Puett, Claire Pentecost and others.

Older Highlights

The Museum of Contemporary Art | Chicago, IL

Surrealism: The Conjured Life, curated by Lynne Warren.

Zelazny is featured on an episode of PBS's Artrageous with Nate, The Artist in Your Backyard. 

Elmhurst Art Museum | Elmhurst, IL

Selections from the Cleve Carney Bequest presents selections from a collection of 300 works bequeathed to the museum by Cleve Carney (1939-2013).

10 Highlights from the Expo Art Fair, Paddy Johnson and Robin Dluzen, ArtFCity, September 19, 2015.

Carl Hammer Gallery | Chicago, IL

New Works, Carl Hammer Gallery, April-May 2014.

Press:
~ Mary Lou Zelazny at Carl Hammer Gallery, James Yood, Art LTD, August 2014.

The National Veterans Art Museum | Chicago, IL

The Exquisite Corpse of the Unknown Veteran is a project organized by Jeanne Dunning and Aaron Hughes. The first iteration of this project was featured in the Surrealism & War exhibit at the National Veterans Art Museum. Zelazny partnered with Lisa Boumstein-Smalley and Geoffry Smalley to create a drawing titled The Exquisite Corpse of Stanistaw Zelazny.

"I have chosen my father, Stanislaw Zelazny, because of his WWII experiences. In 1938, at the age of 14, he was kidnapped from his home by the German military for slave labor. 40,000 to 50,000 children aged 14 to 15 were abducted in operation 'Heu-Aktion.' The term means harvesting the hay. After the liberation, my father joined the British reconstruction forces." —Mary Lou Zelazny  

Carl Hammer Gallery | Chicago, IL

The Cake Lady Returns, Carl Hammer Gallery, September - October, 2011.

Press:
~ Mary Lou Zelazny / Carl Hammer Gallery, Brian Hieggelke, NewCity Art, October 4, 2011.
~ The Opening of Chicago's Fall Art Season, Paul Klein, Huffington Post, September 12, 2011.

Elmhurst College | Elmhurst, IL

Flags and Swags, a solo exhibition of paintings by Zelazny made between 1996 - 2008 on view the month of March 2011 as part of Elmhurst College Women’s History Exhibition Series.

Natalie and James Thompson Art Gallery, San José State University | San José, CA

Chicago Imagism(s), curated by James Yood, exhibits works by Mary Lou Zelazny as well as Chicago artists Roger Brown, Jim Nutt, Hollis Sigler, Karl Wirsum and others.

The School of the Art Institute of Chicag, Sullivan Galleries | Chicago, IL

Touch and Go: Ray Yoshida and His Spheres of Influence was a large retrospective of Yoshida's work held at the SAIC. The retrospective also featured selections from Yoshida's private collection, which included the work of Mary Lou Zelazny and other students that Yoshida influenced and later collected throughout his teaching career. Yoshida's private collection now resides at the Kohler Art Center in Sheboygan, WI.

About:
~ Ray Yoshida's Foresight, John Yau, Hyperallergic, December 13, 2015
~ Reviving the Spirit of an Artist Through His Personal Collection, Jillian Steinhauer in conversation with Karen Patterson, Hyperallergic, January 15, 2014