Randolph Street Gallery
Randolph Street Gallery (RSG) was an alternative exhibition space in Chicago, Illinois, from 1979[1] until its closing in 1998 and a vital local force in the development of a variety of new art forms and the contemporary national and international arts milieu. Founded by two artists, Tish Miller and Sarah Schwartz, RSG began in Schwartz's living room, later moving to 853 W. Randolph Street on Chicago's west side.[2] The late 1970s, was a period when young artists in all disciplines were collectively founding visual and performing art organizations as alternatives to mainstream and commercial venues in many US cities.[3] RSG was one of more than a dozen 'alternative' galleries - along with many new 'alternative' theatre groups - situated on the near north and west sides of Chicago. The gallery’s focus was on the needs of artists and practitioners who created work that was unsupported, or at the time, perceived to be unsupportable by most commercial or institutional funders.[4] Randolph Street Gallery was also the locus for groundbreaking collaborative projects such as The File Room: An Archive on Cultural Censorship, conceived by Antoni Muntadas,[5] and was the publisher of P-Form: Performance Art Magazine.[6]
For nineteen productive years RSG fulfilled its role as cultural laboratory for Chicago and the general art world.[7] By the late 1990s, changing trends, expectations, and patterns of patronage in the arts took their toll on the gallery as well as on any of the other few comparable artist-run organizations in the United States (e.g., La Mamelle and the Capp Street Project in San Francisco, the Washington Project for the Arts in the District of Columbia) and the gallery eventually closed.[8]
Many of the emerging and mid-career artists who presented and experimented at Randolph Street Gallery are now recognized as leaders who have changed the context of cultural dialog. They include visual and performance artists, photographers, filmmakers, sound and video artists, writers and curators.[9]
In 1999, the complete archives of Randolph Street Gallery were donated to the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) and include all available material documenting the nineteen-year history of RSG, a high percentage of which are original source materials. The archives contain historical records of performance, sculpture, visual and other art forms created or presented by local and international artists, artists’ portfolios, slides, posters, signage, photographs, performance art programs, publications, news clippings, publicity files, a variety of video formats, sound recordings, computer files, administrative records, and some works of art donated to Randolph Street Gallery for auctions and fund raisers.[10] Public access to the archives is possible on a limited basis and by reservation only. The Randolph Street Gallery Archives are complemented by an additional 33 linear feet of archival material from the editors of P-Form: Performance Art Magazine.[11]
References
- ^ Artner, Alan G. "To market...as an alternative" Chicago Tribune (17 Aug 1979: B12)
- ^ Obejas, Achy "A Requiem for Chicago's Incubator of Performance Art" Chicago Tribune (23 Feb 1998: 1)
- ^ Warren, L. 1984. Alternative Spaces: A History in Chicago. Chicago. Museum of Contemporary Art.
- ^ Obejas, Achy "A Requiem for Chicago's Incubator of Performance Art" Chicago Tribune (23 Feb 1998: 1)
- ^ Artner, Alan G. Muntadas' Installation Fits Current Thinking" Chicago Tribune (27 May 1994: 64)
- ^ P-Form: performance art news https://digitalcollections.saic.edu/pform
- ^ Hixson, Kathryn "Randolph Street Gallery" New Art Examiner (Sep 2000: 50-51) v28 n1
- ^ Obejas, Achy "Randolph Street Gallery Closes, Victim of Rapidly Declining Funds" Chicago Tribune (14 Feb 1998: 5)
- ^ Hixson, Kathryn "Randolph Street Gallery" New Art Examiner (Sep 2000: 50-51) v28 n1
- ^ Randolph Street Gallery Archives https://www.saic.edu/academics/libraries-special-collections/john-flaxman-library/special-collections/randolph-street-gallery
- ^ "Randolph Street Gallery Archives | SAIC Digital Collections". digitalcollections.saic.edu. Retrieved 2019-02-06.
External links
- Randolph Street Gallery Archive, School of the Art Institute of Chicago
- P-Form digital covers and table of contents, School of the Art Institute of Chicago
- Ellen Rothenberg's course, The Collaborative Project to preserve, process, and exhibit the Randolph Street Archives
- The File Room. Initiated as an artist's project by Antoni Muntadas The File Room was originally produced by Randolph Street Gallery in 1979-1998 with the support of the School of Art and Design and the Electronic Visualization Laboratory at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
- Two Chicago Galleries and Why They Closed by Victor M. Cassidy
- Adrian Piper, My Calling (Card) #1 Meta-Performance (1987-88; 00:58:00) - include video file
- Chicago Alternative ArtSpace Panel, April 2, 2008
- Alternative ArtSpace Panel Discussion - includes audio and video files
- Erik and the Animals, July 17, 2005 by Erik Fabian An archive of video documentation of performances at the Randolph Street Gallery from 1987-1996 at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago's Flaxman Library.
- Living Cross, Allyson and Alex Grey, Oct. 15, 1983 - Performance
- v
- t
- e
- The Advance-Guard, or The Military Sacrifice
- American Collectors (Fred and Marcia Weisman)
- American Gothic
- Arrival of the Normandy Train, Gare Saint-Lazare
- At the Moulin Rouge
- The Basket of Apples
- Bathers by a River
- The Bathers (Cézanne)
- Beata Beatrix
- Bedroom in Arles
- The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist (Giovanni di Paolo
- Blue and Green Music
- Bullfight – Death of the Bull
- The Captive Slave
- Charing Cross Bridge (Monet series)
- The Child's Bath
- Christ and the Virgin Diptych
- Christ on the Cross (Zurbarán)
- Ciphers and Constellations, in Love with a Woman
- The Cliff Walk at Pourville
- The Combat of the Giaour and Hassan
- Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler (Picasso)
- The Denial of Saint Peter (Hendrick ter Brugghen)
- Eiffel Tower (Delaunay series)
- Figure with Meat
- Haystacks (Monet series)
- Improvisation No. 30 (Cannons)
- Jacques and Berthe Lipchitz
- Jesus Insulted by the Soldiers
- The Kitchen Maid
- The Lion Hunt (Delacroix)
- Lunch at the Restaurant Fournaise
- Madonna and Child with the Infant John the Baptist (Correggio, Chicago)
- Mahana no atua
- Merahi metua no Tehamana
- The Millinery Shop
- Nighthawks
- The Old Guitarist
- Old Man with a Gold Chain
- On the Bank of the Seine, Bennecourt
- On the Threshold of Liberty
- Paris Street; Rainy Day
- Portrait of a Woman in a Chair
- Portrait of Amédée de Pastoret
- Portrait of Madame Pastoret
- Portrait of Mary Adeline Williams
- The Races at Longchamp
- Resurrection (Cecco del Caravaggio)
- The Sacred Grove, Beloved of the Arts and Muses
- Saint George Killing the Dragon
- Saint Martin and the Beggar (El Greco)
- Santo Domingo el Antiguo Altarpiece
- The Seine at Port-Marly, Piles of Sand
- A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte
- The Dreamer
- The Interior of the Palm House on the Pfaueninsel Near Potsdam
- Time Transfixed
- Two Sisters (On the Terrace)
- Untitled (1999 painting by Ellen Gallagher)
- Water Lilies (Monet series)
- White Crucifixion
- Woman with a Fan
- The Yellow Christ
- Adam (Rodin)
- Chicago Stock Exchange Arch
- Cubi VII
- Flying Dragon (Calder)
- Fountain of the Great Lakes
- Large Interior Form, 1953–54
- Lions (Kemeys)
- Solar Bird
- The Solitude of the Soul
- Table with Pink Tablecloth
- Untitled (Rückriem)
- The Walking Man
- Mosaic Fragment with Man Leading a Giraffe
- Ryerson & Burnham Libraries collection
- Thorne miniature rooms
- Chocolate Jar with Iron-Locked Lid
- Randolph Street Gallery archive
Art Institute of Chicago
- Art Institute of Chicago Building
- Goodman Theatre
- Helen Gardner
- Pratapaditya Pal
- List of painters in the Art Institute of Chicago
- Masterpiece (game)
41°53′2.7″N 87°38′58.4″W / 41.884083°N 87.649556°W / 41.884083; -87.649556