As an art student at Northern Illinois University, Michael Banicki found himself overwhelmed by his new knowledge: seeking a way “to organize it all in my head,” he says, he began a group of 12 drawings called Artists’ Won-Lost Record. Each rated 20 artists on 30 different criteria. “A lot of the criteria were absurd,” Banicki says, but he was reading Albert Camus at the time, “so I was really interested in absurdism.” Some categories were unsurprising: color choice, texture. But one category was “the sound of the name–if it was a French name, I preferred it,” he says. Another was the artist’s fame: “The more acclaim, the less I liked him.”
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Banicki’s works carry an implied disclaimer: any thoughtful viewer should recognize “the absurdity of pitting a town against another with no list of criteria,” or the ridiculousness of comparing painters from entirely different periods. “But if there’s a Watteau show at the Art Institute and Delaunay’s at the MCA and you have only one hour,” Banicki says, “you have to make that same choice that I did.” Banicki’s works are on view at Feigen Incorporated, 742 N. Wells, through November 12. Gallery hours are 10-6 Tuesday through Friday and 11-6 Saturday. Call 787-0500 for more information.
