Uncomfortable Spaces Back at Art 1996 Chicago
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“Basically we wanted to start a guide to alternative spaces in Chicago,” says Ned Schwartz, owner of Beret International. “But the nonprofits all had boards to answer to, and it was hard to get them involved.” So Schwartz joined forces with three other gallery owners who shared his commitment to contemporary conceptual art: Joel Leib of Ten in One, Richard Kelley of Tough, and Chris Murray of MWMWM. “We considered ourselves to be between commercial and nonprofit spaces,” Schwartz says. Unlike many for-profit galleries, Uncomfortable Spaces showed work that was decidedly noncommercial. And unlike the nonprofits, they were subject to the vagaries of the art market and could not accept grant money to stay afloat. Yet, as government and foundation money has dried up, many nonprofit spaces have had to cut back on their programming. And some big-money galleries have gone belly-up after the market fell on hard times. But the Uncomfortable Spaces have survived.
Their galleries show work that’s considerably less expensive, and usually less accessible, than the vast majority of work for sale at the fair. And the artists they represent also tend to be young. But they’ve also filled an important niche for hometown artists, even attracting the attention of the national magazines like Art in America. “What we offer in exhibition opportunities is pretty significant,” Schwartz says.
Laurie Metcalf, the play’s lead, “used to grab a bunch of cards out of the ballot box and just start reading them,” says Gersten-Vassilaros, who still cringes at the memory. “We just tried to keep some perspective and keep laughing.”
Art accompanying story in printed newspaper (not available in this archive): photo/Jim Alexander Newberry.
