Many favorite destinations are returning to Chicago this spring. Among them, Art at TheMART, a massive, lively rotating art projection exhibition from the side of the Merchandise Mart building overlooking the Riverwalk in the Loop. This year the presented works are aimed at drawing attention to the problem of climate change.
The neighborhood of Merchandise Mart will change soon
It might be a good idea to go to the show this year as the Merchandise Mart neighborhood will change soon. This is New York developer Vornado Realty Trust planning a new residential tower at 527 W. Kinzie St in Fulton River County, near Merchandise Mart. In an email to voters sent Jan. 21, Chairman Brendan Reilly said the Vornado Realty Trust is planning a 26-story building with 288 units. Located in the southwest corner of W. Kinsey and N. Canal, the project will replace the existing above-ground car park, the new construction was designed by Pappageorge Haymes Partners, and it will be an exclusively 290-foot-tall residential structure. has 288 residential units. The complex will consist of 35 studios, 35 convertibles, 108 1-seater, 38 2-seater and 12 3-room configurations, so construction should take some time.
The largest permanent digital art projection in the world
After launching in 2018, Art on TheMART has become the largest permanent digital art projection in the world and a favorite of tourists and locals looking for something fun and free to do in the city center.
This April we welcomed CHICAGO EXPO returned to Navy Pier for the first time since 2019, returning in person with new dates and new exciting offers from exhibitors, programs, installations and more, welcoming more than 140 leading galleries from 25 countries.
Now art lovers in the city have a new opportunity to admire some beautiful and unique works for free. Presented in partnership with Shedd Aquarium, this new program will premiere two screenings on climate change. The spring program of 2022 will be held twice in the evening at 20.30 and 21.00 on June 29.
For lovers of contemporary art here are some details about the beautiful artistic endeavors you will be able to admire at Merchandise Mart.
Flo, Carrie Hanson, The Seldoms (April 9 – June 29, 2022)
Floe – the first of the Art on theMART screenings for the Year of Chicago Dance to be presented in 2022 – was created by choreographer Carrie Hanson, a native of Chicago, with her dance company The Seldoms. Emerging from previous stage work, Flo sheds light on climate change, extreme weather, disappearing ice, water bodies and, ultimately, the human body. Floe invites viewers to approach climate change, mitigation and adaptation with clear eyes and determination. The play uses movement to shed light on various elements of the climate emergency, including melting polar ice, extreme weather and forced migration.
Hanson has teamed up with many longtime collaborators, including a stellar team of visual artists. Bob Faust, Liviu Pasare and Andrew Glatt built a dynamic, emotional projection, weaving dance, word and image; and Michael Fixel developed a sonic landscape that includes field recordings of icebergs, water, and rain. Floe is performed by Di Alaba, Sarah Gonziorowski, Damon Green and Maggie Vanucci.
Choral, local style – Marlena Novak and Jay Alan Im – (April 9 – June 29, 2022)
Choral is a localStyle projection, a collaboration founded in Amsterdam by artist Marlena Nowak and composer Jay Alan Yim. Since 2000, Novak and Im have been tackling environmental issues through a wide range of media, deploying tactics that trigger a variety of feelings so that audience members can feel and thus reconsider the most pressing issues of our climate. In the audiovisual installation by Novak and Yima, human impact on nature is revealed through a variety of coral species, and in the background is an otherworldly electronic choir. These fragile coral ecosystems are in crisis, and Novak and Yim hope that seeing the beauty and charisma of these amazing creatures, the audience will appreciate more efforts to save the ocean.
Ba Boom Boom Pa Pop Pop, Nick Cave (May 5 – September 7, 2022)
The video work of the famous American artist Nick Cave, made especially for Art on theMART, is a remix of Cave’s original film “Travel” (2011) with new frames. Cave’s new projection, which combines dance, performance, film and public art, features his iconic sound suits in motion. Bright figures will dance along the iconic facade of theMART River, transporting the viewer into a kaleidoscopic other world by the river. Among the flurry of movement is a figure adorned with a stop sign, reminding viewers of a basic sense of urgency despite cheerful freedom.
Cave’s projection will coincide with his first retrospective in Forothermore’s career at the Museum of Modern Art Chicago, which will take place from May 14 to October 22, 2022.
