FOCUS 4 @ the Illinois State Museum- Chicago Gallery

           Rebecca Wolfram, Don Seiden, Mario Trejo, and Christopher Furman exhibits opened this past Friday 7th. Each of them engulfed my energy and vision with their rich and profound art works but the work of Seiden, Trejo, & Furman are the ones that really made an impact on my artist self.


I primarily went to see Don Seiden (www.donseiden.com), my mentor while at SAIC and one of my dear colleagues and art companion who interest in mental health took him to create the first art therapy program in town at SAIC back in the early 80s. His passion and raw emotional expression touches the core of human experience and existence.


I also enjoyed the work of Mario Trejo (www.mariotrejo.com) that I viewed for first time. He covers large surfaces with ink which then seems to be have been attacked by sharp objects to create a simply intricated but thoughtful imagery that resemblance a woven piece of frabric. Each piece felt to me an invitation to enter into a spiritual cosmos of some sort.


The work of Christopher Furman (www.christopherfurman.com) takes time to assimilate and/or understand. His work is a "thought-provoking kinetic theater" (Jim Zommer/director) which becomes alive with the viewer's participation- in fact, our participation is expected.


An exhibit worth to view. Stop by if having a chance. The show runs through January 6th 2012.