ANKE LOH
RE-WIRED
Facility, 3616 N Milwaukee Ave, Chicago, IL, 60641
length of 3 storefronts
Interactive embroideries, wire, and tables made with repurposed materials
nfs
Artist’s Note: Anke Loh’s installation in the windows of Facility is the culmination of a collaborative project inspired by the moving and powerful expressions of solidarity that emerged as chalky sidewalk slogans and impassioned murals throughout Chicago in the wake of George Floyd’s murder. Walls, sidewalks, front yards, and windows in the city’s diverse neighborhoods have long served as a canvas reflecting individual and community values. These public yet personal affirmations, which included sentiments such as ‘I am beautiful,’ ‘Black Lives Matter,’ and ‘Hate Has No Home Here,’ bring awareness to social injustices that have long impacted our city (and nation’s) complicated relationship with its history. They also reflect people’s desires, hopes and dreams. From the Great Migration, to refugees fleeing conflicts in Syria, Afghanistan, Ukraine and Congo, Chicago continues to serve as a city of hope and refuge; a reality filled with contradictions and opportunities for self-reflection. At its heart, RE-WIRED explores the potential ways of building community through the act of making. Partnering with community-based organizations including Access Living, a service, advocacy and disability cultural center for disabled people run and led by disabled people, Loh invited diverse artists and makers into the creative process during workshops captured in a short video. Together, they set out to explore the role that art, craft and making can play in facilitating communication and humanizing the other. Wire became the primary material for self-expression; a material not only used for making fences, yet also a conduit for communication across borders. Incorporating objects and words in many languages, the resulting series of panels is meant to amplify voices that often go unheard.
http://facilitychicago.org/#/new-gallery-1/
ART-IN-PLACE is organized by CNL Productions and Terrain Exhibitions.
