aot... the final countdown

count down to art on track, the world's largest mobile exhibition of art, nears launch.


saturday morning, nearly 80 artists will converge on the chicago transit authority's midway terminus and commence converting an 8-car transit train into a moveable feast of visual, performance, fashion and sound art. upon completion of their tasks, the art and artists are to be piloted around downtown chicago's loop.


the accidental gallery welcomes some of chicago's best artists to train car #2. ray noland, slang jones and cta artist, joe nelson have graciously lent us their talents and produced some superb art for the advertising spaces and the ceiling of our car. isabella ng and carrie wong will engage riders and explore transit travel with a sound installation and performance art designed to simultaneously render time and space. artist rodney wade has consented to allow us to install two of his sculptural pieces and carolina i. reyes, ivan garcia and karen gagich will display traditional art media in a non traditional gallery sense. we also have some impressive window graphics provided by pieces of peace artist, misha esterkin and karen gagich. it promises to an art experience like none other.


tag would also like to acknowledge some of the organizations that have helped bring this piece of art history to fruition. blacksheep roar, llc and nic semanta have kindly provided their time and resources to production and wise counsel-- slangism.com blacksheeproar.com thank you, also to allen vandever for window graphics and insight sign company for our overhead graphics, and lastly sam hall's generous donation to itinerate artist brother.


the show is saturday, august 7 from 5 to 10 pm. boarding will be at the adams and wabash platform. admission is $10, however tag has a limited number of advanced sale tickets for $5.


hop onboard the art train.

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art on track-- the buzz is on and rush hour quickly approaches.

yes indeed ladies and gentlemen, t-minus 18 days until the launch of art train 2010 and the buzz is on. our websites have had hits from domestic cities-- philadelphia, washington d.c., new york and los angles, as well as international cities-- london, madrid, rio de janeiro, and sydney. we have also been featured in several local and national blogs, as well as, garnered a shout out in a london based art blog. we are indeed nationwide and going global! 

the accidental gallery's participation this year has taken on a grander scope than ever before. as a three year veteran of art on track, we have ceased mere site specific installations, as in years past, and graduated to the curation of an entire car. the nature of our art show has taken on the very characteristics of transit travel. it is liquid, it is movement, is that of constant change. daily evolution and persistent flux of concept, aside, we have finalized our roster, refined our vision and commenced mulling over installation requirements.

we have also managed to recruit a selection uber-talented artists, and have complied a suitable gamut of artistic disciplines. 

artists among the likes of slang jones, ray nolan, and rodney wade fill out our roster, along with cta graphic artist joe nelson. also recently acquired are saic alumnae, isabella ng, and local artist of renown, ennis martin. these new additions join artists carolina i. reyes, karen gagich (co-curator) and pop murals to complete our line up. performance art, sound installation, a three dimensional site specific sculpture, high end design/marketing/branding art and traditional media will all be part of this year's car.

sorry kids, if you, aint onboard by now you'll have to wait until next year! our call for artists is officially closed.

we also have unprecedented documentation this year. the gallery would like to welcome photographer, melissa gin as our official documentarian and elysabeth alfano, host of the wttv show fear no art.

art on track, the world's largest mobile art gallery, will be circling the loop from 5 to 10 pm, saturday,  aug. 7. discounted, advanced sale tickets are still available on the aot website www.artontrack.com. enter promotional code: AoTFriend.

get on board or be bored-- tag! you're it!

nolan teams up with the chicago urban art society

sweet tea and american values • ray nolan/cro

renowned chicago stencil artist and social commentator, ray nolan, has returned from a busy winter on sabbatical in asheville, north carolina. not missing a step, nolan continues his typically feverish pace as he sets head on into his first solo show since his return to chicago.

sweet tea and american values is described by nolan as a glimpse into the absurd and at times distressing reality of our social experiment called the united states. in this exhibition the artist takes his art to the next level of social conscience and political examination by  building on his widely notorious previous works-- go tell mama and run blago run campaigns.

for his return to infamy, he has taken the run of a new art space recently renovated by the pilsen-based nonprofit organization chicago urban art society.  thousands of square feet, the entire space, will be dedicated to the scrutiny of the tea bag movement, don't ask/don't tell and neo-racisim. new works include ongoing commentary of the rod blagojevich circus and the daley riot, a welcoming mayor daley clad in riot gear, bidding us to protect ourselves.

the show opens friday and will remain up until july 30th.

opening reception 

$free

friday june 11 •  6 to 11 pm

blago cup cakes to the 1st  500

photobooth

djs sadie woods, revel & solson

chicago urban art society

2229 s. halsted

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new aot flyer

aot bid accepted

the accidental gallery's bid to curate a car for art on track has been accepted by the aot panel.

an entire car will prove to be a daunting task, as the gallery's former 2 years of participation have been single installations within cars. we have busied ourselves with contacting artists, conceptualizing themes, discussing the technical aspects of installation and fund raising. things are well underway, but the deadline looms heavy upon our shoulders... a mere 8 weeks to show time.

thus far, we have the pledged support of artist carolina i. reyes, community mural organization pieces of peace, and art cooperative combat paper.

we are very excited to have the collaborative energy carolina i. reyes. this urban, pop, surrealist is one of our favorite artists. one of the hardest working, results driven artist in the chicago arts community today, reyes' urban landscapes, mixed with social commentary truly compel her viewers to contemplate the issues that confront our society. carolinaireyes

equally exciting is the participation of pieces of peace murals.  pop is a community based, artist's group designed to bridge the divide between the community and the urban art culture. house artist misha pop has commenced work on a mural titled worlds, which will be transfered onto vinyl and installed on the windows along the entire side of our car. exciting!! popmurals mishapop

finally, another one of our perennial favorites, combat paper-- an artist collaborative of iraqi war veterans that transform uniforms worn in combat into paper. the veterans cut, cook and beat their issued uniforms into sheets and using a spray pulp printing technique render text and images of their experience onto the resultant paper. combatpaperproject

we are very fortunate to have such talented and hard working artists at our disposal and we thank them for their support of such an unique art experience as art on track. please visit their links and support these
superlative artists.

stay tuned for breaking news on art on track... new artists, a benefit art show, fund raising events and volunteer opportunities are all on the horizon. art on track pulls away from the platform aug. 7, 5 to 10 pm. buy tickets on line and save five bucks! artontrack

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3rd smART show

goodie, goodie... 3rd annual smart art show. tonight thru sunday. mad props for making it another year. keep up the hard work... it reciprocates.


http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=131174383564968&ref=mf




flat iron arts building is located at 1579 n. milwaukee ave. in wicker park.

s2e pix--
karen gagich-- studio 339
catawampus gallery-- studio 340 http://www.catawampus-gallery.com
spectrum vibes-- studio 344 http://www.spectrumvibes.com/
joe sikora and liz tuckwell studio 352
http://www.joesikora.com/  http://www.liztuckwell.com/


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art on track

oh boy! oh boy! my favorite project of the year is at the doorstep. art on track  is gearing up to depart the platform on 08/07.

billed as the world's largest mobile art exhibit, art on track is truly one of the most unique displays of art one can experience. the brain child of chicago artist's coalition salvo, director tristan hummel and a band of chicago's finest artists transform an eight-car cta train into a moving gallery of art that collides with the mundane mind set of the mass transit commuter. the train is then piloted around chicago's loop for a few hours on a saturday night.

static art-- oils, water color, and acrylics adorn the interior of cars curated by such organizations as the flat iron artists association, while other cars are converted into complete interactive environments by such co-ops  as quennect4. there is also a variety of live entertainment. last year the upright bass player from one of the ensembles had to bungie cord himself to a pole in order to stabilize himself from the sway of the train!


in my mind, the uniqueness of this exhibit can be seen in two perspectives-- that of the viewer and that of the artist.

it is interesting observing new arrivals on the train and how they engage the experience. at first they stand, attached to a pole or a seat rail and stare rather blankly around the car. the familiarity of boarding and riding the train causes the viewer to be a commuter detached from the reality of being in an art gallery. after a few stops and transfers to adjacent cars (galleries), the viewer becomes comfortable and starts to meander through the cars taking in art. the commuter is transformed into an art spectator. soon each car has been surveyed and the fun begins. the train stops and spectators start dashing up and down the platforms, frantically trying get to their favorite cars before the familiar bong bong sounds and the doors close. it is quite a site!

the artist's perspective is that of challenge. all art and installations must be designed to be portable, must be installed and uninstalled in a most expedient manner and must be able to endure the rigors of train travel. as it is rather difficult to measure the dimensions of a moving train car, especially at rush hour, the allocation of space remains largely unsurveyed as well. certainly not common matters in a typical art show.

these complimentary perspectives offer both artist and spectator a most novel experience. art on track commences its third annual run saturday, august 07 and will run from 5 to 10 pm, with boarding at the adams and wabash cta platform. tickets are available for pre-purchase at ticketleap.com

call for artists on facebook
join our facebook group facebook/art on track
visit our website chicagoartontrack.com

follow us on twitter @ArtonTrack
engage in art.

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fiaa 1st friday and gilda's club

the flat iron artist's association present their first friday art show and sneak preview of the 3rd annual glida's club charity event. http://flatironartists.com/

flat iron arts building is located at 1579 n. milwaukee ave. in wicker park.

s2e pix--
karen gagich-- studio 339
catawampus gallery-- studio 340 http://www.catawampus-gallery.com
spectrum vibes-- studio 344 http://www.spectrumvibes.com/
joe sikora and liz tuckwell studio 352
http://www.joesikora.com/  http://www.liztuckwell.com/

see and be seen... tag! you're it!

corrections and claifications

mere moments into the blogosphere and i am already correcting myself.

bombs that go bloom is indeed on tour, however it was not installed at the russell senate office rotunda. the senate rules committee opted for two dimensional art. bombs have been successfully installed at walter reed army hospital and is tentatively slated for installation at the chicago cultural art center.

at right: bombs that go bloom installed in new orleans



wia http://www.woundedinactionart.org/exhibits.php

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bombs

with successful installation of bombs that go bloom in new orleans this spring, these fluers de guerre are going on tour. as part of the wounded in action art show, bombs are to be installed in the russell senate office rotuna, washington d.c., the national museum of health and medicine at walter reed army hospital, bethesda, md., before returning home to the chicago cutural center.

wounded in action is a remarkable art show engineered by the american academy of orthopaedic surgeons. an annual art show, it solicits work from military doctors, veteran artists and civilians affected by the difficulties of proximity to war. wounded in action was compiled to bring recognition and appreciation to orthopaedic advancements made by the dedication of military doctors on the battlefield throughout history.

this show is a magnificent tribute to our military, our doctors, the men and women of our country in harm's way and their supporters, and is a necessary examination of the cost of war.

check it out, be a friend on facebook, submit art and support this worthy endeavor.

http://www.woundedinactionart.org/exhibits.php

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nomad

the accidental gallery has gone nomad. we are in currently in

existence doing business as tag 2.0 and we are available from

the inbetween.

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maiden voyage

this is a maiden voyage into the blogosphere. it's evolution, supported by intelligent design and it's morphia by wit and banter, are certainly yet to be undetermined.