News

Special thanks to everyone for their support of our holiday “Deck the Halls” show, with all work on skateboard decks. We had a record over 600 people join us for the opening night reception. The show is still on view until December 21. It is an off-the-wall show, so you can take your deck home with you (or have it shipped to you) when you make your purchase. The perfect holiday gift! Support the Chicago-based non-profit The Simple Good, support the artists, and support the gallery. Thank you.

Since we’ve opened in April, we’ve shown a wide range of artists, both in the gallery and online. We’ve sold many of the smaller scale works, but some of these outstanding available pieces were overlooked. For the holidays, we’ve created a small gift section in the gallery with all of these great pieces and have created a page on our website with all of the items: http://verticalgallery.com/collections/art-under-500

We have work available from Greg Gossel, Ben Frost, Simon WG Butler, Audrey Heller, Peter Max Lawrence, Fernando Chamarelli, GOONS, Joseph Martinez, Anthony Freda, Ruel Pascual, Pixel Stud, Jef Aerosol, Dan Hojnacki, David Soukup, FAKE, Nice One, Tinku, Rene Gagnon, Uriel Correa, Max Kauffman, F63 and brand new pieces from Jeremy Novy, Nancy Segal and YAMS. All for under $500!

We look forward to seeing you at the gallery or hearing from you soon. Drop us a line at info@verticalgallery.com anytime.

Brazilian artist Fernando Chamarelli relies heavily on intuition to create his kaleidoscopic acrylic paintings and illustrations. His works, which explore mythology, culture, and emotion, create an incredible visual combination of calculated order and psychedelic chaos.

Chamarelli, who has not visited the United States since 2010, is looking forward to his solo exhibition at Vertical Gallery. He has shown in San Jose, Los Angeles, and Portland, but he is excited to be exhibiting in Chicago for the first time, and has been working diligently on his current body of work for the past year. In addition to several big works on canvas, Chamarelli plans to create a large-scale installation in the gallery. Although he has never visited Chicago, he does not expect to be disappointed by the city. “I imagine a big city like São Paulo, and I think it will be great. When I visited California for the first time, I realized that the people there really love art and appreciate artists. I think that Chicago will be no different. It will be a very fun trip… I just hope it isn’t too cold there in October,” he joked.

The artist, who started painting less than ten years ago, has already achieved major success and recognition, exhibiting all over the world, and winning the admiration of corporate clients like Absolut, Microsoft, Umbro, and Nike. Although Chamarelli started painting in 2007, it was not until he quit his graphic design job in 2009 and began to earn a living solely from his art that he truly began to identify as an artist. “Unlike other artists, I started drawing later in adolescence. I was attracted to all forms of art- caricatures, cartoons, realistic portraits, street art, tattoos… my style was still developing, until I began to paint on canvas,” he said.

Chamarelli, who has a degree in illustration and graphic design, employs his formal education when beginning a new piece. Working from a sketch, he then starts to flesh out shapes, balance, and color. Once the image is complete, he draws it on the canvas and begins to paint. “I rely heavily on my intuition,” he said. “Especially at the beginning of the work. Traces flow naturally, and unconsciously, the characters begin to appear.” Although his process is generally pretty straightforward, he is exploring the idea of using alternative materials. He is interested in experimenting with oil paint, painting on wood, and creating street murals.

He is not intimidated by a blank white canvas. “I have many things in my head that want to get out,” he said. To find inspiration, he reads about ancient civilizations and myths, and researches gods and symbols. He watches videos of other artists at work. He explores nature and finds inspiration in the rich Brazilian culture and natural environment. “I was born and raised in a small town in Brazil. There were many rivers and waterfalls that I visited often, and the organic shapes, birds, and fish that are present in my works are reminders of this period in my life. Brazil is a multiethnic country with rich culture- I like to explore this in my art as well.”

Although Chamarelli looks more to his inner self than outside influences to create, he finds creativity and influence in meeting interesting people, visiting new places, experiencing new things, and listening to experimental music and the music of northeastern Brazil. “Music is very important to me. I always say that it is the drug that I use when I’m creating.” Each image is created from his imagination, and for this exhibition, the works address a new era that we are entering. “A grand cycle is complete, and many ancient civilizations knew about it. These artworks are all about mysteries, myths, and fantasies that involve this important moment,” Chamarelli said.

The painter has plans to explore his creativity in new ways. Although he is enjoying his current practice, “I do not want to stop here,” he said. “Sculpture is the next step. However, I do not like to think too far in the future. Last year, I moved to southern Brazil, to a beautiful island called Florianópolis. I’m enjoying it here, but I’m thinking of moving to another country next year, for the sake of creating new experiences for myself. That’s all I know about my future right now, because I always let the art guide me. I trust her a lot.”

Fernando Chamarelli’s solo exhibition will be on display at Vertical Gallery from October 12^th until November 9^th, with an opening reception on October 12^th from 6-10 pm. Do not miss this chance to meet the artist and view his works, including a temporary installation exclusive to Vertical Gallery.

Interview by Shannon Gallagher

We are very pleased to be participating in our first art fair. Fountain Art Fair returns to Chicago this year September 20-22, running during Art Expo and Edition. Fountain will be located at Mana Contemporary – see the Fountain website for all the details.

We will be featuring artwork from Greg Gossel, Max Kauffman, David Soukup, Michael Rodriguez, XOOOOX, C215 and a preview from Fernando Chamarelli’s upcoming October solo show at Vertical Gallery.

Greg Gossel (Minneapolis): With a background in design, Gossel’s work is an expressive interplay of many diverse words, images, and gestures. His multi-layered work illustrates a visual history of change and process throughout each piece. His work has been exhibited throughout the U.S. and abroad, including San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles, Copenhagen, and London. His commercial clients include Burton Snowboards, Stussy, and Interscope Records while his work has been published in Juxtapoz Art & Culture Magazine, Artslant, Artful Living, ROJO Magazine, and The San Francisco Chronicle.

Max Kauffman (Oakland): Max Kauffman was born in Chicago and grew up in South Bend, Indiana, often returning to Chicago for skateboarding and concerts in his teens. He attended Arizona State University to study ceramics and anthropology — his anthropology studies still make their way into the conceptual foundation for his work. Kauffman has shown in galleries across the United States as well as Italy, Canada and Israel and has been featured in publications Juxtapoz Art & Culture Magazine, Boom, Beautiful Decay, Wallfarmers, and Supersonic Electronic.

David Soukup (Chicago): The urban environment became an immediate focus for David’s work. Living in Chicago, he was surrounded by an endless possibility of inspiration and a city that showcased some of the best architecture in the world. Using elements of graphic design, collage, mixed media, and reclaimed materials, David’s work is a reflection and experience of his everyday life. His artwork has been shown in Chicago, Detroit, San Francisco, Washington DC, Los Angeles, Long Beach, Grand Rapids, St Louis, and Australia. His paintings have been used in numerous film and television productions, and has been featured in Juxtapoz, Hi-Fructose, Artist-a-Day, and many other local and online publications.

Michael Rodriguez (New York): Born in Miami, Michael has exhibited in galleries in the United States, Canada and France, including solo exhibitions at New York galleries Oliver Kamm/5BE Gallery and Feature Inc. He is the recipient of the Pollack-Krasner Foundation Grant for Painting (2000); New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship for Painting (2002) and Joan Mitchell Grant (2011). Michael’s work is in the permanent collection of the New York Museum of Modern Art, Michael Bloomberg’s collection, Capital Bank, AOL Paris and General Dynamics.

XOOOOX (Berlin): XOOOOX is one of the most exciting and innovative urban artists worldwide. Creating delicate stenciled works and installations on found objects such as wood, metal and stone, he conveys the dynamics between standard ideas of beauty and ruin. In addition to working as a street artist in his hometown of Berlin since 2003, XOOOOX has exhibited widely throughout Germany as well as solo exhibitions in London and New York. Selected exhibitions include: Jonathan Levine Gallery, New York; Circle Culture Gallery, Berlin; De Buck Gallery, New York; Alte Munze, Berlin; KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin; Mead Carney, London; Inoperable Gallery, Vienna. He was recently featured in the Wooster Collective 10 year anniversary exhibition.

C215 (Paris): C215 is a stencil graffiti artist based in Paris, France who has become well known for his intricate portraits and distinctive style. He started spray painting in 2005 and creates portraits of people he meets or likes and places them out on the street. He has become one of the world's most prolific stencil artists. His expansive career in public art has made him renowned in more than just the usual circles of stencil-based art fans and collectors. He has exhibited in Paris, Rome, Barcelona, London, San Paolo, New York, and San Francisco.

Fernando Chamarelli (Brazil): Born and raised in Brazil, artist Fernando Chamarelli has a degree in graphic design and illustration. His early artistic interests started with drawing cartoons, caricatures and realistic portraits. Later, his interests expanded to street art and tattoo. By merging these different backgrounds, he developed his signature style. Fernando still resides in Brazil, a multicultural country of contrasts. This dynamic and colorful environment inspires his work. Fernando’s painting present mosaic, geometric elements, organic forms and harmonic lines. His visual imagery connects symbols, legends, philosophies, religions and customs of ancient and modern civilizations. Fernando has worked and exhibited in Latin America, The United States and Europe.

Chicago artist Daniel Hojnacki has taken a traditional approach to photography and turned it upside down. His experimental mixed media techniques have enriched his current body of work, which is largely about family, past, and reflection. The artist spends a lot of time reading, looking at other artists’ work, traveling, and spending time with family, all of which serve to fuel his aesthetic. “I try to read as much as I can,” he said. “And not just philosophical art theory. Right now, I’m reading 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez. Feeding the imagination through reading keeps the brain working.”

About three years ago, Hojnacki began to get very innovative in his approach to photography. He started to experiment by printing on tape, spackled paper, and other “industrial, mundane materials,” and was very excited by the results. This is not to say that it has been an easy road. The artist has found himself frustrated by having to give up the idea of controlling every facet of the process. “The aspect of mechanics can be troubling,” he said. “My printer has gone through many paper jams; there definitely trial and error involved. I spent a lot of time playing with different surfaces until something just clicked, visually. Once that happened, I rolled with it,” he said. While Hojnacki was volunteering with the Indiana Dunes State Park, working with invasive species, he began to think about nature, and how nature can be contained. “I started to think about how we control things. Tape is synthetic, it adheres. It challenged the image, and made it fall apart. Initially, that’s where the idea came from- the control of the photo and nature, and vice versa.”

Hojnacki is inspired by the city of Chicago, and the artists he has met there. He describes the creative community as tight-knit and supportive, and is stimulated by the energy and art community that’s developing in the city. “There are a lot of opportunities shaping and forming for emerging artists like myself,” he said. He describes the way that some groups of people flock to certain areas of the city known for art, and how that is growing and changing. “I think artists and art enthusiasts in Chicago are trying to reshape that, and make it more homogenous,” he said. “Witnessing that has been amazing. My development has been shaped by the help and work of other artists willing to assist others. It’s humbling.”

Hojnacki is thrilled to be showing at Vertical Gallery, and interested to meet the crowd of people that will come through for the opening reception. “Every gallery will reel in its own communities” he said. “I’m so grateful to have the opportunity to present the work to fresh eyes, a new audience.” He is happy to be involved with Vertical, and delighted by the amount of attention the gallery has already gotten. “It has great energy, and the director is open and willing to work with artists that want to pursue larger ideas within the gallery setting, such as site-specific installations. It’s important to take ideas out of the studio and put them into the gallery space. Chicago has a really amazing spirit, and it’s a great incubator for galleries like that- the individual self-proprietor, small businesses… people are willing to support that, and it’s awesome. It’s amazing to watch it develop, let alone be a part of it.”    

Daniel Hojnacki’s solo exhibition will commence with an opening reception on September 7^th from 6-10 pm at Vertical Gallery, 1016 N. Western Avenue, Chicago IL 60622. The show runs until October 5^th, 2013.

Interview by Shannon Gallagher

After just finishing a mural for Atlanta’s Living Walls, Vertical Gallery was very pleased to host Italian artist Never2501 for 10 days in Chicago. Known for his minimalist abstract lines and shapes in black and white, with the occasional gold or silver, 2501 painted three different murals.

Located on the front of 1706 E. 79th St. in the South Shore neighborhood, he spent 3 days painting the front of this building as part of the SITE Chicago wall mural project:

Located on the front of 2926 N. Broadway in the Lakeview neighborhood, 2501 spent a day painting a building that will be a new Oyster Bar:

Photos of the third wall will be posted soon. Check out Street Art News for his upcoming print release and updates on his new projects.

Contact us at the gallery if you are interested in original work from Never2501. We look forward to welcoming him back to Chicago in 2014!