Art in Chicago

For decades now, the story of art in America has been dominated by New York. It gets the majority of attention, the stories of its schools and movements and masterpieces the stuff of pop culture legend. Chicago, on the other hand . . . well, people here just get on with the work of making art. Now that art is getting its due. Art in Chicago is a magisterial account of the long history of Chicago art, from the rupture of the Great Fire in 1871 to the present, Manierre Dawson, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, and Ivan Albright to Chris Ware, Anne Wilson, and Theaster Gates. The first single-volume history of art and artists in Chicago, the book-in recognition of the complexity of the story it tells-doesn't follow a single continuous trajectory. Rather, it presents an overlapping sequence of interrelated narratives that together tell a full and nuanced, yet wholly accessible history of visual art in the city. From the temptingly blank canvas left by the Fire, we loop back to the 1830s and on up through the 1860s, tracing the beginnings of the city's institutional and professional art world and community. From there, we travel in chronological order through the decades to the present. Familiar developments-such as the founding of the Art Institute, the Armory Show, and the arrival of the Bauhaus-are given a fresh look, while less well-known aspects of the story, like the contributions of African American artists dating back to the 1860s or the long history of activist art, finally get suitable rcognition. The six chapters, each written by an expert in the period, brilliantly mix narrative and image, weaving in oral histories from artists and critics reflecting on their work in the city, and setting new movements and key works in historical context. The final chapter, comprised of interviews and conversations with contemporary artists, brings the story up to the present, offering a look at the vibrant art being created in the city now and addressing ongoing debates about what it means to identify as-or resist identifying as-a Chicago artist today. The result is an unprecedentedly inclusive and rich tapestry, one that reveals Chicago art in all its variety and vigor-and one that will surprise and enlighten even the most dedicated fan of the city's artistic heritage. Part of the Terra Foundation for American Art's year-long Art Design Chicago initiative, which will bring major arts events to venues throughout Chicago in 2018, Art in Chicago is a landmark publication, a book that will be the standard account of Chicago art for decades to come. No art fan-regardless of their city-will want to miss it.

"Art in Chicago: A History from the Fire to Now, edited by Maggie Taft and Robert Cozzolino, addresses Chicago's art world in both its historical precedents and contemporary trajectory... It is a city that has, according to Taft and Cozzolino, the 'strength of art education, the prominence of women in the arts and the flourishing of African-American cultural institutions, the constancy of activism and social practice, ' and these assets continue to attract people from all over the world to the city."-- "Newcity Art", "Art in Chicago surpasses all previous accounts of the city's artistic heritage. Unintimidated by the immensity of the task, its editors have matched their subject in ambition, inclusiveness, and verve. If you are a Chicagoan, this history will make you proud." -- "Art in America", "Art in Chicago, the ambitious new attempt to fit the city's art history between the covers of a book... explicitly pushes against the New York-centric art world narrative... With seven chapters on periods of Chicago's art history each written by a different author or authors, editors Maggie Taft and Robert Cozzolino's project grapples with Chicago's insider-outsider status in the art world, negotiating between its geographic focus on a city that is not the capital of the modern world or modern art, and its interest in artistic tendencies outside the central thrust of art-historical narratives."-- "South Side Weekly", "The book makes a persuasive proposal that Chicago, as a metropolitan art center, was and still is ahead of the curve. . . . The contributing authors and editors of Art in Chicago do not merely chronicle the recent progress and issues that arise around this unique but fickle economy; they also present tangible dialogue between artists, writers, and curators in an extensive series of interviews that comprise the latter half of this book. I have barely been able to touch on the wealth of knowledge and history this comprehensive text has to offer, let alone the cultural ambitions that can be garnered from the discussions in it. . . . It is a resource and reference that feels essential not only to anyone who is interested in art but also to anyone who is interested in urban life and culture, as well as politics and history."-- "New Art Examiner"

Maggie Taft is an art historian and the founding director of the Haddon Avenue Writing Institute, a community-based writing center for teenage girls. Robert Cozzolino is the Patrick and Aimee Butler Curator of Paintings at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. He has curated more than thirty exhibitions, ranging from World War I and American Art to surveys of Peter Blume, David Lynch, Elizabeth Osborne, and George Tooker.