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The citys crackdown on apart-ment galleries last May hascaused independent Chicagogallerists to rethink the role oalternative art spaces, and createa dialogue about experiencingart outside the con nes otraditional, commercial venues.

Within walking distance oeach other in Ukrainian Villageand West Town, 65 Grand, GreenLantern, and Noble and SuperiorProjects are three galleries thathave explored the politics o

showing work in alternative spaceswhile attempting to navigate theidiosyncrasies o city regulations.

Bill Gross started 65 Grandout o his apartment in 2005 as anunplanned party or a ew o hisartist riends. He didnt have anyproblems with the city until hishumble space started attractingthe attention o art collectorsand national publications likeArt orum. All o this publicity alsocaught the attention o Chicagoscommercial gallerists, however,who elt that apartment-rungalleries had an un air advantage.

[65 Grand] got shut downbecause I think the commercialgallerists are a raid that theirmoney is being taken away by thealternative spaces, speculatedPatrick Boblin, co-director oNoble and Superior Projects.

Thomas Robertello is one othose gallerists. In an article byMike Hines published in 2009,Robertello was quoted as saying,My problem is with the aggres-sive attempts many o themmake to market themselves aspublic exhibition spaces insteado private, while a lot o us arespending a lot o money to be legaland responsible. Personally, I

wonder long-term how positiveapartment galleries are and ithey might contribute to puttinggalleries out o business.

Although Bill Gross paid taxeson the artwork he occasionallysold at 65 Grand, he didnt think hecould apply or a business licensebecause he wasnt operating thegallery rom a commercial space.When an anonymous complaintwas lodged about the gallery thispast May, city o cials showed upat the door o Gross third foorUkrainian Village apartment, whichhe shares with his girl riend.

They asked, Do you take a ee

or anything? And I dont, Grossrecalled. I an artist did a show,and someone wanted to buy [oneo the works], I would sell it andtake some percentage o that.To keep things legal, city o cialsencouraged Gross to apply ora business license because hisbuilding was commercial, but thelicense was ultimately turned downbecause his particular unit wasnt.

At that point Id alreadybeen in that space or almost veyears, so I was really anticipatingmoving anyway, Gross said.I always had gallery hours sopeople could visit, but as soon asthe hours were over, I would kindo take the art down and startcooking again. To open thegallery it was this colossal hassleto get my house cleaned again.

65 Grands new location at1369 W. Grand Avenue, just downthe street rom his old apartment,doesnt require Gross to cook,clean, and sleep in the same spacein which he hangs art. In act, thenew white cube-like space is visible

rom street level, and Gross nolonger has to trek up and downthree fights o stairs to unlock thedoor or guests, carry large works,and haul several cases o beer.

Although 65 Grands movecaused many artists and gallery-goers to speculate that the citywas really cracking down onapartment-run galleries, Grossnever got the impression thatshutting down galleries wasever on the citys agenda.

I sort o thought that some-body in the city has a job to do,and the gallery in the home isjust something that is so unusual. I think the city just wasntsure what was going on. The citydidnt ne me. I think as muchas possible they were trying to

gure out a way to keep it going

in that space. Gross has nallyembraced the commercial busi-ness model or his gallery, whileretaining his creative vision andhis presence in the neighborhood.

In June o 2009, Caroline Picard,the Executive Director o GreenLantern, was also orced to moveher gallery out o her apartment. Acity o cial saw a sandwich boardoutside the gallery and told herthat she couldnt obtain a businesslicense or her residential unit onMilwaukee Avenue in Wicker Park.

I was going to wait anotheryear until I nished school be oreI started really thinking aboutwhat was going to happen to[Green Lantern], said Picard,who received her MFA rom SAIClast spring. Although Picardadmits that moving the galleryout o her home was upsettingat rst, it also orced her to aska lot o questions about whyshe was running the gallery andwhy she elt it was important.

Then I sort o gured thatI would try and explore it in adi erent way. I became reallyinterested in trying to gureout ways to create sustainablesituations or contemporary art.... And so it seemed interesting to

The CrackdownBlows OverApartment galleries respond to citys zoning restrictions

I became really interested

in trying to fgure

out ways to create

sustainable situations or

contemporary art. ... And

so it seemed interesting

to play with these kinds

o business structures,

with a creative attitude.

Caroline Picard

By JENNIFER SWANN,STAFF WRITER

NOVEMBER 2010 FNEWSMAGAZINE.COM

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8/2/2019 The Crackdown Blows Over, F Newsmagazine, November 2010

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FNEWSMAGAZINE.COM NOVEMBER 2010

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I always had gallery hours so people could visit, but as soon as the hours were over, I

would kind o take the art down and start cooking again. ... To open the gallery it was

this colossal hassle to get my house cleaned again. Bill Gross

Illustration by Easle Seo

6 Grand1369 W Grand Avewww.65grand.com

Green Lantern Gallery2542 W Chicago Avethegreenlantern.org

Noble and Superior Projects 1418 W Superior Streetnobleandsuperior.blogspot.com

The new store ront o Green Lantern Gallery, a commercial space at 2542 W.Chicago Avenue Photograph by Jennifer Swann

Le t: Patrick Boblin, co-director o Noble and Superior Projects, in ront o photographs hung upside down or the exhibition Ron Artist: MVP Right: Bill Gross and hiscat in ront o a Brian Kapernekas (SAIC alum 99) piece at 65 Grand Photographs by Jennifer Swann

The top foor o this apartment building houses Noble and Superior ProjectsPhotograph by Jennifer Swann

play with these kinds o businessstructures, with a creative attitude. Moving out o my apartmentbrings up di erent questions tothink about, said Picard, whocurrently runs Green Lantern outo a temporary commercial spaceat 2542 W. Chicago Avenue.

While Green Lantern hostsexhibitions, lm screenings, per or-mances, and readings, Picard andher collaborators are still search-ing or their ideal space, whichwould include a or-pro t ca /bar,per ormance space, and bookstore.Picard recognizes that this maybe overly ambitious, especially

considering how tough its been tond any space that would work.A relatively new gallery on

the block is Noble and SuperiorProjects, run by Patrick Boblin(FVNM 11) and Erin Nixon (MAAP11), grad students at SAIC whoarent considering moving intoany sort o commercial space.In act, Boblin sees apartmentgalleries like his as politicaltools or dismantling traditionalart world power structures.

I wanted to do something thatgave control back to the artists butalso at the same time, was a littlemore welcoming to the viewer andmade them eel less like a specta-tor in someone elses world, butmore like a participant, he said.Having worked in retail and in oodservices, Boblin incorporated abusiness gesture into his unproft-able operation: greeting people atthe door and o ering them a drink.

Its some bit o welcominghumanism that is sorely missing inthe social world o gallery curating.Even in apartment galleries. Whydo I eel uncom ortable? Theresthe added [awkwardness] o walk-ing into somebodys apartment,on top o walking into a party thatyoure not specifcally invited to.

He wants Noble and Superiorto eel like an open environmentcomparable to a museum, whereguests can walk in whenever theywant (as long as thats within thegallerys limited weekend hours).But what museum o ers reeadmission, a drink upon entry, andthe chance to meet the curator andartists ace-to- ace? Thats the onething that apartment galleries cando, Boblin said. Its the opennesso the public institution, but theintimacy o the private [space].

That non-traditional spiritwas a oot at the opening otheir most recent show, Ron

Artist: MVP, where Boblin andNixon staged a basketball gamebetween the exhibiting artists,in which the losing teams had toshow their work upside down.

For now, although Boblin didmove the gallerys sandwich board

rom the public sidewalk into theresidential, less-visible courtyarda ter hearing about Green Lanternstroubles, he isnt concerned aboutgetting shut down. We dont havetrouble with the city, we dont havetrouble with anybody, he said.For all intents and purposes, werehaving a party once a month.