Keith Herzik:There Are Still Lofty Dreams, Meager Desires, and Still Silliness

[johnny]

October 2 - January 29, 2012 Gallery 2


Curated by Chris Kerr and Paul Nudd
Silliness prevails in the prolific screenprints by Chicago-based artist Keith Herzik. Curated by Chicago-based artists Paul Nudd and Chris Kerr the exhibition aims to reveal the underrepresented talent of the local artist Herzik, whose odd sense of humor and color rival the strange sensibilities of the Hairy Who artists introduced by the Hyde Park Art Center in the 1960s.

The curators note that Herzik “ignores and willfully defies most of the recognizable tenants of screen printing,” as he pushes the medium and its materials to their limit. “Although he has made a substantial amount of these low-brow pieces of punk-rock Americana, I also feel that he has transcended the ‘poster-guy’ label pretty well. In fact, he’s pretty much abandoned this mode of making. Most of Keith’s peers have gone on to lucrative careers and have their own sustainable screen printing businesses, but Keith has held on tight to his artistic vision and has remained commercially nonviable, quite underground, and way outside of the screen printing AND fine art mainstreams.”

Early in his career Herzik studied with cartoonist Peter Saul at the University of Texas at Austin and since has created numerous punk-rock posters and is a prolific publisher of handmade artist books, zines, and other publications. His brazen approach to screen printing breaks all of the traditional rules of the medium, while still being well-crafted. Herzik’s day glow prints maintain an immediate approach to drawing; wavey, messy lines and jarring color schemes provide the unique, informal qualities that have become a hallmark of Herzik’s work.

Along with the screen printed work by Herzik in Gallery 2, Nudd and Kerr have curated a companion show in Gallery 5 at the Art Center, Blaque Lyte including related artwork by thirty artists created to glow under the black light bulb.

[crosshair]

Is there an opening?

Will there be snacks?

[Brad]

scooby snacks?

[johnny]

I'm assuming it's Sunday, though I didn't really see anything specific. I would also assume there will be plenty of Scooby snacks.

[Keith G. Herzik]

whoa thanks Johnny! that was sweet of you to post this!
yeah buddy!
just installed over 350 posters/drawings/mind spillings on the walls yesterday
hoo wee my fingers hurt,
my buddys Nick Black and Paul Nudd did most of the work

there is a freaky Blaque Lyte art show getting installed today upstairs too
had to put up a "parental advisory explicit material" sign!
here are some pictures from yesterday




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show opens this sunday october 2nd noon until five
me and a bunch of people will be there on Sunday, including my parents!
dang it! no snacks unless you bring some...
there is a big opening party for the whole building on october 29th "mischief night!"
gallery talk on november 6th
ends on january 9th, whoa, three months from now!
Hyde Park Art Center
5020 South Cornell (a one way street going north off of 51st/Hyde Park Blvd.)
I hear that the #6 Jackson Park Express Bus gets you to the gas station next door to the gallery
from downtown Chicago (from state/lake)
hope to see you there!

[piemel]

YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

First time (decade ago) I saw Keith's work I started smiling because I had no idea how anyone could possibly come up with such weird stuff and in such an unorthodox style... so had to buy some and still look at them from time to time. Keith rules.

[Keith G. Herzik]

thanks Rene!
one hour til the opening!
come on over!

[ZELIG]

Wish I could go to this.

[Brad]

keith play leyenda for me.

[Keith G. Herzik]

there is an opening reception for my show tonight!
Scooby Snacks for everyone!


BLAQUE LYTE and KEITH HERZIK: THERE ARE STILL LOFTY DREAMS, MEAGER DESIRES, AND STILL SILLINESS
Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago USA.
Curated by Chris Kerr and Paul Nudd.
October 2, 2011 - January 9, 2012, Gallery 2 & 5

Opening reception: Saturday, October 29, 5-8 pm

Black lights have been used to serve a variety of purposes since the scientist William Byler invented it in 1935 to enhance detection methods from air travel radars to x-ray. From college dorm rooms that create otherworldly spaces to forensic teams uncovering bodily fluids at a crime scene. Drawing from the tendency of their own art work to explore the contradictions within the weird and gross, Paul Nudd and Chris Kerr asked over thirty artists from Chicago and around the world to experiment with different forms and materials to update and immerse viewers in the profound inverse world generated by black-lights.

Along with the thirty artists installed in gallery 2, Gallery 5 will included a retrospective look at screen printer Keith Herzik entitled "There Are Still Lofty Dreams, Meager Desires and Still Silliness." The curators note that Herzik “ignores and willfully defies most of the recognizable hallmarks of screen printing,” he is trying to push the medium and its materials to their limit. Early in his career Herzik studied with cartoonist Peter Saul in Austin and has since created numerous punk-rock posters and is a prolific publisher of handmade artists’ books, zines and other publications.

Exhibiting Artists:

Benton Moss, Thomas Mazzarella, David Shrigley, DeeDee Scacci, Keith Herzik, Nick Black, Mike Andrews, Lilli Carre, Chris Uphues, Giselind Von Wurmb, Evah Fan, Seth Scriver, Leif Goldberg, Marie Rosen, Eric Lebofsky, Paintallica, Andy Burkholder, Mariano Chavez, Edie Fake, Onsmith, Ben Stone, Sanya Glisic, Kristen Romaniszak, Laurent Impeduglia, Geoffrey Todd Smith, Brandon Heuser
Joakim Ojanen, Hanna Andersson, Anya Davidson, Nicole Northway, Max Morris



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nice write up in the New City newspaper:

Review: Blaque Lyte and Keith Herzik/Hyde Park Art Center | Newcity Art

nice write up in the Chicago Reader:
Our top six visual arts picks for fall | Performing Arts Sidebar | Chicago Reader