Last night was the release party for Proximity magazine (a really smart, and insightful magazine about art and artists, their environments and observations–FINALLY!). I went down to Bridgeport to support the cause and check out the work up in The Co-Prosperity Sphere Headquarters/gallery. I was actually pleasantly surprised by the integrity of the art work and the space. I was expecting some freshman year vomit that could be called installation art, perhaps a few unstretched canvases equivalent to paintings tacked up to the wall. However the space was beautiful and the work was f-ing awesome! (Plus I need to be put back in my place once in a while and let the wonderment of experiencing art kick my snobbery in the ass.) Aron Gent, a photographer whose work I had the pleasure of discovering upon a visit to the Hyde Park Art Center, had a piece on view. There was a great deal of smart, visually beautiful and thought provoking work too. I really loved a particular 2-d somewhat 3-d picture of the whitehouse surrounded by a woodland lanscape that had been hand carved entirely out of layers upon layers of various kinds of soap and mounted onto a flat piece of wood. Unfortunatley I forgot to bring my camera so I can’t post any images of the work, but I SUPREMELY encourage anyone in the Chicago-Land area to take a trip down to Morgan St. and check it all out AND support Proximity 3219–21 S. Morgan St. in Chicago.