{"id":"11","title":"Noritaka Minami","starts_at":"2021-01-09 12:00:00","ends_at":"2021-02-14 12:00:00","body":"<p>FLXST Contemporary is a fine art gallery in the Motor Row District of Chicago. We exhibit exceptional artwork by emerging and mid-career artists. We also support and bring visibility to historically underrepresented artists. The artists the gallery shows work across all media and unabashedly locate themselves in BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and immigrant/diasporic communities in Chicago and other parts of the world. The spontaneity, humor, and critical projects that brought artists together from the U.S. and abroad during Fluxus Movement (the 1960s-70s) inspired the gallery’s name.&nbsp;</p><p>Since 2019, FLXST Contemporary has maintained an interdisciplinary, intersectional, and international art program, attracting the support of art patrons and art institutions worldwide. The roster of artists the gallery officially represents continues to grow, and so does the gallery’s footprint in the art world. The principles of transparency and equity in the art world have always shaped the gallery’s art program and the internal workings of the gallery since its founding.&nbsp;</p><p>In addition to providing artists with well-deserved visibility in the commercial art landscape, the small team at FLXST Contemporary has integrated professional development as a critical component of working with artists through ongoing conversations and critiques. We work tirelessly for the success of all artists with the mission to amplify their artistic practices as intellectually and as accessibly as possible.</p><p>Image: Jaylen Pigford, <i>Lost</i>, 2022. Acrylic on canvas. 56 x 68 x 0.5 inches. Courtesy of the artist and FLXST Contemporary.</p>","type":"EventCategory","state":"drafted","slug":"exhibitions","created_at":"2018-10-22 18:54:41.176231","updated_at":"2018-10-22 18:54:41.176231","excerpt":"","is_timeless":true,"organization_id":157,"highlighted":true,"opening_starts_at":null,"opening_ends_at":null,"searchable":"'1986':172B 'accumul':148B 'also':100B,253B 'amount':143B 'asia':222B 'attempt':233B 'base':9B 'becom':105B 'blight':291B 'built':81B,311B 'cabl':114B,145B,249B 'capac':125B 'capit':239B 'center':214B 'centuri':44B,275B 'chang':321B 'chi':19B,194B 'chicago':8B 'chicago-bas':7B 'citi':21B,85B,196B,267B 'coloni':187B,218B 'consid':335B 'consist':77B 'construct':68B 'contemporari':190B 'current':25B 'decad':98B 'decis':284B 'design':128B 'despit':53B 'develop':48B,92B,231B 'disappear':308B,346B 'document':302B 'earli':42B 'econom':91B,161B,225B 'empir':219B 'endur':73B 'engin':226B 'environ':82B,312B 'erect':33B 'evolv':209B 'examin':181B 'exceed':122B 'experienc':62B,166B 'extraordinari':108B 'facilit':46B 'far':121B 'first':32B,274B 'french':36B,186B,217B 'futur':338B 'global':238B 'histor':202B 'histori':61B,326B 'ho':18B,193B 'immin':337B 'increas':294B 'independ':229B 'indochines':51B 'initi':170B 'innumer':248B 'investig':16B 'landscap':191B,269B,341B 'lattic':30B,70B,119B,151B,244B,349B 'led':101B 'like':139B 'major':87B,320B 'medit':330B 'merg':235B 'midst':318B 'minami':2A,4B 'minh':20B,195B 'modern':264B 'moment':242B,324B 'mới':175B 'nation':232B 'noritaka':1A,3B 'number':112B 'object':140B 'one':133B,211B 'origin':124B 'overlook':183B 'overwhelm':142B 'part':261B 'passag':55B 'past':333B 'perman':307B 'photograph':10B,178B,296B 'photographi':328B 'pole':39B 'polit':89B 'presenc':78B,344B 'product':155B 'project':12B 'rapid':158B 'recent':97B,277B 'redevelop':281B 'reform':168B 'region':65B,206B 'remain':75B 'remnant':184B 'remov':257B,286B 'renov':176B 'repres':200B 'sculptur':138B 'sculpture-lik':137B 'sens':298B 'seri':329B 'sgn':13B,180B 'sight':110B,259B 'sinc':66B,167B 'social':88B,236B 'societi':95B,315B 'socio':160B 'socio-econom':159B 'southeast':221B 'start':254B 'state':26B 'steel':29B 'structur':104B,198B,304B 'support':116B,251B 'tide':278B 'time':57B 'tower':31B,71B,120B,152B,245B,350B 'trajectori':203B 'transform':131B,162B 'truli':107B 'tumultu':60B 'twenti':273B 'twentieth':43B 'twenty-first':272B 'union':52B 'uniqu':136B 'urban':280B 'urgenc':300B 'util':38B 'vietnam':22B,164B 'vietnames':94B,314B 'view':289B 'visual':109B 'within':93B 'đổi':174B","thumbnail":null,"calendar":"https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/raw/upload/v1721669550/event_ics_1721669549767.ics","carousel":null,"event_body":"<p><strong>NORITAKA MINAMI</strong> is a Chicago-based photographer; his project <i><strong>SGN</strong></i> is an investigation in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, and the current state of the steel lattice towers first erected by<i> </i>the French<i> </i>as utility poles during the early twentieth century to facilitate the development of the Indochinese Union. Despite the passage of time and the tumultuous history experienced in this region since their construction, these lattice towers have endured and remained a consistent presence in the built environment of the city. The major social, political, and economic developments within Vietnamese society in recent decades have also led to these structures becoming a truly extraordinary visual sight. The number of cables now supported by the lattice towers far exceeds the original capacity of their design and has transformed each one into a unique, sculpture-like object. The overwhelming amount of cables that have accumulated on the lattice towers is the product of the rapid socio-economic transformations that Vietnam have experienced since reforms were initiated in 1986 with <i>Đổi Mới</i> [<i>Renovation</i>]. The photographs in <i>SGN</i> examine these overlooked remnants of French colonialism in the contemporary landscape of Ho Chi Minh City as structures that represent the historical trajectory of the region as it evolved from one of the centers of the French colonial empire in Southeast Asia to the economic engine of an independent and developing nation attempting to merge socialism with global capitalism. At this moment, these lattice towers and the innumerable cables they support are also starting to be removed from sight as part of the modernization of the city’s landscape in the twenty-first century. This recent tide of urban redevelopment and the decision to remove what is viewed as “blight” has only increased the photographer’s sense of urgency to document these structures before they permanently disappear from the built environment. With Vietnamese society in the midst of major changes at this moment in history, the photography series meditates on the past and considers the imminent future of this landscape through the presence and disappearance of these lattice towers.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p>","name":"Exhibitions","organization_type_id":"1","district_id":"3","telephone":"773–413–8030","website":"https://www.flxst.co","email":"info@flxst.com","hours":"Please visit our website for the most up-to-date gallery hours or to schedule a private viewing.","location":"2251 S. Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 60616","display_location":"2251 S. Michigan Ave.\r\nSuite 220\r\nChicago, IL 60616","latitude":"41.851438","longitude":"-87.623074","contact":"Jan Christian Bernabe","sub_district_id":"11","promoted_at":"2020-11-22T07:16:17.729Z","optional_sort_name":"","paid":null,"position":2,"category_name":"Exhibitions","orgname":"FLXST Contemporary","orgslug":"flxst-contemporary","image":"https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1721668490/zex71uvdcfzumendlqxm.png"}