Allen Vandever
Founder of Rescue or Destroy
Through Rescue or Destroy, I seek to inspire the idea of renewal through regeneration creation threw destruction. I seek to be reptilian: “primitive and cold-blooded like the snake, [symbolizing] the instinctual side of the unconscious”* that seeks to rejuvenate its personality, replacing the severed limb with an entirely new one. We seek the creation of something distinctly new through the destruction of the old, for often times such objects have a way of stifling our minds and creative energies.
Ryan Shultz
RYAN SHULTZ received his bachelor’s degree from The American Academy of Art in 2005, and his M.F.A. from Northwestern University in 2009. Shultz’s work deals primarily with youth culture and the “cult of excess,” depicting scenes of intoxication and drug use, alienation and ecstasy. These works embrace the art historical canon, borrowing composition devices, technical processes, poses, and gestures from classical painting. Shultz is equally influenced by popular culture, film, and the fashion world, referencing this imagery in the subject matter and scenarios that he creates.
Mateo
MATEO is a 37rd generation, U.S. born and raised photographer. After moving to Chicago in 2007 from his hometown of Pittsburgh, Mateo began photographing the city's nightlife scene. Inspired by Mikel Marton's photographs of nude, innocent young men in natural backdrops/settings and the dark and bloody gothic high fashion of Steven Klein, Mateo's aesthetic draws from the nature of both good and evil. Daphne Guiness, Isabella Blow, Alexander McQueen, and David LaChapelle have also been sources of influence which helped shape Mateo's unique vision.
Rine Boyer
RINE BOYER graduated from Reed College in Portland Oregon where she received a liberal arts education. Deciding to focus her studies on people rather than on books, she moved to Chicago where she found a variety of characters and neighborhoods. Eventually settling in Bridgeport, she set up her studio in the Zhou B Arts Center. Rine participates in national and international shows, with her most recent being solo exhibitions at Bluerider ART Gallery in Taipei City Taiwan and Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago Illinois.
Meg Frazier
MEG FRAZIER is an Ohio native with a BA with an emphasis in art education from Defiance College. She is an artist, a teacher, and a hardworking advocate of advancing creative thought through arts education. She is the founder of Both Sides Gallery in the Pilsen neighborhood in Chicago and recently opened Frazier Studios, a private gallery showcasing her artwork. Her works in oils are a reflection of her life experiences as a teacher and an observer of the arts.
Jason Davis
JASON DAVIS is a painter currently living in the Bridgeport neighborhood in Chicago. He's a man who is never still. He works a 60-hour week, comes home and paints prolifically. He says of his art, "My paintings are derived through the relieving of my stress and the focusing of my mind. There is growth in every stroke and the learning has just begun. " Jason has shown in Art Basel, Miami, Armory Week in New York and at Art Chicago.
Ryan Blume
RYAN BLUME grew up in Lincolnshire, IL and graduated from the University of Iowa with a BFA in 2012. He works as painter in acrylic and oil. His current work combines drawing and painting by using paint markers. His artistic influences include philosophy, nature, yoga and spirit.
Jim Riggs
JIM RIGGS is an eclectic artist who works with a variety of media such as acrylic, spray paint, cotton balls, and phone book pages on a variety of surfaces - parchment, glass, canvas. He was raised in Burbank, IL and grew up surrounded by high tension wires, trucking depots and busy intersections filled with lights and noise. His art is influenced by the structural integrity of his industrial upbringing and the calming nuance of nature.
Franklin Riley
FRANKLIN RILEY has worked in the fine art world for the past 20 years. He is currently the gallery director for FM* Gallery and the curator for Fulton Market Kitchen. Originally participating in the sculpture program at GVSU with an emphasis in casting and woodworking, he continued on to complete his BFA studies in painting and art history at Kendall College of Art and Design in Michigan.
Dmn Ology
DMNOLOGY or “DMN,” the graffiti sorcerer, hails from Chicago. He embraced art at an early age, spray painting his nom de plume “Demon” on the walls and elevated trains of Chicago. His artwork has been displayed in group and solo shows at galleries around the country. Currently he is an organizer for the international graffiti event “Meeting Of Styles.” Through his graffiti art and involvement with MOS he has painted murals in cities all over the world.
Werm
WERM grew up in all the slums on the south side of Chicago. He started doing graffiti at age 12. Graffiti took him all over the city, connected him with other street artists and in his opinion, made him the man he is today. He’s now a father of have three girls who are his inspiration and motivation. His dual passions are music and art and his goal is to travel the world and paint in every city he visits.
Chadwick
CHADWICK began his creative career as a live performance artist in clubs and various parties across Chicago. He quickly gained notoriety performing with acts like Chicago Afrobeat Project, London’s Lady Sovereign, and Chicago’s own The Cool Kids. His tribal/urban themes are displayed in large non-traditional media, such as a commission by Perry Farrell to paint a 1970 Buick Convertible live at Lollapalooza and being hired by Fiat at the Chicago Auto Show. As an artist, Chadwick believes in capturing the moment, whether it's on stage, at a basement party, or alone in his studio. In that same capture-the-moment spirit, Chadwick's work is sold live at each of his events.
Spencer Hutchinson
SPENCER HUTCHINSON is a 2009 BFA School of the Art Institute graduate where he studied Sound, Film, Video, New Media and Painting. His primary focus is on sound as it relates to other media including painting, sculpture, installation, music, architecture, video and performance as well as the manipulation of synthesized and recorded sounds for his ongoing electronic music project, 'ersatz modern.'
Mike Gricus
MIKE GRICUS creates work that is a powerful expression of his personality and sub-conscious thought. Over the past 15 years or so Mike has developed an improvisational technique and way of thinking in attempt to receive a better understanding of himself and his work. According to Mike, it's the process, and the experience of making art that fuels his creativity. He sees his work as an instrument in promoting chance, change, and vitality.
Cristy Corso
CRISTY CORSO is a Chicago-based artist, creative director and producer who is currently working on a graphic narrative, 'An American Maze.' She is working on a new fine art series based on her story, which focuses on today's digital era and the media that surrounds it.
Jeff Conroy
JEFF CONROY is a talented and multifaceted artist. His paintings, sculptures and mosaics have been exhibited in museums and galleries across the country. Conroy’s cow which he designed for the Cow Parade New York, Cowleidoscope, was a huge hit. It was displayed in midtown Manhattan’s Bryant Park and went on to earn $30,700.00 in the auction that followed the event. Conroy's work continues to be seen in highly acclaimed exhibitions across the country, including SOFA Chicago, and SOFA New York. Most recently he was commissioned to create a piece for the prestigious Kamm Teapot Foundation.
Bradford Stearman
In Bradford's own words: "Somehow as a small child or an old lumen many times ago, my soul escaped the narrow way of the herd. I’ve spent the majority of my time in this reality away and free. The only real attachment left between my soul and the current existence is my romantic connection and love for creation. Art is the one sensation that keeps me pounding, and lets me spray my mind in never-ending light into the dark void."
Keith Brownlee
KEITH BROWNLEE is a painter, sculptor, designer, and fabricator; an eclectic maker with a love for the process of turning an idea into a work of art. He has studied at the American Academy of Art, the School of the Art Institute Chicago and Columbia College. Keith has worked for 15 years in the commercial design industry and as a museum installation expert. He’s a teacher who soaks up knowledge from his students while he encourages them to “work responsibly.” Keith believes that when one ceases to learn, they cease to exist.
C. J. Hungerman
Hailing from the steel town of Pittsburg, Pennsylvannia, C.J. HUNGERMAN completed a Bachelor of Science degree in graphic design from West Liberty State College in West Liberty, West Virginia and a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from West Virginia University. He then continued on to graduate school at Northern Illinois University majoring in painting. He studied under the direction of Gordon Dorn, Josh Kind and Ben Mahmoud.
Here Heather Marie
Heather Marie Vernon is a practicing interdisciplinary artist living in Chicago who fluidly intersects multi-media performances with video and installation. She has been actively showing in NYC, Chicago and Germany for over 15 years. She holds an MFA from Yale University in Sculpture and a BFA in Photo/Video. Recently she completed a Baccalaureate in Art Therapy at Northwestern, and is currently attending the School of the Art Institute of Chicago for a second Master's Degree in Art Therapy.
Her project, (http://www.youtube.com/user/pinkanxiety) explores the expressive arts, intimacy, gestalt and collaborative acts via a year long YouTube residency. On one of the internet's most popular sites, Vernon invites us to "broadcast ourselves." She decided to experiment with this new platform by creating multiple personas and building an avatar's vocabulary of gestures. Since December 2010, she has posted 145 videos, received thousands of views, and collaborated with local and online artists. Developing an aesthetic that could be described by Thomas Hirschhorn's aphorism, "Quality = No! Energy = Yes!," she has made one video per day as part of her residency.
