12 May – 13 August 2016
The Arts Club of Chicago
Public Opening at The Arts Club of Chicago will be held on Thursday 12 May 2016, from 6 – 7 pm.
The Arts Club of Chicago is pleased to announce Sharon Lockhart: Rudzienko, a world premiere exhibition of film and photography by the acclaimed American artist Sharon Lockhart, which will run from Thursday 12 May through Saturday 13 August 2016.
Lockhart, whose films and photographic work have been widely exhibited at international film festivals and in museums, cultural institutions, and galleries, will premiere her latest film, Rudzienko. The film, along with related still photographs entitled When You’re Free, You Run in the Dark, derive from her long-standing relationship with Milena, a girl whom she met during the making of another film, Podwórka, in Łódź in 2009. Over the past two years, Lockhart organized summer retreats for a group of teenagers who lived with Milena in a girls’ home in the town of Rudzienko near Warsaw. Through movement, reenactment, dance, yoga, craft, cooking, writing, and performance, Lockhart encouraged the girls to bring forth their personal narratives. The resulting images–whether still or moving–bring the viewer into the emotional and creative lives of their subjects.
Adolescence is a recurring theme in Lockhart’s quarter century of filmmaking and photography. She has captured girls and boys at the edge of maturity, self-absorbed in isolated moments of daily life. With an incredible display of stillness and an attention to the awkwardness of adolescence, Lockhart has created images that oppose the stereotypical melodrama used to describe this phase of life. Drawn to the vulnerability and openness of children coming into their own, she has shown a unique ability to enter others’ lives, gain their trust and affection, and produce images free of judgment or preconception.
Lockhart lives and works in Los Angeles, and received her BFA from the San Francisco Art Institute in 1991 and her MFA from the Art Center College of Design in 1993. She has been a Radcliffe Fellow, a Guggenheim Fellow, and a Rockefeller Fellow. Her work has been in New York, San Francisco, Berlin, Paris, Brussels, Turin, Rio de Janeiro, and many more around the world. Lockhart is also the recipient of the 2015 Herb Alpert award.
Media and general inquiries: Rachel Levin, 312.787.3997, [email protected].
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