Ian HYDEON Ferguson: Mass Contemplation

For Immediate Release
Hydeon: Mass Contemplation
June 20 - July 31, 2014

Opening Reception: Friday, June 20th, from 6pm - 10pm.

Chicago, IL [May 28, 2014] Maxwell Colette Gallery is proud to present Mass Contemplation, featuring new work from celebrated Chicago-based illustrator Ian “Hydeon” Ferguson. This will be the artist’s first exhibition with the gallery.

Ian Ferguson’s work blends street art, fine art, and graphic design into surreal contemporary Americana, full of metaphor, and designed to intrigue and provoke. Reacting to a world he perceives as being “dominated by the exploitation of oversized lifestyles”, Ferguson presents images of a minimized existence. It is a world of tiny houses, pointy boots, hobo shacks and mountains populated by fantastic beings called ‘herms’. Ferguson’s vision is steeped in nostalgia and punctuated by a spiritual connection with nature.

Mass Contemplation will showcase Ferguson’s new india ink drawings on paper. It will will also present a site specific installation titled ‘Terra Firma Shelter’, which will re-create one of his tiny shelters in human-scale. Ferguson says “the simple and compact design of the shelter structure is meant to embody the ethos of minimal imprint living or the act of simplifying one’s means of basic survival... [The Installation] is to be visually received like a ship in a bottle absorbed by an old west ghost town.”

In conjunction with Mass Contemplation, the gallery will be releasing Ferguson’s first book, ‘Early Morning Contemplation Over Coffee’. The book features reproductions of the india ink drawings included in the show. The signed and numbered, limited-edition books will come with a signed silk screen print and a pack of HYDEON stickers, and will be available exclusively through Maxwell Colette Gallery.

About the Artist: Ian ‘Hydeon’ Ferguson is a Chicago-based visual artist. He makes work about his life experience and is constantly inspired by his environment. Born and raised in California, he received his BS in Graphic Design from AIC-San Diego in 2006. Four years later he moved to Chicago and founded BARO Records. His art has been featured in Hi Fructose Magazine, Op Magazine, Time Out Chicago and numerous other publications. In 2012 Ferguson was selected as a Chicago Cultural Society Featured Artist for Chicago Artists Month. In 2013 he won the RedBull Canvas Cooler competition in Chicago and exhibited work with RedBull Curates at SCOPE in Miami. Most recently his custom shoe design for Converse was released at Nordstrom in March 2014.

Opening November 9th: Sidewalk Scholar

For Immediate Release

Mario Gonzalez Jr. : Sidewalk Scholar
November 09 - December 31, 2013
Opening Reception: Saturday, November 09, from 6pm - 10pm

Chicago, IL [October 01, 2013]- Maxwell Colette Gallery is pleased to present Sidewalk Scholar, a solo exhibition of new work from Mario Gonzalez Jr. The show will present large-scale mixed media paintings on wood along from the noted Chicago painter. The exhibit is slated to run from November 09 - December 31, 2013 with an opening reception on Saturday, November 09 from 6 - 10pm.

Gonzalez’s paintings have been described as abstract, but they are far more interested in realities than abstractions. A comparison may be drawn with the loose spontaneity of Asian calligraphy as these works are conceived in the mind’s eye and executed with the swiftness of thought. But the true inspiration for the bold, sinuous forms that inhabit Gonzalez’s paintings are street glyphs, painted with rollers by gang members in the sixties and seventies. These primal markings were intended as signposts for an urban sub-culture but they ended up inspiring the international graffiti culture that would follow. For Gonzalez, who grew up in a world emblazoned with these markings, Sidewalk Scholar is an opportunity to re-contextualize these cryptic runes from the past, and to redirect their energies. Gonzalez’s paintings are shot through with a powerful sense of place, presenting stunned memories of archaic street symbols, objectified and distilled down to their true visual essence.

About the Artist: Mario Gonzalez Jr.’s artistic vision comes from the fusion of fine art training at SAIC plus twenty years of graffiti practiced on global streets. In 2013 Gonzalez has seen his work exhibited in a number of museums including MIIT in Turino, Italy, The National Mexican Museum in Chicago and The Chicago Cultural Center. Sidewalk Scholar is the first solo exhibition for Mario Gonzalez Jr. at Maxwell Colette Gallery. Further information may be found on his website: www.mariogonzalezjr.com. 

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Rodrigo Level and Gabriel Kieling mural for SITE

Rodrigo Level and Gabriel Kieling were invited to paint a mural for SITE, an outdoor mural project sponsored by the South Shore Chamber of Commerce. Level and Kieling's wall is located at 7256 S Exchange street.  It is definitely worth the trek down to South Shore to see this in person. Until then you can see more on our Instagram.

SITE was organized by Tristan Hummel and curated by Chicago street artist Don't Fret. The project will feature an eclectic lineup with murals to be completed and unveiled over the coming days.

Big shout out to our pals at Holiday Exploits! We couldn't have done this project without you!