Frank Lloyd Wright would have turned 150 this year — and that calls for a special tribute, said Julie Carpenter, executive director of the Oak Park Art League.
The league once housed at the Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio and now just two blocks away, has planned not only a Midwest juried art exhibition, but also other events dedicated to Wright and his focus on nature.
Called, “Through the Lens of Wright: Art, Materials, and Design in the Natural World,” the exhibit opens May 12 and runs through June 2.
Wright originated what became known as the prairie style. In his architecture, he used “wide horizontal lines to echo the broad open prairies of the Midwestern state,” Carpenter said. “He grew up playing in nature as a child in Wisconsin — and nature forms appear in so much of his architecture. He took those nature forms and extracted them down to their simplest parts and experimented with geometry and nature.”
The league received 400 images of works from nearly 150 artists from eight Midwestern states. “We received highly skilled representational work, beautiful fields and prairies and forests and trees,” Carpenter said. But what caught the two jurists’ eyes were works that included elements of simplicity and harmony, something Wright strived for, she said. The jurors selected 33 pieces for the exhibit.
One piece is by Karen Gubitz, an Oak Park artist, who created a hanging sculpture titled, “Dangle.”
Gubitz found objects from nature including a branch from a thick vine and belani pods. She knitted waxed linen and then placed the pods within the linen. “Gravity then pulls the whole piece down and you get an undulation,” she said.
Gubitz entered the exhibition because of her deep appreciation for and love of Wright and nature. She and her husband live in a Wright-designed home in Oak Park, and have restored a four-acre prairie on a country home where she gathers materials outdoors to create her art.
At the exhibit’s opening reception, patrons can also observe other exhibitions related to Wright.
Rebeca Keller, an invited artist who teaches at the School of the Art Institute, will show an installation of laser-cut oak inspired by Wright’s 1901 essay and lecture, “The Art and Craft of the Machine.”
In addition, visitors can view an exhibition in the courtyard titled, “Resistance Architecture,” created by Project Fielding students. Project Fielding works to break stereotypes regarding the capabilities of genders in the building trade, creating large scale projects motivated by social justice concerns.
Visitors will also see two landscape yarn paintings by Frank Lloyd Wright’s sister, Maginel Wright. She was a graphic artist and professional illustrator and used yarn to create two-dimensional landscapes. Wright’s great-great grandson S. Lloyd Natof is loaning these to works to the league, and will present a lecture about Wright on May 23.
The league timed the exhibition opening around the Frank Lloyd Trust’s annual Wright Plus Housewalk on May 20, opening Wright homes in Oak Park to the public. “They get nearly 3,000 people — not only those who are local, but those who come from other countries and the states,” Carpenter said. “We thought it would be a wonderful way to give people a chance to expand their celebration and stop by the art league to see our exhibition.”
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Oak Park Art League exhibit, ‘Elevating Nature’
When: May 12-June 2; opening reception 7-9 p.m. May 12
Where: Oak Park Art League, 720 Chicago Ave., Oak Park
Tickets: Free
Information: 708-386-9853; www.oakparkartleague.org