michelle grabner's never quite happy home - College of Fine Arts

Essay excerpt © Lane Relyea
MICHELLE GRABNER’S
NEVER QUITE
HAPPY HOME
LANE RELYEA
Art is the promise of happiness, a promise that is constantly being
broken. 1
Walk into the art gallery and what you find is another art
gallery. That’s how University Galleries’ survey of Michelle
Grabner’s still-young career opens. Namely, the exhibition
starts with a built-to-scale replica of The Suburban, the humble
back from the wild. Given Grabner’s complex investment
in the history of feminist politics (not to mention politics
per se), this recasting of culture as nature, this reifying of
process and action into a static, statuesque objet, seemed
oxymoronic. Could it be that the actual office-cum-gallery has
become so well known, its profile so meaningfully iconic, that
it now functions somewhat like a brand logo—not just for
The Suburban but for Grabner herself? Is the intent to cash in
on the instant face-recognition the little brick outhouse has
attained, to officially christen its status as something like the
Midwest’s answer to Frank Gehry in Bilbao?
toolshed-sized project room that Grabner has programmed
with her husband, the artist Brad Killam, in their Oak Park
backyard since the late 1990s. Indeed, at eight-by-eight
feet, the cinderblock cell (built as an office for an autobody
shop run by the lot’s previous owners) not only fits
comfortably inside University Galleries’ ample space, but its
slender vertical frame appears positively statuesque under
the spotlights, like an early Carl Andre brick piece rearing up
on its hind legs. Exhibiting work that’s about exhibition has
a familiar metacritical ring to it, recalling similarly recursive
gestures from Duchamp through conceptual art to such
postconceptual practitioners as Louise Lawler and Dave Muller.
But if the point here is to show that Grabner’s interventions
within the art world extend far beyond what she makes in
her studio, that she too is more instigator than pawn of
programming and discourse, this still doesn’t explain the
strangely anthropological shtick of simulating The Suburban’s
exact physique, as if it were some taxidermied animal trucked
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NORMAL
THE SUBURBAN
DIVISION
NORMAL DIVISION
58

THE SUBURBAN: HISTORY
2008
Rochelle Feinstein
David Reed
Lesley Vance
Ricky Swallow
Lars Wolter
Dan Walsh
Stephen Berens
Dave Hullfish Bailey
Cip Contreras
Matthew Rich
2007
Wade Guyton
Jakob Kolding
Tyson Reeder
Ceal Floyer
The John Riepenhoff Experience
Andrea Bowers
Chris Hanson and Hendrika Sonnenberg
Gary Cannone
Sherman Sam
Marcos Ramirez ERRE
Karl Haendel
Katharina Grosse
Michael Byron
Joe Smith
2006
Matthew Girson
Bernard Frize
Michael Krebber
Sergej Jensen
Rodney McMillian
Olga Koumoundouros
Clinton King
Claire Pentecost
Todd Chilton
2006 cnt’d
Jan van der Ploeg
Alex Herzog
Andrew Falkowski
Duncan MacKenzie
Richard Holland
B. Wurtz
Kevin Wolff
Gavin Turk
Tony Feher
2005
Troy Brauntuch
Gabe Fowler
Dike Blair
Elizabeth Bryant
Aaron Parazette
Sharon Engelstein
Mungo Thomson
Tim Ebner
Corey McCorkle
Elijah Burgher
Philip Vanderhyden
Kelly Williams
Neil Taylor
Rebecca Walz
Kirsten Stoltmann
Vasco Araujo
Stan Shellabarger & Dutes Miller
Mitchell Kane
Sue Spaid “view do”
2004
Joseph Grigely
Matthew Higgs
David Robbins
Stephen Berens
2004 cnt’d
Steven Husby
Philip Vanderhyden
Peter Newman
Michael Velliquette
Jeanne Dunning
Terence Hannum
Jamisen Ogg
Thomas Lawson
Cindy Bernard
Sam Durant
Chris Sperandio
Worthless Protégé
with Simon Grennan & Chris Sperandio,
Michael Cline, Duncan MacKenzie,
Jamisen Ogg, Shannon Stratton
and Joseph Trupia
2003
BANK
Luc Tuymans
Michael Smith
Kay Rosen
2002
Mari Eastman
Michael Banicki
Brad Tucker
Gaylen Gerber
Joel Feldman
Elizabeth Pulsinelli
Karl Erickson
Scott & Tyson Reeder
Terri Griffith & Serena Worthington
Meg Duguid
Paul Druecke
2001
Padraig Timoney
N55 - LAND Project
Taking Liberties, curated by Charles
Mutscheller
Susie Rosmarin
Matthew Girson
David Robbins
Olof Olsson
2000
Stephen Berens
Alex Brown
Paula Hayes
Joseph Grigely
Curtis Whaley
Ralph Nader for President
Oak Park Green Party Headquarters
1999
David Robbins
Gaylen Gerber
Skooby Laposky
Yvette Brackman
Software 99
A Three Day Weekend, project by
Dave Muller including the work of:
Sam Durant, Gaylen Gerber,
Mungo Thomson, Blum & Poe, and
Cindy Bernard & Joseph Hammer
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BIOGRAPHY AND BIBLIOGRAPHY
Born in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, 1962
Lives and works in Oak Park, Illinois
EDUCATION
1990 M.F.A., Northwestern University
1987 M.A., University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
1984 B.F.A., University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Paintings for Modern Chairs, Cranbrook Art Museum, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
1998 Home Painting, Rocket Gallery, London
Richard Heller Gallery, Santa Monica
Fuzzy, Institute of Contemporary Art, Maine College of Art, Portland
Safety Patterns, Milwaukee Art Museum, Wisconsin
Safety Patterns, Rocket Gallery, London
1997 Richard Heller Gallery, Santa Monica
Inova (Institute of Visual Arts), University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
1996 Ten in One Gallery, Chicago
Hermetic Gallery, Milwaukee
TEACHING
1996 - Professor, Department of Painting and Drawing, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago
1997 - Associate Professor, Art Department, School of Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison
2003
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2008 Michelle Grabner: Remain in Light, Ulrich Museum of Art, Wichita State University, Kansas
2007 Michelle Grabner’s Never Quite Happy Home, Southfirst, Brooklyn
Shane Campbell Gallery, Chicago
Please Return My Kenneth Noland Catalogue, PS, Amsterdam
New Work, Gallery 16, San Francisco
Mid-career Retrospective, Wriston Art Center, Lawrence University, Appleton, Wisconsin
2006 Paintings 1996-2006, Rocket Gallery, London
Michelle Grabner: Remain in Light, University Galleries, Illinois State University, Normal
2005 Wendy Cooper Gallery, Chicago
2004 Allston Skirt Gallery, Boston
2003 Woven Roving: New Paintings, Rocket Gallery, London
Niagara Galleries, Melbourne, Australia
2001 Richard Heller Gallery, Santa Monica
Ten in One Gallery, New York
A Little Less of Me, Deluxe Projects, Chicago
2000 Suburban Abstraction, Rocket, London
Ten in One Gallery, New York
1999 In Situ Gallery, Aalst, Belgium
Ten in One Gallery, Chicago
Hermetic Gallery, Milwaukee
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2008 Sensory Overload: Light, Motion, Sound, and the Optical in Art Since 1945, Milwaukee Art Museum
2007 Maximinimalist, Inova (Institute of Visual Arts), The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
2006 Eldorado, Musée d’Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean, Luxembourg
Figures in the Field, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago
Believers, Hudson Franklin Gallery, New York
Slowness, Heaven Gallery, Chicago
2005 There’s a City in My Mind, Southfirst, Brooklyn
USA Today: Painting and Sculpture, Marlborough Gallery, Madrid
Group Show: Selected Artists, Marlborough Chelsea, New York
op…ish: an attempt at hyper-extension of the pure visual experience as purveyor of balance, Samson Projects, Boston
Good Vibrations, McKenzie Fine Art, Inc., New York
Rocket at Paragraph, Paragraph Gallery, Kansas City, Missouri
2004 Minimalism and After III, Daimler Contemporary, Berlin
Group Exhibition, Marlborough Gallery, New York
Hubris, Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago
Inner Positive: Agnes Martin, Cheonae Kim & Michelle Grabner, Klein Art Works, Chicago
Strange Days, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago
Apartment Series #4, A component of Jeremy Boyle’s exhibition The Studio Project, Mattress Factory, Pittsburgh
Books and Shelves, Gahlberg Gallery, McAninch Arts Center, College of DuPage, Glen Ellyn, Illinois
2003 Michelle Grabner and Carla Arocha, Richard Heller Gallery, Santa Monica
Clarity of Vision: Minimalist Prints and Drawings, Milwaukee Art Museum, Wisconsin
Michelle Grabner and Barbara Heath, Occasional Art, St. Paul, Minnesota
The Undertones, Ten in One Gallery, New York
Oak Park Family Works: A Project by Michelle Grabner and Brad Killam, Gallery 16, San Francisco
2002 Loaded, Midway Contemporary Art, Minneapolis
Painting: 9 Chicago Painters, Lawton Gallery, University of Wisconsin-Green Bay
Housework: Domestic Spaces As Sites For Artists, Angel Row Gallery, Nottingham, United Kingdom
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2001 Sound Video Images Objects, Donald Young Gallery, Chicago
Reproductive, Finesilver Gallery, San Antonio
Domestic Culture: Home in Visual Culture, Institute of Contemporary Art, Maine College of Art, Portland
Counting Color, Rocket Gallery, London
post-hypnotic, The Tweed Museum, University of Minnesota, Duluth; Naples Museum of Art, Naples, Florida
2000 Compression, Feigen Contemporary, New York
New, Galerie Eugen Lendl, Graz, Austria
Domestic Bliss, Rocket Gallery, London
OIL, Standard Gallery, Chicago
Michelle Grabner and Robin Dash, Allston Skirt Gallery, Boston
Telesthesia and Amnescopia, Betty Rymer Gallery, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago
post-hypnotic, The Atlanta College of Art Gallery, Atlanta; The Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago; SECCA, Winston-Salem,
North Carolina
Minimal Pop, Traywick Contemporary, Berkeley, CA
1999 post-hypnotic, University Galleries, Illinois State University, Normal; The McKinney Avenue Contemporary (The MAC), Dallas;
The Contemporary Art Center, Cincinnati
Abstract Chicago, Durand Art Institute, Lake Forest College, Lake Forest, Illinois
Color Theory, College of Visual Arts, St. Paul
1998 Michelle Grabner & Jim Isermann, Gallery 16, San Francisco
‘A’ Show, Ten in One Gallery, Chicago
Chicago Hip, Rocket Gallery, London
1997 Uncomfortable Show, TZ Art & Co., New York
Some Young Fun, Richard Heller Gallery, Santa Monica
Post-Pop, Post-Pictures, Smart Museum of Art, The University of Chicago
Distraction, TBA Gallery, Chicago
Wisconsin Art Since 1990: Selections from the Permanent Collection, Milwaukee Art Museum
1996 Mist: Kay Rosen, Julia Fish, Carla Priess and Michelle Grabner, Hermetic Gallery, Milwaukee
1995 25 Americans: Painting in the 90s, Milwaukee Art Museum
PUBLICATIONS
Since 1985, Michelle Grabner has written more than 200 essays and reviews for publications including: Artforum, Frieze, artUS, Art Papers, Flash Art,
tema celeste, Afterimage, and New Art Examiner.
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Artner, Alan. “Grabner Homes in On Subject Matter.” Chicago Tribune 27 May 1999: 2.
———. “Michelle Grabner at Wendy Cooper Gallery.” Chicago Tribune 20 May 2005.
Baker, Kenneth. “At Home with Grabner and Isermann.” San Francisco Chronicle December 1999.
Bonetti, David. “Gallery Watch.” San Francisco Examiner 18 December 1999.
Campbell, Shane. “Sweetness and Light.” The Goodness Catalogue (New York: Ten in One Gallery, 2001).
Carley, Michal. “Michelle Grabner at Hermetic Gallery.” Art Papers March-April 1997.
Cotter, Holland. “Surging into Chelsea.” The New York Times 21 January 2000: E37, 41.
Dailey, Meghan. “Michelle Grabner.” Time Out New York 20 November – 6 December 2001.
Forgacs, Eva. “Michelle Grabner at Richard Heller.” Art Issues March-April 1997.
Frank, Nicholas. “If Walls Could Talk.” If Walls Could Talk (Milwaukee: Hermetic Gallery, 1997).
———. “Over The Rainbow: A Survey of Goodness.” The Goodness Catalogue (New York: Ten in One Gallery, 2001).
———. “Paper Thin and Maximinimalism.” 2007. http://www4.uwm.edu/arts/inova/minimalism/maximinimalist/index.htm (December 19,
2007).
Guha, Tania. “Michelle Grabner at Rocket Gallery.” Time Out London 26 August - 2 September 1998.
Hannum, Terence. “Inner Positive.” Artnet 15 April 2004.
Iannaccone, Carmine. “Michelle Grabner at Richard Heller.” Frieze May-June 1997.
Kind, Joshua. “Post-Pop, Post-Pictures.” New Art Examiner November 1997: 54-55.
Lambrecht, Luk. “Kunstgrepen.” Brussels Daily News May 1999.
Levin, Kim. “Michelle Grabner.” Village Voice 20 November 2001.
Miles, Christopher. “Report from Santa Monica II: Tracking Patterns.” Art in America February 2004: 77-81.
Naves, Mario. “Noguchi and Kelly Talk: Pollock’s True Legacy.” The New York Observer 14 February 2000: 14.
Ott, Sabina. “Michelle Grabner at Wendy Cooper.” Stretcher 14 July 2005.
Pagel, David. “Michelle Grabner at Richard Heller.” Los Angeles Times 20 January 1997: F1.
Porges, Timothy. “In With the Out Crowd.” Dialogue May-June 1996: 14-15.
Roosa, Wayne. “The Pleasures of Merely Circulating.” The Pleasures of Merely Circulating (St. Paul: Bethel College, 2004).
Rosen, Kay. “Top Ten.” Artforum April 2007.
Saltz, Jerry. “Uncomfortable.” Time Out New York 31 July—7 August 1998: 41.
Sans, Jerome. “Home Painting.” Home Painting (London: Rocket Gallery, 1999).
Saunders, Gill. “Purl: Six Artists Inspired by MoDA’s Collection.” Purl: Six Artists Inspired by MoDA’s Collection (London: The Museum of
Domestic Design & Architecture, 2004).
Scarborough, James. “Michelle Grabner at Ten in One Gallery.” New Art Examiner April 1996: 43-44.
Schwabsky, Barry. “Michelle Grabner at Rocket.” Artforum October 2006.
Smith, Courtenay. “Post-Pop, Post-Pictures.” Post-Pop, Post-Pictures (Chicago: Smart Museum, 1997).
Snodgrass, Susan. “Report from Chicago.” Art in America April 1999: 81-87.
Sobel, Dean. “25 Americans: Painting in the 90s.” 25 Americans: Painting in the 90s (Milwaukee: Milwaukee Art Museum, 1995).
Tan, Eugene. “Michelle Grabner.” Contemporary Visual Arts Summer 1998: 67.
Taylor, Sue. “Michelle Grabner at Ten in One Gallery.” Art in America September 1996: 115-116.
Thompson, Nato. “Michelle Grabner at Ten in One Gallery.” FGA 2 March 2001.
Van Proyen, Mark. “Michelle Grabner and Brad Killam at Gallery 16.” Art in America October 2003: 144-145.
Workman, Michael. “Modest Minimalism.” New City 25 February 2004.
Yood, James. “Michelle Grabner at Ten in One Gallery.” Artforum Summer 1996: 112.
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