Chicago artists Rhonda Wheatley and Lacey Pipher, although they work in different mediums, share a similar concept of combining materials, more or less collaging various pieces for the effect of the combinations.  In Wheatley’s case, these juxtapositions manifest themselves in a combination of letter forms, fonts, text, and soft, translucent swirls and loops that somehow feel right together.  Pipher, on the other hand, is a 3D artist, pulling unlikely textures and finishes out of a hat like a magician.  Wood, saw-blades, plastic broom bristles, maps and books are just a few of the objects she manipulates out of their normal form and into things from her wildest imaginings. In SUB-CONSCIOUS LOOP these two artists play off one another in a very immediate and unpredictable way.

Former Chicago Artist Dennis Kowalski, has been shaking it up since 1966. His multi-media work, often taking the form of biting socio-political commentary, has been collected by the MCA, The Art Institute of Chicago, the Total Museum of Art in Seoul, Korea, and many University and Corporate Collections throughout the US.   STILL HERE is composed of Kowalski’s newest photo-collage drawings and two installation pieces.  A former UIC professor, Kowalski is currently living in Iowa City, but planning a move back to the Chicago Area.

ZENDO consists of photographs of Ladakh by Prabir Purkyastha who is a photographer based in Delhi India. He has been photographing the Ladakh region of India for ten years, after a 22 year long career in advertising. Purkyastha has shown his work in Germany, New York and across India, his book Ladakh was published in 2005 by Timless Books.  His photographs in this exhibit appear courtesy of Bodhi Gallery, New York.

The Textiles of Varanasi have long been known to be among the finest and most beautiful in the world.  This exhibition features panels of brocades and other silks woven by master weaver Haseen Bhai and his family, who do all the weaving for His Holiness, The Dalai Lama.  Heavy gold and sterling threads make these silks weighty and magnificent.  One panel to be shown is actually woven from silk and shed peacock feathers.  The textiles appear through the generosity of Navneet Raman, Director of Kriti Gallery and the Kriti Foundation, Varanasi, India, and can be ordered through FLATFILEgalleries.

Nandita Raman’s work-Cinema halls represents her documentation of Cinema halls in Delhi and Varanasi in India as part of a fellowship awarded by SARAI, Center for Study of Developing Society, Delhi, India in 2006.  Raman, an astute observer, recognized the end of an era in the formerly fashionable cinema halls that are now being torn down to make way for multiplexes and other real estate development.  These photographs hint at the elegance and grandeur of the palaces of Bollywood in two Indian cities.  Raman is a freelance photographer and filmmaker.

On Saturday, the 12th of January, From 6-8pm, UniVerse of Poetry, Resident Artists with FLATFILEgalleries, will present a reading at the gallery featuring photographer Prabir Purkayastha, who is also a poet, and others, in Meditations on Truth and Beauty.  The group recently added Purkayastha to its ranks representing India.  Bodhi Gallery, NY sponsored his induction into UniVerse.  The public is welcome.  

FLATFILEgalleries is open from 11-6 Tuesday through Saturday and is a member of The Art Dealers Association of Chicago.