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Artropolis

A couple of All Terrainers delved into their creative sides at Chicago’s Artropolis earlier this month. There were three shows: Art Chicago, a collection of modern and contemporary art from renowned galleries around the world; NEXT, a showcase of emerging artists, including performance pieces; and the International Antiques Fair, which housed over 100 of the world’s best antique dealers.

Read more about our experience after the jump.

In NEXT, we saw life size jungle animals made out of Nike shoeboxes, a statue made out of tiny puzzle pieces, CDs that were melted down into what looked like semi-precious stones, and a video installation of a man’s face projected onto a plaster sculpture that took us at least 30 seconds to determine whether he was real or not. We stood in one dimly lit booth (that was about 105 degrees and smelled like stale beer and hipster B.O.) for a good 5 minutes, while a DJ spun eerie music, waiting for the show to begin and then realized that it WAS the show. So, we stepped out and almost collided with a heavily tattooed woman leading a man at least twice her size around on a leash. Not wanting to be next on her naughty list, we decided to try our luck at Art Chicago.

Art Chicago was twice the size of NEXT and had some amazing pieces, our favorites being a chandelier made out of reading glasses and a coffee table installation composed of two way mirrors and lights that when you glanced down at it looked like you were peering into a never-ending tunnel. We All Terrainers tend to gravitate towards things that are sparkly, so the sequin and glitter mosaics, along with the giant sparkly hot dogs and gold-plated burgers, were a huge hit.

Overall, Artropolis was a wonderful testament to Chicago’s amazing art and cultural scene and had something for everyone – especially if you’re into dog collars.