Aspen Mays

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Our Origins

by Abraham Ritchie
Jason Lazarus, Aspen Mays, Alison Ruttan at Museum of Contemporary Photography July 29th, 2011 - October 16th, 2011
Posted 8/22/11

If there was one thing that “Our Origins” lacked, it certainly wasn’t ambition. Confronting the big human questions within the curatorial statement, like “Where do we come from?” among others, Curatorial Assistant Allison Grant was not afraid to take on the most difficult questions. The resulting exhibition was far-flung, with “Our Origins” coming to mean both human origins and the cosmic origins of the Earth. The exhibition proved to be at its best when focusing on human origi... [more]

Total Recall

by Robyn Farrell Roulo
Zachary Cahill, Theaster Gates, Matthew Paul Jinks, Aspen Mays, Cauleen Smith at Roots & Culture February 19th, 2011 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Posted 3/6/11

An artist now plays many roles outside the traditional definition of their vocation. As educators, interpreters, critics and activists they lend their voice to issues of concern, controversy and history, bringing intellectual and generational interests to the forefront of contemporary culture. Roots and Culture’s current exhibition, "Instruments of Resurrection", includes work from artists who act in all of these roles, including artist-as-collector. I’m not referring to the type of... [more]

The Tree of Knowledge

by Abraham Ritchie
Aspen Mays at Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) February 5th, 2010 - February 28th, 2010
Posted 2/8/10

From South to North in Chicago you can see Aspen Mays' work, at the Hyde Park Art Center and the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA). Occupying the MCA’s UBS 12 x 12 gallery for the entire month of February is Aspen Mays’ exhibition “Every leaf on a tree.” An installation of two photographic series, Every leaf and Einstein Rainbow, Mays once again presents a concentrated investigation into a particular subject. Despite the apparent world of difference between a tree and a physi... [more]

Wanting to Know While on the Ground

by Abraham Ritchie
Aspen Mays at GOLDEN GALLERY June 19th, 2009 - August 2nd, 2009
Posted 7/11/09

Housed in an attractive walk-up graystone on Newport Avenue in the Boystown/Lakeview neighborhood, GOLDEN gallery is one of Chicago’s newer galleries, having been open for a little less than a year now, but also one of the city’s most promising. GOLDEN is proving to be a permanent School of the Art Institute (SAIC) affiliated gallery (director Jacob Meehan studied photography there), many of which perennially spring up in Chicago, but most of which are usually short-lived as their organiz... [more]

Interview with Aspen Mays
by Abraham Ritchie
2010-02-01

Chicago, Jan. 2010 - From Abraham Ritchie, ArtSlant's Chicago Editor: I first encountered the work of Aspen Mays in 2009 at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago's Spring MFA show where she was a clear standout in an otherwise fairly predictable exhibition. That summer, Mays received a solo exhibition at Chicago's GOLDEN gallery, which I reviewed for ArtSlant: Chicago at the time. Focused and coherent, it turned out to be one of the best shows of that summer. Early into 2010, Mays h... [more]