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Art Museum to explore ‘New Art Examiner’

November 22, 2011

Cover of "The Essential New | Art Examiner"The NIU Art Museum will present “The New Art Examiner, ‘Chicago’s Independent Voice of the Visual Arts,’ 1973-2002,” from Tuesday, Nov. 29, through Saturday, March 10, in the Hall Case Gallery.

This didactic exhibition, exploring the history and significance of The New Art Examiner, was curated by NIU professor and art historian Barbara Jaffee. The opening reception will be held from 4:30 to 6 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 29.

An independent magazine of art and cultural criticism founded in Chicago, The New Art Examiner was published there between 1973 and 2002.

Not only a significant part of the history of art and criticism in Chicago, it made important contributions to the larger history and cultural criticism in the United States and was a sensitive barometer of almost three decades of art world change.

From 10 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 28, the NIU College of Visual and Performing Arts will host an engaging public symposium in the Boutell Memorial Concert Hall of the Music Building.

“Re-Examining the New Art Examiner” will feature co-founding editor Derek Guthrie and additional editors and authors from all three decades of the magazine’s run.

Many of those attending are featured in “The Essential New Art Examiner,” an anthology of essays edited by Terri Griffith, Kathryn Born and Janet Koplos and published this month by Northern Illinois University Press.

The symposium panel will explore these questions:

  • What difference did the New Art Examiner make to the history of art in Chicago?
  • What difference does it make to the practice of art in Chicago now that it’s gone?

The museum is closed from Saturday, Dec. 17, through Monday, Jan. 9.

Located on the west-end first floor of Altgeld Hall, the galleries are open to the public from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, noon to 4 p.m. Saturday and by appointment for group tours.

Exhibitions and lectures are free; donations are appreciated.

Pay parking is available in the visitor’s lot on Carroll Avenue and at metered spots in front of Altgeld Hall. Free parking is available Saturdays and during receptions and visiting artist lectures in the lot northeast of Gilbert and College Drives.

The exhibition is sponsored in part by the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency; the Friends of the NIU Art Museum; and the Dean’s Circle of the College of Visual and Performing Arts, NIU Foundation.

Call (815) 753-1936 for more information.