First and foremost, Lisa Flores of ALL RiSE (which is right around the corner from 65 Grand) would like you to know that the recently-relocated version of her gallery is going to be less predictable. For a while she was debating a move from Wicker Park to L.A., but then decided that she hadn't completed her mission in Chicago yet—to find her unique voice in the community and bring a sense of fun and excitement to the emerging art scene.

With Weekend Fling, a new series of one weekend-only shows that launches on October 17th with work from Jori Brewer and Kiley Reed-Black, Flores is taking your traditional exhibition model and removing the logistical headaches that make it hard for up-and-coming artists to catch a break. "It's quite ambitious and many people think I'm crazy," she admits, "but I'm hoping it will help shake things up. There are far too many quality artists that I want to work with, and by allowing shorter runs, I get to work with many more. If it doesn't work, come Sunday night the artist and I can shake hands and move on."

Promiscuous to hop into bed with so many young artists? Perhaps. But as a small business owner in a tough economy, Flores is looking for a way to make a living and get an accurate read on what works in the Chicago art community. "I don't need to use my gallery as place to curate or to act pretentious, I need to use it productively and keep artwork in motion," she explains. "There are so many artists who would come to me before and I would have to send them away because their work didn't match my vision. This set up takes that out of the equation and allows me to put more people up on the walls and get them the feedback that will help them grow."

ALL RiSE is located at 1370 West Grand Avenue; the Weekend Fling series runs through December 21st.

- Caroline Stanley

* images courtesy of ALL RiSE

Similar Topics:gallery

comments (0) : Send to a Friend : Subscribe

:  digg this :  del.icio.us! :