City Self

@ MCA

Chicago Board of Trade II, 1999, Andreas Gursky

What does Chicago look like through the outsider eyes of New York–based painter and filmmaker Sarah Morris? Chicago is Morris’ tenth film and part of an ongoing series of city portraits. Set to a hypnotic electronic score by British artist Liam Gillick, Morris’s film Chicago (2011) pays homage to the quintessential American city.

The American premiere of Chicago is the touchstone for this display of works from the MCA Collection—both by Chicago artists and by outsiders like Morris—that similarly hold a mirror to the museum’s hometown. A certain measure of alienation permeates much of the work of Andreas Gursky, and Catherine Opie, who are among the better-known artists in the “outsider” category, while artists Jonas Dovydenas, Kenneth Josephson, Jason Lazarus, and Bob Thall offer a more sympathetic or relaxed “insider” view. The exhibition also includes works by Keith Morrison, and Thomas Struth from neighboring Chicago collections.

City Self is up until April 13th. There will be a curators tour with Dieter Roelstraete tomorrow at 12. Click here for the MCA website.