Obama Presidential Center doubles as a showcase for contemporary art
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Richard Hunt's "Bird Book." Photo: Carrie Shepherd/Axios
For months, I had seen little reveals here and there of the artists whose work would fill the Obama Presidential Center.
- Many of the most well-known names on the international scene are on display, but also Chicago artists who have dedicated their careers to creating stunning public art around the city.
Flashback: Louise Bernard started as museum director in 2017 and, along with curator Virginia Shore, has commissioned 28 works for the center that display the Obamas' tastes as well as their influence in popular culture.
- In other words, what artist is going to say "No" when the Obamas ask them to create a piece of art for the presidential library?
- President Obama especially, was involved in the commissioning process, Bernard told me in March.
What they're saying: "We knew that the arts were central to [the Obamas] thinking about how to engage people, how to reach people, the relationship between arts and education that was just central to their thinking," Bernard said.
- "They had many artists come to the White House, especially performers. But they also hung art in the White House, they acquired new pieces."
What to expect: It would be nearly impossible to have a conversation about contemporary Chicago artists without including the late, great sculptor Richard Hunt, whose instantly recognizable bronze statue "Book Bird" sits next to the new Chicago Public Library on the campus.
- The Obamas commissioned Hunt to create a work for the center very early on, and "Book Bird" ended up as Hunt's final work before he died in 2023.
- The bold, earth-toned tapestry by artist Nick Cave and artist Marie Watt is another nod to Chicago's rich artistic scene.
- Cave's provocative "Soundsuits," which I first saw at the Smart Museum of Art, another South Side treasure, and his 2022 retrospective at MCA have made the Chicago artist much more visible in recent years.
Artist Mark Bradford isn't a Chicagoan, but his massive "City of the Big Shoulders" work, spanning multiple stories, captures the Chicago map the way so many of us have viewed it throughout the years, zooming in to figure out the boundary lines between our many neighborhoods; boundaries that we know can meet a whole lot.
- Using a mix of materials, Bradford shows the panoramic east-to-west view of our city — lake, land, life.
Zoom out: I love that longtime Chicago muralists Dorian Sylvain and Sam Kirk's "Pass It Forward" mural covers a wall of the gym, two artists who have dedicated their careers to sharing their art out in the open, accessible to all, especially on the South Side.
Zoom in: Paintings, sculptures, murals, and collages are well represented at the Obama Presidential Center, but so are several dresses and other articles of clothing Michelle Obama wore.
- Fashion is, of course, art, and the first lady knew the power of style, tapping into emerging designers the world now knows about because of her.
- She elevated those artists, and their names are now memorialized next to their creations.
The bottom line: You know how every year the former president drops his favorite music, books and film list and everyone pays attention?
- In a way, the museum is the Obamas' list of contemporary artists to watch. Pay attention.