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Spertus in the News
ART: REVIEWS
By Alan G. Artner
Chicago Tribune art critic
Published February 10, 2006
Kay Rosen's "Hello Again" is the first in a series of site-specific artworks commissioned by the Spertus Museum for the barrier on the construction site of its new addition. The 8-by-50 foot work is made up entirely of words in blocky white and yellow letters on a bright blue ground. It cannot be missed by drivers or walkers, though the more rapid one's passage, the less likely one will be able to grasp the point.
Rosen has written in capital letters two words: THEIR HEIR. They describe how the new building is a successor to the old and will receive the rank and intellectual property of generations. She then has set the "H" and "I" apart from the other letters by color, which smilingly draws attention to the repeated greeting of the work's title.
After the ease of the greeting, however, viewers are expected to do a little work. Rosen often makes words look like what they mean. And here her juxtaposition of words graphically conveys inheritance, as "THEIR" seems to pass down four letters to form "HEIR." The letter "T" is thus left behind, which to Rosen is an illustration of how some things cannot be transferred and proceed to fade away in the past.
As usual with the artist, cleverness is offset by seeming naturalness, as if the words were found objects that just happened to fit together and by their appearance reveal what they mean. That's the beauty of the piece and what makes it so winning a success.
At 618 S. Michigan Ave., 312-322-1747.
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Copyright © 2006, Chicago Tribune
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