Fill in the Blank Gallery’s Last Exhibition, “Habitual Growth” to Open July 22, Featuring a Collaborative Installation by Alexis Ortiz, Julia Gootzeit and Katie Schofield.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 13, 2011

Chicago, IL—Fill in the Blank Gallery (5038 N. Lincoln Avenue, Chicago) will host their last exhibition ever: a collaborative installation by Alexis Ortiz, Julia Gootzeit and Katie Schofield, running July 22 – August 20. The exhibit, called Habitual Growth, features collaborative pieces that revolve around the process of creation in which ritualistic motions are repeated, producing an accumulation of simple forms. As the daily act of making becomes habit, the forms grow and intertwine. The different textures and materials are juxtaposed to create an imagined habitat of symbiotic relationships. Natural and industrial elements interact - eating, regurgitating, sheltering, mimicking, covering, and encrusting one another.

Born, raised and educated in many places, Alexis is currently teaching and making art in Chicago. His own works “are each dramatic stories and exaggerated sentiments”. He uses sculpture, jewelry, clothing, illustration and dance to relay his very active imagination. He has exhibited works in galleries, cafes and cultural centers throughout  Chicago and Xela. This Fall he is starting a large scale weaving residency at the Labor Museum at Hull House.

Julia Gootzeit is a Saint Louis based visual artist.  She received a BA from Oberlin College and is a current MFA candidate at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.  In 2010 She was awarded a residency at the Wormfarm Institute in Reedsburg Wisconsin.  She is interested in depicting the intersection between natural and human worlds through sculptural installations.

Katie Schofield is a visual artist based in the Midwest. Using primarily discarded plastic, her work explores the ideas of decomposition, transformation, and renewal. She attended North Park University in Chicago and received a BA degree in 2005. Katie was awarded an artist residency at the Wormfarm Institute in 2008 and spent the following two growing seasons there, working as the artist liaison, program coordinator, and gallery assistant. She is currently living in Southwest Wisconsin, raising vegetables, chickens, ducks, and two goats. Later this year, Katie will be a featured artist on the Farm Art Detour in Reedsburg, Wisconsin.

{fill in the blank} Gallery will be closing at the end of August. For the past 3 years we have provided a platform for artists to cultivate and share their ideas in a public setting. Through exhibits, workshops, classes and events pertaining to the arts we strive to initiate exchange and build connections between the space and it’s community. An artist owned and operated space, owners Mary Ayling, Kristen Althoff, and Katie Hogan opened {fill in the blank} in January of 2009. Since then we have received overwhelming press and recognition, including Best New Gallery of 2009 by Proximity Magazine and runner-up for Best Gallery of 2010 in the Chicago Reader “Best Of Chicago” Poll.

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