Alicia Forestall-Boehm

On Friday, March 6th, I attended the opening of BUILD: A Sculpture Show at Oliva Gallery in Chicago’s Logan Square neighborhood. Included in this show was a new sculpture that I created specifically for this exhibition . The idea of social distancing was just beginning to take hold, and while many of us in attendance at the exhibition opening were resisting hugging and shaking each other’s hands, none of us could have guessed that in just over a week, the gallery, and most businesses would be closed and we would all be sheltered at home. The resulting quarantine has put a pause on all of our lives. Many artists have created art for postponed or canceled solo and group shows that no one will see. Fortunately, many museums are offering virtual tours and many art curators and artists are creating virtual online art exhibitions. The Corona Sidestep: A Virtual Exhibition , curated by Joanne Mattera, is an excellent collection of artwork that offers “some visibility to ar...

Installing an art exhibition can be a fun and creative endeavor but it also requires A LOT of hard work.   Installing a show is a true labor of love.  It involves an eye for balance and harmony.   Deciding where a piece of art should be placed in an exhibit space is as important as the work itself.     Once a preliminary overview of what will be included in the exhibition is made, an initial placement of the works is made.   This helps to visualize how the show will look once it is hung.  A relationship of color and form is considered when determining the placement  of art in a space.    It is essential that there is breathing room so that each work can be individually appreciated. Another thing that is often essential is a ladder!   Some installations have unique challenges attached to them.     The ceiling height and duct work at ARC Gall...

I was thrilled to have had the opportunity for my first solo exhibition this past December. My show Transformed Spaces consisted of two sculptural installations; Infinite Possibilities and The Spaces We Inhabit.  It considered the symmetry of the urban landscape and explored the physical and mental boundaries of the public and private spaces we inhabit.      Infinite Possibilities is a wall installation consisting of 30 unique wall cubes, each utilizing similar and familiar materials yet each recognizing its own distinctive space .   Spaces We Inhabit is an installation of a dozen, twelve foot high columns of encaustic and fiber sculptures created by altering 2-dimensional paintings.   This transformation acknowledges another kind of space; one of visual repetitiveness and change.    Transformed Spaces was installed in the Art on Armitage Gallery window December 1, 2015 and was up throughout the month. ...