Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 8/18/2004
Chicago, IL

Women Equals Strength
Chicago women artists depict the female form as an emblem of strength and transformation. Featuring the work of Chicago artists Nancy Pirri and Nicole Aimiee Macaluso for the month of September at the Soul Cafe, 1301 West Hollywood, at corner with Ridge and Wayne. Free wine reception on Wednesday September 1, 7 - 10pm.

Women Equals Strength presents the art of women artists who position the female form at the center of their work, featuring the work of Chicago painter Nicole Aimiee Macaluso and sculptor Nancy Pirri, at the Soul Cafe for the month of September. Curator Jason Messinger selects work that exhibits women in positions of strength and positive transformation.

Painter Nicole Aimiee Macaluso exhibits paintings that explore positive transformation. Her Phoenix Series uses the example of the mythological bird of destruction and renewal for her startling work. Macaluso paints on paper then cuts the paintings apart, weaving several works together and thereby fusing disparate landscapes and figures into one cohesive whole. Her process of painting then cutting apart and then reassembling echoes the painting's phoenix-like context of creation-destruction-renewal. Macaluso's distinctive style derives from the high realism of the original paintings against the surrealistic exuberance of their final woven form. Joyful transformation of the figures into and out of the landscapes is coupled with the interplay of the painted spatial depths against the flat plane of the woven papers. The figures in her paintings exist both within the world and are composed of it, pointing to layered emotional states and a fragmented and recombined sense of time and place. Nicole Aimee Macaluso paints the soul's journey through worlds within.

Nancy Pirri sculpts women from clay that evoke lost histories and mythic pasts. Focusing on traditional classical female forms, Pirri brings the curvaceous nature of the female body forward, creating works that are both sensual and enticing. The artist uses a variety of thickly applied glazes with rough and uneven textures. The forms are sometimes truncated and given torn edges and distressed surfaces to create a sense of rawness and antiquity. Pirri references the sculptural vernacular of many disparate cultures in her worldly women. Evoking the past through the uses of fragmented forms and rich surfaces, the women are vaulted into archtypes of noble strength and timeless beauty, like the venerated icons of a goddess cult, or portrayals of a long-lost empress-queen. Ceramic is a medium paradoxically having both seeming fragility as well as a lasting durability that can outlive the cultures that produce it. By harkening to the forms of the past, Nancy Pirri gives her own work the durable strength and the regal power of the best examples of classical sculptures.

All artists exhibiting at the Soul Cafe donate artwork to the 12th Art Against AIDS, a silent and live art auction that supports Heartland Alliance's extensive network of supportive HIV/AIDS services, including HIV-related medications for uninsured and under-insured Uptown residents receiving health care at Heartland's Community Health Center. Heartland Alliance for Human Needs & Human Rights provides housing, health care, human services and human rights protections to the most poor and vulnerable people in society and uses its 116 years of experience to advocate for social justice.

Soul Cafe owner Michael Depalma invites everyone to see the show and enjoy the specialty teas and signature coffee drinks available at the cafe. Soul Cafe is open for a wide variety of events throughout the week. Located on the border between the Andersonville and Edgewater neighborhoods, the 2,300 square foot cafe houses a sleek coffee and tea bar, light fare, and free wireless internet. The public is invited to a free wine reception with the curator and artists and Art Against AIDS organizers on Wednesday, September 1, 2004, from 7 - 10pm.

Information at a glance
Women Equals Strength
Art by Nicole Aimiee Macaluso and Nancy Pirri
September 1 through October 2 at the Soul Cafe,
1301 W Hollywood, at Hollywood and Ridge
Free Reception: Wednesday September 1, 2004, 7 - 10pm
Cafe: (773)470-7605
Curator Jason Messinger: (773)255-0993

Jpegs of artist work available upon request!