"10 Artists for the Holidays: Christmas Past & Present" Exhibition at Iannelli Studios opens Dec. 6 at 6:30 p.m.

10 Artists for the Holidays: Christmas Past & Present
An exhibition presented by the Kalo Foundation of Park Ridge

Exhibit opens Friday, December 6 from 6:30 – 9:00 p.m.
Additional hours on December 7, 14, and 21 from 11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.

It’s a Wonderful Show, with enchanting holiday cards and prints where every angel gets its wings. The “10 Artists for the Holidays: Christmas Past & Present” Exhibition showcases joyous images created from 1910 to 2024 . . . celebrating the vibrant heritage of the Park Ridge art colony through the vitality of Park Ridge today.

The Exhibit opens Friday, December 6th at Iannelli Studios (255 North Northwest Highway, Park Ridge, Illinois 60068) from 6:30 – 9:00 p.m. Featured artists: Melpo DeFotis, Alfonso Iannelli, Margaret Iannelli, Dulah Evans Krehbiel, Edgar Miller, Rex Parker, Don Pegler, Rae Penzin, Stephen H. Randahl and Mel Steinfels.

“It’s a Christmas Miracle, to be part of an show that includes such exceptional artisan as Alfonso Iannelli, Margaret Iannelli, Dulah Evans Krehbiel, Edgar Miller, and Mel Steinfels, just a great way to share the spirit of the season with your entire family”, said Parker.

My favorite print in the exhibit is the Nutcracker Holiday Concert. “I wanted a singular dramatic image to convey the magic and enchantment of The Nutcracker in this poster. The stylized shapes, bright colors create a whimsical and delightful toy soldier”, said Parker.

The Park Ridge Civic Orchestra performed Tchaikovsky’s acclaimed musical score December 2017. The Holiday Concert was a heart-lifting celebration, featuring timeless holiday music, from legendary Park Ridge pianist Kent Wehman and jazz vocalist, Sara Marie Young.

This Jazz Age print celebrates WJE’s award winning restoration of the Old Cook County Hospital

This poster celebrates Wiss Janney Elstner Associates Inc. for their award winning renovation of the Old Cook County Hospital. The rebirth of this breathtaking Beaux-Arts building is an amazing architectural achievement in landmark preservation.

“This spectacular illustration — reveals the remarkable color palette used on this project," said Parker.

The typeface used in the poster is the classic Goudy Old Style created in 1915 by Frederic Goudy. Goudy was America’s greatest typographer who designed over 100 fonts. He had offices in both Chicago and Park Ridge.

A yellow 1928 Rolls-Royce Sport Phantom is featured in the poster. It was the car driven by Robert Redford in 1974’s The Great Gatsby, perfectly capturing the flamboyance and excess of the Jazz Age.

Cook County Hospital was a beacon of hope for the people of Chicago for more than a century. WJE just put a spotlight on one of the most dazzling projects in Chicago.

"Rex Parker: Twenty Five Prints" at Iannelli Studios on Mar. 19 at 1 p.m.

Rex Parker: Twenty Five Prints
An exhibition presented by the Kalo Foundation of Park Ridge
Sunday, March 19 at 1:00 p.m. at Iannelli Studios

“I am delighted that the Kalo Foundation of Park Ridge is presenting my new exhibition Rex Parker: Twenty Five Prints,” a collection of dramatic Art Deco prints, said Parker. 

On exhibition are Rex’s fine-art print series, “The Park Ridge Art Colony,” celebrating Kalo, Clara Barck Welles, Grant Wood, Alfonso Iannelli, John Alden Carpenter, Frederick Goudy and The Village Press.

Parker’s uniquely colorful, Art Deco-inspired posters for many local events will be on display. These works included posters for citywide street fairs, outdoor concerts, local charity drives, the bold and brilliant posters for the Park Ridge Civic Orchestra’s concert series.

Among the show’s highlights is Parker’s clever take on, “Harrison Ford and the Epic in Stone,” Park Ridge native and epic movie star Harrison Ford was the inspiration for this sophisticated poster, along with the original, ornate “jungle” grillwork of the 1920s-era Pickwick Theatre, seen behind the heroic figure. The poster evokes adventure in a setting of Art Deco drama — a cinematic experience unique to the Pickwick Theatre that intrigued a young Harrison Ford — and youth of all ages, before and since. Recalling the Saturday afternoon serial cliffhangers of Ford’s (and the artist’s) boyhood.

One of his own favorite series centers on the Park Ridge building that first caught his artist’s eye. “Legends of the Pickwick Theatre” posters — herald movies, locally raised celebrity actors and other creatives that enriched the history of Park Ridge; a series some have called a modern Art Deco masterpiece. Parker simply calls it doing good works.

Rex will present an original, illustrated program, “Rex Parker: Twenty Five Prints,” on Sunday March 19 at 1:00 p.m. at Iannelli Studios. All are welcome to this wonderful event.

"Riverside’s Chaucers" exhibit features the "Gig Workers of The Kelmscott Chaucer" print series: Jan. 27 – Mar. 24

Riverside’s Chaucers
Tomás Rivera Library, 4th Floor
Weekdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. from January 27 – March 24

I am delighted that the “Gig Workers of The Kelmscott Chaucer” will have its world premiere as part of the University of California, Riverside’s extraordinary exhibition — “Riverside’s Chaucers”. This exhibit, curated by UCR Library’s Special Collections & University Archives, will be on display January 27, 2023 – March 24, 2023 at the reading room located on the 4th floor of the Tomás Rivera Library.

The fine-art print series by artist Rex Parker, “Gig Workers of The Kelmscott Chaucer”, celebrates William Morris and the artists and artisans, wordsmiths and machinists who forged this Arts and Crafts masterpiece, which W. B. Yeats declared “the most beautiful of all printed books.”

While doing research in spring 2020 for an upcoming lecture to the William Morris Society in Hammersmith, I came across a statement by artist Robert Catterson-Smith concerning what he called “A Little Job for William Morris”. That “little job” was the now-legendary Kelmscott Chaucer, Smith had been one of numerous freelance “gig workers” on the job.

“What a delight to fall into Rex Parker’s brilliant poster celebration, the ‘Gig Workers of The Kelmscott Chaucer’. Honoring the 125th anniversary of the most famous private press book ever printed, Parker’s poster series introduces you to the craftspeople who made The Kelmscott Chaucer, not unlike the way we became acquainted with Chaucer’s Canterbury cast, one by one. From the typecaster, engraver, and printer, to the bookbinder, papermaker, and William Morris himself, Parker delivers a series that is worthy of devotees of Morris and Chaucer alike. As a bookseller and traditional letterpress printer, I am captivated with Parker’s ability to bring these characters to life in a way that honors Morris’s tradition of employing only the best of the best craftsmanship in his work,” said Kate Askew — letterpress printer, dealer of rare books and founder of the Yella Dog Press.

"Chicago Design Through the Decades" at Art on theMART: Nov. 18 – Dec. 30

Chicago Design Through the Decades
Art on theMART
November 18 – December 30 at 7:30 and 8:00 p.m. every night

I am thrilled to be a part of Chicago Design Through the Decades, a century of design excellence in Chicago. This dazzling story is on view at Art on theMART nightly at 7:30 and 8:00 p.m. starting Friday, November 18th through Friday, December 30th. The Decades team has worked in conjunction with the Chicago Design Archive (CDA) to showcase a curated collection of amazing Chicago design history. “The Decades team has created a spectacular visual and sensory experience,” said Parker.

Some of my favorite posters were integrated into the animation of “The Decades” film including: Frederic Goudy “The Titan of Type” — America’s designer of the shapes that dress our words. A Century of Progress Electrical Group Pavilion with its fabulous Art Deco facade sculpture by Alfonso Iannelli and the colorful imagery of Games On! Chicago’s Olympic Bid branding. “To see a 340 foot high Frederic Goudy or a runner from the Olympic series in motion will be something to behold,” said Parker.

Art on theMART is one of the great public art platforms on the globe — it is the largest permanent digital art projection on the planet, projecting contemporary artwork across the 2.5 acre river-facade of theMART. In September 2018, the launch of Art on theMART attracted over 32,000 people. “The people of Chicago should take a moment from their busy life to glimpse this fast-paced, breathtakingly beautiful interactive mural — visualized on a such a monumental scale,” said Parker.

The project is best viewed on The Chicago Riverwalk between Wells and Lake Streets.

Project Team:
Daria Tsoupikova, University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) School of Design & Electronic Visualization Lab
Sharon Oiga, UIC School of Design & Chicago Design Archive
Guy Villa Jr, Columbia College Chicago
Krystofer Kim, National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Jack Weiss, Chicago Design Archive
Cheri McIntyre, Chicago Design Archive
Lauren Meranda, Northeastern Illinois University & Chicago Design Archive

AI/ML visualization by Fabio Miranda, UIC Electronic Visualization Lab
Music by Louis Schwadron, Sky White Sound
Featuring vocalist/activist Nnelolo Karen Wilson-Ama’Echefu and rapper Elijah Robb

© 2022 Chicago Design Through the Decades