Three West Chicago artists featured in 'Signals & Codes,' part of 2021 Terrain Biennial
Terrain Biennial 2021 presents "Signals & Codes," a group show featuring Anni Holm, Austin McCann, John Rakow, and Mandy Rakow. The show will be exhibited at 336 Harrison St in West Chicago. The exhibition is based on a pedagogical collaboration through the nonprofit Chicago Arts Partnerships in Education (CAPE), initially aimed at working parents, seeking experimental ways to bring artistic practice into daily life.
"Signals & Codes" features original flags and texts from its included artists.
The artworks in "Signals & Codes" play with expectations. While flags are generally used to communicate clearly, objectively, and broadly to a target audience, the flags in this exhibition are subjective, experimental propositions. Accompanying texts from each artist offer poetic and performative strategies for "activating" the flags, through performance, participation, and poetics. Artists also touch on diverse concerns, from gender trouble to handicraft and public speech. Together, the exhibition challenges certain false divisions, such as public/private, individual/collective, and professional/amateur.
"Signals & Codes" is part of the 2021 Terrain Biennial international public art festival, hosted from Oct. 2 to Nov. 15, 2021. For more information, email amccann@pm.me.
• Anni Holm is a conceptual artist with a deep interest in social sculpture. Born in Randers, Denmark, Holm attended Krabbesholm Højskole in Skive before immigrating to the U.S. She has a BFA from Columbia College in Chicago. Holm has exhibited, performed, participated in artist residencies and created public art installations both in the U.S. and Europe. A resident of West Chicago, she is also the curator and co-founder of People Made Visible, a nonprofit with a mission to facilitate community through art experiences. Besides also being a teaching artist for CAPE in West Chicago, she is a parent of two Gary Elementary students.
• Mandy Rakow has a Studio Art degree from Concordia University Chicago, focusing on painting and mixed media. She serves on the board of the Awakenings Project and formerly served on the West Chicago Cultural Arts Commission, producing a monthly community music event for five years. She works at the McAninch Arts Center at College of DuPage, and is the music director at International Community Church in Lombard. She lives in West Chicago with her husband John (also an artist) and their daughter Esther.
• John Rakow is an artist from West Chicago, Illinois. He received his BFA in sculpture and photography from Illinois Wesleyan University and is currently studying fashion design at the College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, Illinois. He works as a social service coordinator at an assisted living facility.