Though she works by day at Kavi Gupta Gallery, 835 W. Washington, don't brush off Kristen VanDeventer as a gallery assistant. When she's not mixing with some of the most talented artists in Chicago, she's working on paintings at her West Side studio.
Most interested in creating dialogues through the visual, VanDeventer uses a varied color palette to create mostly representational images inspired by daily life, the Internet, images from books and even pictures that come to her while she's in the shower or lulling through a dream. In a nutshell, her paintings seem to act as subconscious realizations or reactions to things that we encounter every day. On April 20, she'll open a show at Roots & Culture Gallery, 1034 N. Milwaukee, with Carmen Price (it runs through May 17).
Q. Tell me about your work and the show at Roots & Culture.
A. The show is going to be all painting, and the paintings that I'm making right now are pretty modest-sized work. They're all singular images that relate to each other and are sort of starting this subtle narrative, I think. There'll be a silhouette of someone's face looking out. Another painting is of an empty bedroom, and the sheets are sort of ruffled up. So they're sort of all these images that, together, start a narrative, but then the way that they're painted is usually different depending on the image. Each has different colors, and the colors also relate to each other visually. Not that this is an installation, but everything is quite deliberate.
Q. So by day you work at Kavi Gupta. How do you think that influences your work?
A. I think it helps. At this point, I've been working there so long, so it's just extremely helpful. My job requires me to look at images, tons of different artists, and think about how and why people make different objects and images. For me, it's pretty much a privilege to have a job like that--if you have to have a job. You have to work in a situation where you learn more about the commercial side of the business, but it's not a bad thing to know when you're an artist.
Q. If I were to come to your neighborhood, Ukrainian Village, where would you insist I visit?
A. It's strange because I just moved here. I lived in Logan Square in this one apartment for a really long time. Now I live on a main street, Augusta, so it doesn't really feel like a neighborhood. I guess I would take you to Stella's [935 N. Western] because it's the closest bar. This Polish woman Stella owns the bar, and she's really feisty. And she probably pours the stiffest drink in Chicago. She'll fill the glass up entirely with vodka, and then add a splash of tonic on top. It's ridiculous. If you order vodka and cranberry juice, it barely has a color.
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SOUTH SIDE
McNally's, 11136 S. Western: $2 bottles of Bud and Bud Light
Morgan's Bar and Grill on Maxwell Street, 1325 S. Halsted: $6 martinis, $3 call shots; $2.95 appetizers, 3-6 p.m.
Reggie's, 2105 S. State: $3 Coronas, $3 Jim Beam, Jack Daniels and Jameson cocktails, $2 PBR tallboys; 25-cent jumbo wings
FAR NORTH SIDE
Bad Dog Tavern, 4535 N. Lincoln: $3 shots of Makers Mark and drafts of Goose Island Honker's Ale
Morseland, 1218 W. Morse: $4 Svedka drinks, $2 bottles of Miller High Life
Wild Goose Bar & Grill, 4265 N. Lincoln: $2.50 domestic drafts, $3.50 import drafts; $3.99 all-you-can-eat spaghetti
NEAR NORTH SIDE
Butch McGuire's, 20 W. Division: $8 domestic pitchers; $6.75 grilled cheese and tomato soup, half-price appetizers, 5-9:30 p.m.
Motel Bar, 600 W. Chicago: $3 Goose Island, $5 Jim Beam drinks; $7 fish tacos
Suite Lounge, 1446 N. Wells: half-price drinks
Interview with Kristen VanDeventer
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