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Monster Roster, Chicago's First Art Movement, Featured at Smart Museum

By Sam Cholke | February 12, 2016 6:05am
 The Monster Roster was a group of existentialists going against the trend towards abstraction.
Monster Roster Opening
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HYDE PARK — The Smart Museum of Art has opened a retrospective on the first major art movement to come out of Chicago, the Monster Roster.

“Monster Roster: Existentialist Art in Postwar Chicago” opened Thursday and runs through June 12 at the museum at 5550 S. Greenwood Ave.

The Monster Roster was a group of mid-century artists led by Leon Golub whose work defied the abstraction of the period and created psychological works that drew on classical mythology and ancient art.

“The Monster Roster represents the first group of artists in Chicago to assert its own style and approach — one not derived from anywhere else — and is one of the most important Midwestern contributions to the development of American art,” co-curator John Corbett said. “Their work was gnarly, nasty and out of step with prevailing trends.”

Corbett curated the exhibit of more than 60 pieces with gallery owner Jim Dempsey and Smart Museum curators Jessica Moss and Richard Born.

The museum will host a series of events to coincide with the exhibit, including a family art day on the first Saturday of every month through June with a project inspired by the exhibit.

On March 11, the museum will screen works by Tom Palazzolo, the documentarian who worked with many of the Monster Roster artists.

Other events include panel discussions with the curators on the exhibit and other events.

A full schedule is available on the museum’s website.

A book collecting the art with essays by curators and critics is also expected to be published in connection with the exhibit.

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