Architectonic Artropolis- Outside and In

Fistacuffs, Nicole Beck, sculptor  (click images for larger view)

We're heading into the last half of Artropolis Chicago. the 2011 version of what is becoming an annual event offering up a full floor of art, plus another half floor of antiques, in the vast Merchandise Mart.  It's open today, Sunday, May 1, from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., and tomorrow Monday from 11:00 a.m.  to 4:00 p.m. (3:00 p.m. for the Antiques Fair)

The show spills over onto Orleans and the Mart riverside esplanade, with something like sixteen sculptures installed where they interact with the events of the street.  Here, for example, we have John Aducci's My Pi amended by a visitor to become My Pi, with Motorcycle . . .

There's also Suzanne Horwitz's Nautilus . . .

. . . and Terrence Karpowicz's Mount . . .

 . . . which you can see being assembling in this post from Jyoti Srivastava's indispensable Public Art in Chicago website, which has extensive coverage on all the sculptures and the artists who made them,  part of the group Contemporary Sculptors of Chicago.   There are a number of other posts on the installation of individual works, including Ruth Aizuss Migdal's Flappers . . .

Among the architectonic works are Victor, a steel sculpture by the appropriately named Eric Steele . . .

. . . and Michael Brown's Deconstruct-Reconstruct , created out of that Chicago architectural mainstay, Indiana limestone . . .

Once inside in the lobby, you'll find Juan Angel Chavez's massive Side Ways Can Project, a walk-in sculpture that's also a listening chamber.

Jyoti also has some first-night photo's of some of the most interesting art upstairs, and reminds us to check out Booth 167, where you can check out the 6th Chicago Sculpture International's selection of intriguing bookshelf-sized works that are closer to the budgets of the more liquid-asset-challenged.

And while you're up there, don't forget to look out the window.  The Mart offers cityscape views and Chicago panorama's that can rival the art inside.