1.) What kind of artist do you consider yourself?
My work moves easily through many materials and processes so I would consider myself an interdisciplinary, conceptual artist.

2.) What drew you to Comfort Station, what did you do with the space?
I knew of the space through my friend Jordan Martins. When MK Meador joined the curatorial team there, we talked about doing a show that would be, in a sense, a continuation of the work we were doing together at the HATCH projects at CAC. I was limited to the wall space at CS so I decided to make a new group of wall-mounted work that either literally or conceptually grafted together two crucial points in my life and artistic career, right before the birth of my first child and following my last and second child, wherein I could actively be making and in the studio.  Once I had established the conceptual component of my own work, MK and I invited a group of women (many of whom we did not know) to contribute a piece of their own that related to the theme of grafting in any way they so chose. In that sense, it became a curatorial experiment.

3.) What artist from all of history would you like to invite to dinner, and what would you feed them?
I would invite Agnes Martin and my mother, who is also an artist and first introduced me to her work when I was in high school. We would have dinner in my Mom’s garden and I imagine we would feed her a beautiful tea with fruits, salads, cheeses, pastries and champagne.

4) What is your favorite food memory?
I really love sweets and I was determined when we got married to have an excellent wedding cake that was delicious. We asked a baker in San Francisco (our wedding was held at my mom’s house) to make us a really dense coconut cake in the shape of a giant Hostess Sno-ball.

5) What piece of art do you secretly want to steal?
Antonio Corradini’s Bust of a Veiled Woman (Puritas) marble.
Corradini was a Venetian Rococo sculptor. Despite the virtuous parenthetical, I find this piece to be incredibly dark, a woman frozen under the diaphanous veil.

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We can’t resist the snarky art:

A local Masterpiece by Dan Sullivan and Edra Soto:

6018North:

Mikey McParlane and Caleb Yono performance of Foolish Heart of the Golden Boy, 2015. Loosely based on a story about Pope Leo X, who had a boy painted gold in his honor and subsequently died. The performance will be staged in relation to Rodrigo Lara-Zendejas’ Chapel. 

Some of us at ITAK looking fancy:

Tickets are available here. The installations and tablescapes at the event will be created by a slew of talented artists collaborating with a band of equally talented chefs. The artists working on this are Maurene Cooper, Andrew Rosinski, Tori Terzakis and Stacia Yeapanis. 

We spoke with Stacia Yeapanis about one of her go-to recipes and decided to try it out for ourselves in preparation for Starving Artists!

Stacia Yeapanis (CAC BOT Resident 2011-2012) Chicago-based interdisciplinary artist Yeapanis explores the relationship between repetition, desire and impermanence in impermanent, improvisational installations. She is an instructor in the Department of Fiber and Material Studies at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where earned she her MFA in 2006 and interviews artists weekly for the OtherPeoplesPixels.

“I cook like I make art, transforming existing products by combining them in new ways. And I tend to make the same recipes over and over again. Also, because I’d rather save time to spend in the studio, I often start with products from Trader Joe’s, augmenting them with fresh vegetables. This also allows me to experiment with one recipe, by changing up the added ingredients for variety. Below is one of my staples.”

Butternut Squash Risotto

2015-06-16 17:50:13

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Ingredients

1. 1 bag Trader Joe's Frozen Butternut Squash Risotto
2. Trader Joe's FrozenTurkey Meatballs (4 meatballs or as many as you want)
3. Trader Joe's Honey Chèvre
4. Pistachios (1/2 cup)
5. 1 bundle of Asparagus*

Instructions

1. 1. Clean and chop asparagus 1 inch pieces, steam until bright green
2. 2. Prepare the risotto according to package directions
3. 3. Prepare meatballs according to package directions, cut in quarters
4. 4. Fold meatballs and asparagus into risotto
5. 5. Top each serving with 1 tbsp honey chèvre and 1/8 cup pistachios

Notes

1. *If I'm in the mood for variety, I trade the asparagus out for a bag of arugula or kale. If you add Kale, be sure to pull off all the stems and massage the leaves until soft. No need to cook the greens in either case—just fold them into the risotto while it's warm and the greens will wilt nicely.

By Stacia Yeapanis

Inside the Artist's Kitchen http://insidetheartistskitchen.com/blog/

We happend to learn about Rude Hippo during a Pecha Kucha at Martyrs. They were raising money to build their own brewery and tap room. It’s been a little over a year and this brewing company is going strong, and close to the tap room of their dreams.

With artist made labels, their line up of beers include unique flavors like basil and honey, beet. Check out their rotating options at local shops, to name a few: Bottles & Cans, Lakeview Liquors, Beer Temple, and Binnys around the city. A complete listing is available on theirwebsite.

Pair with your favorite foods, or check out one of their beer dinners.

Fancy Pizza:

Fig Pizza

2015-05-12 01:34:26

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Ingredients

1. Fig
2. Caramelized onion
3. Robiola cheese
4. Cardamum

Instructions

1. 1. Caramelize an onion
2. 2. Chop figs
3. 3. Top with robiola cheese
4. 4. Bake for 20-30 minutes, on 400 degrees.

Notes

1. Robiola cheese is an italian soft cheese, you could also replace this with brie or another soft cheese if you were having trouble locating some.

Inside the Artist's Kitchen http://insidetheartistskitchen.com/blog/

Prosciutto Pizza

2015-05-12 01:43:03

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Ingredients

1. Prosciutto
2. New Years Sauce, or other red sauce
3. Bacon fat
4. Garlic
5. Salami
6. Shallots
7. Basil
8. Gruyere

Instructions

1. 1. Chop everything, and shred cheese.
2. 2. Take garlic, shallots and cook in bacon fat.
3. 3. Toss in a little red wine.
4. 4. Spread New Years sauce onto crust.
5. 5. Put garlic/shallot mixture on top of that.
6. 6. Continue stacking ingredients, and top with cheese.
7. 7. Bake 20-30 minutes, at 400 degrees.

Inside the Artist's Kitchen http://insidetheartistskitchen.com/blog/

Potato & Rosemary Pizza

2015-05-12 01:46:14

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Ingredients

1. Roasted potatoes
2. Pecorino
3. Rosemary
4. Parmesan
5. Pine nuts

Instructions

1. 1. Chop potatoes into rounds and cook in advance, either by roasting in the oven, or in a pan on the stove.
2. 2. Layer the rest of the ingredients and top with both cheeses.
3. 4. Bake for 20-30 minutes, at 400 degrees.

Inside the Artist's Kitchen http://insidetheartistskitchen.com/blog/

Spinach & Smoked Apple Bacon Pizza

2015-05-12 01:59:11

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Ingredients

1. Truffle oil
2. Spinach
3. Portobello mushrooms
4. Smoked apple bacon
5. Manchego
6. Aged gouda

Instructions

1. 1. Chop ingredients, and shred cheese.
2. 2. Lightly coat crust with truffle oil.
3. 3. Layer ingredients.
4. 4. Top with cheese.
5. 5. Bake 20-30 minutes, at 400 degrees.

Inside the Artist's Kitchen http://insidetheartistskitchen.com/blog/

Some art around the studio:
Matt gets to live and work in his home. He has some enviable work space.

1.) What kind of artist do you consider yourself?
I think, kindly, I’d consider myself a stubborn one.

2.) What drew you to Comfort Station, and what did you do with the space?
The Comfort Station was a strange experience. Once the show at Linda Warren had come down (December, 2013), I only had about ten months to pull a new body of work together. And I wanted to do something special there, so getting all my ducks in a row required that I work rather quickly and, moreover, take to both a mode of thinking and risk taking that, at the time, kept me mostly terrified and rowing around in my sleep. Regardless of what it cost physically or mentally, this, I think, is really the teeth cutting ethos that Comfort Station is good for; from the very beginning, Jess Devereaux had encouraged me to step out of myself, to coax from the work a life that I wouldn’t ordinarily give it.

The Comfort Station has earned a reputation in Chicago as a kind of critical darling, and, personally, it has always been very special to me and so I wanted to treat it that way. Of course I had been to plenty of exhibitions there, some unruly and unexpected, some not, and I think the last thing I wanted to do was come in and hang pictures on the walls and call it a show. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, it’s just plainly not your conventional exhibition venue– it presents you with some severe spacial restrictions that you can certainly either take or leave, but I think taking them can result in really bizarre and revealingly imperfect work. Everything I made that year had in mind particular Comfort Station walls and windows, had in mind where particular objects sat in the space itself, like the long benches and the piano and the little decorative iron window grate in the bathroom and the way the old door frame ornament moved. The work was made deliberately beholden even to the way the sun landed on and moved along the building. The work either behaved with it or it didn’t, either way it made apparent certain considerations within the buildings layout which may have been the viewers wont to consider resolved or ignore. For me, the entire experience revolved around working within those restrictions, both as formal devices and behavioral materials, and, in the end, it undoubtedly became a body of work specific to The Comfort Station space and building.

The Comfort Station had given me a chance to really put my money where my mouth is as far as some ideas I have about architecture and the built environment are concerned, and indeed I was intent on making that happen. I didn’t think, however, that I’d ever put so much shoulder to the wheel. This show changed a lot of things for me.

Also, from the very beginning this show was a collaborative effort. For a long time JR Robinson of Wreckmeister Harmonies and I had talked about doing something together, making work that specifically reflected one another. And so when I finally got around to asking him to be a part of this, he was more than gracious and enthusiastic and just fell right in. I, in turn, spring-boarded off some things he had written prior. There is no end to architectural imagery that recounts the marriage of music to form, they are likely and handy bedfellows, and so I had a lot of history to draw from there. JR came up with a stunning and unnerving wall of a movement. It was a lot to listen to, like everything he does, beautiful and overwhelming and it washed throughout the show as if it pressed out from the work itself.

3.) What artist from all of history would you like to invite to dinner, and what would you feed them?
From all of history I think I’d have Joan Mitchell over. Besides just being in the same room with her (which I imagine would have been, on its own, a dense and powerful experience), I’d also like to know how she managed to navigate Abstract Expressionism, the contentious, hot bed Boys Club that it was. And I’d like to know, from her perspective, how it all came apart then, what she thinks is happening to us now.

Anyway, I’d feed her my famous New Years Sauce, a hearty and homely pasta sauce which is made up of a base of different kinds of tomatoes (usually cherry, plum, and Roma), red and yellow pepper, a jalapeno, a head of garlic, a stalk of rosemary, olive oil, italian sausage and bacon fat, red onion and a couple chopped carrots and a bottle of cheap wine. It sits and simmers for about ten hours, whence everything melts into a stew and its delicious on New Years.

4.) What is your favorite food memory?
My mother is an incredible cook. A warm Norman Rockwell type, and growing up she found as much comfort and stride and solace in the kitchen as she did in her own children. She’d come up with the kind of meal where the table is burdened and there isn’t any room to actually get any eating done. She’s a severely loving and strong and frustrated person, and so her food came out like work. And growing up she’d sometimes make these hugely elaborate, low-lit spreads with her Saturdays or Sundays, but it was Thanksgiving that she’d call off the holds and we’d eat all day long and into the next. Food was treated like the godly American Muscle that it is on this day, and we were respectful of its bounty and always humble and grateful.

5.) What piece of art do you secretly want to steal?
This is a wonderful question. If I had the opportunity to go and steal something I think it’d be Max Mulherns’ gift to the people of Samothraki; a copy of The Winged Victory of Samothrace, intended to replace the original, which was excavated and taken away to the Louvre in the mid-nineteenth century, where it has remained. When the Louvre refused to return the piece, Mulhern made the people of Samothraki a new one, which they did accept as a gift. Unfortunately however, the Greek government stiff-armed his attempt to install the gift at the site where the original Winged Victory was first plucked out of the earth.

Stealing it would, of course, require a lot of digging, since the gift never made it and was instead buried in a field by the Aegean sea.

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Our closing event at the end of the month will also mark the closing of the first round of our Digital Residency program. In collaboration with 2014 resident, Kiam Marcelo Junio, ITAK is creating a “critical cookbook” that will explore the intersections between art, food, and Filipino and queer culture. The book will be launching at the closing event, ready for you to see! We’ll also be screening videos from Junio’s web-series throughout the show.

Check back for more details!

 
Sneek a peek at a recipe below!
Try out some Prosecco to pair with it at any of these upcoming events:

April 6th, 2015- The Dinner Party pre-event tasting. Tickets. 

April 9th, 2015- Sparkling wine dinner at City Winery. Tickets.

April 10th, 2015- Prosecco tasting at Eataly. 3:30-5:30, Free.  

 
Cicchetti are best described as finger food, or anything you can eat while standing with a glass of Prosecco or a Spritz in your hand. For this reason, all the cicchetti should be bite-sized and easy to eat with your hands or a toothpick. Every bacaro in Venice has its own specialties, and everyone can create their own with whatever they enjoy. Here’s a list of some traditional cicchetti you’ll find in any good bacaro and a few recipes from some of Rocca’s favorite bacari.

Cicchetti

2015-04-01 02:12:27

Mixed Nibbles

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Ingredients

1. Mortadella, spicy hot salami, cooked ham
2. Pecorino cheese, Ricotta, Robiola, Gorgonzla or any bleu cheese
3. Pickled onions and peppers
4. Roasted tomatoes
5. Boiled Eggs
6. Anchovy fillets, baby calamari, baby cuttlefish, baby octopus, tuna
7. Pumpkin, truffle paste, leeks
8. Walnuts

Suggested uses

1. Uovo E Acciuga- Half a hard-boiled egg topped with anchovy filet, a blend that enhances the egg and slight saltiness of the anchovy
2. Mortadella E Cipollina- a cube of mortadella and a baby pickled onion on a toothpick
3. Formaggio E Peperone- a cube of cheese and a small slice of pickled pepper on a toothpick
4. Salamino Paccante- a thick slice of spicy salami which the Prosecco will tame with its slight sweetness
5. Calamaretto o seppiolina all griglia- a grilled baby calamari or cuttlefish drizzled with a little olive oil and finely chopped parsley.
6. Folpetto- Half a poached very small octopus drizzled with olive oil and chopped parsley.
7. Crostini con ribiola e crema di tartufo- Robiola is a smooth, creamy delicate flavored cheese which is perfect mixed with truffle paste and decorated with a small piece of porcini.
8. Crostini con tonno e porri- tuna and mayo with julienne of tender leeks

Notes

1. Enjoy!

By Enrica Rocca

Inside the Artist's Kitchen http://insidetheartistskitchen.com/blog/

 
The Spritz (from a German word meaning “splash”) is a wine-based cocktail which originated in Venice when it was part of the Austrian Empire, and comes from the Austrian Spritzer, which is a combination of 50% white wine and 50% sparkling water. Venetians bring a twist to this drink by adding ingredients that satisfy their more demanding palate and thirst for serious alcohol. Aperol would be sensible choice if you’re having this before lunch and still have work to deal with, with its 11% alcohol content, it shouldn’t prevent you from productively resuming your office work. The much stronger Campari is a better choice for weekends or an evening drink. 

Spritz

2015-04-01 02:20:40

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Ingredients

1. 2 parts Enrica Rocca Prosecco
2. 1 part Aperol, Bitter Campari, Select, or Cynar
3. 1 Splash Soda water or Seltzer
4. Half slice of orange
5. 1 olive threaded onto cocktail stick
6. Ice cubes
7. (serves 1)

Put

1. The ice cubes in a tumbler, to fill at least half the glass.

Pour

1. The wine or prosecco and…

Add

1. The Aperol, Bitter, Select, or Cyner.

Lastly, Add

1. A Splash of soda water or seltzer.

Stir

1. Gently, then decorate your glass with a slice of orange and olive on a stick.

Notes

1. Enjoy!

By Enrica Rocca

Inside the Artist's Kitchen http://insidetheartistskitchen.com/blog/