Reviews from 2014

Feature Shoot

Lori Nix’s Enthralling Photos of Models Imagine Post-Apocalyptic Scenes in the City Read More

Lenscratch

Ysabel LeMay combines technical graphic art expertise and a passion for painting into a process she calls “Photo-Fusion.” At first glance, the images reflect what could be a hyper-realistic painting. Instead her innovative technique is an intricate progression that begins with taking hundreds of photographs, and digitally attuning their light and visual properties. Then, with her painter’s eye, she assembles one detail at a time, to form a single composition that explores the power and divinity of nature. Read More

NPR

Bloomington’s housing projects are less than two miles away from Indiana University, where Jeffrey Wolin has been teaching photography since 1980. Still, that side of town seemed worlds apart from IU until a grisly murder connected them in September 1986. The victim was Ellen Marks, who had until recently been enrolled as a graduate student in the English department, and had been living in a lean-to made of packing crates on a vacant lot near Crestmont Public Housing, commonly known as Pigeon Hill. Read More

Chicagoist

The art scene in Chicago this year was diverse and quite a force nationally from large museum exhibitions such as the MCA’s “Bowie Is” exhibition to the Art Institute of Chicago’s Magritte show that seamlessly conveyed the breadth and mystery of this highly important Surrealist. Read More

Chicagoist

You don't have to go to a museum to enjoy art. Chicago is a thriving gallery town, with districts all over the city dedicated to showcasing art of all kinds and art walks every week. Read More

Photograph

There are few somebodies who can become anybody. John Malkovich is one of them. The actor’s 60-year-old face shape-shifts its way through art history in Sandro Miller’s Malkovich, Malkovich, Malkovich: Homage To Photographic Masters at Catherine Edelman Gallery (through January 31, 2015). Read More

The Guardian

Before John Malkovich was a Hollywood star, he made his name in Chicago as a member of the famed Steppenwolf theatre company. Since then, his career has been defined by his willingness to transform himself radically, in films including Of Mice and Men, Empire of the Sun and – of course – Being John Malkovich. Read More

The Columbia Chronicle

Many actors are known for their method acting, a skill in which they immerse themselves in the mind and physicality of a character. Read More

Art Daily

CHICAGO, IL.- At the age of sixteen, upon seeing the work of Irving Penn, Sandro Miller knew he wanted to become a photographer. Mostly self-taught, Sandro relied on books published by many of the great artists canonized in photographic history. Through their pictures, he learned the art of composition, lighting and portraiture. More than 30 years later, with clients ranging from Forbes, GQ and Esquire, to American Express, Coca-Cola and BMW, Sandro has secured his place as one of the top advertising photographers worldwide. Read More

Chicagoist

The story behind Sandro Miller's new photo exhibit, "Malkovich, Malkovich, Malkovich," which opens this weekend at the Catherine Edelman Gallery, begins 17 years ago when Miller first met John Malkovich at the Steppenwolf Theatre, where Malkovich, a founding member of the company, was appearing in The Libertine and Miller was taking promotional photos. The two hit it off. Read More

Chicago Tribune

The first thing to know about "Malkovich, Malkovich, Malkovich: Homage to Photographic Masters," the new exhibition opening at the Catherine Edelman Gallery in River North on Saturday, is that the artists mean it. Read More

Chicago Sun Times

In such movie roles as a would-be presidential assassin in “In the Line of Fire,” a blind boarder in “Places in the Heart” and a scheming Casanova in “Dangerous Liaisons,” John Malkovich has shown himself to be a singular actor with extraordinary range and depth. Read More

Chicago Reader

The story behind Sandro Miller's new photo exhibit, "Malkovich, Malkovich, Malkovich," which opens this weekend at the Catherine Edelman Gallery, begins 17 years ago when Miller first met John Malkovich at the Steppenwolf Theatre, where Malkovich, a founding member of the company, was appearing in The Libertine and Miller was taking promotional photos. The two hit it off. Read More

Slate

John Malkovich is one of a handful of actors who brings his inimitable persona to every role, giving off the impression that he is playing some (often twisted) version of himself. A cultural icon in his own right, he’s also shown he is game to offer himself up as cultural fodder, à la Being John Malkovich. Read More

The Daily Beast

John Malkovich has been posing for photographer Sandro Miller for the past 17 years. During this time, the two have created over 120 portraits, award winning films, and collaborated on many personal endeavors. Read More

The Eye of Photography

Old friends Sandro Miller and John Malkovich have worked together for 17 years. Two years ago, Miller, wanting to pay tribute to his mentor, Irving Penn, came up with the idea for the photo of Truman Capote. Malkovich loved it. The story continued with recreations of 40 iconic photographs from the history of the medium, each one more astonishing than the next. They will be exhibited from November 7th to January 31st and the Catherine Edelman Gallery in Chicago. Read More

Fotographia

American photographer Clarissa Bonet was born and raised in Tampa, Florida but she’s been living and working in Chicago for the past five years. In the streets of Chicago is set her latest project City Space, a series of images in which Clarissa recreates moments of everyday life she experienced in first person. Read More

ABC News

See John Malkovich as Einstein, Marilyn Monroe and Others Read More

Chicagoist

Catherine Edelman Gallery had a very well-curated booth and included works by Elizabeth Ernst . Her painting "Wishbones" is part of her Mirror Mirror series that was exhibited at the gallery recently. Large-scale works by Sandro Miller drew me in with their humor and incredible technique, particularly his silkscreen, "Andy Warhol / Green Marilyn." His cheeky appropriation of pop culture figures end up as lovely and quirky self-portraits. Read More

Beautiful/Decay

Images of John Malkovich dressed as Marilyn Monroe and Andy Warhol have been circulating the Internet the past few days. Although we’ve all been marveling at the actor’s ability to recreate these iconic images, I decided to dig a little deeper. Read More

The Guardian

Mick Jagger’s fur hood, Che Guevara’s beret, and Hitchcock strangling a goose ... Sandro Miller has re-created the world’s most famous photos – and they all star everyone’s favourite eccentric actor Read More

Paper

We have a pretty good idea of what it's like Being John Malkovich. Now, thanks to photographer Sandro Miller, we know exactly what it would look like if the beloved actor embodied Marilyn Monroe, John Lennon, and Jean Paul Gaultier. Read More

Feature Shoot

For Malkovich, Malkovich, Malkovich: Homage to Photographic Masters, legendary portrait photographer Sandro Miller collaborates with longtime friend John Malkovich to reproduce the most iconic images of our time, with Malkovich adopting the role of recognizable characters like Marilyn Monroe, Albert Einstein, and the identical twins of Diane Arbus. Read More

USA Today

It’s an art exhibit that’s going viral. John Malkovich is playfully impersonating famous people and famous poses. Read More

The Wall Street Journal

John Malkovich isn't playing a fictional version of himself this time—instead, he's immersing himself in roles in iconic photographs, as part of commercial photographer Sandro Miller's new works at the Catherine Edelman Gallery in Chicago. Read More

BBC NEWS

Miller, a critically acclaimed commercial photographer with several books and exhibitions to his name, hoped the project would push back against what he saw as social media's degradation of photography as an art form. Read More

Time

Two years ago, photographer Sandro Miller wanted to pay homage to his mentor, Irving Penn, by recreating Penn’s iconic portrait of author Truman Capote. Read More

Feature Shoot

One of the best ways to draw attention to the ugly side of humanity of is to beautify it, to make people want to look instead of look away. Seattle-based photographer Daniel Beltrá has achieved this with his photographs of the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, which he documented for Greenpeace. Spill, published by Gost Books, collects these striking images, all reminiscent of abstract paintings, into a compelling volume of evidence of environmental devastation. Read More

Peta Pixel

Upon first glance, the photo above looks like Dorothea Lange’s iconic Migrant Mother photo captured in 1936. Then you realize that the woman in the frame is definitely not Florence Owens Thompson, the woman in the original image. Looking a more closely, you start to notice an uncanny resemblance to actor John Malkovich. Read More

Elin Spring Blog

An artistically inspired illusionist, Gregory Scott is now playing at Catherine Edelman Gallery in Chicago through November 1, 2014. You can also catch him at EXPO Chicago (Booth #228) at Navy Pier this week, from September 18 -21st. “In Still Motion” is Scott’s latest incarnation and a fitting pun for his artwork, a collection of videos within photographs. Read More

Bleek Magazine

Kids rule the world by Julie Blackmon (Julie Blackmon, 1966). They lock their rooms, courtyards and houses entirely. They fall into a frenzy, trying to seize our attention. They are very busy with their important work — being children. Reality in photos Blackmon does to an unreal extent. This is a beautiful tale of a happy childhood. The author demonstrates the absurd, sometimes surreal, but very touching, look at daily home life — a fun, chaotic activity. Most of us imagine the classic American family as «Mom — Dad — a couple of kids – and a golden retriever … Read More

Chicago Reader

Our top picks for fall visual arts. Sandro Miller first shot John Malkovich 17 years ago, and the actor remains one of the photographer's favorite subjects/collaborators. "He's a genius, a chameleon," Miller says. "He's willing to go places other actors of his status wouldn't think of going. He'll let me do anything with him." Read More

Huffington Post Chicago

It's good to be previewing exhibits again. Good people. Good art. Some galleries I can count on for consistent quality. Others cross the threshold intermittently. Art's like that. And it's subjective. You might, justifiably, have a very different response than I do. These exhibits open tonight and are free. Read More

Fluoro Digital

Artist Gregory Scott’s In Still Motion exhibition blurs the lines between media by presenting a series of humorous and poignant video-based wall pieces. Scott has always blurred the lines between painting and photography, incorporating paintings he made of himself, or his body, back into his photographs. The resulting images were both humorous and abnormal, challenging the viewer’s perception of photographic truth. Read More

AIPAD Current News

Gregory Scott is known for blurring the lines between media so effectively that divisions no longer seem to exist at all. Scott's works are playful and surreal and have a visual rhythm that is addicting to the eye. We are surprised and delighted by works that use such seemingly diverse methods as painting, photography, video, installation, and performance. Read More

Chicagoist

There is a deep narrative power at work in Elizabeth Ernst's exhibit, "Mirror Mirror," now on view at Catherine Edelman Gallery. The phrase "mirror mirror" conjures thoughts of fairy tales and their inherent, didactic darkness. The canvases are layered and complex, much like Ernst's process of sculpting the figures, photographing them and then adding to them with acrylic. These characters left an indelible mark in their deep humanity seamlessly conveyed through the eyes—the proverbial mirrors to the soul—and Ernst is especially versed in representing the eyes of her characters and the humanity within them. Read More

NewCity

Like Diane Arbus and Joel-Peter Witkin, Elizabeth Ernst plays with the grotesque, only she can create with abandon because her cast of characters in the human freak show are dolls that she has made to populate her painted scenario photographs and portraits. It is a circus sideshow that Ernst serves up, but she subverts our normal voyeuristic expectations by making her figures humanly accessible, even warm, so that they beg for connection from the viewer, despite their deviations from the norms of appearance. Read More

NewCity

Newcity’s Top 5 of Everything 2014: Art Read More

AIPAD Current News

Mirror Mirror marks Elizabeth Ernst's third solo show at the gallery. Ernst creates fantastical photo-driven mixed media works. A practice that began in her childhood as a way to protect and perhaps even give companionship to her brother, only 14 months younger than her who suffered from cerebral palsy, Ernst imagines and builds imaged characters out of wood, paper mache, wire, and other bits of basic materials. Not only does Ernst give her imagined friends names, she builds their surroundings, and personalities emerge and dramas unfold. These characters evolve as do the dramas in their lives and histories. Read More

F-Stop Magazine

F-Stop A Photography Magazine announces Elizabeth Ernst's exhibition, Mirror Mirror. Read More

NewCity

Among the top scenario photographers on today’s scene, the team of Robert (the actor in the still dramas) and Shana (who “choreographs” the performance and takes the shots in black and white) ParkeHarrison impressively combine wit, whimsy and deep-cutting visual commentary in their crowded yet compact images. Read More