About The Exhibition: The theme for this exhibition is open-ended in scope and allows for many possibilities. Many kinds of art may fit into this broad category.

 

"Not normal" refers to anything that goes against established norms, represents an unexpected change, or deviates from accepted collective reality. For the purposes of the exhibition, depictions of ‘not normal’ are those that depart from standard norms. For example, Dada and Surrealism depict fantastical, odd, or distorted realities that differ from our collective everyday experience. "Not normal" can also refer to atypical or unusual occurrences—a flamboyantly dressed person or someone dressed as a superhero on a commuter train full of people in business attire, or events that interrupt daily life, such as a train derailment or hacked cellphone service. In politics, a government perceived as failing to protect its citizens is not normal. Likewise, a government that threatens to invade an otherwise allied nation is also not normal.

 

What is considered normal in one society may not be recognized as normal in another. Norms include societal rules of established behavior; ways of being and expression; political, racial, social, gender, psychological, and physical norms; as well as conventions of etiquette. Beyond social norms, there are technological and global anomalies, climate anomalies (such as red rain or boiling lakes), biological abnormalities, and other bizarre natural or physical phenomena, including UAP sightings. In physics, a particle can also exist as a wave, further challenging our sense of reality.

 

Physical or cognitive disabilities may also be perceived as atypical, depending on societal expectations - a sensory crossover where a person might ‘feel’ sounds in specific parts of their body or see colors while playing music—is not normal. 

 

Synesthesia: A sensory crossover where a person might "feel" sounds in specific parts of their body or sees colors while playing music is not normal. Schizophrenia, where a person hears voices and sees people who are not there, has been considered not normal, but as societal norms change it is now considered to be a neurobiological brain disorder that can be treatable and is seen as a neurominority rather than a "broken" state.

 

What is considered normal changes as society changes. Historical shifts over the past 80 years illustrate this: previous generations considered it normal for eight-year-olds to care for younger siblings for months without adult oversight. Smoking on airplanes was common in the late 20th century, but is now strictly prohibited. Homosexuality, once considered a disorder, and tattoos, jogging, and single parenthood—once deviant—are now common. Yet even today, some of these societal changes face sustained efforts by certain groups to challenge or reverse them—and that, too, is not normal.

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Featured Artists: Jon Antos | Ruby Barnes | Sharon Bladholm  | Donna Bliss  | Margie Criner  | Gary Cudworth  | Jason J Ferguson  | Gertah Gertah  | Bert Gilbert  | Jill King  | John Kurman  | Erin LaRocque  | Micki Lemieux  | Ellen Lustig  | Russ Marr  | Bobbi Meier  | Jerry Monteith  | Scott Mossman  | Thomas Plum  | Gina Lee Robbins  | Howard Russo  | Dominic Sansone  | Samuel Schwindt  | Simone Scigousky  | Marvin Shafer   | Eleanor Spiess-Ferris  | Rich Stewart  | Yi Sun | Sishi Wang  | Bruce Webber  | Connor Young

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Juried and curated by Victoria Fuller and Spencer Gale. For questions and more information: info@chicagosculpture.org