Chicago, Illinois Woman Made proudly announces the opening of two group shows, 'Abstract & Geometric' in our regular exhibition area and 'Naked Clay' in Woman Made's Artisan Gallery. In addition we are happy to present solo shows by Julie Karabenick and Ginny Krueger.

Please join us at the artist reception on September 7 from 6 to 9 pm, at 685 N. Milwaukee Avenue in Chicago. Works will be on display until October 4, 2007.

Regular Gallery hours are Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 12 to 7pm and Saturday and Sunday from 12 to 4pm.

Women artists are often absent or only represented sparingly at museums and art galleries that specialize in modern art. The tenants of modernism encourage artists to explore concepts of line, color and form. Abstract and Geometric, a new exhibition at Woman Made Gallery, presents the work of contemporary women artists who continue to explore these ideas in their work. Through its commitment to establish a venue to celebrate and acknowledge the contribution of women artists, Woman Made Gallery presents an opportunity to view approaches to abstraction and geometry in both two and three dimensional forms by a diverse group of women artists.

The juror of Abstract and Geometric, Julie Karabenick, an accomplished painter and curator, explains her approach to the exhibition, "Across time and cultures, humans have used geometric forms to adorn their bodies and possessions, to mark physical and social boundaries, and to give visual expression to their most fundamental beliefs and aspirations. Thus these forms are important to a basic human enterprise."

By repeating various geometric shapes the forty-two artists featured in Abstract and Geometric explore issues related to technology, cycles of birth and social identities. Woman Made Gallery invites you to experience this re-imagining of the circle, triangle and square by both local artists and artists from around the country.

Participating artists include Elizabeth Grace Andrews, Suzan Ashby, Carla Aurich, Diane Ayott, Gaby Silva Bavio, Barb Bondy, Lucy Boswell, Mary Jo Bowers, Heather Brammeier, Janine Brown, Danielle Lavetta Burbach, Elizabeth Burger, Melanie Deal, Lisa Endriss, Lori Evans, Emily Gannon, Cora Jane Glasser, Eileen Goldenberg, Naomee Guest, Sarah Hahne, Kimberly Harvell, Reese Inman, Penelope Jones, Lisa Klinghoffer, Maria Kompare, Haeley Kyong, Christina Lanzl, Linda Lovinger-Siegel, Joanne Mattera, Paola Merazzi, Marjorie Mikasen, Rose Olson, Janice M. Pittsley, Lynda Ray, Kathy Seff, Sandy Seff, Kim Squaglia, Annette Tosti, Kathleen Waterloo, Karen Wilcox and Jeanne Williamson.

Please join us at the opening reception on September 7 from 6 until 9pm. Works are up through October 4, 2007.

Image: 'Inter(per)ception of Light 2' Danielle Lavetta Burbach; watercolor on Arches, 30 x 22 inches

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Woman Made Gallery is pleased to announce the opening of 'Recent Paintings by Julie Karabenick,' a Michigan-based abstract painter who has been exhibiting for almost twenty years. Her work explores complex relations of color and form in a geometric idiom. Critic Lilly Wei writes: "Julie Karabenick takes the constructivist grid and explodes it ... [giving] a new spin to dynamic equilibrium."

Karabenick's works offer enigmatic presentations of order. Her placement of shape and use of color create complex compositions that envelop the viewer. Karabenick states: "In my ongoing 'Composition Series,' I limit myself to squares and rectangles of flat, uninflected color. Each shape arises from an implicit, underlying grid of small, same-sized squares. Thus a grid governs the space, making all forms and intervals proportionally related to one another. From these stable beginnings, I develop compositions that are asymmetrical and dynamically balanced. Stability is challenged as intricate and changing networks of color and shape are discovered and vie for the viewer's attention. A precarious order prevails, but its rules remain elusive."

Karabenick has curated exhibitions in New York City and Philadelphia. She is the co-founder and editor of an online scholarly resource and international forum called Geoform, which features abstract geometric art and indepth artist interviews. Prior to her career in art, Karabenick received a PhD in Psychology from the University of Michigan.

Please join us at the opening reception on September 7 from 6 until 9pm. Works are up through October 4, 2007.

Image: 'Composition 64' by Julie Karabenick; acrylic on canvas, 30 x 30 inches

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Woman Made Gallery is pleased to announce the opening of Ginny Krueger's solo exhibition, "Gathering." Krueger, an artist from Grayslake, Illinois, explains her technique, "I paint on wood panel using the encaustic medium; a mixture of beeswax, damar and pigment. The hot, liquid wax mixture is painted, then fused to the wood with a propane torch. Many layers are put down and fused atop the first. Sometimes I collage, sculpt, and scribe into the work. This medium suits me because it has a warm aroma, a lush, sensuous touch, and an unrivaled luster."

Krueger has shown her work throughout the Midwest. In constructing her paintings, Krueger draws from personal memories. She states, "Experiences from my childhood drive my work. As a girl, I was fascinated with the minutiae of life found in my auntie's garden, my grandpa's tailor shop, and the rustic backdrop of Girl Scout camp. I find that these things have laid claim on me. From the findings and symbols of my past, I am driven to make something elemental. I envision each painting as a medley, a melded place, where both the gritty and sublime combine."

Please join us at the opening reception on September 7 from 6 until 9pm. Works are up through October 4, 2007.

Image: 'Collected' by Ginny Krueger; encaustic on wood, 40 x 40 inches

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The 'Featured Artist,' Regina Simas, from Oxford, Ohio is a standout with her use of Neriage, an ancient technique in which modeling and decoration happen at the same time. Simas begins with several lumps of white stoneware clay, to which she adds oxides or ceramic stains. She makes slabs of different colors that are layered into several blocks. She then cuts sections of the blocks and attaches them to one another to form pieces with one or several decorative patterns combined on them. The bowls and platters she exhibits in this exhibition are original explorations in pattern and color.

Represented artists include Kim Acerra, Nancilee Yeates Bodine, Rhonda Gushee, Laura C. Hewitt, Janis Wilson Hughes, Dena M. Ladner, Monica Leap, Deborah J. Maxwell, Lilianne Milgrom, B. J. Morgan, Daina Platais Ortiz, Judith M. Osmer, Roberta Polfus, Mercedes Rodgers, Regina Simas, Kristi Sloniger, Conifer J. Smith, Julia Terr, Kelly Thiel, Lynn Anne Verbeck-Terrier, Elaina Wendt, and Deana Fisher Wilfong.

'Naked Clay' will be on display from September 7 through November 8, 2007.

Image: 'Square Plate' by Regina Simas; clay, 1 1/2 x 5 x 5 1/2 inches

Artisan Gallery

Woman Made Gallery is a tax-exempt, not-for-profit organization founded in 1992. Its goal is to support women in the arts by providing opportunities, awareness, and advocacy. It specifically accomplishes this through monthly thematic exhibitions which raise public awareness and recognition of women's cultural contributions.

Woman Made Gallery is supported in part by grants from the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency; a CityArts Program II grant from the City of Chicago, Department of Cultural Affairs; The Chicago Community Foundation, the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation; the Hugh M. Hefner Foundation; the Efroymson Fund, a CICF Fund; a major anonymous donor and the generosity of its members and contributors.