Jessica Stockholder apparently hasn't had a solo outing in Chicago in over two decades, but she's certainly making up for lost time. The artist — known for bright assemblages of consumer goods and other materials — is now a professor and chair of the visual arts department at the University of Chicago. She opened "Door Hinges," an exhibition at Kavi Gupta Gallery, two weeks ago, and she curated a companion show, "Assisted," in the same space; a large new piece dangles from the ceiling of upscale, art-crowd-friendly Chicago restaurant mk; a site-specific piece is also now on view at the Smart Museum of Art.
At Kavi Gupta, pictured above and below, the artist goes big, conscripting a freezer unit, an enormous and clunky desk, and a Smart car into her installations. Another piece sprawls through the entrance foyer, combining energetic wall-painting with driveway safety-mirrors and other found objects; it continues on the second floor of the gallery, as well as on the space's exterior. Stockholder's facility with throwaway plastic consumer detritus — generating a buzz through the artful repurposing of toys, furniture, junk, and raw color — make her a kindred spirit to someone like Iza Genzken.
— Scott Indrisek
http://blogs.artinfo.com/artintheair/2015/09/22/jessica-stockholder-takes-chicago/