Fall Arts Guide 2009 Best Bets: Fest Fest

Many of Chicago’s best galleries are run by artists out of small, converted domestic spaces. A few of these, like the Suburban and 65Grand, have been going strong for years, but most operate for only a season or two, until the money runs out or somebody moves away. Julius Caesar, which hung its first show in March 2008, deserves to make it into the first category. The gallery displays work in all kinds of media by artists at various points in their careers, using a variety of collaborative and curatorial approaches—although the anarchic art of the 1960s seems to be something of a touchstone. Exhibitors are supposed to pay the rent, but often can’t, so in September Julius Caesar’s brain trust—Molly Zuckerman-Hartung, Diego Leclery, Colby Shaft, Hans Peter Sundquist, and Dana DeGuilio—will try raising some money themselves with an exhibit of donated works culminating in Fest Fest, a weekend of free performances and screenings and a silent auction. Renowned midcareer painters like Michiko Itani, Susanna Coffey, and Candida Alvarez will show alongside newly minted MFAs like Leclery, whose play Volpi: 5s will be performed, and Zuckerman-Hartung, who will present a lecture-cum-juggling act.  The show runs 9/6-9/27; Fest Fest runs 9/26-9/27, Julius Caesar, 3144 W. Carroll, 2G, juliuscaesarchicago.com. —Albert Stabler