Argentinian and local Chicago artist, Beatriz E. Ledesma will be exhibiting a series of work entitled, Not Quite There Yet at Elephant Room, Inc. Art Gallery in the south loop neighborhood of Chicago. This new series explores our attempts to find a safe space amidst a world of chaos and destruction. By exploring this aspect of life, the work inspires us to question what makes us feel safe and where we go to feel safe, whether that space is a state of mind or an actual place.
The exhibition consists of several vibrant mixed media and oil paintings. Each piece exhibits an ethereal demonstration of chaos through brush strokes and painted forms that surround a window of calm and safety. Through her work, Ledesma proposes to the viewer a spiritual path to finding safety amidst a society of materialism and violence.
 
A native from Buenos Aires, Argentina, Ledesma’s work is intuitive and spiritual, forcing the viewer to engage in a dialogue beyond conceptual constraints. Her work is influenced by her spiritual practices, mystical beliefs, other surrealist and symbolist artists, as well as the seminal ideas of psychoanalysis.
 
Ledesma’s career as a painter began in the early 1970s, when she took refuge at the Instituto de Bellas Artes of Buenos Aires from the social and political chaos her country was immersed in. Not Quite There Yet is a reflection of a chaos symbolically like this one, but one that is relevant of current society and the destruction we are experiencing in the world today.
 
During the exhibition, the gallery will be hosting a workshop for local teens to work with Ledesma on creating their own versions of a safe space by painting on canvas. Their work will be on display in the gallery during the exhibition. Not Quite There Yet will be on exhibition June 13th - July 22nd, 2010.

The opening reception is on Friday, June 18th from 6 - 9pm, followed by an artist talk on Saturday, June 19th at 2pm. The closing reception is on Friday, July 16th from 6 - 9pm.

ELEPHANT ROOM, INC.
ART GALLERY
704 S Wabash Avenue, Chicago, Il 60605
Contact: Kimberly L Atwood
708.369.4742