In the project 60 wrd/min art critic, writer Lori Waxman explores how art writing can serve an expanded field of artists—including those incarcerated, trying to gain visas, working to establish themselves professionally, or just wanting feedback for a secret hobby. For this iteration, Waxman reviewed a Chicago exhibition curated by Michelle Alexander.

“Connective Thread”

Does every little girl dream about her future marriage? I did not, but amid the wedding industrial complex, it is not hard to find sympathy for those beset by related expectations. In any case, there is a plethora of burdens placed on womankind from which to choose. “Connective Thread,” currently on view at Ivory Gate Gallery in Chicago, gathers works by a mixture of emerging and veteran women artists that acknowledge these trials and artfully transcend them. Michelle Grabner elevates common cleaning products—scrubber, rag, aerosol bottle, plastic bucket—by casting them in minimalist porcelain. Sam Jaffe’s I’ll Pick You clusters a hundred-odd crochet daisies onto a wooden board, an ode to young love, old love, being chosen, being forgotten, and a few other tortuous romantic modes in between. Michelle Alexander, who also curated the show, hangs a nightmarish wedding dress of her own making—think staples, visible black threads, lots of glue—next to elegant photographs of its inspiration, the dresses worn by her mother and sister on their wedding days. Lauren Seiden’s Ultimate Shield (no. 6), a large piece of heavy, crumpled paper metallicized with intense penciling, suggests artistic dedication as a general means of defense. 

—Lori Waxman 2025-05-30 1:05 PM

“Connective Thread”
Through 6/8: open by appointment, Ivory Gate Gallery, 44 E. Cedar, instagram.com/ivory_gate_gallery