Fresh from its debut at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Philadelphia earlier this year, “Barbara Kasten: Stages” opened Thursday night at the Graham Foundation with an introductory talk by the artist herself, part of the Chicago Architecture Biennial’s opening weekend events.
A favorite feature of the exhibition was a set of three diazotype prints of nude bodies sitting in chairs with the camera angled up, situated next to woven figures affixed to actual chairs in the second-floor gallery space. I also was attracted to Kasten’s black-and-white archival pigment prints from 2011 and 2012. Rips and scratches create a subtle texture that contrasts with the bright hues of her sleek sculptural construct images from the 80s. Lastly I adored the “Architectural Site” series in which Kasten created arrangements with lighting and mirrors within existing architectural environments, each final piece requiring months of scouting, test shooting, permits, and a large crew from the film industry. A polaroid in the library shows the final shot of one of these shoots with an ecstatic “THIS IS IT!” inscribed in ink on the left side.
