James Jankowiak’s solo show “Altered Translation” is going out with a “bang”.
Join us Sunday, October 8th from 2-5pm, where you will find “Louder Than A Bomb” founder Kevin Coval facilitate an interview and Q/A with Jankowiak, reuniting a painter and a poet who have known each other over 20 years. A shared history involving roots in Hip Hop, 40 years of combined experience working with Chicago’s youth and an eternal love for this city should make for an interesting conversation. (2-3pm)
This will be followed by a reading from Coval’s recent book “A People’s History of Chicago” in front of Jankowiak’s new mural for Corner. (3:30-5pm)
Kevin Coval's “A People's History of Chicago” flips the history of Chicago to include the stories and voices of oppressed and marginalized groups. As the artistic director of Young Chicago Authors, founder of Louder Than A Bomb: The Chicago Youth Poetry Festival, and professor at the University of Illinois-Chicago—where he teaches hip-hop aesthetics—he’s mentored thousands of young writers, artists, and musicians. His work has appeared in Poetry Magazine, The Daily Show, Chicago Tribune, CNN, Fake Shore Drive, Huffington Post, and four seasons of HBO’s Def Poetry Jam. Coval’s latest work, “A People's History of Chicago” dropped in April 2017 on Haymarket Books.
James Jankowiak is a Chicago born artist and educator, spending the last 18 years working with Chicago youth throughout the greater Chicago area. Presently, he teaches a Gallery 37 contemporary practice program to high school students at Hancock College Prep, and a hard edged abstract painting class to middle schoolers at Marwen. Next year will see James celebrating his 15th year as an artist guide/studio facilitator for the Museum of Contemporary Art’s Department for Learning and Public Programs.
2016 also saw Jankowiak commissioned to design the artwork “The Consolation of Color” for the Chicago Transit Authority's new Union Station Transit Center and a redesign of the entrance to the Illinois Holocaust’s Museum Youth Education Museum. He has been awarded grants from the Illinois Arts Council in 2010 and 2012, and from DCASE in 2010 and 2014. His next solo exhibition is slated for February 2018 at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa.
“Altered Translation” was partially funded by Corner, Urban Gateways, the Julie Shaw Memorial Grant, and crowd-funded through AIM/Hatchfund.
