art

The Blackstone: An Artful Restoration

Recognizing The Blackstone’s legendary role as an architectural and cultural icon, Sage Hospitality wanted that emotional connection to be a special touchstone for guests and to set the stage for a distinctly Chicago inspired experience. In that spirit, the restoration incorporates a dynamic mix of historic beaux-arts architecture and savvy design.  An innovative collection of over 1400 original artworks, primarily by Chicago artists, is on permanent display throughout the guest-rooms and public spaces of The Blackstone Hotel, lending a decidedly contemporary twist to the classical architectural ambiance of the hotel.

The Blackstone Lobby ART

The Blackstone Art Program incorporates a contemporary visual component into the Blackstone’s elegantly refurbished historic lobby using the stunning, thoughtful photographs of Chicago artist, Accra Shepp.  Shepp’s powerful urban triptych brings a modern visual language into a traditional space.

Similarly, the historic Blackstone lobby is provided an exciting visual counterpoint by featuring an avante garde video- generated computer art piece by new media artist, Lincoln Schatz.

Using video cameras mounted on top of the hotel, Schatz’ work presents exquisitely composed and perpetually changing views of Chicago’s lakefront. These images are collaged using Schatz’s custom software and displayed on plasma television screens installed behind the lobby reception desk. The overlapping film captures images of Grant Park and Chicago’s
lakefront and the footage is saved, reassembled, and replayed, creating an endless visual memory.

Guestroom ART

The Blackstone guestrooms feature specially selected works by visual satirist Michael Hernandez de Luna. De Luna was commissioned to create a series of large-scale, perforated stamp-sheet pieces, which cleverly reference the Blackstone Hotel’s history as the “Hotel of Presidents.”

De Luna’s work ironically references the rich political history of the Blackstone Hotel and wryly highlights the venue’s cultural contribution to Chicago.

The guest rooms vary from one another offering diverse De Luna images and combinations. The club guestrooms, for example, feature their own Hernandez de Luna program. Each guestroom also offers innovative images created by Chicago associated artists.

These include complex topiary pieces by David Lefkowitz, vivid abstracts by Richard Hull and comical figurative works by Mark Crisanti.

Suites ART

The hotel’s suites are known for hosting numerous U.S. Presidents including Woodrow Wilson, Theodore and Franklin D. Roosevelt, and John F. Kennedy; these culturally significant rooms feature an exciting and diverse combination of Hernandez de Luna stamp-sheet works. One suite in particular, the famous “Smoke-Filled Room” where Warren G. Harding was chosen as the compromise Republican nominee for President in 1920, features a specific politically satirical Hernandez de Luna series.

Art Hall—ART Community Involvement

The Blackstone’s fifth floor features a long historic corridor in which the Blackstone will host a rotating student art exhibit. As part of a community based endeavor, JSC’s Blackstone Art Program work with Chicago Columbia College to select and install student artwork on a biannual basis.  This allows unique access to student work and forges a strong relationship between the Blackstone and the Chicago art community. The work is on display in the magnificently restored Art Hall where The Blackstone has traditionally showcased fine works of art.

Selected Artists-The Blackstone Art Collection

David Lefkowitz

David Lefkowitz seeks inspiration from art history, travel and the idiosyncrasies of daily life. He is not limited to traditional art materials in the work he creates, often recycling
cardboard, wood scraps and even Styrofoam. Mostly considered a painter, he frequently crosses over into sculpture either in relief or, occasionally, freestanding objects that often become part of an installation. His sense of humor and regard for the environment are almost always present in his multi-dimensional repertoire.

Michael Hernandez de Luna

Visual satirist Michael Hernandez de Luna is primarily known for creating and producing “counterfeit” postage stamps, for the Blackstone Hotel, Hernandez de Luna created a unique series of large-scale, perforated stamp-sheet pieces, which cleverly reference the Blackstone Hotel’s legacy as the “Hotel of Presidents.” Hernandez de Luna’s pieces make ironic references to the Blackstone’s rich political history appropriating historic photographs and iconic images.

Lincoln Schatz

For the Blackstone, Lincoln Schatz presents constantly changing compositions of Chicago’s lakefront. These images collage on plasma television screens installed behind the lobby reception desk. The overlapping images of Grant Park and Chicago’s lakefront are saved on a computer hard drive, reassembled, and manipulated using Schatz’s custom designed software to creating a visual memory over time.

Accra Shepp

Accra Shepp has an eye for technological viscera and photographs withundeniable soul. He omits figures but always implies the presence of humanity. He is also a landscapist in the grand manner, producing panoramic views beautifully portraying the powerful urban landscape of Chicago. For the Blackstone, Shepp has created a photographic triptych of Chicago’s Michigan Avenue Bridge. Mounted above the elevators in the hotel’s historic lobby, these stunning pieces introduce a strong urban language into a traditional space.

Mark Cristani
Local artist Mark Crisanti’s droll collage paintings address evolution and existence. In each piece, Crisanti attaches a bird head to a human body blurring the viewer’s perceptions of man and animal. The blank stare of each bird, amidst daily vices and activities confronts viewers with the irony of their own human actions. Crisanti uses various ephemera as backgrounds-dictionary pages, S & H green stamps, game boards, and manuals to enrich his confrontations.

Richard Hull
Richard Hull’s current work decomposes and recomposes figurative and abstract elements. His figures are stripped of any figural function. He creates circular, organic forms with odd futuristic extensions and adds interior lines that carry a sensation of carved architectural past. Hull works with oil, wax and charcoal, as well as a recent use of Crayola crayons. “I have been doing drawings for the last couple of years,” he notes, “drawings using crayons, Crayola crayons, and using charcoal. I have been waiting to find a way to combine the color of the Crayons with the rhythmic nature of the charcoal. I think I found the way.” And indeed, Hull’s paintings of exuberant color embody the sensation and rhythm of charcoal.