The MCA is proud to host Pentimenti Productions for the premiere of 4×4: Contemporary Art in Chicago, an annual series of four short documentaries about practicing local artists—Bernard Williams, Jenn Freeman / Po’ Chop, Deb Sokolow, and Errol Ortiz in Season 1—profiled by Chicago filmmakers. The screening is followed by a talkback featuring the artists and filmmakers: Kevin Shaw, cai thomas, Alex Morelli, and Erin Babbin & Michael Sullivan.
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4x4: Contemporary Art in Chicago
Season 1 — Jenn Freeman | Po’ Chop, Errol Ortiz, Deb Sokolow, Bernard Williams
Pentimenti Productions is proud to premiere 4x4: Contemporary Art in Chicago, an annual series of four short documentary films about practicing local artists, each directed by a Chicago-based filmmaker. The series profiles a diverse array of artists working in different mediums, based in distinct neighborhoods, and at varying stages of their careers. Each film is a collaborative process between the artists and filmmakers, resulting in four stylistically unique works, unified by a quintessentially Chicago sensibility. The series aims to capture Chicagoʼs rich and vibrant contemporary arts scene in a way that reflects the creativity and iconoclasm of the artists and filmmakers involved. Season 1 filmmakers include: cai thomas, Erin Babbin & Michael Sullivan, Alex Morelli, and Kevin Shaw. This premiere screening will be followed by a talkback featuring the artists and filmmakers.
we are two.
Directed by cai thomas
An intimate portrait of artist Jenn Freeman | Po’Chop, whose practice merges the worlds of dance, storytelling, drag, and striptease, as they perform at queer burlesque clubs, stage THICK: a crumbling freak show, and maintain House of the Lorde, a Black feminist studio & gathering space.
Errol Ortiz: Headspace
Directed by Erin Babbin and Michael Sullivan
Despite producing hundreds of paintings over the span of seventy-plus years, Chicago Imagist Errol Ortiz has received too little attention from the wider art world. This observational documentary surveys Ortiz as he works on a new painting from start to finish, while musing on his art school days, the influence of the cityscape, and the challenges of working as an aging artist.
Beneath the Surface of the Everyday
Directed by Alex Morelli
An observer of quotidian strangeness, Deb Sokolow creates semi-fictitious drawings and books commenting on architecture, politics, and pop culture. Shot on 16mm and adopting the style of 70s paranoid thrillers, the film traces the evolution of Sokolow’s speculative ethos, detailing a shadowy encounter at McDonald’s and her fixation with Rocky Balboa.
I Dreamt of Cowboys, Cottonfields, and Clouds — Bernard Williams
Directed by Kevin Shaw
An excavator of American history, painter and sculptor Bernard Williams draws inspiration from seminal, but under-appreciated figures such as Black cowboys, farmers, and a unique female aviator. Taking us on a journey from Chicago to Indiana to Alabama, the film follows Williams as he debuts a public art installation and visits a 90-year-old family friend who informs his work.