EXHIBITIONS

PINKY PROMISE - SOLO SHOW

Veronica Clements is a Chicago native who lives and works in the suburbs of Chicago. She graduated from the University of Illinois in 2018 with a BFA in Painting and Art History. There, she won the Dorothy & James Shipley Award for Most Outstanding Graduating Senior. She is currently pursuing her MS in Leadership for Creative Enterprises from Northwestern University while doing freelance marketing and social media for Stilwell Social. Clements is a board member, social media manager, and curator for the Chicago Women’s Caucus for Art and the president of the Young Women’s Caucus for Art. Clements was recently included in The Art Center Highland Park’s annual benefit exhibition, Passion Project, and is curating a virtual exhibition with Woman Made Gallery this summer titled ‘Tickled Pink,’ which surrounds joy, humor, and color. She recently curated a show at AIR Gallery in Glencoe featuring the work of over 60 Chicago-area women and non-binary artists in a celebration of femininity and being unapologetically yourself. Clements has displayed her work throughout the Chicago, Urbana, and Springfield, IL area. 

ARTIST STATEMENT

I see my work as both a critique and a celebration of modern culture. My work deals with the theme of vanitas, which is a 17th century Dutch genre of painting that uses symbols of transience and impending death to warn against earthly vanity and pleasure. I see my paintings as curiosity cabinets of pop culture and girlhood, and I focus on brevity of life as a symbol of childhood. I don’t want to warn anyone against earthly pleasures in exchange for piety, I see it more as a true reflection of what it means to be an artist. The trivial pursuits of man become the plight of the artist as they strive to make a name for themselves. Just like everyone is constantly trying to relive their childhood, I am attempting to collapse my past into my future. I modernize 17th-century icons using plastic butterfly clips instead of real butterflies and a piggy bank skull instead of a real one. Glass objects that symbolized an artist’s ability to capture light have transformed into glittering bongs in my paintings. This new set of symbolism combines references from childhood with pop culture references. Through this process, I am collapsing and reclaiming these histories so they exist simultaneously although briefly, providing viewers with a different set of pop-imagery that is centered around girlhood and the power that can come from that. Displaying my female identity through investigative collections, I reveal and critique the notions and expectations that gender biases have perpetuated throughout history. Serving my audience with researched concepts and ideas on a hot pink platter, I deal with the theme of validity through violent femininity. I see my work as an expression of a justified autonomy, it’s an illustration of coming of age with the notion of agency.

TICKLED PINK - CURATOR

CHICAGO—Woman Made Gallery (WMG) is proud to present Tickled Pink, a virtual exhibition juried by Veronica Clements. The exhibition includes work in a variety of mediums by 68 artists from across the United States and from Puerto Rico, UK, and Korea. The artists’ work addresses themes of joy, humor, and color and explores being radically optimistic amidst a cynical world. This exhibition is cheeky and invites viewers to contemplate their own perspectives on happiness and the power of optimism.

As visitors immerse themselves in this virtual showcase, they are invited to reflect on the ways in which they navigate the complexities of the world, finding moments of delight and laughter amidst the challenges. The exhibition sparks a dialogue about the importance of maintaining a positive mindset, reminding us that humor and joy can serve as transformative forces, capable of breaking through cynicism and inspiring hope.

About the Juror: Veronica Clements
Veronica Clements is an artist, curator, and creative leader. Born in Chicago, she is currently based in Highland Park, IL. She received her BFA in Painting and Art History from the University of Illinois and will receive her MS in Leadership for Creative Enterprises from Northwestern University in December, 2023. Clements has exhibited her work throughout Illinois in galleries such as Woman Made Gallery, The Art Center Highland Park, Stola Contemporary, Evanston Art Center, and Bridgeport Art Center.

Her solo exhibition, Pinky Promise, will be exhibited at the Evanston Art Center from July 29 to September 10, 2023.  Clement’s work explores themes of nostalgia, girlhood, and 17th-century Dutch vanitas iconography. She believes that these moments of fleeting beauty are kept alive forever through the power of art.

Veronica Clements is the president of the Young Women’s Caucus for Art and a board member, social media manager, and curator for the Chicago Women’s Caucus for Art. Her recent curated exhibition, Hot Pink Platter, at AIR Gallery in Glencoe, IL brought together over 60 Chicago-area women and non-binary artists in a celebration of being unapologetically themselves and embracing their feminine identity in whatever capacity that meant to them as an artist.  For more information visit Veronica’s website: www.veronicaclements.com

Exhibiting Artists: Milly Aburrow, Suan Baek, Bella Aurora, Hazel Bartram-Birchenough, Izabelle Brandli, Alexandra Buxbaum, Marie Cameron, Clara Cardell, Lindsay Carlton, Bridget Jeongyeon Choi, Linda Colletta, Julia Costanzo, Janelle Crawford-Hine, Perry Danis, Melanie Deal, Caitlyn Doran, Katie M Doyle, Donna Faranda, Katie Fountain, Leah Foushee Waller, Lily Fulop, Anne Farley Gaines, Monica Goldsmith, Kathy Halper, Kym Hepworth, Jennifer Hirshfield, Diane Hoffman, Shelli Hoppe, Jasmine Elizabeth, Lily Johnson, Meg Johnson, Uma Kamat, Mary Kamerer, Alexandra Tahereh Kaucher, Jamie Lankford, Louie Laskowski, Sophie Levit, Blayne Macauley, Sami Mark, Rachel Mars, Dalila Mendez, Gabriella Messenger, Susanne Mewing, Char Monroe, Kris Hodson Moore, Monica Moreno, Wendy S. Rolfe, Anne Nordhaus-Bike, Laura O’Connor, Laura Phelps Rogers, Cheryl Prisco, Marie V. Recalde, Becky Roberts, Tara Robinson, Liz Ruest, Christine M. Schröder, Katrina Shafor, Kerrie Smith, Megan L Stephenson, Kendra Stepp-Davis, Mattie Sterling, Anna Nichol Stutsman, Anne-Joelle Tan, DA Terzian, Chloe Torri, Kelly Witte, Sheree Wood, and Jill Ziccardi.

(Banner Image: artwork by Bella Aurora)

HOT PINK PLATTER - CURATOR

Hot Pink Platter is an exhibition created by the Chicago Women’s Caucus for Art and curated by Veronica Clements. The show title stems from Veronica’s artist statement in which she discusses serving her audience “heavily researched concepts on a hot pink platter.” This show is about artist’s individual research practices, being unapologetically yourself, and embracing your feminine identity in whatever capacity that means to you as an artist. This exhibition is an act of reclamation and asks artists to display their investigative collections as we aim for validity amongst violence. 

How do you express your feminine identity? When do you feel the most powerful? How do you celebrate being authentically yourself? 

Hot Pink Platter brings together over sixty Chicago area women and non-binary artists in celebration of community and the power that can come from artists coming together and embracing their identities. Hot Pink Platter presents an array of subject matter and themes from bodily autonomy, to girlhood and femininity, to the moments that make us feel most ourselves. The show combines media from painting to photography to textile and ceramic art. The common thread of pink woven through the exhibition ties the artwork together and reclaims gender biases against the color. Pink monster trucks, pink women wrestling, and pink flowers can be found throughout the exhibition. The plethora of artwork hung salon style shows the necessity for exhibitions like this and proves that artists are stronger together. 

Hot Pink Platter runs from March 4th-April 1st, 2023 at AIR Gallery (348 Tudor Ct, Glencoe, IL 60022)