Reverse Angle

Reverse Angle was TransCultural Exchange’s first venture. This project was sparked by the Austrian architects Christa Prantl and Alexander Runser, asking Mary Sherman if she and her friends wanted to organize an exchange exhibition of Chicago artists’ works with the Austrian artists collective, TransCult. The result was Reverse Angle and the creation of the artists collective TransCultural Exchange.

The initial TransCultural Exchange team consisted of Ruby Barnes, Michael Heltzer, Paul Hotchkiss, Leslie Rutz, Christopher Scorafina, Kenneth Shaw, Rogelio Tijerina and Mary Sherman.

This landmark project included the joint Chicago and Viennese artists’ exhibition, which opened in Chicago’s then defunct Ludwig Drum Factory in 1989 before traveling to Vienna’s WUK Kunsthalle. An issue of Another Chicago Magazine became the show’s catalog with essays by the film maker Wim Wenders and writer Lori Segal, among others. With special thanks, the iconic Chicago artist Ed Paschke loaned a work for the exhibition. In Chicago, the artists also worked with Facets Multimedia Center to host a screening of Chicago and Viennese films and with Café Tete-a-Tete for a night of readings. The popular Chicago band Nicholas Tremulis performed at the benefit auction the Chicago artists put together to fund the project.

Reverse Angle’s emphasis on international exchange and inclusion of works across various media and genres – long before cross-cultural and transdisciplinary had become popular buzzwords – later came to define TransCultural Exchange, laying the groundwork for the organization’s future activities.

A list of the press received, and all the participating artists can be found in the left-hand navigation.

Reverse Angle Venues

Chicago:
April 28 – May 31, 1989

Ludwig Drum Factory (Exhibition Site)
Café Tete-a-Tete (Literary Reading)
Facets Multimedia Centre (Film Screening)

Vienna:
October 1 – November 5, 1989

WUK Kunstalle

Catalog published by Another Chicago Magazine.