Visiting Artist Dan Peterman

Conceptual artist Dan Peterman explores the fate of objects, the nature of borders, and the trajectory of obsession. Peterman is, in a phrase, what the Polish poet Miłosz once used to describe himself: "a man of a few streets." Those streets come together at the space the conceptual artist has cleared in the world in order to do his work, the space that contains his studio and much else besides, a space simply called 61st Street. Located at the corner of 61st Street and Blackstone Avenue in Chicago, the structure was originally a parking facility, then an industrial site, and then, beginning in the 1970s, the base of operations for a pioneering recycling venture. Under Peterman’s stewardship, it has evolved into a rich, intricate weave of neighboring enterprises, initiatives, and projects. 61st Street is at once a place where serious work gets done in private spaces behind closed doors and a convivial setting, open to the world, where one intersects with one’s friends and neighbors. 61st Street is in other words the border between worlds.

Made possible by a major gift from Donna and Cargill MacMillan Jr.