What do you love about LUMA?
With its focus on spiritual and faith-
based art, it is a gem of a museum that
offers Chicago not only an impressive
permanent collection of everything
from ancient to modern, but also puts
on wonderful exhibitions of current
artists like
All that lies beyond
,
Ten
Thousand Ripples
,
and
Andra Samelson:
Cosmologies
.
What’s your favorite exhibition seen
at LUMA?
I liked them all but
Andra Samelson:
Cosmologie
s,
The Truth is in the Telling:
Tradition and Innovation in Passover
Haggadot
,
and
HEAVEN+HELL
stood
out for me.
If you could live anywhere in the
world, where would it be?
Chicago is great city for art but maybe
the North Pole. I like snow and cold so
much.
What are you reading right now?
John Quincy Adams
by Harlow Giles
Unger
What’s your favorite thing to do when
not making art?
Being out in nature—hiking hills, and
taking a walk in the woods and along
trout streams.
If money were no issue, what piece of
art would you buy?
I’m somewhat partial to Vincent van
Gogh; any painting by him would
be a dream. More realistically, a
painting or sculpture by Eugene Von
Bruenchenhein would be special to
have. I identify with Eugene’s vision,
inventiveness, and struggles.
An artist’s life can be difficult but
personally fulfilling. Do you agree
that artists are born and not made?
Yes, I believe from personal experience
artists are born this way. It is often
a burden because an artist is not
happy doing anything other than art.
It’s often frustrating to others who
only see artists suffering and think
it is foolishness. But jobs other than
making art only get in the way. When
times get hard, I take on odd jobs and
always leave them to make art. I’ve
walked away from several promising
careers in the past in order to make art.
And today, it is still hard to make ends
meet. So it takes great determination,
perseverance, vision, and faith, not
unlike that of a missionary or priest,
to keep making art in constant adverse
circumstances. Still making art is
worth the sacrifice.
Any comments on the art world
today? Has it changed since you first
pursued this career?
The art world is a reflection of the
world we live in—the best and
the worst of it. Much of it is about
money, sex, and power. But when
artists talk about interesting current
issues or discover some new art style
that contributes to hope, faith, and
perseverance of the human spirit, it is
worth seeking out.
The art world has become much
bigger and global. More attention is
given today to important social issues
like race and discrimination by such
artists as Rashid Johnson but little is
talked about other human rights like
inequality and poverty. And interesting
abstract art is being done by Markus
Linnenbrink, David Allan Peters, and
Michael Reafsnyder. These are the
artists I like.
LUMA Spotlight
VADIM KATZNELSON
30
Vadim is a LUMA board member
and artist living in Chicago.
