Grand monuments are built around the world that attract locals and tourists into bustling cities. Chicago has its very own Cloud Gate, also known as ‘The Bean.’ The identity around cities like Chicago can be tied to their iconic edifices. However, what lies in the rich neighborhoods of Chicago encapsulates what the city is all about. ‘The Bean’ fails to capture heavy traffic at the Metro stop or the busy views of downtown. The ordinary street corner or market store can have some extraordinary stories to tell. Some art fails to recognize these niche experiences, but luckily, there is an art practice that prides itself on the ability to capture its subject in the moment. Andy Paczos is an artist in Chicago that paints these stories so locals and tourists can get to know the real Chicago.

        Together, Future Gods, Convexity Properties, and Lorenzo Rodriguez presented a glimpse at these obscure parts of Chicago with new on-sight paintings from Andy Paczos. “EXTRA — ORDINARY” captures places in neighborhoods including West Town, Douglas Park, and The Loop. These paintings are reflective of the practice, en plein air; a French term meaning “in open air”, that sees artists working in outdoor settings. The practice can be traced back to the 1600s with Claude Lorrain and Diego Velázquez. Lorrain is notorious for biblical landscapes such as The Flight into Egypt. However, Lorrain also sketched landscapes with oil by sitting in open spaces and drawing what he saw.¹ Velázquez’s painting View of the Garden of the Villa Medici also showcases the beauty and technique of depicting a live scene.

        These works inspired artists like Pierre-Henri de Valenciennes. He crafted innovative en plein air paintings such as View of Rome. The painting depicts the cityscape of St. Peter’s Basilica and the surrounding buildings. The detail in the buildings is precise and shows the care and love Valenciennes has for the scene. What makes these paintings so innovative is their attention to detail without the inclusion of a classical motif.² Valenciennes doesn’t miss a single detail. He pays careful attention to the landscape. His attention is commitment; it’s love of the subject. This same kind of love in the work of Andy Paczos.

        “EXTRA — ORDINARY” showcases 12 different paintings from Paczos that embody theen plein air practice. Looking South Van Buren St Bridge has an astounding amount of depth and detail. The foreground shows how the concrete road barrier curves towards Paczos’ viewing position. At the foremost curve, there are pebbles and shrubbery, and you can easily count the number of pebbles that sit in the foreground. Then, as you follow deeper along the barrier, a bridge stretches across the width of the painting, creating a distinct frame, just skewed off center. Behind it are variously shaped buildings that tower over the middle and foreground. Paczos depicts how the light bounces off the buildings in the background, reflecting how you would see them with your own eye. You can easily see how the attention to depth and detail really showcases Paczos’s appreciation for the practice ofen plein air. He paints his subjects as he sees them—as they exist. Despite this, hidden in the lower right corner is a small unfinished part of the piece—a recurring theme in his work.

        Attention to detail and depth is also seen in Western Ave Metro Stop. The outlines in the dirt show how people may have traveled on it. The winding, metallic road barrier is broken: but by what? A crash? Kids? It’s left for us to imagine. There are trash cans that are open and others that feel abandoned. The middle ground is crowded with different buildings that have been worn with history. They collect around train tracks that disappear into the background. Paczos once again shows his adept sense of perspective and draftsmanship; the tiny buildings deep in the background may not even be an inch long.

        What makes this painting stand out is the use of color; how it indicates the time of day. Particularly in the red trash can, where one side is slightly darker. Even the lip under the hood has shadows that showcase how it sticks out. On the white garage, a thin layer of grayer paint forms the shadow of the roof. It is this attention that shows how much time Paczos spends tending to the details. Again, below the dirt road is a sliver of unfinished work.

        What makes Logan Center 8th floor different is its composition. Roughly three-quarters of the piece depicts plain concrete. However, the textures and angles can still be seen in those surfaces. Paczos does an amazing job playing with light and shadow so you can see each groove. The other part of the painting is the complete opposite. As the viewpoint looks outside the Logan Center, clearly depicted are the trees, roads, and snow that stretch out into the distance. It is as if you are walking through the Center, and you stop to check your phone—or tie your shoelace. It’s a snapshot an average visitor might miss as they venture through the center.

        The set of paintings titled Dining Room are uniquely different. First, they aren’t outside. In the winter, Paczos favors painting the antiques in Salvage One, an antique and architectural salvage store in Chicago. Second, the unfinished parts of the painting are deliberately large. Teased in Van Buren and Western Ave are glimpses of the unfinished first steps of the painting. However, in the Dining Room set of paintings, the first sketches are on full display. In Dining Room Three, the red chair and long brown table are painted realistically, then suddenly, the color fades away. Remaining are the outlines of the other dining chairs. The choice is a direct reference to the process of enplein air painting. It shows the early sketches before it turns into a finished product.

        As an audience, I am transported into the paintings of “EXTRA — ORDINARY.” Paczos’s attention to detail and depth brings you into these unique places. Unlike “The Bean,” the places that Paczos’s depicts are full of history. They show a side of Chicago that people may not know about. It’s so easy to be distracted by grand and materialistic spectacles and forget what is just a couple of stops away on the bus. The unique perspectives of some of these paintings require Paczos to know Chicago and to have the eye to capture it appropriately. En plein air focuses on artists depicting what they see, as they see it. The practice takes time to get to know its community. It values the intimacy in getting to know one another. Look around, every corner of the room could be the subject of a painting. There’s beauty in the shadows on the wall, the colors of the floor, and the way those things change.

Andrew Hart Benson (they/them/theirs) is a writer for the New Art Examiner. They have a degree in Communication from SUNY University at Buffalo.

Footnotes
1. PleinAir Today. Plein Air Moment: The Judgment of Paris. Outdoor Painter. Web.

2. Rebecca Seiferle (22 Nov 2020). En Plein Air Definition Overview and Analysis. The Art Story. Web