By Liz Teahan
The CLHOF is pleased to announce that it has found a brand new location to host the silent auction: the Hilton/Asmus Contemporary. “Brand new” is not an exaggeration; when I visited the gallery about a week before its grand opening July 11, it was still in the stages of preparation, with some paintings hung on the wall, some stacked up in piles, and a working art studio located in the back. Yet even at this unfinished stage it showed much promise.
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| Original painting by Dalip Kryeziu Photo taken by Liz Teahan |
Located at 716 N Wells St., the gallery fits snugly into a neighborhood alive with a youthful energy and appetite for the arts. Several other art galleries line the surrounding blocks of the Chicago neighborhood, and the Hilton/Asmus itself is enclosed between the fine-dining Italian restaurant Prosecco and the soon-to-be (and highly anticipated) restaurant and wine bar The Boarding House. Upon entering the gallery, it quickly becomes clear that its interior matches its lively and cultural surroundings. The gallery is open and free flowing, a generous space that can comfortably hold the many guests anticipated for the CLHOF’s upcoming silent auction. There are paintings of all different time periods and styles hung on the gallery’s brick walls and displayed elsewhere in the space, from a painting that debuted at the Art Institute in the 1950s to contemporary pieces, some done by Arica Hilton herself.
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| One of Hilton's oil on canvas paintings titled: "The Secret Sky" Photo credit: Liz Teahan |
Arica is the very generous co-owner of the Hilton/Asmus, and she is also an artist and a poet. She has summarized her work by saying: “My paintings chronicle the infinite forms of LIFE in an unlimited universe…I search for the expression of light and shadow, for the infinite and inexhaustible combinations of a visually aesthetic language that transcends and unifies worlds.” Her first book of poetry, The Seven Faces of Love, is due out in later this year. She is also the former president of the Poetry Center of Chicago and recently became the art travel editor for Fine Art Magazine, among numerous accomplishments. As a lover of both art and literature, Hilton was eager to partner with the CLHOF in an attempt to bring two forms of conversing—painting and writing—into the same space, showing people how closely the two are merged.
The co-owner of the gallery, Hilton's fiancé, Sven Asmus, is just as passionate about the arts. Born in Hamburg, Germany, Asmus came to the US in 1995. He held several different positions in the fields of managing and marketing and most recently was the brand manager for Rolls-Royce Motorcars Gold Coast. When Hilton and Asmus walked into the empty space in Chicago's River North Art District that would soon become their gallery, Asmus’ decision to change careers was almost instant. "A friend once told me that the universe guides you by sending you three signs. Once you learn to see them, you can't go wrong following them," Asmus believes. According to him, the universe was very insistent that he quit his job as a manager and begin a career in the arts, as there were at least five signs pointing him in this direction.
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| Photo taken at the Hilton/Asmus Contemporary Grand Opening. Photo credit: Liz Teahan |
It is fitting that such supporters, celebrators, and creators of all art forms offer their gallery to be used as the space for a night of celebrating and supporting great literature created in Chicago (while being surrounded by great art). Weather permitting, the celebration night in October can continue out into the gallery’s courtyard. While it remained unfinished when I saw it, Hilton described her beautiful vision for the space: murals draped on the sides of buildings, luxurious flowerbeds, and romantic hanging lights to complete the picture. The space’s potential is amazing, and it is sure to be the key to building a magical atmosphere on the night of the auction.
Liz Teahan is a junior at DePaul University majoring in English with a concentration in creative writing. She is currently helping to coordinate new projects as an intern for the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame, such as starting a book club and fundraising for a sculpture project.
She is also researching topics that live literary variety shows could be performed around as an intern for The Encyclopedia Show, as well as working as an intern for RHINO, a poetry publishing house.
In 2004, her short story was published in an Anthology of Young Authors, and in the winter of 2012, she plans to study travel writing while abroad in Morocco.
