Opening the Vaults: Mummies at the Field Museum

Photo: Ron Testa/The Field Museum

I took a peek at the Field Museum's much-anticipated "Opening the Vaults: Mummies," opening Friday. It's interesting to know the exhibit was actually an impromptu happening. Back in June, museum staffers pulled out the fragile mummies—from Ancient Egypt and the Incan empire—for CT scans. By November, staffers decided the CT scans and rarely displayed mummies would make a great show, and the exhibition was hastily put together.

That quick thinking might have been the key to such a wonderful exhibit. Dramatic, old wooden cases from the museum's early-20th-century displays pack a small temporary exhibition space. Some of the 20-plus very fragile mummies and mummy-like bundles—only on display until April 22—weren't even removed from their storage crates. As a result, it feels as if you're walking through an earlier time when Ancient Egypt held an air of mystery, and learning about it promised to reveal insights about the history of humankind. (The bird soundtrack, we could do without.)

The CT scans—taken in one week inside a portable scanner parked in the museum's West Lot—add to the exhibit, without causing it to lose that old-fashioned air of mystery. (As early as the 1930s, the museum X-rayed its mummies). I spoke with J.P. Brown, a museum conservator, who said the CT results revealed several surprises. Many of the mummies, obtained around the time of the World's Fair, have never been unwrapped; scientists feared ruining the artifacts. So the CT scans spotted several unknown details, such as strands of hair and the genitals of a mummy whose gender was previously unknown (for the record, it's a boy).

Brown told me he was so excited about the week with the CT scanner, donated by a Northern Illinois radiology equipment company, that he "would have slept in it, if my wife would've let me." In this exhibition, that curiosity and raw enthusiasm really shows. 

Tickets cost $22, seniors and students $18, kids ages 4–11 $15. For more information or to purchase tickets, go to fieldmuseum.org.

Artropolis NEXT Fair

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  Shepard Fairey installation at Artropolis 2011.

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  Juan Angel Chavez, Sideways Can Project, at Artropolis 2011.

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  Steve Lambert, Trust Me, at Charlie James Gallery, NEXT 2011.

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  Sara Schnadt, Connectivity (Condensed) at Balloon Contemporary, NEXT 2011.

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  Alexis Rose, Aren't We Comfortable, at Johalla Projects, NEXT 2011.

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  Soi Park, Buscar Trabajo, 2010, in "New Insight" at Artropolis 2011.

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  Team Art! installation at NEXT 2011.

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  Theaster Gates, In the Event of a Race Riot XVI and In the Event of a Race Riot VIII, 2011, at Kavi Gupta Gallery, NEXT 2011.

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  Thorne Brandt and Elisa Harkins, Eototo Time, 2010, at NEXT 2011.

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  ACRE booth at NEXT 2011.

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  Anindita Dutta installation presented by Robert Bills Contemporary at NEXT 2011.

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  Shepard Fairey, Revolutions, 2011, at Robert Berman Gallery, Art Chicago 2011.

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Shepard Fairey installation at Artropolis 2011.

Photo: Max Herman

05/03/2011

Next Art Chicago, the art fair scheduled for the Merchandise Mart April 27–29, 2012, has been canceled. If you've trudged through its poorly lit, low-ceilinged aisles at any time during the past five years, you probably aren't surprised.

Merchandise Mart Properties Inc. took over the Art Chicago fair in 2006, and Chicagoans had high hopes for it at first. In 2007, TOC reported on the fair's splashy rebranding as Artropolis. In 2008, MMPI added NEXT, a hipper fair cofounded by local dealer Kavi Gupta, to the mix. The energy level has seemed lower each year since. MMPI president Mark Falanga tells the Chicago Sun-Times that visitor attendance "rose from around 22,000 to more than 53,000" in 2011. The number and caliber of exhibiting galleries declined, however, leading to the consolidation of NEXT and Art Chicago into one fair. And the throng of visitors, which exceeded even Art Basel Miami Beach's record 2011 attendance, didn't translate into sales. Falanga tells the Chicago Tribune that collectors "are going to the coasts to purchase art, and they're not buying enough in Chicago to justify a fair here."

Installation view of Susan Giles, Crumpled Spire, 2011.

Photo: Kip Wilkinson

In this week's Art and Design section, I profile three new local galleries: Alderman Exhibitions, Hinge Gallery and the Mission. OK, "new" is an exaggeration: These spaces opened last year. But you probably haven't visited all three, and they're promoting artists in novel ways. (Think horror movies and reading groups.) Read more about what to see and do this week after the jump.

Mummies from the Field Museum's permanent exhibit "Inside Ancient Egypt"

The annual January dearth of exhibits ends soon. Come February, Chicago's museums become a nerd's paradise. Here are four to look forward to.

"Opening the Vaults: Mummies" at the Field Museum, Feb 17–Apr 22
In 2011, Field Museum scientists performed CT scans of more than 20 rarely seen mummies from Egypt and Peru. (The Oriental Institute conducted CT scans on a mummy a few years ago. Just saying.) Before the Field Museum's fragile, 900- to 5,500-year-old mummies are placed back in storage for safe keeping, they will be on display and paired with CT scans, which reveal injuries, preservation techniques and the occasional jewel tucked away in the wrappings. People love mummies (mysterious + very old = fascinating), so I can see these tickets going fast; pre-order them at fieldmuseum.org.

"Picturing the Past: Imaging and Imagining the Ancient Middle East" at the Oriental Institute Museum, Feb 7–Sept 2
We know not to trust Disney representations of the ancient world, but this exhibit tells us we should be wary of textbook images as well. Discover how books and museums have accidentally created false representations, including a queen Nefrititi with improved-upon looks, a dubious mother-goddess cult and King Tut's tomb made better with a little prop styling.

"Genghis Khan" at the Field Museum, Feb 24–Sept 3
One of my favorite exhibits of all time is "Catherine the Great," which, as a 10-year-old, I journeyed to see at the Pink Palace Museum in Memphis. It must've contained nearly everything she'd owned: piles and piles of jewelry, silk and a memorable gold and red-velvet carriage. "Genghis Khan," coming to the Field Museum, sounds like it might be awfully similar. Yay! According to the press release, the show contains "more than 200 stunning items including gold jewelry, weaponry, silk robes and religious relics." Also on display: A recently uncovered mummy. What a surprise.

"MythBusters: The Explosive Exhibit" at the Museum of Science and Industry, Mar 15–Sept 3
The Emmy-nominated show that convinced me to keep milk nearby when eating spicy foods (apparently cheese contains casein, which removes spicy oil) inspires a science exhibit. The Museum of Science and Industry purports to let you "test theories at MSI—the only place that lets you become a real MythBuster!" Since no one wants to accidently shoot a cannonball through a wall, trained museum staffers also conduct experiments for you to view at a distance.