IALS's own shows at the Boiler Room

If you've been to the Boiler Room, then you're probably familiar with their PB&J special. But what about their PB&A? sure you are! Pizza, Beer & Art! I refuse to say PBArt...except for right there. Anywho, theres no way you could miss the giant Wall o' Art in the back (not to be confused with the Wall o' Butts in the mens bathroom...). If you havent noticed it, then you've probably never been to the Boiler Room, and also, we're not friends.

But big news! well, news, at least, IALS's very own blog slave/photo dude Tanner Young will be displaying his work starting this Monday, January 30. You may be familiar with him as the Co-curator (along with Brooke Herbert Hayes, our other photo...dude..) of our first photo exhibition, Snapshot: Inventing the Everyday. Or the dude at those IALS things, with the camera. Or that dude at The Boiler Room, at the bar...with the hat..(?). Or if you're really lucky, you dont know him at all.

Give 'Em the Boot ©W. Tanner Young 2009

But now's your chance to tempt fate, and eat pizza at the same time! Or you know, you could just eat the pizza and look at the photos, if you want. Young will be displaying work from his project An Excerpt of Various Photographs Strewn About the Room, for the first time in Logan Square. "The Project," he explains, "is intended to explore the struggle of my generation as we grow into the people we will be, in the world we are given." Whatever that means, I guess. Consisting of large scale prints, Young's photos are intimate portraits of his nexus of friends, acquaintances and the archetype their personalities portray. But rather than present us with a tight shot of a person or face, the figures in these photographs are often obscured by their surroundings, or "consumed" as he puts it (whoa, thats deep man), focusing on the way their personal spaces reflect their personalities.

Shoot for the Moon ©W. Tanner Young 2009

Young goes on to say, "Our lives are transitional, we’re caught in a period between young adulthood, maturity, a career and the rest of life. Our homes are our hideaway from this; a physical extension of our identity. By capturing these characters in moments of isolation, consumed by their surroundings, I glimpse into the bond between a person and an intimate moment in time." Personally, I think he should just get over the whole thing, but if these scenes look familiar, it would be no surprise. The project embodies an archetype of people we're all familiar with, a network of artists, musicians, writers and all those other no-job hippy liberals (aka "stoned-slackers" if you're as into Bill O'Reilly as I am) we surround ourselves with, right? uuhhh...ZING!

So if you're not doing anything this monday (and even if you are), come on down and check out the work, say "hi", and enjoy the pizza party. Because we all know you've been wanting to have a straight up pizza party since the last time, in the 6th grade.

House of 1000 Corpses ©W. Tanner Young 2010

An Excerpt of Various Photographs Strewn About the Room


The Boiler Room
2210 N. California Ave
Jan 30 - Mar 30

Opening Pizza Party:
Jan 30th, 7pm - passout time

Oh, he also really likes to write about himself in 3rd person.

All the best,

-W. Tanner Young

www.WTANNERYOUNG.com