International Art Lineup Announced for Beethoven Festival 2013

The International Beethoven Project, led by President and Artistic Director George Lepauw, announced today the international array of visual art components for Beethoven Festival: LOVE 2013, the organization's third annual multidisciplinary festival inspired by the creativity and genius of Ludwig van Beethoven, Sept. 7-15, 2013. An Art Opening free to the public will be held onFriday, Sept. 6 from 6-8 p.m. Joining the extensive musical lineup previously announced, visual art projects for LOVE 2013 range fromoriginal concert hall video installations to the world premiere of Ludwig, a symphonic graphic novel by Canadian Christian Quesnel that follows an impassioned Beethoven through a steampunk universe. The continuation of the festival's art commission serieswill highlight new works by 20 artists and Chicagoan Jason Hawk will contribute a large site-specific sculpture that fills an entire room at the festival's headquarters, Merit School of Music's Joy Faith Knapp Music Center (38 S. Peoria Street). Additionally, an experiential space will feature improvised dance and musical and performances, live art-making and ephemeral events from Chicago's rich performance art community.

Alongside Chicago-based artists, LOVE 2013 will showcase the work of artists from across the U.S. in addition to Germany, Israel, Japan, Romania, Spain and Suriname. Musical headliners include the return of composer-conductor Matthias Pintscher and a new music commission series involving Wilco drummer Glenn Kotche. Weeklong festival passes and individual tickets for Beethoven Festival: LOVE 2013 will go on sale later this month, when the full schedule of artists and programming is announced. For more information please visit www.BeethovenFestival2013.com.

"This year's artists take the LOVE 2013 theme and use it to explore contemporary issues of love related to commercialism, gender and the proliferation of romantic images in the media," said Beethoven Festival Art Director Catinca Tabacaru. "At the Festival, audiences can engage with ephemeral and in-progress works, an opportunity rarely available in traditional art institutions such as museums and art galleries. Our art project is a documentation of the present moment, a reflection of the times in which we live."

Previously announced Israeli artist-in-residence Rachel Monosov has been commissioned to create 12 unique LOVE 2013 posters, which will be used for a centerpiece installation at Merit School of Music as well as available for acquisition in small edition prints. Monosov will also perform daily DJ and video sets at the festival headquarters, where additional artists' works will be showcased across three separate halls. In the main concert hall, original video installations will transform the space for each concert, utilizing a series of 3D screens created by Tabacaru in collaboration with Chicago artist Brian Steckel, who will also map the original video works to accompany each concert. The Projection Project will feature video works by artists including Barcelona-based artist Yapci Ramos, fellow ChicagoanJessica Sladek and Luftwerk, whose site-specific video and sound installation Luminous Field at the Cloud Gate sculpture in Chicago's Millennium Park was received with great acclaim in 2012.

Making its world premiere at LOVE 2013, Christian Quesnel's symphonic graphic novel Ludwig sequences Beethoven's life events through images inspired by his passionate letter to the Immortal Beloved, set to Piano Concerto No.5 Allegro and placed within a steampunk universe. Published by Art Global and Neige-galerie in Quebec, Ludwig will be presented in animated format in partnership withTélé-Québec television.

A second concert hall, fondly nicknamed "Ludwig's Salon," will serve as an experiential space for improvised musical performances, live art-making and plush, colorful cloisters. A live feed from the main concert hall will be projected onto a large screen in the Salon, the music influencing and permeating the art created within. Last year's festival artist-in-residence, Brooklyn-based Justin Orvis Steimer-whose live painting provided a multidisciplinary backdrop for last year's Beethoven Festival-will paint in the Salon for the duration of LOVE 2013, with Chicagoans Chris Silva contributing an additional 3D live art installation and Jess Dugan providing works that explore shifting ideas of gender, love and sexuality. A Love Bar in the Salon will sell beverages throughout the festival, adding to the casual and social environment of the space.

In the third hall, a site-specific work entitled Love Me Love Me Not by Chicago artist Jason Hawk will fill the room with a central sculpture exploring the commercialization of love: a "machine" out of which a series of limited-edition statuettes are emanating, all available for purchase by festival attendees. Additional works available for acquisition will be presented through the festival's annual art commission series, in which local, national and International Artists explore the theme of LOVE through pieces created specifically for the festival. The featured artists for this year are American painter and sculptor Kiley Ames, currently based in Germany; prolific New York-based mixed media artist Greg Haberny; and Chicagoan Rob Stone, who works with bleach on silk canvases. Additional pieces will be contributed by: Chicagoans Nate Otto, Shawn Stucky, Laura Davis, Marita Bolles, Laura Myntti, Doug Stapleton and Michael Van Zeyl; California-based artist Carly Ivan Garcia; New York-based artist Danielle Lurie; seasoned Greek artist Sophia Petrides; Romanian artist Georgeta Grabovschi; Japanese artist Shinji Murakami; and Surinamese artist Xavier Robles de Medina.

About the International Beethoven Project and Beethoven Festival

The International Beethoven Project, a Chicago-based non-profit, is dedicated to the promotion of revolutionary culture, inspired by the music and life of Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-­1827), one of the most ground­breaking artists of all time. Its mission is accomplished through the presentation of an annual Beethoven Festival, concerts, mixed­media exhibits, lectures, the production of recordings and films, the commissioning of new music and art, publications and educational outreach in schools and universities, as well as in non­traditional venues. The unconventional and multidisciplinary Beethoven Festival was inspired by concert pianist and Founding Artistic Director George Lepauw's cultural explorations of Paris, London, Beijing and New York. The inaugural festival in 2011 presented 25 concerts over five days in Chicago's Pilsen neighborhood; last year, it grew to over 60 events spanning nine days, based out of the Uptown neighborhood. This year's festival headquartered in the West Loop neighborhood will feature over 100 events spanning classical and new music, visual art, fashion, literature and education. Beethoven's vision of humanity, justice and "brotherhood" inspires us to build a better world through music and art, continuing the dialogue that is necessary between past, present and future generations of artists in order for culture and civilization to flourish. For more information, visit www.internationalbeethovenproject.com.

About Merit School of Music

Merit School of Music, www.meritmusic.org, transforms the lives of Chicago-area youth by providing the highest quality music education-with a focus on underserved communities-inspiring young people to achieve their full musical and personal potential.

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