the artist project

I am going to participate in this show. See more info below:

April 27-30, 2007
350 West Mart Center Lobby
Running concurrently with Art Chicago™, The Artist Project™ is a new art exhibition and sale featuring original work from independent artists. Approximately 50 established and emerging fine artists will be selected to present their work as part of Chicago's legendary art weekend. The Artist Project will be a great opportunity to discover and obtain interesting and affordable art directly from a uniquely talented group of artists.

Show Hours
Preview Party —Thursday, April 26, 7–11 p.m.
Friday, April 27, 11 a.m.–7 p.m.
Saturday, April 28, 11 a.m.–7 p.m.
Sunday, April 29, 11 a.m.–6 p.m.
Monday, April 30, 11 a.m.–4 p.m.

Exhibitor Listing

The Artist Project is proud to present independent established and emerging artists.

2007 Jury-Selected Artists

Name	Web Address
Alt, Jane Fulton	www.janefultonalt.com
Baur, Mike
Beck, Nicole	www.nicolebeck.com
Brandl, Mark Staff	www.markstaffbrandl.com
Browder, Chase	www.chasebrowder.com
Buchanan, Elizabeth	www.ecbuchanan.com
Chatain, Dylan	www.fifteenthirty.com
Cortez, Miguel	www.mcortez.com
Dolan, William	www.dolanart.com
Dufault, David	www.dufaultart.com
Eaton, Charlesthomas	www.eatons.net/abrealist/charlesthomas/index.html
Fogelson, Doug	www.dougfogelson.com
Foley, Rebecca	www.rebeccafoley.com
Forster, Catherine	www.catforster.com
Frieders, Kim	www.KIMfrieders.com
Gitelson, Jonathan	www.thegit.net
Golubova, Marina
Halper, Kathy	www.kathyhalper.com
Hospodar, Loreen	www.loreenrhospodar.com
Jacobi, Catherine
Jiang, Qigu	www.qigustudio.com
Kazarian, Jackie	www.jackiekazarian.net
Klairmont, Yelena	www.yelenaklairmont.com
Koenen, Barbara	www.barbarakoenen.com
Kohler, William	www.williekohler.com
Lampert, Katherine	www.katherinelampert.com
Levant, Marianna
Lopez, Joyce P.	www.joycelopez.com
Maris Lader, Deborah	email: ink1101@aol.com
McGee, Patrick	www.adequatearts.com
McGinnis, Renee	www.reneemcginnis.com
McGoldrick, Doug	www.dougphoto.com
Miller, Sandro	www.sandrofilm.com
Miree, Royal Richardson	www.richardmiree.com
Nolet, Didier	www.caconline.org
Nudd, Paul
Pajon, Michael	www.michaelpajon.com
Preuss, Ted	www.preussphotography.com
Rautenberg, Beverly
Rezman, Monica	www.monicarezman.com
Rieger, Patricia
Roberts, Darrell	www.re-title.com/artists/Darrell-Roberts.asp
Scruby, Rusty
Sensemann, Susan	www.susansensemann.com
Siegel, Adam
Stanuga, Ted	www.stanuga.com
Sven Humphrey, Voshardt, Robyn	www.voshardthumphrey.com
Thorn, Bruce	www.brucethorn.com
Tubbs, Jeremy	www.jeremytubbs.com
Zimmermann, Jeff	www.jazim.com

photos from my texas trip

I was in a show at Mighty Fine Arts and the opening was saturday February 17, 2007. Check out the photos here: http://mcortez.com/blog/dallas07/index.htm

back to the cold....

Puerto Rico part deux-feb 2, 2007

a bunch of us went to "old San Juan" which is a now highly touristic area of San Juan, with its colonial history that dates back to the 16th history. I found it disgusting and overly commercial ...regardless I took some interesting pics during my trip.

Puerto Rico!!

During the days I work for a company Randa Accessories and this week we had our annual sales meeting in San Juan, Puerto Rico. We escaped the below zero weather in Chicago for sunny 80 degree days in the Caribbean. Below are some pics from wednesday Jan 31st.


the view from the room


After arriving on wednesday afternoon we attended some meetings and then relaxed for dinner and drinks....and some karaoke.


DJ Stizo above

New York

I travelled this week to NY for business to attend the Direction Show, an expo of design, graphics and 3 days of powerpoint design related presentations. Below are some photos and one night I met up with Ayanna Mccloud, artist who received her MFA from SAIC and showed at Polvo in 2004.

my new art piece

Jeevatma Leap
computer print, dimensions variable
Miguel Cortez, 2007

Jeevatma is the concept of the "soul" in the Ayyavazhi religion of South India. I came across this while researching for this series which takes the idea of empathy a step further by trying to imagine our consciousness jumping/leaping from one person to another. Just like accessing information from different computers, how would it feel to enter someone else's body and have access to their memories, feelings, etc..?

I'll be in Texas this February!

I am showing some of my art in Dallas this February and will be there for the opening!!

/mc
-----------------

Miguel Cortez, Edra Soto and the return of John Held Jr

Saturday, February 17, 2007 to Sunday, March 18, 2007
Reception 6-9 pm February 17, 2007

About MFA: mighty fine arts is an artist-run gallery located in the scenic and historic Oak Cliff neighborhood of Dallas. Artist Steve Cruz started the gallery in June of 2004 with the intention of providing an alternative space for innovative and underrepresented artists. mfa presents an eclectic array of shows with the guiding criteria of presenting work that is resonant, thoughtful and highly accomplished. From mid-career to fresh and unknown artists, mfa hopes to enlarge the perceptions of contemporary art in North Texas.

Mighty Fine Arts
407 N.Tyler (between 8th and Davis St.)
Dallas, Texas
Gallery hours are 12:00 to 5:00 Saturday and Sunday or by appointment
http://www.mfagallery.com/
phone 214-942-5241.

1990s

I came across this video and it brought back memories from 1990. I remember going to a party in Bridgeport and some of the girls were dressed in Deelite gear or in tight "bell bottoms". There was some sort of retro blend going on in those early 90s; between the 60s and 70s fashion. I thought they looked stupid but Lady Deelite looks great in this video.

some pics I took today

Friday Dec 29th, 2006, I was walking from work(11:10am) to go downtown to renew my state ID. At this point in time primitive forms of plastic digital IDs are still needed in order to travel via airplanes(?)---i am going to NY and Puerto Rico in January as well as to Dallas in February. Anyways enjoy the images below. I enjoy existing at this section of the timeline.

Xmas pictures

playing jenga during the holidays

my new video

Dream, Sept. 8, 2006
digital video with sound
Miguel Cortez, 2006

Inspired by a dream I had on that day. I posted the blog text on Sept. 8, 2006 and decided to create a video about it. Below is the text from the video:

I woke up today at about 5am with a weird vivid dream. In the dream I was at work and our building was going thru some evacuation procedure so since I work on the 5th floor we had to walk down the stairs but when we got to the 3rd floor a group of us noticed the stairway and floor had changed since the last time we walked down. Someone said it was because of the new Indian owners and it had to do with Bolly wood. So we had to go down a different route and upon walking thru some corridors and down more stairs we came across this huge room; the first floor I assume. And in this room there were people sleeping but sleeping stacked on top of each other; inside mounds of earth, like mini-hills and their bodies were inside except for the head and one on top of another with some space in between each. And on the floor was about 2 feet of water with feces and urine, so in order to get to the exit we had to walk thru it. And when I walked several feet I woke up...looked at my cell phone, four fifty eight am.

man sets himself on fire

Malachi Ritscher's apparent suicide
by Peter Margasak on November 7th - 4:06 p.m.
Chicago Reader


On Saturday the Sun-Times ran a small item about a man who had set himself on fire during rush hour Friday morning near the Ohio Street exit on the Kennedy. His identity has still not been officially determined, but members of the local jazz and improvised music community say they are certain it was Malachi Ritscher, a longtime supporter of the scene. Bruno Johnson, who owns the free-jazz label Okka Disk, received a package yesterday from Ritscher that included a will, keys to his home, and instructions about what should be done with his belongings. Johnson, a former Chicagoan who now lives in Milwaukee, began making calls. Police are still awaiting the results of dental tests, but Johnson says an officer told one of Ritscher's sisters that all evidence pointed to the body being his; his car was found nearby and he hadn't shown up for work since Thursday.

Buried on Ritscher's web site Chicago Rash Audio Potential, a compendium of invaluable show postings, artwork, and photography, are a suicide note and an obituary. Both indicate that he was deeply troubled by the war in Iraq and pinpoint it as a motive for suicide (no method is specified), though there are indications that he may have had other issues as well. "He had a son, from whom he was estranged (at the son's request), and two grandchildren," reads the obit. "He had many acquaintances, but few friends; and wrote his own obituary, because no one else really knew him." Ritscher was a familiar face at antiwar protests, and he was arrested more than once for his involvement, including this time this past May. A note found at the scene of the immolation reportedly read "Thou Shalt Not Kill."

Although Ritscher, who was in his early 50s, had played music off and on over the years, he was best known for his devotion to documenting other people's shows. Several nights a week for at least the last decade he could be found at places like the Empty Bottle, the Velvet Lounge, and the Hungry Brain; by his own count he recorded more than 2,000 concerts. Over the years he invested more money in equipment and as his skills improved, many of his recordings went to be used on commerical releases--by Paul Rutherford, Gold Sparkle Band, Isotope 217, Irene Schweizer, and Ken Vandermark among others. Ritscher was fiercely modest about these pursuits--I once tried to do a piece on him for the Reader but he declined, saying he didn’t want publicity.

Photo by Joeff Davis

November Surprise?

The Bush people will try something before the elections. Could this be it? or maybe another video tape by his bud Bin Laden? We shall see...

/mc
--------------------------------

November Surprise?
The Nation
By Tom Engelhardt
Tuesday 17 October 2006

The US-backed special tribunal in Baghdad signalled Monday that it will likely delay a verdict in the first trial of Saddam Hussein to November 5. Why hasn't the mainstream media connected the dots between the Saddam's judgment day and the midterm elections?

Here's how the story was reported pretty much everywhere: "An Iraqi court trying Saddam Hussein for the killing of Shi'ite villagers in the 1980s could deliver a verdict on November 5, officials said, a ruling which could send the ousted leader to the gallows…"

A possible death-sentence for Saddam and his top lieutenants on November 5? Now, shouldn't that raise a few eyebrows somewhere? If you happen to have a calendar close at hand, pull it over and take a quick look. That verdict would then come, curiously enough, just two days before the midterm elections. It's the sort of thing that-you would think-that any reporter with knowledge of the US election cycle (no less of how Karl Rove has worked these last years) would at least note in an article. But no, you can search high and low without finding a reference to this in the mainstream media.

I must admit I hadn't thought about this myself until a friend forwarded me "No Comment," the e-mail newsletter that Scott Horton sends out from time to time. ("It's intended as ironic. All I do is comment.") Horton, who likes to identify himself in his newsletter as an "obscure New York lawyer," is actually an adjunct professor at the Columbia University Law School, as well as chairman of the International Law Committee at the New York City Bar Association. He makes frequent trips to Iraq, working as an attorney "representing arrested local-hire reporters of US media."

Once he had pointed out the timing in his newsletter, I couldn't get it out of my head and, since a Google search and a spin through various mainstream articles on the changed verdict date, brought up only a couple of passing mentions online of its relationship to the US elections, I called Horton directly. Here's what he had to say when I asked whether he thought Karl Rove might have anything to do with this:

"For sure. That November 5 date is designed to show some progress in Iraq. This is the last full news-cycle day in the US before the elections. It'll be Monday. And the American public will see Saddam condemned to death and see it as a positive thing.

"When you look at polling figures," Horton said," there have been three significant spike points. One was the date on which Saddam was captured. The second was the purple fingers election. The third was Zarqawi being killed. Based on those three, it's easy to project that they will get a mild bump out of this.

"After all, almost every newspaper reserves space for Iraq reporting every day. This just assures that they will have a positive news story to feature. I find it amazing not that journalists don't editorialize on this, but that they report the story without even noting that this is right before the midterm elections. That's pretty amazing to me!

"This is not coincidence," he continued. "Nothing in Iraq that's set up this far in advance is coincidental. Look at Michael Gordon's book Cobra II. One of the points he drives home is how everything in the battle for Baghdad was scripted for US media consumption.

"In fact, in my experience, everything that comes out of Baghdad is very carefully prepared for American domestic consumption.

"As for Saddam's trial itself, I've spoken with dozens of lawyers and judges in Iraq and they have a uniformly very negative opinion of this special tribunal. Everybody - pretty consistently across the board, and despite the fact that there's no love lost for Saddam himself-has a high level of irritation about the tribunal. Judges have said to me, ‘I wouldn't serve on that. I wouldn't have anything to do with it. It's a blot on our country.' Their main point of criticism is its lack of independence. There is a team of American lawyers working as special legal advisors out of the US embassy, who drive the whole thing. They have been involved in preparing the case and overseeing it from the beginning. The trial, which is shown on TV, has mild entertainment value for Iraqis, but they refer to it regularly as an American puppet theater."

Still, scheduling the announcement of what will almost certainly be a future execution to give yourself one last shot at a bump in the polls?

Welcome to Bushworld.

Keith Olbermann

Why Does Habeas Corpus Hate America
By Keith Olbermann
MSNBC Countdown
Tuesday 10 October 2006

Because the Mark Foley story began to break the night of September 28th, exploding the following day, many people may not have noticed a bill passed by the Senate that night.

Our third story on the Countdown tonight, the Military Commissions Act of 2006 and what it does to something called "habeas corpus."

And before we reduce the very term "habeas corpus" to something vaguely recalled as sounding kinda like the cornerstone of freedom, or maybe kinda like a character from "Harry Potter," we thought a Countdown Special Investigation was in order.

Congress passed The Military Commissions Act to give Mr. Bush the power to deal effectively with America's enemies - those who seek to harm this country.

And he has been very clear about who that is:
"… for people to leak that program, and for a newspaper to publish it does great harm to the United States of America."

So the president said it was urgent that Congress send him this bill as quickly as possible, not for the politics of next month's elections, but for America.

"The fact that we're discussing this program is helping the enemy."

Because time was of the essence - and to ensure that the 9/11 families would wait no longer - as soon as he got the bill, President Bush whipped out his pen and immediately signed a statement saying he looks forward to signing the actual law … eventually.

He hasn't signed it yet, almost two weeks later, because he has been swamped by a series of campaign swings at which he has made up quotes from unnamed Democratic leaders, and because when he is actually at work, he's been signing so many other important bills, such as: The Credit Rating Agency Reform Act; the Third Higher Education Extension Act; ratification requests for extradition treaties with Malta, Estonia and Latvia; his proclamation of German-American Day; the Partners for Fish and Wildlife Act; and his proclamation of Leif Erikson Day.

Still, getting the Military Commissions Act to the President so he could immediately mull it over for two weeks was so important, some members of Congress didn't even read the bill before voting on it. Thus, has some of its minutiae, escaped scrutiny.

One bit of trivia that caught our eye was the elimination of habeas corpus. which apparently used to be the right of anyone who's tossed in prison, to appear in court and say, "Hey, why am I in prison?"

Why does habeas corpus hate America … and how is it so bad for us?

Mr. Bush says it gets in the way of him doing his job.

[video clip] Bush: " … we cannot be able to tell the American people we're doing our full job unless we have the tools necessary to do so. And this legislation passed in the House yesterday is a part of making sure that we do have the capacity to protect you. Our most solemn job is the security of this country."

It may be solemn …
[video clip] Bush: "I do solemnly swear … "
But is that really his job? In this rarely seen footage, Mr. Bush is clearly heard describing a different job.
[video clip] … to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States..

Countdown has obtained a copy of this "Constitution of the United States."

And sources tell us it was originally snuck through the Constitutional Convention and state ratification in order to establish America's fundamental legal principles.

But this so-called Constitution is frustratingly vague about the right to trial. In fact, there's only one reference to habeas corpus at all. Quote: "The privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it."

But even Democrats who voted against the Military Commissions Act concede that it doesn't actually suspend habeas corpus.

[video clip] Leahy: The bill before the Senate would not merely suspend the great writ, the great writ of habeas corpus, it would eliminate it permanently.
And there is considerable debate whether the conditions for suspending habeas corpus, rebellion or invasion, have been met.
[video clip] Leahy: conditions for suspending habeas corpus have not been met.
[video clip] Kerry: We're not in a rebellion, nor are we being invaded.
[video clip] Specter: We do not have a rebellion or an invasion.
[video clip] Biden: The United States is neither in a state of rebellion nor invasion.
[video clip] Byrd: We are not in the midst of a rebellion, and there is no invasion.

Countdown has learned that habeas corpus actually predates the "Constitution," meaning it's not just pre-September 11th thinking, it's also pre-July 4th thinking.

In those days, no one imagined that enemy combatants might one day attack Americans on native soil.

In fact, Countdown has obtained a partially redacted copy of a colonial "declaration" indicating that back then, "depriving us of Trial by Jury" was actually considered sufficient cause to start a War of Independence, based on the then-fashionable idea that "liberty" was an unalienable right.

Today, thanks to modern, post-9/11 thinking, those rights are now fully alienable.
The reality is, without habeas corpus, a lot of other rights lose their meaning.
But if you look at the actual Bill of Rights - the first ten amendments to that pesky Constitution - you'll see just how many remain.

Well, ok, Number One's gone.
If you're detained without trial, you lose your freedom of religion, speech, the press and assembly. And you can't petition the government for anything.

Number Two? While you're in prison, your right to keep and bear arms just may be infringed upon.
Even if you're in the NRA.

Three?
No forced sleepovers by soldiers at your house. OK. Three is unchanged.

Four?
You're definitely not secure against searches and seizures, with or without probable cause - and this isn't even limited to the guards.

Five … Grand juries and due process are obviously out.

Six. So are trials, let alone the right to counsel. Speedy trials? You want it when?

Seven. Hmmmm. I thought we covered "trials" and "juries" earlier.

Eight - So bail's kind of a moot point …

Nine: "Other" rights retained by the people. Well, if you can name them during your water-boarding, we'll consider them.

And Ten - powers not delegated to the United States federal government seem to have ended up there, anyway.

So as you can see, even without habeas corpus, at least one tenth of the Bill of Rights, I guess that's the Bill of "Right" now … remains virtually intact.

And we can rest easy knowing we will never, ever have to quarter soldiers in our homes … as long as the Third Amendment still stands strong.

The President can take care of that with a Signing Statement.

see the video here:
http://websrvr20.audiovideoweb.com/avwebdswebsrvr2143/news_video/OlbermannHabeusCorpus56K.mov

New City article

I was featured in this week's New City newspaper. Check it out:

------------------------------------------------
Art Break
Miguel Cortez

Benjamin Krier

Miguel Cortez is a friendly guy. In talking about the biannual Polvo magazine he publishes, I asked him how he managed the citywide distribution of an independent, alternative arts periodical. He chuckled a little and answered: "by car." It's just a matter of commitment, he said.

Cortez is also committed to curating shows for the Polvo art space, which doubles as his home, bringing artists from around the world to display their work in the Pilsen neighborhood, working full-time as a graphic designer, managing three Web sites and three blogs, creating posters and stickers aimed at making the world a better place, publishing a magazine, using whatever tools high-tech and low to create art that attempts to connect the dots between distances both ephemeral and immediate. He is committed to the movements and signals of life, whether watching from an airplane window or walking past a frozen puddle on his way to work.

Miguel uses his airplane-visions and walk-to-work discoveries to lead viewers towards an appreciation of passing beauties, the snowflake divinity of everyday paths and routines. His painting series "Aerial Landscape" creates a sort of floor plan for a dream world where squares that could be living space lead to patches of orange and disappear into thin lines of smoke that might be rivers, all floating in a haze of green that could pass for either land or sky. His collection of digital prints on canvas entitled "Read My Palm" invites viewers to see the future from his own hand. He is reaching-out towards our inner-cartographer, the global-temporal-positioning-system hardwired in the collective "us."

Miguel Cortez will be showing work with Polvo at the Milwaukee International art fair in October and at the Mighty Fine Arts gallery in Dallas, Texas in 2007. Information on the Polvo Art Collective can be found at www.polvo.org.