On the eve of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, Chicago Loop Alliance presents The Olympic City project as part of the Pop-Up Art Loop initiative. An opening reception with complimentary drinks will be held on Thursday, Feb. 6 from 5-9 p.m. Jon Pack and Gary Hustwit will be in attendance, and the last remaining copies of the limited-edition book of the project will be available for purchase. There will also be free Field Notes custom Olympic City notebooks distributed at the opening event, first come, first served.
In light of Chicago’s failed 2016 Olympics bid, The Olympic City exhibit serves as a focusing agent for dialogue about the pros and cons of mega-events on cities’ economies and cultural identities. The exhibit features photographs from 13 former host cities taken between 2008 and 2013: Athens, Barcelona, Beijing, Berlin, Helsinki, Lake Placid, London, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Montreal, Moscow, Rome and Sarajevo. Pack and Hustwit have photographed structures, streets, and ephemera in these cities but have also focused on the lives of the people who live in areas affected by Olympic development and the re-use of former venues.
The exhibit will remain free and open to the public at CLA’s Pop-Up Art Loop space at 29 W. Randolph Street (Block Thirty Seven), Monday-Friday from 12-7 p.m. through March 7, 2014. For more information and details on additional Pop-Up Art Loop spaces open in the Loop, please visit www.PopUpArtLoop.com.
The Olympic City
Photographs by Jon Pack and Gary Hustwit
29 W. Randolph Street (Block Thirty Seven) Chicago
February 6th to March 7th
Opening reception February 6th, 5-9pm
Presented in association with the Chicago Loop Alliance, Block 37, Blu Dot, and Field Notes Brand.