Shir Ende is a Chicago-based artist and educator. Ende received her BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and her MFA from the University of Illinois at Chicago. She has exhibited at the University of Illinois Springfield, Riverside Art Center, Comfort Station, Chicago Artist Coalition, Hyde Park Art Center, Heaven Gallery, Gallery 400, Terrain Biennial, Mana contemporary, Woman Made Gallery and was a Sponsored artist at High Concept Labs. She has participated in the Center Program at the Hyde Park Art Center and was a 2018 - 2019 Hatch Resident at the Chicago Artist Coalition.
Statement
Through drawing, print, performance, and video, I use a degree of speculative thinking to explore movement within modern space. I work to reduce the “bigness” of architecture, re-imagining built structures as intimately scaled, malleable forms generated by movement. In doing so, I aim to minimize architecture’s imposition on the body and softens the authority of modern design. My work examines the inherent tension between the straight lines of architectural order and the fluidity of bodies within. As I construct shared spaces for closeness and collaboration, I quietly insist on self-determined movement within modern space, where the body itself is a generative material.
Read Newcity Breakout Artists Profile
Read a review of “not to scale” at Heaven Gallery on Chicago Artist Writers
Listen to interview with Elliot Doughtie and LangerOverDickie on Bat at Sports
