Archival photos of Par Excellence & Art Golf 1988-1992

May 9 – September 13, 2020

The Elmhurst Art Museum & Colossal Present ‘Par Excellence,’ an Artist-Designed Mini Golf Course

In a unique collision of recreation and art, the Elmhurst Art Museum will commission an 18-hole artist-designed golf course in homage to the wildly popular 1988 exhibition Par Excellence at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. The fully playable course will be conceived and fabricated by a new group of contemporary artists, designers, and architects selected through an open call process. Designed to fill the entirety of the museum’s interior galleries, the course will be comprised of a surprisingly varied collection of themes and forms, promising an unusual twist on a familiar pastime.

Participating artists: Wesley Baker, Julie Cowan, Current Projects, KT Duffy, Eve Fineman, Andrea Jablonski, Joshua Kirsch, Annalee Koehn, Latent Design, Vincent Lotesto, Joshua Lowe, Jesse Meredith, Jim Merz, David Quednau, Gautam Rao, Robin Schwartzman & Tom Loftus (aka A Couple of Putts), Liam Wilson & Anna Gershoni, and the museum’s Teen Art Council.

The extraordinarily popular exhibition Par Excellence (1988) was the brainchild of sculptor Michael O’Brien and opened to lines down the block. The show sold out daily and found its way to the pages of the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, People Magazine, CNN, and the Chicago Tribune among others. The course went on tour to downstate Illinois before returning to Chicago as a rebranded commercial miniature golf course called ArtGolf.

Artist-designed golf courses are now a popular addition to many Midwest museums such as the Walker Art Center, The Sheldon, and Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, but Par Excellence is widely believed to be the first.

Par Excellence Redux is curated by Colossal’s founder & editor-in-chief Christopher Jobson.

Previous Events

September 27-October 19, 2019

Material Properties @ Paradigm Gallery

Colossal is proud to announce Material Properties, a group exhibition curated by our Founder and Editor-in-chief Christopher Jobson. The show, which opens on September 27 and runs through October 19, 2019, is at Paradigm Gallery + Studio in Philadelphia, PA. Material Properties examines the intertwined histories of fine art and craft through the work of six artists: Maryam Ashkanian, Vanessa Barragão, James McNabb, Kendal Murray, Matthew Shlian, and Yoonmi Nam.

July 15, 2019

Mother and Child Vol. II

Colossal is proud to partner with Sugarlift to curate and host an art show to support families on the US-Mexico border. The one-night-only gallery exhibition will be hosted at 198 Allen Street in New York, New York. 100% of proceeds from sales will be donated to nonprofits that aid and advocate for families and children impacted by the border crisis. All proceeds from the sale of artworks donated by this outstanding group of contributing artists will be split between Kids in Need of Defense, The Young Center, and The Florence Project. Last year’s event raised nearly $10,000 and we look forward to increasing our support this year. For those unable to attend in person, work will be available in the Mother & Child web shop.

Participating artists include Faith 47, Collin van der Sluijs, Icy & Sot, Seth Globepainter, Ali Cavanaugh, Pixel Pancho, Guno Park, Kristin Texeira, London Kaye, Shana Levenson, Tiffany Bozic, Axel Void, David de la Mano, Jess X. Snow, Klone, Anna Park, Dina Brodsky, Nicolas V Sanchez, Mark Powell, and dozens more.

See remaining available works at motherandchild.shop!

July 15, 2019
6-9 pm
198 Allen Street
New York, NY 10002

November 16 – January 19, 2019

Chain Reaction: Posters About Bikes

As part of a unique collaboration with the Design Museum of Chicago, Colossal asked some of our favorite poster makers, illustrators, designers, and artists from around the world to make prints featuring bicycles. The international exhibition is in conjunction with the museum’s winter show, Keep Moving: Designing Chicago’s Bicycle Culture.

Participating artists include Arna Miller, Alex Senna, Ovadia Benishu, Lisa Congdon, Fran Labuschagne, Jay Ryan, Eleni Debo, Mara Piccione, Janice Chang, Vance Lump, Lydia Fu, JW and Melissa Buchanan, Brent Couchman, Mart Aire, Daniel Jamie Williams, and Rafael Esquer.

Prints will be available for purchase at Design Museum Chicago’s Block 37 location, and online in the Colossal Shop starting November 16. A portion of all proceeds will benefit Blackstone Bicycle Works. If you’re in Chicago, join us for a special opening night event on Friday, November 16th from 6-8pm! The opening night party is free and open to the public. You can RSVP on Facebook.

Design Museum of Chicago

Block 37
108 North State Street, 3rd floor
Chicago, IL 60602

May 26 – September 3, 2018

Inflatable: Expanding Works of Art @ Exploratorium

Colossal is thrilled to announce the summer show, Inflatable: Expanding Works of Art at San Francisco’s Exploratorium, a museum dedicated to science, art and human perception. Led by our founder and editor-in-chief Christopher Jobson, Colossal has worked closely with the Exploratorium team to curate the museum’s summer 2018 exhibition. Inflatable brings together artists from around the world who work in the mediums of textiles, technology, and air.

The Exploratorium is a unique public learning laboratory with a mission to create inquiry-based experiences that transform learning worldwide. Centrally located on San Francisco’s waterfront Embarcadero, the Exploratorium is filled with hundreds of explore-for-yourself exhibits. These interactive stations will be on view alongside Inflatable. We’re also developing public programming and family-friendly evening events specifically for the summer show—stay tuned! Inflatable opens on May 26 and is open through September 3, 2018. Find out more and plan your visit on the Exploratorium website.

Exploratorium
Pier 15 (Embarcadero at Green Street)
San Francisco, CA 94111

See additional projects in our Project Archive.