Think Beyond Recycling

"Junk artist" Gabriel Dishaw's exhibit, (Not So) New Shoes, runs through May at 360SEE Gallery in Bucktown


Mindful Metropolis

Ever refused to purchase a pair of beautiful new Nike sneakers because you knew that the Honduran workers who made them didn’t earn anything close to the $100 price tag on the shoes? Well, now you can buy those shoes, and do so without violating your conscience.

Self-proclaimed “junk artist” Gabriel Dishaw sculpts trendy sneakers out of reclaimed computer parts, electronics, metal, wire and plastic. The Indianapolis-based artist’s show “(Not So) New Shoes” runs through the month of May at 360SEE gallery (www.360SEEgallery.com) in Chicago’s Bucktown neighborhood. Each pair of Nike reproductions is built to scale and matched with a vintage piece of luggage that Dishaw retrofits into a custom-label shoebox.

Granted, most of the shoes are to be viewed, not worn. But Dishaw has also designed three wearable custom designs of Nike’s “Air Force One” brand, which come in green, orange and copper colors, and include an external cutout from a computer’s motherboard in the shape of the Nike swoosh. Dishaw captures the shoe’s details, down to the logo, laces, Velcro and loops on the back. Best of all, you can wear these on the basketball court.

“My passion for working with metal and mechanical objects has been crucial in the evolution of my art,” Dishaw writes in a press release. “It provides an avenue for me to express myself in a way that both satisfies my love for creating art while re-using items that would otherwise end up in a landfill.

“I create sculptural objects that not only promote visual and tactile interest but provokes others to really appreciate how much we dispose of each day and the impact that our behavior has on our environment. I want to inspire others to think beyond the conventional route when it comes to recycling.”

All proceeds from Dishaw’s Air Force One shoes will be donated to the Earth Day Network, which recognizes 360SEE gallery and director Jordan Witkov as part of its “Artist for the Earth” Earth Day 40th anniversary initiative. This month you can also bring old laptops, personal computers, typewriters and other electronic components to the gallery, located at 1924 N. Damen Ave., for Dishaw to use in future sculptures.

The sustainability-minded media gallery will celebrate two years at its Bucktown location in July. Witkov, a North Shore native who returned to Chicago after receiving his Bachelor’s in Fine Arts in painting and printmaking at Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh, believes that 360SEE gallery is one of a kind. He works with artists all over the world, exhibiting everything from furniture, to paintings, to design.

“All artists we work with use responsibly-sourced materials,” explains Witkov, who turns 30 in June. “Some artists use (sustainable) materials because they find 150-year-old wood very beautiful, as opposed to having an environmental motivation. Others make a conscious choice to use sustainable materials.”

Witkov emphasizes that the 1,200-square-foot, two-story gallery is not just the next passenger on the green bandwagon.

“Sustainability is important to me, and it’s a great talking point for (the artists). But if the work is not formal and well done, visually and conceptually compelling, no one will buy it. We’re a serious gallery — not just the new eco gallery on the block.”

360SEE is inviting and unpretentious, with a name that suggests a closed-loop, full circle perspective. When I visited in early April, Witkov’s dog Homer greeted me at the door. The bulldog sported brightly colored balloons on his feet (to prevent the dog from sucking its toes) and proved to be a pleasant companion while escorting us on our gallery tour, which last month featured “Arrested Moments,” early 20th-century mug shots that were hand-painted onto brown paper bags by Seattle artist Chris Crites. Remarkably, most of the criminals were better dressed than the Bucktown hipsters around all us.

Jacob Wheeler is a freelance journalist, editor and publisher who hails from the cobblestone streets of Copenhagen and the forests of northwest-lower Michigan, where he publishes the Glen Arbor Sun (glenarborsun.com).