Vita

Artist Statement

Jyl Bonaguro is a self taught sculptor and playwright, specializing in carving Italian marble by hand. Often working spontaneously, Jyl Bonaguro has a modern approach to the ancient art of stone carving that diverges from the formal academic approach. Raw stone is revealed in select areas, leaving sections untouched and natural, reminiscent of fragments excavated by archaeologists.

Jyl Bonaguro find similarities working in mediums as divergent as sculpting and playwriting because both mediums are treated as interactive, narrative forms. Sculptures like her marble wings series tells a story through composition of form and style in much the same way a play like Swan Soong tells a story through composition of words and style. Both forms require audience participation and interaction to help complete the stories and connect us with each other.

Jyl Bonaguro’s works have been featured in publications like NewCity Art, CS Modern Luxury Interiors, the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Reader and Sheridan Road and are in private art collections throughout the United States. Select sculpture exhibitions include: Chicago Sculpture Exhibit 2023-24, SOFA Chicago, Scope Miami, Aqua Art Miami, “Nature in Motion” Lincoln Park Zoo IL, “Voices and Visions” at the Highland Park Art Center IL and “Intertwined” at the Korean Cultural Center IL. Her plays like Swan Soong have been sponsored by Loyola University Chicago, Columbia College Library, Zhou B. Center, Hinsdale Public Library and the Chinese American Museum of Chicago. She lives and works in Chicago, IL and her latest carving project is the Modern Athena Sculpture and she is the current president of Chicago Sculpture International.

Jyl Bonaguro Artist Statement Video

 

Watch the sculpture documentary film LIFTED on her work in Pietrasanta and Carrara Italy by Motion Filmworks

 

Artist Resume

Born in Chicago Heights
Lives and works in Chicago, Illinois

 

Solo Exhibitions

2023
Tabula Rasa InFlight, Evanston Art Center, Evanston, IL

2022
Art & Music of Italy, Dante Alighieri Society, Charleston, S.C.

2019
Swan Soong, staged reading, sponsored by Chinese American Museum of Chicago, Chicago, IL
Swan Soong,
staged reading, sponsored by Hinsdale Public Library, Hinsdale, IL
Swan Soong
, staged reading, sponsored by Columbia College Library, Chicago, IL

2018
LIFTED, curated by Andrew Bridges, Chicago, IL
Swan Soong, staged reading, sponsored by Zhou B Art Center, Chicago, IL

2016
Exploring Stone, Hilton Asmus Contemporary, Chicago, IL

2015
Inspired by Antiquity, Hilton Asmus Contemporary, Chicago, IL

2014
Urania, The Life of Émilie Du Châtelet, staged reading, sponsored by Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, IL

2009
Trees of Life I, Evanston Atelier, Evanston, IL

 

Select Group Exhibitions

2023
CSI, curated by Peter Van El, Jack Olson Gallery, NIU School of Art & Design, Dekalb, IL

2022
ArtPrize, DeVos Place, Grand Rapids, MI

2021
Red Dot Miami, Contemporary Art Projects USA, Miami, FL
Exquisite Corpse Now, curated by Kasia Kay, SNEHTA Residency, Athens, Greece
PHÌLO-POÈM, M.A.D.S. Gallery, Milan, Italy

2020
Moving Forward in a time of Change: Our New Relationship to the World We Live In, curated by Adrienne Kochman, Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art, Chicago, IL
Studio Exhibition, curated by Elizabeth Plessa, Athena Standards Residency, Athens, Greece

2019
SOFA Expo, Evan Lurie Gallery, Chicago, IL

2017
Asia Contemporary Art Show, Prak-sis Contemporary Art Association, Hong Kong, China

2016
Scope, Prak-sis Contemporary Art Association, Miami, FL
Aqua Art Miami, Prak-sis Contemporary Art Association, Miami, FL

2015
I, Fly, Public Art Outdoor Sculpture, Nature In Motion: Sculpture at Lincoln Park Zoo, Chicago, IL

2014
Sustainable You, Art Depth, Chicago, IL
Urania, The Life of Émilie Du Châtelet
,
workshop production, produced by Arica Hilton, Hilton Asmus Contemporary, Chicago, IL

2013
Love 2013, curated by Catinca Tabacaru of Tinca Art Gallery, NY, International Beethoven Festival, Chicago, IL
Wish You Were Here 12,
 A.I.R. Gallery, Brooklyn, New York

2012
Terror of Release, Flying House, Chicago, IL
Snow Days Chicago, sponsored by Mayor Rahm Emanuel of Chicago, Navy Pier, Chicago, IL

2011
Voices and Visions, Highland Park Art Center, Highland Park, IL
Intertwined, curated by Sun H. Choi, Korean Cultural Center, Wheeling, IL
EDGEART, Edgewater Artists in Motion, Chicago, IL
Snow Days Chicago, sponsored by Mayor Richard M. Daley of Chicago, Navy Pier, Chicago, IL

2010
Green Arts Showcase, Noyes Cultural Arts Center, Evanston, IL
EAC Members Exhibition, Evanston Art Center, Evanston, IL

2009
Group Invitational
, CCT Gallery, Chicago, IL
Places: From Arcadia to Urban Landscape, Murphy Hill Gallery, Chicago, IL
Green Arts Showcase, Noyes Cultural Arts Center, Evanston, IL

2008
Explorations 2008 – New Works by New Artists, Highland Park Art Center, Highland Park, IL

2005
Postcards to the CAC, Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans, LA

2004
Postcards to the CAC, Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans, LA

2002
Under Exposed, New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans, LA
Graves
, Cemeteryscape Photographic Exhibition, Save Our Cemeteries, New Orleans, LA
Human Landscapes, West Bank Art Guild, New Orleans, LA

2001
Asia, Thirteenth Floor Gallery, Chicago, IL

 

Publications / Reviews / Talks

2023
WPB Artist Spotlight: Jyl Bonaguro,” Wicker Park Bucktown Chamber of Commerce, July 2023
Patience is a Virtue: My Afternoon as a Stone Carver with Sculptor Jyl Bonaguro”,” by Nicole NeSmith, NewCity Art, p.54-55 June 2023

2022
Meet the Artists: Transmigration by Jyl Bonaguro,” Wood TV 8, September 2022
ArtPrize artist uses 100 hand-painted eyes to show ‘all the beauty that surrounds us,” by Lauren Edwards, Fox News 17 West Michigan, September 2022
“MTM On The Road: ArtPrize Celebrates Artists from Around the World in Grand Rapids,” 9&10 News, September 2022

2020
“Delphi Series Vol IX: Self-Portraits, Year of Convergence, God of Sparrows,” by Susanna Lang, Jennifer Grant, Christina Lovin, Blue Lyra Press, p.29-30 August 2020
The Right Time for a Modern Athena: Jyl Bonaguro’s Female “David”,” by Nicole NeSmith, NewCity Art, April 2020

2019
In Michelangelo’s Footsteps,” by Alan Wechsler, Loyola Magazine, August 2019
“Sculptor Jyl Bonaguro – Carving Out History,” by Dave Salvi & Jeff Zimmerman, Dec 2019
SoundCloud – https://bit.ly/376aBR8
iTunes – https://apple.co/2QcNLAj
Stitcher – https://bit.ly/2Gwvht0
Google Play – https://bit.ly/2C96Wnz

Hinsdale Library to stage story of famous Shanghai sisters,” by Sara Clarkson, Chicago Tribune, July 2019
Around Town Visits Workshop 4200,” by Ana Belaval, WGN9 News

2018
LIFTED,” Documentary by Motion FilmWorks
Meet Jyl Bonaguro, Artist, Playwright, Sculptor in Hermosa,” Voyage Chicago, July 2018
Artist, Playwright & Sculptress of Marble Jyl Bonaguro, Real Life Heroes,” by Manvi Pant, Read to Empower, May 2018

2017
A room of one’s stone,” by Laura Pearson, Chicago Reader, Feb 2017
SPACE: Inside a marble carver’s studio,” a video by Kerri Pang, Chicago Reader, Feb 2017

2016
Limitless Beauty,” by Gina J. Grillo, Sheridan Road, p.54-55 Dec 2016/Jan 2016
Jyl Bonaguro’s Wings,” Éclat International, p.18-19 Nov/Dec 2016
Jyl Bonaguro // Marble Sculptor,” Documentary by Motion FilmWorks
Jyl Bonaguro The Art of Sculpture,” by Donovan Stanley, NUE Magazine, p.46-51 PDF
The Art of Jyl Bonaguro Beauty and Immortality,” Éclat International, p.40-41 Feb/Mar 2016 PDF
Set in Stone, Me, My Shelf and I,” by Laura Pearson, Chicago Tribune,  2016  PDF
Reflecting On Relationships And Immortality,” Journal of Humanistic Psychiatry, Winter 2016, Volume 4, Issue 1

2015
Wild Art:  Lincoln Park Zoo displays outdoor menagerie,” by Steve Johnson, Chicago Tribune, May 2015
The Story of Urania,” PechaKucha 20×20, Chicago, IL
Featured Artist – Jyl Bonaguro,” Masque & Spectacle, November 2015

2014
Climbing High,” Modern Luxury Interiors Chicago, Spring 2014 p.86
Urania, Historical Play by Local Artist,” by Lizzie Schiffman, DNAinfo Chicago
“Radio Interview with Arica Hilton & Jyl Bonaguro,” by John Hansen, DNAinfo Chicago, July 2014
Career Moves: Writer to Artist to Playwright,” by Aeneas Sagar Hemphill, Chicago Artist Resource, Feb 2014

2013
Peace, Love and Understanding,” The Whole 9 Publishers, 2013 p.101
Documentary for Snow Days Chicago 2013,” by Heather Momyer, January 2013

2012
“Flying House Volume #3 Summer 2012,” Neugideon Press Publishers, 2012
“Rising temperatures and melting snow sculptures in Chicago,” by Al Podgorski, Chicago Sun-Times, January 30, 2012

2011
The Pieces That Matter: Refocusing on My Own Art,” by Jyl Bonaguro for Chicago Artist Resource, May 2011
“Galleries on the go,” by Lauren Viera, Chicago Tribune, January 13, 2011

2010
“Artists fill empty Edgewater storefronts,” by Crystal Fencke, News-Star, December 1-7, 2010
“A Connected Collection,” by Evangeline Politis, Sheridan Road, Vol. 4, No.3, 2010
“Roundtable with Rani Woolpert featuring Jyl Bonaguro,” by Rani Woolpert, Transistor Chicago, March 28, 2010

 

Awards & Residencies

2024
“Ragdale Artist Residency & Stipend Commission,” Ragdale Foundation, Lake Forest, IL

2023
“Honorarium,” Chicago Sculpture Exhibit, Chicago, IL

2022
“Awesome Foundation Grant,” The Awesome Foundation, Chicago, IL
“Arts Grant,” Lakes of Fire, Chicago, IL

2021
“IAS Project Grant,” Illinois Arts Council Agency, Chicago, IL
“Artist Grant,” Cliff Dwellers Arts Foundation, Chicago, IL

2020
Athena Standards Residency – Modern Athena,” Curator Elizabeth Plessa, Athens, Greece

2018
“Arts Grant,” BAAAHS, San Franciso, CA

2017
“Arts Grant,” Lakes of Fire, Chicago, IL

2016
Marble Sculpture Residency,” Christian Lange, Pietrasanta, Italy

2013
“Winner of Open Call,” Love 2013, curated by Catinca Tabacaru of Tinca Art Gallery, NY for International Beethoven Festival, Chicago, IL
“Co-Captain of Exhibition Team,” Snow Days Chicago 2013, Chicago, IL

2010
“First Place,” – All Catagories, EAC Members Exhibition, Evanston, IL

2009
“Honorary Credential for Mural & Sculpture,” Northeastern University, China

2002
“Merit Award,” Graves, Cemeteryscape Photographic Exhibition, Save Our Cemeteries, New Orleans, LA

1994 – 1998
“Presidential Honors Academic Scholarship,” Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, IL

 

Commissions & Public Art

“Transmigration,” Metzger Court for Wicker Park Bucktown Chamber of Commerce, Chicago, IL 

2023
“Vane,” Chicago Sculpture Exhibit, Chicago, IL

2022
“ArtPrize,” Public Art, DeVos Place, Grand Rapids, MI 

2019
Nereids, Commission, Levit Family, Northbrook, IL
Hands, Commission, Regina Villa, Chicago, IL 

2018
Transmigration, Public Art, sponsored by BAAAHS San Francisco & Chicago for Burning Man, Black Rock City, NV

2017
Goddess Floras, Commission, Levit Family, Northbrook, IL

2015
I, Fly, Public Art, sponsored by Nature In Motion program for Lincoln Park Zoo, Chicago, IL

 

Public Collections

Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art, Chicago, IL

 

Education

2009
Outdoor Sculpture and Mural Study in China & Tibet – Northeastern Illinois University, Chicago, IL & Northeastern University, China

2007
Human Anatomy + Physiology I, Oakton Community College, Skokie, IL 2007

1998
BA, English Creative Writing, Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, IL & John Felice Rome Center, Rome, Italy

1993
Intro to Figure Drawing & Figure Drawing I, Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL

 

Professional Affiliations

2024 President, Chicago Sculpture International – Jyl Bonaguro chicagosculpture.org