Clutch Gallery in the Reader

Show Us Your...Purse

Posted on Thu, May 5, 2011 at 3:00 PM

Each week we ask you to show us something. This week it's your PURSE—a rather unique handbag belonging to artist Meg Duguid. Got something to show us? showus@chicagoreader.com

"Because Chicago is so known for its alternative spaces, I decided to open one up in my own space—which is my purse," Duguid says of her decision to launch 25-square-inch Clutch Gallery in what happens to be a fully functional purse.

click to enlarge Andrea Bauer

There are no regular viewing hours: "Sometimes if somebody tells me I have a nice purse, that's a really great entry into showing someone the space. When I buy things, that's another good entry in showing the space. My wallet and my keys fit in there. I've actually stopped carrying my birth control in it, because so many people have grabbed in and pulled it out. After the fifth time, that became unfunny."

On Monday, Clutch Gallery opened the "multimedia reliquary" A Snowball's Chance by Iain Muirhead (pictured), in which the artist turned the space into a cooler to hold long-leftover snow from the February 2 storm. Her job as gallery owner, Duguid says, is to be "the guardian of a snowball from Snowmageddon."

For more information, see clutchgallery.blogspot.com.