“KNOCK KNOCK: An Exhibition of Antique Tribal Doors” at Douglas Dawson

by Robin Dluzen

Antique tribal doors.

A stark distinction from the West Loop’s remaining meat packing district, is the Douglas Dawson Gallery, housed in antique wooden beams, within a serene Asian-inspired garden. The gallery held its opening reception, Saturday, February 27, 2010, for “KNOCK KNOCK: An Exhibition of Antique Tribal Doors.” I wasn’t quite sure what to expect on my first visit to this gallery, but I quickly discovered that the exhibition is precisely, literally what the title suggests.

Formerly of River North, Douglas Dawson now deals —as it has for the past 28 years—ancient artifacts from Asia, Africa and the Americas from its relatively new location on North Morgan Street. Boasting a wide range of objects, including specializing in a “continuous new inventory of historic African ceramics,” the gallery caters to museums and “important private collectors throughout the United States and Europe,” stressing quality and genuineness. “KNOCK KNOCK” is no exception; as promised, the gallery presents, in a cross between a museum space and a commercial boutique, a collection of fifteen 18th-20th century, handcrafted doors from around the world including Indonesia, Guatemala and Nigeria.

Visitors and cat with gallery artifacts.

After winding through the blocks of worn factory buildings, climbing over the train tracks, and teetering on the icy sidewalks of this not-quite-pedestrian-friendly area, the manicured garden and the ornate, antique interior of the Douglas Dawson Gallery (complete with docile housecat) are a startling contrast to the surrounding environment; unlike other area galleries whose storefronts are open to the street, and whose interiors are reminiscent of their industrial predecessors’, Douglas Dawson’s windows open only to its enclosed garden courtyard, and the interior is void of industrial cues.

Though the objects in “KNOCK KNOCK” are exhibited under the homogenizing moniker of “tribal,” each is accompanied by a placard with a bite-sized caption explaining its context and proving its authenticity. For instance one of the first doors to be sold in the exhibition, one with a simple carved relief of a full-breasted woman, from 19th-20th century Dogon, Mali, is accompanied by the context

Door from Dogon, Mali, 19th-20th century.

that this West African country is “one of the last animistic cultures” and that “primal imagery” is common in the motifs of this era and culture. This exhibition also reveals some indication as to the acquisition by a western institution of objects such as these. The house door from 18th-early 19th century Cotzal, Guatemala, according to the placard, has its commercial origins in the migration of the salvaged architectural items from the aftermath of Guatemala’s 1976 earthquake to the antique markets, mere months after the disaster. This kind of rapid recovering and immediate marketing is indicative of the commercial demand for objects like these antique doors.

“KNOCK KNOCK: An Exhibition of Antique Tribal Doors” is on display February 27 through March 27, 2010 at Douglas Dawson Gallery, 400 North Morgan Street, Chicago. Additional inventory can be viewed through inventory catalogs and through their website, www.douglasdawson.com.