Where else but a contemporary art museum can pictures of people falling from cliffs or tree stumps covered in black rubber be considered art? With the Museum of Contemporary Art’s program, “12X12: New Artists/New Works,” outrageous artists based in the Chicago area have the opportunity to increase the visibility of their avant-garde work.

Conceived in 2001, the program was established in order to showcase artists who are between graduate school and “making it,” says Julie Rodrigues Widholm, a curatorial assistant at the MCA.

“The idea was to designate a space within the museum to showcase emerging talents from Chicago,” Widholm says. “We want to allow them to get their foot in the door.”

Every month the museum displays the work of a different artist from the area. The turn-around rate is much quicker than most exhibits, which last for about three months. This is done so the MCA can provide au courant developments in Chicago art.

“The artists come in, they install their own work,” Widholm says. “It’s all do-it-yourself because it happens so quickly. It’s a challenge to the museum because we’re not used to going so fast.”

Despite the difficulties that come along with the brevity of the exhibits, the MCA is able to boast pieces of art unique to their organization. Perhaps one of the more appealing aspects of contemporary art is that it feels fresh and new. Some of the work featured by the 12X12 program has never been seen by the public before. Artists who are chosen for the program often create new artwork specifically for the museum. In fact, Deva Maitland, the artist to be displayed for February, was still putting the finishing touches on her work a week before its premiere. The 12X12 program has seen many exhibits that push the boundaries of what is traditionally perceived as art. This might explain the museum’s motto, “Fear no art.”

Last year, Steve Lacy and Andy Hall, collectively known as Academy Records, showed a video of a high school band from Bartlett, Ill., performing on the museum grounds. In December 2002, Kerry Skarbakka displayed photographs of people falling from stunning heights, which were staged with professional stuntmen. One could even see Chicago trash on display in the form of collages by Juan Angel Chavez in 2003. The museum encourages such varied subject matter by actively searching out artists who create with varied mediums, such as film, music and sculpture. “We want to give artists the opportunity to do creative projects that they couldn’t do in a more commercial environment,” Widholm says.

In order to decide who will be featured in the program, a group of five curators visit various artists’ studios in Chicago to evaluate their work. Widholm remembers first seeing Maitland’s work during the summer of 2003.

“I had heard of her work but I wasn’t familiar with it,” Widholm reminisces. “I was really intrigued and couldn’t really pin down what she was doing. She was making a lot of handmade sculptures on pedestals, which is a traditional way of presenting it, but she was making funny, almost lewd animals.”

Curators also take into account an artists’ relation to longer term exhibits in the museum. Maitland’s work will coincide with the display of a legendary female recluse, Lee Bontecou, who will showcase her sculptures spanning the 30 years she has been in hiding from the art world. Both women work with three-dimensional art, which creates a fluidity between the exhibits.

Widholm also points out that Maitland’s work will flow well with another long term exhibit in the museum entitled, “Strange Days,” which features unsettling artistic commentary on postwar society. Maitland’s exhibit is entitled, “The Space Between Us,” and features a spiral drawn over a vortex on the wall, similar to a black hole and a tree stump covered in black rubber with a mirror inserted inside.

“It’s the kind of work you have to see,” Widholm says. “She is interested in how the things we can not see — the things that are missing — are just as important as what we can see.”

The 12X12 program premieres during the museum’s celebration of the first week of the month, called First Fridays. Music, performance and alcohol mingle with fine art at these festivities, which require guests to be 21. Maitland’s work will premiere on Feb. 6. If you’re not 21, don’t fret. Her work will remain at the museum until Feb. 29, and she’ll be giving a tour on Feb. 10 at noon.

12X12: New Artists, New Work

What: Exhibition focusing on a different young Chicago-based artist each month.

Where: Museum of Contemporary Art, 220 E. Chicago Ave., Chicago

When: Wednesdays through Sundays, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.; Tuesdays, 10 a.m. – 8 p.m.