FORECAST FORM
ART IN THE CARIBBEAN DIASPORA, 1990s –TODAY
CLOSING APRIL 23, 2023
Donna Conlon and Jonathan Harker, Tropical Zincphony (Zincfonía tropical) (still), 2013. HD video (color, sound); 1 minute, 45 seconds. Courtesy of the artists and DiabloRosso, Panamá.Voted BEST sculpture park in USAToday’s Reader’s Choice
Competition
100 acres of open prairie
Grass paths guide visitors around a lake and through a collection of 30 monumental outdoor sculptures
On and around the campus of Governors State University
Free admission and parking
Free Otocast app for GPS guide to the collection
Open from dawn to dusk 365 days a year
Paul, 2006 Tony Tasset
www.govst.edu/sculpture
Governors State University 1 University Parkway University Park, IL 60484
A dazzling electronic art installation combining ancient poetry and modern anime—part comic book, part motion picture, part meditation on history.
SHAHIDUL ALAM: SINGED BUT NOT BURNT
Renowned photographer and activist Shahidul Alam exposes the resilience of Bangladeshi people and their continued struggle for freedom over four decades.
PATRIC McCOY: TAKE MY PICTURE
Traveling Chicago by bike, always with his camera, Patric McCoy captures 1980s Black gay Chicago, creating a poignant marker of place, time and memory.
APRIL 14 - JULY 15, 2023
wrightwood659.org
PERMANENT INSTALLATIONS
FEATURING DERRICK ADAMS, CANDIDA ALVAREZ, DANIEL ARSHAM, CARLOS ROLÓN/DZINE, CODY HUDSON AND MORE
ROTATING EXHIBITIONS
FADING THROUGH GRADATIONS FEATURING WORKS BY IVELISSE JIMÉNEZ
NOW ON VIEW
130+ DESIGNER OUTLETS
INCLUDING GUCCI, SAINT LAURENT, BURBERRY, PRADA, VERSACE, MONCLER, BRUNELLO CUCINELLI, BOGNER AND MORE
TEXT “ART” TO 847.957.4600 TO SIGN UP FOR SPECIAL ART EVENTS AND MORE INFORMATION
EXHIBITIONS POETRY FOUNDATION
60 W. WALTON STREET, CHICAGO
Free Admission
MARCH 21 – JULY 15
JESSI REAVES
All possessive lusts dispelled
February 16 – May 20, 2023 www.artsclubchicago.org
A Visual Exploration of Identity, Activism, and Collaboration with Fatherless and Friends.
JUN 9–SEP 24, 2023
Galleries open TH-SU, 10 AM-5 PM Rockford Art Museum 711 N Main St, Rockford IL rockfordartmuseum.org
Museum of Contemporary Photography
Columbia College Chicago
600 S. Michigan Ave. Chicago, IL 60605 mocp.org
Free Admission
Open to the Public
Sunday 12-5 pm
Monday-Saturday 10 am-5 pm
Thursday until 8 pm
LIGHTS CAMERA AUCTION
8 june 2023 O O
TO BENEFIT THE MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY PHOTOGRAPHY
Deborah Lovely and Genia Yovankin CO-CHAIRS
MOCP.ORG
CONTENTS
Publisher’s Letter
Every morning Lin Brehmer proclaimed on the radio, “It’s great to be alive.”
We each understand that life is short, but we feel it acutely when we lose someone or when time seems to move too fast. In January Brehmer, DJ at WXRT for decades, died. His death from cancer was a one of too many recent reminders that what he said on air every day is indeed worth remembering. I listened to him on the radio for half my life. Lin was known for staying out late at concerts until the wee hours and then waking up practically in the middle of the night to go back on the air at 6am. He loved music, art, literature, the Cubs, and Chicago. He had lots of friends. I admired him so much. His time was too short, but he made it count.
*
So what can we recommit to doing while we’re here for such a short time? Looking through past issues of CGN, I came across a 2016 interview with designer, artist, collector and all-around art lover Jason Pickleman, who said then that art is a kind of memory device. Art can remind us of the past, and it can outlast our short time on earth. He admitted then to buying almost everything for his collection at first sight. If it piques his interest, he buys it immediately. He does not hem, haw, think, or research. He abides by a sort of “seize the art” motto. His words are also a reminder to enjoy art as well as life. Life is short. Art lasts longer.
In this spring issue, we record how fast time flies. EXPO is 10 ARC Gallery is 50 Richard Hunt is 87. We aim to capture stories about working to make a difference through art. Each person we interviewed expressed a gratitude for being part of this community as well as a wish to creatively give back to it, either by creating, celebrating or collecting art every precious day.
William Lieberman is both a dealer and a collector committed to supporting living artists. Artist Anna Kunz talks about depicting relationships through color and her pride of being from Chicago all her life. MCA Director Madeleine Grynstezjn makes the case for Chicago’s gift to the art world right now. We also share insights from five art world leaders who are each making new things happen in 2023 and beyond.
Through the end of the summer there are anniversaries to celebrate, road trips to take and exhibitions to explore, hopefully with someone you’re close to. Maybe you will stay up a little later and wake up a little earlier to do it all. Through art we have the opportunity to glimpse the past, make new memories and make each day count.
Happy spring. It’s great to be alive.
Founded in 1982 Chicago Gallery News is the central source for information about the area’s art galleries, museums, events and resources. CGN aims to be a clear, accessible guide to the region’s visual arts, as well as an advocate on behalf of the local cultural community.
Magazine subscriptions are available for $25 / year.
Complimentary issues may be available in galleries, museums and art centers and select hotels. Quantities are limited.
Chicago Gallery News
Chicago, IL 312-649-0064 chicagogallerynews.com
Published 3 times annually: CGN Arts Guide / Spring / Fall © 2023
Chicago Gallery News, Inc.
Publisher + Executive Editor
Virginia B. Van Alyea
Managing Editor + Business Manager
Emily Ackerman
Contributors
Anna Dobrowolski
Jacqueline Lewis
Alison Reilly
Interns
Isobel Van Alyea
Thomas Van Alyea
Spring/Summer 2023
Vol. 38, No. 1
© 2023
ISSN #1046-6185
ON THE COVER:
ANNA KUNZ
THE TIDE, 2021, 66” X 60”, ACRYLIC ON CANVAS. PHOTO: DARIO LISAGNE NYC
CGN
This Season’s Highlights
VAN GOGH AND THE AVANT-GARDE: THE MODERN LANDSCAPE
Between 1882 and 1890, five artists—Vincent van Gogh, along with Georges Seurat, Paul Signac, Emile Bernard, and Charles Angrand—flocked to villages on the fringes of Paris. More than 75 paintings and drawings from this intensely creative period— many from private collections and rarely publicly displayed— come together for this insightful presentation.
The Art Institute of Chicago • May 14–Sept 4, 2023 • artic.edu
GARY SIMMONS: PUBLIC ENEMY
This first comprehensive career survey at the MCA of the work of multidisciplinary artist Gary Simmons (b. 1964, New York, NY; lives in Los Angeles, CA) is the most in-depth presentation of Simmons’s work to date. The exhibition covers 30 years and encompasses approximately 70 works. Since the late 1980s Simmons has played a key role in situating questions of race, class, and gender identity at the center of contemporary art discourse.
Museum of Contemporary Art • Jun 13–Oct 1, 2023 • mcachicago.org
OLGA ZIEMSKA: OF THE EARTH
Five large-scale sculptures by Polish American artist Olga Ziemska, created exclusively for Of the Earth at The Morton Arboretum in suburban Lisle, aim to remind people that “everything in life is derived from the same basic elements that form everything in nature, including ourselves. There is no separation.” In Polish, Ziemska means “of the earth.” The artist’s work will be created from reclaimed tree branches and other natural materials gathered from throughout the Arboretum’s 1,700 acres.
The Morton Arboretum • May 26 thru 2025 • mortonarb.org
PATRIC MCCOY: TAKE MY PICTURE
In the 1980s, Patric McCoy traveled around Chicago on his bike, always with his camera, finding no shortage of Black men who wanted their picture taken. The exhibition is a selection of 50 photographs from this rich document of 1980s Black gay Chicago. HIV/AIDS hit Black men especially hard. Thousands would die by the end of the decade. Take My Picture is marker of place, time, and memory. It is an altar to those lost.
Wrightwood 659 • Apr 14–Jul 15, 2023 • wrightwood659.org
EDRA SOTO: DESTINATION/EL DESTINO
Destination/El Destino: a decade of GRAFT is the largest exhibition to date of Puerto Rican artist Edra Soto. Rooted in themes of cultural hybridity, the exhibition addresses the unsung influence of Afro-diasporic cultures on Puerto Rico’s decorative architecture. An exhibition highlight is a new, large-scale commission of the artist’s GRAFT series with porous sculptures, documentary photographs, drawings, and games that activate the Art Center’s indoor/outdoor main gallery.
Hyde Park Art Center • Apr 22–Aug 6, 2023 • hydeparkart.org
THE ART OF ELIZABETH CATLETT, FROM THE COLLECTION OF SAMELLA LEWIS
Elizabeth Catlett (1915 – 2012) was a celebrated African American artist known for her depictions of 20th century Black American experiences, which also often focused on women. This exhibition features 30 prints and sculptures by the artist and honors a half-century of her artistic activism in support of women, African Americans, and Mexican laborers.
Krasl Art Center, St. Joseph, MI • Jun 10–Sept 3, 2023 • krasl.org
ANDY WARHOL PORTFOLIOS: A LIFE IN POP / WORKS FROM THE BANK OF AMERICA COLLECTION
The Warhol Exhibition includes 94 works from Andy Warhol Portfolios: A Life in Pop/Works from the Bank of America Collection on loan through BofA’s Art in our Communities program, and over 11,000 sq. ft. of interactive experiences including a Biographical exhibit, Video installation, 150+ photos taken by Warhol, Children’s Print Factory, Studio 54 experience and a Central Park-inspired outdoor space.
Cleve Carney Museum of Art • Jun 3–Sept 10, 2023 • theccma.org
Openings
• WEST SIDE
• RIVER NORTH
APRIL 1
• Vertical
• Madron
• Firecat
• Perspective Photo 6
• Pistachios 7
• GRAY
• Rhona Hoffman
• Koppel
• FLXST
• Oliva
• Tandem Press 10
• Heritage
• SOUTH SIDE
• MICHIGAN AVE
• NORTH SIDE
• SUBURBS
• IL • MI • WI
• Pistachios 5
• Corbett vs. Dempsey
• Addington
• Gallery Victor
• Lily Pad | West
• Tandem Press
11
• Smart 12
• Povos 14
• EXPO Art After Hours
• Chicago Artists Coalition
• DOCUMENT
• ENGAGE
• Goldfinch
• GRAY
• Kavi Gupta
• Hindman
• Mariane Ibrahim
6
• moniquemeloche
• P•L•H•K
• PATRON
• David Salkin
• Volume
• Western Exhibitions
• Addington
• Carl Hammer
• Heritage
• Gallery Victor
• Alma
• Elephant Room
• MoCP
15
• Weinberg/Newton 18
• Heritage
20
• gallery 1871 21
• Bridgeport Art
• Lily Pad | West 28
• DOCUMENT
• Volume
18
26
• ENGAGE 3
• M. LeBlanc 9
• Oliva
• Elephant Room 10
• moniquemeloche
• Chicago Printmakers
JUL 7
• Addington
• Gallery Victor
• Oliva 14
• ENGAGE
• Zolla/Lieberman
• Vertical Project Space
• Woman Made 12
• Oliva 13
• OS Projects
13
• Christopher, Prairie State College 16
• Gallery Victor
• Bridgeport Art
• Alma 17
• Woman Made
• Pistachios 19
• Rhona Hoffman
• Zolla/Lieberman
• Bridgeport Art 20
• Chicago Truborn
• Firecat 2
23
• Corbett vs. Dempsey 30
• Lily Pad | West
15
• Chicago Truborn
• Bridgeport Art
• Woman Made 27
• Pistachios
28
• Elephant Room 29
• M. LeBlanc
AUG 11
• Oliva 12
• OS Projects 18
• Bridgeport Art 19
• Chicago Truborn
In The Galleries
Michiko Itatani: Infinite Hope
JEAN ALBANO GALLERY
April 5–June 3
Opening April 14
The Lunch Drawings: Tony Fitzpatrick
POVOS GALLERY
April 12–May 21
JAUME PLENSA: FORGOTTEN DREAMS
Through 21 cast aluminum doors and 21 cast aluminum heads Plensa wants us to confront the poetry and beauty of the individual articles and text in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), drafted and adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948.
• April 7–June 3 GRAY
Xie Hongdong
ENGAGE PROJECTS
June 2–July 8
Sandra Yagi, Yokai
BERT GREEN FINE ART
July 15–August 25
Bibbs has said that numb was how she felt during traumatic experiences she went through for nearly a decade. This exhibition is a creative means of moving forward for herself and hopefully for others as well.
• April 7–May 6
OLIVA GALLERY
Art Listings: April–August 2023
WEST TOWN KINZIE CORRIDOR UKRAINIAN VILLAGE GARFIELD PARK
• ARC Gallery
1463 W. Chicago (60642) www.arcgallery.org
Celebrating 50 years in 2023
• Chicago Artists Coalition
2130 W. Fulton (60612) www.chicagoartistscoalition.org
CAC is a non-profit organization that supports contemporary Chicago artists and curators by offering residency programs, exhibitions, professional development and resources.
Thru Apr 20:
BOLT: Enduring Roots, Tulika Ladsariya; HATCH: High Maintenance, Chloe Munkenbeck & SUNGJAE LEE, curated by Nicky Ni
• Chicago Truborn
1741 W. Chicago (60622) www.chicagotruborn.com
Chicago Truborn is a non–traditional gallery dedicated to supporting emerging and established artists with an emphasis on street art/graffti.
Through Apr 22: Nicolas Jimenez Solo Show
May 20–Jun 24: Ras Terms Solo Show
Jul 15–Aug 12: Sean Hannaway Solo Show
Aug 19: Chicago Truborn’s 10 Year Anniversary Show featuring Jay Turner / “Lie”
• Circle Contemporary (Arts of Life)
Chicago: 2010 W. Carroll (60612)
North Shore: 1963 Johns Dr., Glenview (60025) www.artsoflife.org
May 5: Neon Dreams Benefit Auction
• Corbett vs. Dempsey
2156 W. Fulton (60612) www.corbettvsdempsey.com
Thru Apr 29: Sam Gilliam: Driftless; Jimmy Wright: Down Home
May 5–Jun 17: Robert Lostutter; Jeff Perrone
Jun 23–Aug 5: Omar Velázquez; Thomas H. Kapsalis
• David Salkin Creative
1709 W. Chicago (60622) www.davidsalkin.com
Thru Apr 22: Assaf Evron: Collages for Mies van der Rohe
• DOCUMENT
1709 W. Chicago (60622) www.documentspace.com
Thru Apr 22: Meg Lipke
Apr 28–Jun 17: Anya Kielar
• ENGAGE Projects 864 N. Ashland (60622) www.engage-projects.com
Apr 14–May 26: Adam Daley Wilson: This Is Text Based Art Jun 2–Jul 8: Xie Hongdong Jul 14–Aug 26: Adia Sykes Guest Curated show
• Goldfinch
319 N. Albany (60612) goldfinch-gallery.com
Thru Apr 15: Gallery 1: Irene Wa: Crisálida de Sal; Gallery 2: A Flatfiles Show; East Wing: Sarah Leuchtner: Sequential Escapes Apr 22–Jun 3: Gallery 1: Iris Bernblum: Various Pleasures; Gallery 2: Lovesick on the Floor, group show curated by Iris Bernblum Jun 10–Jul 22: Gallery 1: Gallery Artists Group Show; Gallery 2: LaNia Sproles
• The Golden Triangle
2035 W. Grand (60612) goldentriangle.biz
• GRAY 2044 W. Carroll (60612) www.richardgraygallery.com
Apr 7–Jun 3: Jaume Plensa: Forgotten Dreams
• Hindman 1550 W. Carroll, Ste. 106 (60607) www.hindmanauctions.com
Hindman operates more U.S. salesrooms than any other firm and conducts over 100 auctions annually in categories such as fine jewelry, fine art, modern design, books and manuscripts, furniture, decorative arts, couture, Asian art, arts of the American West, and numismatics.
• Rhona Hoffman Gallery
1711 W. Chicago (60622) www.rhoffmangallery.com
Apr 7–May 13: Spencer Finch: La Grande Jatte May 19–Jun 24: Julia Fish: Hermitage Threshold/s — scores + bricks
• Mariane Ibrahim Gallery
437 N. Paulina (60622) www.marianeibrahim.com
French-Somali gallerist, Mariane Ibrahim has established herself as a leading Chicago and international art dealer through her spotlight on artists of the African diaspora.
Apr 12–May 17: Patrick Eugène, 50 LBS
May 27–Jul 8: Carmen Neely, sometimes a painting is a prayer
• Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art 756 N. Milwaukee (60642) www.art.org • 312–624–9487
Founded in 1991, Intuit is a premier museum of outsider and self-taught art. Its mission is grounded in the ethos that powerful art can be found in unexpected places and made by unexpected creators.
• Mongerson Gallery
2251 W. Grand (60612) www.mongersongallery.com
Mongerson Gallery specializes in paintings by Surrealists Gertrude Abercrombie and Julia Thecla, and Black artists Charles McGee and Harold Neal.
• Monique Meloche Gallery
451 N. Paulina (60622) www.moniquemeloche.com
Apr 1–May 26: Maia Cruz Palileo: Days Later, Down River
Apr 13–16: EXPO Chicago
Jun 10–Jul 29: Antonius Bui
• Paris London Hong Kong
1709 W. Chicago (60622)
www.parislondonhongkong.com
Thru Apr 22: Pedro Vaz: Lived Landscape
• PATRON
1612 W. Chicago (60622) www.patrongallery.com
Apr 1–May 27: Mika Horibuchi; Kay Hofmann
Jun 3-Jul 15: Lucas Simões
The West Side
VERTICAL
UKRAINIAN VILLAGE
AUGUSTA
UKRAINIAN INST. OF MODERN ART
VERTICAL PROJECT SPACE
WEST TOWN
ENGAGE PROJECTS
PATRON
RIVER WEST
ERIE
GRAND
HUBBARD
GOLDFINCH
FULTON LAKE
GOLDEN TRIANGLE
MONGERSON
KINZIE GRAY WAREHOUSE
CORBETT VS DEMPSEY
CHICAGO OAKLEY
GARFIELD PARK
CHICAGO TRUBORN
– PLHK
– VOLUME
– DOCUMENT
– WESTERN EX
CHICAGO
– RHONA HOFFMAN
– DAVID SALKIN
MONIQUE MELOCHE MARIANE IBRAHIM
ARTS OF LIFE / CIRCLE CONTEMPORARY
CHICAGO ARTISTS COALITION
HOYNE LEAVITT
CARRIE SECRIST
HINDMAN
CARROLL PAULINA WOOD WOLCOTT
KINZIE CORRIDOR
WASHINGTON
MADISON
ADAMS HARRISON
• Povos Chicago
1541 W. Chicago (60622) www.povoschicago.com
Apr 12–May 21: The Lunch Drawings: Tony Fitzpatrick
• Carrie Secrist Gallery
New West Town location at Hubbard and Wood coming in spring 2023 www.secristgallery.com
• Toomey & Co. Auctioneers
1440 W. Hubbard (60642) www.toomeyco.com
Toomey & Co. Auctioneers is a premier specialty auction house, conducting auctions of 20th century art and design since 1987.
• Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art (UIMA)
2320 W. Chicago (60622) www.uima-chicago.org
UIMA preserves and promotes contemporary art as a shared expression of the Ukrainian and American experience and develops, utilizes and encourages artistic talent through programs serving the cultural needs of our community and city.
POVOS
• Vertical Gallery
1016 N. Western (60622) www.verticalgallery.com
– WRIGHT – TOOMEY & CO.
I-90/94
GRAND HUBBARD
KINZIE
CARROLL
ARC LAKE
KAVI GUPTA #2
RANDOLPH
INTUIT
WEINBERG / NEWTON
FULTON GREEN PEORIA
RANDOLPH ST. MKT.
WASHINGTON
MADISON
ADAMS HARRISON
– KAVI GUPTA – MCCORMICK
• Wright 1440 W. Hubbard (60642) www.wright20.com
Apr 1–29: 10 Year Anniversary Show featuring AlexFace, Martin Whatson, Flog, 2CHOEY, Hama Woods, Sergio Farfan, Collin Van Der Sluijs, Mr. Kreme, Mau Mau, and Pipsqueak Was Here!!!
• Vertical Project Space
2006 W. Chicago, 1R (60622) www.verticalprojectspace.com
May 6–27: Launch, Group Show
• Volume Gallery
1709 W. Chicago (60622) www.wvvolumes.com
Focusing on design and art, with a strong emphasis placed on emerging contemporary designers and artists.
Apr 28–Jun 17: Tanya Aguiñiga
• Weinberg/Newton Gallery
688 N. Milwaukee (60642) www.weinbergnewtongallery.com
Thru Apr 15: For Those Without Choice
Apr 1: Amplify Teen Night, 5–7pm Apr 15: Artist Conversation & Closing Party, 7-10pm
• Western Exhibitions
1709 W. Chicago, 2nd Floor (60622) www.westernexhibitions.com
Thru Apr 22: Richard Hull: Mirror and Bone
Wright is the industry’s leading auction house specializing in 20th century art and design.
WEST LOOP
• Kavi Gupta Gallery
835 W. Washington and 219 N. Elizabeth (60607) www.kavigupta.com
• McCormick Gallery 835 W. Washington (60607) www.thomasmccormick.com
Thru May 6: Kim Piotrowski, Joy Experiment Summer 2023: works from the Estate of Maurice Golubov
• Randolph Street Market 1350 Block of W. Randolph www.randolphstreetmarket.com
May 27 and 28
July 29 and 30
Sept 23 and 24
Nov 4 and 5
Dec 2 and 3
RIVER NORTH
WELLS CLARK DEARBORN
HURON
ERIE ONTARIO OHIO
The River North Design District (RNDD) features design showrooms from Chicago Ave. to the Merchandise Mart
RIVER NORTH
• Addington Gallery
704 N. Wells (60654) www.addingtongallery.com
Thru Apr 30: Group exhibition: In Pursuit of Spring
May 5–Jun 30: Tread Lightly, New oil on copper paintings by Joan Holleb. Late Spring River North Gallery Walk
Receptions held first Friday of May, July, Sept, Nov.
• Jean Albano Gallery
215 W. Superior (60654) W–Sa, 11–4 and by appt www.jeanalbanogallery.com
Apr 1–Jun 3: Michiko Itatani: Infinite Hope Opening Reception April 14, 5–7pm
• Gallery VICTOR
300 W. Superior (60654) www.galleryvictor.com
Apr 7–29: Art Shay/Richard Shay: Father and Son Photographers. Opening Apr 14, 5-9pm
May 5–Jun 3: Brian Driscoll: 56 Weeks
Opening May 5, 5-8pm
Jun 16–Aug 26: Pat Vale collaboration with Cubs Player Ian Happ: A Day at Wrigley. Opening Jun 16, 5-9pm.
Jul 7: Midsummer Opening, 5-8pm
JOHN DAVID MOONEY FOUNDATION• Carl Hammer Gallery
740 N. Wells (60654) info@carlhammergallery.com • 312–266–8512 www.carlhammergallery.com
Thru April 30: Fred Stonehouse: EMBLEMS
• Heritage Auctions
222 W. Hubbard (60654) www.ha.com
Fine Art and Collectibles Auction House
Apr 10–15: Modern & Contemporary Art
Apr 18–20: Fine Jewelry and Luxury Accessories
Apr 27–28 and May 1–2: American Art May 16–18: Watches and Fine Timepieces
• Hilton | Asmus Contemporary River North: 716 N. Wells (60654) Also in Bridgeport: 3622 S. Morgan (60609) www.hilton-asmus.com
• John David Mooney Foundation
114 W. Kinzie (60654) www.mooneyfoundation.org
• Alan Koppel Gallery
806 N. Dearborn (60610) 342 Park, Glencoe (60022) www.alankoppel.com
Apr 7–Jun 30: Gregory Crewdson: Eveningside
• Pistachios Jewelry 716 N. Wabash (60611) www.pistachiosonline.com
Thru Apr 2: Pistachios Artist Series III
Apr 6–May 7: Nicole Jacquard: Stories from Scotland
May 11–Jul 3: Between Realms
Jul 27–Sep 10: Earrings Galore
• Richard Norton Gallery 14–119 Merchandise Mart (60654) www.richardnortongallery.com
Founded in 2000, Richard Norton Gallery offers a diverse selection of notable American and European Impressionist and Modern paintings, drawings and sculpture from the 19th and early 20th Centuries. Also offering consultation, appraisal, consignment and purchase of artwork.
Annual participant in EXPO CHICAGO
• Rosenthal Fine Art
210 W. Superior (60654) www.rosenthalfineart.com
• Vale Craft Gallery
230 W. Superior (60654) www.valecraftgallery.com
Contemporary American fine craft objects and sculpture. Works in clay, fiber, metal, glass, and wood.
Thru Jun 17: SPRING VALE SALE!
*Note the gallery is closing in late June
• Zolla/Lieberman Gallery
325 W. Huron (60654) www.zollaliebermangallery.com
Thru Apr 29: Shai Azoulay; Rhonda Gates; Derek Walter May 19–Jun 30: Igor and Marina; Jay Strommen
Jul 14–Aug 19: Group exhibition featuring: Meredith Kopelman, Lynn Neuman, James Ostrander, Ruth Poor, Margaux Siegel, Zachary Weber, Ben Wilkinson
DOWNTOWN
MICHIGAN AVE GOLD COAST THE LOOP / SOUTH LOOP
• The Arts Club of Chicago 201 E. Ontario (60611) www.artsclubchicago.org
Thru May 20: Jessi Reaves: All possessive lusts dispelled
May 1–Oct 7: Garden Project: Yasmin Spiro: Groundation
Jun 14–Aug 15: Brenda Draney: Drink from the river
• The Art Institute of Chicago 111 S. Michigan (60603) www.artic.edu
• The Chicago Cultural Center 78 E. Washington (60602) www.chicago.gov
• The Richard H. Driehaus Museum 40 E. Erie (60611) www.driehausmuseum.org
Thru May 21: Capturing Louis Sullivan: What Richard Nickel Saw
Begins Jun 22: Hector Guimard: Art Nouveau to Modernism
• Elephant Room Gallery
704 S. Wabash (60605) www.elephantroomgallery.com
Thru April 22: Yams, Ways and Actions
Apr 28–Jun 3: Cujo Dah & Dredske, Synthesis
Jun 9–Jul 22: Yuqing Zhu
Jul 28–Sep 9: Chantala Kommanivanh
• Les Enluminures
980 N. Michigan, Ste. 1330 (60611) www.lesenluminures.com www.textmanuscripts.com
Mar 30–May 9: The King of Beasts, an Exceptional Renaissance Gem from the Marlborough Collection. Les Enluminures NY
Apr 27–30: The NY International Antiquarian Book Fair
• GRAY
Downtown: 875 N. Michigan (60611)
West Town: 2044 W. Carroll (60612) www.richardgraygallery.com
• Bert Green Fine Art
8 S. Michigan, Ste. 620 (60603)
Fridays 12–4 pm and by appt. other days www.bgfa.us
Contemporary Fine Art and Prints
Apr 29–Jun 16: Jeff Gillette, Art History Shacks; Laurie Hassold, New Sculptures
Jul 15–Aug 25: Sandra Yagi, Yokai
• Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago (MCA)
220 E. Chicago (60611) www.mcachicago.org
Thru Apr 23: Forecast Form: Art in the Caribbean Diaspora, 1990s–Today
Thru Apr 29: Firelei Baez
Thru Jul 23: Enter the Mirror
Thru Sep 3: Duane Linklater: mymothersside
Thru Nov 26: Mona Hatoum: Early Works
Jun 13–Oct 1: Gary Simmons: Public Enemy
• Museum of Contemporary Photography (MoCP)
Columbia College Chicago
600 S. Michigan (60605) • www.mocp.org
Apr 13–Aug 6: Shift: Music, Meaning, Context
• International Museum of Surgical Science (IMSS)
1524 N. Lake Shore (60610) • www.imss.org
Thru Apr 23: Deborah Simon: Embroidered Morphologies
Thru May 7: Fabrizzio Subia: Año Nuevo (2023)
Thru Sep 4: Strips & Needles—A Day in the Life
Mar 31–May 14: Alexander Gonzalez: Process
May 12–July 23: Megan Euker: BODIES III
• Newberry Library
60 W. Walton (60610) • newberry.org
Thru May 26: Surviving the Long Wars: Residues and Rebellions
Thru July 15: Pop-Up Books through the Ages
Jun 20–Sept 23: Wheels
• Sotheby’s Chicago 980 N. Michigan (60611) www.sothebys.com
NORTH SIDE
LINCOLN SQUARE / RAVENSWOOD
• Chicago Printmakers Collaborative
4912 N. Western (60625) • 773 293 2070 www.chicagoprintmakers.com
Chicago’s longest-running community printshop, with gallery featuring international printmakers, classes, and events.
Thru May 27: GRABADO POPULAR: Prints for the People, featuring Carlos Barberena, Atlan Arce-Witzl, CHema Skandal!
Apr 13–16: EXPO CHICAGO, Editions + Books, Booth #407
Jun 10–Aug 26: CLOSE TO TRANSPORTATION
• Bojitt Studio
3759 N. Ravenswood #226C (60613) www.bojittart.com
Ongoing: WOMAN TO WOMAN. On view at 3044 N. Eltson Ave., in partnership with XCĒD Design Build.
BUCKTOWN / LOGAN SQUARE / WICKER PARK
• Firecat Projects
2019 N. Damen (60647) www.firecatprojects.org
April 1–May 21: We Are All Vessels: Beth Herman Adler
May 27–Jul 22: Kurt Herrmann
Jul 28–Sept 23: Dmitry Samarov
• Oliva Gallery
3816 W. Armitage (60647) www.olivagallery.com
Thru Apr 2: Juxtaposed: Darren Oberto and Jesus Monsivais. Curator: Kate Roth.
Apr 7–May 6: Numb: Bryana Bibbs
May 12–Jun 3: Secret Life of Plants: Jim Newberry. Curator: Kate Roth.
Jun 9–Jul 1: Truth Be Told: Pinar Aral and Corinne D Peterson.
Jul 7–Aug 5: The Ocean Between VI. Curator: Marianna Buckwald, Cem Koc and Janet Trierweiler
Begins Aug 11: Body [ ] Space. Curator: Elizabeth Hatton
• Studio 6F
1834 W. North (60622) www.studio6f.org
• T.F Projects / The Dime
1513 N. Western (60622) thedimechicago@gmail.com
LAKEVIEW
/ LINCOLN PARK / OLD TOWN
• DePaul Art Museum (DPAM)
935 W. Fullerton (60614) https://resources.depaul.edu/art-museum
Thru Aug 6: Art for the Future: Artists Call and Central American Solidarities
• Gallery 1871
1871 N. Clybourn (60614) www.chicagoartsource.com (Formerly Chicago Art Source Gallery)
Thru Apr 15: New Directions: Featuring New Work by Lisa Ridgers, Allison Svoboda and Ana Zanic Apr 20–Jun 24: Cynthia Bjorn, Shar Coulson and Sara Mast. Opening reception April 20th 5-7pm
• M. LeBlanc
3514 W. Fullerton (60647) mleblancchicago.com
Apr 15–May 27: Israel Aten, Zoe Barcza, Sven Loven, Isabelle Frances Mcguire, Mindy Rose Schwartz
Jun 3–Jul 15: Yves Scherer
Jul 29–Sep 2: Hans-Jörg Mayer
• Madron Gallery 1000 W. North , 3rd Fl. (60642)
www.madrongallery.com
Our extensive inventory showcases the breadth and depth of art in the U.S. between 1890–1940, as well as a growing inventory of modern and contemporary artists.
Thru Jun 16: Working Memory: New work by Erin Garrity-Duffey
• Pagoda Red 1740 W. Webster (60614) www.pagodared.com
• Wrightwood 659 659 W. Wrightwood (60614)
Th 1–8; F 12–7; Sa 10–5 www.wrightwood659.org
Apr 14–Jul 15: Kongkee: Warring States Cyberpunk; Patric McCoy: Take My Picture; Shahidul Alam: Singed But
Burnt
BRIDGEPORT / PILSEN / CHINATOWN
• Alma Art and Interiors
3636 S. Iron (60609) Open Su 12–5 www.olivagallery.com
Apr 14–Sept 1: Alma IV
• Bridgeport Art Center 1200 W. 35th (60609) www.bridgeportart.com
Thru Apr 23: 2023 IHSAE Exhibition
May 19–Jul 7: 11th Annual Art Competition 3rd Friday receptions take place monthly.
• FLXST Contemporary 2251 S. Michigan, Suite 220 (60616) www.flxst.co | 773-800-1470
Apr 7–May 14: DONNIE NIE: Envisaged Potentials; Group Show: Quality Control
Apr 14–May 21: DAVID WILLBURN: Traits, Tendencies, and Acts
• Hilton | Asmus Contemporary Bridgeport: Morgan Arts Complex: 3622 S. Morgan (60609) Also in River North: 716 N. Wells (60654) www.hilton-asmus.com
• National Museum of Mexican Art 1852 W. 19th (60608) www.nationalmuseumofmexicanart.org
Thru Aug 27: Los huecos del agua, Recent Indigenous Art from Mexico
Ongoing: Giving Shape: Yollocalli Artistic Practice Through the Years
• Woman Made Gallery 2150 S. Canalport, Ste. 4A3 (60608) www.womanmade.org
Thru Apr 22: 24th International Open; juried by Pritika Chowdhry
May 6–Jun 3: Woman Life Freedom; juried by Shahrbanoo Hamzeh
Jun 17–Jul 8: Indrani Nayar-Gall and Madelyn Turner | Two Women Show
Jul 22–Aug 19: Absurdity: In Dada We Trust; juried by Kelly Hensen and Beate Minkovski
HYDE PARK / UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO / DORCHESTER
HYDE PARK / DORCHESTER
• DuSable Museum of African American Art 740 E. 56th (60637) www.dusablemuseum.org
Thru Jul 16: Diaspora Stories: Selections from the CCH Pounder Collection
• Hyde Park Art Center 5020 S. Cornell (60615) www.hydeparkart.org
Thru Jul 9: SURVIVING THE LONG WARS: Unlikely Entanglements
Apr 22–Aug 6: Edra Soto: Destination/El Destino: a decade of GRAFT
Apr 13–16: LandForms at EXPO CHICAGO
Apr 22–Aug 13: Amuleto
Jul 22–Oct 29: William Estrada: Multiples and Multitudes
• The Oriental Institute
University of Chicago 1155 E. 58th (60637) oi.uchicago.edu
• The Renaissance Society
University of Chicago 5811 S. Ellis, 4th Fl. (60637) www.renaissancesociety.org
Thru Apr 16: Aria Dean: Abattoir, U.S.A.!
Apr 1: Whitney Johnson Concert Apr 22-23: Intermissions: Özgür Kar
• Smart Museum of Art
University of Chicago 5550 S. Greenwood (60637) www.smartmuseum.uchicago.edu
Thru Jun 4: not all realisms: photography, Africa, and the long 1960s
Thru Jul 9: The Metropol Drama
Ongoing: Haegue Yang: Quasi-Legit
Ongoing: Calling on the Past: Selections from the Collection
• South Side Community Art Center 3831 S. Michigan (60653) www.sscartcenter.org
• Stony Island Arts Bank 6760 S. Stony Island (60649) www.rebuild-foundation.org
SUBURBS + MIDWEST EVANSTON
• Art Encounter
927 Noyes, #222, Evanston (60201) artencounter.org
Thru May: Monthly, Thurs. 7:00 pm: Night Visions
Apr–Jun: Weekly, Weds. 11:00 am & 1:30 pm: Expanding Visions
Jun 1: Kaleidoscope Spring Benefit and Art Auction
• Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University 40 Arts Circle, Evanston (60208) W–Fr 12–8, Sa and Su 12–5, Closed M and Tu www.blockmuseum.northwestern.edu
Thru July 9: The Heart’s Knowledge: Science and Empathy in the Art of Dario Robleto; The Living Image of Sound: Notes on Jazz and Protest at Northwestern University
• Evanston Art Center 1717 Central, Evanston (60201) www.evanstonartcenter.org
The Evanston Art Center is a non-profit that inspires art education, exhibitions and expression for all. Our galleries exhibit contemporary artwork by emerging and established artists, and are committed to providing a venue for new artistic ideas and forms.
Apr 1–May 7: Matthew Dicks: 23; Rebecca Keller: All The Water That Ever Was, Now Is Apr 15–May 21: Artmakers North: The Artist’s Voice
• Perspective Group + Photography Gallery
1310-1/2 Chicago, Evanston (60201) (224) 200-1155 www.perspectivegallery.org
April: Perspective Members Anthony Iacuzzi and Dianne Kittle
May: Student Perspectives (Chicago area High School Students), juried by Aimee Beaubien, Assoc. Professor of Photography at SAIC
June: Perspective Members Kurt Kramer and Howard Hart
July: Vicinity 2023, juried by Kristin Taylor, Curator of Academic Programs & Collections, Museum of Contemporary Photography, August: Perspective Members Iris Lutz and Tobin Fraley
NORTH SHORE + NW SUBURBS
THE NORTH SHORE AND NORTHWEST SUBURBS
• The Art Center – Highland Park
1957 Sheridan, Highland Park (60035) www.theartcenterhp.org
Apr 14–22: Central Suburban League Annual Exhibition
May 5–Jun 17: The Passion Project
Jun 23–Aug 5: Absurdity: In Dadaism we Trust
Beginning Aug 11: Partition Anti-Memorial Project: Pritika Chowdhry (Center Gallery)
• Art Post Gallery
984 Willow, Ste. G, Northbrook (60062) www.artpostgallery.com • 847–272–7659
For nearly 42 years, Chris Bates has helped clients create beautiful and unique fine art collections. She is especially proud of the gallery’s reputation for art expertise and good design sense. Offering one of the largest selections of original art in Chicagoland. Specializing in large/ oversized pieces.
• Blue Moon Gallery
18620 Belvidere, Grayslake (60030) www.thebluemoongallery.com
Apr 22–May 7: Les Scott
Apr 22–Jun 11: William Weidner & Samira Gdisis
May 27–Jul 9: June Ambro
Jun 24–Aug 6: Frank Fitzgerald & Mimi Peterson
Jul 22–Sep 10: Trace Chiodo
Aug 26–Oct 15: Darlene Bock & Paul Pinzarrone
• Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center 9603 Woods, Skokie (60077) www.ilholocaustmuseum.org
• Alan Koppel Gallery – North 342 Park Ave., Glencoe (60022) Sa 11–5 and by appt www.alankoppel.com
• Anne Loucks Gallery 309 Park Ave., Glencoe (60022) www.loucksgallery.com
Anne Loucks Gallery, celebrating our 23rd year, specializes in contemporary American painting, photography, and works on paper. The gallery curates six exhibitions annually.
• (northern) Western Exhibitions 7933 Lincoln Ave., Skokie (60077) www.westernexhibitions.com
Thru May 6: Miller & Shellabarger: Photography
• Who Modern 7933 Lincoln Ave., Skokie (60077) www.whomodern.com
Who Modern offers rare and unusual decorative objects, furniture, and art from the mid-20th C. to today.
WESTERN + SOUTH SUBURBS
• Nathan Manilow Sculpture Park Governors State University, 1 University Pkwy., University Park (60484) www.govst.edu/sculpture
Voted Best Sculpture Park 2021, USA Today, 10 Best Readers’ Choice! Open dawn to dusk 365 days a year, free admission and parking.
Apr 22: Earth Day Fresh Air Walk at the Nate, Saturday, 2–4 pm
Jun 17: Juneteenth at theNate, Saturday, 4–9 pm
Jun 20: Summer Solstice - Sip, Shop and Stroll, Wright in Kankakee Friendraiser, Tuesday, 5–8 pm
GREATER ILLINOIS
• Krannert Art Museum (KAM)
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
500 E. Peabody Dr., Champaign (61820) kam.illinois.edu • Tu–Sa 10–4 • Free Admission
On view: Pattern & Process and The Ink Wash Paintings of Shozo Sato
Apr 8-22: 2023 Art & Design MFA Exhibition
May 6-14: 2023 Art & Design BFA Exhibition
• Northern Illinois University (NIU) Art Museum
Altgeld Hall, 1st Fl., West End, DeKalb (60115) www.niu.edu/artmuseum
Thru May 13: Perspectives on collecting: Americans in Burma: The Art of Collecting; Local Visions II
WESTERN SUBURBS
• Cleve Carney Museum of Art College of DuPage
425 Fawell, Glen Ellyn (60137) theCCMA.org
Jun 3–Sept 10: Warhol, featuring Andy Warhol Portfolios: A Life in Pop. Works from the Bank of America Collection.
• Elmhurst Art Museum
150 S. Cottage Hill, Elmhurst (60126) www.elmhurstartmuseum.org
May 6–Jul 31: Superheroes in Wilder Park, an outdoor public art installation
May 28–Aug 20: Marvelocity: The Art of Alex Ross, celebrating one of the greatest artists in the field of comic books
• Expression Gallery of Fine Art
10 E. First, Hinsdale (60521) wwww.expressiongalleries.com
Since 2005 our gallery has specialized in 19th, 20th century works on paper by Masters, contemporary French painters like Coulomb, Moiras, Millan, and paintings by living Master Nikolay Blokhin. Known for works by Renoir, Klimt, Picasso, Miró and others.
• Kavanagh Gallery at Fine Line Creative Arts Center
37W570 Bolcum, St. Charles (60175) www.fineline.org
Thru May 12: Environments: Exploring the Concept of Environments.
May 18–Jun 23: Art 2023: It’s What We Create.
Jun 29 – Aug 9: From the Earth: Functional & Decorative Art.
SOUTH SUBURBS
• Christopher Art Gallery at Prairie State College
202 S. Halsted, Chicago Heights (60411) prairiestate.edu/christopher-art-gallery/index.aspx
Apr 24–May 17: Never Forget: Holocaust Awareness; Annual Spring Student Show
Jun 5–Jul 19: The Mix: A Sculpture show. Artists: Kim Matthews, Jesse Hickman, David Richards and Darlys Ewoldt. Reception: Tuesday, June 13, 4-6:30 pm
April 15 and 29: Meet the Collectors: Collector talks with four of the featured collectors in Local Visions II, 2pm, South Gallery
April 20: Objects Worth Keeping: Poetry/short story readings about collecting, 7–8:30 p.m., Altgeld Hall 125
Beginning Aug 29: Things that seem needed: Dialogue; Mourning
• Rockford Art Museum
711 N. Main St., Rockford (61103) www.rockfordartmuseum.org
The RAM Permanent Collection focuses on modern/ contemporary, photography, studio glass, African American, and regional art; exhibits change throughout the year.
Thru May 28: Outer Harmonies
Apr 21–Jul 9: Deb Newton Retrospective May 19–Sept 24: Ken Hoffman: Ten More & Bigger Begins Jun 9: Fatherless Print Posse
• Tarble Arts Center
Eastern IL Univ., 2010 9th St., Charleston (61920) www.tarbleartscenter.org
Thru May 6: Falling Into Milk;
Apr 1–May 6: 2023 EIU Undergraduate Art Exhibition
2023 EIU Master of Arts in Studio Art Exhibition
ILLINOIS, IOWA, MICHIGAN, WISCONSIN
• Milwaukee Art Museum
700 N. Art Museum Dr., Milwaukee, WI (53202) www.mam.org
• OS Projects 601 6th St., Racine, WI (53403) www.osprojects.art
OS Projects is a contemporary art gallery featuring visual artists in solo and small group exhibits. The gallery’s primary focus is on artists living and working in the Chicago-Kenosha-Racine-Milwaukee urban corridor.
Thru Apr 8: Carey Watters: Sharp Points
May 13-Jul 15: Lisa Englander
Aug 12-Oct 14: Jerrold Belland and Andrew Larson
• Racine Art Museum
441 Main St., Racine, WI (53403) www.ramart.org
Home to America’s largest contemporary craft collection, RAM organizes 15–20 intriguing exhibitions each year featuring its holdings of 11,000 pieces.
• Saint Kate Arts Hotel
139 E. Kilbourn Ave., Milwaukee, WI (53202) www.saintkatearts.com
• Sculpture Milwaukee
Various locations. Milwaukee, WI www.sculpturemilwaukee.com
IOWA
• Stanley Museum of Art –University of Iowa
160 W Burlington St, Iowa City, IA (52242) stanleymuseum.uiowa.edu
Ongoing through July 2025: Homecoming
MICHIGAN
• Krasl Art Center
707 Lake Blvd., St. Joseph, MI (49085) www.krasl.org
Thru Apr 9: The Galleries: The World After Us: Imaging techno-aesthetic futures
Thru Apr 16: The Lab: Sasha Stiles
Apr 15–Jun 4: The Galleries: Andy Sweet’s South Beach
Apr 22–Jun 25: The Lab: Excursions by Marat Paransky
Jun 10–Sept 4: The Galleries: The Art of Elizabeth Catlett, from the Collection of Samella Lewis
Jul 1-Sept 17: The Lab: Theda Sandiford: Triggers, Truth and Transformation
• The J. Petter Galleries
161 Blue Star Hwy, Douglas, MI (49406) www.JPetterGalleries.com
Located in Douglas, Saugatuck & Holland, MI Flagship Gallery at 161 Blue Star Highway, Douglas MI
WISCONSIN
• John Michael Kohler Arts Center
608 New York Ave., Sheboygan, WI (53081) www.jmkac.org
• Lily Pad | West
215 N. Broadway, Milwaukee, WI (53202) www.lilypadgallery.com
Lily Pad | West is a contemporary art gallery that presents artwork from over 70 artists. Visit our website to view more information and our full exhibition schedule.
Thru Apr 30: In a Place of Dreams. Closing Reception: April 21, 5–9 pm. France Jodoin artist talk at 7pm
May 2–Jun 25: Tonalism Now
Opening Reception: May 5, 5–9pm
Jun 27–Aug 27: Forward: A Wisconsin Artist Exhibition. Opening June 30, 5–9pm
• Mahogany Gallery
1422 Washington Ave. Racine, WI (53403) www.mahoganygallery.com
Sculpture Milwaukee is a non-profit organization transforming downtown Milwaukee’s cultural landscape every year with an outdoor exhibition of contemporary sculpture that serves as a catalyst for community engagement and economic development for locals, tourists, and art lovers alike.
Open at no cost to visitors we make sculpture accessible for everyone to enjoy 24/7, 365 days a year.
Thru October 2023: Nature Doesn’t Know About Us, guest curated by Ugo Rondinone
• Tandem Press
1743 Commercial Ave., Madison, WI (53704) www.tandempress.wisc.edu
Thru April 14: Cullen Houser: Singularity
Reception: Friday, April 7, 5-8 pm
April 24–May 19: Sophie Loubere: Trespasses
Reception: Friday, May 5, 5-8 pm
THE MANY COLORS OF ANNA KUNZ
BY ALISON REILLYIn 2022, Anna Kunz stepped down as Associate Professor in the Art and Art History department at Columbia College. Throughout her 20 years at the school, she mentored many young artists as they began their careers. As part of her legacy, Kunz generously established a scholarship called the AK Prism Award. “For ambition and kindness, my initials - AK,” she told me. She
explained that she wants to use her work as an artist to help others. During our recent conversation, I found myself wishing I could have sat in on one of her color theory courses. Her warmth, compassion, and creativity were evident during our time together. Kunz, who recently created an ambitious and immersive solo exhibition at Berggruen Gallery in San Francisco and will be showing with McCormick Gallery and Manneken
Press at EXPO Chicago, told me about her process, inspirations, and other new projects.
CGN: When did you know that you wanted to be an artist?
AK: I loved to listen to the WFMT radio show hosted by Harry Bouras (the Harry whose name inspired the artist group the Harry Who) called “On Art and Artists‚“ when I was a teen. When he said, “An artist’s job
is to continually reinvent themselves,” I thought, that would be a great job.
CGN: I read that your father worked at the Art Institute of Chicago and you used to sit in front of the Rothko painting and watch visitors’ reactions. What did you observe?
AK: Yes. My father was in the hospitality industry. I’d have to go to work with him as a kid, and I’d sit in the gallery that housed a Rothko painting. People would stop to look, sometimes laugh, get angry, become emotional. It made quite an impression upon me–how color, and the “exterior form”, painting, could invite all of that in the viewer.
CGN: You have talked about choreographing color - what does that mean to you?
AK: I always feel like I understand dance, poetry and music better than painting. Choreography and dance use the body as material and turn ritual actions into a kind of poetry. It is very similar to the way I approach my process. Colors are stand-ins for relationships I observe in nature’s structures, or even the social sphere. I think of color as a body that generates forms and creates relationships and movement. My approach to choreography in painting
means I pay attention to time and space on the surface to generate compositions. There is a word choreographers use–kinesphere–the arena or the space around the body. I translate this in painting to be the canvas or architectural space (in the case of my installations).
CGN: What is a typical day in your studio like?
AK: I arrive early and begin each day by moving around many works in progress to create new conversations between the paintings. I decide on color. I work usually with one or two specific hues at a time and apply it in a ritualistic way. I play to develop new approaches and processes in another area of the studio with smaller paintings or paper, or collages. If I’m in my studio in Michigan, I work outside and let unexpected things happen.
CGN: Tell me more about your studio in Michigan.
AK: Yes, it’s in Buchanan, Michigan. My husband, Bryan, and I bought the property about 16 years ago. Little by little we’ve been transforming it into a sanctuary space. There are a lot of building projects going on, so I work in a space that’s pretty raw. I have a very large deck, so I can work in sunlight or outside. A lot of times I try to do some things more experimentally, like work in the forest, or see the work juxtaposed with nature. Sometimes I leave work outside and chance things happen – leaves will fall, or insects, or rain. Things will fold in the wind differently. And I take a lot of photographs of my work in different situations. That helps me get ideas for new work. Outside is more unruly.
I also love to work with water as a material. If there’s a water source that I am around, I can incorporate that, but even the paintings in my studio are very water based. Instead of thinking of the water as just as vehicle to send paint, I think about the water as a material, as a life force.
CGN: What are some of your earliest memories making art?
AK: My grandfather worked at the Hammermill paper factory in Erie, Pennsylvania. He was a pulp stirrer, and every time he’d visit me, he would gift me a ream of paper and new Crayolas. I would think of it as the best present and color every sheet. I got very good at inventing colors and arranging the drawings on the floor.
CGN: And you still work on the floor, right?
AK: Yes, in my studio I have several large paintings going at once because I envision them as one continuous work. Even though they all end up as individual paintings, in my mind, I’m still thinking about building this immersive environment. I work on the floor‚ 360°, turning them. It’s extremely physical work. There’s arranging, and a rearranging, so I can see what kind of conversations are generated through the different relationships I create. I also work on planks, which allow me to perform on top of the painting, if you will, or traverse the painting. I also use them as a measuring device sometimes.
“COLORS ARE STAND-INS FOR RELATIONSHIPS I OBSERVE IN NATURE’S STRUCTURES OR EVEN THE SOCIAL SPHERE.”
- ANNA KUNZ
CGN: And you are working mostly on canvas along with paper?
AK: Yes, I work in different scales. But the scales are all specific to my body. If I work on paper it’s usually 11 by 13” or 13 by 15”, which are my head size and neck size. Sometimes I work in a small format like the palm of my hand. Sometimes I work in 60 by 66, which is my personal wing span, my body measurement. They’re all scaled according to my body proportions.
CGN: Have you always worked that way?
AK: It started out intuitively with my works on paper. Sometimes those paintings end up as fabric work or they inform fabric works that are a
little more ephemeral and meant to be suspended in space. I was given an opportunity at Hyde Park Art Center and it’s this giant space. I looked back at the last 10 or 15 years of my artistic output and reassigned new material identities to some of the work I’ve done. For example, a small, intimate work on paper, gouache on Sakamoto paper, would then inform a new large work on silk. The vocabulary would stay the same. It’s a way for me to almost have my own retrospective. I reinvented my previous work to inform the larger and more ephemeral work. Everything in that show was familiar to me from a previous version or iteration. Instead of just showing working from the past, I reinvented my old work in new forms.
CGN: Can you describe your approach to designing and planning an exhibition?
AK: I like to take a lot of time thinking about any exhibition. I never like to make work for a show, so I just keep a continuum in my studio of lots of different kinds of work. Bryan is an exhibit designer and has an architecture studio. We have had many conversations about space and scale. Planning an exhibition always starts with a small to scale model and a feeling for what kind of experience I want to present to the viewer. I do really look at the site lines of painting to painting and the relationships so that the viewer’s perception is wholly engaged, not just on a headon vision of looking at a painting. I consider what might be happening in the periphery of vision, and multiple viewpoints.
CGN: What are you working on in your studio now? What projects do you have coming up for this spring and summer?
AK: I just closed a large show of paintings and works on paper at Berggruen Gallery in San Francisco. In April at EXPO CHICAGO I’ll show monoprints at Manneken Press, and paintings with McCormick Gallery. I’ve worked with Tom [McCormick] forever – I’ve known him for more than 25 years. I’m also planning another show at McCormick for the fall, which will be more experimental.
And I’m planning to make two different books. One is a project that is an homage to artists who have lost their mothers. I also have some noncommercial projects to think about.
CGN: Can you tell me more about the homage?
The writer Ocean Vuong has written that after losing his mom, he is “half” forever more. I’m just using that spiritual event, the right of passage that we all go through, or will have in
common, to inform some of his artwork. The thought of the mother as the creator. Honoring mothers for the gift of life, but also modeling creativity. I started to experience through friends, artist friends, women friends, their thoughts about their personal losses and how they use them and try to find a way to transition sorrow into something more meaningful for their artwork.
My mom was a really amazing reconstructive surgical nurse. She worked a lot in volunteer groups. One was called Operation Smile, which would take surgical helicopters into different parts of the world where children were suffering facial deformities. She taught me a lot about the transformative power of using your creativity. That is always in my mind when I think about why I am an artist, how did I arrive at this.
When my mom left the planet, she left behind an enormous amount of costume jewelry. She was a pretty eccentric person! I had the jewelry, and then I noticed a lot of women
friends who had caregiven their mothers had been gifted their mother’s jewelry collection when they passed on. This book, which is in the preliminary stages, is exploring that. The artist Judith Brotman and I will see where we find commonalities and similar feelings. We both had the extraordinary experience of caregiving our moms. A lot of other artist friends have also expressed that once you lose your mom you’re never really the same.
CGN: What impact has Chicago had on your formation as an artist?
AK: My family has been in Chicago since 1885. They came here with nothing. I feel pride about belonging here, reflecting on the many generations before me over near Wayne Avenue. The city’s grid, its hospitality, the traditions in theater and comedy all end up in my mind when I’m asked about Chicago. There is a work ethic here and an attention to craft and style that I think about.
ON CHICAGO AS FLASH POINT AND FLASHLIGHT MCA DIR. MADELEINE GRYNSZTEJN
BY ANNA DOBROWOLSKIMadeleine Grynsztejn is a leader on a mission. Since starting her tenure at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago in 2008, Grynsztejn has been committed to presenting art ‘you don’t yet know you love.’
Today as she enters her 15th year as MCA director, she says she is ready to prove that contemporary art is entering a golden era, and Chicago is its crucible.
When the MCA’s doors were shut in 2020 due to the onset of the pandemic, the museum joined the mass migration to digital programming out of a commitment to stay connected to audiences locked out of physical institutions and stuck at home. The three years that followed left the world craving reconnection that Grynsztejn strongly believes can be facilitated not only through the art found in institutions, but also through the institution itself. Criticism that bubbled up in 2020 – from outside as well as within – was ultimately a catalyst for real change.
During a recent candid conversation, Grynsztejn tells us some of the most significant lessons she gleaned from steering the MCA through a pandemic amid local and global unrest, from how she listened to and genuinely responded to criticism while embracing collaborative opportunities. Each is a lesson she says will not be forgotten.
CGN: Where do you see the biggest shift between then (pre-pandemic) and now? Is it in the type of art on view, differences in programming and exhibition themes, or something else?
MG: The biggest shift has actually been consistency. Artists and audiences continue to care deeply about
creating and presenting art. Not only can they enlighten our learnings about issues such as systemic racism, but they have also shown us how attuned they are to whether our back of the
house is as ethical as the messages of the works of art on the walls and on our stage. Where there were differences, there were credibility gaps.
CGN: So artists acted as a voice of consciousness and a kind of auditor? What happened behind the scenes? It was important for the MCA to listen and respond.
MG: Much of our work since COVID has been very important but relatively invisible. We have intentionally put a DEI lens on our institution. We launched our first fully bilingual major exhibition, “Forecast Form: Art in the Caribbean Diaspora, 1990s–Today.” It’s what Chicago should do, especially since we have a population that is 18% Spanish-speaking.
What we do administratively and systemically is part of what it means to be a good contemporary art museum. It’s not just how we show up on the outside; we are only as good as our people.
CGN: At the time of writing, MCA’s staff is at 40% BIPOC, which is a 5% increase over the last year.
MG: On the public side, since 2020, nearly 70% of our collection acquisitions have been by women-identified or BIPOC artists. We have actually been 50% women-represented in all of our programs since 2015. We are part of this new wave and generation of feminism that is starting to finally be able to make permanent–not cosmetic–material differences, changes that are a part of our daily practices and will continue to be.
This is the same with many of the MCA’s changes implemented during the pandemic. [Artists] have become much more attuned to wanting to be with institutions that reflect the learnings that we have all taken in. They want to support those institutions that want to change internally as well as externally. That’s the answer.
CGN: You noted that the MCA is acquiring women-identified and BIPOC artists’ work at 7 times the rate of any other museum in the country (according to the Burns Halperin report). This is happening in Chicago. What drives you to continue being invested in this city?
MG: What I’ve always said about Chicago is that it is a flash point and a flashlight. Which means that it’s a leader, and it is incumbent upon us to set the terms by which a great contemporary museum is defined.
Chicago is currently experiencing a Golden Age specifically for black art, on a par with the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s. It’s also a Golden Age of what might be considered socially engaged art, which is one of the most important art movements since the 1990s. There is no other city that can boast the likes of Theaster Gates, the Rebuild Foundation, Emmanuel Pratt and the Sweet Water Foundation, Amanda Williams, Michael Rakowitz, Faheem Majeed and the Floating Museum, and so many others the world has
noticed. There is no other city that can boast a community of artists at that level of excellence. This community lives at the intersection of art, architecture and design. We really celebrate that.
CGN: Borrowing your flashlight metaphor here, what is something you want to illuminate for visitors returning to the MCA?
A welcome. There is no single word to capture the past 36 months. I guess there was the overused ‘unprecedented’ but there’s not really a word for what we all have gone through and are still emerging from. We are now seeing people coming back together ‘postCOVID’, and it is the most beautiful, heartwarming and important thing.
The MCA wants to reward our community’s courageous return with wonder. Our offering is to first make you curious, then facilitate that understanding, which naturally leads to bridging differences, and that naturally leads to change. And when you ask me that question, it really comes down to: we want to be the place that catalyzes art. I think that’s when it becomes an act
against the worst part of the last 36 months: the divisive black and white ideology structure we are actively against.
learn that it clears economic, geographic and ability hurdles in ways that the physical museum space does not. You always have to ask yourself, not only what extraordinary art offering will change people’s lives and hearts and minds, but what is an ethical way in which you execute that exhibition or program? Since COVID what we’ve learned is that it is an extraordinary, and much more welcome, way of working when you partner and collaborate with an institution on an exhibition like Nick Cave or a full day symposium in partnership with DEEM journal, a biannual print journal and online platform focused on design as social practice.
CGN: Looking back on 2022, for instance thinking back to Nick Cave and “Forothermore”, what were some of the challenges you faced then, even with some stunning programming? How did you overcome them?
MG: Well, I can speak to the challenge of maintaining pre-COVID level programming momentum and audience engagement. We continue to see the benefits of a museum that is as strong online as it is onsite, because we did
CGN: What have been some proud moments?
MG: Creating gorgeous exhibitions, like launching our first major bilingual exhibition with “Forecast Form” or making an extraordinary show by Chicago-based artist Nick Cave happen and see it travel to New York. Hosting an unbelievable performance festival called Chicago Performs. I’m also proud of how we do it – so often we do
“CHICAGO IS CURRENTLY EXPERIENCING A GOLDEN AGE SPECIFICALLY FOR BLACK ART, ON PAR WITH THE HARLEM RENAISSANCE OF THE 1920S.”MARTON ROBINSON, LA CORONACIÓN DE LA NEGRITA (THE CORONATION OF LA NEGRITA), 2022, CHALKBOARD PAINT AND CHALK ON CANVAS, SIXTY PARTS. INSTALLATION VIEW. PHOTO: MICHAEL DAVID ROSE.
this in partnership with other organizations we are honored to work with and mutually elevate.
Our mindset has shifted very productively in the wake of the last 36 months. At the same time we have always been connected – as a contemporary art museum – to emergent thinking, doing and being.
Looking forward, our exhibition this summer is a retrospective of the great artist Gary Simmons curated by our Chief Curator René Morales and Assistant Curator Jadine Collingwood. It is gorgeous work and its subject matter focuses on those hidden histories, particularly around race, that permeate our culture and that we need to continue to talk about. The first survey show Simmons ever did as a young artist was at the MCA in the early ‘90s.
In August the MCA will open a show called “Entre Horizontes: Art and Activism Between Chicago and Puerto Rico” that examines the intersection between art and social justice movements between the Puerto Rican diaspora and Chicago.
CGN: It’s clear that no institution is an island. Ongoing public discussions about institutions call for critical review of the communities involved in their existence: Who can take part? Who is it serving? You’ve mentioned that some artists have recently returned to the MCA. They are actively a part of MCA’s history, present, and future. What can you tell us about the partnerships and collaborations?
MG: You’re so right. Another example I love is that the MCA gave Lorna Simpson her first survey show in 1992. Today she is one of our trustees, actively influencing the organizational direction of the museum.
We also did this wonderful exhibition with the DuSable Museum recently, a relationship that will continue. The MCA enters into such partnerships with humility. We try to always go about our work in the right way in Chicago, as a cultural and civic agent. Part of that responsibility is to remain internationally significant and cosmopolitan. [For example, we recently] negotiated the gift of a historic collection of installation art from the 1990s to the present from the collection of Dimitris Daskalopoulos, which we are co-owning with the Guggenheim in NYC.
Obviously this is not accomplished alone. We are in a moment when I believe the MCA is having a huge impact locally, nationally and internationally. And it’s thanks to a magnificent alignment between staff and board that is committed to fully manifesting this museum on behalf of its artists and its public.
We are here to welcome every person that comes in the door and to learn with and from them. Chicago is a full partner in MCA’s growth, in heart and mind.
WHERE ART MEETS FASHION: THE COLLECTION’S NEW COMMISSIONS
Two Chicago-based artists have been commissioned to create new works at THE COLLECTION: Where Art Meets Fashion, a multifaceted contemporary art program located in an unconventional setting: within Macerich’s Fashion Outlets of Chicago in suburban Rosemont, IL. On site are 19 permanent commissions as well as a rotating exhibition series. Other artists with work on site to date include Daniel Arsham, Derrick Adams, Matthew Hoffman, and more.
The program’s latest site-specific installation is a two-story abstract mural by Puerto Rican-American artist Candida Alvarez. “Much like clothes in the closet that we love and pull out to wear from time to time, ‘zip me up’ is a return to, and remix of, an earlier painting of a dahlia flower that lived on a Chicago rooftop,” said Alvarez. “This commission by Fashion Outlets was a wonderful opportunity to dive back into my own archive and remix this painting to give it a bold, evocative new life.”
A new rotating exhibition, featuring sculptural works by Puerto Rican artist Ivelisse Jiménez, is also now on view. “Fading Through Gradations” will fill THE COLLECTION’s three rotating exhibition cases through May 2023. Playing upon the experience of color and its afterimage as an element that produces constant change for our eyes, Jiménez’s works speak to the transformative space of process and the transitory merging of traces.
ANTICIPATING A SEASON OF ART FIVE TO TALK TO
SPRING IS ONCE AGAIN THE SEASON OF THE VISUAL IN CHICAGO. KNOWING THAT ALL EYES WILL BE ON THIS YEAR’S ART FAIRS, MARKETS AND NOTABLE EXHIBITIONS, WE SPOKE TO FIVE ART COMMUNITY LEADERS ABOUT WHAT THEY’RE WORKING ON NOW AND LOOKING FORWARD TO NEXT.
“As we approach our tenth anniversary edition, I am deeply proud of both our legacy, and the future of EXPO CHICAGO. Our annual exposition activates our great city in collaboration with, and in service of, our institutions, galleries, artists, and the broader cultural tourism and hospitality communities. Our core programs – /Dialogues, Curatorial Forum & Exchange, Override, In/Situ and In/Situ Outside – and the Directors Summit continue to grow, while providing opportunities for international artists and generating important discourse for the global arts community. I remain proud that we make an annual contribution to the global image of our diverse, innovative and vibrant city and that we generate direct support to Chicago’s civic and cultural ecosystems.”
EXPO CHICAGO runs April 13-16 at Navy Pier. expochicago.com
Tony Karman, Founder EXPO CHICAGOSally Schwartz, Founder Randolph Street Market
“I can’t believe how much the West Loop has grown – especially at the West end and Fulton Market area, just since we had to shut down for the pandemic in 2020. Since we reopened Randolph Street Market last summer, so many new visitors are coming who have never been to an antique flea market before. Art is actually the top purchase now, next to vintage fashion. I think no matter the size of a city dwelling, these buyers want to adorn their walls.
We’re happy to give them a lot to choose from. What makes the Randolph Street Market so unique is the depth and quality of our vintage “pickers” who hit all the fanciest estate sales and flea markets throughout the U.S., plus dealers who bring global textiles and artifacts from France, Germany, Poland, Senegal, Ghana, Kenya, Columbia, Argentina, Guatemala, Turkey, Syria, Mexico and elsewhere.”
South Side Community Art Center
“The South Side Community Art Center’s (SSCAC) exhibition, “where the light corrupts your face,” features artists Andres L. Hernandez, Roland Knowlden, and Tonika Lewis Johnson and is curated by Lola Ogbara, SSCAC Exhibitions Manager and Curator. These incredible Spatial griots – historians and storytellers – invite you to consider how socio-economic and geographic oppressions impact the way we see (or don’t see) our environments. Hernandez uncovers embedded histories and systems of power within built and speculative landscapes to imagine these spaces otherwise. Lewis Johnson advocates for urban communities by documenting disparities among Chicago residents who live on opposite ends of the same streets across the city’s racial and economic divides. Knowlden critically deconstructs the elements of our urban fabric and its architectural histories to reassemble them as cartographic abstractions and imagined landscapes. Gwendolyn Brooks, a brilliant author, poet, and life-long resident of the historic Bronzeville, becomes the Mecca of these stories as this exhibition interrogates dilapidation, buried histories, and what it could mean to be Black in space.”
More info at sscartcenter.org
Karsten Lund, Curator The Renaissance Society
“Intermissions at the Renaissance Society is an ongoing series of new performances staged twice a year in our empty cathedral-like space in between exhibitions. For the tenth installment in the series—on April 22nd and 23rd—I’m excited to present a new installation by the artist Özgür Kar that pushes the boundaries of what qualifies as a performance. Özgür creates striking blackand-white animations that lean into the idea of live performance, but a bit uncannily, without human actors. His works are effectively deconstructed theater pieces and multipart soundscapes: figures isolated on their own video screens become performers in looping scenes that are both austere and emotion-filled, with existentialist overtones. He has developed his own memorable style, but familiar things echo around inside too: hints of early animated film, Saturday morning cartoons, experimental theatre in the vein Samuel Beckett, or danse macabre like in medieval drawings. For one weekend, visitors can wander around freely in Özgür’s installation or settle in like you’re watching a play.”
More info at renaissancesociety.org
“LVL3 just opened up a show celebrating our 13-year anniversary as an artist-run space. It’s a tradition of ours to bring back several artists we have exhibited over the years, and this year’s roster made all new work I couldn’t be more excited about.
At Arts of Life we have a small survey exhibition going on with INTUIT. Arts of Life will also be presenting work for the 2nd year in a row at EXPO CHICAGO. We are thrilled that one of our artists, Susan Pasowicz, is having her first solo show open up EXPO weekend at Ruschman Gallery.
I’m staying busy as usual with multiple projects, but everyone should save the date, as I am in the middle of planning Arts of Life’s annual Benefit auction and dance party that is not to be missed, May 5th, where we will be honoring the one and only Jason Pickleman.”
Neon Dreams Benefit Auction takes place May 5. More info at artsoflife.org
Vincent Uribe, Gallerist
and Arts of Life
More info lvl3official.com
A DECADE IN: EXPO ART WEEK SPANS THE CITY
For EXPO CHICAGO’s keynote conversation on opening night, Chance the Rapper and artist Hank Willis Thomas will each look at recent public art projects and their community building potential. April 13. Navy Pier.
Michele Rizzo navigates the transformative power of contemporary techno music in HIGHER. xtn, his first-ever U.S. performance. April 14, 3pm. Navy Pier W. Terrace, Lower Lvl. Screenings, April 13-16, Booth #451
Derrick Adams’ Funtime Unicorn, April 13–June 25 at Navy Pier’s Polk Bros Park, is a continuation of Adams’ focus on play and leisure in the Black community. His nightly projections are also part of Art on theMART.
Art in Common presents Boil, Toil + Trouble, featuring work by over 50 artists examining water through the lens of magic, ritual, and the role of the ‘witch’, in contemporary art. April 12–23. 400 N. Peoria.
Kenny Schachter’s immersive installation combines text and images to create a forward-looking video covering history and popular culture, put through the blender of artificial intelligence. 150 N. Riverside. Apr 13–Jun 30.
EXPO CHICAGO marks its 10th anniversary this spring. Borne from the city’s multi-decade legacy of ground-breaking, internationally recognized art fairs, EXPO CHICAGO’s founder and President Tony Karman forged a new era a decade ago through his vision to return the fair to Navy Pier, where it all began, and carefully tend to the quality of the exhibitor list and curatorial programming. Since 2012 he has grown EXPO despite significant obstacles, fostering countless opportunities and securing EXPO’s reputation as an international, Chicago-based fair.
Hundreds of exhibitions, openings and more are planned. Many events are open to the public but some are for VIPs only. Please check dates and details in advance.
“PUBLIC SCULPTURE RESPONDS TO THE DYNAMICS OF A COMMUNITY, OR OF THOSE IN IT, WHO HAVE A USE FOR SCULPTURE. IT IS THIS ASPECT OF USE, OF UTILITY, THAT GIVES PUBLIC SCULPTURE ITS VITAL AND LIVELY PLACE IN THE PUBLIC MIND.” - RICHARD HUNT
HARD AT WORK AT 87
RICHARD HUNT
Encountering Richard Hunt’s monolithic sculptures around Chicago is much like running into an old friend, someone you recognize no matter how much time has passed. Hunt’s large-scale public works are out in the elements, soaring into the skyline. Each one signifies you’re in the presence of something distinctly from Chicago, with characteristics that mirror the city’s famed architecture – structures are imposing yet delicately rendered, sturdy but changeable, familiar as well as innovative, raw but refined. The artist’s vision plus hard work is manifested in wrought steel that is put on display to stand the test of time.
Millions of people glimpse Hunt’s sculptures regularly when arriving at and departing from Midway Airport. Additional commissions have been installed on the campuses of the University of Chicago, Divinity School and the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC), as well as on the rooftop of the Art Institute of Chicago. Many have become landmarks in their own right. The creator of these magnificent sculptures has been hard at work since 1955. He isn’t slowing down. There is still more to imagine and to make real.
Hunt has said about his work, “Public sculpture responds to the dynamics of a community, or of those in it, who have a use for sculpture. It is this aspect of use, of utility, that gives public sculpture its vital and lively place in the public mind.” He has contributed a great deal to Chicago and its legacy of public art. Other cities and towns around the country each bring a little bit of Chicago to their own community when a Hunt sculpture is installed.
When we sat down this winter, inside his Lincoln Park studio that was once a transit power station, the stage was set for an industrial fireside chat about his nearly 70-year career. Warming up beside a space heater – like the ones used for outdoor cafes – in our periphery a massive steel bird manages to materialize from the pages of an open book. Titled “Book Bird,” he explains, the work will join the long list of Hunt’s sculptures in Chicago when it is installed in a courtyard reading space at the Obama Presidential Center, slated to open in 2025. “Book Bird” illuminates how reading and learning allow readers to enter new places and fly free. The work was the first commissioned piece of art for the Obama Center.
Obama Foundation CEO Valerie Jarrett said, “Mr. Hunt’s personal story and creative vision embodies the uplifting experience visitors will find at the Center. Having known Richard most of my life, we are so proud to honor his work here.”
Born and raised in Chicago, Hunt says he was greatly influenced by his mother, an artist and librarian, and he spent much of his childhood enjoying museums and opera performances, fostering his passion for the arts. “I grew up with my parents on the Southside, near Woodlawn and Englewood,” Hunt notes. “When I was around 13 I would go down to the Junior school, as they called it, of the Art Institute on Saturday to take classes.” He was soon captivated by sculpture, even building his own bedroom art studio where he could sculpt with clay long before he discovered wax and soldered wires, and eventually sheet metal and found objects like automative scrap that he could transform into abstract magic.
Hunt went on to pursue an Art Education degree at the Art Institute, and it was here as a student that he began his groundbreaking career. While he undoubtedly found his love for art in Chicago and received his formal education there, the decision to remain in his hometown, despite the pull of the art world nucleus forming in New York in the 1960s, did not come without sacrifices. Hunt reflects, “I investigated the possibilities I had, or ‘should have
had’ in New York. Along with friends of mine in art school we asked ourselves, ‘What would we have in New York that we don’t have here?’ I ultimately decided not to move there.” Instead, he was successful taking his works on paper, prints and sculpture to local exhibitions and Chicago galleries. Eventually Hunt says he was interested in gallery representation in New York, and he notes he still travels there, but it’s clear that his life, work and artistic inspiration has thrived in Chicago.
Hunt is currently represented by Kavi Gupta Gallery. His work has been exhibited in more than 100 solo shows around the country, and he has received numerous distinctions and accolades, including being the first African-American artist to have a major solo exhibition at New York’s Museum of Modern Art. The impressive breadth of Hunt’s work is not just the result of a very long career but also a remarkably prolific work ethic and a seemingly endless well of material. In Hunt’s studio, paging through catalogs of his work I come across a photograph of a young Hunt, climbing a mountainhigh pile of scrap metal in Lincoln Park where General Iron’s metal shredding and recycling facilty once was. Hunt’s cavernous studio houses similar maze-
like collections of metal, with deadends stacked with metallic sheets, inroads leading to maquettes, tools, papers filled with notes. It is both an archive and treasure trove.
Recently, approximately 50 of his monumental works (a dent in his 130 and growing oeuvre) went on view at KANEKO in Omaha, Nebraska. Hunt explains that with such a vast number of works to his name, each piece comes with a unique set of challenges: one needs a larger base, another needs to be sanded smooth, and yet another must be engineered to hang on a wall. Today, at 87, Hunt continues to meet artistic challenges and work on a range of notable commissions, following variable paths to creating art. He tells me that no matter what a certain piece may require individually, a strict timeline to delivery or space to develop organically, each one becomes what it is intended to be. Hunt explains “I tend to have several things in some stage of development, and others that move forward in a chain. Art is something that starts to grow until it reaches maturity. It just becomes what it is.” Much like a career that started with clay sculptures in a bedroom art studio, Hunt has become the artist he was meant to be.
A HALF CENTURY OF FEMINIST ART LEADERSHIP ARC GALLERY AT 50
By JACQUELINE LEWISIt is no small thing to make a gallery last for five decades, and this year ARC Gallery & Educational Foundation is turning 50. To celebrate the history of one of the country’s oldest co-ops of its kind ARC has a fall exhibition planned as well as opportunities to invite the art community and the general public to ensure its next 50 years.
ARC was first opened in 1973 at 226 E. Ontario, across from the original location of the Museum of Contemporary Art. Today it is based in the vibrant West Town neighborhood. In the ‘70s, amidst a climate of ending sexism and conformity, ARC provided a professional exhibition space for women artists who were left out of the mainstream art scene and the commercial gallery system. Women across the country were compelled to overtly challenge the dominance of men in the art world, and in society, through art. The gallery, still operated as a cooperative nonprofit run by its women-led membership, continues to maintain strong links with its legacy of feminist art leadership through the cultivation an inclusive and welcoming space for exhibitions, workshops, and discussion. Via the women-run space, ARC exhibits work by artists of all genders.
ARC is the only surviving, not-for-profit, women’s cooperative gallery in the Midwest and has exhibited the work of over 6,000 unique artists from around the globe. Exhibition opportunities for innovative and emerging artists exist today to an extent unheard of for women 50 years ago. ARC’s current and ongoing commitment gives exposure and support to countless artists through mentoring and by donating exhibition space to underserved regardless of gender-identity to help subsidize the costs of solo exhibitions.
To publicly celebrate ARC Gallery will mount a 50th Anniversary Exhibition showcasing artwork from past and present gallery members. Current exhibition dates to plan for are September 28-October 21, 2023, with an opening during West Town Art Walk on September 29. Exhibiting artists will lead discussions at a special reception and speak about their art and the impact that ARC has had on their career and life. ARC also plans to host a lecture led by art historian Johanna Gardner-Huggert on the past 50 years of feminist art. Additionally there will be a panel of representatives from several female-run spaces and art historians discussing the future of feminist art titled “The Next 50.” Dates are still to be determined as of press time, so please check arcgallery.org and CGN’s calendar for updates.
THE ART DEALER AS COLLECTOR AND CONNECTOR WILLIAM LIEBERMAN
By GINNY VAN ALYEAWhen I spent an afternoon this winter with William Lieberman, owner of Zolla/Lieberman Gallery, it was not to discuss his role as an art dealer. Instead, it was to see his personal collection, which he had recently installed in his new Streeterville condo overlooking Lake Michigan.
Lieberman had just moved from a house in East Ukrainian Village and was eager to highlight hundreds of
works in a fresh setting. Taking in the abundantly-filled walls, I asked him how he chose the art that he lives with, knowing that every day at the gallery he strives to build other people’s collections. Lieberman shared that he began to collect art while studying studio pottery at Grand Valley State University in Grand Rapids, Michigan. At first, Lieberman did what artists often do with their peers: he traded art. Trading helped him meet other artists, get to know their work, refine his own practice and, of course, learn to nego-
tiate. After moving back to Chicago, he continued to develop both his pottery and trading skills in Northeastern Illinois University’s ceramic studio. Art collecting is a highly personal pursuit, undertaken with as much emotional as financial investment. Collectors can spend years acquiring and curating their collections which hold personal meaning as well as reflect their particular tastes. Some may have significant cultural and historic value, and provide a window to the evolution of artistic movements.
In Lieberman’s case, he grew up surrounded by art. While he was a college student, his mother Roberta Lieberman, together with Robert Zolla, opened a contemporary gallery in 1976 that specialized in paintings, drawings and sculpture. Three years later, while still intent on becoming a professional potter, he began working part-time at the gallery.
By the 1980s, Lieberman worked at the gallery full time, although some of his compensation came in the form of art. His mother and Zolla would have him pick a piece, pay the artist
as much as if it had sold, and forgo the gallery’s portion. Not only did this practice support individual artists, it also allowed Lieberman to start his collection and refine his own eye. Later, he began to make yearly trips to New York, where he stayed with artists, fed himself on the gallery’s $25 per diem, and “pounded the pavement” as he went to studios, galleries and museums.
Gradually, Lieberman built a personal, thoughtful and carefully acquired collection. It would not, however, last very long. On April 1, 1989, he stored
his entire collection at the gallery while he moved from one apartment to another. On April 15, the building on Huron Street, housing Z/L and many other galleries, burned to the ground. Though works by artists such as Susanne Doremus, David Nash and Michael Nakoneczny could never be replaced, some offered pieces to Lieberman to begin a new collection. With insurance money that he received, Lieberman bought a 1,400-square foot house in 1990 and, as he recalls, “I started to buy a lot of art. Nothing too expensive but I started over.”
Hanging works vertically, salon style, he quickly filled his home. He commissioned Paul Coffey to paint a mural on the 35-foot high atrium over the dining area. The six-month project used Rand McNally map color schemes to depict an ambiguous location in Ireland. The mural even incorporated the atrium skylight. Over time, Lieberman’s home became an inviting artistic destination, serving as a bridge between white exhibition walls and a residential setting. “I brought people to see how I lived in East Ukrainian Village,” he explains, “and they liked the environment that I created.” As his life at work and at home continued to meld, he hosted dinners to promote gallery artists like Deborah Butterfield, John Buck, Josh Garber and Jay Strommen. A few times, says Lieberman, he had as many as 50 guests, with four Weber grills going in the backyard and people enjoying their meal in every room of the house.
Following these dinners, clients often bought or commissioned art, though Lieberman emphasizes that he never sells pieces from his personal collection. Lieberman actually found his current condo thanks to a client relationship that emerged from gatherings in the East Ukrainian Village house. When collector Anne Finkelman learned that a unit in her building was up for sale, she passed the tip along to Lieberman who made a swift decision to buy it.
The move from a house to a condo meant leaving behind site-specific and other large-scale pieces. However, the new space is more than twice as big (3,000 square feet) and many works have found a new pride of place. Collector and friend Arlene Richman gifted Claes Oldenburg’s Bat Spinning at the Speed of Light, published by Landfall Press, to William for his 60th birthday. Oldenburg’s 100-ft. tall sculpture has graced Chicago’s skyline since 1977 and, given William’s love of softball and baseball, Richman says she delights in seeing this print now prominently displayed.
Liberman does not have lot of furniture in his new home yet, and the clutter from living in one place for years hasn’t taken hold, but the presence of so many vibrant works of art imbues the condo with a lived-in feel. The placement of several sculptures of varying scale also add levels of dimension, including two by Butterfield, one cast bronze and the other
welded copper, indicative of Lieberman and Butterfield’s 45 years of working together.
A row of painted Artforum covers by artist Conrad Bakker, bordering a doorway, speaks to Brian Gillham’s role in finding just the right place for each work of art in Lieberman’s collection as well as in the gallery. At home he applied his signature skill of bringing order to chaos, singlehandedly rehanging the entire collection. Gillham has worked for Z/L since 2004. “Brian didn’t guess,” says Lieberman when asked about the Artforum covers and other groupings. Discerning ties between concepts – from Herman Aguirre’s paintings to Jay Strommen’s ceramics – and taping out arrangements on the floor, Gillham placed works without disrupting the charm and affection that they generate as a whole.
Lieberman has already begun to plan for the future, as Nathan Kemler, Director of Galleries and Collections
at Grand Valley State University, points out. “William works endlessly to maximize the role of art in our lives and has enabled us to acquire an incredible contemporary collection to share with our community.” Among many contributions to his alma mater, Lieberman has promised GVSU – which awarded him an honorary doctorate in 2014 –the gift of his ceramic vessels, platters, teapots and sculpture.
Often after decades of buying art, a collector slows down. So far, Lieberman has not taken his foot off the pedal and doesn’t want to part with anything that gives him so much comfort and joy. Recently, he says that he’s been prompted to buy more. “It diversifies my collection as well as ensuring that it has a higher level of museum quality. And as far as my relationships with artists, it helps that I continue to invest and believe in their work. It’s my life.”
LIBERMAN IS PICTURED IN A ROOM IN HIS NEW HOME WITH THE FOLLOWING WORKS:
SEEKING ART ACROSS THE LAKE SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN
Southwest Michigan is a scenic and creative destination just a short drive from Chicago’s city limits but refreshingly a world away. On the other side of Lake Michigan, the area is known for charming small towns and beautiful beaches. Its unique art scene offers some stellar exhibitions and dynamic institutions.
– GVNew Buffalo, over the border from Michigan City (which is in Indiana), is a historic Lake Michigan beach town that has seen rapid development in recent years as many Chicagoans opt to use the freedom of remote work, or retirement, as an excuse to spend more time in Michigan, just 70 miles from Chicago’s downtown. Plans are in the works for Kavi Gupta to open a gallery outpost in summer 2024, just a mile from the late artist Roger Brown’s home and studio. The River
Pavilion and Guest House, built in 1977 with Brown’s partner George Veronda, now hosts a year-round residency for students of the School of the Art Institute.
East of New Buffalo is the town of Three Oaks, a “picker’s” dream for sourcing vintage finds and antiques. Several galleries are located here as well. Arbor3arts opened in 2020 and celebrates contemporary female artists creating afford able art and working in a range of mediums. Many have Chicago connections, from Jessica Tampas to Janis Kanter and Maggie Meiners Next door is Trilogy Antiques; across the street is Judy Ferrara Gallery.
Travel north along the lakefront through Union Pier, Lakeside, Harbert and Sawyer along the Red Arrow Highway where many side trips and diversons beckon. Judith Racht has long led the way for serious art in the area; her eponymous gallery’s focus has been on Outsider Art for years. Local Color Gallery, housed in a converted barn in Union Pier, has featured local artists since the ‘80s.
The immensley impressive Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Gardens in Grand Rapids is conveniently right off of I-96. The welcome center’s mezmerizing figurative marble walls were sculpted by world reknown artist Jaume Plensa (pictured at left). The sculpture park, inside and out, amazed at each turn. Nina Akamu’s large
The Krasl Art Center in St. Joseph is a hub for contemporary art, showcasing a range of exhibitions, workshops, and events. They host the lively Art Fair on the Bluff each July. KAC also publishes an online Sculpture Map featuring public art throughout St. Joseph and Benton Harbor. Two soaring sculptures by Richard Hunt, who has a studio nearby, greet visitors to KAC.
Saugatuck and Douglas are popular all year long, in part because there are so many galleries and creative opportunities. Through its affiliation with the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, the more than 100 year-old Ox-Bow offers one and two-week credit and non-credit courses for beginning, intermediate, and advanced students. The Saugatuck Center for the Arts focuses on contemporary art that engages with social and cultural issues. And on the “Art Coast of Michigan” in Douglas J. Petter Galleries blends wine with art, featuring a collection of paintings, drawings, sculptures, jewelry, and glass plus boutique wines, artisan cheeses, and hand-poured chocolates in the onsite wine bar and shop.
Many Chicago-based artists have ties to the area, such as Michael Hedges, whose colorful painting fills out the Lower Peninsula of Michigan pictured on this page. Candida Alvarez opened a studio in Baroda, MI during the pandemic. And Anna Kunz has a home/studio in Buchanan.
scale bronze horse from 1998 was as captivating as the history behind the commission. Additional sculptures by Deborah Butterfield, Roxy Paine, Keith Haring, and many others invite visitors to wander the grounds and enjoy fabulous, accessible works meant to be enjoyed in all seasons and by everyone who visits.
PRESERVING ART FROM THE AFRICAN DIASPORA DIASPORAL RHYTHMS
By JACQUELINE LEWISWhen art collector Patric McCoy spoke with CGN 10 years ago, he shared the story of how a collecting group based on the South Side of Chicago had started a decade prior. Diasporal Rhythms, he explained, represented a different concept of collecting in Chicago, “Our organization is charged with how to redefine the term ‘collector.’ In America it has this meaning of being wealthy, private, academic - having the magic ability to know the future value of something. That’s what the majority of people in this country believe. We’re saying none of that has to be true. Particularly in our community on the South Side, we have to be the first voices.”
This year Diasporal Rhythms is marking 20 years of exhibiting and preserving art from the African Diaspora for the people of Chicago, and they have plans to celebrate in a big way.
Founded in 2003 Diasporal Rhythms is the result of a spirited panel discussion at the South Side Art Center’s Collector’s Forum regarding the need to expand the appreciation of contemporary art to include the artists of the African Diaspora. Founders McCoy, Daniel Parker, Carol Briggs and Joan Crisler saw a need to create more equitable opportunities and a space for Black artists to showcase their art and access
further opportunities. In the years since Diasporal Rhythms has consistently worked to provide programs and opportunities that amplify the voices of Black artists and collectors, all while providing a platform for art enthusiasts of all levels to engage learn, and network.
Kate Lorenz, the former Executive Director of Hyde Park Arts Center sums up 20 years of impact in Chicago:
“Diasporal Rhythms has helped create a deep, vast, and authentic network of reciprocal support and admiration between artists and the community that defies categorization. As mainstream arts organizations and philanthropic organizations are called on to address racial justice and embrace community as part of their mission and work going forward, there is much to learn from Diasporal Rhythms.”
Diasporal Rhythms will present Perspective 2023 at Navy Pier to commemorate their anniversary. Perspective occurs yearly but this year’s edition will specifically honor and celebrate 20 years. It will run from October 6, 2023–January 31, 2024. An auction fundraiser is planned for October 15 & 23, and an Intimate Spaces Home Tour for October 7 & 8.
Tickets and details are at diasporalrhythms.com
SUBURBAN SPOTLIGHT
SKOKIE
In downtown Skokie, north of Chicago but still on the city’s CTA, (northern) Western Exhibitions is Western Exhibitions’ second location. Its primary space is on Chicago Ave. in West Town. The Skokie space will have around five specially curated exhibitions a year featuring works by artists from the gallery’s 20-year history. The second exhibition at the space to date, on view through May 6, features work by married artist collaborators Miller & Shellabarger, who use self-portraiture, laborious material processes, and considered craftsman ship to meditate on love and death.
The gallery is one half of a renovated single-floor bow truss building that is also part store –occupied by the also-newly opened Who Modern, a midcentury modern-focused vintage source co-run by Donald Schmaltz, formerly of auction houses Toomey & Co. and HINDMAN, and art collector Zach Williams, who owns the building. Who Modern offers rare and unusual decorative objects, furniture, and art from the mid-20th C. to today, featuring iconic designs by Ettore Sottsass,
Angelo Mangiarotti, Enzo Mari, Poul, Kjaerholm and Hans Wegner, shown alongside contemporary designers. Williams says he will add modern and outsider art to the mix as well. By sharing the building, the two spaces complement each other’s offerings and can draw from the mix of visitors who come for art as well as vintage design.
GLENCOE
Anne Loucks Gallery at the corner of Green Bay Rd. and Park Ave. in Glencoe opened in 2001 and specializes in contemporary American painting, photography and works on paper by emerging and mid-career artists in a range of styles and mediums, most notably abstract art and rural landscapes. Many, but not all, gallery artists come from the surrounding suburbs.
Down the same block is Alan Koppel Gallery’s second location, which brings bring modern and contemporary masterworks as well as furniture and design to the North Shore. Koppel has long been in River North on Dearborn St. Recent North Shore exhibitions have included Diane Arbus: A Secret about a Secret, and The Photography of Vivian Maier.
FOR MORE SUBURBAN ART SPACES VISIT CHICAGOGALLERYNEWS.COM/DISTRICTS/ SUBURBS-MIDWEST
THERE IS AS MUCH ART TO SEE IN THE SUBURBS SURROUNDING CHICAGO AS IN THE CITY THESE DAYS.MILLER & SHELLABARGER INSTALLED AT (NORTHERN) WESTERN EXHIBITIONS WHO MODERN MADELINE DENARO, ANNE LOUCKS GALLERY
SPRING ‘23 AT AUCTION
BONHAMS BONHAMS.COM
Bonhams’ global network of auction houses is dedicated to its local market relationships and a commitment to the complete collecting category that welcomes all price points. Bonhams presents over 15 auctions annually and is currently accepting consignments in all collecting categories.
Natalie Waechter is Midwest Dir. • 773–267–3300
HINDMAN HINDMANAUCTIONS.COM
Hindman was formed through the merger of two premier auction houses, Leslie Hindman Auctioneers (est. 1982) and Cowan’s Auctions (est. 1995). Hindman marked 40 years in 2022 and is headquartered in Chicago with 15 additional locations serving clients coast to coast. They recently opened a New York City showroom.
Hindman’s Post War & Contemporary and Prints & Multiples auctions take place April 19 and 20 in Chicago and online. • 312–280–1212
TOOMEY & CO. AUCTIONEERS TOOMEYCO.COM
With a focus on the midwestern origins of Prairie School architecture, Toomey & Co. is a leading purveyor of fine art and design, from the Arts & Crafts movement and early art pottery to modern and contemporary art. In fall 2022 Toomey & Co. relocated to a West Loop space with Wright.
On April 19th, Toomey will offer a Fine Art auction with over 250 lots spanning the late 19th, 20th, and early 21st centuries. Notable artists include David Mann, Salvador Dalí, Wesley Willis, Lee Godie, and others.
• 312–563–0020
SOTHEBY’S SOTHEBYS.COM
HERITAGE AUCTIONS HA.COM
Heritage Auctions is the world’s largest collectibles auctioneer. On Friday, April 14, 5–8pm during EXPO CHICAGO’s Art After Hours HA is hosting a gallery walk and Modern & Contemporary Auction Preview Reception, including works by Basquiat, Deborah Butterfield, Roller Wilson, Alexander Calder and more. The auction takes place May 18, 2023.
Roberta Kramer Head of Office in Chicago • 312–260–7200
Established in 1744, Sotheby’s is the world’s largest marketplace and perhaps best-recognized name in the world when it comes to auctions. Today, Sotheby’s hosts over 600 auctions annually.
This April in New York watch for VICTORIAM, a special two-part curated collection of sports artifact, Led by Michael Jordan’s 1998 NBA Finals Game 2 Air Jordan XIIIs, multiple auctions for the Wolf Family Collection, and in London a dedicated Banksy auction
Gary Metzner, Head of Office in Chicago • 312–475–7913
WRIGHT WRIGHT20.COM
Richard Wright founded Wright auction house in 2000. Today, centrally located in Chicago’s West Loop, it is the industry’s leading auction house specializing in 20th century art and design. They also offer Wright Now, an inventory of art and design available for direct purchase. On April 20 Wright’s 20|21 Art: The Chicago Edition auction will take place. Previews run April 13 – 20.
• 312–563–0020
COLLECTION CARE COLLECTOR SERVICES
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ART CONSULTANTS, PRIVATE DEALERS & APPRAISERS
ADAMS APPRAISAL LLC • ADAMSAPPRAISALLLC.COM
ART ADVISORY LTD • ARTADVISORYLTD.COM
AYRES ESTATE SERVICES • AYRESESTATESERVICES.COM
CHICAGO ART SOURCE • CHICAGOARTSOURCE.COM
CNL PROJECTS • CNLPROJECTS.COM
GB FINE ART • GBFINEART.COM
LOVELL ART ADVISORY • SUZANNELOVELLINC.COM
ART HANDLING
CALLAHAN ART & ASSOCIATES • CALLAHANARTANDASSOCIATES.COM
TERRY DOWD INC. • TERRYDOWD.COM
THE ICON GROUP • ICONGROUP.US
• ART SUPPLIES
BLICK ART MATERIALS • DICKBLICK.COM •
CONSERVATION & RESTORATION
GRAPHIC CONSERVATION COMPANY • GRAPHICCONSERVATION.COM
RESTORATION DIVISION • RESTORATIONDIVISION.COM •
FRAMING
ARTISTS FRAME SERVICE • ARTISTSFRAME.COM
PRACTICAL ANGLE • PRACTICALANGLE.COM
SEABERG PICTURE FRAMING • SEABERGFRAMING.COM •
GROUPS / ASSOCIATIONS
CHICAGO SCULPTURE EXHIBIT • CHICAGOSCULPTUREEXHIBIT.ORG
CHICAGO SCULPTURE INTERNATIONAL • CHICAGOSCULPTURE.ORG
RIVER NORTH DESIGN DISTRICT • RIVERNORTHDESIGNDISTRICT.COM
DETAILS ON CHICAGOGALLERYNEWS.COM/ART-SERVICES
Beyond the galleries, scores of arts industry professionals offer a variety of services for collectors and members of the industry.
Here we list businesses and professionals who, according to their specialty, provide valuable, expertise for a range of art and collection needs, such as:
– Managing an existing collection – Selling on the secondary market – Appraising, advising and insuring
Handling, packaging, installing, transporting, framing or repairing art in your collection
THE INTERNATIONAL EXPOSITION OF CONTEMPORARY AND MODERN ART
APRIL 13 —16
NAVY PIER
CHICAGO
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