James Reka is a young contemporary Australian artist based in Berlin, Germany. His origins lie in the alleyways and train lines of Melbourne’s inner-suburbs where he spent over a decade refining his now-emblematic aesthetic. His character work has come to represent the beginnings of a new style of street art: clean, unique and not necessarily on the street (much to his mother’s joy).

On view now through Oct. 27 at Vertical Gallery

On October 12 The Museum of Contemporary Photography will host art historian Amy Mooney in conversation with the esteemed photography scholar Deborah Willis in an unprecedented reveal of the forgotten work of African American photographers working in Chicago from the 1890s through the 1930s. The conversation will be followed by a reception at the MoCP from 7-8:30 p.m.

Madron Gallery's exhibition Chicago Personal Mythologies includes works by three Chicago artists: Arthur Lerner, Seymour Rosofsky and Leo Segedin. All three artists offer vibrant yet complicated pieces that attempt to display one's personal mythologies. Madron's exhibition creates a world of fantasies and myths and presents three different perspectives on how humans interact with their surroundings and themselves.

Opening Thursday, October 18 at 5:30pm

Tonika Lewis Johnson’s ongoing Folded Map project connects residents who live at corresponding addresses in the North and South Side neighborhoods of Chicago. By documenting architectural aspects of the neighborhoods and conversations between residents, Lewis Johnson demonstrates how a city of renowned institutions and robust tourism is also a city that struggles with issues of racial inequality and segregation. This exhibition was organized in partnership with Loyola University’s Center for Urban Research & Learning and the Public History Program.

On view at Loyola University Museum of Art through Oct. 20