West Town, Wicker Park, Ukrainian Village, Kinzie Corridor, Humboldt Park

West Town

Wisconsin

IL • MI • IN

West Loop, Fulton Market, East Garfield Park

West Loop and West Side

Evanston, The North Shore, Northern, Western and Southern Suburbs

Suburbs

Old Town, Lincoln Park, Lakeview, Roscoe Village, Bucktown, Wicker Park, Logan Square, Lincoln Square, Ravenswood, Uptown, Edgewater, Andersonville, Rogers Park

North Side

Michigan Avenue, Streeterville, The Gold Coast, The Loop, and South Loop

Michigan Avenue

Pilsen, Bridgeport, Chinatown, plus Hyde Park, Jackson Park/Dorchester, and Bronzeville

South Side

Superior and Franklin streets, West Chicago Ave, and down to Merchandise Mart and the River

River North

<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="Essential Jewelry" target="_blank">DETAILS</a>

Essential Jewelry

Forms of Flesh: Contemplating Embodiment&nbsp;is a group exhibition exploring the strange, intimate, and often absurd experience of living in a body. Through sculpture, drawing, performance, video, and installation, the artists in this show consider flesh not as a neutral container but as a charged site of memory, identity, vulnerability, and transformation.Drawing from dance, trauma studies, queer aesthetics, speculative fiction, body horror, and decorative traditions, the exhibition invites viewers to examine how bodies hold sensation, gesture, history, and meaning. Ceramic figures defy function with flamboyant flair; otherworldly creatures pulse in chaotic ecosystems; projected bodies dissolve into light and architecture; improvised movements echo physical memory and emotional landscapes.Viewers are invited to reflect on their own embodiment: to see, to be seen, to feel, to question.&nbsp;Forms of Flesh&nbsp;sets the stage for curiosity, intimacy, and transformation.&nbsp;Featured artists:Jeremy Plotkin WongGeroge Mosher&nbsp;Kat BawdinPerformance:Hannah Marcus&nbsp; Curated by Alicja Seledec Email:&nbsp;<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="mailto:chicagograndgallery@gmail.com" target="_blank">chicagograndgallery@gmail.com</a>Instagram: @chicagograndgalleryPhone: (773) 502-6010<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="http://www.chicagograndgallery.com/" target="_blank">www.chicagograndgallery.com</a>&nbsp;

Forms of Flesh: Contemplating Embodiment

ATHENA FUND EXHIBITION WINNER <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.arcgallery.org/exhibitions-archive/jasmine-percell" target="_blank">https://www.arcgallery.org/exhibitions-archive/jasmine-percell</a>

Jasmine Percell: Love, Lies, and Everything Else We’ve Ever Done Wrong

<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.arcgallery.org/exhibitions-archive/rivers-qinnan-zhu" target="_blank">Rivers Qinnan Zhu:&nbsp;Thread’s Return along the Equinox</a> ATHENA FUND EXHIBITION WINNER I come from a lineage of four generations of female artisans, with a strong tradition of lace-making in Xiaoshan, China. Lace, with its intricate yet fragile structure, carries a tension between visibility and absence, labor and ornamentation, history and transformation. Lace-making is not just about preserving techniques; it’s about understanding them as shifting, unstable, and deeply connected to the people who practice them. Thread’s Return along the Equinox draws from the most elemental act in lace-making: the looping of a single thread. A loop does not simply repeat—it returns in order to continue. This circular rhythm echoes the dual life of rural women: working the fields by day, making lace by night. These alternating modes of labor—earth and hand, public and private—are woven into the fabric of shared memory and survival. The equinox is not the subject but the structure of the work. A moment of balance between light and dark that reflects a cyclical conception of time, where dyed threads and woven deviations reflect a tension between order and disruption. Thread’s Return along the Equinox asks how traditions continue— by preserving sameness or through adaptation? Lace becomes a way of holding time, of returning through making.

Rivers Qinnan Zhu: Thread’s Return along the Equinox

<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.arcgallery.org/exhibitions-archive/jessica-swank" target="_blank">ATHENA FUND EXHIBITION WINNER</a> Opening Reception: Friday, August 1, 2025, 5-8pmExhibition dates: August 1-29, 2025 Muscle Memory is a meditation on the significance of labor and the body in a time increasingly shaped by automation and post-biological ideals. This series represents an extension of my own body detached from myself, exploring how the body may become detached from consciousness in the digital age.. Through repetitive processes and actions, I think of my labor in creating this work as itself an act of resistance against the idea that human beings can be reduced to machines. While the work is not directly performative, I consider the labor embedded in the making of these works as a quiet performance.&nbsp; "Muscle Memory" asks what it means to be human in a time when convenience, artificial intelligence, and tech-driven systems are rapidly reshaping how we live and think. Through a hands-on, process-based approach rooted in repetition, movement, and materiality, I reflect on the growing disconnect between the body and the mind—and what we risk losing when we value efficiency over human complexity.

Jessica Swank: Muscle Memory

Join us at Chicago Grand Gallery for the closing of Forms of Flesh: Contemplating Embodiment on Friday, August 29th, 2025. The evening will feature an art talk with the curator and participating artists, offering reflections on embodiment, memory, and transformation explored throughout the exhibition. Closing Reception &amp; Art Talk Friday, August 29th, 2025 6:00–9:00 PM Chicago Grand Gallery | 2842 W. Chicago, Chicago, IL 60622 For more information: <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="mailto:chicagograndgallery@gmail.com ?subject=CGN%20Inquiry" target="_blank">chicagograndgallery@gmail.com</a> Instagram: <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.instagram.com/chicagograndgallery/" target="_blank">@chicagograndgallery</a> <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.chicagograndgallery.com/" target="_blank">www.chicagograndgallery.com</a>

Closing Ceremony & Art Talk — Forms of Flesh: Contemplating Embodiment

Join Peter Holland, the McMeel Family Professor in Shakespeare Studies in the Department of Film, Television and Theatre, for a gallery stroll considering the artistic afterlives of some of Shakespeare's most famous plays.<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://t.e2ma.net/click/955ghl/td1dw8/pmhlibb" target="_blank">Read more</a>

Gallery Stroll: Shakespeare with Peter Holland

Join us Friday, July 18, from 6-8pm for the opening reception of our upcoming atrium exhibit "Sound the Alarm," a solo show by local artist Juan Carlos Rodriguez&nbsp;<a style="color: rgb(65, 80, 247); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.instagram.com/artbyjcr/" target="_blank">@artbyjcr</a> South Shore Arts is proud to present "Sound the Alarm," a solo exhibition by Juan Carlos Rodriguez. Merging the rich cultural traditions of Mexico with the bold energy of Chicago's streets, artist Juan Carlos Rodriguez presents over 18 recent paintings in this striking exhibit exploring the intersections of identity, community, and political consciousness through vibrant, movement driven works. All South Shore Arts Exhibits are free and open to the public. For any questions or to book a field trip, please contact Gallery manager, Brandon Johnson: brandon@southshoreartsonline.org

Juan Carlos Rodriguez: Sound the Alarm

Guest Curator:&nbsp;Dorota KruczalakAgainst Interpretation​July 25 - August 30, 2025

Against Interpretation​

Enjoy sunshine, sculpture, and support small-town artists with Krasl Art Center this summer! KAC’s Summer Art Market on the Green is a free community event featuring different artists each month.Each market features 12 regional artists, including one Emerging Artist vendor. Purchases made support the artists directly, and guests are encouraged to explore KAC’s&nbsp;<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://krasl.org/krasl-art-centers-new-biennial-2022-invitational/" target="_blank">sculpture</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://krasl.org/art/current-exhibitions/" target="_blank">gallery exhibitions</a>&nbsp;during their visit.

2025 Summer Art Market

THE GOLDEN TRIANGLE TENT SALE Starts now. Up to 70% off. All sales are final. No holds, returns, or exchanges. Let’s celebrate Summer together! Our very popular tent sale is now live. Discover incredible antique furniture and one-of-a-kind artifacts at up to 70% off. Browse pieces online or visit us in person for the best selection. The best deals are available only under the tent, in our hidden courtyard. THE GOLDEN TRIANGLE Store Hours: Monday - Saturday 10 - 5:30 PM 312-755-1266

Tent Sale

In the Shadow of Coal&nbsp;will highlight botanical species of the Waukegan Dunes, located along Lake Michigan and adjacent to a coal-fired power plant. The exhibition will draw attention to the environmental injustices caused by the continued contamination of this coal-fired power plant on people and the environment and the immense threat posed to Lake Michigan. The exhibition comprises traditional, contemporary, and abstract botanical art and will be curated through an open-call with three jurors: Heeyoung Kim (who leads the Botanical Academy at Brushwood), a representative from the Driehaus Museum, and a local arts leader from Waukegan. Onsite programming will include an opening and speaking program, an exhibition guide, and guided tours.

In the Shadow of Coal

The Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago announces&nbsp;<a style="color: rgb(0, 124, 137);" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://visit.mcachicago.org/es/exhibitions/paul-pfeiffer-prologue-to-the-story-of-the-birth-of-freedom/" target="_blank">Paul Pfeiffer: Prologue to the Story of the Birth of Freedom</a>, opening May 3 and on view until August 31, 2025.&nbsp;Prologue to the Story of the Birth of Freedom&nbsp;is a survey that covers twenty-five years of work from artist Paul Pfeiffer (b. 1966, Honolulu, HI; lives in New York), whose practice interrogates ideas of spectacle, celebrity, and mass culture. The exhibition brings together works from across Pfeiffer’s career, spanning from his early photo and video works to his latest experiments in sculpture and installation.&nbsp;Prologue to the Story of the Birth of Freedom&nbsp;focuses on the artist’s use of media manipulation to reveal audiences’ participation in both adoration and objectification. Mining imagery from our media-saturated world, Pfeiffer recontextualizes global icons such as pop stars, film actors, and athletes through careful acts of cutting, splicing, and masking. Throughout his work, Pfeiffer interrogates what it means to consume images and culture. For Pfeiffer, the basketball court, the boxing ring, and the stadium not only serve as platforms for grand spectacles but as sites where the body politic—of a nation, of a community, of society—is imagined, defined, and contested. Spanning two and a half decades of work, the exhibition features Pfeiffer’s works in the MCA Collection, including&nbsp;Fragment of a Crucifixion (After Francis Bacon)&nbsp;(1999) and&nbsp;Self-Portrait as a Fountain&nbsp;(2000), which is part of the D.Daskalopoulos Collection Gift. This exhibition is the MCA’s fourth that centrally features Pfieffer’s work, following his career-defining solo show&nbsp;Paul Pfeiffer&nbsp;in 2003,&nbsp;MCA Screen: Paul Pfeiffer&nbsp;in 2018, and&nbsp;Fragments of a Crucifixion&nbsp;in 2019.&nbsp;The accompanying catalogue for this exhibition includes an interview from&nbsp;Fragments of a Crucifixionbetween Pfeiffer and former MCA Marjorie Susan Curatorial Fellow Chanon Kenji Praepipatmangkol, and features contributions from University of Chicago Professor Emeritus Tom Gunning, artist Julie Mehretu, and historian Lawrence Chua.&nbsp; Paul Pfeiffer: Prologue to the Story of the Birth of Freedom&nbsp;is organized by the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, and curated by Clara Kim, Chief Curator and Director of Curatorial Affairs, and Paula Kroll, Curatorial Assistant. The Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago presentation is curated by Bana Kattan, former Pamela Alper Associate Curator, with Iris Colburn, Curatorial Associate.&nbsp; ABOUT THE ARTIST Paul Pfeiffer (b. 1966, Honolulu, Hawaii)&nbsp;is an artist living and working in New York City, who has been making work in video, photography, installation, and sculpture since the late 1990s. Known for his innovative manipulation of digital media, Pfeiffer recasts the visual language of mass media spectacle to examine how images shape our awareness of ourselves and the world. Sampling footage from YouTube and other sources, he uses these to plumb the depths of contemporary culture, assessing its racial, religious, and technological dimensions. At the same time, Pfeiffer's objects and images function diachronically, establishing profound genealogies that connect contemporary culture and its many particularities to the long, seemingly remote histories of art, media, religion, and human consciousness. Pfeiffer has had many one-person exhibitions at Whitney Museum of American Art (2001); the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago (2003 and 2017-18); the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne (2005); MUSAC León, Spain (2008); Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin (2009); Sammlung Goetz, Munich (2011); Museum of Contemporary Art and Design, Manila (2015); Inhotim, Brumadinho, Brazil (2018); and The Athenaeum, Athens, GA (2023). He has presented work in major international exhibitions, most recently the Performa Biennial and the Honolulu Biennial in 2019 and the Toronto Biennial and Seoul Mediacity Biennale in 2022. His work is in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco; M+, Hong Kong; The Guggenheim; Tate Modern; and the Pinault Collection, among many others. Pfeiffer’s first large-scale retrospective of his work at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (2023-24) will travel to the Guggenheim Bilbao and open November 2024. SUPPORT Lead support is provided by the Harris Family Foundation in memory of Bette and Neison Harris, the Zell Family Foundation, and Cari and Michael Sacks. ABOUT THE MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART CHICAGO The Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago is a nonprofit, tax-exempt organization accredited by the American Alliance of Museums. The MCA interweaves exhibitions, performances, collections, and educational programs while providing a place for audiences to contemplate and discuss contemporary art in pursuit of a creative and diverse future. The MCA believes in the values of inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility (IDEA) as a platform to enact structural change. The museum is generously supported by its Board of Trustees; individual and corporate members; private and corporate foundations, including the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation; and government agencies. The MCA is a proud member of Museums in the Park and receives major support from the Chicago Park District. Free admission for 18 and under is generously provided by Liz and Eric Lefkofsky and Northern Trust. <a style="color: rgb(0, 124, 137);" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="http://visit.mcachicago.org/" target="_blank">The MCA is located at 220 E. Chicago Avenue</a>&nbsp;and is open 10 am to 5 pm Wednesday to Sunday and 10 am to 9 pm Tuesday. Tuesday evenings (5 to 9 pm) are free to Illinois residents. The museum is closed on Mondays. Admission is free for all youth 18 and under, members of the military and veterans, and MCA members. Find more information about MCA's exhibitions, programs, and special events at&nbsp;<a style="color: rgb(0, 124, 137);" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="http://mcachicago.org/" target="_blank">mcachicago.org</a>&nbsp;or at 312.280.2660. Image: Paul Pfeiffer,&nbsp;Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse&nbsp;(09), 2004. Fujiflex digital C-print; 48 × 60 in. (121.9 × 152.4 cm). Collection of Alan Hergott and Curt Shepard. © Paul Pfeiffer. Courtesy of the artist; Paula Cooper Gallery, New York; carlier | gebauer, Berlin/Madrid; Perrotin; and Thomas Dane Gallery, London.

Paul Pfeiffer: Prologue to the Story of the Birth of Freedom

Since 1851, Wisconsin has embraced the word "Forward" as its state motto, a simple yet powerful declaration of progress and positivity. At Lily Pad | West, we have embodied this spirit for the past eight years, consistently advancing our vision of showcasing world-class art through a dynamic mix of local, national, and international artists. As the gallery expands its horizons, we are proud to remain deeply rooted in supporting the vibrant community of contemporary Wisconsin artists. We are thrilled to present "Forward," our fourth annual group exhibition featuring an impressive lineup of Wisconsin-based artists: Marc Anderson, Steve Gerhartz, Robert M. Girsh, Michael Guinane, Shelby Keefe, Bruce Niemi, Antwan Ramar, John Waite, and Diane Washa. This year, we are especially excited to welcome Mutópe Johnson, Jolanta Kinga Rose, Michael Sutton, and Alan Eickberg. Runs July 16 - August 31, 2024•&nbsp;VIP and Press Preview Night: Thursday, July 17th from 6 to 8 pm•&nbsp;Gallery Night MKE Receptions: Friday, July 18th from 5 to 8 pm and Saturday, July 19th from 11 am to 4 pm

Forward

<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.jmkac.org/exhibition/pao-houa-her-the-imaginative-landscape/?utm_medium=email&amp;_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9VbXI1XhnuOkY2pdmZU_NZq3wIlmhgym-XsG-_AP0JQQqSLmVczzoyXE16kal6bCSA4jIi9GhjDEMeV2_iPA3WjmiQDFGoq6KBMISH9l4Mpi83jvg&amp;_hsmi=343424237&amp;utm_content=343424237&amp;utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">Details</a> Pao Houa Her uses her camera to explore the longing and desire of a community culturally defined by an elsewhere. Rooted in the experience of her HMong community and shaped by family experiences and lore passed down by her elders, Her takes a formally rigorous approach to photography to explore the complex intertwining of artifice and desire bound up in dreams of homeland.Pao Houa Her: The Imaginative Landscape&nbsp;is the first survey of Her’s practice, covering nearly twenty years of work, with selections from six major series to date, as well as new work made in the jungles of Laos. Co-organized by the John Michael Kohler Arts Center (JMKAC) and the San Jose Museum of Art (SJMA) in California, the exhibition embraces the diverse U.S. contexts in which HMong communities have adapted and fabricated homelands. Though specific to Her’s own HMong-American experience,&nbsp;The Imaginative Landscape&nbsp;is a meditation on the construction of homeland that resonates across a variety of diasporic experiences. In both Sheboygan and San Jose, the exhibition will exceed the institutional space with lightboxes in local restaurants and community gathering places, wheat pasted images in public locations, and billboard displays. A complete list of sites will be announced closer to the exhibition opening. * HMong is written with a capital H and M to be inclusive of White Hmong and Green Mong dialects. Speakers of the White dialect pronounce “Hmong” with a silent “H,” indicating a nasal aspiration or puff of air out of the nose. Speakers of the Green dialect pronounce “Mong” without. This exhibition is co-organized by Jodi Throckmorton, JMKAC chief curator, and Lauren Schell Dickens, SJMA chief curator.SJMA’s exhibition will be on view July 15, 2025, into early 2026. Image: Pao Houa Her, untitled (real opium behind opium backdrop), 2020, lightbox, 52 x 65 in. Courtesy of the artist and Bockley Gallery.

Pao Houa Her: The Imaginative Landscape

<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.dragonflygallery.space/amber-keene.html" target="_blank">Learn more here</a>

Solo Exhibition: Enchanting Views

Perspective Gallery is proud to present a new exhibit by photographers&nbsp;Howard Hart and Kathryn Rodrigues. Hart’s&nbsp;Small Moments: Images from Egypt&nbsp;explores people and places away from monumental sites and the chaos of tourism. Hart’s black and white photographs document his personal impressions of Egypt though visually engaging images of small moments from everyday life. Hart is a charter member of Perspective Gallery and works in both analog and digital media.Inspired by a line from a Mary Oliver poem,&nbsp;Every Day Has Something In It Whose Name is Forever,&nbsp;Rodrigues’ work explores time, perception, and the interplay of constraint and expansion. This series stems from a volume of daily photographs, beginning over three years ago, of a skylight in Rodrigues’ home. Presented in a variety of forms, from grids to interactive photo sculptures, this work plays with the notion of time presented as both rigid and fluid. It is an ongoing body of work that invites viewers to enjoy a moment of quiet introspection.

Howard Hart and Kathryn Rodrigues

Fortitude is a series of images of impromptu driftwood huts. The huts project security and fantasy, offset by precarious construction of dilapidated materials in an eroding landscape to create a sense of unease for environmental uncertainty. Fortitude displays the collective history of driftwood from familiar natural and manipulated sources, in a revolving collaboration between trees, ocean, sand, wind, weather, and strangers. Fortitude is a portmanteau of fort and attitude, and a word describing the resilience required to seek and sustain shelter and safety on this entropic planet. There is a secondary sad secret allusion to the fortitude required to keep building secure structures as they continuously get taken away. Soon after the huts get built, occupied, and enjoyed; they inevitably fall from tempestuous weather, rising tides, shifting sand, eroding coast, and the poaching of one hut’s wood for another. Fortitude displays the (un)natural and (de)constructive lives of large trees in this liminal landscape between where we were, where we are, and where we are going; inviting viewers to experience, empathize, and engage with their role in the imminent. These images of trees as (in)secure structures in a visibly deteriorating environment communicate their need to be protected to provide protection.<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.dragonflygallery.space/sena-clara-creston.html" target="_blank">Learn more here</a>

Solo Exhibition: Fortitude

Foliage

Photography and Collage by Artist Jay Reed

The Scapes - Land and Urban

﻿Painters capture the essence of water. Reflect upon the abstract shapes of color and light that shimmer on the surface. Artists in this exhibition blur the lines between representational and abstract approaches. They are open to seeing beyond the horizon, and are keenly aware of subtle shifts in color temperature, mood and atmosphere. Like the weather, the work conveys a variety of moods, which ranges from tranquil and calm to stormy. This exhibition addresses the fragile relationship humans have with water, our most precious natural resource. Forty percent of all revenue from sales will be donated to the Alliance for the Great Lakes.Artists: Anna Marie Crovetti, John Fleck, Nicole Gordon, Louise LeBourgeois, Lynne Miller-Jones, Sarah Kaiser-Amaral, Jennifer Presant, and Nina Weiss. Gallery Hours: Thursday through Sunday, 1 to 6 PMWebsite: <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="http://www.grovegallery.shop/" target="_blank">www.grovegallery.shop</a>Contact: Sarah Kaiser-Amaralsarah@studio215.org773 318 0163Image: "3:07 PM" Lynne Miller Jones, Oil on panel, 16" square by 1" deep

Flow: Paintings About Water

On Friday, August 1st, we will be hosting an opening for newly represented and featured artist Mary Burke's exhibit "Organic Geometry." The opening will run from 5-7 PM and will display Mary's abstract landscape paintings, which are influenced by the woods surrounding her studio,&nbsp;as well as the relationship between seemingly dichotomous forms. Image: Mary Burke, 300 DPI image of "Circle Stroll."

Mary Burke: Organic Geometry

August 18 – August 31 CSI Project Space: China - U.S. Sculpture Exchange&nbsp; Image: Together, Haijun Zhang

CSI Project Space: China - U.S. Sculpture Exchange 

Mark Flickinger's&nbsp;reputation as a painter is one of&nbsp;personal&nbsp;experience of the land, patience, attention to detail, and above all, as an insightful artist with unmatched powers of observation. For years, Flickinger has&nbsp;marveled collectors and art viewers with his ability to transport us to the sites that bring him such joy. This current exhibition features selected paintings of locations in the Pacific Northwest, Upstate New York, and the Forest of&nbsp;Fontainebleau, near the village of Barbizon, France.While these paintings are based on specific locations,&nbsp;Flickinger&nbsp;has a way of making the work speak in a universal way, imparting values about the importance and beauty of the natural world that are universal.

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