Curator Gallery Talk for moniquemeloche presents…

Lubeznik Center for the Arts' (LCA) upcoming summer exhibition, moniquemeloche presents…will be on display from June 18 through October 21, 2022. moniquemeloche presents... is an exhibition showcasing artists represented by Monique Meloche Gallery in Chicago.

Diverse and inclusive since its inception in Chicago’s West Loop over 20 years ago, moniquemeloche promotes contemporary artists, aiming to be a trailblazer for artistic talents early or under-recognized in their careers. Working with an international roster of emerging and established artists in all media, the gallery’s focus is on discovering and fostering up-and-coming artists, bringing them to the attention of collectors, curators, institutions and global audiences. 

Taking a curatorial approach honed after Meloche’s years at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, the gallery presents conceptually challenging installations in Chicago and at art fairs internationally with an emphasis on institutional outreach.

“Not only is moniquemeloche one of the best galleries in the Midwest, but some of the artists in the show are world renowned and can be seen in some of the most important museums and galleries in the world. In addition to Monique being a hit maker, she has showed artists of color since her gallery's beginning, long before the artworld's attempt to catch up. It's time to celebrate her and the artists she represents,” said Lora Fosberg, LCA’s director of exhibitions.  

Participating artists in moniquemeloche presents... include Sanford Biggers, Layo Bright, Dan Gunn, Sheree Hovsepian, Rashid Johnson, Kajahl, Ben Murray, Ebony G. Patterson, Karen Reimer, Jake Troyli and Nate Young.

Jamaican artist, Ebony Patterson’s the of 72 project—a mixed media work, with digital imagery, bandanas and hand embellishments—considers the 2010 “Tivoli Incursion” in Jamaica, an armed conflict between a drug cartel and Jamaica's military and police that began as forces began searching for a major drug lord after the US requested extradition. The violence killed at least 73 civilians. Patterson's project was completed with a grant from the Small Axe Magazine and the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Arts.

Rashid Johnson’s work Green Belt captures the artist’s father in his newly awarded green belt in taekwondo. For the artist, the image is a man in transition and self-exploration, a man about to experience the revelations of fatherhood, compounded with the shifting climate of the 1970s. At the time, racism and bigotry confronted by the Civil Rights and Black Power Movements had ebbed into a feeling in Black America that the future would be different. His work is a portal to joy and investigation into the relationship between artist, society and politics.

Sanford Biggers uses sculpture and video to address gun violence and surveillance. For these works, Biggers selects African sculptures from his personal collection, glazes them in wax and shoots them repeatedly at a shooting range, resulting in clearly recognizable forms, but aggressively, abstractly modified. Each form is titled in dedication to victims of police violence, embodying memories of these and other repeated injustices toward black bodies and broader conditions of state sanctioned violence in America.

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