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

I would have to say that what art gives me is awareness. Awareness of this short period of time that we have, on one hand, and on the other hand, a way of understanding reality. It may sound corny or dramatic, but for me art is a form of salvation.- Liliana Porter* SECRIST | BEACH is pleased to announce a solo presentation for New York-based gallery artist Liliana Porter. Titled The Strange Task, this exhibition will feature a variety of media including painting, works on paper, sculpture and video all featuring Porter’s coterie of endearing inanimate found objects, toys and figurines. This exhibition is presentedconcurrently with UNREAL, an invitational survey featuring a group of artists exploring contemporary anxieties and the surreal dimensions of everyday life.Both exhibitions open Friday, April 10 from 5–8 PM at SECRIST | BEACH and remain on view through June 13, 2026.Born in Argentina in 1941 and based in New York since 1964, Liliana Porter has developed a enigmatic multidisciplinary practice spanning more than six decades. Working across video, photography, painting, printmaking, drawing, collage, small-scale installations, and theatre, her work incorporates everyday found objects to investigate themes of identity, labor, and time, with an idiosyncratic blend of poetic metaphor and humor. Porter constructs situations in which ordinary objects are transformed into agents of reflection on the human condition.Porter is widely recognized as an important figure in conceptual, Latin American and feminist art. Her uniquely personal visual language is rooted the theory of surrealism highlighting not only our relation to objects, but the very nature of objecthood itself. By placing these toys and figurines in a specific context where they are either connected to each other or, conversely, directly connected to the viewer, the fidelity of emotional connection is enhanced. Works included in the exhibition - such as To Get There, To Hold the String, To See a Bird, and To Do It Again - stage moments of quiet action and contemplation.Objects and protagonists develop a narrative that is as approachable as it is meaningful, creating a reconsideration of our own everyday actions.As co-founder of the influential New York Graphic Workshop (1964), Porter also produced prints for the Spanish Surrealist artist Salvador Dalí. Although their artistic practices diﬀer in both method and context. significantly, both artists share a commitment to distorting reality as a method of inquiry. This conceptual aﬃnity situates Porter within a broader lineage ofSurrealist experimentation, where altered perception functions as a means of probing psychological, cultural, and symbolic structures. Highlighting Porter’s connection to this artistic movement, The Strange Task is presented alongside UNREAL, an exhibition featuring a group of artists whose work engages with contemporary manifestations of surrealism. Thesimultaneous presentation of these two exhibitions establishes a dialogue of contemporary approaches to the surreal, highlighting the relevance of imaginative distortion as a strategy for interrogating collective consciousness.____Liliana Porter’s (b. Argentina, 1941, resides in New York since 1964) recent solo exhibitions include those at Dia Beacon in New York, Les Abattoirs in Toulouse France, El Museo de Barrio in New York City; The Perez Art Museum in Miami; Galería Luciana Brito in São Paulo, Brasil; ART OMI in Ghent, NY; Savannah College of Art and Design in Savannah, GA; El Museo Nacional de Artes Visuales in Montevideo; Museo Provincial de Bellas Artes Franklin Rawson in San Juan, Argentina; Museo de Arte de Zapopan in Guadalajara, MexicoHer most recent institutional exhibition took place at Dia Bridgehampton in 2025. Porter's most recent theatrical performance, THEM was co-directed with Ana Tiscornia with music by Sylvia Meyer and debuted in New York at The Kitchen in 2018. Image: Liliana Porter, Woman Sweeping with Gold, 2025, Glitter and figurine one a pedestal, Dimensions variable

Liliana Porter: The Strange Task 

PATRON presents&nbsp;She is sitting on her own shadow, our first solo exhibition with Mexico City-based artist Manuela García (b. 1982, Mexico City, Mexico). García employs subtle adaptations of natural materials to hone physical perception of human space. Through her sculptural and painting practice García shapes intimate encounters between material and the human body–manipulating and repurposing architectural and physical elements to challenge understandings of reality and solidity.Raised in Medellín, García’s memories of an ever present threat of violence in an unstable socio-political terrain laid the conceptual ground for a visual language seeking to establish stability through material presence. García’s debut exhibition with PATRON centers a site-specific installation, an extension of&nbsp;Lineas, her large-scale sculptures, made from coils of metal wire, wrapped by hand in layer upon layer of felted black and white wool. Their soft, textile exterior belies their rigid, internal skeletal structure. Responding to the surrounding architecture, García unfurls and manipulates the form, catalyzing and releasing material tension against itself, allowing the line to cascade downward from a fixed point in the wall and organically weave through space. Her&nbsp;Lineas&nbsp;are both deliberation and liberation; at once drawings and sculptures that challenge the viewer to reconsider our own relationships to material, reality, and solidity.&nbsp;Emerging from García’s attempt at capturing the physical nature of memory are her painting series,&nbsp;El dolor en la mirada, encaustic paintings of dreamlike landscapes and amorphous figures. Through a reverse layering of wax and pigment, boundless, abstract forms emerge and dissipate within the 24”x 28” surfaces. Light filtering through the top layers of translucent wax illuminate and imbue the paintings with mystical presence the artist likens to “souls.” García’s mist-like compositions reveal themselves the way the memory of a dream might be recalled, and explore our own perception with and relation to physical spaces, offering no stable point of reference in which to orient oneself.&nbsp;By playing on the tensions between light and shadow, form and material, García examines our relationship to our physical surroundings and the ephemeral manifestations that offer evidence to presence.

Manuela García: She is sitting on her own shadow

PATRON announces&nbsp;Garden of Prayer, our second solo exhibition with New York-based artist Nour Malas (b. 1995, Cannes, France). Borrowing its title from a 1971 song by Max Roach and The J.C. White Singers, the exhibition invokes jazz’s improvisational exploration of form and gospel’s devotional intensity, through a series of expansive paintings and pastel works on linen, paper, and silk fabric. Over the past five years Malas has developed a physical, poetic practice, driven by an inert impulse to give form to the emotional states of being alive. Spending her formative years between Europe and the Middle East, before studying in London and Chicago, Malas’s work is informed by her experience of cultural hybridity, transforming diverse legacies of song, poetry, music, and visual culture into abstraction.&nbsp;Shaped memories of place, mood, architecture, and drawing on an intimate knowledge of art history,&nbsp;Garden of Prayer&nbsp;marks a considerable shift in Malas’s practice over the past year. Developed over the last five months, the work in the exhibition results from a perspective of turning inward, holding, honoring, and communing with personal history and familial lineages, as spaces in which possible realities may be lived. The result is a corpus of expansive landscapes of alternative states, transcendent yet accessible, outside shared human experiences of suffering, otherworldly, yet deeply familiar.&nbsp;In&nbsp;L’âme de L’âme&nbsp;(2026), the first painting Malas completed of this body of work, celestial bursts of pigment unfurl in gestural swirls. Deep purples, blues, reds, and greens gather into a spiritual atmosphere recalling the spiritually evocative scenes of 16th century Italian painters such as Titian. Barely perceivable, spectral silhouettes appear and recede. The painting is a space of ascension, where earth meets spirit. The title, French for “soul of the soul,” also echoes the Arabic phrase Ruh al-Ruh, suggesting an innermost essence—something tender, sacred, and inseparable from love.At the heart of Malas’s work is the spirit of her grandmother, who the artist attributes as being her spiritual guide. A continued embodiment of a childhood sense of nature, care, and safety, Malas’s ancestor personifies a space within the real world in which the artist, as a child, could retreat. In speaking to how she continues to communicate with her grandmother through dreams, Malas suggests how paintings can be portals into parallel, spiritual worlds. Conjuring new spaces with pigment, Malas is compelled to create sites of care, where imagination and magic can exist. In&nbsp;Sweetness and Light&nbsp;the artist’s grandmother, mother, and sister appear in turn as spectral figures or, as in the expansive landscape of&nbsp;Spiritual Wasteland, as memories, or personified emotions. A return to her roots as a sculptor, Malas’s world building unfolds into the gallery’s architecture through an installation of painted silk,&nbsp;Long Division&nbsp;(2026). Suspended six-foot panels of fabric envelop the viewer, undulating as one passes through the space. Embracing and enveloping the viewer,&nbsp;Long Division&nbsp;creates an impermeable space out of time, where we can, at least temporarily, be held.Claiming “there is a sense of duty in painting a different picture,” Malas’s practice emerges from her own ineffable impulse to channel the emotional weight of existence. Considering how her own experience of revolution and war was in part channeled through the lives of family members, Malas’s practice relies on our ability to transport through time, and feel, viscerally alternative aspects of the same reality. This impulse transforms pigment into emotional, social residues, giving form to sites that exist on the other side of grief, in which we can escape and imagine a different present, and future.

Nour Malas: Garden of Prayer

Enter the world of photographer Sandro Miller with a unique exhibition coming to The Art Center Highland Park from May 8 to June 14. “Steppenwolf 50: Through the Eye of Sandro Miller” is an intimate portrait of the historic Steppenwolf theatre through the lens of a celebrated photographer and visual artist. This series will debut for a first-look at The Center’s Spring Benefit on May 8.Join us for the free public reception on May 15, with a special performance from musical guest Kahil El’Zabar.

Steppenwolf 50: Through the Eye of Sandro Miller

The storied city of Djenné, a center of Islamic learning, study, and scholarship since the twelfth century, is the hometown of Bamako-based photographer&nbsp;Hamdia Traoré&nbsp;(b. 1992, Mali).&nbsp;The thirty portraits in Traore’s series&nbsp;Des marabouts de Djenné (Marabouts of Jenne)&nbsp;reflect his intimate connections to the city’s people and deep history. Learned and devout, marabouts teach in Djenné’s over 50 Qur’anic schools, offer spiritual guidance, and treat ailments through their knowledge of the Qur’an.Made during a time of political and social upheaval in Mali, these portraits reflect enduring cultural resilience. Each image depicts a marabout seated with the tools of his practice—books, Qur’an boards, amulets, and prayer beads—framed by the architecture and atmosphere of Djenné. The consistent format underscores their collective identity, while individual poses and captions highlight personal roles and neighborhoods.Traoré’s work will be shown alongside mid-20th-century black-and-white portraits of marabouts by Malian photographers&nbsp;Mamadou Cissé, Abdourahmane Sakaly, and&nbsp;Tijani Sitou. Drawn from the Archive of Malian Photography, these earlier images share visual parallels and deepen the historical context.&nbsp;Together, these images illuminate evolving perspectives on spiritual authority, identity, and visual representation in Mali.This exhibition is developed in collaboration with the artist and professor Candace Keller, co-founder of the&nbsp;<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://amp.matrix.msu.edu/" target="_blank">Archive of Malian Photography</a>.

Hamdia Traoré’s “Des marabouts de Djenné” and Muslim Portraiture in Mali

An exhibition exploring how images of luxury obscure the labor and extraction behind consumer culture.Sammy Baloji’s monumental diptych&nbsp;Raccord #1: Cite de Kawama&nbsp;stages a sharp visual contrast between a Congolese temporary mining settlement and an advertisement for an idealized resort. The advertising image is not merely decorative, but is part of an economic system that manufactures longing, offering miners and their families a fantasy of leisure and mobility even as they remain excluded from the wealth it fuels.Building from Baloji’s photograph, recently acquired by The Block Museum of Art, this exhibition reminds us that beneath the surfaces of leisure, consumption, and profit lie histories of exploitation and environmental damage.&nbsp;Beneath the Surface&nbsp;brings together artworks and advertising from The Block&nbsp;collection and the&nbsp;<a href="https://northwestern.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=904f932038284b4d9eea69636&amp;id=31838cac8b&amp;e=ec81127d70" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Herskovits Library of African Studies</a>&nbsp;to make us think about how extractive industries rely on visual strategies to promote consumption, obscure labor, and elevate luxury. By presenting these works side by side, the exhibition invites viewers to consider how our own desires, shaped by photographs and advertisements, are linked to hidden processes of extraction, exploitation, and environmental harm.Beneath the Surface&nbsp;is presented in conversation with&nbsp;<a href="https://northwestern.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=904f932038284b4d9eea69636&amp;id=b8f5be7060&amp;e=ec81127d70" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Teresa Montoya’s Tó Łitso (Yellow Water): Ten Years after the Gold King Mine Spill,</a>&nbsp;on view in the main gallery. Together, the projects underscore how the impacts of extraction link distant communities.<a href="https://northwestern.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=904f932038284b4d9eea69636&amp;id=0a7ea9386c&amp;e=ec81127d70" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">READ MORE</a> The exhibition is curated by Uche Okpa-Iroha, 2025‒2026 Art History Graduate Fellow, in consultation with Corinne Granof, Academic Curator. It is generously supported by the Illinois Arts Council Agency and The Graduate School (TGS), Northwestern University. Additional in-kind support is provided by Northwestern University Libraries. Image:&nbsp;Sammy Beloji,&nbsp;Raccord #1, Cité de Kawama, 2011. Digital inkjet print on Baryta paper. Copyright of the artist.

Beneath the Surface: Labor and Consumerism

Ann Toebbe’s ongoing series,&nbsp;Cooler by the Lake,&nbsp;is set in Hyde Park. For nearly two decades, Toebbe has lived in this Southside Chicago neighborhood with her husband, working and raising her two daughters and stepson. Toebbe’s domestic paintings explore the people, places, culture, and climate that are woven into her daily routine as a working artist and mother—home, garden, studio, grocery store, bakery, park, and local school. Her densely composed multi-point-of-view vignettes capture the sensory impressions and memory layers accumulated in hours and days spent in Hyde Park, meditating on the realization that this is the neighborhood her children know as home and where Toebbe and her husband will grow old.

Ann Toebbe: Cooler by the Lake

On August 5, 2015, the rupture of the abandoned Gold King Mine near Silverton, Colorado, released more than three million gallons of toxic wastewater into the Animas River, turning its waters a shocking shade of yellow. In the following year, artist and anthropologist&nbsp;Teresa Montoya&nbsp;(Diné, born 1984) embarked on a road trip from Silverton to Shiprock, New Mexico, retracing the path of the contaminated water and documenting its ongoing cultural, spiritual, and material effects on the Navajo Nation and other Indigenous communities downstream.Marking the ten-year anniversary of the disaster, The Block Museum of Art partners with Montoya to revisit this journey.&nbsp;Tó Łitso (Yellow Water)&nbsp;explores the enduring consequences of the Gold King Mine spill through photography, sound recordings, water samples, and cartographic data.&nbsp;Combining documentary photographs with scientific data and poetic reflection,&nbsp;Tó Łitso&nbsp;invites viewers to consider water not only as a life-sustaining resource but also as a conduit for histories, stories, and harm. In doing so, the exhibition challenges extractive frameworks of land use, centering Indigenous knowledge and resilience. Through Montoya’s interdisciplinary practice,&nbsp;Tó Łitso (Yellow Water)&nbsp;offers a powerful meditation on environmental and cultural justice in the Southwest and beyond."The 2015 spill had discharged more than three million gallons of acidic mine waste fluid into Cement Creek before joining the Animas River and eventually into the San Juan River, which flows directly across the Navajo Nation. Through my photographic journey, I make explicit the enduring presence of toxicity across multiple landscapes and territories. Sometimes it appears beautiful, other times haunting.&nbsp;The images highlight the relationships that various communities sustain through water/tó&nbsp;despite the occurrence of repeated and enduring contamination from upstream locales.&nbsp;The Gold King Mine Spill shows us this, even in that, which cannot be readily seen." – Teresa MontoyaPronounce:&nbsp;<a href="https://navajowotd.com/word/to/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Tó</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://navajowotd.com/word/litso/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Łitso</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;Teresa Montoya’s Tó Łitso (Yellow Water): Ten Years after the Gold King Mine Spill&nbsp;was curated by Kathleen Bickford Berzock, Associate Director of Curatorial Affairs, and Marisa Cruz Branco (Isleta Pueblo/Portuguese), Terra Foundation Fellow, in collaboration with the artist. It was supported in part by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council. Ahéhee' (thank you) to Janene Yazzie, John Hosteen, Wade Campbell, and Andrew Curley for Diné language and curatorial guidance. Image: Teresa Montoya (Diné, born 1984), Tó Łitso #22 (Yellow Water #22), from the series Tó Łitso (Yellow Water), 2016, Inkjet print. Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University, Block Board of Advisors Endowment Fund purchase. Image courtesy of the artist

Teresa Montoya’s Tó Łitso (Yellow Water): Ten Years after the Gold King Mine Spill

Each spring The Block Museum of Art at Northwestern University is pleased to present the work of the Masters of Fine Arts candidates in the&nbsp;<a href="https://art.northwestern.edu/" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: rgb(78, 42, 132);" target="_blank">Department of Art Theory &amp; Practice</a>. Th 2026 exhibition,&nbsp;We can make any two stories touch, showcases the diverse accomplishments of five international artists: Lamia Abukhadra, Pegah Bahador, Gabby Banks, naakita f.k. and Przemek Pyszczek. Reflecting the intensive research undertaken during their two-year residency at Northwestern, the thesis projects brought together in&nbsp;We can make any two stories touch&nbsp;encompass a range of material and methodological approaches, posing fresh lines of inquiry into the conditions giving shape to the present moment. The exhibition marks an early milestone in these artists' careers, and also offers a glimpse into the future of contemporary art. Opening Reception, Thursday, May 7, 5PM-8PM&nbsp;<a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/opening-celebration-we-can-make-any-two-stories-touch-tickets-1985590581881?utm-campaign=social&amp;utm-content=attendeeshare&amp;utm-medium=discovery&amp;utm-term=listing&amp;utm-source=cp&amp;aff=ebdsshcopyurl?_eboga=false?_eboga=false" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: rgb(78, 42, 132);" target="_blank">(RSVP)</a>&nbsp;This exhibition and the associated events are co-organized by the Department of Art Theory and Practice and the Block Museum of Art at Northwestern University. The Block acknowledges support from the Illinois Arts Council, the Norton S. Walbridge Fund, the Myers Foundations, the Jerrold Loebl Fund for the Arts, and the Alsdorf Endowment.

We can make any two stories touch: 2026 Art Theory and Practice MFA Thesis Exhibition

<a href="https://tnxbinhbb.cc.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001-AyuHMeFW3lREHV41VYkX-HsvsKSTe-TOXRN_hhl7etEdhSUVhtYAe70g_PVPyI0vFfmz2MVVacIXQRtQtK_wXksMklY-uC4lbOEXaJeYqrTsini80rxdgP9JZxLyus684o_vaFbyfpsiAnL2xnwZ_k9-Q4qvZ-C2oxXoEwlCCdJ5fBJ3IF5TVskUoSHEDrCcSlAerCTl4-wO1VnKgWrRg==&amp;c=wB0z5d7Pqxdd7DfIDY0H4Z4sWpRZZtQl8p7vB1KMpHFESPXc1sJFxQ==&amp;ch=PH7frpLvTMZEJtLk7cZ2FuL99-6FNPA7RLlyH77WuWTTzAlef0VdAw==" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: rgb(44, 116, 255);" target="_blank">homeward (un)bound</a>, a three-person exhibition by 2024-26 Artist Residents&nbsp;<a href="https://tnxbinhbb.cc.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001-AyuHMeFW3lREHV41VYkX-HsvsKSTe-TOXRN_hhl7etEdhSUVhtYAe70g_PVPyI0yFe07UT3uphqVJ1u3870CL8eInpBZMfGfaDz_DEV0dxzTybaYiFjnn5m3iCsGCG-jhPwlN_ANpDheiu7lahv_AXVSNYWREYlxVW5sf7tRRiyLtr1El432S7PNaREMoCBi0q3AFQIHQiz90TEO-LjwscqYHjPXhDLxlYBqwxvg8cfj-hiB34faNKnJKNhe_08vm73ALPg03hxqVnL_QTgpRL41Ghmsjc1tu7E-ETs5oAhFTToEmwF62EHO24IWROMnQGOLSzkMuylqkcyf7D5hroSJM9UWQQAdc9QUoqeVsVhejwqJkNgRsrbD0P8Lwksr-OAj0i_Lq633KiuJ7nXRLMtHjug75hpSa5eXJS4tN9ScgBZc6eeaO0Uzf2IYNHV&amp;c=wB0z5d7Pqxdd7DfIDY0H4Z4sWpRZZtQl8p7vB1KMpHFESPXc1sJFxQ==&amp;ch=PH7frpLvTMZEJtLk7cZ2FuL99-6FNPA7RLlyH77WuWTTzAlef0VdAw==" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: rgb(44, 116, 255);" target="_blank">Maryam Faridani</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://tnxbinhbb.cc.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001-AyuHMeFW3lREHV41VYkX-HsvsKSTe-TOXRN_hhl7etEdhSUVhtYAe70g_PVPyI0eKweQiPtinscmzTgSMitOzVhWCeYSEKOATs4K4zql7bbSn5nJ7S-t1Tlb6Nbm_RR4a1-tp4pCOIzjrKASQGrxfICOgb2PNgZ&amp;c=wB0z5d7Pqxdd7DfIDY0H4Z4sWpRZZtQl8p7vB1KMpHFESPXc1sJFxQ==&amp;ch=PH7frpLvTMZEJtLk7cZ2FuL99-6FNPA7RLlyH77WuWTTzAlef0VdAw==" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: rgb(44, 116, 255);" target="_blank">Jairo Granados-Cardenas</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://tnxbinhbb.cc.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001-AyuHMeFW3lREHV41VYkX-HsvsKSTe-TOXRN_hhl7etEdhSUVhtYAe70g_PVPyI0aTg_hjekkcPOnbPEqrlF1G3u2UL3Dn5UAMzfDHOGT9RrpVnTirk5emY6FPxL1a7LQNY7_AbcS4rfQSP-wBhx0NdhcFqcYKoy&amp;c=wB0z5d7Pqxdd7DfIDY0H4Z4sWpRZZtQl8p7vB1KMpHFESPXc1sJFxQ==&amp;ch=PH7frpLvTMZEJtLk7cZ2FuL99-6FNPA7RLlyH77WuWTTzAlef0VdAw==" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: rgb(44, 116, 255);" target="_blank">Martha Osornio Ruiz</a>,curated by 2024-26 Curatorial Resident&nbsp;<a href="https://tnxbinhbb.cc.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001-AyuHMeFW3lREHV41VYkX-HsvsKSTe-TOXRN_hhl7etEdhSUVhtYAe70g_PVPyI0lPvnA0KwECcQmoagxOzk-mg2BEeGMSxpih3-lonaQ6Ce7VvFME2Ko2mrKQKjLoGtcQ9mkM5Hk8z6dKRgFYa8xOao89yZSzORpBSeUs143Dr0K4x7aIFKcJ-0b2cqPDY2iN1TzvIZ_H-JWk9_vA6kM3UgmFrVZs9sDNRMPprHYc1HYNrxLR-b7xjxQapc-uBqo3YjtrlGsgdBae4ZuANs-l_-j0wsVu4k62Y-z8F3rmq8kcGHjbVsHn22kmDBI9mswDjZ_mLJbCrGuZUuIPbe1W_oI6xq5CxjHJT3W3-vXOTPVln2Vw4wNv1oF7C0P1rsQDfCWFkA6e8B9Q-roC1PqLsyxa3pY39_mXAKIrOm5yRzwaI3gVgeKdJM6LvynH5Yyr_KlNfBg08=&amp;c=wB0z5d7Pqxdd7DfIDY0H4Z4sWpRZZtQl8p7vB1KMpHFESPXc1sJFxQ==&amp;ch=PH7frpLvTMZEJtLk7cZ2FuL99-6FNPA7RLlyH77WuWTTzAlef0VdAw==" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: rgb(44, 116, 255);" target="_blank">gordon fung</a>. Gallery Hours:Wednesdays from 11am-4pmSaturdays from 12-4pmBy advance appointment

homeward (un)bound

Our spring show, New Works: A Group Show, opens today! Stop in to see a dynamic collection of new works by several of our gallery artists, including Pamela Crady, Ruth Hamill, Takefumi Hori, Fontaine Scarelli, Charles Shotwell and Cat Tesla.New Works will be on view through June 20th.

New Works: A Group Show

Woman Made Gallery is pleased to announce&nbsp;Bodies Luminous&nbsp;is a group exhibition bringing together 27 women and non-binary artists whose work was inspired by Diamond Forde's poem&nbsp;"Fat Girl Dances with a Stranger at a Block Party."Curated by Madeline McConico, Sarah Peecher, and Ren Buchness, the exhibition also features six artist-poet collaborations creating installations that explore our complex, evolving, and deeply personal relationships to our bodies. Embracing expressions of joy,&nbsp;Bodies Luminous&nbsp;fosters a space where all bodies are seen, celebrated, and luminous.<ul><li>Opening Reception on Saturday, May 23, from 6–8 p.m.,</li><li>Closing Reception &amp; Artist Walkthrough on Saturday, June 20, from 2–4 p.m.</li></ul>All events are free and open to the public.Exhibiting Artists:&nbsp;Julieta Beltran Lazo, Maura Benson, Molly Borth, Liya Du, Sarah Gerbasi, Julie Glass, Erin Gleason, Amy Hanks, London Heist, Hippo Artz, Anke Huyben, Mia Johnson, Lili Jones, Dahye Jung, Yuliya Klochan, Laurie LeBreton, Teresa Magana, Glenda Mah, Kathie Foley-Meyer, Mercury.N, Jacqueline W. Nuzzo, Kayla D. Smith, Daun Suh, Susanne Swanson Bernard, Skye Terry, Jennifer Warren, Leni Mae WiegandArt and Poetry Pairs:&nbsp;Izzy Cho &amp;&nbsp;Dawn Angelicca Barcelona,&nbsp;Xakilah Daniel &amp;&nbsp;Deanna Whitlow,&nbsp;Nitya Mehrotra &amp;&nbsp;Tanya Leon-Moreno,&nbsp;Kinsey Nelson &amp;&nbsp;Kala Wahl,&nbsp;Mariana Noreña &amp;&nbsp;Alyx Chandler,&nbsp;Emi O’Brochta &amp;&nbsp;Bea Forkan<a href="https://womanmade.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=77610ec6940e4a7c0d652a863&amp;id=cd697e8d4e&amp;e=a3993dd90f" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">SEE THEIR WORK AND STATEMENTS</a>

Bodies Luminous

My biomorphic imagery in this exhibition hinges on the comic with its gestural, voluminous – yet ambiguous forms. It is an inner world that is dreamlike – you know what it might be, but you’re not sure. The narratives are riddles with no clearly defined answer, allowing the interpretation of the viewer to be singular and as correct as the next.I have included a variety of sizes of panels in this exhibition to not only show my range, but also because I like the rhythmical play created by the juxtaposition of works. Viewers may also notice a cohesive thread of color between all the paintings. This was achieved by working on several works at the same time – carrying over colors from one panel to the next.-Denise PresnellMy current work contains two series: “Unrestrained Ambiguity” and “Extreme Makeovers – Painting Edition. Both series share some common threads, such as color palette, biomorphic forms, gestural lines, and a strong sense of motion. The subject matter is up for grabs – it’s all in the eye of the beholder. I’ve learned that what I see as a ‘horse’ is a ‘kitty’ to others. I am okay with the open interpretation. I like offering an open invitation for the viewer to explore the work from their imagination.Using a limited palette ties one work to another. I’ve developed a deeper relationship with color as a powerful vehicle of emotion. I’ve taken cues from the masters of color- Rothko, Matisse, Bonnard, and many more. Equally powerful in my method is the use of automatic, gestural line. Compositions are found through the automatic lines without a preconceived image or plan. Working from this standpoint has been extremely freeing for me.I enjoy working on panels that have many older paintings under them, leaving something from the older work in the newest iteration. It’s a family of paintings. I like using oil and cold wax on panel because of the ability to dig down through the painted surfaces. My love for tactile surfaces harkens back to my years of intaglio printmaking.Denise&nbsp;is a painter originally from Nebraska, currently living in Sheboygan, WI. She earned a BFA in Printmaking from the University of Nebraska and an MFA in Painting from the Pennsylvania State University. Graduate school was followed by a career of teaching art on the college level. Denise’s artwork has been exhibited in over 300 exhibitions, which include solo, invitational, group, and juried exhibitions in the United States, Tokyo, Botswana, Kenya, and Shanghai. Her work is in numerous private collections in the United States and abroad. GALLERY HOURS &amp; VISITOR INFORMATIONThis exhibition will be held in the Second Floor Gallery of the Evanston Art Center (EAC). Masks are optional but strongly recommended for students, visitors, and staff.Gallery HoursMonday–Thursday: 9am–6pmFriday: 9am–5pmSaturday–Sunday: 9am–4pmHOW TO PURCHASE ARTWORKArtwork sale proceeds benefit both the artist and the Evanston Art Center.&nbsp;If you are interested in purchasing artwork on display, please contact&nbsp;Emma Rose Gudewicz, Director of Development and Exhibitions, at&nbsp;egudewicz@evanstonartcenter.org&nbsp;or (847) 475-5300 x 102.This program is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council through federal funds provided by the National Endowment for the Arts.Image Credits: Denise Presnell, "Sparks Are Flying," oil and cold wax on panel

Unrestrained Ambiguity | Denise Presnell

“I start with a line–anywhere. A desire to open the space to uncover the reality living deep within.”&nbsp;-Barbara Nessim&nbsp;Since the 1960s, Barbara Nessim (b. 1939) has developed a unique visual language in painting and drawing that challenges traditional gender norms. As one of the first women to gain prominence in the male-dominated world of commercial art and illustration, Nessim’s work confronts stereotypes about femininity and sexuality, while also celebrating the agency of women. In every facet of her work—whether as a visual artist, illustrator, designer, teacher, or archivist—Nessim’s practice is guided by an insatiable curiosity, driving her to continually explore new ideas, techniques, and mediums. A pioneer in computer art during the 1980s, Nessim has had an impact far beyond the art world, including fashion, advertising, and pop culture. By consistently challenging norms and pushing the boundaries of artistic expression, Nessim continues creating work that is as relevant and resonant today as it was when she first began her career.&nbsp;Barbara Nessim’s solo exhibition at DePaul Art Museum—her first one in Chicago—includes paintings, drawings, computer art prints, a site specific installation, with special emphasis on the artist’s sketchbooks or her “forever books,” as she calls them, which have been instrumental to her creative process. “The books tell the story, they see it all, the good parts, the bad, and the ugly. Nothing escapes. Nothing edited. It’s the rule [...] It must have a beginning and an end, just as I live my life.”&nbsp;Barbara Nessim: My Compass Is the Line&nbsp;is organized by DePaul Art Museum and curated by Ionit Behar, PhD.&nbsp;Image: Barbara Nessim,&nbsp;Women with Mask,&nbsp;1966. Photo by David Smith.&nbsp;

Barbara Nessim: My Compass Is the Line

What is the difference between “looking” and “seeing”? How is meaning made and how do forms signify? These questions have concerned Chicago-based artist Alice Tippit (b. 1975) for more than a decade. Her paintings and works on paper generate multiple layers of meaning through poetic techniques like metaphor, serving as indirect references rather than clear, straightforward representations. The images in Tippit’s paintings float between the familiar and the enigmatic––recognizable forms and shapes are removed from any clear context or obvious meaning. Included in this exhibition are a selection of Tippit’s works from the past ten years as well as new commissioned works.&nbsp;This exhibition is Alice Tippit’s first museum solo presentation and is accompanied by a fully-illustrated catalog published by DePaul Art Museum, distributed by the University of Chicago Press, designed by Omnivore, with essays from Ionit Behar, Johanna Fateman, and Mary Simpson.Alice Tippit: Rose Obsolete&nbsp;is organized by DePaul Art Museum and curated by Ionit Behar, PhD. ​<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://patrongallery.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=fe9966abed200e47655a01bab&amp;id=18119f4d8e&amp;e=9e3563b61b" target="_blank">More Information</a> Image: ALICE TIPPIT, Fool, 2022, Oil on canvas, 13" x 10" x 1"

Alice Tippit: Rose Obsolete

Louis De Guzman (b. 1989) is a Filipino-American award-winning visual artist and designer who creates artwork that merges his past with his present. Over the last decade, De Guzman has proved himself as a true multidisciplinary artist by blending both traditional and experimental techniques in his work. His signature geometric abstraction style often blends together images and stories that represent his family's immigrant journey, as well as his own experience as a second-generation Filipino American. De Guzman's career has led him to create well-received original bodies of work as well as interpretations of licensed intellectual property.“The idea for this exhibition stems from the sentiment that as individuals, we all carry ideas within our core memories. I wanted to share visual anecdotes—specifically from our studio—for attendees to walk into a space to get a glimpse into ambience that the team and I are surrounded by each and every day. Each piece carries over a story, a memory, and a notch in the timeline from where it all started, where it’s been, and where it’ll all ultimately lead.”This exhibition will be held in the Second Floor Gallery of the Evanston Art Center (EAC). Masks are optional but strongly recommended for students, visitors and staff.Gallery HoursMonday–Thursday: 9am–6pmFriday: 9am–5pmSaturday–Sunday: 9am–4pmArtwork sale proceeds benefit both the artist and the Evanston Art Center.&nbsp;If you are interested in purchasing artwork on display, please contact&nbsp;Emma Rose Gudewicz, Director of Development and Exhibition Manager, at&nbsp;egudewicz@evanstonartcenter.org&nbsp;or (847) 475-5300 x 102.This program is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council through federal funds provided by the National Endowment for the Arts.

Excerpts of Imagination | Louis De Guzman

You are cordially invited to&nbsp;BAC's14th Annual Art Competition.&nbsp;This competition was created to showcase the exceptional talents and abilities of Chicago area artists.

14th Annual Juried Art Competition

Juror for Body Sovereignty: Danni O’BrienSolo artist: Audrey Yang

Body Sovereignty (Front/Group) & Solo (Back)

<h2>Feel Free</h2> Featuring Paulina Ho, Rachel Hayden, Jeremy Miranda, and Hanna Lee Joshi. May 15 to June 27, 2026 <a href="https://luma.com/mft1i4iz" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Details and opening RSVP</a>

Feel Free

<a href="https://www.evanstonartcenter.org/exhibitions/thinking-through-tapestry-american-tapestry-alliance" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Thinking Through Tapestry</a>&nbsp;is a juried exhibition featuring work that celebrates, explores, and builds upon specialized techniques often associated with tapestry.&nbsp;Selected artists&nbsp;explore techniques that consist of discontinuous weft-faced woven processes rooted in tapestry techniques, such as wedge weave, pulled tapestry, the use of hachures, or other structures, including the H.V. (Handarbetets Vänner) technique. The exhibition highlights work illustrating the close relationship between tapestry weaving, drawing, painting, and sculpture.&nbsp;The jurors of the exhibition are Emily Silver and Erin M. Riley.Emily Silver lives and works in Los Angeles and is on the faculty at Santa Monica College in the Sculpture Department and the Director/Curator of the Pete and Susan Barrett Gallery. She is also the co-founder of L.A. Tactile Lab, along with Svetlana Shigroff and Liv Aanrud.Erin M. Riley is a Brooklyn-based artist whose work focuses on women and women’s issues primarily in hand-woven, hand-dyed wool tapestries. Riley’s work challenges society’s comfort level by displaying shocking images, including nudity, drugs, violence, self-harm, sexuality, and menstruation.A catalog accompanies the exhibition and is available for purchase on the American Tapestry Alliance’s website.&nbsp;Juried Artists:Laura Burcin, Barbara Burns, Emily Cabaniss, Ching-Ting Chiu, Jasmine Claros, Molly Cleator, Deborah Corsini, Nancy Crampton, Sharon Crary, Liliana Crespi, Sam Dienst, Alex Friedman, Rama Ganesan, Tricia Goldberg, Anne Heide, Barbara Heller, Sally Heller, Sofia Herr, Connie Lynn Higgs, Christine Holtz, Rebecca Hooper, Cameron Kashani, Judit Eszter Kárpáti, Kristin Kelley-Munoz, Brendan Kenny, Riley Klein, Robbie LaFleur, Mary Lane, Fannie Lee, Monique Lehman, Connie Lippert, Kyle McKeown Mansfield, Ann Marie Miller, Pip Milton, Janet Moore, Annabelle O’Reilly, Tea Okropiridze, Anna Olsson, Libby Raab, Ellen Ramsey, Helena Richardson, Minna Rothman, Wendy Saam, Kristin Tinsa Saeterdal, Jennifer Sargent, Rowen Schussheim-Anderson, Mary-Ann Sievert, Kyla Sjogren, Rebecca Smith, Linda Soranno, Karmen Steigenga, Vicki Stone, Adrienn Szabo, Kathe Todd-Hooker, Trang Tran, Alta Turner, David van Buskirk, Stevie Van Housen, Ginny Wallace, Sue Weil, and Xingyi Zhao.GALLERY HOURS &amp; VISITOR INFORMATION:This exhibition will be held in the First Floor Gallery of the Evanston Art Center (EAC). Masks are optional but strongly recommended for students, visitors, and staff.Gallery HoursMonday–Thursday: 9am–6pmFriday: 9am–5pmSaturday–Sunday: 9am–4pmHOW TO PURCHASE ARTWORKArtwork sale proceeds benefit both the artist and the Evanston Art Center.&nbsp;If you are interested in purchasing artwork on display, please contact&nbsp;Emma Rose Gudewicz, Director of Development and Exhibitions, at&nbsp;egudewicz@evanstonartcenter.org&nbsp;or (847) 475-5300 x 102.This program is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council through federal funds provided by the National Endowment for the Arts.Image Credits (L to R):&nbsp;Sam Dienst,&nbsp;Tea Okropiridze, and Libby Raab

Thinking Through Tapestry | American Tapestry Alliance

Woman Made Gallery presents "Routes &amp; Roots," a juried virtual exhibition exploring immigration and migration through the work of women and non-binary artists. On view May 18–June 30, 2026.Juried by Eliana Miranda, the exhibition takes its name from the two forces shaping every immigrant story: the paths we travel and the ties we carry. Selected works span border crossings and&nbsp;ordeals, exile and quiet acts of belonging, cultural hybridity, intergenerational memory, and more. <a href="https://womanmade.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=77610ec6940e4a7c0d652a863&amp;id=6b96d5a34c&amp;e=a3993dd90f" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">EXPLORE THE EXHIBITION</a> Exhibiting Artists:&nbsp;Patricia Anderson-Turner, Alexandra Buxbaum, Mandel Cameron, Melisa Celaya, Colleen Coleman, Lauren Doorish, Michel Flores, Jennifer Godinez, Javiera González Velásquez, Sol Henriquez, Jee Hwang, Doina Iacob, Kelly Johnson, Yian Lin, Crystal Marshall, Danielle Muzina, Carol Neiger, Priscilla Otani, Jennie E. Park, Isabella Picardi, Julianna Sanroman, Jo Scheder, Marie Scherpe, Stephanie Tirado, Sharmeen Uqaili, Lucero Vargas, Alyssa Wilson, Jenn Wright, Elmira Yousefi, Amo Zeng<a href="https://womanmade.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=77610ec6940e4a7c0d652a863&amp;id=2ad6bc8a31&amp;e=a3993dd90f" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">SEE THEIR WORK AND STATEMENTS</a>

Routes & Roots

The paintings of Chicago artist Joan Holleb occupy an exciting place between between process and image, between poetry and narrative. The material qualities of these&nbsp;works set them apart from most paintings, generating the unexpected effect of slowing down our gaze and causing us to look carefully at the interaction of copper, patina, and paint on the surface of the work.Holleb begins the act of painting by pouring a patina solution on the surface of the copper and letting it run in various directions and oxidize. Typically, this process dictates the direction the composition will develop, and the use of chance and spontaneous activity becomes the foundation for all that follows. Says Holleb: "I actually paint/draw with the patinas and splash them across the metal because I enjoy the uncertainty of what will happen - it creates a challenge as to how to paint the piece."As Holleb develops the work, the paintings become compelling and ambitious meditations on our relationship to the natural world. Holleb uses oil paint to seemingly coax a landscape from the surface of the painting. In some of the recent work, her focus has turned upward, and the light through leaves and branches in the forest has become her subject. "For me, the light in my paintings is not just the light we see with our eyes but is also an allegorical light, something I think we all need every day in our lives to give us hope." Holleb continues: "I want my paintings to vibrate on the wall and I want viewers to have to stop and wonder for a moment, 'What am I looking at?' - I want to encourage them to create their own interpretations."&nbsp;

Joan Holleb: Woodland Tales

Presented by: Ron Jerak &amp; Michael PreskiWhat happens when you bring an Abstract painter and a Surrealist together in one exhibition? The audience gets to take a journey through the artists’ story laid out on canvas, doused in color and covered in a vision.Ron Jerak creates the images he envisions by using strong color and contrast, incorporating straight lines and sharp angles. Symmetry is often present in his works, though asymmetrical compositions are employed as well. Michael Preski creates intricate and often highly detailed imagery with multiple mediums, layering different segments until they form the final piece. Like Ron’s works, they can cover a full range of concepts with their subjects, but all of them tell a story. Both of their stories are contained within each individual piece as well as the whole of their works. These stories are often drawn from everyday events, emotions and general life experiences as how the viewers experience the world. And though every piece is open to the audience’s interpretation, the artists guide their perceptions using the visuals themselves as a map. So feel free to join these two artists as they share their stories depicted in vibrant colors and unwavering imagery.<a href="https://www.bridgeportart.com/canvas-color-vision/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Details</a>

Canvas, Color, & Vision

This exhibition foregrounds the University of Chicago’s pivotal role in studying and exhibiting contemporary Chinese art since the mid-1990s. In February 1999, Wu Hung, Harrie A. Vanderstappen Distinguished Service Professor of Chinese Art History at the university, opened his first exhibition at the Smart Museum of Art. Entitled&nbsp;Transience: Chinese Experimental Art at the End of the Twentieth Century&nbsp;(1999),&nbsp;&nbsp;the exhibition – and many more Wu curated in the ensuing years – was field-defining and forged new avenues for situating Chinese art within a broader global contemporary framework.Taking these earlier exhibitions as points of departure,&nbsp;Beyond Boundaries: Three Decades of Contemporary Chinese Art at the Smart&nbsp;reflects on the enduring adaptability of contemporary art from China as it continues to grow within and beyond cultural and academic institutions. Bringing together artworks acquired by the Museum over the last three decades, archival materials, ephemera, as well as new work,&nbsp;Beyond Boundaries&nbsp;explores how artists navigate and challenge physical limitations across cultural, environmental, and political terrains. Through strategies of fluidity, they confront dominant social expectations and political hegemonies – not only within a rapidly transforming China, but also amid broader global uncertainties. In doing so,&nbsp;Beyond Boundaries&nbsp;invites us to revisit fleeting moments, environments, and actions, and urges us to reconnect, return, and remember.Support for&nbsp;Beyond Boundaries&nbsp;is provided&nbsp;by Markovitz Family Foundation for the Arts and Education. Additional support is provided by the Smart Museum's Board of Governors, and SmartPartners.&nbsp;Presented in&nbsp;the Robert and Joan Feitler Gallery, and the Joel and Carole Bernstein Gallery.

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