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

Some artists make work that announces itself. Others make work that stays. Naeemeh Naeemaei belongs to the latter. Naeemeh’s works are built slowly and deliberately, holding memory, interior life, and lived experience within their surfaces. Every detail feels considered, every mark purposeful, inviting sustained attention rather than immediate consumption. These are works that ask to be lived with, revealing themselves over time and deepening in presence the longer one remains with them. Unexpected Return/s&nbsp;honors this exceptional body of work and invites collectors into an intimate encounter with painting that is both deeply personal and quietly resolute. Her work resists spectacle in favor of meaning. This is an opportunity to engage directly with a thoughtful, rigorous artist and consider work that is meant to live with you over time. &nbsp;February 6&nbsp;6–8 PM&nbsp;T. Mari Gallery Image: Unexpected Return, Acrylic and Oil on canvas, 56’ x 79”

Unexpected Return/s

This juried exhibition features students working at all levels of experience, who have studied at CMS from 2005 - present.&nbsp;This exhibition showcases the variety of approaches to contemporary mosaic works from local, nation and international artists and reflects the expertise of our dedicated faculty and staff that have made The Chicago Mosaic School the premier center for Mosaic Arts Education in the United States.&nbsp;Through classes, workshops and Visiting Artist Seminars, these artists have utilized exemplary conceptual and technical excellence in varied approaches and materials. We are proud to encourage our students to explore their artistic voices and discover their potential through the medium of mosaic.

Class Act, 2026

Joy Machine is thrilled to present World in My Eyes, a duo exhibition of Chicago artists Kayla Mahaffey and Joseph Perez, a.k.a. Sentrock. An opening reception will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. on January 30. World in My Eyes is, first and foremost, rooted in the lives of everyday people. Both Sentrock and Mahaffey have long depicted friends and neighbors in their own Chicago neighborhoods, exploring how our city shapes its youngest residents. How are children cared for? How are their imaginations and dreams nurtured? These questions recur throughout both artists’ practices and always hinge on another: how do children thrive amid turmoil, whether political, cultural, or personal? In World in My Eyes, Sentrock’s signature bird character meets Mahaffey’s energetic cast. Each artist confronts an underlying struggle–whether an unrealized dream or a physical need–not through an unrealistic swaddle of optimism but rather through the often-repeated idea that hope is a practice. For children, and for all of us seeking a better tomorrow, hope starts with courage.

World in My Eyes

To celebrate the gallery's one year anniversary, Sawhorse's walls will be covered in shelves and the shelves will hold objects by 121 artists. Exhibited artists include: Aaron Nemec, Abigail Buzbee, Abraham Cone, Ada Hamilton, Adehle Daley, Alex Adkinson, Alex Freundlich, Allegra Harvard, Amy Vogel, An Emard, Annabelle Dunstan, Ari Norris, Avery Booth, Bella Carlos, Ben Holmes, Ben Stevens, bex ya yolk, Bridget Conway, Bridget Hamel, Catherine Jacobi, Claire Adams, Claire Bentley, Claire, Helen Ashely, CM Clemente, Corrine Slade, Daniel Baird, Daniel Champion, Daniel Epstein, Danny Wieder, Deb Sokolow, Dolan Bailey, Elena Ailes, Ellie Kreischer, Em Davenport, Emily Harter, Emma Rossoff, Emma Xhaxho, Emmy Brady, Eric Wilson, Ethan Chan, Eva Sturm-Gross, Forrest Frederick, Gabriel Moreno, Grace Requejo, Hannah Tishkoff, Harleigh Shaw, Harrison Wyrick, Henry Gross, Jane Leipold, Jeff Charles, Jenny Collins, Jess Bass, Jesse Bond, John Himmelfarb, Jon Gott, Josephine Dorsey-Lauck, Julia Daniel, Julia Marks, Justin D'Acci, Kamilah Davila, Kate Hefferan, kg, Kishino Takagishi, Laura Davis, Lauren Lauer, Laveen Gammie, Liam Owings, Lily Szymanski, Lucie Scanlon, Maddie Gournay, Madeleine Aguilar, Madeleine Leplae, Madeline Gallucci, Magdalena Saliba, magicfeiei, Marissa Macias, Micah Dillman, Michelle Grabner, Mikey Mosher, Montana Russell, Natalie Toth , Nate Millstein, Neiva Mulhern, Nell McKeon, Nick D'Alessandro, Nico Ramirez Rosas, Nina Harold, Oli Watt, Olivia Mae Clanton, Olivia Martin, olivier, Paula McLean, Payton Kaeding, Pedro Albertini, Phyllis Bramson, Rachel Yanku, Rebekka Federle, Riley Duncan, Rob Sohmer, Sammie Anselmo, Samuel Schwindt, Sarah Bastacky, Sarah Braman, Sarah Diab, Sascha Huth, Sasha Miasnikova, Tulane Eichhorn, Shama Kipfer-Tessler, Sharmarke Ahmed, Tatiana Sky, Tommy John Ballard, Vic Barquin, Viktoria Tomić, Will Krauland, William Harvey, Win Hartlove, Yigit Ural, Zander Raymond, Zolt Brown-Dunn

Shelf Show

Oliva Gallery marks its ten-year anniversary with&nbsp;MMM…., a group exhibition presented in conjunction with International Women’s Day. The exhibition opens March 6, 2026, and features work by Melanie P. Brown, Mia Capodilupo, and Michelle Stone. The title references both the shared first initials of the participating artists and the visual and sensory richness of their work.Together, the exhibition brings painting, sculpture, installation, and performance-informed practices into dialogue, highlighting distinct yet complementary approaches to material, gesture, space, and perception.Melanie P. Brown presents work rooted in her long-standing practice of painting in direct response to sound and music. Since 2020, Brown’s process has centered on live and recorded sound as a catalyst for color, gesture, and mark-making. Preparing extensive palettes and integrating pastel and charcoal, she translates rhythm, texture, and spatial perception into layered compositions. Brown frequently performs live painting in collaboration with musicians, treating the act of painting as a time-based, multisensory event. The resulting canvases function as residual records of these four-dimensional collaborations. Brown lives and works in Chicago and holds a BA from Knox College and an MFA in Painting from American University.Mia Capodilupo contributes sculptural and installation-based work informed by physical contact, spatial experience, and material tension. A sculptor and installation artist originally from Boston, Capodilupo has exhibited widely in museums, galleries, and alternative spaces across the United States. Her practice includes large-scale public and semi-permanent installations commissioned by the cities of Chicago, Atlanta, Bellevue, Washington, and the Indianapolis Art Center, as well as a permanent work at the Ragdale Foundation in Lake Forest, Illinois. Capodilupo holds an MFA in Sculpture from the San Francisco Art Institute and serves as Gallery Director at Lillstreet Art Center. She is also the founder and director of Ignition Project Space in Chicago.Michelle Stone presents constructed, impasto acrylic sculptures alongside related paintings and drawings. Her work occupies a space between figuration and abstraction, often expanding into wall-based, floor-based, and immersive installations. Stone’s practice investigates memory, narrative, and the human condition through layered surfaces, fragmented forms, and evolving structures. Her paintings and sculptures emphasize transformation, erosion, and psychological space, with imagery emerging through accumulated gestures and textures. Stone is affiliated with Ceres Gallery in New York City and Dialogue Chicago and maintains a studio with Greenleaf Artists. She lives and works between Chicago and New York. MMM….&nbsp;affirms Oliva Gallery’s decade-long commitment to presenting contemporary work while foregrounding the voices and practices of women artists. The exhibition aligns with International Women’s Day to future emphasize this focus of the gallery.Artists:&nbsp;Melanie P. Brown, Mia Capodilupo, Michelle StoneOccasion:&nbsp;International Women’s Day and Oliva Gallery Ten-Year Anniversary For additional information, images, or press inquiries, please contact Oliva Gallery.About Oliva GalleryOliva Gallery is dedicated to showcasing exceptional work by contemporary artists with roots in the Midwest and beyond. Through exhibitions spanning painting, sculpture, and mixed media, the gallery fosters critical dialogue, interdisciplinary exploration, and inclusive cultural engagement.

MMM.... 

Our winter show, Beneath the Surface: Featuring Arlene Byster and Patricia Markos Dolan, opens on Thursday, February 5th with a reception in the gallery from 5-7pm. Both artists will be in attendance and we hope you'll join us for an evening of arresting art, engaging conversation and light refreshments!Beneath the Surface will be on view through April 11th.

Beneath the Surface: Featuring Arlene Byster and Patricia Markos Dolan

Dispossession—the deprivation of land, culture, language, or all three—has been a defining and enduring condition across the Americas, initiated by the expansion of European colonialism.&nbsp;Dispossessions in the Americas:&nbsp;The Extraction of Bodies, Land, and Heritage from La Conquista to the Present&nbsp;brings&nbsp;together&nbsp;more than 40 works by 36 contemporary artists from across Latin America whose work broadly seeks to critique and unsettle the long-standing politics of dispossession. Curated by&nbsp;Jonathan D. Katz, Associate Professor of Practice, History of Art and Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies, University of Pennsylvania, and Eduardo Carrera, the exhibition is presented by Alphawood Exhibitions.Dispossessions in the Americas&nbsp;features&nbsp;photographs, videos, installations, performances, sculptures, and paintings&nbsp;produced between 1960 and 2025.&nbsp;A selection of these artworks circulated in Latin American museums from 2021 to 2025 as part of the&nbsp;<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://protect.checkpoint.com/v2/r01/___https:/dia.upenn.edu/en/___.YzJ1Om5ld3N3ZWJsbGM6YzpvOjFjOGQzMDUxNWM3Yjg5ZWRkNWM0ZTU0ZWM5MWRmNTQ1Ojc6MmRiNzoxYmE1NzM5MWExMGQxNjdjMTdkZGVmMDk2Y2E2MGExN2FlNTZlNDg2YTZmMDQwYTJhNGQ5M2M0Njc4ZGJiN2Y0OnA6RjpG" target="_blank">Dispossessions in the Americas&nbsp;project</a>, a transdisciplinary research project, teaching initiative, and community engagement program led by the University of Pennsylvania with support from the Mellon Foundation. Organized around three constellations — Territory, Body, and Cultural Heritage — the exhibition explores the colonial legacies in the Americas as territories marked by dispossession (of land, culture, and language) and their continued effect on Indigenous, Afro-descendant, queer, and trans communities, while also fostering resistance and reimagined forms of belonging.Featured artists include:&nbsp;Karina Aguilera Skvirsky, Colectivo Ayllu, Colectivo Tawna, Deborah Anzinger, Carlos Arias, Archivo de la Memoria Trans, Purita Pelayo, Felipe Baeza, Tania Bruguera, Saskia Calderón, Seba Calfuqueo, Javier Cardona Otero, Wilson Díaz, Frau Diamanda/Héctor Acuña, Augusto Falconi, Ani Ganzala, Frank Gaudlitz, Camilo Godoy, Regina José Galindo, Thomas Locke Hobbs, David Lozano, Cinthia Marcelle, Laryssa Machada, Carlos Martiel, Ana Mendieta, Joiri Minaya, Lulu Molinares, Lizette Nin, Kiván Quiñones, Madorilyn Crawford, Miguel Ángel Rojas, Deborah Thomas, Gihan Tubbeh, Javi Vargas Sotomayor, Antonio Wong Rengifo, Rember Yahuarcani, and Luis Fernando Zapata.

Dispossessions in the Americas

Martin Wong: Chinatown USA&nbsp;traces the development of the work of the queer painter and poet, highlighting Wong’s connection with the art and&nbsp;culture&nbsp;of&nbsp;Asia,&nbsp;inparticular through&nbsp;his&nbsp;collecting&nbsp;of&nbsp;pre-modern&nbsp;Asian&nbsp;art and antiquities and his explorations of the Chinatowns of New York and San Francisco from 1970 through the 1990s. A large portion of the exhibition is devoted to his Chinatown paintings, which were the subject of a major exhibition titled&nbsp;Chinatown USA&nbsp;presented at P.P.O.W. Gallery in New York City and the San Francisco Art Institute in 1993. These works depict notable architecture such as the Chinese pagoda-style building at 241 Canal Street, iconic actor Bruce Lee and Peking opera performer Mei Lanfang, festivities like the Chinese New Year Parade, and&nbsp;street&nbsp;scenes. The exhibition also explores Wong’s interest in counterculture communities (such as Puerto Rican poets and graffiti artists) and language through his poetry and American Sign Language paintings. The latter are presented alongside a&nbsp;small&nbsp;selection&nbsp;of works by artists of the modern graffiti movement from Wong’s personal&nbsp;collection,&nbsp;which he donatedto&nbsp;the Museum&nbsp;of the City of New York in 1994. Wong died in 1999 at the age of 53 from an AIDS-related illness.&nbsp;Martin Wong: Chinatown USA&nbsp;is accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue published by Halsted A&amp;A Foundation and Gregory R. Miller &amp; Co. Edited by Yasufumi Nakamori, it includes six essays by leading scholars Solomon&nbsp;Adler, Lisa Hsiao Chen, Mark&nbsp;D.&nbsp;Johnson,&nbsp;Vivian&nbsp;Li, Margo Machida, and Lydia Yee.

Calendar

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