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

Hilton Contemporary is proud to announce sponsorship of GENRE, the newest gallery at the Morgan Arts Complex, focused on bringing an array of artistic and musical works (ROCK n ROLL)&nbsp;for all to view in one unique space.&nbsp;&nbsp;GENRE&nbsp;will connect the different eras of rock music into a space where people of all ages can experience the best the art world has to offer.&nbsp;&nbsp;GENRE&nbsp;begins its journey with an exclusive exhibition by Oscar Winner&nbsp;Bernie Taupin,&nbsp;one of the most acclaimed and successful lyricists of all time. On display will be Bernie’s limited edition collection celebrating his, and Sir Elton John’s, 50 year partnership.&nbsp; Saturday, April 5th&nbsp;6:00 pm - 9:00 pm hors d'oeuvres, wine and&nbsp;music, MORGAN ARTS COMPLEX3622 S Morgan Street, Chicago, IL 60609 <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1744057530/ccfyhnjeku0t96np0f42.jpg">

Genre

Doors open 20 minutes before the performance begins, in both locations on the 3rd&nbsp;and 4th&nbsp;floor of Cobb Hall.In their performance&nbsp;-lalia, Dorota Gawęda and Eglė Kulbokaitė conjure a legendary figure from Slavic folklore, the demonic&nbsp;Południca. Posing a metaphor for contemporary anxieties related to ecological and social unease, this work is a dynamic hybrid combination of physical presence, text, and video. As a lone performer haunts the Renaissance Society’s gallery space, she is simultaneously livestreamed in a cinema screening room, one floor below. This structure requires audience members to choose where to be at any moment. One can only grasp fragments of the live act and its virtual double, and never the performance as a whole. Continually evolving as it is staged in new surroundings,&nbsp;Gawęda and Kulbokaitė’s&nbsp;-lalia&nbsp;takes a new form at the Renaissance Society, following past performances at the Lithuanian National Drama Theater in Vilnius, a cultural center in St. Gallen, Switzerland, and a traditional&nbsp;Stube&nbsp;at the Museo Civico in Bolzano, Italy featured in Pasolini’s 1971&nbsp;Decameron, and most recently at the iconic Cabaret Voltaire in Zürich, birthplace of the Dada Movement.Curated by Karsten Lund. <a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://renaissancesociety.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=28258b64874e626df0979c0de&amp;id=1442d8686a&amp;e=375d06b725" target="_blank">Learn more</a>. Launched in 2017,<a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://renaissancesociety.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=28258b64874e626df0979c0de&amp;id=f786b3afe7&amp;e=375d06b725" target="_blank">&nbsp;Intermissions&nbsp;</a>is an ongoing programming series devoted to performance and other inventive time-based works, staged in the Renaissance Society’s empty gallery in between exhibitions. This recurring platform features two artists every year, supporting a wide variety of live projects.

Dorota Gawęda & Eglė Kulbokaitė

Join us for the launch of&nbsp;Laughing in Yiddish&nbsp;by Jamie Wendt, a collection of persona and ekphrastic poems that explore the lives of Jewish women in Russia’s Pale of Settlement and their journey to Chicago.&nbsp;Through vivid character portrayals, the poems delve into themes of immigration, assimilation, and the struggle to maintain cultural traditions. Laughing in Yiddish offers a heartfelt reflection on Jewish heritage and the longing for connection to spiritual ancestors.Laughing in Yiddish&nbsp;takes readers to the shtetls of Russia’s Pale of Settlement to look through various windows into the lives of Jewish women. Through persona and ekphrastic poems, readers meet cigarette makers, young mothers, rebellious children, shoemakers, and union laborers, some of whom are photographed as part of ethnographer S. An-Sky’s Russian expedition from 1912-1914. In addition, many of the characters in these persona poems are Wendt’s ancestors who emigrated to Chicago from the Pale of Settlement in the late nineteenth century, escaping religious persecution and economic hardships. These poems explore Jewish roots and culture in Chicago as well as the struggle of assimilation while holding on to tradition. At the heart of&nbsp;Laughing in Yiddish&nbsp;is a yearning for belonging to an ancient community and finding connection with spiritual ancestors.&nbsp;Jamie Wendt&nbsp;is the author of the poetry collection&nbsp;Laughing in Yiddish&nbsp;(Broadstone Books, March 2025), which was a finalist for the 2022 Philip Levine Prize in Poetry. Her first book,&nbsp;Fruit of the Earth&nbsp;(Main Street Rag, 2018), won the 2019 National Federation of Press Women Book Award in Poetry. Her poems and essays have been published and are forthcoming in various literary journals and anthologies, including Feminine Rising, Catamaran, Green Mountains Review, Lilith, Jet Fuel Review, the Forward, Clockhouse, Consequence, Minyan Magazine, and others. She contributes book reviews to the Jewish Book Council. She won third prize in the 2024 Reuben Rose Poetry Competition and won second prize for the 2024 Holloway Free Verse Award through the Illinois State Poetry Society. Wendt holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Nebraska Omaha. She lives in Chicago with her husband and two kids.&nbsp;

Jamie Wendt: Book Launch & Signing Event

Free, Drop-in For the last in the series this academic year, join dancer, writer, and multidisciplinary artist Irene Hsiao and fourth-year student and Smart alum Julian Stern for a screening, reading, and discussion about Yeesookyung's&nbsp;<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://uchicago.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=aba2086a45b4ee8391b89447b&amp;id=fed0604e71&amp;e=00938adab1" target="_blank">Translated Vase</a>&nbsp;(2007).

Conversation Pieces: Irene Hsiao and Julian Stern

<a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://renaissancesociety.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=28258b64874e626df0979c0de&amp;id=f881c71f9f&amp;e=375d06b725" target="_blank">FREE, RSVP REQUIRED</a>IDA NOYES HALL, CLOISTER CLUB | 1212 E. 59TH STDrummer Valentina Magaletti’s first solo performance in Chicago combines improvisation and structured composition, some concrète dub textures, and B-movie atmospherics, driven by her distinctively twisted beats. Magaletti (b. Bari, Italy) is a London-based drummer, percussionist, and composer. Conservatory-trained in Southern Italy, she first became active on the London music scene in the early 2000s and has worked across a wide range of genres for over two decades.Her work combines traditional percussion with experimental techniques, incorporating vibes, marimba, contact microphones, and found objects. Feeling just as comfortable performing behind a delicate ceramic kit as she does hammering out motorik rhythms,&nbsp;her diverse and exploratory projects include investigations of texture as a solo artist and a wide range of collaborations.<a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://renaissancesociety.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=28258b64874e626df0979c0de&amp;id=70e6a4cb15&amp;e=375d06b725" target="_blank">Learn more</a>. Co-presented with Lampo.The 2024-2025 Music Series is generously supported by a grant from the University of Chicago Women’s Board. Photo: Louise Mason.

Valentina Magaletti

Woman Made Gallery (WMG) is proud to present&nbsp;Under All is the Land, a group exhibition featuring 37 works by 23 artists. The exhibition explores the deep, complex relationships individuals and communities have with land. Juried by Donna R. Charging, the exhibition considers land as both a physical space and a symbol of continuity—connecting generations through memory, legacy, and identity.The phrase “Under All is the Land” originates from the preamble of the&nbsp;<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://womanmade.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=77610ec6940e4a7c0d652a863&amp;id=776feb38f1&amp;e=a3993dd90f" target="_blank">Code of Ethics</a>&nbsp;by the National Association of REALTORS®, emphasizing land as a foundation for life and human connection.About the Juror:&nbsp;Donna R. Charging&nbsp;is an enrolled member of the Three Affiliated Tribes (Mandan/Hidatsa/Arikara). Her mother is Eastern Shoshone. Donna grew up on the Wind River Indian Reservation in Wyoming and lives in Pittsburgh, PA. She has a BFA in Studio Arts from the University of Illinois at Chicago and has an MFA in Studio Art and Design at the University of Louisville. Donna is a Visiting Lecturer of Drawing and Painting at the University of Pittsburgh. For more information visit Donna’s website:&nbsp;<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://womanmade.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=77610ec6940e4a7c0d652a863&amp;id=42f3abd8c2&amp;e=a3993dd90f" target="_blank">https://www.donnacharging.com/</a>

Under All is the Land

Woman Made Gallery (WMG) is proud to present&nbsp;Under All is the Land, a group exhibition featuring 37 works by 23 artists. The exhibition explores the deep, complex relationships individuals and communities have with land. Juried by Donna R. Charging, the exhibition considers land as both a physical space and a symbol of continuity—connecting generations through memory, legacy, and identity.In the United States, land is inseparable from histories of displacement, discriminatory housing practices, and ongoing wealth disparity. This exhibition addresses these themes while also engaging with environmental concerns and personal narratives. The selected works investigate the intersection of social, environmental, and historical dynamics, offering a rich and multifaceted view of land as both contested terrain and source of connection.The phrase “Under All is the Land” originates from the preamble of the&nbsp;<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.nar.realtor/sites/default/files/policies/2007/code-of-ethics-preamble-2007-11-27.pdf" target="_blank">Code of Ethics</a>&nbsp;by the National Association of REALTORS®, emphasizing land as a foundation for life and human connection.Exhibition EventsThe exhibition opens with a reception at Woman Made Gallery, 1332 S. Halsted St. in Chicago, on Saturday, April 12, from 4 to 7 p.m. Regular gallery hours are Thursdays through Sundays from noon to 5 p.m.The exhibition concludes with a Closing Reception on Saturday, May 10, from 2 to 4 p.m., offering a final opportunity to meet the participating artists in person. Events at WMG are free and open to the public.Exhibiting ArtistsAngela Ales, Ahmari Benton, Leah Dalton, Rebekah Flowers, Amelia Foster, Bridgette Guerzon Mills, Katherine Lampert, Rosa Leff, Rosie Leventon, Lisa Lofgren, Nora Moore Lloyd, Suzanne Longo, Angela Adele McElwain, Valerie Mendoza, Eliana Miranda, Yasmin Noorbakhsh, Pamela Penney, Andrea Picard, Elise Racine, Leah Schretenthaler, Freda Shapiro, Suyun Son, David VillegasAbout the Juror: Donna R. Charging&nbsp;is an enrolled member of the Three Affiliated Tribes (Mandan/Hidatsa/Arikara). Her mother is Eastern Shoshone. Donna grew up on the Wind River Indian Reservation in Wyoming and lives in Pittsburgh, PA. She has a BFA in Studio Arts from the University of Illinois at Chicago and has an MFA in Studio Art and Design at the University of Louisville. Donna is a Visiting Lecturer of Drawing and Painting at the University of Pittsburgh. For more information visit Donna’s website:&nbsp;<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.donnacharging.com/" target="_blank">https://www.donnacharging.com/</a>

Artist Walkthrough: Under All Is the Land

Saturday, May 10, 20251:00 PM - 4:00 PMFree, Register Online Dive into the vibrant world of color, shape, and scale as you explore the evolution of abstract art, with influences from twentieth-century artists&nbsp;<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://uchicago.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=aba2086a45b4ee8391b89447b&amp;id=f602b774a3&amp;e=00938adab1" target="_blank">Helen Frankenthaler</a>,&nbsp;<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://uchicago.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=aba2086a45b4ee8391b89447b&amp;id=705610526a&amp;e=00938adab1" target="_blank">Sam Gilliam</a>, and&nbsp;<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://uchicago.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=aba2086a45b4ee8391b89447b&amp;id=fa4e02cc91&amp;e=00938adab1" target="_blank">Norman Lewis</a>. Then, make your own abstract works, experimenting with tools, materials, and methods of creating! Because we will be using wet media, be sure to dress for a mess! Drop in and&nbsp;<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://uchicago.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=aba2086a45b4ee8391b89447b&amp;id=a21f199628&amp;e=00938adab1" target="_blank">register for free</a>; all families and kids of all ages are welcome.

Family Day: Painting Outside the Lines

Free, Register Online Join artists LaKela Brown and Abdolreza Aminlari, studio collaborator Katharine L. DeLamater, and strategic advisor to Dieu Donné John Shorb for a panel discussion about art in paper, co-creative practices, and their work in the Smart's permanent collection currently featured in&nbsp;Expanding the 50th: Shared Stories. The panel will be followed by a reception with light refreshments.

Smart Salon: Dieu Donné

Writer and critic Seph Rodney joins Yasmin Spiro in conversation to discuss her exhibition&nbsp;in relation to colonial and post-colonial Caribbean culture, land, body, and identity.

Yasmin Spiro in conversation with Seph Rodney

Discussion and exhibition walk-through&nbsp;with curator Karsten Lund and physicist Daniel Holz As the exhibition draws on different concepts of space-time,&nbsp;Germinations&nbsp;explores the relation of Andean and ancestral knowledge and contemporary scientific&nbsp;knowledge. For this casual talk and exhibition tour, curator Karsten Lund is joined by physicist and cosmologist Daniel Holz, from the University of Chicago. Holz is a leading researcher into gravitational waves, studying how ripples in space-time reveal the hidden lives of black holes and an expanding universe.

Notes on Space-Time

Join us for&nbsp;the public culmination of the UChicago course “Site-Based Practice: Choreographing the Smart Museum,” led by Julia Rhoads, Director of the Dance Program in&nbsp;<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://taps.uchicago.edu/" target="_blank">Theater and Performance Studies</a>.&nbsp;Through the course, students created a collaborative work using embodied research methods that interact with the Smart Museum through moving, sensing, and listening, while also responding to the current exhibitions&nbsp;<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://smartmuseum.uchicago.edu/exhibitions/expanding-the-50th-shared-stories/" target="_blank">Expanding the 50th: Shared Stories&nbsp;</a>and&nbsp;<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://smartmuseum.uchicago.edu/exhibitions/robert-earl-paige-give-the-drummer-some/" target="_blank">Robert Earl Paige: Give the Drummer Some!</a>

Choreographing the Smart

litany

Golden Hour&nbsp;is a welcoming, online gathering for individuals&nbsp;aged 65+&nbsp;to explore their relationship with art and the ideas surrounding art-making. This program invites participants of all experience levels to engage in meaningful conversations about the ways art influences our lives and the perspectives we bring as viewers.Led by a teaching artist,&nbsp;Golden Hour&nbsp;creates a space for thoughtful dialogue, community-building, and artistic discovery. Some sessions will feature visiting artists who share insights into their practices, offering participants a unique glimpse into the creative process. Join us monthly for this enriching and inspiring program, where art and conversation come together to celebrate the creativity and experience of aging. Feburary 22.&nbsp;10-11amMarch 29. 10-11amApril 26. 10-11amMay 31. 10-11am﻿

Golden Hour: Exploring Art, Experience, and Expression

Interdisciplinary artist Cecilia Beaven creates mystical environments and narratives through her large graphic wall paintings. Her paintings and sculptures first appeared at the Art Center in&nbsp;Ground Floor&nbsp;(2020) and continued to develop on site during a Radicle Residency (2021). This exhibition will feature a new temporary mural, drawings, and small clay sculptures and tiles by Beaven featuring the women-centered worlds she has been illustrating over the past five years.Flickering Cocoon&nbsp;is the companion exhibition to<a href=https://oq8cplyab.cc.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001TBL0wigJGYcgrL3_2cl3AzDVOz2hkGlMHx_Vs8GHyKBmEfi2QV7a2q0mEcI0jNI7mSnelpwiYUfNjd4T-8zpDFnvkFsuspRfK108vqtZYkJmz4RdUIta6i5yfLW9X8YShuO5PEVMDsUJJDlX4ZblhpNs0_VkSBsgr_tCDPyOxEyRfQjfNPOlUjKo-WDvitzdKtfgp-q2MmJyklZyOWgevrQ-eXSoYgRRNIf4cN83QxQ=&amp;c=bAru49XNkKobVHqXchnjzrvx6q9wYUdrjIOA9jZCXGY_AXMq1QWCzA==&amp;ch=_1bN4_zu52St-L5tvuiVkpa--UuTHKpS9-gjoWpclqjCmnk4gMIXLg==>&nbsp;Semilla&nbsp;</a>concurrently on view in the Xicágo Gallery at the National Museum of Mexican Art from October 26, 2024 until March 30, 2025.<a href=https://oq8cplyab.cc.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001TBL0wigJGYcgrL3_2cl3AzDVOz2hkGlMHx_Vs8GHyKBmEfi2QV7a2q0mEcI0jNI7TBRL-55QGRV-aRdQaByc6amT7GXAAu8HSN95B6SkvQ-J3PC5uescm4Zhm0c1RtoLH3Yde9j3U5KybNyV5lcJHbGu8sX2XX1y8XKqY1nC9jh3_9UIGvfv3wWvptKi_7bqN7aUSIFLHjll-vI9wbd1fm5jtpDH0rtiPEr2hpEJrmY=&amp;c=bAru49XNkKobVHqXchnjzrvx6q9wYUdrjIOA9jZCXGY_AXMq1QWCzA==&amp;ch=_1bN4_zu52St-L5tvuiVkpa--UuTHKpS9-gjoWpclqjCmnk4gMIXLg==>Read More</a>&nbsp;Image:Installation view of the exhibition Cecilia Beaven:&nbsp;Flickering Cocoon

Cecilia Beaven: Flickering Cocoon

Taking place within the exhibition&nbsp;Germinations,&nbsp;this public reading in English and Spanish presents excerpts from the Huarochirí Manuscript,&nbsp;one of the few surviving records of Quechua worldviews from the Andean region. The lively myths in this a 17th-century text feature tricksters, grieving mothers, fire gods, and elemental spirits, who embody the struggle for cosmic balance and other aspects of the underlying cosmology.

Public Reading: Myths from the Huarochirí Manuscript

Photography Now

Artists, architects, archaeologists, and historians discuss how human bodies relate to land and space, exploring themes of displacement, rootedness, and identity.&nbsp;

Panel discussion: Geographies of Belonging: Land, Identity, and Collective Memory

Cover Artwork: “Ubuntu” by Russel Z. Harris 13th Annual Art Competition FinalistsTemoWeriemHolly AkkermanTony ArmendarizHeather BakerHarlan BalloggKyle BarronChristopher BeatySusan BennettSpiro BolosCheryl BooneJoan BredendickLaurie BumanGina BurriCathleen BurrillDorothy Bury ShawPaul CallahanMiguel A. CanoAshley ChappellJavier ChaviraMichael CoakesAndrea ColeAbdoulaye CondeBethany CorderoNastia CraigShkelqim DaniChantal DanylukLenin DelsolSherri DenaultMaisie DoyleMario DuarteConrad EdmondsRea Silvia EmmanouilJason FarleyJayson FateJohn FirakRobert FrankelTracy FreinMaureen GasekShelley GilchristMichael GlassmanMarco GonzalezCharlie GossClifton HenriKaren HirschLeslie HirshfieldAlan HobscheidKeira HowardJay HydeDoina IacobJames JonesJason E. JonesChristopher KillhamCherin KimErin LaRocqueKim LaurelYunkyung LeeSeonyoung LeeJean LewisDawn LiddicoattGeorge LindmarkMorgan MarshallSusan MarxCaroline McFaddenWilliam McKearnJennifer McNultyKatie MeuserRyan MillerKara MittonRosemary MorrisseyEmma MykowskiDaniel NolanGeoffrey NovelliHaven OvertonMariam PareJasmine PercellJonathan PrucLori RoderickElizabeth SarpongHoward SchwartzDavid SeligmanDavid SenJoalida SmitEva SmithDave SobotkaPatricia StewartDorothy StraughterFlannery ThompsonHarvey TillisAlexia TrzynaJeshurun TutsonLaima UrbanMadeline UsherJoanne VenaConstance VolkBruce WebberAJ WestleyRosalie WhiteBrian WildemanVeronica WoodwardXindi WuEdwige Massart Xavier WynnRebekah Younger

13th Annual Juried Art Competition

3rd Floor GalleryExperience the powerful new exhibition by South Asian artist Grishma Shah, where art, identity, and disability converge in a compelling exploration of personal and societal contradictions.&nbsp;Dissonance&nbsp;challenges perceptions of discomfort, inviting you to reflect on the tensions that shape our lives. Through installations and mixed-media artwork, Shah’s work celebrates the complexity of existing at the intersection of culture and self-expression.Join us for the opening reception on May 16, from 7-9pm.&nbsp;Cover Artwork: “All Dolled Up For Zoom ”Mixed Media on canvas -2020Image Description: Pandemic bride showing off her bright red bangles and henna-tattooed hands. Blue paint representing spotty video call.&nbsp;

Dissonance

For the <a href=https://smartmuseum.uchicago.edu/exhibitions/the-50th-an-anniversary-exhibition/>Smart’s 50th anniversary</a>, South Side artist Robert Earl Paige creates a multi-part pattern-based installation and sprawling public art project that invites communities into a collective experience of space.Give the Drummer Some! is rooted in Paige’s decades-long practice as an interdisciplinary artist, designer, and educator who bridges cultural boundaries. A lifelong resident of the Woodlawn neighborhood just south of the University of Chicago campus, he merges African aesthetics, modernist painting, and Bauhaus architecture in creations that blur the line between fine art and craft. Paige’s infectious rhythm of repeating motifs originates as a complete environment in the Smart’s lobby, where the artist layers gold-trimmed fabrics and Chicago-inspired designs over the building’s walls, floors, and furniture. The project then extends outward, wrapping around the exterior of the Museum and ultimately out across the UChicago’s historic Hyde Park campus and beyond.Through Paige’s iconic and wildly patterned designs, Give the Drummer Some! makes the Smart’s building more porous and inviting, and fosters a shared sense of belonging between campus, neighborhood, and global communities.THRESHOLDRobert Earl Paige: Give the Drummer Some! is commissioned as part of the Smart’s ongoing Threshold series. Launched in 2010, the initiative brings large-scale installations of contemporary art to the Smart’s lobby and courtyard on a regular basis. The prominent placement of these commissions ensures that all visitors—whether they have come to the building for a class, an exhibition, or a program—will be welcomed with thought-provoking new art.ON CAMPUSThroughout the Smart’s 50th anniversary season, Give the Drummer Some! will extend to additional UChicago locations, responding to new sites and collaborations in unique ways.Image: Robert Earl&nbsp;Paige

Robert Earl Paige: Give the Drummer Some!

This second iteration of the 50th exhibition continues to trace the layered, sometimes hidden, histories that have made up the Smart Museum of Art, including newly commissioned artwork.

Expanding the 50th: Shared Stories

Opening Reception: Saturday, May 17, 2025, 4pm — 7pm (the gallery will be open 12pm — 7pm)&nbsp;About the exhibition&nbsp;For a new project at the Renaissance Society,&nbsp;Germinations, Ximena Garrido-Lecca continues her research into plants originally domesticated by Andean and Mesoamerican cultures and their subsequent global dissemination. Taking center stage here is&nbsp;Solanum tuberosum, also known as the potato. Domesticated more than 8,000 years ago in the Altiplano region, the potato has been a pillar in the lives of Andean communities, where it is grown as a source of sustenance and attributed symbolic and spiritual value. Today, more than 4,000 potato varieties have been adapted to different altitudes and climatic conditions around the world. In Chicago, Garrido-Lecca unveils a large-scale installation that features a huge rectangular section of bare earth covered with sprouting potatoes and two observatory platforms, along with other elements. Across its interrelated parts, the exhibition is inspired by Andean cosmovision, the planting and harvesting of potatoes as ritual events, and a traditional unit of measurement known as the&nbsp;papacancha, which unites space, time, and climate. Throughout&nbsp;Germinations,&nbsp;Garrido-Lecca draws on the Andean concept of&nbsp;Pacha, a word with diverse interrelated meanings, which evokes, among other things, a cyclical and simultaneous dimension in which past, present, and future occur. In multiple ways, Garrido-Lecca also accentuates how the exhibition itself exists within time. The potatoes in the central&nbsp;papacancha&nbsp;field change over the passing weeks. And each day within the exhibition potatoes are boiled, one by one, and then dried, recreating a pre-Hispanic custom of measuring time using the cooking of potatoes as a reference. The resulting potato pulp is then carried to a workstation within the show, where it is&nbsp;mixed with plaster and molded into new forms, which the artist likens to&nbsp;canopas —&nbsp;offerings to the earth like those used&nbsp;for abundance rituals in Andean communities. Curated by Karsten Lund.&nbsp; Events&nbsp;Opening Reception&nbsp;Sat, May 17, 4-7pm&nbsp;with artist talk at 4pm Notes on Space-TimeDiscussion and exhibition walk-through&nbsp;with curator Karsten Lund and physicist Daniel Holz Wed, May 21, 6pm As the exhibition draws on different concepts of space-time,&nbsp;Germinations&nbsp;explores the relation of Andean and ancestral knowledge and contemporary scientific&nbsp;knowledge. For this casual talk and exhibition tour, curator Karsten Lund is joined by physicist and cosmologist Daniel Holz, from the University of Chicago. Holz is a leading researcher into gravitational waves, studying how ripples in space-time reveal the hidden lives of black holes and an expanding universe. Public Reading:&nbsp;Myths from the Huarochirí ManuscriptThu, Jun 12, 7pm Taking place within the exhibition&nbsp;Germinations,&nbsp;this public reading in English and Spanish presents excerpts from the Huarochirí Manuscript,&nbsp;one of the few surviving records of Quechua worldviews from the Andean region. The lively myths in this a 17th-century text feature tricksters, grieving mothers, fire gods, and elemental spirits, who embody the struggle for cosmic balance and other aspects of the underlying cosmology. Performance: Lia KohlSun, Jul 13, 7pm For this live performance within the exhibition, Ximena Garrido-Lecca has invited Lia Kohl, a sound artist and musician in Chicago, to occupy this corner of space-time. A nimble performer and composer with a wide-ranging experimental practice, Kohl explores experiences of simultaneity here, as it connects to sound and music, while incorporating recordings of gravitational waves and other sources. Visit&nbsp;<a style="color: rgb(70, 120, 134);" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="http://renaissancesociety.org/" target="_blank">renaissancesociety.org</a>&nbsp;for more information.&nbsp; Image: Digital collage, courtesy of the artist.

Ximena Garrido-Lecca: Germinations

People throughout the Arabian Peninsula are taught to live in relationship with spirits that live beneath the earth called&nbsp;“ahl al ‘arth,”&nbsp;(people of the earth). Kuwaiti-Iraqi artist and art therapist&nbsp;<a style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.farahsalem.com/" target="_blank">Farah Salem</a>&nbsp;grew up aware of regular interactions with these spirits. The knowledge that we don’t “exist alone, but rather in relationship with plants, rocks, animals, and unseen forces” drives her artistic practice. This exhibition presents new and existing sculpture, photography and installation work that continue the artist’s study and reinterpretation of healing and ceremonial migratory practices of people of the Arabian Peninsula that seek to repair one’s relationship with oneself, the earth, and other beings. Salem created the concept for this exhibition during her Radicle Residency at Hyde Park Art Center (2021) and the exhibition is curated by Mariela Acuña.

Calendar

Chicago Gallery News