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

Currently on display at the Gallery is&nbsp;<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://perspectivegallery.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=04a588cae42ffc5c2d944d823&amp;id=245f4c99b5&amp;e=d73170d386" target="_blank">15 Years In An Instant</a>&nbsp;a mobile installation of instant Polaroid prints curated by members Alexa Frangos, Susan Isaacson and Kathryn Rodrigues. This project came about as part of Perspective Gallery's recent 15th anniversary celebrations. It honors the work of our many current and past members in a tangible manifestation of our diverse artistic expression.&nbsp;15 Years In An Instant&nbsp;also marks time well spent promoting fine art photography within our Chicagoland community. This mobile installation will be on display at the Gallery through December 28, 2025.&nbsp;

15 Years In An Instant

Virtual Artists’ Talk:&nbsp;Thursday, December 11, 2025 at 7 PM<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://perspectivegallery.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=04a588cae42ffc5c2d944d823&amp;id=cfc9476def&amp;e=49b9939ea4" target="_blank">Register here</a>Perspective Gallery presents&nbsp;Grand Vistas: Intimate Views, a new exhibit by members&nbsp;Frank Monnelly&nbsp;and&nbsp;Jane Feely. While each photographer takes us on a journey, the striking contrast comes in how they view their respective destinations.&nbsp;Monnelly brings us&nbsp;Denali: Sublime Majesty, aerial photography which captures the scale, grandeur and elegance of the highest mountain peak in North America. Shot from a Cessna 185, the spirit of Denali is revealed in a cathedral of stone and ice. During the show, Monnelly will also premiere a video on aerial photography made in collaboration with Alex Joseph Hansen and Alexander Marvin.

Frank Monnelly: Denali: Sublime Majesty

This blockbuster exhibition brings together three distinctive artistic voices, each exploring the natural world through their unique lens and personal journey.&nbsp;From the intimate botanicals of Pierce to the expansive landscapes of Groves and the Eastern-influenced abstractions of Saffer, “Nature’s Voice” celebrates the diverse ways contemporary artists interpret and respond to the beauty of our environment.Christopher Groves brings a profound connection to nature born from his early years exploring the Louisiana bayous and Colorado mountains. Born in Boulder and raised between Louisiana and Colorado, Groves developed his love for the outdoors through countless adventures in forests, waterways, and mountain ranges. His formal training at the Florence Academy of Art in Italy and his role as Lead Landscape Instructor at the Colorado Classical Academy have shaped his masterful approach to plein air painting. As a signature member of both the Oil Painters of America and the American Society of Marine Artists, Groves captures the essence of natural landscapes with both technical precision and emotional depth, creating works that transport viewers directly into the wilderness he knows so intimately.Christopher Pierce is a nationally recognized artist whose stunning florals and still lifes emerge from the bounty of his own gardens. Pierce’s work demonstrates a mature sensitivity and panache that transform everyday botanical subjects into commanding artistic statements. His large-scale floral compositions are particularly renowned for their bold presence and sophisticated handling of light and color. Beyond his celebrated florals, Pierce’s versatility extends to portraiture, figures, and intimate interior scenes, all painted with the same level of technical mastery and artistic vision. Based in Shushan, New York, Pierce’s work reflects a deep understanding of both classical techniques and contemporary sensibilities, making him one of the most sought-after painters in the realm of contemporary realism.H.M. Saffer II presents perhaps the most internationally diverse artistic journey of the three. Beginning his public art career at just six years old in Philadelphia, Saffer’s path led him to Temple University and then to Paris, where he simultaneously pursued economics, performed with legendary French musicians like Jacques Brel and Charles Aznavour, and operated restaurants in both Paris and Madrid. His artistic evolution took a distinctive turn in the 1980s when he began studying Sumi-e, the Japanese art of black ink painting, eventually traveling to Japan to work with master practitioners. This unique fusion of Eastern and Western techniques defines his current work, creating paintings that blend oriental philosophy with Western artistic traditions. His studies at L’Ecole Des Beaux Arts and his multifaceted career as musician, chef, and artist have culminated in works that reflect a truly global artistic perspective, making him a singular voice in contemporary art.

blockbuster

Virtual Artists’ Talk:&nbsp;Thursday, December 11, 2025 at 7 PM<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://perspectivegallery.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=04a588cae42ffc5c2d944d823&amp;id=cfc9476def&amp;e=49b9939ea4" target="_blank">Register here</a> Perspective Gallery presents&nbsp;Grand Vistas: Intimate Views, a new exhibit by members&nbsp;Frank Monnelly&nbsp;and&nbsp;Jane Feely. While each photographer takes us on a journey, the striking contrast comes in how they view their respective destinations.&nbsp;Monnelly brings us&nbsp;Denali: Sublime Majesty, aerial photography which captures the scale, grandeur and elegance of the highest mountain peak in North America. Shot from a Cessna 185, the spirit of Denali is revealed in a cathedral of stone and ice. During the show, Monnelly will also premiere a video on aerial photography made in collaboration with Alex Joseph Hansen and Alexander Marvin.&nbsp;In Japan: With A Beginner’s Mind, Feely embraces the Zen Buddhism concept of “Shoshin”, which encourages a sense of openness and curiosity, approaching life with a childlike vision. Her images invite you to get close to the details of this fascinating country, to find joy in even the smallest of experiences.﻿

Jane Feely: In Japan: With a Beginner's Mind

Art of GivingDuring the month of December, the gallery will host a group exhibit of several local artists. Each artist is exhibiting work that&nbsp;brings a unique, contemplative quality and reflects the natural beauty of the world, most notably the changing seasons, whether it be the vibrancy of spring and summer, the stillness of winter, or the varying colors of fall. 10% of all gallery sales during the month will benImage: Matthew Schaefer, 300 DPI image of "Summertime."

Art of Giving

The new exhibition, featuring over forty paintings, is on view in our Glencoe gallery through December 31st.Rodger Bechtold's work captures the Midwest landscape in an expressive, painterly style that blurs the line between realism and abstraction. His compositions, filled with vibrant color and seemingly effortless brushstrokes, offer a unique sense of warmth, joy and spaciousness that extends beyond the canvas. Mary Jo O’Gara’s paintings are a study in harmonious layers of color, texture and light. Intentionally uncomplicated and fresh, her richly textured compositions of barns, outbuildings and pastoral landscapes reflect a sense of nostalgia, connection, and space found in her Midwest surroundings.

Rodger Bechtold & Mary Jo O'Gara: A Sense of Place

<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://addingtongallery.us7.list-manage.com/track/click?u=2dac418422cee01053cdde573&amp;id=ee7fedbd55&amp;e=d87d823438" target="_blank">Visit the gallery at www.addingtongallery.com</a>

Susan Kraut and Karen Perl: Spaces Between

Faceted Fiber, curated by Marci Rubin, showcases art involving diverse discourse and techniques of fiber or textile-based artworks. Focusing on the materials and process as part of the artworks’ significance, this exhibition emphasizes the artistic and aesthetic value of a fiber-based project over its utility.By reclaiming and celebrating textile arts in the 1970’s, feminist artists challenged the established art/craft binary. These inspiring artists employed techniques and actions such as sewing, quilting, macrame, crocheting, knitting, embroidery, rug-making, and basket weaving into their work, thrusting them into the realm of fine art. Artists such as Sheila Hicks, Bisa Butler, Judy Chicago, Faith Ringold, and Magdalena Abakanowicz, paved the way for the acceptance of non-traditional artistic practices and perspectives.Image: Lacy Bohannon – White Bird, Cotton, Polyester, Embroidery Thread, 36 x 24, 2024

Faceted Fiber

Marshall Allen, 99, Astronaut&nbsp;is centered around Marshall Allen, world renowned free and avant-garde jazz musician and current leader of the legendary&nbsp;Sun Ra Arkestra, of which he has been a continual member since 1958. Ari Benjamin Meyers composed two original scores for Allen to interpret, inviting him to engage, through music, in an intimate conversation about the spontaneity of music-making, the rigors of rehearsal, and the potentiality of collaboration. On the brink of his one hundredth birthday, he interprets Meyers’ composition on the alto saxophone, and turns the occasional memory lapse into prompts for improvisation, exposing both his frail age and his brilliant virtuosity. Telling a musical and visual story of transformation from the earthly to the otherworldly, the work transcends temporality and place and pays homage both to Allen’s century-long life lived through music and to Sun Ra’s revolutionary musical vision and utopian politics, which saw in the unknown of sonic experimentation and the vastness of the universe the possibility of a transformed present and radically different future. –Text courtesy&nbsp;Esther Schipper Berlin and&nbsp;Fondazione In Between Art Film&nbsp;

Ari Benjamin Myers Marshall Allen, 99, Astronaut

In the North Gallery, Corbett vs. Dempsey is delighted to announce&nbsp;Shape Acts, an exhibition of new ceramic sculptures and drawings by Magalie Guérin. This is Guérin's fourth solo show at the gallery and her first presentation primarily focused on ceramics.\In the domain of linguistics known as speech act theory, language is considered more than just a conveyor of information, it is an action. Speech not only&nbsp;says, it&nbsp;does. So, too, with the forms and textures and colors of Guérin's work. Known initially as a painter, the Marfa, Texas-based artist has been making 3-D work avidly since the start of the pandemic, and this fresh group of tabletop sculptures finds her pushing the limits on morphological invention, introducing new shapes into her vast vocabulary. These pieces are segmented, often with a totemic composition – juxtaposed parts are stacked together and resolve in impossible seeming ways, all within the space of a 12-inch tower. Varying textures are emphasized with different glazes, applied with a painter's hand and eye. Passing references to figures or vessels or creatures or landscapes may appear, but these are equally offset by an overall sense of abstract delight, the surfaces a joy and a mystery, the flashes of bright color intimating something possibly naughty, the crevices and buttes a juicy question mark. Guérin's formal ingenuity allows these talismans a kind of transformative mojo that might spur us to coin "shape act theory" as a new art historical domain. As a 2-D point of comparison with her ceramics, Guérin has chosen to show a suite of drawings made during a 2021 summer ceramic residency at the University of Arkansas.These drawings for Guérin were a playful daily practice done as a way to discover shapes without the pressure of gravity, resulting in vividly colored marker works, hovering like a paper flock of imagined kinfolk for the dimensional works. <a style="background-color: rgb(67, 67, 67); color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="mailto:sophie@corbettvsdempsey.com?subject=Preview%20Request%3A%20Magalie%20Gu%C3%A9rin%2C%20Shape%20Acts" target="_blank">PREVIEW REQUEST</a>

Magalie Guérin: Shape Acts

Corbett vs. Dempsey is delighted to present&nbsp;Daily Forecasts: July 19th-October 14th, 2020, an exhibition of new works by Sadie Benning. This is the artist's first show at CvsD and debut gallery exhibition in Chicago.Benning presented&nbsp;Shared Eye&nbsp;at the Renaissance Society in 2016, and they lived in Chicago for an extensive period, during which their work as a video artist gained international recognition. This show introduces a new body of work in watercolor made daily during the pandemic, each painting based on Benning's preparatory collages. This routine image-making practice grew into a series of chronologically sequenced works, all of them modest in scale but packing an immense amount of emotion and visual complexity into its diminutive frame. The title work of the show consists of 31 of these miraculous Covid microcosms. SADIE BENNING:I started making watercolors during the Covid lockdown in July of 2020. What first began as experiments became Daily Forecasts. The idea was to make a portrait of the day—to take the temperature of that particular moment,&nbsp;and have a record. The process involved clearing my mind—trying to get a psychic read of the day I was inhabiting—and writing down words that came to me—words I wasn’t logically thinking—language that came from somewhere else. And then I would search online using those words—creating a database of found digital images, the source material being anything from a family snapshot to a news photograph to a press image.I made mock ups—many trial collages from these photographic images before settling on one, then painting the image using watercolors on paper. All works are intimate, postcard or paperback book sized, appealing to analogue senses while being informed by technology and the internet.I used my intuition to create these works—but I’m also invoking the intuition of the viewer—I’m inviting that. I think it’s political to have an intuition—to listen to yourself—and also to listen to others—what others are feeling or thinking—and what’s happening around you—and what might happen in the future if you don't pay attention, if you don't listen.All images and all art contains a subconscious space—and you can alwaysinuit it and feel it and interpret it. But what I’m doing is bringing that concept to the surface—visually. The words which prompted each painting disappear into the work but they do also persist in some way—wordlessly, the ghost of them remains legible.There’s honestly a little bit of irony in the idea of trying to capture a day. A day is porous, its liquid, it’s slipping away. And if you think about the whole planet—the “day” has multiple time zones and it’s inhabited by so many experiences. I can't capture that. And the day is based on a calendar which is centered around work and capitalism—and not about a subconscious time space. And so I’m not attempting to depict the day for the whole world, it's fragments within fragments—it's trippy and it's one read. It's a portion—even the scale of these paintings reflect that—they are small and cognitive and cropped. They suggest a piece of something much more vast.<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="mailto:sophie@corbettvsdempsey.com?subject=Preview%20Request%3A%20Sadie%20Benning%2C%20Daily%20Forecasts" target="_blank">PREVIEW REQUEST</a> Image: Sadie Benning,&nbsp;Daily Forecasts: July 19th - October 14th, 2020,&nbsp;2020,&nbsp;watercolor on paper,&nbsp;31 individual works, 6 3/4 x 4 1/4 inches each,&nbsp;signed and dated on verso.&nbsp;

Sadie Benning Daily Forecasts: July 19th - October 14th, 2020

Sebastian Thomas

This Fall, the&nbsp;Elmhurst Art Museum&nbsp;presents&nbsp;Shakkei: Work by Mayumi Lake and Bob Faust,&nbsp;the first major museum exhibition for Chicago-based artists Mayumi Lake and Bob Faust. Lake and Faust are mutually inspired by the Japanese principle of&nbsp;Shakkei&nbsp;(“borrowed scenery”), a design philosophy that incorporates organic features and architectural designs. The artists’ kaleidoscopic works use color and pattern to create immersive optical experiences, interpreting the Eastern concept broadly as a metaphor for empathy, adaptability, and the ability to hold multiple viewpoints simultaneously. The exhibition will feature recent large-scale artworks by Lake and Faust in separate galleries, as well as a collaborative new work combining their design languages. The exhibition is curated by Liz Chilsen, Manager of Exhibitions &amp; Collections, and will be on view at the Elmhurst Art Museum, 150 South Cottage Hill Avenue in Elmhurst, from September 4, 2025 to January 4, 2026. For this exhibition, each artist will bring their own perspective to the concept of&nbsp;Shakkei, reflecting their unique experiences and history. While Lake’s imagery is based on the symbolic floral motifs found in antique Japanese girls’ kimonos, Faust often incorporates the surroundings of the project or exhibition venue into his “wallworks,” creating site-specific perspectives manipulated from digital photographs. The dialogue between artists addresses the intersection of the patterns of everyday life and cultural and social histories. Shakkei&nbsp;opening reception begins September 5 at 6PM with VIP &amp; Members preview.&nbsp;Doors to the public open at 7PM.Jazz concert with Yoko Noge&nbsp;7:30-8:30.&nbsp;FREE for Members,&nbsp;<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://elmhurstartmuseum.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=79cd6ec4fe739f4c6b4128435&amp;id=5a5e07054e&amp;e=9f943455be" target="_blank">RSVP here</a>. Non-members can purchase tickets online.<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://elmhurstartmuseum.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=79cd6ec4fe739f4c6b4128435&amp;id=16654985fd&amp;e=9f943455be" target="_blank">SHAKKEI RECEPTION TICKETS &amp; INFO</a> Allison Peters Quinn,&nbsp;Executive Director and Chief Curator of the Elmhurst Art Museum, said, “Shakkei&nbsp;highlights cross-cultural exchange by showcasing Japanese principles of landscape design and its influence on contemporary art and architecture. The artists are longtime admirers of each other’s work and decided to collaborate for the first time on a new installation for this show.” She added, “Inspired by our McCormick House designed by Mies van der Rohe, Mayumi and Bob have pushed themselves to consider how their work creates vistas and portals that heighten our understanding of the world around us.&nbsp;We are excited to be the first to present this incredible blend of art practices rooted in nature, pattern, and play, that turn the everyday into an extraordinary, immersive sculptural experience.” ABOUT THE ARTISTSWorking in the space between art and design,&nbsp;Bob Faust&nbsp;crafts artwork with typography at its core and viscerality on its surface. Faust has over 30 years of experience as the principle and creative director of the eponymously named cultural branding studio, Faust. He makes his work with purpose first—to inform, empower and/or instigate in the service and celebration of human difference. Text, patterns, and the ideas of surprise and discovery emerge as throughlines throughout his conceptual art practice that defies categorization and genre. Faust has been recognized nationally and internationally for his inimitable creativity through many prestigious honors including a University of Illinois, College of Fine &amp; Applied Arts, 2022 Distinguished Legacy Award and City of Chicago, 2022 Mayor’s Medal of Honor. Exhibitions have included Mass MoCA BY The Numb3r5 (Mass MoCA), For And Nor But Or Yet So (Poetry Foundation), WA/ONDER (167 Green), with all, and still... (The Peninsula Chicago), Rapt on the Mile (The Magnificent Mile Association), Ways and Means (Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events and The Chicago Transit Authority), About Face: Stonewall, Revolt and New Queer Art (Wrightwood 659), Great Ideas of Humanity: Out of the Container (Chicago Design Museum), guilty / Innocent (MASS MoCA); Unfolded: Made with Paper (Chicago Design Museum), Betweens (Riverside Arts Center), and CHGO DSGN (Chicago Cultural Center). In addition to his own work, Faust is also the professional and personal partner of artist Nick Cave. Together they founded the non-for-profit Facility: a multi-use creative space in Chicago that seeks to build community and change the world through art and design. Mayumi Lake&nbsp;is an interdisciplinary artist and educator whose work explores the ideas of time, memory, and floating between the real and imaginary. With a foundation in photography, she integrates digital images of nature and Japanese textiles into her collages, sculpture, sound, moving images, and installation to expand the narrative of the work and form conceptual layers. Lake’s artwork has been exhibited nationally and internationally at venues including Miyako Yoshinaga Gallery, Asia Society, Art in General, and Artists Space in New York; Chicago Artists Coalition and Hyde Park Art Center in Chicago; Lubeznik Center for the Arts in Michigan City; Fotografie Forum International in Frankfurt; Cornelius Pleser Galerie in Munich; Galleria PaciArte in Brescia; FOTOAMERICA in Santiago; Witzenhausen Gallery in Amsterdam; and the Setouchi Triennale in Takamatsu. She has published two monographs, Poo-Chi and Ex Post Facto, with Nazraeli Press. Her work is included in the collections of the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, the Art Institute of Chicago, Asia Society, the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE)/City of Chicago, the McCormick Place Art Collection/Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority (MPEA), Video Art World, the Joy of Giving Something Foundation, and Facebook. Lake received her MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Shakkei: Work by Mayumi Lake and Bob Faust&nbsp;is presented as part of the sixth edition of the&nbsp;Chicago Architecture Biennial. Running&nbsp;September 19, 2025 - February 28, 2026&nbsp;at locations throughout Chicago,&nbsp;SHIFT: Architecture in Times of Radical Change&nbsp;explores timely global issues through the lens of architecture and design.&nbsp;Learn more at&nbsp;<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="http://chicagoarchitecturebiennial.org/" target="_blank">chicagoarchitecturebiennial.org</a>This exhibition is sponsored by Wintrust Bank with additional support from the Illinois Arts Council, Discover DuPage, Enjoy Illinois and anonymous donors. ABOUT THE ELMHURST ART MUSEUMThe Elmhurst Art Museum is located at 150 South Cottage Hill Avenue in Elmhurst (IL), 25 minutes from downtown Chicago by car or public transportation (Metra). On the museum’s campus is the McCormick House, a single-family home designed in 1952 by Mies van der Rohe, one of the great architects of the 20th Century. The McCormick House is one of only three residences designed and built by Mies in the United States – and one of only two open to the public. The Museum is open Wednesday and Thursday from 12:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m., Friday through Sunday, 11:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Regular admission prices are $18 for adults (ages 18+), $15 for seniors, $10 for students, and $5 for children. For more information, please call 630.834.0202 or visit&nbsp;<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.elmhurstartmuseum.org/" target="_blank">elmhurstartmuseum.org</a>.

Shakkei: Work by Mayumi Lake and Bob Faust

SAWHORSE is pleased to present Great Mud Flood, a group exhibition featuring work by Ryan Richey, Yigit Ural, Fallon Wrede, Pedro Albertini, Amy Pearl Lang, and Jackson Daughety.

Great Mud Flood

Dec 10 - Jan 4, 2026: Luminous Mosaics, Taiwanese&nbsp;Artist Kai-Chun Chiang

Luminous Mosaics, Taiwanese Artist Kai-Chun Chiang

Thoughtfully designed, One of a Kind Art Gifts

Gallery Seven Holiday Gift Show

Arts of Life is pleased to announce our next exhibition&nbsp;Hail Mary,&nbsp;guest curated by&nbsp;<a style="color: rgb(0, 112, 168);" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://margaretcrowley.com/" target="_blank">Margaret Crowley</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a style="color: rgb(0, 112, 168);" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.instagram.com/brozgold/?hl=en" target="_blank">Tim Callahan</a>.Hail Mary&nbsp;is an exhibition about sport. It examines the complexity and inherent spirituality of participating, watching and being a fan of any sport. James Naismith’s Guiding Principles of Basket-Ball, 1891(Glossed by Dave Hickey)1)&nbsp;&nbsp;There must be a ball; it should be large.(This in prescient expectation of Connie Hawkins and Julius Erving, whose hands would reinvent basketball as profoundly as Jimi Hendrix’s hands reinvented rock-and-roll.)2)&nbsp;There shall be no running with the ball.&nbsp;(Thus mitigating the privileges of owning portable property. Extended ownership of the ball is a virtue in football. Possession of the ball in basketball is never ownership; it is always temporary and contingent upon your doing something with it.)3)&nbsp;No man on either team shall be restricted from getting the ball at any time that it is in play.(Thus eliminating the job specialization that exists in football, by whose rules only those players in “skill positions” may touch the ball. The rest just help. In basketball there are skills peculiar to each position, but everyone must run, jump, catch, shoot, pass, and defend.)4)&nbsp;Both teams are to occupy the same area, yet there is to be no personal contact.(Thus no rigorous territoriality, nor any rewards for violently invading your opponents’ territory unless you score. The model for football is the drama of adjacent nations at war. The model for basketball is the polyglot choreography of urban sidewalks.)5)&nbsp;The goal shall be horizontal and elevated.(The most Jeffersonian principle of all: Labor must be matched by aspiration. To score, you must work your way down court, but you must also elevate! Ad astra.)&nbsp;Margaret Crowley&nbsp;(b. Ottawa, IL) is an artist&nbsp;living and working in Chicago. Crowley founded Produce Model Gallery in 2016.Timothy Callahan&nbsp;(b. Chicago, IL) co-organized Produce&nbsp;Model Gallery with Crowley from 2020 to 2024.

Hail Mary

Whether or not something is real or fabricated has become a compelling conversation in a contemporary context as technology allows for the simulation of reality on multiple levels. Artists have been interested in exploring the dynamics of representation and authenticity for many years, but what that actually looks like depends on the artist’s interests as well as what is happening in society at that time. For example, trompe l’oeil&nbsp;(French for fool or deceive the eye) artwork has been an artistic pursuit for centuries. The art form has been historically associated with two-dimensional imagery that appears as three-dimensional space or objects, but can also be applied to three-dimensional objects that, to put it simply, are deceptive in one context or another. Using clay and enamel on copper, respectively, Canadian artists and married couple Karen Dahl and James Doran explore these concepts through their well-known&nbsp;trompe l’oeil&nbsp;sculptures. The two are not collaborators, but their work is rooted in similar subject matter and a desire to explore what still life means in the modern era. A recent gift of 27 works by Dahl and Doran joined three pieces by Dahl already in RAM’s collection—establishing archive holdings for each artist. Shown intermingled in this exhibition, the works of Dahl and Doran encourage extended viewing and consideration of art history, object meaning, and process. James DoranEntomological Doodle, 1989Enamel on copper11 1/2 x 9 1/4 inchesRacine Art Museum, Gift of Holly Hotchner and Franklin SilverstonePhotography: Jarvis Lawson

Fool Me Once: The Trompe L’oeil Sculpture of Karen Dahl and James Doran

OS Projects presents “…and the far off flutter of smoke stained wings.”, an exhibition of paintings and sculptures by Stephen Williams. The exhibition opens on November 8, 2025 and continues through January 10, 2026. The public is invited to meet the artist on Saturday, November 8 from 1 – 3 pm. Stephen Williams’ artwork asks a fundamental question: How do the things that we observe and experience outside of ourselves become infused with emotion and meaning and entry points for our imaginations? The peculiar transformation that takes place during the artmaking process, when words, concepts and experiences move from being “a thing in the world to a world in a thing,” is a source of endless fascination for the artist. Williams describes the 15 paintings in his OS Projects exhibit as renderings of anonymous interior spaces, analogous to rooms he has never entered or never could. Their images are generated spontaneously and proceed to completion in an improvisational manner. This approach allows the artist to indulge in a kind of freedom and vulnerability as well as an expansiveness that flirts with failure at every moment. To develop the palette of his paintings, Williams uses only black, blue, yellow, red and white paints. Each has been given a symbolic value. Black represents subjectivity, while blue stands for subjective experience/water. Yellow expresses metaphor/plane of immanence/air, and red is objective experience/fire. White symbolizes objectivity, the opposite of black. In contrast to the self-contained paintings, Williams’ sculptures function as models. They are physical prompts for things the artist has been thinking about or would like to consider further. Like the forms in his paintings, the sculptures exist in a state of flux. By virtue of being placed into different configurations, they become different things. What is real? The question has preoccupied Williams throughout his life. The answer, he has discovered through his decades-long art practice, is that reality is “a place where you no longer possess a thing but instead it possesses you.” About the Artist Born in Joliet, Illinois, Stephen Williams currently lives and works in Chicago. He holds degrees from the University of Illinois School of Architecture and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Williams has exhibited his work at various art venues, including the Chicago galleries CompassRose, Dart and 65GRAND, and Deborah Sharpe and Charles Cowles galleries in New York. His artwork is in the collections of the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, JP Morgan Chase Bank, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and the American Medical Association.&nbsp;

Stephen Williams: "...and the far off flutter of smoke stained wings."

Image: The Grey Point, 2025, oil on canvas, 52 x 34 inches

Michael Cuadrado Gonzalez: Entangled Forces

Maia Cruz Palileo&nbsp;(they/them) is a multidisciplinary artist whose paintings, installations, sculptures, and drawings navigate themes of migration and the permeable concept of home. Influenced by the oral history of their family’s arrival in the United States from the Philippines, as well as the history between the two countries, Palileo infuses these narratives using both memory and imagination. They produce paintings of dream-like quality that hover between fact and fiction. Investigating the malleable language of the medium, Palileo’s works offer a panoramic lens through which to investigate the larger questions&nbsp;pertaining to&nbsp;forgotten histories and how best to honor these stories in perpetuity. Sourcing subject matter through various photographic archives, their paintings recontextualize the stories, portraits, and images to resuscitate these figures from the exploitative gaze of the ethnographic image.&nbsp; Palileo (b.1979, Chicago, IL) received an MFA in sculpture from Brooklyn College, City University of New York, Brooklyn, NY (2008) and BA in Studio Art at Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, MA (2001). Palileo has had solo exhibitions at&nbsp;David&nbsp;Kordansky&nbsp;Gallery, Los Angeles, CA (2025);&nbsp;moniquemeloche, Chicago, IL (2023, 2021, 2019);&nbsp;The Cummer Museum, Jacksonville, FL (2023);&nbsp;Kimball Arts Center, Park City, UT (2022); the CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts, San Francisco, CA (2021); the&nbsp;Katzen&nbsp;Arts Center, Washington D.C. (2019);&nbsp;Pioneer Works, Brooklyn, NY (2018); Taymour&nbsp;Grahne&nbsp;Gallery, New York, NY (2017); and&nbsp;Cuchifritos&nbsp;Gallery + Project Space, curated by Jordan&nbsp;Buschur, New York, NY (2015).&nbsp;Palileo has been featured in recent group exhibitions at&nbsp;the Pérez Art Museum, Miami, FL (2024);&nbsp;Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University, Stanford, CA (2024); Sargent’s Daughters, Los Angeles, LA (2024);&nbsp;Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Sweden (2023);&nbsp;Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, Omaha, NE (2023); The Nasher Museum, Durham, NC (2023);&nbsp;National Portrait Gallery, Washington D.C. (2022); Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, WA (2022); San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, CA (2022); Jeffrey Deitch Gallery, Los Angeles, CA (2022); The Rubin Museum of Art, New York, NY (2018); and the Bureau of General Services Queer Division, New York, NY.&nbsp;Palileo will present&nbsp;a&nbsp;solo show&nbsp;at&nbsp;moniquemeloche, Chicago, IL&nbsp;(2025).&nbsp;&nbsp;Their work is in the collections of The Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD;&nbsp;The San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, CA;&nbsp;Cummer Museum of Art &amp; Gardens. Jacksonville, FL; The Library of Congress, Washington, D.C;&nbsp;The Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, Durham, NC;&nbsp;The Speed Museum, Louisville, KY;&nbsp;and The&nbsp;Fredriksen&nbsp;Collection at the National Museum of Oslo, Norway.&nbsp;Palileo is a recipient of the Sharpe-Walentas&nbsp;Studio Program Award, NY (2022); NYFA Painting Fellowship (2021); Jerome Foundation Travel and Study Program Grant (2017); Rema&nbsp;Hort&nbsp;Mann Foundation Emerging Artist Grant (2014); Astraea Visual Arts Fund Award (2009); Joan Mitchell Foundation Painters &amp; Sculptors Grant (2008); and Joan Mitchell Foundation MFA Award (2018).&nbsp;Palileo has&nbsp;participated&nbsp;in residencies at Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Madison, ME; Lower East Side Print Shop, NY; Millay Colony, Austerlitz, New York; and the Joan Mitchell Center, New Orleans. They currently live and work in Brooklyn, NY.&nbsp; Image: Maia Cruz Palileo,&nbsp;I Am Well, How Are You?, 2025, oil on linen, 72 x 68 in

Maia Cruz Palileo: Branch Dance

Pedro Montilla is a Colombian artist whose practice unfolds through painting as a way to understand the experience of being alive and surrounded by life. His work stems from the understanding of painting as a mystical being, voracious and capable of imbuing objects with life. Through this lens, his practice becomes a space for transformation, reflection, and attentive presence. Pedro works primarily on fique fabric, a fiber cultivated, dried, and woven in the Colombian Andes, traditionally used to transport coffee beans and harvests. This surface mirrors both belonging to a place while also holding a sense of dislocation and memory for what it touches. On it, he creates hybrid objects that exist between painting and tapestry, holding an imagery of landscapes, scenes, and abstractions that reflect an amalgam of internal states and lived experience.&nbsp;Montilla (b.1997, Bogotá, Colombia) holds an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (2025) and a BFA from Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá (2020). He has presented solo exhibitions at Policroma Galería, Medellín (2023; 2021), and participated in group exhibitions at the Epiphany Center for the Arts, Chicago, IL (2025); Chili Art Projects, London, UK (2024); National Museum of Mexican Art, Chicago, IL (2024); Galería El Museo, Bogotá (2024); SGR Galería, Bogotá (2021); among others. He was a Fellow at Ox-Bow School of Art, Saugatuck, MI (2025) and is currently a resident at the Chicago Artists Coalition, Chicago, IL. Montilla lives and works in Chicago, IL and is currently a Lecturer at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Image: Pedro Montilla, Primero&nbsp;está la soledad / First there is loneliness, 2025, oil and tempera on fique, 57 x 78 in

Pedro Montilla: Mirar abajo

The first mid-career survey of the artist’s work,&nbsp;<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.jmkac.org/exhibition/ashwini-bhat-reverberating-self/?utm_medium=email&amp;_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_Ui-15B_CcQknU9GEDGXMjBqDrNc-DTSKdHoyu63GuASVBzt71GYE_-e31PGV6S0Mplqp9YfAjLuTlga8VG8STj3QakJsCm2tjyDUB9eTtkUkzkDY&amp;_hsmi=343424237&amp;utm_content=343424237&amp;utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">Ashwini Bhat: Reverberating Self</a> contains artworks made over the past decade alongside newly made work that has never been shown. The exhibition illustrates her journey since moving to California—creating a new home and securing a sense of belonging through communion with her environment and art making. The artworks evidence Bhat’s technical skill and intuitive approach to diverse materials and techniques, including cast bronze, hand-built ceramics, video works, and an artist-led collaborative community installation. All works on view are part of&nbsp;Assembling California,&nbsp;the artist’s ongoing project of place and self. The series concentrates on natural phenomena including post-fire forests, climate change, large-scale forces, mapping, and relationships. As an immigrant from southern India, Bhat works to find a sense of belonging and self in her home in California. She does this through walking, hiking, and spending time with local ecologists. Bhat’s past is infused into the present and imaginings of possible futures. She weaves time and experience through her sculptures by naming a body of her works depicting California flora after nature spirits, or Yakshis, entities that are part of Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain religious practices. Bhat firmly roots her practice in recognizing humankind’s interconnectedness with all living beings and places—through contact, communion, and witnessing. She creates sculptures to share moments of her journey—of seeking self within her ecologies and invites viewers to relate to their environments by building relationships and spending time with other beings, human and nonhuman alike. Image: Ashwini Bhat. Photo: John Janca, courtesy of the artist and Shoshana Wayne Gallery.

Ashwini Bhat: Reverberating Self

The&nbsp;Community ⇄ Members’ Show&nbsp;is a cherished celebration of local art and talent. Whether you’re an artist or an art lover, this exhibition is a must-see, offering a rich experience of creativity in our community. Mark your calendar for the Public Preview Party on November 21, 2025 from 6 - 8 PM and join us in celebrating the vibrant artistic talent that makes our region shine. The exhibition will be on view from November 22, 2025 to January 11, 2026. Ending on our annual Pizza with the Artist event on January 11, 2026 from&nbsp;﻿4 - 6 PM.For more information regarding the exhibitions, visit&nbsp;<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://sfpwlrdab.cc.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001HIHBgKWmfZFsj0uHJ8VS6FYkXzlFj1PARabvKe9x6XrZh5wDwqoWvtixSV_KM9xNOhFAk0Eq0O0DZzQD_BVu0gksqKFqx4NaE1jJqHTmI3S6PEIQqABLG_SOgW7guNLw4SGU5KlRTgyOZXEK78x_B2ulQNaviEeZ&amp;c=50MTjcCJ5tDmXgKjPU21Qy_xlB1XX3MATKetvAKehRF50lfOQVCU3g==&amp;ch=9wQzHSEWPOeXK11nDqeX7IBDdcQBIg92SboG0_lYCtouAIT8l5ynVQ==" target="_blank">www.krasl.org</a>.

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