6018North, First Office. “Shotgun,” 2015. Architectural model of wood and drywall installation / Courtesy of 6018North and the architects.
The International Exposition of Contemporary & Modern Art announces twenty-five Special Exhibitions to be included in the fourth annual exposition of Expo Chicago. Alongside 140 galleries representing sixteen countries and forty-six cities from around the world, the Special Exhibitions program offers unique presentations and site-specific work throughout Navy Pier’s Festival Hall. Complementing the exposition’s core programming, these exhibitions emphasize the important relationship between contemporary and modern art and non-profit organizations.
“Expo Chicago remains committed to providing unique exhibition opportunities for regional, national and international museums, institutions, foundations and organizations to showcase new work and programming,” says Expo Chicago president and director Tony Karman. “Our 2015 Special Exhibitions program adds an important facet to the art exposition, presenting a broad survey of work by contemporary artists from inventive, experimental and non-commercial organizations.”
Visitors can anticipate work curated by leading museums, universities, organizations and institutions from around the world. The range of work exhibited and the co-mingling of these renowned institutions presents an unparalleled opportunity for Chicago art lovers.
Exhibitors include the Aperture Foundation, Artadia, Columbia College Chicago, The Contemporary Austin, Human Rights Watch, Independent Curators International, LOCAL Arte Contemporáneo, Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland, The Renaissance Society and the School of the Art Institute Chicago.
The Aperture Foundation has partnered with curator Charlotte Cotton, the author of “Photography is Magic” to commission new work from ten artists. Human Rights Watch presents six photographs by Sebastião Salgado, highlighting selections from his series “Workers” (1993) and “Migrations” (2000), which document injustices endured by people around the world.
LOCAL Arte Contemporáneo will work with artist Carlos Costa to exhibit work related to art in public space. Influenced by Chicago’s nickname of “The Windy City,” the central element of the installation is structured around several ephemeral situations, “staged” to produce a never static experience of wind.
Independent Curators International, Robert Burnier. “Ne Aro,” 2014-15. Primer on aluminum. 8.5′ x 7.5″ /Photo by Yuko Torihara for ICI.
The menagerie will continue with a multifarious amalgam of perspectives and mediums. 6018North has designed a multi-level presentation of Los Angeles-based architects First Office and “Chapel,” a work by Chicago-based Mexican artist Rodrigo Lara Zendejas adjacent to a performance space by Kathleen McCarthy. A collection of work by Singaporean artists correspond to recent issues of “ArtReview Asia.” Chicago artist Claire Ashley will make a ten-year-anniversary installation for Bad at Sports. Threewalls, Chicago Artists Coalition, Union League Club of Chicago, the Hyde Park Art Center, The Conservation Center, the DePaul Art Museum, the University of Chicago and the Natural Resources Defense Council will each present significant exhibitions.
Expo Chicago will take place from September 17-20 at Navy Pier. For more information and a comprehensive list of participants and programming, visit expochicago.com. (Whitney Richardson)
Elliot Josephine Leila Reichert is a curator, critic and editor. She is the inaugural Curator of Contemporary Art at the Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University. She was formerly Curatorial Fellow at the Chicago Artists Coalition, Art Editor of Newcity and Assistant Curator at the Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University.
Hangover Cures at EXPO 2022 While most years I’ve set a goal that guides and organizes my circuitous sojourns around Festival Hall, this year I just wanted works that might soothe a splitting skull.
