The fourth annual Chicago Exhibition Week kicks off Monday with more than 50 participating galleries opening their doors for art through the weekend. Last year’s Chicago Exhibition Week attracted 10,000 attendees over three days.
Produced by Gertie, a contemporary art platform started by Abby Pucker, the week’s highlight is a series of opening receptions on Wednesday and Thursday, when major blue-chip, mid-sized and many non-traditional spaces invite the public in to see exhibitions.
Pucker said the expanded Exhibition Week is a good opportunity for Chicagoans and those intimidated by the art world to sample the scene, even if they have never visited a gallery. “Being curious is so underrated,” Pucker said.
When: Through Sept. 20
Where: Select Chicago galleries
Tickets: Galleries are free to enter, but some events are ticketed
If you’re out of town or too busy to experience this year’s Chicago Exhibition Week, fear not: Many participating galleries are keeping the exhibitions that open this week through the fall. Some shows will be open well into the new year.
Here are 10 gallery shows and events not to miss this fall:
“Consensual Halluci/nation” by Gordon Cheung at Kavi Gupta Gallery
Where: 835 W Washington Blvd Fl. 1
When: Through Nov. 21
Like many of us, sculptor Gordon Cheung grew up during the start of the Digital Age. And he’s embraced AI-generated images as he grapples with capitalism and advancements in technology in his work.
Born in Hong Kong and raised in London, Cheung’s practice is rooted in a concept he calls the “technosublime,” which lives at the intersection of globalization and the natural world. The artist is known for using pages of the Financial Times to create his renowned scholar rocks (or spirit stones) that he covers with metallic colors, sand, digital imagery and varnish.
Scholar rocks, or gongshi, are stones typically appreciated by Chinese scholars for meditation and inspiration. In Cheung’s hands, a juxtaposed version of the stones appears, informed by the increasing amount of technological waste.
