Tate Modern “Comin’ in from London, from over the pole Flyin’ in a big airliner Chickens flyin’ everywhere around the plane Could we ever feel much finer?” * Madison, Wisconsin isn’t London but It’s a point in an archipelago of Great Lake cities running from Minneapolis to Detroit and cradled by Lakes Michigan and Superior. The region is long recognized for unorthodox hybrid artwork and mature design histories that re-defined regionalism and took the temperature of a new rural and urban art practice. So, it’s odd, unprincipled actually, that so many inland artists, particularly Boomers, flou ..read more

Welcome to this week’s TOP V from BARELY FAIR  at the Color Club. Also, don’t forget to check out this week’s TOP V for a selection of provocative programs being exhibited in spaces both large and small around Chicago this weekend. 1. ILY2 Work by: Amanda Ross-Ho 2.  Tiny Table Gallery Work by: Amy Yoes   3. Devening Projects Work by: Alberte Tranberg   4. murmurs Work by: Karla Ekaterine Canseco   5. Soccer Club Club Work by: Scott Reeder and Tyson Reeder Hey Chicago, submit your events here ..read more

1. The BLACK Domestic Living Roomscape | Game Time April 21, 1-3:30PM The GREYSTONE Collective: 4733 S Forrestville Ave Work by: Schetauna Powell   2. Joseph Josue Mora: CONDITION REPORT April 19, 7-10PM Yes Project Space: 1029 W 35th St   3. Laurel Hauge: Getting There April 20, 6-10PM The Plan: 610 N Albany Ave   4. Shapeshifters April 20, 6-9PM LVL3: 1542 N Milwaukee Ave #3 Work by: Dan Devening and Allison Jae Evans   5. Carina Vargas-Nuñez: mano a mano: Artist Talk & Closing April 21, 2-4PM cam.contemporarie: 2233 S Throop St, Unit 920   Hey Chicago, subm ..read more

Welcome to this week’s TOP V from EXPO CHICAGO  at Navy Pier. Also, don’t forget to check out this week’s TOP V for a selection of provocative programs being exhibited in spaces both large and small around Chicago this weekend.   1. Galerie Myrtis Booth 405 Work by:  Monica Ikegwu, Megan Lewis, Ronald Jackson, and Delita Martin   2.  Labor Booth 132 Work by: Seba Calfuque   3. Patel Brown Booth 327 Work by: Rajni Perera Photography by Darren Rigo; Courtesy of Patel Brown   4. Jupiter Booth 330 Work by: Dylan Rose Rheingold   5. Marisa Newma ..read more

1. Maeve Coughlin: Someone Who Isn’t Me April 5, 7-10PM SULK CHICAGO: 525 S Dearborn St, Apt 209   2. Lawrence Agyei: DRILL April 5, 6-8PM Blanc Gallery: 4445 S King Dr   3. Shinique Smith: METAMORPH April 6, 4-7PM moniquemeloche: 451 N Paulina St   4. Victoria Martinez: Braiding Histories April 6, 1-4PM Chicago Cultural Center: 78 E Washington St   5. Susan Giles: Words to Grasp April 5, 7-10PM Riverside Arts Center Freeark Gallery: 32 E Quincy St, Riverside   Hey Chicago, submit your events here ..read more

–You can’t ditch a text whose principal objective was ditching texts– “Time Crunch” 2023 26 x 25 in. Flashe on linen, John Philips’s biomorphic abstraction systematically undermines formalist subjects and context with rhetorical mischief. He paints the corners like a setup man, stays ahead in the count, keeps his eye on music playlists, and slldes from analog to digital and back. He’s conjured Pop-Op etudes that surgically modify neglected Ab-Ex and Hard-Edge manners. Resilient chromatics and hi-fidelity design have yielded long innings of compositional hybrids that carry content and allow s ..read more

1. Liz Martino: BLAMM-O: moments of seeing more March 29, 7-10PM Firecat Projects: 2019 N Damen Ave   2. Rocio “Chio” Cabrera-Coz: A Time and Place for Everything March 30, 8PM Agitator Gallery: 3851 W Fullerton Ave   3. Materialized Visions: Black Figurative Tradition in Chicago March 30, 5-10PM Evoke: 3304 N Knox Ave Work by: Langston Allston, October Garner, Lisa Deabreu, Kimmah Dennis, Jeff Rivers, Queen Hibbler, Delisha McKinney, and Kenya Cree/Kenya Moffett-Garner. Curated by: Ayrika Hall   4. Ovine Molds & No-Fail Nails: The Lamb Cake Show March 30, 6-8PM Hoofprin ..read more

1. Marcela Torres: I Brought You Flowers / Te Traje Flores March 15, 6-8PM Arts Incubator: 301 E Garfield Blvd, Chicago   2. Verdant Love Lovey March 15, 6-9PM Cleaner Gallery + Projects: 1856 N Richmond St Work by: Sculpturelandia, Olivia Juarez + Remy Borda   3. Su Kaiden Cho: Interweaving Boundless March 15, 4-8PM FLXST Contemporary: 2251 S Michigan Ave, Suite 220   4. Lorraine Peltz: All I Know About Love and Gardens March 15, 4-7PM Zolla / Lieberman Gallery: 325 W Huron St   5. Selva Aparicio: In Memory Of March 14, 6-8PM DePaul Art Museum: 935 W Fullerton Ave &nb ..read more

1. Maria Laureno: Landscape of Moments March 8, 6-10PM A Very Serious Gallery: 673 N Milwaukee Ave   2. Kal Lee: Dust Beneath Snow March 8, 5-9PM The Center for Mad Culture: 410 S Michigan Ave, Suite 41   3. Nicki Cherry: I can be a woman for you March 9, 2-5PM slow dance: 319 N Albany Ave   4. Ed Oh: Remote March 10, 4-7PM 4th Ward Project Space: 5338 S Kimbark Ave   5. Homeroom Residency: Spectralina (Dan Bitney and Selina Trepp) w/ Norman Long, Ayako Kato, Jason Roebke March 12, 8PM Elastic Arts: 3429 W Diversey Ave, #208   Hey Chicago, submit your events here ..read more

  Flowers (green drooper) 40” x 30”, oil on canvas Cut flowers in vases are a codification and confiscation of nature and aesthetically masterful. The vase alone denotes a significant stratification of education and class. On the other hand, there’s the genre of botanical art, which hung near the lowest rung of 20th century subjects until Pop art. Then it turned comfortably frivolous and escapist. That would be a hard critique today in a culture that tolerates spectacle and indulges in chill possessions and personhood. Flowers for Anton, 40” x 30”, oil on canvas Floral painting now ha ..read more