CHICAGO — EXPO Chicago arrives in Chicago this week.
The city’s annual international contemporary and modern art exhibition will run Thursday-Sunday and feature 170 galleries. It’s expected to bring roughly 30,000 art lovers to Navy Pier, 600 E. Grand Ave.
But art-loving night owls who’d rather skip the crowds at Navy Pier may appreciate EXPO Art Week’s Friday evening program: Art After Hours, with 50 participating galleries in 15 neighborhoods open late and offering events.
Featuring artist conversations, opening receptions and a gallery walk Friday evening, options are plentiful — and easily located, thanks to a handy map from producer Gertie.
“One of the things that EXPO does better and in more of a Chicago authentic way than any other art fair, is that it really gives people guided ways to go and explore the city,” said Chanelle Lacy, Gertie’s creative director. “After Hours is one of the ways that people can do that, highlighting the galleries in the city which are really important to the ecosystem.
“There’s something about nighttime that I think allows people to feel a little bit more uninhibited, which is useful when you’re, perhaps, entering unfamiliar spaces.”
The offerings range from galleries and spaces extending hours until 8 p.m., to singular experiences like the first-come, first-served event 4-6 p.m. Friday at Mariane Ibrahim Gallery, 437 N. Paulina St. The event will be a dialogue between New York Times art writer Siddartha Mitter and renowned artist Lorraine O’Grady.
“The gallery scene can be exclusive by nature, not always by intention, so having After Hours [programs] that can be promoted through different channels not just for people in the art world is important,” gallery director Emma McKee said. “[Mitter] has written significant articles about [O’Grady] in the past, and so their friendship, alongside their professional relationship, will make for a very interesting conversation.”
The Mariane Ibrahim Gallery, which opened in 2019, is part of the highly regarded West Town gallery milieu. Longstanding gallery names (and Art After Hours participants) including Western Exhibitions, Monique Meloche and Andrew Rafacz are all within walking distance, which “facilitates a lot of people seeing a lot of spaces in a short amount of time,” McKee said.
River North, another popular area of the Chicago gallery universe, will also host a cluster of spaces participating in a modified version of their preexisting River North Gallery Walk.
“The way that this is being choreographed is specific to Art After Hours, making sure that people know about every gallery that’s participating and have some sort of entry point,” Lacy said. “You show up at one of the gallery locations, and there are many people out and about … It’s pretty organic. You kind of join with the crowd and ebb and flow out of the gallery spaces.”
In Austin, AMFM, an arts platform that supports and features emerging creatives, is hosting an open studio with artist Marcelo Eli Sarmiento at 5339 W. Lake St, Unit 228.
“What’s really cool about this initiative is that there’s a map, and hopefully people won’t see something that’s got a dot that’s too far, and decide not to go,” says independent creator and AMFM founder Ciera Alyse McKissick. “Going into an artist studio is a completely different experience because you get to see a breadth of work across time and are able to have a conversation directly with artists about what they’re thinking and what they’re making.”
If anyone is still on the fence, McKissick has an extra incentive: “We’re going to have some wine and some refreshments and things. It’ll essentially be, like, a nice gathering in the artist studio without the pressure of having an intense conversation about practice.”
More information about Art After Hours, as well as other events during Art Week, is available on the EXPO Chicago website.
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