With the second edition of EXPO CHICAGO coming to Navy Pier, collectors, dealers, curators, and artists will be streaming into the Windy City for the art-fair festivities. There will be plenty of excitement to be found outside the aisles as well, with major shows taking place at museums and opening at galleries around the city. Here's a guide laying out a few events to look forward to.
THROUGHOUT THE WEEK
Art Institute of Chicago – In case you missed it at the Met last winter, check out the exhibition "Impressionism, Fashion, and Modernity" at the Art Institute of Chicago. Also on view is "Isaac Julien: The Long Road to Mazatlan" and a solo show of works by Japanese sculptor Tomoaki Suzuki.
Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago – Chicago native Theaster Gates's solo show "Theaster Gates: 13th Ballad." Also on view: "Modern Cartoonist: The Art of Daniel Clowes," "MCA DNA: Chicago Conceptual Abstraction 1986-1995," and a new public art work by Amanda Ross-Ho.
Museum of Contemporary Photography – "Backstory," a group exhibition featuring LaToya Ruby Frazier, Ron Jude, and Guillaume Simoneau.
The Renaissance Society – "Suicide Narcissus," a group show featuring Lucy Skaer, Thomas Baumann, Nicole Six and Paul Petritsch, Daniel Steegmann, Haris Epaminonda, and Daniel Gustav Cramer.
TUESDAY, SEPT. 17
12 p.m. – The MCA Chicago presents a curator-led tour by Kristin Korolowicz, the museum's 2012-13 Marjorie Susman Curatorial Fellow.
WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 18
5-8 p.m. – Columbia College's WAC Crawl, part of the Wabash Arts Corridor, will feature gallery openings, concerts, performances, sidewalk sales, and the unveiling of the school's Papermaker's Garden, among other events.
THURSDAY, SEPT. 19
6-9 p.m. – EXPO CHICAGO vernissage, benefiting the MCA Chicago (tickets start at $100), and the opening of "Levity: Gravity" an "itinerant exhibition" curated by Los Angeles Nomadic Division founding director Shamim M. Momin within the IN/SITU section of EXPO Chicago, featuring the work of Alec Soth, Sanford Biggers, Karl Haendel, Glenn Kaino, Shinique Smith, and others.
FRIDAY, SEPT. 20
11 a.m. – Artspace chairman and Artadia founder Christopher Vroom in conversation with artist William J. O'Brien as part of the EXPO/ Dialogues program of talks.
5-8 p.m. – Openings at Kavi Gupta Gallery's two locations for major shows by Roxy Paine (219 N. Elizabeth) and Theaster Gates (835 W. Washington).
5-8 p.m. – Opening at Valerie Carberry Gallery of "Under Investigation," featuring recent work by Jim Lutes, Laura Letinsky, and Julia Fish.
5-8 p.m. – Opening at the University of Illinois at Chicago's Gallery 400 for an exhibition of works by Will Benedict, Julia Haller, Tom Humphries, Lucie Stahl, and Heimo Zoberig, curated by Michael Hall.
SATURDAY, SEPT. 21
11 a.m. – The artist Jesper Just in conversation with the Walker Art Center's Dean Otto as part of the EXPO/Dialogues program of talks.
1:30 p.m. – IN/SITU panel with artist Glenn Kaino, curator Franklin Sirmans, and educator Dr. Tommie Smith, moderated by IN/SITU curator and Los Angeles Nomadic Division founding director Shamim M. Momin.
1 p.m. –Josiah McElheny in conversation with art historian Christine Mehring at the Arts Club of Chicago to discuss his new exhibition, "Josiah McElheny: Two Clubs at the Arts Club of Chicago," in collaboration with the Art Institute of Chicago's John Vinci.
