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NCECA 2026 Annual Exhibition: “Absence Takes Form” Wasserman Projects, January 31-April 4, 2026 Curated by Adrienne Spinozzi
K.A. LETTS reviews this wide-ranging survey of contemporary ceramic art and how this medium is used in so many ways today.
Borders of Figuration—Painting & Drawing from the University Art Collection Wayne State University, Elaine L. Jacob Gallery, January 23–March 7, 2026
SEAN BIERI examines and comments on Christopher Stackhouse’s use of salon style groupings throughout the exhibition, mixing and matching pieces culled from the Wayne State collection to highlight formal, historical, and thematic connections and contrasts.
Dona Nelson: The Individualism of Dona Nelson CANADA, New York, NY
PAUL MORENO, after following the career of this artist, continues to be fascinated with Nelson’s dedication to rigorous painting, her exploration of paintings as objects, and her jazz-like sense of art making.
Antonius-Tín Bui: “here, there is a different kind of sun” at Monique Meloche, January 31–March 14, 2026
ANDREW HART BENSON investigates the world that Antonius-Tin Bui created inside the walls of Monique Meloch and navigates the complexities of ancestry, queerness, and sex.
Irreverent, Challenging, the Mangler of Metaphor An Interview with Mike Cockrill
D. DOMINICK LOMBARDI interviews Mike Cockrill about how the events from the assassination of John F. Kennedy to that of John Lennon has affected his work and world view.
The Fearful Follies of Human Nature in the art of Tom Torluemke
“Tom Torluemke: Sorted Sheets” Bert Green Fine Art, Chicago, November 8, 2025 –January 17, 2026
DIANE THODOS reviews a second exhibition of Tom Torluemke’s work that shows a more surreal and darker side of his work than the large watercolor exhibition held last year at the Chicago Cultural Center and reviewed by Neil Goodman for our magazine.
Goldin+Senneby: Flare-Up MIT List Visual Arts Center, October 24, 2025–March 15, 2026
EMELIAN LEHMANN reviews the Stockholm-based artist duo Goldin+Senneby who explore themes of illness and ecology via the use of unusual natural materials.
Jim Jarmusch: Father Mother Sister Brother January 9–22, 2026, Music Box Theater, Chicago, IL
JOHN THOMURE, our performance reviewer, branches out and reviews this intriguing film by Jim Jarmusch that consists of three vignettes of family life.
The Work of Art in the Age of Electronic Reproduction Jen P. Harris: “Tomboy” Patricia Sweetow Gallery, Los Angeles January 10–February 14, 2026
MICHEL SÉGARD reviews this provocative exhibition on the basis of electronic images sent to him at his request by the gallerist. Ségard discusses how the dual layers of painting and weaving create a medium in which LGBTQI issues can be explored while maintaining a rare sense of beauty.
Image: Lesbian Lean, 2025. Acrylic paint, cotton yarn, canvas, gesso, hardware, wood stretcher bars, 44 x 36 inches
In Memorium
Gone but not forgotten: Jerry Peart (1948–2025) A sculptor’s appreciation.
NEIL GOODMAN remembers Jerry Peart as a sculptor at the forefront of the Chicago “heavy metal” movement from the 1970s through 2010—but with a twist. He was the only one of that movement who painted his monumental aluminum pieces in bright colors.
Ulysses Jenkins (1946-2026): Video Griot
JOHN THOMURE looks at Jenkins' role as a griot (a storytelling and communal history tradition originating in West Africa). He chronicles how Jenkins became a lens with which he could critically examine the racism embedded in American mass media culture and create a more nuanced vision of black identity.
Tony Fitzpatrick: Poet of the Overlooked Nov. 24, 1958–Oct 11, 2025
EVELYN DAITCHMAN takes an in depth look at Tony Fitzpatrick’s role in the art scenes in both New York and, particularly, Chicago.
“Theaster Gates: Unto Thee,” A Collection of Collections Smart Museum of Art, The University of Chicago
MICHEL SÉGARD studies Theaster Gates’s collection of collections that make up this exhibition to suss out a common theme and overall meaning.
Remembering Bert Menco 1946–2025
DIANE THODOS shares her experiences with the late artist, along with his work.
“Mythic Chaos: 50 Years of Destroy All Monsters” Cranbrook Art Museum, Bloomfield Hills, MI
SEAN BIERI visits Cranbrook Art Museum's exhibition that chronicles the work of "Destroy All Monsters" from its inception in the 70’s and onward.
What's So Funny About Peace, Love, and Understanding Murals by Adam Cvijanovic Site specific installation at St Patrick's Cathedral, NYC
PAUL MORENO explains what makes this 12 panel mural more than religious propaganda but a work of art as well.
“REVELATION” Works by Jordan Nassar James Cohan at 48 Walker Street
PAUL MORENO offers a studied critique of recent work by Jordan Nassar whose artistic practice has taken new direction of objecthood.
Yoko Ono: A Primer
In conjunction with Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art retrospective exhibition of Yoko Ono’s oeuvre, JOHN THOMURE gives us a brief synopsis of what here work is about.
Raven Chacon: American Ledger No. 3 The Renaissance Society in association with the Logan Center for the Arts, Chicago
JOHN THOMURE reviews Raven Chacon: American Ledger No. 3 and finds the performance “an apt sonic metaphor for the fraught and disorienting times we are living through across the world.”
“Sarah Whythe—And the Space Between” by The Adoptea, Chicago Art Department
MICHEL SÉGARD examines this exhibition whose content is close to his personal experience and reflects on the difficulty of reviewing a show whose main feature is its social content
Rectangles of Negativity A review of “Dust Jacket,” works by Nick Schutzenhofer, at Mickey, Chicago
CURTIS ANTHONY BOZIF reviews Schutzenhofer’s work and finds it causes him to think about the evolution of pigment and the meaning and influence of imagery in this electronic age.
Dinorá Justice: “Entwined” Gallery NAGA, Boston, MA
EMELIA LEHMANN stumbled upon the work of Dinorá Justice in a gallery in a former chapel of the neo-Gothic Church of the Covenant in Bsoton. Part of her Portrait series, Justice explores Gustav Klimt”s oeuvre and compositional style and adapts it to depict the role of women today.
“Open me: Miguel Ângelo Rocha” and “Across the open field” Three exhibitions in Lisbon, Portugal
On his visit to Lisbon, Portugal, DOMINICK LOMBARDI happened on three art exhibitions that he though were worthy of reviewing, as they showed some of the breadth of the gallery scene in Lisbon.
“I am California” “David Kimball Anderson: Bakersfield Standards” Bakersfield Museum of Art, September 25, 2025–January 3, 2026
NEIL GOODMAN reviews” David Kimball Anderson: Bakersfield Standards” at the Bakers field Museum of Art. He is taken by how the work is compatible with the surrounding countryside.
Where Dreams and Fairytales Become Nightmares: The Art of Eleanor Spiess-Ferris
DIANE THODOS pens an extensive analysis of th works of Eleanor Speiss-Ferris base on the artist's exhibition "Drinking The Moon" at the Koehnline Museum of Art in Des Plaines, Illinois. Thodos delves into the artist's history and concentrates on the feminist content of the work.
Still-Life, Playful-Life: A Visit to Frank Trankina’s Studio
SAMUEL SCHWINDT visits the studio of Chicago painter Jim Trankina to delve into the comingling and cross pollination of painterly practice, collecting, pop culture, and art historical tropes.
“Write It Down, Draw It Out: The Comics Art of Carol Tyler” Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum, Columbus, Ohio May 24–November 9, 2025
SEAN BIERI reviews the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum’s exhibition “Write It Down, Draw It Out: The Comics Art of Carol Tyler,” a retrospective of the cartoonist’s long, unique career that confirms Tyler as a brilliant and singular figure in the canon of graphic narrative.
Figure of a Gentle Gay Manifesto: “Undercurrents”
Nathan Brad Hall, Gallery Victor, June 20–August 30, 2025
MICHEL SÉGARD analyses the subtly hidden content in these large figurative paintings by Nathan Brad Hall.
“Amy Beeler: Domestic Lines, Quiet Rituals” Toledo Museum of Art, July 23 to October 10, 2025
K.A. LETTS reviews the calm and relentlessly personal work of Amy Beeler that quietly focuses on her domestic life and family. She has created innovative works with such mundane material as clothesline or cotton rope and found objects.
There's a Darkness at the Edge of Town. “Tom Torluemke, Live on Paper, 1987–2024” Chicago Cultural Center, May 24—August 10, 2025
NEIL GOODMAN interviews Tom Torluemke on the occasion of the artist’s exhibition “Tom Torluemke, Live on Paper, 1987–2024” at the Chicago Cultural Center. In addition to being an influential Midwest artist, he and his wife Linda Dorman organized and ran Uncle Freddy’s Gallery in Highland Indiana for seven years, a major exhibition space for Northwest Indiana’s emerging contemporary artists.
“The Unusual Suspects: Art from Unexpected Materials” Hygienic Art, New London, Connecticut
D. DOMINICK LOMBARDI reviews this unusual group exhibition in an unusual, renovated space. The artists use uncommon materials such as baked bananas, plastic straws, exterior house paint fragments, and human hair, making for an extraordinary viewing experience.
Ro(b)//ert Lundberg’s by-passing-upon Closing performances for Crystal Mslajek and John Marks’ Permanent Fixture Roman Susan, Chicago, August 9, 2025
JOHN THOMURE analyses these two performances and contrasts their stated objectives with his perception of their accomplishments.
“Ghost” Jarvis Art, Sep 4, 2025–Oct 4, 2025
PAUL MORENO reviews “Ghosts,” a group show addressing the contemporary concept of landscape at a new space, Jarvis, in New York’s Chinatown. He singles out five works to illustrate the varied approaches to the subject present in today’s art world.
Boston Public Art Triennial
May 22 – October 31, 2025
EMELIA LEHMANN has chosen to review the city’s Triennial 2025: The Exchange. This city-wide show features a wide range of works: Emelia has chosen a few as examples of the vibrancy and contemporary tone of the show.
Diane Simpson: Ageless Relevance EXPO Chicago 2025, one-person show at Corbett vs. Dempsey booth
MICHEL SÉGARD reviews this surprisingly charming, intimate exhibition of Diane Simpson’s early works on paper, shown by Corbett vs Dempsey at this year’s Expo Chicago. It informs the viewer of her early influences and how she develops and constructs her sculptures..
EXPO Chicago 2025
The New Art Examiner sent two reviewers to cover this fair, a staple in the Chicago contemporary art scene for more than 40 years. Here are two interpretations by editors Evan Carter’s and Michel Ségard.
“The Gun Violence Memorial Project”
Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit (MOCAD)
K.A. LETTS reports on “The Gun Violence Memorial Project” at MOCAD detailing not only its sobering content, but its organizational support along with seven links for further information.
Jack Whitten: The Messenger
Museum of Modern Art, New York City, March 2–August 2, 2025
JOHN THOMURE visits MoMA’s retrospective of the works of Jack Whitten, an overlooked African American abstract painter and a contemporary of Sam Gilliam and Norman Lewis. The exhibit not only includes examples of Whitten’s work, but the custom tools that he developed to create his unique surfaces, most famously The Developer. a large squeegee he used to spread paint.
Greenwich Connecticut Shows Off
“Paul Manes Solo Exhibition” Trimper Gallery, Greenwich, CT, May 15 –August 15
“Martin Kline: The World in all its Plenitude” Heather Gaudio Fine Art, Greenwich, CT, May 3–June 14
D. DOMINICK LOMBARDI visited Greenwich, Connecticut, and found two intriguing exhibitions. He was taken by Paul Manes’s unconventional approach and homage to art history, while oscillating between figuration and abstraction. Kline, equally unconventional, uses encaustic with a rich blue reminiscent of Yves Klein’s, but molded through the use of bubble wrap and other materials.
Rediscovering Black Genius
The Collection of the Johnson Publishing Company at the DuSable Black History Museum and Education Center (currently on view)
Charles Venkatesh Young reviews this DuSalbe Museum exhibit that chronicles Johnson Publishing Company’s history in Chicago as a major force in the African American community.
Malice and the Phallus
Paintings by Robert Polidoro
1969 Gallery, NY, March 21 – April 26, 2025
CHARLES VENKATESH YOUNG was intrigued by Polidoro’s paintings which embody both precisionism and nihilism. Formally beautiful, they also hold subtle sexual connotations, making for an interesting mix.
Dorota Gawęda and Egle Kulkokaitė: -Lalia
JOHN THOMURE analyses this complex performance at the Renaissance Society. It was designed to have two modes of viewing: live and streamed to another space. Technology difficulties interfered with the full appreciation of the attempt to interweave theater and film.
Charles Burnett: Killer of Sheep
JOHN THOMURE reviews the new restoration of Charles Burnett’s Killer of Sheep. It is important for its portrayal of life in Watts County, Los Angeles, during the 1970s and for Burnett’s communal approach to film production.
Rhona Hoffman and Carl Hammer Galleries close shop.
TOM MULLANEY had compiled a brief history of each gallery summarizing its contribution to Chicago’s cultural milieu.
Life after Death: The case for Donald Judd A sculptor’s appreciation.
NEIL GOODMAN examines Donald Judd’s installations at Marfa, Texas, and comes away with a new appreciation for the significance of his work.
Offline with the Art Right
ERIK ORUP reports on a number of “right wing” art events in New York City featuring Anna Khachiyan, Dasha Nekrasova, and Dean Kissick.
“Project A Black Planet: The Art and Culture of Pan-Africa” Art Institute of Chicago, December 15, 2024–March 30, 2025
Poet ED ROBERSON takes a close, critical view of the exhibition’s failed objective to imagine a unified Black World through these artists’ work. Nevertheless, he finds the exhibition successfully “informative and thought provoking.”
“Uncanny” National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington D.C. February 28–August 10, 2025
EMELIA LEHMANN reviews this show by women and and female-identifying artists dating from the 1930s to present day that centers on “women’s authorship of uncanny narratives…” as they push back on some of Sigmund Freud’s patriarchal attitudes.
Elisa Harkins: Wampum Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, February 1, 2025
JOHN THOMURE describes the performance Wampum by Elisa Harkins, a Cherokee and Muscogee descendent. He noted her blend of Indigenous musical traditions with pop music of the 1980s and 1990s and the incorporation of a drum circle by The Good Medicine Gang.
“Magical Realism—AI Photography” Perspective Gallery, Chicago, January 30–March 2, 2025
REBECCA MEMOLI examines this exhibition and identifies current limitations and shortcomings of artificial intelligence in the production of works of art.
Owen Fu: “Own Alone” P●P●O●W, New York, January 31–March 8, 2025
PAUL MORENO is fascinated by the subtlety and spare execution of Owen Fu’s paintings.
Robert Longo: “The Acceleration of History” Milwaukee Art Museum October 25, 2024–February 23, 2025
ANDREW HART BENSON responds to the sobering and sometimes chilling content of Robert Longo’s huge charcoal drawings, videos, and sculptures.
Nicolas Bermeo: “Playing in Reality” King’s Leap, NY February 12–March 15, 2025
PAUL MORENO examines Nicolas Bermio’s remix of Mark Rothko’s Untitled, 1953, and finds it interesting but finds his other paintings wanting.
“The Prime Numbers” Five paintings by Bob Hooper February 28–April 5, 2025, 65Grand, Chicago
MICHEL SÉGARD visits one of Chicago’s more out-of-the-way galleries to find an engaging show of pure abstraction by Bob Hooper.
"Imagination in the Age of Reason" and “Picasso and Paper”
SEAN BIERI travels three hours to the Cleveland Museum of Art and back to see, not the big draw “Picasso and Paper” but to see “Imagination in the Age of Reason,” a small show of etchings and engravings from the eighteenth century that makes us think critically about our own time.
Boys of a Feather
Martin Weinstein at Lichtundfire, NYC, Feb 6–March 1, 2025
Christopher Hart Chambers at Crossing Art, NYC, Jan 23–March 11 2025
D. DOMINIC LOMBARDI finds common ground between the works of Martin Weinstein and Christopher Hart Chambers in their appreciation of and focus on nature.
“The Ryleans”: An Art Exhibition or a Course in Twentieth-Century Philosophy?
Twelve Ten Gallery, Chicago, February 15–March 29, 2025
MICHEL SÉGARD examines how the works in this exhibition reflect the philosophy of Gilbert Ryle and how this parallelism expresses the artists’ attitudes toward the present.
Local Neon 2025
Ken Saunders Gallery, Chicago, IL
February 1 through May 5, 2025
MICHEL SÉGARD visits and uncommon show of neon at Ken Saunders Gallery and finds technical expertise and novel uses of this “out of fashion” medium.
“Pushing Boundaries”
Jeanne Bieri, Boisali Biswas, Terry Lee Dill, Nanci LeBret Einstein, David Velez Felix, Jay Knapp, and Meighen Jackson at Janice Charach Gallery, West Bloomfield Township, MI
K.A. LETTS examines this show of seven artists and their effort to expand the creative possibilities of their mediums.
The Art of Jesse Howard and the Radical Humanity of Psychological Witnessing “The Emerging of a Black Diaspora,” Wadsworth Family Gallery, Lewis University, Romeoville, Illinois
DIANE THODOS analyses the work of this not well-known Chicago artist and his dramatic contribution to the truth of the Black experience.
Silver Linings: Celebrating the Spelman Art Collection University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor, Michigan
SEAN BIERI surveys this traveling exhibition of selections from the Spelman Art Collection. It is the foremost collection of Black women artists, and it wasn’t until the 1980s that the institution prioritized acquiring works by Black women artists. So, most of the work is quite contemporary and varies “from the vernacular to the conceptual” as Bieri puts it.
Two Views of The Gay World with Caribbean Influence David Antonio Cruz: Come Close, Like Before, Monique Meloche Gallery & Leasho Johnson: Escaping the Tyranny of Meaning Mariane Ibrahim Gallery
MICHEL SÉGARD reviews two concurrent exhibitions that dealt with LGBTQ+ life in different
Latino communities. He notes how the differing subcultures give rise to different aesthetic styles.
Martin O’Brien: Fading Out of Dead Air International Museum of Surgical Science, Chicago
JOHN THOMURE describes this performance piece by Martin O’Brien. Suffering from cystic fibrosis, it is fitting that the performance, put on by Defibrillator Performance Art Gallery’s director Joseph Ravens, was held at the International Museum of Surgical Science. According to Thomure, the piece is philosophical, and about “a personal process of sublimating the difficullty of their experience…into poetic gestures which celebrate vitality and life.”
Visceral Realism: A Review of Leon Golub at Hauser & Wirth “Et In Arcadia Ego,” Hauser & Wirth, 22nd Street, New York.
CHARLES YOUNG looks at Leon Golub’s work with 21st century eyes and emphasizes the objectivity of Golub’s vision, and he asserts that Golub deliberately avoided a particular political stance and claimed objectivity in depicted acts of war.
Jim Chatelain: Correcting Past Mistakes Selected Abstractions, 2001–2024 Oakland University Art Gallery, Rochester, Michigan, September 7–November 24, 2024
SEAN BIERI reviews the recent work by Jim Chatelain a Cass Corridor veteran from the 1970s. In the nearly ¼ century span of this show, Chatelain concentrates on the organic aspects of his subjects.
Álvaro Urbano: TABLEAU VIVANT Sculpture Center, Long Island City, NYC September 19, 2024–March 24, 2025
PAUL MORENO digs on to Alvaro Urbano’s reinstallation and reinterpretation of Scott Burton’s Atrium Furnishment, once housed at the Equitable Center in Manhattan.
Jeff Way Then & Now: 1970–2024 Storage, NYC, September 6–November 2, 2024
PAUL MORENO examines the work of Jeff Way at Storage in NYC’s TriBeCa district and focuses on the Way’s desire to create order and depict the tension created when things change, weather, and age.
Eric Lindsey: “Here and Now”
NEIL GOODMAN reviews a show of Eric Lindsey’s work, a lesser known but important sculptor, at Alma Interiors. The space is unusual in that it does not follow the standard white box gallery format. Lindsey’s work has an often humorous sense of the surreal without being despondent that is compatible with a more residential interior.
“Chryssa & New York” Wrightwood 659, Chicago, May 3–July 27, 2024
REBECCA MEMOLI examined the life and work of Chryssa (Chryssa Vardea-Mavromichali) at the exhibition “Chryssa & New York” at Wrightwood 659 last summer. This artist was a leader in early neon and Pop art in the 1950s through the 1970s.
Nothing that is Not There: Mark Ryan Chariker 1969 Gallery, New York, November 14–December 21, 2024.
CHARLES VENKATESH YOUNG examines the work of Mark Ryan Chariker and how he is influenced by French Rococo painting and by Chinese Song Dynasty landscape painting.
Three Solo Exhibitions in Western Kentucky: Bill Ford Gallery and library gallery, Paducah School of Art and Design, The Mary Ed Meoy Hall Gallery at Murray State University
DOMINICK LOMBARDI reviews three exhibition in Paducah Kentucky that caught his eye whil visiting: one of the abstract paintings of Paul Aho, another of paintings by outsider artist Helen LaFrance, and one of photographs by Fred DiGiovanni.
Georgia O’Keeffe: “My New Yorks” Art Institute of Chicago, June 2–Sept 22, 2024
ANDREW HART BENSON examines O’Keeffe’s “My New Yorks” in the context of her life in New York City and her relationship to Alfred Stieglitz. They note how O’Keeffe’s struggled to achieve a rendering of the urban landscape that was compatible to her love of nature.
“The Ground of things” Ukranian Institute of Modern Art, Chicago July 12–August 30, 2024
ED ROBERSON and MICHEL SÉGARD pair up in reviewing this collaborative show of drawings and poems by Vasyl Savchenko and Aleksander Najda. They examine the interplay between media and the ability to translate thoughts from one to the other.
Everyone Should Be a Stick Figure: An Interview with Jinlu Luo
JOHN THOMURE summarizes his interview with Chicago performance artist Jinlu Luo.
"Brainworms"
CHARLES YOUNG discovers a new(ish) gallery in Chicago’s Edgewater neighborhood that showed the works of Keith Tilford and Pieter Schoolwerth. Their works make use of AI, digital printing, video, and traditional oils and arylics to question our assumptions about what is a “painting.”
“A Modernist Regime: Cuban Mid-Century Design” “Marc Castillo: The Hands of the Collector” “Cuba Dispersa”
SEAN BIERI visits three exhibitions at the Cranbrook Art Museum in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, that examine modern art and furniture design in the years after the rise of Fidel Castro. They display the early idealistic efforts and the later disenchantment of Cuban artists during that regime.
“In an effort to be held” at the Shepherd, Detroit, August 3, 2024–October 12, 2024
K.A. LETTS reviews the inaugural exhibition at Detroit’s the Shephard, a new exhibition space by the Library Street Collective. Titled “In an effort to be held” and curated by Allison Glenn, this 26-artist exhibition focuses on the relationship between a physical surface and the body of a person or an artwork.
“Our Delicate Armor” Stasias Gallery, Chicago, August 2–31, 2024.
ANNETTE LEPIQUE responds to the “lyrical looseness” of this exhibition of six artists by examining three works in detail and their relationship to our society’s notion of femininity.
Matt Connors: “Positions” Ortuzar Projects, June 21—August 9, 2024
PAUL MORENO examines the subtle and intriguing compositional processes of Matt Connors’s abstract paintings at Ortuzar Projects.
Jeff Ostergren: “High Society” Real Art Ways, Hartford, CT
D. DOMINICK LOMBARDI analyzes the unconventional work of Jeff Ostergren and its connection to and critique of our everyday drug culture. This artist actually uses dozens of our society’s everyday drug in the creation of his pieces by incorporating them into his pigments.
Bill Viola: A Pioneering Video Artist who Sought Transcendence
JOHN THOMURE summarizes the career and contributions of this extraordinary video artist as he examines Viola’s historically based aesthetic motivations.
Sarah Irvin “Unstable Propositions” Tephra ICA at Signature (Reston, VA) July 19–October 12, 2024
EMELIA LEHMANN responds to Sarah Irvin’s art chronicling her daughter’s maturation and how the role of motherhood changed with time.
“Subversive, Skilled, Sublime: Fiber Art by Women” On view at the Renwick Gallery (Smithsonian American Art Museum) May 31, 2024–January 5, 2025
EMELIA LEHMANN gives a comprehensive review of “Subversive, Skilled, Sublime: Fiber Art by Women” at the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum. This exhibition surveys the extraordinary variety of fiber art from the last half of the 20th century to the early 21st century.
Gerhardt Liebmann at Mitchell Algus Gallery, NY May 11 – July 27, 2024
PAUL MORENO reviews the exhibition of the work of little-known artist Gerhardt Leibmann (1928–1989). Also known for his drawings of baby dolls and commissions he did for the Saudi royal family; this show primarily focuses on paintings that represent the artist’s unique surreal vision of an intersection of architecture and landscape.
Camille Claudel: Transmuting Emotional Connection
in the Female Mind
Art Institute of Chicago, October 7, 2023– February 19, 2024
DIANE THODOS examines the work of Camille Claudel and her work’s relationship to that of Auguste Rodin. She notes how their stylistic contrasts are supported by the research of Louann Brizendine on the differences in the male and female brain.
Expo Chicago 2024:
Three Writers, Three Views
Navy Pier, April 24–April 27, 2024
This year, the New Art Examiner sent three writers to Expo Chicago. Our writers’ ages spanned more than 60 years. We wanted to see how that would affect their perception of the fair. Indeed, each had a different vision of what the fair was about, but they also shared a couple of conclusions about the fair’s overall content.
Season of the Witch: Isabella Mellado “Te Diré Quién Eres [I will tell you who you are]" at Povos West Town, April 10–May 25, 2024
ANNETTE LEPIQUE analyzes the meaning in Isabella Mellado’s psychologically surreal paintings at Povos West Town, Chicago.
Elizabeth Youngblood, “Syntax” Penny Stamps Gallery, University of Michigan, June 21-August 3
K.A. LETTS describes Elizabeth Youngblood’s unique position in the African American art scene and how Youngblood has maintained a commitment to abstraction and craft.
Phyllis Bramson + David Leggett “Double, Double Toil and Trouble” Engage Projects, March 22– April 27, 2024
CHARLES YOUNG examines the works and intent of these two well-known Chicago artists within our contemporary context.
Earth Tones: Soumya Netrabile’s “mono no aware” At Andrew Rafacz Gallery
CURTIS ANTHONY BOZIF examines the complex content of Soumya Netrabile’s paintings on show at Andrew Rafacz Gallery (Chicago) on view through May 25.
It Must Be Good
PHILLIP BARCIO ponders on what is good art and what is not and discusses the notion of the democratization of art in contrast to an elitist notion of high art.
“AI and the Creator: Is it Art?”
Hatch Art gallery, Hamtramck, Michigan May 2024
SEAN BIERI examines the present state of artificial intelligence in the production of art and its implications on the concept of original art.
“Equipoise” Carol Pylant at Gallery Victor, March 15–May 4, 2024.
MICHEL SÉGARD explores the underlying psychological and surreal content of this highly accomplished realist painter.
Andy Paczos: EXTRA -- ORDINARY At 1960 N Clybourn Ave, April 13–April 27, 2024
ANDREW ART BENSON admires the en plein air painting tradition that Andy Paczos brings to the Chicago urban scene.
Neighbors in Barcelona Two Barcelona Galleries Marie Zolamian: “Sa Mue,” Bombon Projects and Sampler—Guillermo Pfaff, Galeria Carles Taché
D. DOMINICK LOMBARDI visits two galleries in Barcelona, Spain, and encounters the works of a Lebanese surrealist artist, living in Belgium, and a more contemporary Spanish abstract artist whose work is informed by the graffiti he sees in the Gothic Quarter of Barcelona where he lives.
"Night and Day” William Conger at Zolla Lieberman Gallery—March 15–April 20, 2024
REBECCA MEMOLI reviews the new work of this senior member of Chicago’s Allusive Abstraction movement and remarks on his mastery of color.
Andrés Bedoya: "One of My Fingers is a Snake” at SITUATIONS, March 1–April 14, 2024
PAUL MORENO examines Bedoya’s use of the Catholic ex-voto tradition to explore the reverence and sacredness of everyday objects.
Frank Stella: Always a Man of his Time May 12, 1936–May 4, 2024
MICHEL SÉGARD chronicles the 66-year career of Frank Stella, from his leadership in the early minimalist movement in the late 1950s to the creation of sculptures using digital 3D modeling and 3D printing in the 21st century.
The Razors Edge A memorial to Richard Serra: (1938-2024)
NEIL GOODMAN recounts Richard Serra’s fame as one of the leading minimalist sculptors and how he responded to Serra’s work.
Derek Guthrie (1936-2023): A Consideration
JANET KOPLOS gives an unvarnished account of the life of Derek Guthrie, the co-founder along with Jane Addams Allen of the New Art Examiner. She recounts his role in the magazine and how his eccentricities affected the course of the publication.
Fire and Ice: Remembering Richard Hunt
NEIL GOODMAN chronicles the career of Richard Hunt, and details why he is considered one of Chicago’s and this country’s greatest sculptors.
Pope.L (1955–2023): Innovative Performance Artist and Master of Satirical Absurdity
JOHN THOMURE recounts his working relationship with Pope.L, while detailing what made him such a noteworthy performance artist.
“Ruth Duckworth: Life as a Unity”
MICHEL SÉGARD examines how Duckworth relates to earlier twentieth century abstract sculptors and how she incorporates the “mother earth” world view into her work.
Remedios Varo: a Surreal Room of One’s Own
DIANE THODOS examines the work of Remedios Varo, the Spanish born surrealist artist, and relates how her imagery is influenced by her tempestuous life and how her work ideologically contrasts with present day art.
Art Basel Miami Beach, 2023:
Miami Beach Convention Center, December 8-10
SEAN ROBERTS reviews the Maimi Basal Art Fair and writes about a half dozen pieces that he thought were worthy of attention.
Hygienic Dress League
“Cross Pollination"
K.A. LETTS examines the complex output of multimedia artists Dorota and Steve Coy (aka Hygienic Dress League Corporation). Their exhibition titled “Cross Pollination” at River House Arts in Toledo, Ohio is at sampling of several HDLC’s recent installations.
Brian Buczak
“Man Looks at the World”
PAUL MORENO reviews this first solo exhibition of the works of Brian Buczak since a posthumous show in 1989. (Buczak died from AIDS related complications in 1987.) The exhibition was mounted by Ortuzar Projects and Gordon Robichaux galleries, NYC.
Chloe Siebert: "Psychoangels"
ANDREW HART BENSON studies the possible meanings behind Chloe Siebert’s exhibition “Psychoangels” and is fascinated by the dystopian cat army that populates the show. It is the second time Siebert has had a one person show at Mickey gallery, Chicago.
"Pollards” Natalie Wadlington at Library Street Collective
MARISSA JEZAK examines the work of Natalie Wadlington in her exhibition “Pollards” and how the work “leaves the viewer in an ambient state of contemplation.” At the Library Street Collective, Detroit, MI, January 20, 2024–February 21, 2024
Across Generations: The Art of RISD Graduates
D. DOMINICK LOMBARDI visits two Rhode Island exhibitions: “I Will Not Bend an Inch,” featuring the works of Nancy Elizabeth Prophet (1890–1960), and “Coloured.Aesthetica,” an exhibition of current work by Triton Mobley (b. 1979) at the Chazan Gallery at Wheeler nearby. He notes how the two exhibitions demonstrate how little has changed in the lives of African Americans through the 20th century.
A Thousand Moons: An Interview with Fern Shaffer
CORY POSTIGLIONE interviews Fern Shaffer about two major projects she has realized, one, Nine-Year Ritual of Healing, that was on view at the Barbican Centre in London as part of “Re/Sisters: A Lens on Gender and Ecology,” the other, A 1000 Moons, recently completed by not yet shown in its entirety.
Sanford Biggers: “Back to the Stars”
REBECCA MEMOLI examines the results of Sanford Biggers’s use of antique quilts to create new works and how that helps preserve their history.
“Women on the Verge”
Rhona Hoffman Gallery, October 27–December 15, 2023
ANNETTE LEPIQUE examines the curatorial theses of this large feminist exhibition and how it relates to present-day thinking on the topic.
Past and Present: Looking Out—Looking In Martin Puryear at Storm King Art Center
Sculptor NEIL GOODMAN looks at the recent addition to the Storm King Art Center by Martin Puryear and how it differs from the other outdoor sculptures in the collection.
Hear Me Now: The Black Potters of Old Edgefield, South Carolina University of Michigan Museum of Art
K.A. LETTS recounts the history of antebellum pottery making in Old Edgefield, South Carolina. In this exhibition, their work is compared with pieces by contemporary Black potters.
Ilana Harris-Babou: “Needy Machines” CANDICE MADEY, New York, November 3–December 16, 2023
PAUL MORENO visits this exhibition that presents video and sculptural works exploring emotional and psychological effects of marketing in today’s culture.
Louis Fratino: “In bed and abroad” at Sikkema Jenkins & Co.
Roberto Gil de Montes: “Reverence in Blue” at kurimanzutto, New York.
PAUL MORENO recounts how he perceived these two shows after seeing a Pina Bausch version of the ballet Rite of Spring and how this experience challenged his perception of the brown queer body.
A Vessel and a Shore: Vera Klement, 1929-2023
Upon her passing at age 93 on October 20, 2023, BUZZ SPECTOR, a long-time colleague, chronicles Vera Klement’s life and career.
Joel Carreiro: A Tour of Possible Worlds
DOMINICK LOMBARDI reviews Joel Carreiro’s collaged transformation of Renaissance and 20th century art into works that resemble crazy quilts, but redefine the way we look at historical masters.
Athi-Patra Ruga…looking for The One
ANDREW HART BENSON examines the cultural and social truths depicted in the paintings of South African artist Athi-Patra Ruga.
"Crosscurrents” and “Signs All Kinds”
REBECCA MEMOLI compares the abstract painting of Scott Wolniak with the text installation of Carris Adams and discusses what they have in common.
Handstitched Worlds: The Cartography of Quilts
EMELIA LEHMAN discusses the historical and art historical significance of these works of art along
with the evolution of the medium.
Dan Ramirez: Vertical Thoughts
MICHEL SÉGARD reviews works by Dan Ramirez whose abstract works explore the poetic depths of the human mind and spirit.
“Free Your Mind: Art and Incarceration in Michigan”
MARISSA JEZAK examines the art made by individuals currently or previously incarcerated in Michigan prisons.
Mickey Gallery: Five Years of Experimentation
MICHEL SÉGARD reviews this gallery's summer show that featured works exhibited in the past five years.
“Hide and Seek” New Work by Jeanne Bieri at Detroit Contemporary
K.A. LETTS on Jeanne Bieri and how the work recalls and pays homage to past armed conflicts.
“Dear Louise: A Tribute to Louise Fishman”
PAUL MORENO reviews this posthumous exhibition of the late Louise Fishman's work and its ties to Abstract Expressionism.
No Words Spoken: The Ordinary in the Works of Kyungwoo Chun
LEANDRÉ S’SOUZA chronicles the recent work of Kyungwoo Chun in Goa and Mumbai and how he enroils communities into participation in his projects.
Worth a Thousand Words — Graphic Biographies of Artists’ Lives
SEAN BIERI give us a overview of biographies of well known artists done in the form of graphic novels.
Richard Haines: Paradise Lost
PAUL MORENO examines the work of this artist's images of men in various life activities—a flâneur’s observations.
“There Are Many Ways to Hold Water Without Being Called a Vase”
MICHEL SÉGARD ponders the work of Antonius-Tín Bui, Chinese paper cutting pieces of exceptional technical skill and deep social content.
"Then Is Now: Contemporary Black Art in America"
D. DOMINICK LOMBARDI reviews the Bruce Museum's exhibition of significant Black art from the mid 20th century to the present.
"Gordon Parks, The Early Years: 1942 - 1963"
TOM MULLANEY analyzes this famous photographer's early works of street photography with an emphasis on children.
"Degenerate! Hitler's War on Modern Art"
DIANE THODOS account of Hitler’s DEGENERATE! art exhibition on the lives of early 20th century European artists.
Creative Emergence From the Pandemic
ANNETTE LEPQUE reviews this dual exhibition
at SoNa Gallery of works created during and after the pandemic lockdown.
Wiley, Kitsch, and Politics
MICHEL SEGARD rebuts criticism that Kehinde Wiley is hocking kitsch.
Alieś Puškin 1965 - 2023
K. A. LETTS pays tribute to the life and memory of this Belarusian artist, activist, and political prisoner who died while incarcerated.
SPRING 2023
Where I Find Ourselves
PAUL MORENO examines three important exhibitions that illustrate the history and state of the LGBTQ+ community.
Apocalypse Sky
DOMINIK LOMBARDI looks at this historical exhibition of AIDS activism art in NYC during the 1980's.
Take My Picture
REBECCA MEMOLI reviews Partic McCoy's photography depicting the black gay scene in 1980's Chicago.
Tongue & Nails
ANNETTE LEPIQUE ponders this exhibition that examines the relationship between the body and the definition of one's self.
EXPO Chicago 2023
MICHEL SÉGARD and EVAN CARTER, each give their take on this year's fair.
40 ChatGPT AI-Generated Questions for CHICAGO EXPO:
In Collaboration with SCR2W
Miami Basel 2022
DIANE THODOS analyses the economics and social politics of art fairs.
On the Road: an Interview with Ted Stanuga
NEIL GOODMAN interviews Ted Stanuga, and discusses his legacy as an Abstractionist in an Imagist town.
Jason Revok: Now You See Him, Now You Don't
K.A. LETTS looks at this artists move from graffiti artist to gallery artist in his new show at MOCAD.
David Hockney: "The Arrival of Spring"
EVAN CARTER reviews "The Arrival of Spring" at the Art Institute of Chicago, featuring Hockney's latest work using an iPad
Scott Hocking at Cranbrook Art Museum
K.A. LETTS reviews the work of this seminal Detroit sculpture and installation artist.
Gabriel Orozco: "Spacetime"
PAUL MORENO reviews this novel but well-hidden show at Marian Goodman Gallery.
"Envision: The Michigan Artist Initiative 2023"
K.A. LETTS examines the work of the three finalists in this competition.
Lonnie Holley: Inside and Outside
SEAN ROBERTS looks at Lonnie Holley's art and music that was featured at Knoxville’s Big Ears festival on March 30, 2023.
"House Set Sun"
MARISSA JEZAK reviews work by Anne Speier and Lucie Stahl at What Pipeline, Detroit
The Alchemists: A Transformative Exhibition of Black art
DESTINY GRAY reviews this Atlanta show of 28 Black artists.