Chicago has lost two galleries this spring that were part of the backbone of Chicago’s contemporary art scene for the last fifty years. Our editorial advisor, Tom Mullaney had compiled a brief history of each gallery summarizing its contribution to Chicago’s cultural milieu. Happily, both galleries will continue online to help nourish Chicago’s art community going forward.

Rhona Hoffman Gallery: The Voice of Late Twentieth Century
Contemporary Art in Chicago.

        On the evening of March 14, 2025, close to 200 attendees came to view “Not Just A Pretty Picture”, the final opening at Rhona Hoffman’s Gallery at 1711 West Chicago Avenue.

        Museum directors, curators, artists and collectors had come to pay tribute to Chicago’s top female director on her gallery’s 50^th anniversary—half a century of exhibiting a whole host of the leading artists of the twentieth century.

        Rhona founded the gallery with her then husband, Donald Young, in 1976 and then went solo in 1983. Their artistic roster in the first year included Sol LeWitt (also present in her final show) Donald Judd, and Robert Ryman. The next year included the same three artists along with Gilbert and George, Gordon Matta-Clark, and Richard Tuttle. It was an auspicious start.

        Over the years, Rhona represented a galaxy of art stars. For the gallery’s 40^th anniversary, she published a 513-page catalog of the current and one-time artists she had represented. Featured on the list were Vito Acconci, Laurie Anderson, Dawoud Bey, Julia Fish, Leon Golub, Jacob Hashimoto, Jenny Holzer, Barbara Kruger, Martin Puryear, Nathaniel Mary Quinn, Michael Rakowitz, Fres Sandback, Cindy Sherman, Lorna Simpson, Nancy Spero, Carrie Mae Weems, and Kehinde Wiley. In the decade since, she has taken on artists Derrick Adams, Brian Maguire, and Amanda Williams.

        Rhona has maintained loyal and long-standing relations with her artists. She told this writer that the only artist she had a difficult time with was Scott Burton.

        She has been an ultimate art world survivor due to a variety of factors: a solid grounding in art history, her openness to a broad range of art genres, and a very keen eye.

        Rhona is quick to dispel any notion that she is exiting the art world. She told Ginny Van Alyea of Chicago Gallery News, “Segue is a much better term as it implies transition within the gallery’s program.”

        While she recently turned 91, Rhona intends to curate shows and sell art from her home, according to gallery director, Elise Siegenthaler. Chicago will not lose her vast wealth of knowledge and expertise,and she has donated several paintings and the gallery’s archive to the Art Institute of Chicago.

CARL HAMMER: Pioneer Advocate of Outsider Art

by Tom Mullaney

        When Rhona Hoffman opened her gallery in 1976, Carl Hammer had been teaching English at Evanston High School through the Civil Rights era and the Vietnam War. However, he and his wife would take road trips on weekends in search of folk or “grass roots” art. After several years, they decided to open a gallery.

        So, in 1979, twelve years before the founding of Intuit Gallery (now a museum), they opened Hammer and Hammer/American Folk Art in the Breskin Building at 620 N. Michigan Avenue, home to a number of art galleries including Richard Gray. Hammer moved west to an historic building at 742 N. Wells Street and was part of the original 16 galleries that constituted the River North Gallery District. He remained in that district until he closed the gallery this April after 45 years

        The term “Outsider” wasn’t used yet and was referred to by a variety of terms, for example, folk art and self-taught art. In 1972, Roger Cardinale, a professor at the University of Kent coined the phrase “Outsider Art” as a synonym for art brut. Since then, the term has come into use to mean art produced by an untrained artist and/or an artist using highly unusual materials and techniques.

        Hammer thought of himself as an outsider, having had no formal art training. He mounted exhibits by noted Outsider artists as Henry Darger, Lee Godie, and graphic artist Chris Ware. He had a hard time selling such work in the early years but, eventually, the art world followed.

        In his second year, Hammer was invited to show at Art Expo. He filled his booth with work by the newly discovered, self-taught artist Bill Traylor. He sold nearly everything by the artist, who had become an international art star.

        But he told Chicago Gallery News that “art fairs have replaced the older notion that clients establish loyal relationships with galleries and purchase work because they identify with the aesthetic of a particular gallery.” That is Hammer’s preferred model. He not only showed outsider art but also represented more academic artists such as sculptor Neil Goodman, Mary Lou Zelazny, and Vanessa German.

        Hammer had inherent curiosity, combined with affection for artists and collectors. The genuine fellowship that he and his gallery director of 37 years Yolanda Farias developed made visiting the gallery a particularly pleasant experience. No wonder Hammer survived for more than four decades. Hammer’s gallery records have been donated to the Archives of American Art at the Smithsonian Institution.

Tom Mullaney is an editorial advisor to the New Art Examiner. He served as managing editor of the magazine from 2016 to 2020.