This weekend is an exciting time for art lovers in Chicago. The annual SOFA CHICAGO is back, now with an extra emphasis on art & design. Visit Navy Pier Friday-Sunday to see a wide range of art presented by international galleries and dealers. You’ll find many rare objects and works of art, as well as have access to outstanding lectures. Experts are around every corner, so the opportunities to learn and explore are endless. Once again SOFA is partnering with The Intuit Show of Folk & Outsider Art, so you may enjoy two fairs under a single roof. 

Visit sofaexpo.com to learn more about special exhibits and lectures at the fair to get the most out of your visit. This year’s lectures (click here for info) range from The Bluffer’s Guide to European Jewelry to Cartooning In Conflict: An Illustration of the Futility of War and It's the End of the World As We Know It...But My Art is Fine! A guide to protecting your art. Most of the lectures take place Friday and Saturday, with just one on Sunday, so plan ahead if you’re hoping to get in on the learning. Lectures are included with admission.  Tickets to the fair are available online, or at the door.  

There is certainly enough activity to keep you busy all three days this weekend.  Play hooky and come to the fair on Friday, or just wait until after work and catch some gallery openings Friday evening. Chicago Gallery News is providing a courtesy shuttle between SOFA, the Museum of Contemporary Art + the River North Gallery District all weekend. The shuttles will take you to openings on Friday.  On Saturday evening, there will be an extra stop at KM Fine Arts for their special fall exhibition, Eyes Wide Shut. KM Fine Arts is located on the 25^th floor the John Hancock Center, so you’ll have a fabulous view of the city and the lakefront from the gallery, not to mention cocktails! 

Several galleries in the River North District will have extended hours all weekend (including on Sunday!) and many will be holding opening receptions Friday evening. Take the free shuttle to Franklin + Superior and enjoy the opportunity to visit the culturally rich River North District where streets are lined with galleries and great restaurants. 

River North Gallery District

SOFA + Shuttle Hours

Friday: 11am-7pm  •  Shuttle: 12-7pm

Saturday 11am-7pm  •  Shuttle: 12-7pm

Sunday 12-6pm  •  Shuttle: 11am-2pm

For more information about SOFA and galleries visit: Chicagogallerynews.com

Chicago Humanities Festival is a great organization that works to give people of all ages opportunities to continuously explore the humanities. They host annual festivals like the fall Chicago Humanities Festival, the spring stages, sights and sounds festival, and variety of programs throughout the year that promote the study of the humanities. They are focused on making the humanities a vital and vibrant part of every day life through encouraging people to get involved. The Chicago Humanities Festival was founded by a group of people that believed that the humanities was a rich asset to everyone, and the intention of creating a day devoted to the humanities turned into a festival. Throughout the years many notable artists and performers have come to the festivals or participated in events held at the center. There are a constant source of events highlighting literature and the visual arts, creating great opportunities to get involved.

The month of October has no shortage of great lectures, and from the list of topics everyone is bound to find something that sparks their interest. On Sunday October 16th art historian S. Hollis, Clayson is presenting Shedding Artificial Light on Art History from 3:30 to 4:30. This lecture discusses the French Impressionists fascination with light, and the influences that the incandescent light bulb had on the Parisian artists when introduced in 1881 to Paris. The event is held at Harris Hall in room 107 and is $5.00 for general admission and free for faculty and students.

On Sunday October 23rd, African historian Emily Osborn's lecture Melting Pot: African Culture, studies the continents' past though a variety of methodical tools and approaches. Her next book Recycling Traditions: Aluminum Casting and the Making of a Modern African Diaspora offers a history of technology transfer and diffusion. She looks at the social and cultural history of Africa when discussing the way in which the indigenous people re-use material in creative interpretations, for example using scrap metal to make cookware. Don’t miss this fascinating lecture from 12:30 to 1:30 at The Law School, Glen A. in the Lloyd Auditorium. General Admission is $5.00 and free for faculty and students.

Going into the month of November, you don’t want to miss art detective Francesca Casadio’s CSI: Picasso. Casadio is the senior conservationist at the Art Institute of Chicago and a chemist. She recalls her latest adventure in solving the mystery about Picasso’s paint. She talks of examples from the Art Institute all the way to Southern France, highlighting his works and revealing technology that is rewriting art history. This will be held at the Chicago Cultural Center in the Claudia Cassidy Theater on November 6th from 12:00 to 1:00 pm.

Be sure to check out the list of events at the Chicago Humanities Festival and take advantage of one of Chicago’s greatest resources.

What a day... We're sad to announce that two galleries that have been visible parts of our art community are closing their doors. 

Nicole Gallery in River North is having an all-out clearance sale this Friday, August 19, and all art must be out by 9pm when the gallery closes. Nicole Smith founded the gallery in 1986.  She was deeply committed to showing works by African, African American, and Haitian artists.  Nicole's gallery is unlike any other most gallery hoppers would encounter, with its bright walls and shiny bannisters gracing the steps up into the center of the massive space.  The sun always seemed to be shining on the gallery and on Nicole, whose soothing voice and soft accent was instantly recognizable on the phone in our office. Nicole also showed the popular work of Willard Wiggin during the the past couple of years; gallery visitors were mezmerized by the infinitesimal size of his works, often no bigger than a grain of rice, seen only under a microscope. After all this time, it's hard to believe Nicole Gallery was one of the city's art spaces I got to know first.  Nicole Gallery was on the cover of Chicago Gallery News in 2002 when I first started working at CGN.

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Walsh Gallery in the West Loop is opening its final show, In Beauty, on September 9 during the opening of the fall gallery season. The final show will run until September 24. Director Julie Walsh has run a very stimulating, international program for several years now.  She does not plan to exit the art world entirely, but the gallery will become sort of unteathered and "nomadic", allowing Walsh to undertake special projects and show works from her collection elsewhere more often.  After 17 years, the gallery will be holding exhibitions and staging art happenings around the world.  Walsh Gallery's concluding show in Chicago will be a mélange of mediums: wearable art, pseudo-fashion photos, new media visual performances and sculptures of gilded women's heads. In Beauty is a collaboration between artists Vivan Sundaram, Ravinder Reddy and Jongbum Choi that playfully looks at the basis of our perception of beauty.  The exhibit runs only 2 weeks, from September 9 - September 24.  The opening reception is Friday, September 9th from 5:30 - 8:00pm.

GARMENT SERIES BY VIVAN SUNDARAM