Two Chicago Galleries Closing: Walsh + Nicole

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