By GINNY VAN ALYEA

2021 is racing along, and it's hard to believe we're looking at the end of another unusual year. Despite ups and downs and many changes in the local as well as global art world – including the absence, for the most part, of international art fairs – there have undoubtedly been opportunities and changes for innovation. After all, ours is a creative community. 

When dealer Kimberly Oliva knew that this year's Intersect Chicago (formerly SOFA CHICAGO) was not going to take place, she drew on her own art history, connections and experience in the vintage market to come up with a new event and creative gathering. 

Alma, Art and Interiors is an exhibition of 30 leading Chicago artists, presented by Oliva Gallery and Architectural Anarchy. Exploring contemporary art alongside distinct antiques and modern design, Alma, Art and Interiors reimagines the gallery as the spirit of the home. In 18,000 sq. ft. of 20th century loft space, Kimberly Oliva of Oliva Gallery and Gosia Korsakowski of Architectural Anarchy have curated dozens upon dozens of vignettes, each consisting of a few pieces, drawn from a variety of artistic disciplines and time periods — antique furniture, vintage lighting, modern ceramics, contemporary painting, fiber artists, photography, sculpture wood work, metal art, and more. 

Rather than a traditional gallery setup, the choice to stage mixed media vignettes rescues the works from seeming isolated and spiritless. Furniture and ceramics paired with visual art and vintage lighting produces the effect of a living home. “An interior without art is like a place without soul. We want to create the feeling of people who live there,” Gosia explains. “A painting or a sculpture brings another level to every home, and each vignette invites you to visualize the spirit of your own home, in all its levels.”

Beyond returning spirit to the gallery, Alma, Art and Interiors also restores the highly missed conveniences of in-person furniture and art dealings, following more than a year of show cancellations, supply-chain delays, and exorbitant freight costs. “I’ve been holding back my premier pieces in hopes of the return of large scale exhibitions, and Alma is a vision of what I would’ve exhibited if SOFA — now Intersect Chicago — had taken place at Navy Pier in 2020 and 2021,” says Kimberly Oliva. “Alma is the very latest extension of the Chicago arts community that I’ve fostered at Oliva Gallery.” 

With exhibitions no longer stuck in the midst of an indefinite hiatus, all of the art and vintage furniture at Alma, Art and Interiors is available for cash and carry. Works include ceramics from Nathan Mason, Chris Heck, Zachary E. Weber, and Louise Pappageorge; fiber artists Melissa Leandro, Yasmin Spiro, and Macus Alonso; sculptures from Mia Capodilupo, Beth Lefauve, and Salvador Dominguez; wood work from Michelle Peterson Albandoz; metal artist Eric Gushee; photography from Sean Williams; paintings from Tony Fitzpatrick, Thomas Masters, Lucca Colombelli, Cormac Steinbock, Madeleine Finley, Juan Arango Palacios, Griffin Plumer, William Schaeuble, Nathalie Gribinski, Stanley Dean Edwards, Marc Benja, Jane Barthès, Anthony Adcock, Valeria Terrazas, Melissa Leandro, Bojana Ilic-Bojitt, Curtis Anthony Bozif, Sarah Dupré, and Walter A. Fydryck.

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Years ago Oliva got her start selling out of a vintage red Cadillac at Chicago's Randolph Street Market and quickly became a veteran dealer of the city's market scene. Alma, Art and Interiors brings her career full circle. As a young dealer herself, she worked hard to create a network of collectors and fellow dealers to achieve her dream of selling vintage full time. Fast forward to 2016 she launched Oliva Gallery, a contemporary fine art gallery in Logan Square. Oliva continues to launch vintage and modern art as well as consulting, trade shows and exhibits across the country.

She told CGN, “Gosia and I met at Chicago Randolph Market over 13 years ago. As a source for Bill Rawski from Zap Props, the largest Prop House in the Midwest Gosia appreciated the vintage offerings I presented. We became clients, colleagues and friends.”

Oliva has also kept up with Randolph Street Market's Sally Schwartz, who shares, "For anyone who loves both contemporary art and one of a kind vintage furnishings and decor, ALMA looks like the place where one gets to witness the combined talents of two pros creating exciting stage sets -- I can't wait for the eye candy! 

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AlmaArtInteriors@gmail.com

1.224.522.4525

Alma, Art and Interiors opens Saturday, November 6, 11:00am - 7:00pm

3636 S. Iron St., Chicago, IL 60609

Additional shows will be on November 7, 11:00am - 5:00pm, and the following weekend (Nov. 13–14) during the same hours. Visit by appointment any day of the week throughout November.  

Wine and cocktail service will be provided during the first two weekends. A portion of opening night sales will go to the Infant Welfare Society.