By ALISON REILLY

Four Chicago galleries that currently occupy the 845 W Washington Boulevard Building in the West Loop will be relocating to the Ukrainian Village neighborhood in January 2017. In a press release sent on Tuesday, DOCUMENT, Paris London Hong Kong, Volume Gallery, and Western Exhibitions announced that they would be moving collectively into a new space at 1709 W Chicago Avenue.

Western Exhibitions gallery owner Scott Speh expressed his excitement for moving into the new neighborhood. In an email to CGN, he wrote, “We are thrilled to expand into custom-designed brand new galleries with more exhibition, office, and storage space for each venue, in a culturally relevant neighborhood near several other galleries that is much less congested than the overheated West Loop. The convenience of the new location and the opportunity to develop exhibition spaces to fit our needs will make for a better visiting and viewing experience for collectors, curators, artists and the art-loving public.”

Speh also noted that the group had been looking at properties for about a year. The leases were set to expire soon on their current spaces and their landlords offered to move them into a building on Chicago Avenue that had been recently acquired. The four galleries will be moving into the second floor of 1709 W Chicago, along with David Salkin Creative, which specializes in custom rugs, tile patterns, wallpaper and fabric.

The new building is located west of Ashland Avenue at N Paulina Street. Nearby galleries on Chicago Avenue include Matthew Rachman Gallery and The Mission.

Western Exhibitions has been at its location in the West Loop since 2008. The gallery, which currently has concurrent shows by Deb Sokolow and Dan Attoe on display, features rotating exhibitions by artists working in all media. The gallery also produces artist books and multiples through WesternXeditions.

During a call on October 26, Aron Gent, owner of DOCUMENT, also shared his enthusiasm for the move. He said that the new hardwood floors, drywall, and furnaces would be step up in scale and quality for DOCUMENT, which represents artists working in film, photography and media-based work. The gallery, which opened in 2011, also functions as a printmaking studio.

For the first exhibition in the new space, Gent will present abstract tapestries by collaborators Laura Letinsky and John Paul Morabito. One of the works from this series was recently on display at DOCUMENT’s booth at EXPO Chicago. The exhibition is scheduled to open Saturday, January 7 alongside Annie Bielski at Paris London Hong Kong, Wunderkammer at Volume Gallery, and Underlying system not known at Western Exhibitions.

Read the full press release here.

Top image: Deb Sokolow, Men, installation view, September 17-November 5, 2016 at Western Exhibitions. Photo by James Prinz.