Chicago Gallery News is sad to share the news that Sidney Block, co-director of Printworks Gallery for thirty-five years, passed away peacefully on Wednesday, November 25 with his co-director and close friend Bob Hiebert at his side. 

The gallery's 35th anniversary show, The Return of the Exquisite Corpse, opens this Friday, December 4. Plans for this special exhibition began two years ago, and the show will feature 35 works with contributions from 105 artists.

Sidney and Bob have been warm neighbors to CGN over the years in River North, and we congratulate the gallery on 35 wonderful years of business, terrific exhibitions, and true friendship. Our hearts go out to our dear friends at Printworks Gallery during this difficult time. Sidney will be missed by many. 

A memorial service is pending.

Obituary

Top image: December 2005 from the Chicago Reader's article, The Odd Couple: 

Bob Hiebert and Sidney Block have been in business together longer than many people have been married, and as with many couples their friends tend to think of them as inseparable--Sid and Bob, Bob and Sid. It's been 25 years since they opened Printworks, still the city's only gallery dedicated exclusively to works on paper--contemporary prints, drawings, artists' books, and the occasional painting or photograph. For the past 15--five days a week, nearly every week of the year--they've sat on opposite sides of a single desk in their cramped, 600-square-foot space in River North...