EXPO CHICAGO Announces Programming for the 11th Edition

CHICAGO — EXPO CHICAGO reveals core programming details for the eleventh edition, taking place April 11–14, 2024 at Navy Pier. Alongside gallery presentations, EXPO CHICAGO showcases programs including the /Dialogues panel series; IN/SITU and IN/SITU Outside, installations across Festival Hall and Chicago’s public spaces; OVERRIDE | A Billboard Project, artworks presented on citywide billboards; and the Northern Trust Exchange Stage, a cornerstone of the fair’s VIP Program.

“From our inception, EXPO CHICAGO has consistently presented a robust list of critically acclaimed programs that activates the exposition for our patrons and contributes to the enduring critical discourse of the international arts community,” says Tony Karman, President and Director of EXPO CHICAGO. “As the art world gathers in Chicago this year, we are thrilled to welcome these exceptional talents to the exposition, and we look forward to their significant contributions in making the 2024 edition a resounding success.”

“EXPO CHICAGO’s programming engages with local and visiting audiences by offering opportunities of engagement beyond the core fair, extending conversations to neighborhoods throughout Chicago,” says Kate Sierzputowski, Artistic Director of EXPO CHICAGO. “On-site dialogues continue to engage arts practices from both within and outside of the city, uniting artists with curators for conversations that explore themes that resonate strongly with our Curatorial Initiatives and first ever Curatorial Conference, Curating and the Commons.”

A summary of the core programs and the full schedule can be found at expochicago.com

/Dialogues

Presented in partnership with the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC), /Dialogues brings together leading curators, artists, designers, and arts professionals for a series of panel discussions, forums, and artistic discourse on topics of the moment.

Highlights include a keynote with Chance the Rapper, Asma Naeem (Baltimore Museum of Art) and Nate Freeman (Vanity Fair) on hip hop and its contributions to international contemporary art; a conversation on art making and social change with For Freedoms; a discussion with curator Carla Acevedo-Yates (Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago) and artists Candida Alvarez (SAIC Professor Emerit) and Omar Velázquez (SAIC MFA 2016) on the importance of Puerto Rican representation within local collections and institutions; a preview of Prospect.6 with co-Artistic Directors Ebony G. Patterson and Miranda Lash; a forum on criticism as art practice with ARTnews; a conversation on arts spaces outside of traditional centers with Jenny Moore (Tinworks), Kristy Edmunds (MASS MoCA), and Jodi Throckmorton (John Michael Kohler Art Center); a panel hosted by United States Artists on contemporary craft with recent fellows; conversations with artists Amanda Williams and Paul Mpagi Sepuya; two public discussions as part of the Directors Summit; and a partnership with Art21 and Daata.

The full program may be found here. More information about the previously announced Directors Summit and this year’s extended Curatorial Initiatives may be found here and here, respectively.

IN/SITU: In the Country of Last Things

The IN/SITU program realizes site-responsive and large-scale work throughout Festival Hall. The 2024 IN/SITU program, curated by Amara Antilla Independent Curator and Guest Curator at Contemporary Arts Center (CAC) in Cincinnati, draws its title from the 1987 dystopian novel by Paul Auster and features fifteen artists who explore the precarious nature of contemporary life. The works intervene within interstitial spaces and pause in the gallery presentations, bringing together artists whose practices investigate collective unease during a fractured time, evoking revisionist histories, and moving beyond critique to imagine more just and sustainable futures.

The program will feature artists Ivan Argote (Perrotin), American Artist (Labor), Paul Stephen Benjamin (Efraín López), Kiah Celeste (DOCUMENT), Elena Damiani (Revolver Galería), Anne-Karin Furunes (RYAN LEE Gallery), Rico Gatson (Miles McEnery Gallery), Maria Hupfield (Patel Brown), Voluspa Jarpa (NOME), Lucia Koch (Nara Roesler), Josèfa Ntjam (Galerie Poggi), Michael Rakowitz (Rhona Hoffman Gallery), Claudia Peña Salinas (CURRO), Tori Wrånes (Nazarian / Curcio), and Lauren Yeager (Abattoir).

IN/SITU Outside

IN/SITU Outside stages temporary public art installations along the lakefront and throughout Chicago, presented in partnership with the Chicago Park District (CPD), the City of Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE), and Navy Pier. The 2024 program includes an intervention at the General John Alexander Logan Monument in Grant Park,
Nomadic Art Museum, and an installation by Eddie Martinez at Navy Pier.

More information on the 2024 IN/SITU Outside program may be found here.

OVERRIDE | A Billboard Project

OVERRIDE is a citywide collaborative public art initiative that displays works by both emerging and established artists from Chicago and around the world. The program is organized in collaboration with the City of Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE). From April 1–21, 100+ digital billboards and information panels across Chicago’s Central Business District will display a selection of works by artists such as Art & Language (René Schmidt), Judy Ledgerwood (Rhona Hoffman Gallery), Raphaël Barontini (Mariane Ibrahim), and Lucia Koch (Nara Roesler). The program will also include work by Chicago- based artists including Lawrence Agyei, Jada-Amina, Jazmine Harris, Tom Jones II, Victoria Martinez, and Yuge Zhou.

More information on the 2024 OVERRIDE program may be found here.

Exchange by Northern Trust

Hosted in the Northern Trust Anchor Lounge at Navy Pier, Exchange by Northern Trust: An Interactive Conversation Around the Art of Collecting offers VIP patrons discussions on collecting and the art market with industry leaders. Discussions include a conversation on building a Chicago-based collection with collector Anita Blanchard and Yesomi Umolu (Serpentine); a panel on the Legacy of Scott Burton with curator Jess Wilcox and artist Gordon Hall in collaboration with Jeremy Johnston (Darling Green); a look at practices in self-taught art with collectors Ashley Duchossois Joyce and Dr. David Walega, Deb Kerr (Intuit: The Center of Intuitive and Outsider Art), and Rudy Aronoff (Heritage Auctions); and a conversation on collecting prints featuring dealer David Cleaton-Roberts (Cristea Roberts Gallery),

collector Dani Levinas, and Monica Brown (Freeman’s | Hindman).
VIP Pass-holders will receive information about the full list of Exchange by Northern Trust

programming in upcoming VIP communications.

EXPO ART WEEK (April 8-14)

Presented in conjunction with Choose Chicago, the city’s tourism and marketing organization and Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE), EXPO ART WEEK will once again galvanize Chicago’s cultural ecosystem through citywide events and celebrations. Highlights of EXPO ART WEEK include South Side Night (Tuesday, April 9), with performances and events at cultural partners in Hyde Park, Bronzeville, and surrounding areas, along with Art After Hours (Friday, April 12) in collaboration with Gertie and sponsored by Masterworks and Arete Wealth.

A list of happenings taking place during EXPO ART WEEK can be found here.