Vertical Project Space, located at 2006 W. Chicago Ave. #1R (entrance in the alley off Damen) in West Town, is Vertical Gallery’s second exhibition space that offers additional gallery space for their current roster of artists, and will introduce new emerging local, national and international artists to the Vertical family of artists. The space also hosts three artist studio work spaces.&nbsp;

Vertical Project Space

Join us for the first Vertical Gallery show at the new space!Featuring:&nbsp;Adam Augustyn, Angel Onofre, Ben Frost, Bird Milk, David Soukup, Fedz, Grant William Thye, Jeremy Novy,&nbsp; John Bond, Liz Flores, My Dog Sighs, Mysterious Al, Oak Oak, Reno Msad, Sergio Farfán, Stinkfish, Word to Mother2006 W Chicago Ave #1R, Chicago&nbsp;

LAUNCH

Vertical Gallery is very excited to present the first part of our 10-Year Anniversary Celebration opening this&nbsp;weekend at Vertical Project Space (2006 W Chicago&nbsp; Ave. # 1R).&nbsp;This special exhibit will feature 4 works each from 10 Chicago-based artists:&nbsp;Chris Uphues, Rae Denise (Rachael Scotland), AJ Ainscough, Laura Catherwood, Van Dam One, Goosenek, Melissa Villareal, Angel Onofre, Matt Zuska and Jordan Ferguson.&nbsp;

Vertical Gallery's 10-Year Anniversary Show Part 1

We are very pleased to present our first show of 2023 at Vertical Project Space: 'IN THE MIX' curated by Oscar Joyo and James Sturnfield. 'IN THE MIX' runs January 28 - March 5 and features&nbsp;Cujodah, Fantasia Ariel, James Sturnfield, Jettila Lewis, Megan Kind, and Oscar Joyo.&nbsp;

'IN THE MIX'

Vertical Project Space is excited to present #INK2, our 2-Year Anniversary Show, opening on Saturday December 10. This show features 4 new works from:&nbsp;AJ Ainscough, Aldair Dosmil, Angel Onofre, Bird Milk, Blake Jones, Brent Ozaeta, Casey Stanberry, Cristi López, Daniel Wilson, Face, Goosenek, James Sturnfield, Jamiah Calvin, Joseph Renda Jr, Laura Catherwood, Left Handed Wave, Melissa Villarreal, Myron Laban, oolongshrimp, Pizza in the Rain, Sentrock, Sergio Farfán, Steve Seeley, and Troy Scat.&nbsp;&nbsp;Image: Bird Milk, Left Handed Wave, Sergio Farfan, Angel Onofre, Steve Seeley

#INK 2, group show

Vertical Gallery is very pleased to present <a href="https://verticalgallery.com/blogs/news/thing-or-two-group-show-at-vertical-project-space">'Thing or Two' </a>at Vertical Project Space (2006 W Chicago Ave. #1R) running from Oct 15 - Nov 13. The show will open on Sat &amp; Sun, Oct 15 &amp; 16, noon-5pm.The show brings together a diverse group of artists, each creating two works each. Featuring:&nbsp;Adam Augustyn, Andrew Ghrist, Ale Bara, Blake Jones, Bo Myles, Chad Edwards, Christy Grossmann, Crush Entity, Czr Prz, Demonbby, Diosa, Jeff Pak, Jettila Lewis, Kyle Cobban, Laura Catherwood, MELT.Y, Michelle Wanhala, Mike Egan, Mosher, Racheal Scotland, Rocodrilo, Roiz One, Sean Hannaway, Shannon Kay Lewis, Shawnimals, Sick Fisher, Van Dam One, Vivian Le'Thing or Two' Oct 15 - Nov 13, 2022 Open weekends, noon-5pm Vertical Project Space 2006 W Chicago Ave., #1R (entrance in alley off Damen)

Thing or two, group show

<a href="https://verticalgallery.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=646fa4c9dfc95095020f8f70d&amp;id=5b5631bf74&amp;e=b9314a597f">VIEW THE EXHIBITION</a>Vertical Gallery is pleased to present French-graffiti artist Ador’s first Chicago solo show ‘No Protected Species’. The exhibition will run from Sept 10 through Oct 2 at Vertical Project Space (2006 W. Chicago Ave. #1R; enter via the alley off Damen Ave.)Ador lives and works in Nantes in the West of France. He has created his own universe filled with imaginary characters inspired by fairy tales, circus spectacles, and current events. Ador’s goal is to portray the point where the silly meets the serious.Ador has painted murals and exhibited work worldwide. We have been working with the artist since his first visit to the gallery in 2014.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Ador: No Protected Species

AJ will be in attendance on opening dayVertical Gallery is excited to present AJ Ainscough’s first solo exhibition! ‘Back Outside’ will run August 13 – September 4 at our Vertical Project Space location.AJ Ainscough is a Chicago-based artist known for his witty and graphically complex paintings, featuring an array of original characters. Ainscough’s cartoonesque figures are used as a tool of exploring the highs, lows, and in-betweens life throws at everyone. His works explore the possibilities and potential of his characters through the use of stories that emulate universal feelings; a cocktail of chaos with tongue-in-cheek, light-hearted humor.AJ’s work has been featured in group shows in Chicago, Hong Kong, Tokyo, and Los Angeles.&nbsp;

AJ Ainscough: Back Outside

Collin van der Sluijs solo show (yes, he's taking over both spaces!)Vertical Gallery is very proud to present ‘Collision,’ a solo exhibit spotlighting Netherlands-based painter Collin van der Sluijs. Running from July 9-30, ‘Collision’ — van der Sluijs’ fourth solo show at Vertical, following two years after the acclaimed ‘A Garden of Trust’ — presents the category-defying artist’s most ambitious and immersive collection to date, bringing together paintings and works on paper that reveal profound new depth and dimension in his dreamlike, deeply personal approach.In a unique twist, ‘Collision’ occupies both Vertical’s flagship location at 1016 N. Western Ave. and Vertical Project Space at 2006 W. Chicago Ave #1R; Van der Sluijs will attend the show opening on Saturday, July 9, and will also paint two new murals during his return visit to the Chicago area. &nbsp; ‘Collision’ spreads between the two galleries 10 intricate, giant-scale canvases, five midsize canvases, 12 works on panels, and over 50 works on paper. “I created all this work over the past two years,” van der Sluijs says.&nbsp; “I call the show ‘Collision’ because I feel like these strange times have caused a collision between me as a person and my work. I want to be free, and not a puppet on strings directed by anybody.”Van der Sluijs credits the volume and variety on display in ‘Collision’ to the different experiences and environments that shape his daily routine. When in nature, for example, he focuses on watercolors and the surrounding landscape, while in the studio, he works on oil and acrylic paintings depicting a range of emotional states. Evenings at the kitchen table are devoted to sketches and watercolors, and walks through the city inspire new mural projects. &nbsp; “Collin spent most of the lockdown biking to his studio every day and creating an amazing body of work — so many works that we decided for the first time to feature the same artist in both gallery spaces,” says Vertical Gallery owner and curator Patrick Hull. “Both locations will present work in a range of styles, with VPS [Vertical Project Space] displaying all 50 small sketches and mid-sized drawings alongside a few larger paintings, and Vertical Gallery featuring most of the works on canvas and the panels. We’re looking forward to everyone once again experiencing Collin’s world in a gallery setting.”Van der Sluijs began writing graffiti at the age of 11, a year later commencing studies at the professional painting college in Goes. He spent the next eight years studying a range of disciplines in institutions across the Netherlands, in 2004 earning a Master’s degree in fine art from the Academy of Art and Design St. Joost in Breda. In the years since, van der Sluijs has exhibited in galleries across Europe and the U.S., also painting murals in The Hague, Berlin and Leuven, Belgium, among other locales.&nbsp;

Collin van der Sluijs: Collision

Novak was born and currently lives in Auckland, New Zealand. His artistic ‘self’ took years to materialize via a creative journey that is both unusual and uncommon. With his youth spent diverted towards academia and sports, Novak went on to become a medical doctor specializing in Public Health. However, a move to London in the early 2000s brought about a crucial expansion in life experience and the eventual ‘lightning-strike-type’ event, which unlocked his desire to create.‘Hybrid 2.0’ features 12 shield/arch shaped works in which he explores ‘identity’ through charismatic animals fusing with humans to create engaging hybrid figures. Many of the central subjects are birds, which have always had a special place in both the history and modern-day life of Aotearoa, New Zealand. And the warrior aspect of the pieces reflects the fight that we all must undertake to break our own self-limiting beliefs. These works are a metaphor, mirroring Novak’s career and life journey.&nbsp;

Brad Novak: Hybrid 2.0

Currently running through May 15 at Vertical Project Space is ‘GANG,’ a new solo exhibition from Chicago-based street artist Joseph “Sentrock” Perez. ‘GANG’ features more than two dozen illustrations and mixed-media pieces exploring life, love and loss through the lens of a young Latino male in 21st-century America — a deeply personal, bravely confessional body of work representing Sentrock’s boldest achievement to date.‘GANG’ (an acronym for “God’s Angels Never Gone”) draws extensively on Sentrock’s relationships with family and friends in his native Phoenix, Ariz., channeling their triumphs and tragedies to address the realities facing Latino culture and community. The self-taught Sentrock began writing graffiti as a teen, initially crediting his efforts to “Sent” (a derivative of “heaven sent”) before adopting his current alias, which also references his passion for breakdancing culture. In addition to murals across Chicago and throughout the U.S., Sentrock has collaborated with brands including the NBA’s Chicago Bulls, Converse and Toyota. He has also contributed work to many previous Vertical Gallery group and anniversary shows.Image: Sentrock, Home is Calling, 2021, Limited edition screen print&nbsp;&nbsp;

Sentrock: G.A.N.G.

March 12 - April 10, 2022: Laura Catherwood "Book of Yielding"&nbsp;solo show Opening weekend, Sat &amp; Sun Mar 12 &amp; 13: noon-5pm&nbsp;Laura Catherwood is a Chicago-based painter focused on delicately emotive illustration of plants, animals, and quiet creatures. The sense of an intimate, mysterious narrative in her work invites contemplation and extends empathy to the viewer. With soft textures and sensitive gestures, she diagrams our ambiguous feelings toward the natural order of things, including painful or melancholy moments that seem outside of understanding.Upcoming solo show: Book of Yielding March 12 - April 10, 2022 @ Vertical Project Space&nbsp;Laura Catherwood&nbsp;Spoil and Sprout, 202111 x 14 in., 27 x 35 cmOil on aluminum panel&nbsp;&nbsp;

Laura Catherwood "Book of Yielding" Solo Show

Vertical Gallery is proud to present ‘The Sky Is Falling,’ the debut solo exhibition from Chicago-based painter and animator Adam Augustyn.‘The Sky Is Falling,’ which runs from Jan. 29 to Feb. 27 at Vertical Project Space’s West Town location (2006 W. Chicago Ave. #1R) assembles paintings created in response to the proliferation and normalization of fringe conspiracy theories and the difficulty in parsing real from fantastical threats in today's world.According to Augustyn, the works featured in ‘The Sky Is Falling’ summon motion and depict disasters both real and manmade, simulating the sense of bombardment and urgency created by the news cycle as well as the social communities and corporate interests that feed it. The viewer is asked to parse friend from foe in colorful but sinister cityscapes populated by humans and monsters alike.“The paintings pose the question of ‘Fight or flight?’ from a fresh lens,” Augustyn says. “Do we engage and confront the exaggeration, or do we withdraw from the society that permits it — and implicitly, is the grass any greener upon escape?”Augustyn's work is inspired by animation, mythology, music, cults, horror films, his hometown of Chicago, and the latest obsessions of his three daughters. His paintings play with scale, color, and theme to produce the unexpected (oversized humans, vibrant playful demons) and to emphasize the impact of our choices, actions and moods on the environment around us.Augustyn has previously exhibited in group shows in Chicago, Los Angeles and Seattle.Adam Augustyn ‘The Sky is Falling’ January 29 – February 27, 2022 Vertical Project Space 2006 W. Chicago Ave. #1R The gallery is open weekends, 12-5 pm.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Adam Augustyn "The Sky is Falling" Solo Show 

<html><head></head><body>One Year has flown by! We are pleased to present our One Year Anniversary Holiday Group Show at Vertical Project Space! This exhibit will be December 11 - 26, opening Saturday &amp; Sunday, Dec 11 &amp; 12, noon-5pm. The artists featured in our One Year Anniversary show include: OAKOAK, Liz Flores, Troy Scat, Sweler, Grant William Thye, Christy Grossmann, Goosenek, 2MIL, and Jordan Ferguson. Each artist has 6 - 12 works!&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419541/obera1wyvpzfiexy2ik1.jpg"></figure>&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

One Year Anniversary Holiday Group Show

On view over at Vertical Project Space (located at 2006 W. Chicago Ave. #1R) is Blake Jones and Friends "Doublespeak"&nbsp;featuring collaborations with Andrew Ghrist, David Heo, Emmy Star Brown, James Sturnfield, JC Rivera, Laura Catherwood, Liz Flores, M. Villarreal, Roco Drilo, Sean Hannaway, Sergio Farfan, and Wingchow. The exhibition is open weekends noon-5pm until November 21.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Blake Jones & Friends: Doublespeak

<a href="https://verticalgallery.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=646fa4c9dfc95095020f8f70d&amp;id=0347528ad0&amp;e=b9314a597f">View the exhibition here</a>Calvin uses children for inspiration in this new collection of sanguine and indigo drawings. By using children and adolescence in the work, he is representing innocence, and the purist aspects of our lives. Each piece carries a message that challenges the persona of beauty, love, pain and the hidden stigmas of everyday life.&nbsp; He specializes in figurative drawing and painting that captures the nostalgic experiences growing up on the West side of Chicago. &nbsp; Calvin graduated from Northern Illinois University with a BFA in studio art. He was featured at Black Creativity Juried Art Exhibition at the Museum of Science and Industry in 2020; painted at BlkoutWalls Mural Festival in Detroit August 2021; and has exhibited in group shows across Chicagoland.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Jamiah Calvin: Nothing was ever the same again

Wingchow – solo show

Vertical Project Space presents ‘Trust,’ a solo exhibit featuring new work from Nikko Locander, a.k.a. Ali Six, the Chicago-based multimedia artist and graffiti writer celebrated for his signature creation Richie the Raccoon. &nbsp; ‘Trust,’ which runs June 19-July 25 at our Project Space&nbsp;West Town location (2006 W. Chicago Ave. #1R — enter via the alley off Damen Ave.), assembles dozens of pieces presented across a diverse range of mediums: sculptures, wood cutouts, skate decks, mirrors, found materials, even handwoven decorative rugs. &nbsp;<a href="https://verticalgallery.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=646fa4c9dfc95095020f8f70d&amp;id=44c4187bfe&amp;e=b9314a597f">VIEW THE EXHIBITION</a> 'Trust’ draws heavily on personal experiences throughout Ali Six's life, from childhood to adulthood, and makes frequent visual references to apples — for centuries, a symbol of trust playing vital roles in tales from Adam and Eve to Sir Isaac Newton's discovery of the law of gravity, as well as a traditional gift from a student to a teacher to cement their relationship. Ali Six hopes that each viewer will reminisce on their own personal experiences within this body of work, or pause to contemplate what trust truly represents.&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; The self-taught Ali Six honed his craft by scaling hundreds of Chicago buildings as a graffiti artist, learning color theory and typography among other skills. His love of old cartoons inspired the creation of Richie the Raccoon: "I felt a raccoon best symbolized the night culture of graffiti,” Ali Six says. “Raccoons are nocturnal, and while everyone is asleep, graffiti artists are awake, creating masterpieces."

Ali6 "Trust" solo show

Over at VPS&nbsp;through July 25 is Ali Six 'Trust'. 'Trust’ draws heavily on personal experiences throughout Ali Six's life, from childhood to adulthood, and makes frequent visual references to apples — for centuries, a symbol of trust playing vital roles in tales from Adam and Eve to Sir Isaac Newton's discovery of the law of gravity, as well as a traditional gift from a student to a teacher to cement their relationship. Ali Six hopes that each viewer will reminisce on their own personal experiences within this body of work, or pause to contemplate what trust truly represents.&nbsp;&nbsp;Born and raised in Chicago’s Humboldt Park neighborhood, Ali Six began his artistic journey as a five-year-old inspired by seeing his mother draw a cartoon bear for a kindergarten project. Throughout his life, he drew cartoons during class, and in high school he was introduced to graffiti. After building his reputation within vandalizing culture as Buelr (an homage to the Chicago movie classic Ferris Bueller’s Day Off), Ali Six now focuses on further popularizing Richie the Raccoon around the city and across the globe through murals and wheatpastes.Image: "Gravity" Stainless Steel Edition of 3 / Polished Bronze Edition of 10&nbsp;&nbsp;

Ali Six: Trust

<a href="https://my.matterport.com/show/?m=vcEyYzm7yaV">Take a 3D tour&nbsp;</a>Vertical Project Space is very excited to present 'Water The Plants!' curated by Joseph Renda Jr.&nbsp;April 24 - May 30. This special exhibition includes collaborative paintings between: Joseph Renda Jr. and: Collin Van Der Sluijs, Sergio Farfan, Steve Seeley, Jason Brammer, Karl Jahnke, Kate Lewis, Kayla Mahaffey, Wingchow, and Grant William Thye. Plus hand painted flower pots by: Adam Augustyn, Ant Ben, Bird Milk, Blake Jones, Elloo, Emmy Star Brown, Fedz, Goosenek, Vivian Le, James Sturnfield, Laura Catherwood, Merlot, Samantha Decarlo, Sentrock, and Tracy Danet. Plus the release of Joseph Renda Jr.'s first sculpture, and a limited edition portfolio print set. &nbsp;&nbsp;

Vertical Project Space

Current and Upcoming Events at Vertical Project Space

Chicago Gallery News

Vertical Project Space

Current and Upcoming Events at Vertical Project Space

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Chicago Gallery News