Curt Conklin

This insider's map of the city's art landscape is an extended version of the gallery guide the former publisher of the New Art Examiner and art enthusiast passes out at his opening-night parties. Use it for your own navigational purposes before, during or after Art Chicago and The Stray Show.

It is early on a Friday evening and Chicago is electric. The streets surge with hundreds, maybe thousands, of artists dressed in bohemian attire, energetic students, affluent hipsters in designer clothing and executives straight from work. People walk, stop and talk. The air is alive with boisterous greetings.

No one knows everyone, but everyone knows someone. In most circles a handshake is the accepted form of greeting, but in the art world, it's the air kiss. Often parodied in popular media, this gesture is not to be taken lightly. The etiquette that surrounds it is subtle and complicated. Giving one kiss to someone who expects two or failing to lean in properly can cause insult and embarrassment.

This is the gallery scene on any given opening night. There are maybe fifteen, twenty, fifty art galleries within walking distance of each other opening their doors to celebrate their newest show. Inside any given space the festivities continue somewhat more subdued. People mill about and share opinions on the work. Some of the art can be bought and some can't. Everybody sees something they like and something they don't. Free wine abounds (not necessarily free good wine), and maybe if you're lucky a handful of nuts. In fact, everything's free about this night unless, of course, you intend to take art home with you.

But galleries are more than just openings. The best way to really enjoy them is to take it in on a Saturday afternoon or, if you have the luxury, a weekday. Spending such an afternoon is one of the most pleasant cultural experiences that the city has to offer. Many are close enough to downtown to be terrific lunchtime destinations.

Unlike opening night, it's quieter, more contemplative. Many of the gallery directors are curators at heart and they approach their exhibits much like a museum would. What's on view is as much a statement of their own tastes and desire to communicate as the artists they show. Sales keep the lights on and the doors open, but the primary objective is often to be seen and understood. And unlike the museums, there is always a knowledgeable person on hand to explain the work.

As manageable as all this sounds, it can still appear intimidating from an outsider's perspective. Where are the galleries located? Which ones show good art? How do you know which galleries to go to? The purpose of this guide is to provide the simple answers to these questions. But there are a few basic rules that I have discovered which need to be said first. First, visiting a gallery does not imply commitment. Gallerists understand that relationships precede purchases. So choose a gallery and go in. If you like it at all sign the guest book. Talk to the director or staff. Sometimes they are shy and need to be coaxed. Other times they are starved for conversation and jump at the chance. But remember, either way, there is no obligation.

Next, there are no hard and fast rules about what you can expect to see in any space. A gallery that shows something you love one month may have something you don't two months later. Preferences differ. What you hear from your friends or read about in the press may not correspond to your own tastes. Further complicating matters, sometimes a gallery known for one thing will throw a curve. Recently, the Rhona Hoffman Gallery, one of the most established minimalist modern art galleries in the country, had a show of Southeast Asian antiquities. So be slow to judge. Give each gallery a second and maybe a third chance.

Finally, keep an open mind. Art is no fun without one. It's OK not to like something but try to understand why you don't like it. In fact, when faced with a piece I don't understand I generally start with "maybe it sucks" and then I ask myself what other people might see in it that I have missed. It doesn't mean that I agree with them, but it does arm me with ideas for conversation about the work later, and there have been times when that conversation led to me completely changing my mind.

Locating the galleries is easy, since most fall within two basic geographic areas. The first and oldest is River North, which spans a six block area around Superior and Franklin. This area, due to its history, has the more established galleries. Often that translates into more accessible consumption-oriented art. Abstract, landscape and photographic two-dimensional work (read: stuff you can hang on a wall) tend to dominate. There are also galleries in this area that sell 18th- or 19th-century works and historical ethnographic objects.

The second and more recently developed gallery area is the West Loop area. These galleries show mostly conceptually based work. Conceptual work implies that the thought that went into the creation is more important than the image or object itself. This type of work often challenges conventional ideas of what art is but can be really interesting. Still this area defies simple categorization. In addition to conceptual work you will find painting, sculpture and entire galleries dedicated to photography.

In theory, River North attracts an older, more conservative viewer base and West Loop appeals to those more interested in the avant-garde. It is important to recognize that people who like contemporary art are already less conservative than the norm and neither are stodgy. Those who purchase it are often middle-aged and older, educated, affluent and somewhat stylish. You are going to see them in either location. Artists obviously will be in both areas, whether manning their own shows, visiting their friends, or sizing up the competition. Academic enthusiasts will be drawn to where the art is good or where there are more interesting questions to ponder.

River North

On opening nights, the jet set heads straight to River North. The galleries here open earlier (generally 5pm) and close earlier (generally 7pm). The collector crowd tends to be thick and black is their fashion color of choice. Step into a landscape painting show at Ann Nathan Gallery or Byron Roche Gallery and you will see people who might live in the suburbs or Lincoln Park, with decorative tastes tending towards the traditionally stylish. Try a more daring gallery like Zolla/Lieberman, where a sexually provocative painting show or a conceptual installation might be on exhibit, and you may see a similar crowd peppered with a few academically minded viewers and interestingly bedecked students.

Following are a few of the galleries that I visit in River North. There are many more than this, but these are ones I know and I feel comfortable recommending. Within these I have personal favorites which I have indicated with a star (**).

Zolla/Lieberman (325 W. Huron)

Zolla/Lieberman shows first-rate contemporary art. Artists include mainstays like Deborah Butterfield as well as emerging artists. There is a sexual energy to a lot of it, and William Lieberman's group shows have been really good.

TBA Exhibition Space (230 W. Huron)

Thomas Blackman and his sidekick Heather Hubbs don't run a commercial gallery--this is the space where they put together Art Chicago and The Stray Show. But they love Chicago art and often put on shows of people they like.

Douglas Dawson Gallery (222 W. Huron)

Doug Dawson does not show contemporary art but rather historical ethnographic arts (ceramics, textiles, furniture, and sculpture) from Africa, Asia, North and South America.

Zg (300 W. Superior)

These girls are new and come from the world of 100-year-old landscape and portrait painting. Still they have put on a bunch of worthwhile shows of contemporary painting. The current show might be figurative, minimal, dark, or geometric abstraction.

gescheidle (300 W. Superior)

Formerly Lyons Wier, this gallery generally shows beautifully produced paintings with slightly dark or twisted content.

Jean Albano Gallery (215 W. Superior)

From colorful abstractions like John Himmelfarb, or playful figurative work by the likes of famous imagist Karl Wirsum or famous cartoonist Jules Feiffer, Jean Albano shows contemporary paintings by mid-career artists.

Maya Polsky Gallery (215 W. Superior)

Maya Polsky shows contemporary works by internationally renowned artists. Cityscapes, math art and Chicago's own Ed Paschke. See Pancho Quilici and Valery Koshliakov.

**Carl Hammer Gallery (740 N. Wells)

Whether it's the sweet deranged adventures of Henry Darger's pee-pee girls, the mid-century circus posters of Fred Johnson, or the sandstone and broom sculptures of Mr. Imagination, Carl has shown us that artists don't have to be trained to be damned weird. Additionally, see Martin Mull (yeah, he paints too!) and Tony Fitzpatrick.

**Roy Boyd Gallery (739 North Wells Street)

Whether subtle surface-oriented geometrically abstract paintings or thoughtful little sculptures, it's almost all good and accessible. I've never left shocked, but I almost always leave happy. It helps that his nice wife, and co-director, is generally on hand to welcome people. See Markus Linnenbrink, John Fraser, Dan Devening, Joan Livingstone, Anne Wilson, and Jane Lackey.

Aldo Castillo Gallery (233 W. Huron)

Aldo focuses on art of Latin origin. Although his huge garden-level gallery feels like a furniture showroom, he will generally have an exhibited artist up front. His selection leans toward the thoughtful and decorative.

Carrie Secrist Gallery (300 West Superior Street)

Carrie Secrist has supposedly been around ten years, but she doesn't look that old to me. Regardless, she shows high quality twentieth-century stuff with a few new artists thrown in. See Todd Hido, Richard Hull, and Robert Lostutter.

Catherine Edelman Gallery (300 West Superior Street)

Edelman specializes in contemporary photography and is one of the most respected photography dealers around. Her shows are always well attended.

Byron Roche Gallery (750 N. Franklin)

Mostly easily consumable representative work. See Lisa Erf, Katherine Grossfeld, and Ann Weins.

Schneider Gallery (230 West Superior Street)

Martha Schneider shows contemporary photographers, many of who are in the Art Institute's collection. Her shows are almost always interesting and thoughtful.

Ann Nathan Gallery (212 West Superior Street)

Ann Nathan shows some of the more accessible work on the list. Realistic architectural paintings, some artistically rendered furniture. It's conservative but quality. Ann's been doing this for a long time. She's got opinions on everything and I love her for it.

Perimeter Gallery (210 West Superior Street)

Mid-career artists, abstract color field paintings, some really nice sculptures and even some ceramics, which so few galleries cover properly. Frank Paluch is the always-helpful head guy.

**Alan Koppel Gallery (210 W. Chicago Avenue)

Alan Koppel has been a heavyweight in the Chicago art dealer community for much longer than his gallery has been around. It is common to see 20th-century masters there and he has an interesting room in the back where he sells important mid-century furniture. Still, he has new programming that is compelling and unpretentiously displayed.

West Loop

Galleries in the West Loop open later (6pm) and close later (9pm or later). Because of this difference, it is convenient to start off in River North, see a few spaces and then head west. Once there the differences will be apparent. The contingencies that make up both crowds are the same, but their proportions are different.

Of course West Loop has collectors, equally as stylish and perhaps a tad younger. They may be architects, designers, or cultural benefactors and they take a little more risk with their personal style. More interestingly, students, academics, and artists will visit this area in force making for great people watching. Their energy is infectious; their costumes are bright and sometimes ironic. Girls in tight T-shirts seem to promote products that shouldn't really exist. Young men sport dirty jeans and cowboy hats but may be just too attractive to pull it off convincingly. Hair can be any color including unwashed. And leave your smoking peeve at home. Bohemia is an all-smoking state--at least on the sidewalk outside of the galleries.

Within the West Loop, there are two clusters of galleries. The first is at Peoria and Washington.

**Bodybuilder & Sportsman Gallery (119 N. Peoria)

Another of my favorite galleries, BBS tends to show stuff that makes you question where such an object would come from, who would have made it and why. Stop by and meet qdirector Tony Wight and see Ken Fandell, D'nell Larson, Jeff McMahon, Harvey Opgennorth, John Phillips, Mike Smith and Robert Heinecken.

1R (119 N. Peoria)

These guys have recently moved into the front half of the ever-interesting Bridge magazine offices and with it moved up a rank in the local gallery hierarchy (it used to be called Apt.1R for the writing on the buzzer as it was in fact the first floor rear apartment). Van Harrison is getting as much buzz as anybody right now.

**Julia Friedman Gallery (118 N. Peoria)

Julia Friedman has been open for three years and consistently puts together interesting shows. She hates to have it categorized but she shows a multitude of conceptual photography, work that deals with technology and how it affects us, and hipster pop from Japan and Brazil. See Sarah Conaway, Eduardo Kac, Jennifer Reeder, Sergio Vega and Jun'ya Yamaide.

**Rhona Hoffman Gallery (118 N. Peoria)

Rhona's been showing the most important art to come through or out of Chicago since this writer was, well, younger than he is. Her shows rival the MCA for quality. Oh yeah, and all the girls that work for her are real cute. See Dawoud Bey, Leon Golub, Jenny Holzer, Sol LeWitt, Michal Rovner and Fred Sandback.

Aron Packer Gallery (118 N. Peoria)

Aron may be the most underappreciated curatorial gallerist in town. His shows and choice of work are generally very interesting, well-produced, and often steeped with humor and imagination. Again, paintings you can put on your walls, but with a wink.

Peter Miller Gallery (118 N. Peoria)

Mostly contemporary painting with a few photographers and sculptors thrown in. One artist of note, Jason Salavon, is working somewhere in between painting and digital art and produces really thoughtful stuff that makes me believe that technology has a place hanging above the couches of the 21st century man.

FLATFILE (118 N. Peoria)

Accessible and generally interesting photography.

Walsh Gallery (118 N. Peoria)

Walsh shows contemporary art often with an eye toward Asia. Artists tend toward mid career, critically acclaimed and well-covered in the press.

**Vedanta Gallery (835 W. Washington)

Vedanta is probably the most important new gallery in town. Well, it's been around for a few years now, but people really started challenging the norm after these guys proved that it could be done successfully. Kavi Gupta and Jim Molidor, the owners, are two smart guys. They know business and show great art--some of it that you can buy and some of it that just makes you wonder. See Angelina Gualdoni, Jeff Carter, Hans Hemmert, and Erwin Wurm.

Thomas McCormick Gallery(835 W. Washington)

McCormick shows mostly abstract paintings. Some of his recent shows, like Rodney Carswell, have been great.

Donald Young Gallery (933 W. Washington)

Donald Young is the godfather of new art in Chicago. Like Rhona Hoffman, who was once his partner, his lineup of contemporary and conceptual artists is world-class, and his space is stunning. Check out Sol Lewitt, Rodney Graham, Gary Hill and Cristine Iglesias. There is also a project room that shows installations by emerging artists.

The second gallery cluster in the West Loop is around Morgan and Fulton Street.

**Klein Art Works (400 N. Morgan)

Paul Klein is one of my favorite gallerists. The work tends towards accessible abstract color fields. He's also one of the best supporters of the art community and a man always willing to spend a learning enthusiast. See Steven Heyman, Jun Kaneko, Michelle Litvin, Ed Moses, Ken Price, Dan Ramirez, and Robert Stackhouse.

**Monique Meloche Gallery (951 West Fulton)

According to Chicago magazine, Monique is this city's "It" girl. She understands the balance between selling art that keeps the lights on and showing unpurchasable art that keeps the community interested. Both make for good shows. Also, MMG tends to have the best opening scene. Pretty people go to Monique's, and she stays open a little later than her competitors. See Davis/Langlois, Laura L. Letinsky, Laura Mosquera, and Dzine.

Personal/Apartment Galleries

Branching out from these two areas, things get even more interesting. Chicago has a thriving community of alternative spaces or more appropriately termed "apartment galleries." They are in Pilsen, Oak Park, Ukrainian Village and other slightly-difficult-to-get-to neighborhoods. These spaces are very often people's apartments or garages transformed into exhibition spaces. Because of their locations they tend to hold openings on nights when there is little else going on--justifying the drive.

Furthermore, they might cultivate a party environment with DJs, kitschy drink choices and late hours. The crowd skews heavily toward students, academics and artists. Collectors are unfortunately rare, and these places may sell only a couple of pieces a year. To stay open the directors work other jobs, often in more established galleries. They do this because they love art and curating. The work is sometimes fabulous and almost always inexpensive. The artists showing tend to be young and undiscovered and there is always a chance to find the next big thing.

Standard Gallery (1437 N. Bosworth, (773)486-1005)

True to their alternative-space roots, these guys (co-directors David Roman and Michael McCaffrey) once took nine months to respond to this writer's email. We all laugh about that now. Standard shows surprisingly polished 2D work--paintings, drawings, and photography. They are only open for openings and on Saturday, or by appointment, so get on their list and go to the openings.

Deluxe (500 W. Cermak, (312)492-7986)

Deluxe presents mostly installation projects. It's an exhibition space not a commercial gallery. Definitely interesting stuff, but they seem to be hibernating. We'll see...

Boom Gallery (836 Wenonah, Oak Park, (708)524-2541)

Also known as Shane Campbell's house. He shows contemporary painting and photography. Generally small-scale things because he doesn't have a lot of room.

Dogmatic Gallery (1822 S. Des Plaines, (312)492-6698)

The apartment gallery is alive and well here. Michael Thomas runs this show and lives in the apartment above it. Paintings, photography, pretty interesting stuff--all for sale I suppose. And there's this weird dirt room in the basement with which each artist seems to do something creepy.

Seven Three Split Gallery (971 W. 18th, (312)733-2263)

Mostly installation, text and sculpture. This is another of those storefront galleries where the curator (Tim Fleming) lives in the back. It's a commercial gallery in as far as the stuff can be purchased, but that's not really the point. Hours are sparse so get on the list and go to the openings.

Suitable Gallery (2541 W. Thomas, (773)758-0088)

One-upping the apartment galleries, this one's in somebody's garage. In spite of that, the shows are quality, conceptual and occasionally consumable. Hours are sparse so get on the list and go to the openings.

Suburban (244 W. Lake Street, Oak Park, (708)763-8554)

This spec of a space often shows some big-name conceptual artists, like the recently closed exhibit of Luk Tuyman, and has a good reputation. Hours are sparse so get on the list and go to the openings.

Bucket Rider Gallery (565 W. 18th, (312)421-6993 )

Andrew Rafacz runs this place out of the front of his apartment in Pilsen. The energy is terrific and the buzz is hot.

The Pond (1152A N. Milwaukee, (773)368-8484)

Jeff Ward, Howard Fonda, David Coyle and Peter Fagundo have started up this storefront exhibition space focused on curators rather than artists. Sounds different, but it makes for group shows over individual shows and so far they have been very interesting.

Nonprofit Galleries

A fourth area of importance are the not-for-profit galleries. Government--whether city, state, or federal--and the cultural community occasionally fund adventurous spaces that can do things that the for-profit folks cannot. Admission is always free and the shows tend to be of the highest quality. Most of them sell memberships for a nominal fee that may not save you anything off the already free admission but will get you on their mailing list and invited to cool events.

**Chicago Cultural Center (78 E Washington)

Not a commercial gallery, but the Cultural Center does a great job of bringing terrific contemporary shows to town and exhibiting worthwhile emerging local artists.

Hyde Park Art Center (5307 S. Hyde Park Blvd)

HPAC is an important space near the Museum of Science and Industry. The list of famous artists they've shown early in their careers is impressive. Its community supported and has a nice education program. Their fundraisers are fun and the staff is cute. An entertaining anecdote: it used to have such a smelly funk to it that one particularly neat artist sprung for a sanitizing before she'd hang her work there. It smells fine now but the current space's days are numbered. An exciting new building is in the planning.

Evanston Art Center (2603 Sheridan, Evanston)

Like HPAC, except on the other side of the city and cleaner and seemingly better funded. This space exhibits high quality curated shows in a beautiful old mansion/lighthouse on Lake Michigan.

**Renaissance Society (5811 Ellis)

The Ren is recognized as one of the most important contemporary/conceptual viewing spaces in the city. They don't have a collection, but they do have a couple world-class curators in Hamza Walker and Susanne Ghez. Openings are on Sundays and well attended. They also run contemporary music and literature programs in the space. Too cool for school.

Gallery 312 (312 N. May)

Gallery 312 is a large, well-designed space that generally does group shows. I've never seen a bad show here.

(2003-05-07)

Also by Curt Conklin

about Newcitychicago | about Newcity magazine | advertising | privacy policy | FAQ | employment