Seven up-and-coming Chicago artists to collect now
On the eve of the Midwest’s largest art fair, WBEZ asked some of the city’s most established artists to curate a list of emerging talent. Here’s who they named.
Seven up-and-coming Chicago artists to collect now
On the eve of the Midwest’s largest art fair, WBEZ asked some of the city’s most established artists to curate a list of emerging talent. Here’s who they named.
By Elly FishmanFew American cities match the depth and breadth of Chicago’s cultural exports. The city boasts 60 museums and an even larger collection of extensive and eclectic visual art galleries, many of which will be staging new shows, hosting parties and staying open late this week as part of the city’s premier art fair EXPO Chicago. (EXPO Chicago opens Thursday and runs through Sunday; for a full WBEZ guide, click here.)
This is the first fair since EXPO was acquired by the global art company Frieze — putting the fair on a more prominent international platform. With that visibility comes more galleries, more curators, more limelight and more events. And since no one person can attend every occasion in town nor keep track of the carousel of talent, WBEZ asked four established Chicago artists to share, in their own words, the emerging talents they’re watching. Here’s what they told us.
The Established Panel
- Candida Alvarez, painter
Known for her vibrant, geometric canvases, the School of the Art Institute professor emeritus saw a long-overdue breakthrough in 2017 when the fashion label Comme des Garçons used several of her prints in its menswear collection.
See her work: Alvarez’s signature canvases on display in the Monique Meloche booth at EXPO. Alvarez will also take the stage as part of the For the/Dialogues Stage series on April 11 at 3:30 p.m.
- Assaf Evron, photographer
Working with both sculpture and photography, the School of the Art Institute instructor transforms mundane images into unrecognizable abstract patterns. Recently, Evron has turned his focus to the paper collages of architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe in a series of installations titled “Mies Collages Project.”
See his work: Evron will open the third installation in his collage project at the Edith Farnsworth house in Plano, Ill., on April 11 in conjunction with EXPO Chicago.
- Carmen Neely, painter
Playing with the tradition of abstract expressionism, the North Carolina transplant fills the canvas with dynamic, tangled strokes that burst with energy and color.
See her work: Neely’s work will be on display at Mana Contemporary as part of the Barely Fair, which runs April 13, 14, 16-19 and 20, 21. The Barely Fair is a companion fair to EXPO Chicago that features miniature works hung in tiny booths built at 1:12 scale of a traditional art fair.
- Laura Letinsky, photographer, sculptor
Over the years, the University of Chicago professor’s work has taken many forms, including quiet still life images and collages that tenderly capture a sense of absence.
See her work: Letinsky’s photographs will be on display in the Document booth at EXPO. Her photos and a new collection of ceramic dinnerware pieces, called Molosco, will be featured at the Photographs + Fine Art pop up shop located on the 7th floor of the Four Seasons Hotel, 120 E. Delaware Place, from April 10 through August.
The Up-and-Comers
Kellie Romany, painter
“She’s so interesting as an artist. Her canvases are very poetic and ephemeral. The paintings are thoughtful, and they feel really personal and tender. She uses a skin tones palette as a way to think about race. It’s very poetic and not in your face. She’s really very conscious about the colors she chooses and the way material relates to her own body. Her work is really memorable.” —Candida Alvarez
View more of Romany’s work on her website.
Rodrigo Lara, sculptor
“Rodrigo used to be my neighbor at Mana Studio in Pilsen, and I was always mesmerized by what he was working on. His studio was always filled floor to ceiling with these theatrical pieces. They were so exciting to look at because it’s not what you’d expect to see with clay. Weird bodies and buses with heads — the hand manipulation is so beautiful. Rodrigo’s work often feels like memorials to Mexico where he’s from.” —Candida Alvarez
View more: Rodrigo Lara: Constructs runs April 20 - June 1 at The Mission Projects. By appointment only, contact info@themissionprojects.com to schedule.
Carisa Mitchell, multidisciplinary artist
“Carisa did her MFA in Switzerland, and she brings a European approach to conceptualism. Her work combines language and craft in a very interesting way. I really like that she uses a craft medium to create very analytical, language-based work. She makes felted work based on words and syllables and the pieces are so visually rewarding and satisfying. They’re really playful and have a lot of humor.” —Assaf Evron
View more: Presently, 2024 at Mana Contemporary Chicago from April 13 - May 27. 2233 S. Throop St. Open Monday through Friday 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. by appointment.
Leasho Johnson, painter
“Leasho works in this space between figuration and abstraction. He uses many materials like pure pigment mixed with animal-based glues and charcoal. He works in layers and when he’s done, he’ll peel away a section which completely changes the image. It’s a really beautiful metaphor of working through the unknown and having to react to a changing world.
Leasho is from Jamaica and I think it’s also reflective of his experience being an outsider in America, in the Midwest and in Chicago.” —Carmen Neely
View more: Newcity Breakout Artists Exhibition from April 10 - May 17 at Chicago Artists Coalition. 2130 W. Fulton St. Open this week Wednesday - Friday 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. and Saturday noon - 4 p.m.
zakkiyyah najeebah dumas-o’neal, photographer
zakkiyyah has been collecting found images and inserting them into images that she’s taking. I was really drawn to this series of horizons and landscapes. I liked the layering of it. It felt comforting to me. I related to this idea that so many of us are reaching for understanding and searching for something in the distance that is a little out of reach. It’s a body of work that’s very minimal but the poetry in it really moved me.” —Carmen Neely
View more: o’neal’s work is part of Opening Passages: Photographers Respond to Chicago and Paris from May 4 - Aug. 25 at the Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington St.
Miao Wang, painter
“Miao’s work is very smart. There is an intensity that Miao develops through the layering of pigments. Her work looks very handmade and has a delicacy and fragility that is really quite unique. It’s like when you see the sun at a particular angle or a time of day that makes you stop and appreciate both light and color. I like that it’s not bombastic or overt but instead plays in the realm of subtly.” —Laura Letinsky
View more: The University of Chicago’s Department of Visual Arts 2024 MFA Thesis Exhibition WRONG & STRONG from May 3 - June 9 at Logan Center for the Arts, 915 E. 60th St.
David Sami, painter
“Sami’s family moved to the United States from Cairo when he was in his teens, and I think what has happened in the Middle East has really affected him. He’s developed a language that is specific to his work and dealing with the craziness of war and conflict in a not-entirely overt way. Most recently, he’s been making paintings in reference to social media posts out of Palestine and Gaza. He interprets them with paint in an effort to understand and articulate the madness of it all.” —Laura Letinsky
View more: The University of Chicago’s Department of Visual Arts 2024 MFA Thesis Exhibition WRONG & STRONG from May 3 - June 9 at Logan Center for the Arts, 915 E. 60th St.
If you go: EXPO Chicago opens April 11 and runs through April 14 at Navy Pier, 600 E. Grand Ave. Barely Fair runs April 13, 14, 16-19 and 20, 21 at Color Club, 4146 N. Elston Ave.
Elly Fishman is a freelance writer and the author of Refugee High: Coming of Age in America.