EXPO Chicago opens Thursday on Navy Pier, with artwork from around the world
The 10th anniversary edition of EXPO Chicago opens Thursday in Navy Pier’s Festival Hall and in venues elsewhere in the city. With the full title EXPO Chicago: The International Exposition of Contemporary & Modern Art, the art fair will host some 170 international exhibitors, as well as present panel discussions and lectures on contemporary art and cultural topics.
Festival Hall itself will be a labyrinth of exhibition spaces with modern art of all kinds, presented by galleries from 36 countries. Chicago-area galleries represented include Aaron Galleries, Casterline|Goodman Gallery, Corbett vs. Dempsey, Stephen Daiter Gallery, Richard Norton Gallery, Volume Gallery, DOCUMENT, Kavi Gupta, ANDREW RAFACZ, Carrie Secrist Gallery, Rhona Hoffman Gallery, McCormick Gallery, moniquemeloche, Western Exhibitions, Alan Koppel Gallery and M. LeBlanc.
Other programs include a curatorial forum, a digital billboard activated with the help of DCASE, and a directors summit with emerging art museum leaders, as well as:
/Dialogues: In partnership with the School of the Art Institute, a stage on Navy Pier will host panel discussions with artists, curators and arts professionals on current issues in art. Highlights for 2023 include a conversation with Chance the Rapper and artist Hank Willis Thomas focused on community building through work with underrepresented artists (7 p.m. Thursday), as well as “Building Museums of the Future,” lead by Madeleine Grynsztejn of the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago (3:30 p.m. Friday).
IN/SITU: Large-scale sculpture, video, film and site-specific works in Festival Hall.
IN/SITU Outside: Public art installations elsewhere on Navy Pier and around the city, including “Funtime Unicorn” by Derrick Adams, on view through June 25 in Polk Bros Park.
“Woo woo Woo”: Curated by Jeanette Bisschops, with a performance 3 p.m. Friday inspired by connections between religious rituals and collective dance, with choreographer Michele Rizzo.
April 13-16, 2023 at Navy Pier; tickets $35-$150 and more information at www.expochicago.com
