In the 1980s, Chicago became one of the first cities in the U.S. to have its own major art fair, first with the Chicago International Art Exposition and later with Art Chicago. However, the game really changed with the launch of EXPO CHICAGO by president and director Tony Karman, who transformed the fair into a high-voltage catalyst for the city’s cultural revival, thus staking Chicago’s claim as a player on the international art circuit. Now in its twelfth edition (its second under Frieze), EXPO CHICAGO returns to Navy Pier from April 24 to 27 with more than 170 exhibitors from 36 countries and 93 cities. Ahead of this year’s fair, Observer spoke with Tony Karman—EXPO CHICAGO’s founding force, who has been behind its rise since 2012.
The local cultural and artistic ecosystem has always been a focus of the fair. “We work very closely with all of our institutions, galleries, artists with studios here, as well as nonprofit organizations, to ensure that, during Art Week, the entire city and cultural community are engaged,” Karman tells Observer. That engagement brings in local audiences while allowing collectors, curators, galleries, and other professionals coming from outside of the city to experience the Chicago art scene (which is, as last year’s Chicago Exhibition Weekend proved, especially dynamic).
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One of the major highlights of this year’s edition is the new collaboration with Kiaf and the Korean Art Dealers Association that will bring twenty leading Korean galleries to the fair, including Gallery Baton, BHAK, Gana Art, Keumsan Gallery, Sun Gallery, ONE AND J. Gallery, PYO Gallery and 313 Art Project. It’s the natural progression of a long history of Korean galleries participating in Chicago art fairs in the ‘80s, ‘90s and early 2000s. “It’s a great partnership,” says Karman, who added that the collaboration is also a manifestation of the strong existing relationship between Frieze and Kiaf, which also collaborated during Seoul Art Week. “What’s important is that this extends to an entire program around the collaboration, including a great panel and installations by Korean artists as part of the ‘IN/SITU’ section.”
EXPO CHICAGO will have three curated sections this year. A new addition to the program, “CONTRAST” is curated by Lauren Haynes, head curator of Governors Island Arts and vice president for arts and culture at the Trust for Governors Island. It will feature eight galleries with presentations exploring contrasts in culture, identity and experience. Among the participating galleries, Gray will present a museum-quality booth curated by Chicago-based art historian Romi Crawford titled “So Be It! Asé! Photographic Echoes of FESTAC ’77,” featuring photographs by members of Chicago’s Black Arts Movement and unveiling documentation of the U.S. delegation to FESTAC ’77, the Second World Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture, held in Lagos, Nigeria.
Pippy Houldsworth Gallery will feature a series of new paintings by Chicago-based Kenyan artist Wangari Mathenge, inspired by Kenya’s Kikuyu culture, history and language. Meanwhile, Jenkins Johnson Gallery will pair artist and cultural ambassador Dr. Esther Mahlangu’s paintings and painted sculptural objects, inspired by the abstract geometric mural tradition of the Ndebele people of South Africa, with the pseudo-abstract organic fiber sculptures by Nnenna Okore. The presentation will also include paintings by Enrico Riley and Patrick Alston and poetic black-and-white photographs by Andre D. Wagner. Johnson Lowe will feature the works of Fahamu Pecou, Cosmo Whyte and Thornton Dial in conversation, while Galeria MaPa will present intricate mythological and symbolic narratives by Brazilian Indigenous artist Chico da Silva.
“EXPOSURE,” curated by Rosario Güiraldes, curator of visual arts at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, will feature solo and two-artist presentations from galleries ten years old and younger. One of the highlights will be the solo booth by Jamaican artist Simon Benjamin, who recently entered the collection of the Studio Museum in Harlem and the Pérez Art Museum Miami after being awarded the acquisition prize at NADA Miami last May. Presented by Swivel Gallery, Benjamin’s richly layered multidisciplinary practice investigates the complex relationship between the Caribbean and trade, ocean travel, import-dominant consumerism, tourism and other neo-colonial relationships imposed by the United States and the West. Also featured in this section are several Brazilian and Latin American galleries debuting at the fair for the first time, including Bianca Boeckel, Mitre Galeria and Verve Galeria from São Paulo and Art Latinou from Mexico City.
Jessica Harm, the newly appointed chief curator at the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art in Kansas City, will curate this year’s “IN/SITU” section, dedicated to large-scale installations. Meanwhile, “PROFILES” will feature solo booths and focused projects by established international galleries presenting ambitious installations and tightly focused thematic exhibitions by a single artist or collective. As part of this section, Library Street Collective will present a new body of sculptural works by Trinidadian-American artist Allana Clarke made with hair-bonding glue, while Alberta Pane will feature a more conceptual and minimalistic solo display of geometric works by Italian artist Esther Stocker. Corbett vs. Dempsey will present works from the early 1970s to early 1980s by Chicago-based artist Diane Simpson, most of which have never been exhibited.
Some highlights in the main “GALLERIES” section include a compelling pairing between iconic early photographs by Rashid Johnson, presented by Moniquemeloche, alongside new intricate garden-inspired works by Ebony G. Patterson, coinciding with Johnson’s major Guggenheim exhibition opening on April 18. Also in the main section, Brazilian dealer Nara Rosler will show a pairing of kaleidoscopic paintings by Thiago Barbalho with works by Sergio Sister created during his confinement as a political prisoner during Brazil’s military dictatorship.
Outside of the booths, the Directors Summit and the Curatorial Forum, which each year brings directors and curators from some of the leading institutions in the country and abroad to Chicago, remain “key programming initiatives of EXPO CHICAGO,” says Karman. With the Frieze acquisition last year, he maintained creative control of the fair, staying on as director. During our conversation, he expresses repeatedly how satisfied he is with the collaboration so far and what it has brought to the organization. “We’re seeing a positive impact from the full integration with the Frieze team and the company in all aspects, from programming and production to VIP outreach and event management. We’re benefiting greatly from having a global team and being part of a global company.”
More importantly, the new opportunities offered by this chapter under Frieze align with Karman’s priorities for EXPO CHICAGO’s future. His plan, he concludes, is to fully leverage the extraordinary platform that Frieze offers to broaden his fair’s international audience while it continues to grow locally.
