Claire Oliver Gallery, located in New York, showcased the exhibition Upending the Narrative, which included the work of Bisa Butler and Leonardo Benzant. Claire Oliver Gallery explains that the two artists “create detailed and sumptuous works of art redolent with content and mystery; these works demand to be studied. Equally important to the painstaking ‘making’ is their studio practices exploring the current condition in their own African American communities.”

In conjunction with the Fourth Annual Feature Shoot Emerging Photography Awards, United Photo Industries (UPI) in Brooklyn, NY is showcasing the work of two awardees: Amelia Satzger and Lauren Menzies. These two artists were selected by Laura Roumanos, who is executive producer and co-founder of UPI and one of the jurors for the award.

Although I am originally from the midwest, this year’s EXPO Chicago was my first time attending the international art fair. Having lived elsewhere for the past several years, and having visited a variety of different art fairs and festivals while doing so, I was anxious to see what EXPO had to offer. I can gladly say that it did not disappoint.

How does our environment affect our cultural memory and identity? What relationship does geography have with power and how does it affect diasporic communities? HATCH Project exhibition “Leaf by Leaf” at the Chicago Artist Coalition investigates these urgent questions that are embedded within the plants, the land, and the organic elements that surround us.

In this intimate review of Expanding Narratives: The Figure and the Ground at the Smart Museum of Art, we will walk as ‘figure’ throughout the exhibition, ‘ground,’ exploring these two terms in not only the most literal sense—meaning through portraits and landscapes—but also through their evolution conceptually. In the first two sections entitled, “The Figure” and “The Ground” the two terms are visible in their most traditional and recognizable form.

The ‘Body As Image’ exhibition featuring the work of Kioto Aoki, Colleen Keihm, and Darryl DeAngelo Terrell creates a space in which black identity and body politics are simultaneously explored within a historical context through the literal lens of photography, while also repositioning itself outside of these narratives by using alternative modes of image-making such as cyanotypes and photograms.

Artist and activist Nicole Garneau’s new book Performing Revolutionary: Art, Action, Activism takes you on an intimate journey through her project UPRISING, a series of performances that took place once a month for five years. Defining her UPRISINGs as “public demonstration of revolutionary practices,” these performances, protests, celebrations envelop around efforts of connection, community, and care in a way that is reflected in the writings in this book.

The single room that held the exhibition provided a perfect amount of breathing room while allowing the viewer to become immersed in the photographs, both as a collection and as individual pieces. The works were shown in a non-linear, almost salon-style display, which created an interesting chance for the viewer’s perspective of each piece to be confronted with alternative pairings as well as provocative overlap and connections between the works.

During November 16-19, Chicago hosted its first annual Chicago Art Book Fair, featuring over 100 independent publishers, small presses, comic and zine-makers, printmakers, and more. Taking over two floors of the stunning Chicago Athletic Association Hotel, the amount of incredibly unique and innovative artists and publishers kept the crowd buzzing with eager curiosity and excitement, while not being too overwhelming.

In the short time since its inception in 2015, Annka Kultys Gallery has brought thought-provoking exhibitions to East London that have generated a dialogue surrounding new, digital techniques being utilized by contemporary artists. Its June exhibition Faux Realities, showcasing the photography of artist Signe Pierce, proved to be of no exception.

This past weekend had all kinds of talented artists at The Other Art Fair showing photography, painting, fibre art, drawing, installation art, and even interactive sculpture. As soon as you walk into the space, you are met with welcoming artists who are ready to discuss their work. Unlike most other art fairs, the exhibiting artists are there for you to meet, providing a great opportunity to find out the story behind the artwork.

The exhibition, In Sight: Ekphrastic Collaboration between Eye Lounge and Four Chambers Press, is a force be reckoned with. It is a precious collection of intimate connections between art and writing, each piece unique in its own right. The exhibition is comprised of 11 pairs of artists and writers collaborating with one another to create their pieces.

In a world where modern technology has made many traditional artistic processes obsolete, the Center for Creative Photography in Tucson and the Phoenix Art Museum have launched a historical investigation of the platinum print. Referencing the artistic and fiscal value of this photographic method, All That Glitters Is Not Gold is an intimate, chronologically curated exhibition that begins with the invention of the platinum print in 1873, and follows its use and development in portraiture up through its revival in the 1970s and into contemporary culture.