{"article":{"id":3136,"title":"Adrienne Elise Tarver's Portraits of Women Come to Chicago Bus Shelters","excerpt":"","body":"<html><head></head><body><figure class=\"image\"><img src=\"https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092759/afvjih4zmlfbliufv0zv.jpg\"><figcaption>Photos by David Sampson for Public Art Fund</figcaption></figure><p>&nbsp;</p><p><strong>Via PR</strong></p><p><strong>Opening August 14, Public Art Fund and JCDecaux will present </strong><i><strong>Adrienne Elise Tarver: She who sits, </strong></i><strong>six new images displayed on 300 bus shelters across New York City, Chicago, and Boston. </strong>Tarver’s newest body of work is an ongoing exploration of the centrality of the Black matriarchal figure, combined with new imagery where her subjects reject spectatorship, proclaim agency, and engage in self-affirming rest while seated in intimate environments. <i>She who sits </i>marks<i> </i>Adrienne Elise Tarver’s first solo public art exhibition.</p><p>“Adrienne Elise Tarver is incredibly skilled at building rich and complex worlds in which her subjects get to live, and her viewers get to witness,” said <strong>Public Art Fund Assistant Curator Jenée-Daria Strand.</strong> “Each painting possesses a vivid color story that offers a backdrop to an equally rich narrative—a narrative of radical rest that underscores the right of refusal and the reclamation of selfhood.”&nbsp;</p><p>Many of the works in the exhibition<i> </i>feature Vera Otis, a fictional subject whom Tarver has developed over the past 10 years. Originally inspired by an anonymous woman from a vintage photograph in a thrift store, each new portrayal of Vera Otis expands her story. Through Otis’s fabricated biographical narrative, Tarver investigates her own family history, complicates definitions of belonging, and contemplates how personal experiences are intertwined with historical accounts. In <i>She who sits, </i>Vera Otis is the muse through whom Tarver contextualizes rest and the posture of sitting as power. Though inspired by iconic Black actresses of the 1920s through 1960s such as Dorothy Dandridge, Eartha Kitt, Hattie McDaniels, and Lena Horne, Otis does not seek to entertain. She is composed and self-contained, yet at ease and relaxed, not rushing or waiting for anyone. Otis exists as both a meditative focal point for, and in direct contrast to, her commuter audiences.&nbsp;</p><p>“In the development of <i>She who sits</i>, as a continuation of my recent work focused on the fictional character, Vera Otis, I was thinking about archetypes, mythologies, and expectations placed on Black women,” said <strong>Adrienne Elise Tarver</strong>. “These works are an exploration of the power of sitting historically and in daily life, subverting the idea of it being a mundane or insignificant act.”&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><figure class=\"image\"><img src=\"https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092760/l6cvpmtoeyv9z0wth4h4.jpg\"></figure><p>&nbsp;</p><p>The exhibition’s title nods to Black actresses' mandate to perform gleefully on and off stage, the prevalence of Black women's labor in domestic spaces, and the significance of sitting in public space to enact social change. Dually, it refers to the exhibition’s presentation on bus shelters, where passengers sit as they await their next destination. In New York, Chicago, and Boston, Tarver’s subjects will mirror the posture of nearby commuters, offering physical respite and spaces of quiet confrontation.</p><p>Tarver undertakes extensive research to create new series, deriving images from a wealth of source material. Family photographs, found imagery, and media archives––especially that of <i>Ebony Magazine</i> and <i>Jet</i>––reside in each of the paintings, some more recognizable and others less so. By combining imagery that spans time and place, Tarver connects the past to the present.</p><p>For example, in the painting <i>Dark Star,</i> Tarver presents a reinterpreted image of model and actress Vera Francis––originally published on a 1951 <i>Ebony Magazine</i> cover––omitting all markers of her identity and leaving only Francis’s silhouette. Visible at the heart of her obscured figure is a dark blue celestial starburst that Tarver offers in a nod to Afrofuturism, and as a depiction of a Black woman’s prayer to the heavens for refuge and release. The concealed subject raises questions about the figure’s potential expressions of her mental and emotional state, especially when compared to the figure’s vibrant surroundings. Consistent throughout the exhibition is Tarver’s commitment to duality, blurring history and the present, invisibility and visibility, private and public.</p><p><i>She who sits </i>is Tarver’s first solo Public Art Fund presentation, having participated in the 2020 group exhibition <a href=\"https://www.publicartfund.org/exhibitions/view/art-on-the-grid-july27/\"><i>Art on the Grid</i></a>, also presented with JCDecaux. The three exhibition cities each hold unique significance for the artist. Boston is where Tarver lived during her undergraduate years; Chicago is where she spent her teen years and returned to obtain her MFA; New York City is where she currently lives and works.&nbsp;</p><figure class=\"image\"><img src=\"https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1731092760/rccumm5ag8kojungqwj3.jpg\"></figure><p>&nbsp;</p><p><i>Adrienne Elise Tarver: She who sits </i>is curated by Public Art Fund Assistant Curator Jenée-Daria Strand.&nbsp;</p><p><strong>@PublicArtFund #AdrienneEliseTarver</strong></p><p><strong>WHEN &amp; WHERE: </strong>Starting on August 14, 2024, <i>She who sits</i> will be on view on JCDecaux bus shelters throughout New York City, Chicago, and Boston. The exhibition can also be explored anytime, anywhere, on the free <a href=\"https://www.publicartfund.org/videos_etc/bloomberg-connects/\"><strong>Bloomberg Connects</strong></a> app.&nbsp;</p><p><strong>ABOUT THE ARTIST</strong></p><p>Adrienne Elise Tarver is an interdisciplinary artist based in Brooklyn, NY with a practice that spans painting, sculpture, installation, photography, textiles, and video. Her work addresses the complexity and invisibility of Black female identity including the history within domestic spaces, the fantasy of the tropical seductress, and the archetype of the all-knowing spiritual matriarch.</p><p>She has exhibited nationally and abroad, including solo shows at the Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art in Connecticut; the Academy Art Museum in Maryland; Atlanta Contemporary in Atlanta, Georgia; Dinner Gallery (formerly Victori+Mo) in New York; Ochi Projects in Los Angeles; Wave Hill in the Bronx, NY; BRIC Project Room in Brooklyn; and A-M Gallery in Sydney, Australia and two-person exhibitions at Hollis Taggart in New York; Wedge Curatorial in Toronto, Canada. She recently received the Distinguished Alumni Award from her alma mater, Boston University, and the Nancy Graves Foundation Grant. She has been commissioned for projects through the New York MTA, the Public Art Fund, Google, Art Aspen, and Pulse Art Fair and has been featured in online and print publications including the New York Times, Forbes, Brooklyn Magazine, ArtNews, ArtNet, Blouin ArtInfo, Whitewall Magazine, and Hyperallergic, among others. She received her MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and BFA from Boston University.&nbsp;</p><p>In 2024, Tarver was announced as the inaugural awardee of a new summer residency at Stoneleaf Retreat, in partnership with Artnoir. Her solo exhibition, <i>Where the Waters Go</i>, will be on view at Dinner Gallery in New York City from May 16, 2024 to June 29, 2024. Tarver is represented in Los Angeles, CA and Sun Valley, ID by<a href=\"https://www.ochigallery.com/artists/\"> OCHI</a>.</p><p><strong>ABOUT PUBLIC ART FUND</strong></p><p>As the leader in its field, Public Art Fund brings dynamic contemporary art to a broad audience in New York City and beyond by mounting ambitious free exhibitions of international scope and impact that offer the public powerful experiences with art and the urban environment. Begun in 2017, Public Art Fund’s partnership with JCDecaux has grown to include twelve exhibitions across seven cities around the globe.</p><p><strong>ABOUT JCDECAUX</strong></p><p>The JCDecaux Group is the number one outdoor advertising company worldwide, reaching more than 850 million people daily in over 80 countries and almost 4,000 cities. JCDecaux is working towards more sustainable spaces and is recognized for its extra-financial performance in the FTSE4Good (3.6/5), CDP (A Leadership), MSCI (AA), and has achieved Gold Medal status from EcoVadis. In the U.S., JCDecaux programs include airports, billboards, malls, as well as street furniture programs in New York, Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles and San Francisco.</p><p><i>Photos by David Sampson for Public Art Fund</i></p></body></html>","published_at":"2024-08-19 10:00:00","state":"published","slug":"adrienne-elise-tarver-s-portraits-of-women-come-to-chicago-bus-shelters","type":"NewsPost","meta_description":"","text":null,"created_at":"2024-08-19 15:26:07","updated_at":"2024-08-19 15:26:07","category_id":1,"highlighted":true,"searchable":"'/5':1189B '000':1167B '10':195B '14':25B,753B '16':1050B '1920s':275B '1951':555B '1960s':277B '2017':1120B '2020':673B '2024':754B,1010B,1051B,1055B '29':1054B '3.6':1188B '300':44B '4':1166B '80':1162B '850':1156B 'a-m':900B 'aa':1194B 'abroad':851B 'academi':865B 'account':245B 'achiev':1197B 'across':47B,1134B 'act':392B 'actress':272B,400B,548B 'address':815B 'adrienn':1A,33B,99B,108B,364B,728B,790B 'adrienneelisetarv':747B 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src=\"https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1792084737/qrikvx76nvvt5agq24rq.jpg\"></p><p><br></p><p>By CGN STAFF</p><p><br></p><p>Illinois Holocaust Museum &amp; Education Center will reopen its Skokie location on November 11, 2026, following a renovation that expands visitor spaces, updates its core Holocaust exhibition and adds a new reflection gallery. The reopening is timed to coincide with Veterans Day. Active military personnel, veterans and their families will receive free admission that day.</p><p><br></p><p>The project includes a redesigned Lillian &amp; Larry Goodman Auditorium and Gallery, an enlarged lobby in the Shapiro Family Foundation Welcome Center, and a refreshed Resilience Hall with an expanded stage for presentations and public programs.</p><p><br></p><p>Updates to the Zev &amp; Shifra Karkomi Holocaust Exhibition include additional material on the roots of antisemitism, the story of Chicago resident Leo Edelman, and the experiences of other groups targeted by the Nazis. A new reflection gallery, accessible from the exhibition, offers visitors a quiet space during and after their visit.</p><p><br></p><p>“Every visitor’s experience now begins differently and runs deeper,” said Kelley Szany, the Museum’s senior vice president of education and exhibitions. “The new welcome center sets the tone from the moment people arrive, the enhanced core Holocaust exhibition brings the history and the voices of survivors into sharper focus, and our new auditorium gives us a place to gather, listen, and talk about what it means for our communities today.”</p><p><br></p><p>Existing attractions, including the virtual reality theater, the interactive Survivor Stories Experience holographic theater, the Take A Stand Center and the Voices of Genocide Exhibition, will remain part of the Museum’s offerings.</p><p><br></p><p>Following the reopening,&nbsp;<em>Blacklist: The Hollywood Red Scare</em>&nbsp;will open November 15 in the special exhibition gallery. Created by and on loan from Jewish Museum Milwaukee, the exhibition examines the intersections of politics, antisemitism, freedom of speech and national security during the Red Scare of the 1940s and 1950s. It will remain on view through March 2027.</p><p><br></p><p>The Museum’s satellite location in Chicago’s River North neighborhood, <span style=\"color: rgb(13, 13, 13);\">Experience360, </span>will remain open through December 31, 2026. The downtown space opened during the Skokie renovation to provide continued access to the Museum’s immersive exhibitions.</p><p><br></p><p>For information and ticket reservations, visit&nbsp;<a href=\"https://www.ilholocaustmuseum.org/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">ilholocaustmuseum.org</a>.</p><p><br></p><p><span style=\"color: rgb(136, 136, 136);\">Image: Museum exterior. 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For much of its history, collectors and visitors gathered at Navy Pier to discover works in glass, ceramics, wood, metal and fiber, alongside sculpture and design. Its focus on materials and craftsmanship gave the fair a distinct identity and cultivated a devoted audience.</p><p><br></p><p>The announcement comes as the inaugural Chicago Art Fair gets underway at THE MART. The new fair opened with a preview on October 7 and continues through October 10, presenting modern and contemporary art. Tim von Gal, CEO and producer of SOFA Chicago and CEO of Intersect Art and Design, was in Chicago this week for the occasion.</p><p>Organizers describe the 2027 collaboration as two distinct but complementary presentations under one roof, with SOFA’s focus on three-dimensional art and design alongside Chicago Art Fair’s broader offerings.</p><p><br></p><p>“Chicago has always been an extraordinary home for SOFA and a city with a deep appreciation for art, craft, architecture and design,” said von Gal in the announcement. “Joining the Chicago Art Fair at THE MART gives us the opportunity to build upon that legacy while creating an exciting new experience for collectors and exhibitors alike.”</p><p>Eric Smith, owner of Chicago Art Fair and CEO of Redwood Art Group, said the addition would broaden the fair’s scope while preserving SOFA’s identity.</p><p><br></p><p>“SOFA has a remarkable legacy and a distinct identity, and its return adds an important new dimension to the fair while reinforcing Chicago’s position as a destination for collectors, galleries and art lovers from around the world,” Smith said.</p><p><br></p><p>For those who remember SOFA as an annual opportunity to encounter ambitious work in craft and design, the return will be welcome news. The participating galleries and programming, still to be announced, will provide a fuller picture of how that legacy will take shape in its new setting.</p><p><br></p><p>SOFA Chicago is produced by Intersect Art and Design, which also organizes annual art and design fairs in Aspen and Palm Springs.</p><p><br></p><p>Additional details about exhibitors, partnerships and tickets are expected in the coming months. </p><p><br></p><p>Visit&nbsp;<a href=\"https://chicagoartfair.com/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">chicagoartfair.com</a> for updates.</p>","published_at":"2026-10-08 08:42:55.758","state":"published","slug":"as-one-new-fair-opens-another-familiar-name-announces-its-return-in-2027","type":null,"meta_description":"","text":null,"created_at":"2026-10-08 15:01:02.232","updated_at":"2026-10-08 15:01:02.232","category_id":1,"highlighted":false,"searchable":"'10':145B '1994':61B '2027':13A,40B,178B '28':38B '31':39B '7':140B 'add':302B 'addit':278B,400B 'alik':262B 'alongsid':96B,200B 'also':388B 'alway':209B 'alyea':17B 'ambiti':341B 'announc':9A,118B,234B,361B 'annual':337B,390B 'anoth':6A 'appreci':222B 'architectur':226B 'around':325B 'art':28B,45B,72B,124B,150B,164B,197B,202B,224B,238B,268B,274B,322B,384B,391B 'aspen':396B 'audienc':116B 'becam':63B 'broaden':280B 'broader':205B 'build':248B 'calendar':73B 'ceo':154B,161B,271B 'ceram':91B 'chicago':19B,44B,59B,123B,159B,169B,201B,207B,237B,267B,312B,379B 'chicagoartfair.com':414B 'citi':36B,69B,218B 'collabor':179B 'collect':30B 'collector':79B,259B,319B 'come':119B,411B 'complementari':184B 'contemporari':149B 'continu':142B 'craft':225B,344B 'craftsmanship':105B 'creat':253B 'cultiv':113B 'deep':221B 'describ':176B 'design':31B,99B,166B,199B,228B,346B,386B,393B 'destin':317B 'detail':401B 'devot':23B,115B 'dimens':306B 'dimension':196B 'discov':87B 'distinct':110B,182B,297B 'edit':54B 'encount':340B 'eric':263B 'excit':255B 'exhibitor':261B,403B 'expect':408B 'experi':257B 'extraordinari':212B 'fair':4A,22B,46B,108B,125B,133B,203B,239B,269B,282B,309B,394B 'fall':71B 'familiar':7A 'fiber':95B 'fixtur':66B 'focus':101B,192B 'found':57B 'fuller':365B 'function':27B 'gal':153B,231B 'galleri':320B,355B 'gather':82B 'gave':106B 'get':126B 'ginni':15B 'give':243B 'glass':90B 'group':275B 'histori':78B 'home':213B 'ident':111B,289B,298B 'import':304B 'inaugur':53B,122B 'intersect':163B,383B 'join':235B 'last':55B 'legaci':251B,294B,370B 'longtim':21B 'lover':323B 'mart':49B,130B,242B 'materi':103B 'metal':93B 'modern':147B 'month':412B 'much':75B 'name':8A 'navi':84B 'new':3A,132B,256B,305B,376B 'news':352B 'night':56B 'object':26B 'occas':174B 'octob':37B,139B,144B 'offer':206B 'one':2A,187B 'open':5A,51B,134B 'opportun':246B,338B 'organ':175B,389B 'owner':265B 'palm':398B 'part':42B 'particip':354B 'partnership':404B 'pictur':366B 'pier':85B 'popular':65B 'posit':314B 'present':146B,185B 'preserv':286B 'preview':137B 'produc':156B,381B 'program':357B 'provid':363B 'redwood':273B 'reinforc':311B 'remark':293B 'rememb':333B 'return':11A,33B,301B,348B 'roof':188B 'said':229B,276B,329B 'scope':284B 'sculptur':25B,97B 'set':377B 'shape':373B 'smith':264B,328B 'sofa':18B,62B,158B,190B,215B,287B,290B,334B,378B 'spring':399B 'still':358B 'take':372B 'three':195B 'three-dimension':194B 'ticket':406B 'tim':151B 'two':181B 'underway':127B 'updat':416B 'upon':249B 'us':244B 'van':16B 'visit':413B 'visitor':81B 'von':152B,230B 'week':171B 'welcom':351B 'wood':92B 'work':88B,342B 'world':327B 'would':279B","thumbnail":"https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1791471648/qlsatdxqgau2braeekxu.jpg","editor_pick":true},{"id":14324,"title":"Pigment International Dedicates Black Fine Art Month 2026 to Richard Hunt","excerpt":"","body":"<p><img src=\"https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1791479103/r9oi9u47474rx2synx0p.png\"></p><p><span style=\"color: rgb(136, 136, 136);\">The artist Richard Hunt</span></p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p>By CGN Staff</p><p><br></p><p>Pigment International has dedicated Black Fine Art Month 2026 to Chicago sculptor Richard Hunt (1935–2023), recognizing his contributions to American art and his lifelong connection to the city.</p><p><br></p><p>As part of the month’s programming, the organization will host&nbsp;<em>Pigmented: Chicago to the World — A Black Fine Art Convening</em>&nbsp;on October 23 at the University of Chicago’s Logan Center for the Arts. Partners include the Richard Hunt Legacy Foundation, Adler University, CAI Designs, Chicago Public Art Group, Chicago Sculpture Exhibit and Diasporal Rhythms.</p><p><br></p><p>Born and raised on Chicago’s South Side, Hunt developed an internationally recognized practice while continuing to live and work in his hometown. His welded metal sculptures brought together abstract forms, references to the natural world and an enduring interest in freedom and social justice.</p><p><br></p><p>Hunt identified attending Emmett Till’s funeral in 1955 as a turning point in his artistic life. Till had lived just two blocks from Hunt’s home. Decades later, Hunt’s public commissions would honor figures including Martin Luther King Jr., Mary McLeod Bethune, Jesse Owens and Ida B. Wells, while also addressing the Middle Passage and the Great Migration.</p><p>In 1968, President Lyndon Johnson appointed Hunt to the National Council on the Arts, where he became its first African American member. In 1971, at age 35, he became the first African American sculptor to receive a retrospective at New York’s Museum of Modern Art. His career encompassed more than 150 solo exhibitions and more than 160 public art installations.</p><p><br></p><p><img src=\"https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1791479104/lltcodkx39gd8sbhtus1.png\"></p><p><em style=\"color: rgb(136, 136, 136);\">Richard Hunt with artist Chris Devins, who recently completed a mural honoring the sculptor in Hyde Park. Photo courtesy of Chris Devins.</em></p><p><br></p><p>Recent projects in Chicago offer new ways to encounter Hunt’s work and history. This fall, the Logan Center opened the Hunt, a café honoring the artist. Created and designed by Little Black Pearl founder and executive director Monica Haslip, the space incorporates two Hunt sculptures, African art, archival materials and photographs by Sandro Miller.</p><p>In Hyde Park, artist Chris Devins and historian Michelle Duster have brought a mural of Hunt to 1515–19 E. 54th Street. The portrait is based on photographs Devins took in Hunt’s studio before the sculptor’s death.</p><p><br></p><p>“Richard Hunt was a giant in the arts world and people need to see what he looked like and be inspired by his legacy,” Devins said.</p><p><br></p><p>Pigment International’s dedication also reflects its own relationship with Hunt. The organization featured him in its magazine in 2020, and he welcomed its Black Fine Art Month programming into his studio in October 2021.</p><p><br></p><p>#</p><p><br></p><p>Two events take place this month:</p><p><br></p><p><strong>Pigment International at SPECTRUM Chicago Art Fair</strong></p><p><br></p><p>October 7–10, 2026.</p><p>Chicago Merchandise Mart, seventh floor, booth #3091.</p><p>Wednesday, October 7, 5–8 pm, with a champagne toast in the booth and an artist meet-and-greet.</p><p>Thursday, October 8, 6-8pm with Diasporal Rhythms</p><p>Featured artists:&nbsp;Jesse Howard, Howard Simmons, Edo, Candace Hunter, Sura DuPart and Max Sansing.</p><p>Additional events are taking place during the fair</p><p><br></p><p><strong>Chicago to the World: A Black Fine Art Month Convening</strong></p><p>Presented by Pigment International as part of Black Fine Art Month, which the organization has dedicated this year to Richard Hunt.</p><p>Friday, October 23, 2026, 11:30 am–5 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