![](\"https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418210/bj6amv3bnunbiiln8fop.jpg\")
By KEVIN NANCE
\r\n\r\nJudith Tullman has a special name for the Art Loft, the office/clubhouse/gallery space of her husband, the entrepreneur, venture capitalist and prolific art collector Howard Tullman. She calls it “The Breast Home.”
\r\n","body":"By KEVIN NANCE
Judith Tullman has a special name for the Art Loft, the office/clubhouse/gallery space of her husband, the entrepreneur, venture capitalist and prolific art collector Howard Tullman. She calls it “The Breast Home.”
No wonder. Perhaps one-third of the roughly 1,200 pieces on display in the 6,000-square-foot loft are paintings and drawings of nudes. The vast majority of them are female, and most are naturalistic in style, including several photorealistic pieces lifelike enough to appear in Playboy.
Overall, Tullman’s collection is merrily eclectic, if almost exclusively figurative, and includes sculpture, paintings and works on paper. Most of the pieces are by young and/or emerging artists from Chicago and around the world (especially Germany and Mexico) who exude a youthful, often alternative or outsider sensibility. Several are witty, impish riffs on pop-culture figures, including David Hevel’s sculptures of Britney Spears and Jessica Simpson made of taxidermied animals, and Lizabeth Eva Rossof’s faux-Chinese warriors referencing Batman and Bart Simpson. One large painting, I’ll Have What She’s Having by John Jacobsmeyer, is a Renaissance-fair parody of the famous scene from Rob Reiner’s romantic comedy “When Harry Met Sally…,” with Linda Lovelace, Harry Reems and other 1970s pornography stars acting out the parts. (The exception is the director’s mother, Estelle, who appears in the painting in her original role as the speaker of the title phrase.)
But there’s also an elephant in the room, and she is bodacious indeed. Visitors to the Art Loft are routinely dazzled by the display of pulchritude—which is housed at the loft, rather than at Tullman’s home, out of deference to the wishes of his wife and co-collector, Judith, whose artistic tastes lie elsewhere.
Would it be accurate to classify Tullman, 70, as an admirer of the female form?
“Yeah, I’d say that,” he concedes with a you-got-me smile during a recent visit. “But I also have to say, what I really admire is the execution of a lot of these artists; it is quite extraordinary.”
Tullman isn’t kidding. Gazing at a realistic painting by New York artist Jenny Morgan of a young nude woman standing in a swimming pool, he says the most interesting part of the work for him is the highly accomplished way Morgan has rendered the water in the pool. “Now, I realize that that’s like saying you read Playboy for the articles, but it’s true,” he says. In front of a different painting—this of a young woman kneeling in a bathtub, presenting her glistening derriere to the viewer—Tullman focuses on the bathtub rather than its occupant. “That’s someone’s rear end, I get that,” he says. “[But] the most complicated thing for the artist is to represent water and motion.”
To some extent, Tullman’s focus on the figure is an outgrowth of his desire to narrow the choices he’s forced to make as a busy executive who also happens to be an art collector. “I think it’s almost impossible to keep on top of what’s going on in the art world across all its different dimensions,” he says. “One of the ways I’ve addressed the glut—just the sheer volume—has been to say to the galleries I work with, ‘Please don’t send me an abstract piece or a landscape.’ My philosophy has been that I want to see the world’s best examples of realist, figurative representations. That’s how I’ve made my life more manageable as a collector, and that’s how I explain the concentration. Certainly I don’t acquire things to aggravate my wife or make her life more difficult.”
At the same time, Tullman—a restless business innovator whose latest enterprise is a technology startup incubator called 1871, whose offices at the Merchandise Mart now house parts of his art collection—seems to enjoy his reputation as a sort of art-world Hugh Hefner. He tells with evident pleasure an anecdote of the president of a company who was photographed at the loft, but the next day, a member of his staff called and said, “Can we come back? We need to take different pictures.” All of the artwork shown in the background, it turned out, featured nude female figures, perky as can be.
*
Tullman’s interest in the figure dates back to his early years as a collector when, as a young corporate lawyer, he and his wife came to know several of the Chicago Imagists, the Pop-and-Surrealist-influenced group that included Ed Paschke, Roger Brown, Jim Nutt, Gladys Nilsson and others. The Tullmans amassed a significant collection of Imagist painting, almost all of it figurative, before donating most of it to the University of Chicago’s Smart Museum of Art about two decades ago.
Tullman then found himself attracted primarily to photorealism—again with the figure front and center—before drifting away from that genre, which he came to regard as too technical, in favor of somewhat less naturalistically drawn or painted works with greater subjectivity, drama and storytelling. “Over the years, photorealism became a little boring,” he says. “These things were pristine but had no story, no particular emotion. After a while, they didn’t seem as alive as some of the pieces which are a little looser in technique but have more personality and more narrative.”
During the past decade or so, Tullman has increasingly bought sculpture—much of which, in high contrast to the naturalism of the two-dimensional work in the collection, is decidedly non-realistic. Examples include works by two Chicago artists: Joe Seigenthaler’s Fly Dog, a striking male figure with a canine face hovering mournfully at the top of a ladder near Tullman’s desk, and another large piece, by Christophe Roberts, resembling a neon orange lion made from Nike shoeboxes carved up with an X-Acto knife.
In these choices, as in so many others, Tullman sometimes differs from his wife. At one art fair, a quirky sculpture of a policeman prompted Judith Tullman to ask, “Who in the world would buy that?” The answer, she later discovered, was her husband.
“Howard has a taste for the bizarre,” says Linda Warren, one of three Chicago art dealers—the others are Ann Nathan and Carl Hammer—with whom Tullman works most often. “He likes a lot of things that are just weird. He likes nudes, he likes eroticism, and he likes things that reflect subcultures: young people, people with tattoos, people with a very 21st-century mentality. He also likes very strong images that are almost iconic from the beginning; there’s not a lot of subtlety in what he goes for. You walk in there and go, ‘Whoa! This guy’s a wild man.’ But there’s nothing amateur about the work he collects; there’s a cohesiveness to the insanity. And you know, he wouldn’t be where he is today if he didn’t think outside of the box all the time.”
*
The other major element that has shaped Tullman’s collection is his commitment to supporting young and emerging artists (the latter group including several painters and sculptors who turned to making art after long careers in other fields). Unlike many collectors in Chicago and elsewhere who keep artists at arm’s length by dealing exclusively with gallerists, the Tullmans are in direct, regular contact with many of the artists they collect.
“As a young lawyer and having friends who were struggling artists, it seemed reasonable that we should spend some of the money we were earning to support what they were doing, which we thought was (a) more fun and (b) certainly more rewarding than being a corporate lawyer,” Tullman recalls. “That’s how we got connected with some of the earlier Imagists. They were trying to make a go of it, practicing their art, and it was a very challenging time. It’s always been a challenging time for young artists.”
Today, the Tullmans work with about 20 galleries around the world that “regularly keep us in the loop on new work by artists that we have and, more importantly, work by artists that they think we should see,” he says. “Most of the artists in the collection keep us abreast of what they’re doing. A number of them are also teachers, so they feel free, and sort of make it their business, to call our attention to new artists that they think are worthy. Sometimes these artists are their students, or just young artists they’ve been exposed to one way or another.”
It’s that generosity, in part, that has earned the Tullmans the respect and affection of much of the Chicago art community. “Unlike a lot of collectors, Howard doesn’t feel like he has to have a lot of blue-chip artists hanging on his walls,” Hammer says. “He’s more interested in taking risks, taking a chance, and expressing confidence in the new artists coming along. Here’s a guy who can afford pieces by established artists, but he seems to have this vision of moving the next generation along, which is a great thing.”
Unlike many collectors who acquire pieces only after lengthy deliberation, Tullman is known for his quick trigger finger. “Someone comes along and he makes an acquaintance with them, or he sees their work somewhere, and he just buys it,” Hammer says. Adds Warren: “I told one artist, ‘Howard Tullman’s going to buy this.’ And the second he got the exhibit invitation, Howard picked up the phone and said, ‘How much is that?’”
It helps, of course, if the piece features a figure. If she’s not overly burdened with clothing, so much the better.
Top image: Howard Tullman at ease among his art. Photo: Kevin Nance.
12/17/15: Editor’s note: Because of inaccurate information given to reporter Kevin Nance, an earlier, printed version of this article in the January-April 2016 issue of CGN misattributed the phrase “Breast Home.”
","published_at":"2015-12-14 00:00:00","state":"published","slug":"an-art-world-figure-howard-tullman","type":"NewsPost","meta_description":"An interview with art collector Howard Tullman","text":null,"created_at":"2015-12-11 19:18:44","updated_at":"2020-12-15 23:25:08.586101","category_id":3,"highlighted":false,"searchable":"'000':59B '1':51B '12/17/15':1674B '1871':659B '1970s':220B '20':1372B '200':52B '2016':1699B '21st':1123B '21st-century':1122B '6':58B '70':316B 'abreast':1415B 'abstract':581B 'accomplish':404B 'accur':312B 'acquaint':1592B 'acquir':629B,1571B 'across':545B 'act':223B 'acto':1014B 'add':1608B 'address':558B 'admir':319B,351B 'affect':1484B 'afford':1544B 'aggrav':632B 'ago':831B 'aliv':906B 'almost':101B,530B,808B,1134B 'along':1537B,1561B,1587B 'also':254B,344B,519B,1127B,1426B 'altern':137B 'alway':1358B 'amass':801B 'amateur':1168B 'among':1668B 'and/or':119B 'anecdot':693B 'anim':165B 'ann':1079B 'anoth':993B,1469B 'answer':1053B 'appear':90B,236B 'april':1698B 'arm':1253B 'around':125B,1374B 'art':2A,18B,32B,268B,524B,543B,671B,683B,827B,1032B,1074B,1235B,1348B,1490B,1670B 'art-world':682B 'articl':427B,1693B 'artist':121B,305B,360B,377B,483B,966B,1222B,1251B,1272B,1285B,1365B,1388B,1397B,1409B,1445B,1453B,1460B,1512B,1535B,1548B,1613B 'artwork':731B 'ask':1044B 'attent':1442B 'attract':836B 'away':849B 'b':1314B 'back':721B,754B 'background':735B 'bart':178B 'bathtub':448B,460B 'batman':176B 'becam':881B 'begin':1138B 'best':598B 'better':1661B 'bizarr':1066B 'blue':1510B 'blue-chip':1509B 'bodaci':263B 'bore':884B 'bought':935B 'box':1200B 'breast':40B,1706B 'britney':157B 'brown':792B 'burden':1655B 'busi':516B,648B,1438B 'buy':1050B,1604B,1619B 'call':37B,658B,715B,1440B 'came':772B,855B 'canin':978B 'capitalist':29B 'career':1238B 'carl':1082B 'carv':1008B 'center':846B 'centuri':1124B 'certain':625B,1315B 'cgn':1702B 'challeng':1354B,1361B 'chanc':1528B 'chicago':123B,778B,822B,965B,1073B,1246B,1489B 'chines':173B 'chip':1511B 'choic':508B,1018B 'christoph':997B 'classifi':314B 'cloth':1657B 'co':301B 'co-collector':300B 'cohes':1177B 'collect':96B,672B,804B,954B,1173B,1213B,1274B,1412B 'collector':33B,302B,525B,616B,761B,1244B,1496B,1569B 'come':720B,1536B,1586B 'comedi':208B 'commit':1216B 'communiti':1491B 'compani':699B 'complic':479B 'conced':330B 'concentr':624B 'confid':1531B 'connect':1330B 'contact':1267B 'contrast':942B 'corpor':766B,1321B 'cours':1643B 'cultur':149B 'd':326B 'date':753B 'david':152B 'day':709B 'dazzl':272B 'deal':1257B 'dealer':1075B 'decad':830B,929B 'decid':956B 'defer':292B 'deliber':1576B 'derrier':452B 'desir':504B 'desk':991B 'didn':902B,1194B 'differ':438B,548B,726B,1026B 'difficult':640B 'dimens':549B 'dimension':950B 'direct':1265B 'director':231B 'discov':1056B 'display':55B,275B 'doesn':1498B 'dog':971B 'donat':814B 'drama':874B 'draw':67B 'drawn':867B 'drift':848B 'earli':757B 'earlier':1335B,1688B 'earn':1299B,1478B 'eas':1667B 'eclect':99B 'ed':789B 'editor':1675B 'element':1207B 'eleph':256B 'elsewher':308B,1248B 'emerg':120B,1221B 'emot':897B 'end':470B 'enjoy':675B 'enough':88B 'enterpris':652B 'entrepreneur':27B 'erotic':1105B 'especi':128B 'establish':1547B 'estell':234B 'eva':168B 'evid':690B 'exampl':599B,960B 'except':228B 'exclus':102B,1258B 'execut':354B,517B 'exhibit':1627B 'explain':622B 'expos':1464B 'express':1530B 'extent':492B 'extraordinari':364B 'exud':133B 'face':979B 'fair':197B,1033B 'famous':201B 'faux':172B 'faux-chines':171B 'favor':862B 'featur':739B,1647B 'feel':1430B,1500B 'femal':76B,322B,741B 'field':1241B 'figur':4A,103B,150B,498B,602B,742B,752B,812B,843B,975B,1649B 'finger':1584B 'fli':970B 'focus':457B,495B 'foot':62B 'forc':511B 'form':323B 'found':834B 'free':1431B 'friend':1281B 'front':435B,844B 'fun':1312B 'galleri':571B,1373B 'gallerist':1260B 'gaze':369B 'generat':1560B 'generos':1473B 'genr':852B 'germani':129B 'get':472B 'given':1682B 'gladi':795B 'glisten':451B 'glut':560B 'go':539B,1156B,1343B,1617B 'goe':1149B 'got':335B,1329B,1625B 'great':1565B 'greater':872B 'group':786B,1225B 'guy':1159B,1541B 'hammer':1083B,1517B,1606B 'hang':1513B 'happen':520B 'harri':210B,216B 'hefner':686B 'help':1641B 'hevel':153B 'high':403B,941B 'home':41B,289B,1707B 'hous':280B,667B 'hover':980B 'howard':5A,34B,1060B,1497B,1614B,1629B,1664B 'hugh':685B 'husband':25B,1059B 'icon':1135B 'imag':1131B,1663B 'imagist':779B,806B,1336B 'impish':144B 'import':1394B 'imposs':531B 'inaccur':1680B 'includ':83B,105B,151B,788B,961B,1226B 'increas':934B 'incub':657B 'inde':264B 'influenc':785B 'inform':1681B 'innov':649B 'insan':1180B 'interest':394B,749B,1522B 'invit':1628B 'isn':366B 'issu':1700B 'jacobsmey':192B 'januari':1697B 'january-april':1696B 'jenni':378B 'jessica':160B 'jim':793B 'joe':967B 'john':191B 'judith':10B,303B,1041B 'keep':533B,1250B,1379B,1413B 'kevin':8B,1672B,1685B 'kid':368B 'kneel':445B 'knife':1015B 'know':774B,1183B 'known':1579B 'ladder':987B 'landscap':585B 'larg':181B,994B 'later':1055B 'latest':651B 'latter':1224B 'lawyer':767B,1278B,1322B 'length':1255B 'lengthi':1575B 'less':865B 'lie':307B 'life':611B,638B 'lifelik':87B 'like':420B,1091B,1101B,1104B,1108B,1128B,1501B 'linda':214B,1068B 'lion':1003B 'littl':883B,915B 'lizabeth':167B 'll':184B 'loft':19B,63B,269B,283B,705B 'long':1237B 'loop':1383B 'looser':916B 'lot':357B,1093B,1143B,1494B,1507B 'lovelac':215B 'made':162B,609B,1004B 'major':72B,1206B 'make':513B,636B,1234B,1341B,1435B,1590B 'male':974B 'man':1163B 'manag':613B 'mani':1022B,1243B,1269B,1568B 'mart':665B 'member':711B 'mental':1125B 'merchandis':664B 'merrili':98B 'met':211B 'mexico':131B 'misattribut':1703B 'money':1296B 'morgan':379B,406B 'mother':233B 'motion':489B 'mourn':981B 'move':1557B 'much':937B,1486B,1637B,1659B 'museum':825B 'name':15B 'nanc':9B,1673B,1686B 'narrat':925B 'narrow':506B 'nathan':1080B 'natur':945B 'naturalist':80B,866B 'near':988B 'need':723B 'neon':1001B 'new':375B,1385B,1444B,1534B 'next':708B,1559B 'nike':1006B 'nilsson':796B 'non':958B 'non-realist':957B 'note':1677B 'noth':1167B 'nude':69B,383B,740B,1102B 'number':1422B 'nutt':794B 'occup':464B 'offic':661B 'office/clubhouse/gallery':21B 'often':136B,1089B 'one':46B,180B,552B,1031B,1070B,1466B,1612B 'one-third':45B 'orang':1002B 'origin':242B 'other':798B,1023B,1077B 'outgrowth':501B 'outsid':139B,1197B 'over':1654B 'overal':93B 'paint':65B,107B,182B,239B,373B,439B,807B,869B 'painter':1228B 'paper':111B 'parodi':198B 'part':226B,395B,668B,1475B 'particular':896B 'paschk':790B 'past':928B 'peopl':1114B,1115B,1118B 'perhap':44B 'perki':743B 'person':922B 'philosophi':587B 'phone':1633B 'photo':1671B 'photograph':702B 'photor':839B,880B 'photorealist':85B 'phrase':250B,1705B 'pick':1630B 'pictur':727B 'piec':53B,86B,115B,582B,911B,995B,1545B,1572B,1646B 'playboy':92B,424B 'pleas':575B 'pleasur':691B 'policeman':1039B 'pool':389B,413B 'pop':148B,782B 'pop-and-surrealist-influenc':781B 'pop-cultur':147B 'pornographi':221B 'practic':1346B 'present':449B 'presid':696B 'primarili':837B 'print':1689B 'pristin':890B 'prolif':31B 'prompt':1040B 'pulchritud':277B 'quick':1582B 'quirki':1035B 'quit':363B 'rather':284B,461B 're':1419B 'read':423B 'realist':372B,601B,959B 'realiz':416B 'realli':350B 'rear':469B 'reason':1288B 'recal':1324B 'recent':340B 'reem':217B 'referenc':175B 'reflect':1111B 'regard':857B 'regular':1266B,1378B 'reiner':205B 'renaiss':196B 'renaissance-fair':195B 'render':408B 'report':1684B 'repres':486B 'represent':603B 'reput':677B 'resembl':999B 'respect':1482B 'restless':647B 'reward':1317B 'riff':145B 'risk':1525B 'rob':204B 'robert':998B 'roger':791B 'role':243B 'romant':207B 'room':259B 'rossof':169B 'rough':50B 'routin':271B 'said':717B,1635B 'salli':212B 'say':327B,347B,391B,421B,433B,475B,551B,568B,886B,1067B,1405B,1518B,1607B 'scene':202B 'sculptor':1230B 'sculptur':106B,155B,936B,1036B 'second':1623B 'see':594B,1403B,1597B 'seem':673B,904B,1287B,1551B 'seigenthal':968B 'send':578B 'sensibl':140B 'sever':84B,141B,775B,1227B 'shape':1210B 'sheer':563B 'shoebox':1007B 'shown':732B 'signific':803B 'simpson':161B,179B 'smart':824B 'smile':337B 'someon':467B,1585B 'sometim':1025B,1451B 'somewhat':864B 'somewher':1600B 'sort':680B,1433B 'space':22B 'speaker':246B 'spear':158B 'special':14B 'spend':1292B 'squar':61B 'square-foot':60B 'staff':714B 'stand':385B 'star':222B 'startup':656B 'stori':894B 'storytel':876B 'strike':973B 'strong':1130B 'struggl':1284B 'student':1456B 'style':82B 'subcultur':1112B 'subject':873B 'subtleti':1145B 'support':1218B,1301B 'surrealist':784B 'swim':388B 'take':725B,1524B,1526B 'tast':306B,1063B 'tattoo':1117B 'taxidermi':164B 'teacher':1427B 'technic':860B 'techniqu':918B 'technolog':655B 'tell':688B 'thing':480B,630B,888B,1095B,1109B,1566B 'think':527B,1196B,1400B,1448B 'third':47B 'thought':1308B 'three':1072B 'time':644B,1203B,1355B,1362B 'titl':249B 'today':1191B,1366B 'told':1611B 'top':535B,984B,1662B 'tri':1339B 'trigger':1583B 'true':431B 'tullman':6A,11B,35B,94B,287B,315B,365B,456B,493B,645B,747B,800B,832B,932B,989B,1024B,1042B,1086B,1211B,1262B,1323B,1368B,1480B,1577B,1615B,1665B 'turn':737B,1232B 'two':829B,949B,964B 'two-dimension':948B 'univers':820B 'unlik':1242B,1492B,1567B 'us':1380B,1414B 'vast':71B 've':557B,608B,1462B 'ventur':28B 'version':1690B 'viewer':455B 'vision':1555B 'visit':341B 'visitor':265B 'volum':564B 'walk':1152B 'wall':1516B 'want':592B 'warren':1069B,1609B 'warrior':174B 'water':410B,487B 'way':405B,555B,1467B 'weird':1099B 'whoa':1157B 'whose':304B,650B,660B 'wife':298B,634B,771B,1029B 'wild':1162B 'wish':295B 'witti':143B 'woman':384B,444B 'wonder':43B 'work':109B,398B,573B,870B,951B,962B,1087B,1171B,1369B,1386B,1395B,1599B 'world':3A,127B,544B,596B,684B,1048B,1376B 'worthi':1450B 'would':309B,1049B 'wouldn':1185B 'x':1013B 'x-acto':1012B 'yeah':324B 'year':758B,879B 'york':376B 'you-got-m':333B 'young':118B,382B,443B,765B,1113B,1219B,1277B,1364B,1459B 'youth':135B","thumbnail":"https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1721767373/yyj8i3kvxlej2m151uxe.jpg","editor_pick":false,"category_name":"Interviews"},"related":[{"id":13767,"title":"Anticipating a Season of Art: Five to Talk to – Nikko Washington","excerpt":"","body":"
Fall offers a full slate of exhibitions across galleries and museums throughout the Midwest. Behind the scenes, many people in the community are working tirelessly to support artists and bring fresh perspectives to the public. We spoke with five insiders about what excites them now and what they anticipate next.
The following preview is one of five conversations that appear in CGN's Fall 2026 magazine. To receive a copy of the print edition click here.
![](\"https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1789517637/noxz9olp47gfneafz8xg.jpg\")
“I’m thrilled to further expand my artistic and design practice by introducing other mediums into the mix. I’m looking forward to watching the seasons change and devoting a lot of time in the studio as well. Fall/winter is my favorite time to create new works.
I have an upcoming solo show with VSG Contemporary that I am excited about. The work will delve further into the topics of cultural mythology and how these tales and narratives have helped shape my worldview.
Also, it wouldn’t be right if I left out my excitement for this upcoming season of Chicago sports.”
![](\"https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1788961823/s3lp0uull2s8mvd8funj.jpg\")
Andi Crist, Extension Cords, Glazed stoneware, chrome, Sizes vary 2021-present. Photo: Mikey Mosher
This interview is part of CGN's Fall 2026 issue. Purchase a copy or subscribe.
![](\"https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1788961824/mghrpnghxd9j9ko2dsjt.jpg\")
Andi Crist
BY ALISON REILLY
Andi Crist’s warm, engaging demeanor is evident in the first few minutes of our conversation. Generous with her time and forthcoming in her observations, she cares deeply about building relationships through her art making. Crist grew up in Birmingham, Alabama, devoured art classes, wrote songs and played music in high school, and moved to Chicago to study visual art at Columbia College. In 2024, she received her MFA from the University of Illinois at Chicago. She is a woodworker, sculptor, ceramicist, and conceptual artist, and she teaches at Illinois Institute of Technology. We discussed her multidisciplinary practice, her experience working as an art handler, preparator, and fabricator, and how she thinks about labor, creativity, and value in the art world.
CGN: You grew up in Birmingham, Alabama. How did that environment shape your point of view as an artist?
Andi Crist: That’s such a funny question. Nobody’s ever really asked.
CGN: Oh, really?
AC: Yeah, maybe because I never was super connected with the arts community down in Birmingham. I moved to Chicago in 2007, so it’s been 20 years since I lived in the South. I was definitely one of those art kids—one art credit was required in high school, and I graduated with like seven. I was surrounded by artists who had a big impact on me, because they were working artists. All my art teachers were trained in Alabama and then continued to teach and work in Alabama, which gave me this desire to try to expand my community outside of what I was familiar with.
CGN: Do you identify as a Chicagoan?
AC: My family still lives in Alabama, and I go back every year. I love being in Alabama. Maybe now being in Chicago for almost 20 years, I identify as a southerner living in the city. I carry on the social qualities of a friendly southern person [laughs].
CGN: You have a varied art practice—woodwork, ceramics, mold making. What drew you to those types of fabrication methods and that type of art making?
AC: My dad is a carpenter and a hobbyist woodworker, but his career was psychology, and my mom was a professor and an incredible craftswoman. I absorbed my mom’s model of creativity, which is to try a bunch of different things and not necessarily finish them but to try to learn as much as I can by just going for it. My practice over the years has become an exploration of conceptual elements of what makes art art and not just craft. Do you have to be a master craftsperson or a professional artist in order to make something that resonates with people?
I make a lot of work that references the mode of making and requires a variety of different media. I just finished teaching a ceramics production class where students learned how to produce molds, think about positives and negatives, and get into a level of production rather than just handicraft as a way to multiply their output.
I got into fabrication because I’ve always liked working with other artists. I have a background in theater and gallery work. I’m a voracious learner, and I like being able to share those skills with my community. Then I end up making work about that. It’s a self-feeding cycle.
![](\"https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1788961825/zzejqwibga5f5wk6einh.jpg\")
Andi Crist, Artist’s Ladder, 2023. Photo: Jeff Perlman
CGN: Thinking about your background as an art handler and preparator—how did you get to the point where you were making work about that experience?
AC: In 2010, right before I graduated from Columbia, I was living in a storefront in West Logan Square with my partner at the time. We started a gallery called Autotelic in the space and had to build it out using the worst tools with very minimal resources. Then we started curating shows there and that meant helping other artists figure out how to install their work in our unusual space. Eventually, I gained the reputation for knowing how to do that type of work. I started getting invited to work in museums and galleries.
The Holocaust Museum was the first museum I worked at, and as difficult as that subject matter is, that experience was really important to me because I was learning more about the larger world of gallery work. As an artist working as a preparator, you’re straddling both sides of that space. You’re really seeing how the sausage is made. You’re hearing all the conversations about artists, curators, the process of exhibition making. There is a lot of information you can gather about the economics of the art world by just being the person that has the know-how to touch and handle artwork. Eventually that started feeding into my art practice because I wanted to make work that was contributing to a conversation around art as a type of job. It fueled a methodology of seeing everything in the world as the result of a long line of processes that required effort and thoughtfulness by many hands.
![](\"https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1788961826/uv5bysb5fbne30gr5czh.jpg\")
Andi Crist, Fair Warning, 2025.
CGN: The title of your recent exhibition at the Cleve Carney Museum—Live, Laugh, Lo—sorry, not Live, Laugh, Love—Live, Laugh, Labor.
AC: [Laughs] That’s what everybody does.
CGN: I love the title—it’s perfect. You incorporate humor along with thoughtful critiques about labor and value in your work. What role does humor play? How does it help you connect with your audience?
AC: One of my biggest criticisms of art with a capital A is how easily it can be overly intellectualized. I think that’s why I end up making a lot of work that references things that already exist or have some kind of real purpose. It’s important to give people a foothold so there’s an obvious place to board that train of thought. As an artist—maybe this is me getting into a sweeping argument about what artists should be—but I personally believe in intellectual accessibility. Humor is a swift way to drop defenses and allow people to come in without feeling like they are not getting the joke or not understanding. I like to make work that can hold both of those things at the same time—it’s funny on the surface level, it’s kind of cheeky, but there’s also another way to look at it that is intellectually clever. There is a joy in the attempt to “get it”. Like the satisfaction of grasping how a crossword puzzle actually works.
It’s also so much a part of my personality. I take myself seriously as an artist, but my ego isn’t at the heart of it. It’s really something that I do because I love to make things, and I love to connect with other people. My parents raised me on puns, creating those language relationships between things and people and space. Understanding a joke is the same way that we understand art, and while neither of my parents would consider themselves artists, they taught me how to think about art.
![](\"https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1788961828/gnotyfijabr7e15kb6hm.jpg\")
Andi Crist, 69 Bananas
CGN: Your work, Artist’s Ladder, explores hierarchies, workplace cultures, and institutional values. What experiences shaped your reflections on these themes?
AC: The ladder piece distinctly represents the complicated relationship between front of house, back of house, and the hierarchy of labor. Who is the artist in those relationships? How much does another person’s knowledge and expertise contribute to the success of another artist?
There are enormous, industrialized art practices out there, warehouses full of people making things, and those people are also artists. When you make work that involves other people, it’s important to acknowledge their contributions. I’ve had complicated interactions with other artists who are like, ‘Hey, do you want to collaborate with me on this thing?’ but really they just want me to make their idea. I made Artist’s Ladder while I was in grad school at UIC, and it really represented my relationship with a lot of other artists, because I could be an actual support structure for them. Then it turned into this absurd physical thing. It’s extremely overbuilt with inlaid racing stripes made of exotic hardwood, and a butcher’s block-style plaid top. It’s not really like an FU as much as it is asking for acknowledgement of my skills and the essential support structures that exist.
CGN: I want to ask you about another piece, Five O’Clock Somewhere, a wool rug that resembles a children’s play mat. I work at a library, and it reminded me of rugs I see all the time. It’s a peaceful image of an office park with a large fountain surrounded by a parking lot. I’m curious why you chose a rug as the medium to depict that image.
AC: To me the heart of that joke was that it was a landscape. I wanted it to be physically traversable. And that was, I don’t want to say controversial, but it was something that I had to talk about a lot. The critique of that work was the fact that I didn’t want to hang it on the wall and turn it into a tapestry. I really wanted it to be a rug that people could walk on. When I showed that work at Chicago Artists Coalition for the New City Breakout Artists show. There was a lot of pushback about having it on the floor and allowing people to walk on it.
That, to me, was such an important conversation, because, in my mind, the fact that you could walk across it and traverse it was part of how I was thinking about the object. Rugs are utilitarian–they are floor coverings. When you make art that doesn’t do anything, you don’t get to participate in that part of the conversation.
I enjoy sparring around art like that. I am totally tickled by the pushback. The critique of display is exciting, and sorting through the politics of utilitarianism in art spaces is fun to me. And then—it was so crazy—we ended up showing it halfway on the wall and halfway on the ground.
![](\"https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1788961829/r1zylkwfw9rkw191skdl.jpg\")
Andi Crist, Five O’Clock Somewhere, on display at Live, Laugh, Labor: Thoughts on Usefulness and Other Myths at The Cleve Carney Museum of Art, 2025.
CGN: Oh, wow.
AC: I was like, this is the epitome of compromise! I had to build a structure so that it could hang that way safely.
CGN: I would say just put it on the ground if that’s what you want to do. It’s interesting that there are still very fixed ideas about the way that art should be displayed.
AC: That preparator part of it, that’s what I’m all about. I was having that conversation about what physically supports the work or what conceptually supports it in the way that it’s shown.
CGN: Have you always been a writer? How do your art and writing practices work together?
AC: I can’t say that I’m a writer, it’s probably the same way that it can feel weird to call yourself an artist. But I feel like I’ve always been relatively good at writing. The first time I ever did any kind of professional writing was contributing, a long time ago, to a website called eHow. The editors would send me a title, and then I would have to research how to do that thing. Then I would write out step-by-step instructions for how to do that.
I think that’s how I had to make myself think through my conceptual practice—I had to do the research, coagulate that into some kind of document, and then I would have stream-of-consciousness conversations with myself. “Why are we interested in this? Why would we make it this way? What would I want to talk about if someone were to ask me about this?” It’s almost like I was pre-interviewing myself.
I think the writing is just another way for me to process that idea before I put in all of the time and energy to actually accomplish it.
CGN: What are you working on right now? What projects do you have coming up?
AC: The biggest project that I have right now is my house. My family and I suffered a major house fire on New Year’s Day. We’ve been displaced since then and are navigating rebuilding our house. It was a total loss.
![](\"https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1788961830/kekfqzf9f87fq48juogh.jpg\")
Andi Crist, Single-Use Fireplace, 2025. Photo: Mikey Mosher.
CGN: I’m so sorry to hear that.
AC: Thank you. We’re all okay, but it’s been a really tumultuous year. I moved my studio into a storefront last summer, and so most of my, at least relatively recent, work is safe, and I still have all of my materials, but my home life is starting over. I just had my first full year at this space, and it’s got a little gallery built out in the front called Coming Soon. It’s beautiful with floor-to-ceiling windows on Division and Central Park. I’ve been inviting people into the space to try things out.
After teaching the ceramics class, I came into a bunch of nice slip casting molds, and I’m making some really playful, weird, ceramic stuff. I want to be open and not put too much pressure on myself. Having a big studio by myself is very expensive, so it’s easy to want to make it feel like it’s worth it. But if for now all I can do is make it a resource for other people, then that will be the thing I do. Be less selfish, but more selfish with my time. Saying I can’t do that, or I don’t want to do that. It’s not my nature to say no—I’m such a yes man. I’m learning how to be a yes man for myself.
CGN: That makes sense after going through something so traumatic.
AC: I have an amazing support system. Our friends started a GoFundMe. It was incredible. I’m so humbled and floored by how held I felt by Chicago. I can’t help but throw a little shout out to my Chicago people. I can see how people’s lives get totally ruined by this kind of tragedy. I feel so lucky. Chicago definitely showed its love back.
CGN: For your project Coming Soon, are you bringing in other artists?
AC: My philosophy is that I want to be involved as little as possible. I am thinking about it more as a hosted than curated space. I’m actively soliciting proposals or ideas for workshops, meetings, book clubs—I’m down for making it a resource, whatever that means. I don’t want to over-think it, I want it to be an intuitive and organic thing, which is why I call it Coming Soon—it can be a placeholder for anything. It’s exciting. Taking my hands off the reins is a good exercise for me.
![](\"https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1788961831/gno5dhliwfnzpuaim78s.jpg\")
Andi Crist, Extension Cords, Glazed stoneware, chrome, Sizes vary 2021-present. Photo: Mikey Mosher
Fall offers a full slate of exhibitions across galleries and museums throughout the Midwest. Behind the scenes, many people in the community are working tirelessly to support artists and bring fresh perspectives to the public. We spoke with five insiders about what excites them now and what they anticipate next.
The following preview is one of five conversations that appear in CGN's Fall 2026 magazine. To receive a copy of the print edition click here.
![](\"https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1789516769/izokunnmrufdyjbjnypk.jpg\")
“Intuit Art Museum’s renovated, expanded spaces give audiences the chance to connect with art through daily art-making, third Thursday Art After Work, group Slow Looks designed to provide a mindful experience with a single work and upcoming conversations with sculptor Bill Brady (Oct. 3) and Dr. Mary Trent (Oct. 15), who curated our current exhibition on the role of scrapbook-making in Henry Darger’s art.
On view is the thought-provoking Monumental: The Sculpture of Dr. Charles Smith, which encourages guests to consider the lack of historical representation of African Americans and Black people in America. Dr. Smith’s memorials champion Black history and stories of everyday life he sees missing in mainstream narratives.
This fall we’re opening an exhibition of paintings by Karla Wong, an artist who immigrated from Oaxaca and who explores themes of life and death, gender identity and self-discovery.”