![\"\"](\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/1441/original/gates.jpg\")
The fall art season kicks off Friday, September 9. Openings take place across the city in gallery centers and institutions, with the exhibitions on view for the next several weeks. The fall kick-off is perhaps the most well known focal point of the city's visual arts calendar, as it offers a chance to get back into the galleries, to meet artists, mingle with friends and to experience what is new. It also reminds the public of how much there is to experience in our local creative community. This season the galleries are unveiling their top artists and most thoughtful shows with a wide range of offerings.
\r\n\r\nThere are also some stellar shows taking place in area museums, and many cultural venues and institutions are partnering with international art fair EXPO Chicago for this year's EXPO Art Week, which begins September 19 and runs through the fair (Sept 22-25.)
\r\n\r\nAll eyes are on Chicago right now, and there is so much exciting art to see and enjoy, so many perspectives to view and so many artists to celebrate.
\r\n","body":"The fall art season kicks off Friday, September 9. Openings take place across the city in gallery centers and institutions, with the exhibitions on view for the next several weeks. The fall kick-off is perhaps the most well known focal point of the city's visual arts calendar, as it offers a chance to get back into the galleries, to meet artists, mingle with friends and to experience what is new. This season the galleries are unveiling their top artists and most thoughtful shows with a wide range of offerings.
\r\n\r\nThere are also some stellar shows taking place in area museums, and many cultural venues and institutions are partnering with international art fair EXPO Chicago for this year's EXPO Art Week, which begins September 19 and runs through the fair (Sept 22-25.)
\r\n\r\nAll eyes are on Chicago right now, and there is so much exciting art to see and enjoy, so many perspectives to view and so many artists to celebrate.
\r\n\r\nSee you around town!
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Theaster Gates: Heavy Sketches at Richard Gray Gallery
\r\n\r\nFriday, Sep 30 - Nov 20, 2016
\r\n\r\nA solo exhibition of new bronze and mixed material sculptures by Theaster Gates.
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McArthur Binion: Seasons at Kavi Gupta Gallery
\r\n\r\nSaturday, Sep 17 - Nov 22, 2016
\r\n\r\nTo be seasoned is to be experienced—seeing the benefits of knowledge gained over times distill in one’s work. For McArthur Binion, committed to the tension of colors both art-historical and racial, the seasons and decades have infused his practice. In Seasons, these stubborn crosshatches, which served to blur and distort both their weave and the photocopied numbers and names behind them (gleaned from Binion’s personal address book of 1970s New York), have given way to the grid.
\r\n\r\n![\"\"](\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/1436/original/binion.jpg\")
Roger Brown & Andy Warhol: Pop Artists, Subversive Politics at Kavi Gupta Gallery
\r\n\r\nFriday, Sep 23 - Nov 22, 2016
\r\n\r\nJuxtaposing Brown and Warhol provides opportunities for rethinking the scope of pop art, which takes cues from a diverse array of aesthetic traditions and conceptual techniques.
\r\n\r\n![\"\"](\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/1443/original/guptabrown.jpg\")
Tetsuya Noda: A Retrospective at Andrew Bae Gallery
\r\n\r\nThroughout the 50 years of his art career and 500 works he produced under a single title Diary, Tetsuya Noda never lost his affinity for novel inspiration.
\r\n\r\nFriday, Sep 9 - Oct 29, 2016
\r\n\r\n![\"\"](\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/1435/original/bae.jpg\")
Rhona Hoffman 40 Years, Part 1 at Rhona Hoffman Gallery
\r\n\r\nFriday, Sep 16 - Oct 22, 2016. Opening reception: Friday, September 16, 5-7:30pm
\r\n\r\nThis group exhibition is the first in a series of three exhibitions celebrating the 40th Anniversary of Rhona Hoffman Gallery.
\r\n\r\n![\"\"](\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/1454/original/rh40kruger.jpg\")
Selections from the Steve and Karen Berkowitz Collection at Carl Hammer Gallery
\r\n\r\nFriday, Sep 9 - Oct 29, 2016
\r\n\r\nA range of works from the personal collection of the founder of Marwen and his wife.
\r\n\r\n![\"\"](\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/1444/original/hammer.jpg\")
City Space + Stray Light: Clarissa Bonet at Catherine Edelman Gallery
\r\n\r\nFriday, Sep 9 - Oct 29, 2016
\r\n\r\nThe concept of place, and our relationship to it, is at the heart of Clarissa Bonet’s work. Born and raised in Tampa, Florida, after moving to Chicago in 2010, she was stunned by the isolation she felt among the throngs of people rushing along the sidewalks. This body of work examines individuality in a large city.
\r\n\r\n![\"\"](\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/1437/original/bonet.jpg\")
Christa Donner: Our New System at Gallery 400
\r\n\r\nFriday, Sep 9 - Oct 22, 2016
\r\n\r\nChicago-based artist Christa Donner expands her virtuosic body of drawings concerning the complexities of the human body to explore collectivities and spaces for new forms of human sociality. Donner’s practice has grown out of visual research and inquiry originating in interviews and dialogic workshops with individuals and communities.
\r\n\r\n![\"\"](\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/1442/original/gallery400.jpg\")
STONE! 1,000,000 BC - AD 1940 at Douglas Dawson Gallery
\r\n\r\nFriday, Sep 9 - Oct 15, 2016
\r\n\r\nPrehistoric stone tools and weapons from Europe, Asia, Oceania, Africa, and the Americas are on view at this unique space across from the Art Institute.
\r\n\r\n![\"\"](\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/1439/original/dawson.jpg\")
Jamie Adams: Porch and a Vista at Zolla/Lieberman (one of multiple shows opening at the gallery)
\r\n\r\nFriday, Sep 9 - Oct 1, 2016
\r\n\r\nNew figurative paintings of the artist's view of pop society.
\r\n\r\n![\"\"](\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/1433/original/adams.jpg\")
James Mesplé: Gem Myths at Printworks
\r\n\r\nFriday, Sep 9 - Oct 15, 2016
\r\n\r\nThe artist's final show at Printworks. Known for intensive research into the themes that shape his vibrant exhibitions, this show focuses on gem stones and related mythology.
\r\n\r\n![\"\"](\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/1447/original/mesple.jpg\")
Michiko Itatani: Starry Night Encounter at Linda Warren Projects
\r\n\r\nFriday, Sep 9 - Oct 22, 2016
\r\n\r\nA solo exhibition by one of Chicago’s most prolific and esteemed painters, Michiko Itatani. Presenting a wide selection of new work, chosen from several epic series or “chapters."
\r\n\r\n![\"\"](\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/1451/original/warren.jpg\")
Unbroken: Art After Injury at Bridgeport Art Center
\r\n\r\nOpening September 9, 6:30–9:30PM. Opening tickets are $30 in advance, $35 at the door
\r\n\r\nThis exhibit is a glimpse of the accomplishments, pain, happiness, loss, and beauty of artists with spinal cord injury and paralysis. The show celebrates Spinal Cord Injury Awareness Month.
\r\n\r\n![\"\"](\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/1438/original/bridgeport.jpg\")
River North Design District Gallery Night Walk
\r\n\r\nFriday, September 9 5-9pm
\r\n\r\nCreative neighbors of the River North Gallery District open their showrooms to the public and feature contemporary art in design settings. Special events include a Champagne kick-off and live art.
\r\n\r\n![\"\"](\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/1449/original/rndd.jpg\")
Birth Death Breath: An Inflatable Opera by Diane Christiansen and Jeanne Dunning at Elmhurst Art Museum
\r\n\r\nThursday, Sep 22 - Nov 27, 2016
\r\n\r\nElmhurst Art Museum presents the world premiere of Birth Death Breath, an opera "performed" by inflatable Christmas lawn decorations in various stages of inflation and deflation.
\r\n\r\n![\"\"](\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/1440/original/elmhurst.jpg\")
Master Drawings Unveiled: 25 Years of Major Acquisitions at the Art Institute of Chicago
\r\n\r\nThru Jan 29, 2017
\r\n\r\nChicago is renowned for its collections of master drawings both publicly and privately held. The Art Institute of Chicago has been collecting these works for over a century and has substantial world-class holdings—particularly with regard to drawings of the French and Italian schools. This exhibition highlights a selection of master drawings from the 17th to mid-20th century that have been purchased by the museum over the past 25 years but have not yet had occasion to be shown. It is also the final show curated by recently retired department head Suzanne McCullagh
\r\n\r\n![\"\"](\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/1434/original/aicmaster.jpg\")
Every Building in Baghdad: the Rifat Chadirji Archives at the Arab Image Foundation, on view at the Graham Foundation
\r\n\r\nThursday, Sep 15 - Dec 31, 2016
\r\n\r\nThis exhibition examines the work of Iraqi architect Rifat Chadirji through the collection of his original photographs and building documents held at the Arab Image Foundation in Beirut.
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Urth: Ben Rivers at the Renaissance Society
\r\n\r\nSaturday, Sep 10 - Nov 6, 2016
\r\n\r\nUrth, Rivers’s first solo presentation in the United States, presents new and recent moving image works. The exhibition takes its title from the Old Norse word suggesting the twisted threads of fate.
\r\n\r\n![\"\"](\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/1448/original/rivers.jpg\")
There was a Whole Collection Made: Photography from Lester and Betty Guttman at the Smart Museum of Art
\r\n\r\nThursday, Sep 22 - Dec 30, 2016
\r\n\r\nArtists included in the show include William Henry Fox Talbot, David Octavius Hill, Hannah Hoch, Man Ray, Laszlo Maholy-Nagy, Brassai, Berenice Abbott, Helen Levitt, Diane Arbus, Malick Sidibe, Chuck Close, Carrie Mae Weems, among many others.
\r\n\r\n![\"\"](\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/1450/original/smart.jpg\")
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Saturday–Sunday, October 17–18; Saturday performance 1–2 p.m.
The Driehaus Museum
Murphy Auditorium, 50 E. Erie St., Chicago
Explore the historic Murphy Auditorium during the Chicago Architecture Center’s annual Open House Chicago weekend. The landmark, reopened after renovation in 2024, also hosts Hanna DiLorenzo’s Behind Closed Doors on Saturday. Entry is free without reservations; access does not include the museum’s exhibition galleries.
![](\"https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1791926703/utgorjynclhpj4rprjuu.jpg\")
Saturday, October 17, 10 a.m.–1 p.m.
Smart Museum of Art
5550 S. Greenwood Ave., Chicago
Exhibiting artist Nina Chanel Abney guides visitors in creating colorful self-portrait collages. A collaborative card-deck project extends the activities beyond the canvas, offering families a chance to explore identity and creativity together.
![](\"https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1791926704/urcvfeolau4lvnzgbcde.jpg\")
Saturday–Sunday, October 17–18, 11 a.m.–5 p.m. each day
WING Studio
4883 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago
Add printmaking to your Open House Chicago itinerary. WING Studio welcomes visitors for etching demonstrations on both days, offering a closer look at an art-making process inside a working studio in Lincoln Square.
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Saturday, October 17, 1–2:30 p.m.
Nathan Manilow Sculpture Park
Governors State University, University Park
Head outdoors with Jeff Stevenson for a tour of the South Collection, considering visiting artists’ installations alongside familiar works and their connections to the Earth. Admission is $10. Meet at the F Entrance, wear shoes for grass paths, and dress for the weather; parking is free.
![](\"https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1791926705/lfusuve1caehbklnskad.jpg\")
Saturday, October 17, 2–4 p.m.
Bert Green Fine Art
8 S. Michigan Ave., Suite 620, Chicago
This Saturday event highlights Kevin Blake’s solo exhibition, guest curated by Dan Cameron. Blake’s paintings scrutinize inherited ideas of masculinity, placing familiar social roles in unsettled situations and revealing vulnerability beneath the outward performance of confidence.
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Gallery Night: Friday, October 16, 5–9 p.m.; Gallery Day: Saturday, October 17, 11 a.m.–6 p.m.; exhibition opens October 14
JK Art House
191 N. Broadway, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Make a Wisconsin art outing part of the weekend. David Dunlop combines traditional translucent oil techniques with metal supports, producing paintings whose surfaces change with light and movement. The opening joins Milwaukee’s quarterly Gallery Night MKE, with a free John Michael Kohler Arts Center workshop also taking place in the gallery.
Also taking place is Treasured Postcards on Friday, October 16, 5–9 p.m. This is a John Michael Kohler Arts Center workshop at JK Art House. Inspired by Lenore Tawney’s correspondence, this free Gallery Night workshop invites participants to make small collage postcards from photographs, printed papers, and other materials. Stop into JK Art House’s Parlor to create an artwork that can travel through the mail.
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Gallery Night: Friday, October 16, 5–8 p.m.; Gallery Day: Saturday, October 17, 11 am. Exhibition on view through November 7
Kim Storage Gallery
207 E Buffalo St., Ste 404, Milwaukee, WI 53202
Out There is a two-person exhibition of new work by Hector Acuna and Andy Paczos. The title borrows the advice a teacher gave Paczos at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago: look out the window, \"there's lots of good stuff out there.\" He took it, and has painted Chicago from direct observation for three decades since. Acuna works the same way, returning to his Wisconsin sites across multiple plein air sessions and staging handmade props to paint in natural light. Both find their subjects by standing in front of them
![](\"https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1791930293/l29ajlc9lsmbnwlgzegr.jpg\")
First Look: Friday, October 16, 5 p.m.; opening-night event at 6 p.m.; sale through October 24
The Art Center Highland Park
1957 Sheridan Rd., Highland Park
Rediscovered art finds new homes at The Art Center’s annual sale, with donated works selected and priced for accessible collecting. Opening-night tickets offer an early look; weekend hours are Saturday, 10 a.m.–4 p.m., and Sunday, noon–4 p.m. Entry is free October 19–24.
![](\"https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1791930293/dmixwzoapmhzwikc39sr.jpg\")
Friday, October 16, 5–8 p.m.; artist conversation 5–6:30 p.m.; performances begin at 6:30 p.m.
Research House for Asian Art
3217 S. Morgan St., Chicago
The Becoming Words reception brings calligraphy to life through performances by Hekiun Oda and Bahman Panahi. Panahi joins musician Kerry Leung for Musicalligraphy, while Oda demonstrates his distinctive practice. Food reflecting both artists’ cultures accompanies the evening. Admission is $40, plus the ticket service fee.
![](\"https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1791930294/ztj4wvrfjkrgh6cmlivu.jpg\")
Opening: Friday, October 16, 6–9 p.m.; on view through November 20
Forum 301
301 W. Ohio St., Chicago
Fashion becomes a meeting point for architecture, sculpture, and performance in this group exhibition. The participating artists examine how clothing shapes bodily presence, from protection and concealment to exaggeration and transformation, and how we construct the space we occupy.
![](\"https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1791930294/vumxu9z8gblmzb7rnlug.jpg\")
Friday, October 16, 7–10 p.m.
Bridgeport Art Center
1200 W. 35th St., Chicago
Explore studios and three gallery presentations: Decadence Deux, presented by Pigment International and September Gray Fine Art; Art Connection: Past Meets Present, from ArtConnectED; and Robert Lipton’s Una Vuelta a Mis Raices. The free evening offers opportunities to encounter artists and their work throughout the building.
![](\"https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1791930295/wzyhrxjudnttxdsxhkzh.jpg\")
Friday, October 16, 7–10 p.m.
Bridgeport Artist Community
Multiple neighborhood locations in Bridgeport, Chicago
Extend your Third Friday visit beyond a single building. The Bridgeport Artist Community’s route connects more than 45 galleries, studios, shops, and cultural spaces. Use the linked neighborhood map to plan stops, and check individual venues for their evening hours.
![](\"https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1791930295/l8rblbkgi3icjn11t2jf.jpg\")
Opening: Friday, October 16, 7–9 p.m.; on view through October 2027
Polish Museum of America
984 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago
A major exhibition revisits Stanisław Szukalski’s complex legacy through sculpture, drawing, prints, and photography. Organized with the POLONIKA Institute, it examines his imaginative mythmaking and contested ideas. Opening admission is $25; a Saturday discussion at 1 p.m. is $20, or $40 for both programs.
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Auction: Wednesday, October 14, 10 a.m. Central / 11 a.m. Eastern
Rago and Wright
online bidding
A midweek auction offers another way to engage with art. Rago and Wright’s current Curated: CALDER sale brings the artist’s work to the auction block, with bidding available online. See the current auction catalog for lots and registration.
![](\"https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1791925835/wag6zxfk4f1g8ewtm2gy.jpg\")
Auction: October 14–15, 10 a.m. Central each day
Freeman’s
1550 W. Carroll Ave., Chicago
Freeman’s two-day sale spans English and Continental furnishings, decorative objects, and sculpture. Collections from across the country, including Barrington Hills, contribute to a selection ranging from clocks and tapestries to Minton porcelain.
![](\"https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1791925835/iuvm3fhf9qqdsotqyqus.jpg\")
October 14–16
Smart Museum of Art
University of Chicago | Hyde Park
What happens to religious objects when they enter museum collections? Keynotes, panels, and roundtable conversations consider their changing meanings and histories in this multi-day symposium. Consult the program for individual session times and locations.
![](\"https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1791925836/amunmqudsnpyfhr06tz8.jpg\")
Wednesday, October 14, 3:30–5 p.m.
Block Museum of Art
40 Arts Circle Dr., Evanston
Northwestern Athletics’ Ava Earl and Associate Provost Michelle Manno consider Cara Romero’s photograph Amber Morningstar through the lens of women in sports and self-representation. The conversation connects art with identity, teamwork, and the power to shape one’s own image.
Coffee and tea begin at 3 p.m.
![](\"https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1791925836/mbtbn5zn8qka5oidgmha.jpg\")
October 15–November 15; opening reception Friday, October 16, 5–8 p.m.
Heritage Museum of Asian Art and Seldon Institute
Exhibition at Research House for Asian Art, 3217 S. Morgan St., Chicago
Japanese calligrapher Hekiun Oda and Iranian artist Bahman Panahi bring different traditions into conversation, moving from written language toward gesture, abstraction, and sound. The exhibition opens Thursday, followed by Friday’s live performance program and a free artist-led tour Saturday, October 17, 1–3 p.m.
![](\"https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1791925837/kwmlwtohdvxxju0tr4q3.jpg\")
Opening: Thursday, October 15, 5:30–8:30 p.m.; on view through December 18
Madron Gallery
1000 W. North Ave., 3rd Floor, Chicago
Madron marks its 25th anniversary with twenty-five works by twenty-five artists from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The free opening joins the fifth annual Lincoln Park Art Night, making it a lively evening to explore Madron, Leslie Wolfe Gallery, gallery 1871, Art City, and Art on Sedgwick.
![](\"https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1791925838/kyhsb4gnqyfspn70ttgm.jpg\")
Opening: Thursday, October 15, 6–8 p.m.; artist remarks at 6:30 p.m.; on view through November 20
Kavanagh Gallery, Fine Line Creative Arts Center
37W570 Bolcum Rd., St. Charles
Brian Lathan’s brightly colored prints explore the uneasy relationship between escape and self-care. Figures shelter smaller versions of themselves inside exposed headspaces, inviting viewers to consider the habits and interior worlds that sustain us. Meet the artist at the free opening reception.
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