![\"\"](\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/chigal/rich/rich_files/rich_files/1381/original/hm-at-night-we-walk-in-circles-.jpg\")
By ALISON REILLY
\r\n
\r\nOne year ago, Emanuel Aguilar and Julia Fischbach opened the doors of their gallery, PATRON. The two had previously worked together as directors at Kavi Gupta Gallery. Since opening in fall 2015 they have doubled the number of artists they represent while presenting impressive shows by Alex Chitty, Daniel G. Baird, and Myra Green, to name a few. I recently sat down with Emanuel and Julia at their space in River West.
By ALISON REILLY
\r\n\r\nOne year ago, Emanuel Aguilar and Julia Fischbach opened the doors of their gallery, PATRON. The two had previously worked together as directors at Kavi Gupta Gallery. Since opening in fall 2015 they have doubled the number of artists they represent while presenting impressive shows by Alex Chitty, Daniel G. Baird, and Myra Green, to name a few. I recently sat down with Emanuel and Julia at their space in River West.
\r\n
\r\nCGN: Tell me about your background. How did you get started in the art world?
\r\n
\r\nJulia Fischbach: I’m from Chicago. I grew up here, and then I went away to a school in central Kentucky called Asbury University. Soon after I graduated, I came back to Chicago and I met an artist who had started working with Kavi. I started going to the openings and things like that. After a series of conversations I was hired by Kavi when I was 23. I was there for just over 17 years.
\r\n
\r\nCGN: What about you Emanuel?
\r\n
\r\nEmanuel Aguilar: I grew up in the city as well. I went to Columbia College and double majored in art history and marketing. But when I was very young, seventeen, I met a gallerist, Jean Albano in River North, through family and friends. I worked for her for about eight years, through college. When I left school I launched a magazine called Jettison Quarterly with some of my fellow graduates. One of the other founders of the magazine, Peter Skvara, worked with Julia and Kavi, and so I formed a relationship with the gallery. At one point our offices were in the same building. Kavi offered me a job and I took it. I was there for a few years, and then it led to this.
\r\n
\r\nCGN: Was the idea of opening up your own space something that you had been thinking about for awhile?
\r\n
\r\nEA: It’s an industry where you eventually reach the point where, either you do it on your own, or you leave. Especially in a city like Chicago, there are only so many opportunities. To continue up the ladder you need to think about how or if you want to continue. It wasn’t something we planned for until after we left and thought about what we wanted to do. We had options to leave the city and work for other spaces.
\r\n
\r\nCGN: Are you happy with the decision to stay in Chicago?
\r\n
\r\nEA: Yeah, it’s difficult. Chicago is a very difficult place. I think that’s something we both learned at Kavi’s. Anything you can imagine in the art world globally, we were exposed to. When you have that kind access to the industry at large you have to reflect on—in order to stay sane—what aspects of the job are fulfilling. You come out of it really exhausted and you think to yourself, ‘Why do I want to keep doing this for the rest of my life? What is it about this that makes me want to wake up?’
\r\n
\r\nBut Chicago has a lot of opportunities. There’s definitely a void to fill. It has a lot of challenges because the community and the collector base is small. The collector base often isn’t as risky; they sometimes wait for the rest of the world to approve something and then they follow through. You have to reach out to the rest of the world. But we’re happy because the reception has been great.
\r\n
\r\nCGN: Julia, what about you? Are you happy with the decision?
\r\n
\r\nJF: Yes, for sure. When we left there was no plan for anything because we had different opportunities coming our way. I needed time to completely regroup. We had people who wanted us to go to the West Coast, East Coast, the whole thing, but I was like, ‘You know we have both been here, we love the city.’ It’s easy to leave sometimes, but I felt like more and more of the world’s eyes were turning towards Chicago. In my heart I felt like I needed to stay.
\r\n
\r\nCGN: But I’m sure you’ve both been traveling a lot.
\r\n
\r\nEA: When we were at the other gallery we were on the road so much, flying out almost every other week. I almost felt like a stranger, because I was never here. At one point I was talking to a friend about my apartment and I mentioned that I had slept like five nights out of the last three months in my own bed. Sometimes you disconnect with your own community. Being in Chicago now has helped me to reconnect with what is going on here and to be a part of it. But eventually travel happens. The way that the art world functions these days you have to be on the road.
CGN: You’ve said you want to foster connection between South America and Chicago. Have you been traveling to South America this year or do you have plans in the future to do so?
\r\n\r\nJF: We're starting the conversations and then doing research. I don't want the program to feel like ‘These are South American artists! And artists from the States!’ so we want to make sure that there's a lot of crossover as far as conversations that can be blended beautifully. We are starting to work with artists from South America who live in Chicago or have lived here for a time.
\r\n\r\nCGN: Last year, you had a booth at EXPO, but I didn’t see you on the exhibitor list for this fall. Are you planning on participating in other ways?
\r\n
\r\nJF: Yes, EXPO asked us to do a project. We will have a piece up by Samuel Levi Jones. It’s an earlier work from 2012 called 48 Portraits Underexposed that informed where his work is today. We’ll also be focused on Harold Mendez’s exhibition opening here. He lived in Chicago at one point, he’s down in Houston now. It’s going to be very different and fresh. It’s really amazing work.
CGN: You started with four artists when you opened a year ago, and now you represent eight. How did you get there?
\r\n
\r\nEA: It’s a process to build relationships with artists. Not only do we have to believe in the practice and in the work, but we also have to develop good relationships with these artists as people, because we work very intimately with them. We are gallerists who like being in the studio often, collaborating with the artists and working side by side. It’s forming a relationship that functions as a productive partnership for both sides to realize whatever it is that the artist’s aspirations are. It took some time to get to know who’s right for that and whether we can also do something for those artists. There are a lot of artists we like but for whom we’re just not the right space.
\r\n
\r\nCGN: The mold making process for Daniel G. Baird’s recent exhibition at PATRON seemed very intensive. He travels into caves across the United States and makes molds of the surfaces. Is Baird’s project one that you were involved with specifically?
\r\n
\r\nEA: Yes, if you look at our artist roster, I’d say 95% of everything the artists are doing we’re involved with, at some point, even if it’s just a discussion. Dan has very ambitious ideas and his exhibition was laying foundation for those ideas to grow even bigger and get more ambitious. Everything in his show happened through months and months of conversations.
\r\n
\r\nCGN: Tell me about your philosophy for the gallery. How does it relate to the name PATRON?
\r\n
\r\nJF: Even though we’re a newer space we want to make sure that we are really accessible to people. We want the space to feel very open; our offices are almost in the middle of the space instead of hiding. Anybody who comes into the gallery is welcome to walk back into the showroom area. We’re interested in helping someone who’s never bought a piece of art in their life and has no idea how to go about that, as well as working with those who’ve been doing it for forty years. Everyone is a different case.
\r\n
\r\nThere are many, many ways to be a supporter. The original definition of patron—usually you think it’s someone who has money and is giving to something—is actually a much more beautiful, generalized term. It’s a supporter, a protector. That is our job. We do that everyday when we cross a threshold. We chose the name very carefully. It’s at the foundation of who we are as a space.
CGN: What was the most challenging part of opening up a space this year?
\r\n\r\nJF: Even though we've been in the industry for a long time we're starting from scratch. It’s been very thrilling. It's a completely different thing when your problems are your problems. We've had so many experiences in our lives that it's allowed us to say ‘It's okay.’ You make a decision and you move forward.
\r\n\r\nEA: It’s a challenge to redefine your identity and your life. Both locally and internationally people saw us under a certain umbrella—we belonged to this other place. We’ve had to restructure the way that the world sees us and reconfigure our networks into the fact that we're no longer there and we're here. But it's been really good.
\r\n\r\nFor more information visit patrongallery.com
\r\n\r\nTop image: Samuel Levi Jones, 48 Portraits (Underexposed), 2012, inkjet print on paper, 48-28" x 22" each or 8.5' x 23' overall, Edition of 1 with 1 AP, SLJ025
\r\n","published_at":"2016-08-26 00:00:00","state":"published","slug":"patron-committed-to-chicago","type":"NewsPost","meta_description":"One year ago, Emanuel Aguilar and Julia Fischbach opened the doors of their gallery, PATRON.","text":null,"created_at":"2016-08-15 20:10:29","updated_at":"2018-10-22 21:23:14.003894","category_id":3,"highlighted":null,"searchable":"'-28':1638B '1':1649B,1651B '17':169B '2012':978B,1632B '2015':39B '22':1640B '23':162B,1645B '48':980B,1629B,1637B '8.5':1643B '95':1234B 'access':454B,1322B 'across':1201B 'actual':1435B 'ago':10B,1040B 'aguilar':12B,177B 'albano':211B 'alex':54B 'alison':6B 'allow':1540B 'almost':721B,726B,1336B 'also':992B,1077B,1156B 'amaz':1027B 'ambiti':1258B,1276B 'america':828B,837B,911B 'american':873B 'anybodi':1346B 'anyth':436B,613B 'ap':1652B 'apart':747B 'approv':562B 'area':1360B 'art':93B,195B,442B,805B,1374B 'artist':46B,132B,874B,876B,908B,1034B,1060B,1085B,1108B,1135B,1161B,1167B,1229B,1238B 'asburi':117B 'ask':956B 'aspect':471B 'aspir':1137B 'away':109B 'awhil':320B 'back':125B,1356B 'background':85B 'baird':58B,1188B,1212B 'base':541B,546B 'beauti':901B,1439B 'bed':767B 'believ':1067B 'belong':1579B 'bigger':1272B 'blend':900B 'booth':929B 'bought':1370B 'build':279B,1057B 'call':116B,237B,979B 'came':124B 'care':1466B 'case':1405B 'cave':1200B 'central':114B 'certain':1576B 'cgn':80B,171B,302B,403B,590B,692B,817B,923B,1029B,1180B,1288B,1479B 'challeng':534B,1484B,1559B 'chicago':4A,100B,127B,348B,413B,419B,516B,681B,777B,830B,915B,1005B 'chitti':55B 'chose':1462B 'citi':183B,346B,397B,659B 'coast':639B,641B 'collabor':1105B 'collector':540B,545B 'colleg':190B,228B 'columbia':189B 'come':478B,619B,1348B 'commit':2A 'communiti':537B,774B 'complet':626B,1519B 'connect':825B 'continu':356B,371B 'convers':153B,856B,896B,1287B 'cross':1458B 'crossov':892B 'd':1232B 'dan':1255B 'daniel':56B,1186B 'day':809B 'decis':409B,600B,1550B 'definit':524B,1417B 'develop':1080B 'didn':934B 'differ':617B,1021B,1404B,1520B 'difficult':418B,423B 'director':30B 'disconnect':770B 'discuss':1254B 'door':18B 'doubl':42B,192B 'ea':321B,414B,704B,1051B,1222B,1555B 'earlier':975B 'easi':662B 'east':640B 'edit':1647B 'eight':225B,1045B 'either':333B 'emanuel':11B,71B,175B,176B 'especi':343B 'even':1248B,1271B,1306B,1494B 'eventu':328B,798B 'everi':722B 'everyday':1455B 'everyon':1401B 'everyth':1236B,1277B 'exhaust':483B 'exhibit':999B,1191B,1262B 'exhibitor':940B 'experi':1533B 'expo':931B,955B 'expos':447B 'eye':677B 'fact':1602B 'fall':38B,944B 'famili':216B 'far':894B 'feel':868B,1330B 'fellow':244B 'felt':668B,686B,727B 'fill':528B 'fischbach':15B,96B 'five':756B 'fli':719B 'focus':994B 'follow':567B 'form':264B,1116B 'forti':1399B 'forward':1554B 'foster':824B 'foundat':1265B,1471B 'founder':250B 'four':1033B 'fresh':1023B 'friend':218B,744B 'fulfil':476B 'function':807B,1120B 'futur':847B 'g':57B,1187B 'galleri':21B,34B,269B,711B,1296B,1351B 'gallerist':209B,1097B 'general':1440B 'get':89B,1049B,1144B,1274B 'give':1431B 'global':444B 'go':141B,635B,787B,1017B,1384B 'good':1081B,1618B 'graduat':122B,245B 'great':589B 'green':61B 'grew':102B,179B 'grow':1270B 'gupta':33B 'happen':800B,1281B 'happi':406B,583B,597B 'harold':996B 'heart':684B 'help':780B,1365B 'hide':1345B 'hire':156B 'histori':196B 'houston':1013B 'idea':305B,1259B,1268B,1381B 'ident':1563B 'imag':1625B 'imagin':439B 'impress':51B 'industri':325B,457B,1501B 'inform':984B,1621B 'inkjet':1633B 'instead':1343B 'intens':1196B 'interest':1363B 'intern':1570B 'intim':1092B 'involv':1219B,1243B 'isn':548B 'jean':210B 'jettison':238B 'jf':601B,851B,953B,1305B,1493B 'job':284B,474B,1451B 'jone':971B,1628B 'julia':14B,73B,95B,258B,591B 'kavi':32B,138B,158B,260B,280B,434B 'keep':494B 'kentucki':115B 'kind':453B 'know':650B,1146B 'ladder':359B 'larg':459B 'last':761B,924B 'launch':234B 'lay':1264B 'learn':432B 'leav':342B,395B,664B 'led':299B 'left':231B,382B,607B 'levi':970B,1627B 'life':502B,1377B,1566B 'like':147B,347B,648B,669B,687B,728B,755B,869B,1099B,1169B 'list':941B 'live':913B,918B,1003B,1536B 'll':991B 'local':1568B 'long':1504B 'longer':1607B 'look':1226B 'lot':519B,532B,703B,890B,1165B 'love':657B 'm':98B,695B 'magazin':236B,253B 'major':193B 'make':509B,884B,1183B,1206B,1316B,1548B 'mani':353B,1408B,1409B,1532B 'market':198B 'mendez':997B 'mention':750B 'met':130B,207B 'middl':1339B 'mold':1182B,1207B 'money':1428B 'month':763B,1283B,1285B 'move':1553B 'much':718B,1437B 'myra':60B 'name':63B,1303B,1464B 'need':361B,623B,689B 'network':1599B 'never':734B,1369B 'newer':1311B 'night':757B 'north':214B 'number':44B 'offer':281B 'offic':274B,1334B 'often':547B,1104B 'okay':1546B 'one':8B,246B,271B,737B,1007B,1215B 'open':16B,36B,144B,307B,1000B,1037B,1332B,1487B 'opportun':354B,521B,618B 'option':393B 'order':466B 'origin':1416B 'overal':1646B 'paper':1636B 'part':794B,1485B 'particip':949B 'partnership':1124B 'patron':1A,22B,1193B,1304B,1419B 'patrongallery.com':1623B 'peopl':630B,1087B,1324B,1571B 'peter':254B 'philosophi':1293B 'piec':966B,1372B 'place':424B,1583B 'plan':377B,611B,844B,947B 'point':272B,331B,738B,1008B,1247B 'portrait':981B,1630B 'practic':1070B 'present':50B 'previous':26B 'print':1634B 'problem':1524B,1527B 'process':1055B,1184B 'product':1123B 'program':866B 'project':961B,1214B 'protector':1447B 'quarter':239B 're':582B,853B,1174B,1242B,1309B,1362B,1507B,1605B,1611B 'reach':329B,572B 'realiz':1129B 'realli':482B,1026B,1321B,1617B 'recent':67B,1190B 'recept':586B 'reconfigur':1597B 'reconnect':783B 'redefin':1561B 'reflect':463B 'regroup':627B 'reilli':7B 'relat':1300B 'relationship':266B,1058B,1082B,1118B 'repres':48B,1044B 'research':860B 'rest':499B,557B,576B 'restructur':1588B 'right':1149B,1178B 'riski':551B 'river':78B,213B 'road':716B,816B 'roster':1230B 'said':820B 'samuel':969B,1626B 'sane':469B 'sat':68B 'saw':1572B 'say':1233B,1543B 'school':112B,232B 'scratch':1510B 'see':936B,1594B 'seem':1194B 'seri':151B 'seventeen':205B 'show':52B,1280B 'showroom':1359B 'side':1111B,1113B,1127B 'sinc':35B 'skvara':255B 'slept':754B 'slj025':1653B 'small':543B 'someon':1366B,1425B 'someth':312B,375B,429B,563B,1158B,1433B 'sometim':553B,665B,768B 'soon':119B 'south':827B,836B,872B,910B 'space':76B,311B,402B,1179B,1312B,1328B,1342B,1478B,1490B 'specif':1221B 'start':90B,135B,140B,854B,904B,1031B,1508B 'state':879B,1204B 'stay':411B,468B,691B 'stranger':730B 'studio':1103B 'support':1414B,1445B 'sure':604B,696B,885B,1317B 'surfac':1210B 'talk':741B 'tell':81B,1289B 'term':1441B 'thing':146B,644B,1521B 'think':317B,363B,426B,486B,1422B 'though':1307B,1495B 'thought':384B 'three':762B 'threshold':1460B 'thrill':1515B 'time':624B,922B,1142B,1505B 'today':989B 'togeth':28B 'took':287B,1140B 'top':1624B 'toward':680B 'travel':701B,799B,834B,1198B 'turn':679B 'two':24B 'umbrella':1577B 'underexpos':982B,1631B 'unit':1203B 'univers':118B 'us':633B,957B,1541B,1573B,1595B 'usual':1420B 've':698B,819B,1394B,1497B,1529B,1585B 'visit':1622B 'void':526B 'wait':554B 'wake':513B 'walk':1355B 'want':369B,388B,492B,511B,632B,822B,864B,882B,1314B,1326B 'wasn':373B 'way':621B,802B,952B,1410B,1590B 'week':724B 'welcom':1353B 'well':185B,1388B 'went':108B,187B 'west':79B,638B 'whatev':1130B 'whether':1153B 'whole':643B 'work':27B,136B,220B,256B,399B,906B,976B,987B,1028B,1074B,1090B,1110B,1390B 'world':94B,443B,560B,579B,675B,806B,1593B 'x':1639B,1644B 'yeah':415B 'year':9B,170B,226B,295B,839B,925B,1039B,1400B,1492B 'yes':602B,954B,1223B 'young':204B","thumbnail":null,"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.”