2019 Alignments

Chicago Architecture Biennial

September 19, 2019 – January 5, 2020 
Citywide Locations

The Chicago Architecture Biennial, the largest architecture and design exhibition in North America, returns for its third edition to run concurrently with the eighth edition of EXPO CHICAGO, positioning the City of Chicago as a world class cultural attraction. The Biennial, which attracted over half a million visitors over the three-month run of its previous edition, takes place in multiple venues across the city, providing both a perspective on the vanguard of architecture today, and the cultural landscape of the city. 

Artistic Director of the 2019 Biennial, Chicago-based curator Yesomi Umolu, will be joined by co-curators Sepake Angiama and Paulo Tavares to develop an innovative and engaging program of exhibitions and installations highlighting the transformative global impact of creativity and innovation across creative fields that affect the way we live, work, and organize society around the world. 

The Ship of Tolerance

September 16 – October, 2019 
Polk Bros Park, Navy Pier

Presented by the Ilya and Emilia Kabakov Foundation, The Ship of Tolerance includes a large-scale installation and program as part of the IN/SITU Outside program, located in Polk Bros. Park at Navy Pier’s entrance. The Ship of Tolerance has been installed in twelve cites internationally to date, connecting communities through art and music to address issues surrounding intolerance. The Chicago Ship is an extension of an international program initiated in 2005 to overcome societal divisions through a three-part approach, including educational initiatives held throughout Chicago schools, the building of a scale model ship, and the presentation of children’s musical performances. 

The alignment will also feature the exhibition of the Kabakov’s artwork in EXPO CHICAGO’s 2019 Special Exhibitions program and their participation in the /Dialogues program presented in partnership with the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. The Chicago Ship will be fabricated locally and consist of a sail made with 139 children’s drawings and a hull built by a professional shipwright from Manchester, UK, supported by local carpenters and shipbuilders. The public is invited to view the building process, which will begin two weeks before the opening ceremony.

Art on theMART

May 13 – September 29, 2019
Merchandise Mart

Art on theMART is the largest permanent digital art projection in the world, projecting contemporary artwork across the 2.5-acre river facade of theMART. This expansive public art initiative continues Chicago’s legacy of providing residents and visitors with exceptional artwork that is free and accessible to all. Projections are visible to the public from Wacker Drive and along the Chicago Riverwalk two hours a night for ten months of the year (March – December), beginning approximately 15 minutes after sundown. 

On September 21, during EXPO ART WEEK, Art on theMART will unveil a new commission by Charles Atlas across the 2.5 acre river-façade of theMART. The approximately eight-minute piece is broken down into 1-minute chapters, which each feature a characteristic combination of abstract shapes and numerals. Chapters begin with a splash of color that starts at the base of theMART’s façade and rises to the top of the turrets, animating and exploring the structure and architecture of theMART. The programming is best viewed on the Chicago Riverwalk between Wells and Lake St.

Chicago Invitational

September 18 – September 21, 2019
Chicago Athletic Association Hotel

The first edition of NADA’s Chicago Invitational will coincide with EXPO CHICAGO. Taking place throughout three floors of the iconic Chicago Athletic Association Hotel, the new contemporary art fair will present a curated selection of galleries in the hotel’s historic Stagg Court and Tank spaces, as well as a takeover of hotel rooms on the fourth floor. The inaugural edition of the Chicago Invitational further exemplifies NADA’s expanded commitment to year-round programming and producing alternatives for galleries to exhibit artwork in a new setting. 

In The Absence of Light: Gesture, Humor and Resistance In The Black Aesthetic

September 19 - December 29, 2019
Rebuild Foundation at Stony Island Arts Bank

In alignment with EXPO ART WEEK, artist Theaster Gates, collector Beth Rudin DeWoody and curator Laura Dvorkin have organized In The Absence of Light: Gesture, Humor and Resistance In The Black Aesthetic, an exhibition featuring works from DeWoody's significant contemporary African diaspora collection. The show seeks to bring together artistic practices that reflect distance through laughter, painting gesture and isolation, and will be on view at Rebuild Foundation's Stony Island Arts Bank from September 19-December 29.
Sponsored by ARTnews, Art in America, Cadogan Tate® Fine Art, AXA Art Americas Corporation, and The May & Samuel Rudin Family Foundation

The Peninsula Chicago x Kasmin

September 20 - October, 2019
The Peninsula Chicago

The Peninsula Chicago and Kasmin present a special exhibition of artists James Nares, Iván Navarro, and Naama Tsabar entitled REVERB. The exhibition explores how these artists engage with movement, sound, and electricity, as well as how rhythm is structured within the urban environment. The installation is displayed throughout the hotel’s public spaces, and is part of the latest project from The Peninsula’s ongoing commitment to present rotating art exhibitions of world-class contemporary art.