IN/SITU 2014

Curated by Renaud Proch | Independent Curators International (ICI)

The 2014 edition of IN/SITU, curated by Renaud Proch, Executive Director of Independent Curators International (ICI), presented a reflection on artistic practice in Chicago, and on the intense exchange of ideas that the city generates.

Past curators include Shamim M. Momin (2013) | Director and Curator, Los Angeles Nomadic Division (LAND) and Michael Ned Holte (2012) | independent curator and art critic.

Curatorial Statement

"The creative process is mystifying. It is at once intensely intimate and connected to others, to the world, to history. Chicago has fostered this process for many generations of artists, in ways that reflect the complexity of the city, block after block. This is an American city – proud, rich, sprawling, political, extreme, contradictory, beautiful, segregated. As a cultural context, Chicago has fed the imagination, the political and aesthetic explorations of artists who, in turn, have contributed to its major schools, museums, and art initiatives, making it one of the top production centers in the United States for contemporary art. A modest attempt at capturing the breadth of creativity that is generated by the city, this year’s IN/SITU features works by artists at different stages of their career, with a variety of connections to Chicago: most of them have lived, worked, studied, or taught here. Many still do.

This IN/SITU selection is an homage to the city, to what artists take from and give to it, to the abundance of artistic creation and experimental practice that exists here amid an intense exchange of ideas. Perhaps inevitably, in this cosmopolitan metropolis, the work here speaks of contemporary human condition in the world. It is formalist, anti-formalist, language-based, fantastical, political, futuristic, socially-engaged.

Commissioned with the fair visitors’ experience in mind, the works in IN/SITU were selected out of proposals from galleries exhibiting at the fair, to provide occasions for pause and reflection throughout the exposition. This year and for the first time, they also connect to the city beyond Navy Pier. Indeed, IN/SITU now occupies a variety of new spaces past the fair grounds, beginning with this brochure which features the work of Cheryl Pope, and further afield, with IN/SITU Outside, an inaugural program of temporary public art installations situated along the Lakefront and throughout Chicago neighborhoods, presented by EXPO CHICAGO in partnership with Chicago Park District (CPD) and Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE). Lastly, at Navy Pier, IN/SITU is also presented alongside EXPO Projects, highlighting works by emerging and established artists, and organized by EXPO CHICAGO."

 – Renaud Proch

Participating Artists


Elijah Burgher
 | Western Exhibitions, Chicago / Zieher Smith & Horton, New York
Robert Burnier
 | Andrew Rafacz Gallery, Chicago
Ken Gonzales-Day
 | Luis De Jesus Los Angeles, Los Angeles
Fernando Pareja and Leidy Chavez
 | The MISSION, Chicago | Houston
Cheryl Pope
 | moniquemeloche, Chicago

Michael Rakowitz | Rhona Hoffman Gallery, Chicago
Jessica Stockholder | Kavi Gupta CHICAGO | BERLIN
Saya Woolfalk
 | Leslie Tonkonow Artworks + Projects, New York