Summer Visions

When: Wednesdays, 1:00–2:30 pm, Jun. 28, Jul. 12, 19, 2023
Member Price: $35 per session
Non-Member Price: $40 per session

Limited to 20 participants.

Reduced pricing is available for anyone who inquires, as we wish to make our programs accessible for all. To request a reduced fee, please contact Sarah Packer at sarah@artencounter.org.

Kavi Gupta and Thomas McCormick, Washington Boulevard, June 28, 2023

We’ll begin our first session at Kavi Gupta with Sky Dances Light, a solo exhibition of new works by celebrated, interdisciplinary Seneca artist Marie Watt, whose bold, multi-sensory visual language celebrates and fosters community connections. The artist creates biomorphic hanging sculptures assembled from tens of thousands of jingle cones, rolled pieces of tin historically fashioned from the circular lids of tobacco containers. In addition to the works’ aesthetic associations, we’ll discuss several other important elements of Watt’s artistic language, including materials related to Indigenous history and gestures intended to spark healing. Next, we’ll view selected works by Gupta’s internationally recognized artists in the gallery’s second floor space. We’ll conclude at the Thomas McCormick Gallery with a solo exhibit of works from the estate of Maurice Golubov (1905-1987). The artist, an American painter, pushed the boundaries of abstraction during America’s golden age of modern art on a personal quest of spirituality as he pursued an alternative dimension. McCormick Gallery Director Mary Beyer will talk to us about the process of representing estates along with representing contemporary artists.

Meet at Kavi Gupta Gallery, 835 W. Washington Boulevard, Chicago

West Town Galleries, July 12, 2023

Explore a variety of ideas, techniques and materials in several galleries within close proximity. At Patron Gallery, consider Lucas Simões’ exhibit Luscofusco, which roughly translates to the magic hour between day and night. The Sau Paulo-based artist creates evocative sculptures that hover between opposing ideas. We’ll see how his work relates to Mexican born artist Dianna Frid’s elegant mixed-media wall works incorporating embroidered text, graphite, and aluminum leaf. Next, at Rhona Hoffman Gallery, we’ll delve into images depicting race relations, poverty, and civil rights by the renowned photographer Gordon Parks (1912–2006), the first Black American to be hired by Life Magazine. We’ll conclude at Western Exhibitions with Somewhere Between the Eyes and the Heart, featuring striking, mixed-media paintings by Jamaican artist Leasho Johnson and Mega Meadow Liquidation, featuring oil, acrylic, and machine-embroidered stained paintings on silk and drop cloth by artist Ruby T.

Meet at Patron Gallery, 1612 W Chicago Avenue, Chicago

The Arts Club of Chicago, July 19, 2023

Founded in 1916, inspired by the Art Institute of Chicago’s famous Armory show, The Arts Club of Chicago is a private club and public exhibition space showing internationally-acclaimed artists. Designed by Chicago architect John Vinci, the club offers spacious rooms for changing exhibitions as well as a permanent collection. Investigate large-scale narrative paintings by Canadian artist Brenda Draney (b. 1976, member of Sawridge First Nation, Treaty 8) who portrays daily life and special events in her community. In her first United States solo exhibition, Drink from the River, the artist often repeats images, such as figures, pieces of furniture, or architectural features. The images often refer to repeated events, including personal and ancestral history, but are not specific and are open for interpretation. After our discussion, we’ll view selected works from the permanent collection, which includes a range of works by early 20th century masters to current pieces by Chicago and international artists.

Meet at The Arts Club of Chicago, 201 E Ontario Street, Chicago