Ninth Edition Of Expo Chicago Returns To Navy Pier

EXPO CHICAGO, the international exposition of contemporary and modern art, concluded its ninth edition on Sunday, April 10, with strong attendance of international collectors and curators alongside 30,000 visitors, exceptional presentations from exhibiting galleries and strong sales, in what was its most global edition to date. On opening day alone, the exposition welcomed more than 8,000 VIP guests while raising $260,000 to benefit the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago during the fair's Vernissage. Collectors, curators, artists and art professionals enjoyed an exclusive first look at over 140 leading galleries from 25 countries and 65 cities throughout Navy Pier's iconic Festival Hall. EXPO CHICAGO will return to Navy Pier's Festival Hall on April 13 - 16, 2023.

"We are thrilled with the enthusiastic return of EXPO CHICAGO as we once again welcomed a global network of art dealers, curators, museum directors, collectors, artists, and arts enthusiasts to our great city," said Tony Karman, President | Director. "The city galvanized to provide a vibrant, robust week of activities in support of local and visiting patrons and I am deeply proud that our success proved the importance of this marketplace and re-established our place on the international art world calendar in this April timeslot."

The ninth edition marked considerable institutional representation, with museum curators, trustees and patrons from worldwide cultural organizations including Arizona State University Art Museum, Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, Brookline Arts Center, The Bronx Museum of the Arts, California African American Museum, Carnegie Mellon Museum of Art, Castello di Rivoli Museo d'Arte Contemporanea, Chazen Museum of Art, Art Institute of Chicago, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Museum of Contemporary Photography, Contemporary Art Center Cincinnati, Counterpublic Triennial 2023, Dia Art Foundation, The Dennos Museum Center, Museum of Contemporary Art Denver, DePaul Art Museum, The Fabric Workshop and Museum, Frist Art Museum, FRONT International Triennial, Goethe-Institut Chicago, Grand Rapids Art Museum, The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Honolulu Museum of Art, Hyde Park Art Center, Istituto Italiano di Cultura, Joyce Foundation, KADIST, Kalamazoo Institute of Art, Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Lowe Art Museum University of Miami, MAK Center for Art and Architecture, Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Nathan Manilow Sculpture Park, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, Newark Museum of Art, Obama Presidential Center Museum, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Pérez Art Museum Miami, Pitzer College Art Galleries, Poetry Foundation, Portland Art Museum, Saint Louis Art Museum, San Jose Museum of Art, Seattle Art Museum, Smart Museum of Art, Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art at Hamilton College, Terra Foundation for American Art, The Toledo Museum of Art, Institute of Contemporary Art at UTC, Utah Museum of Contemporary Art, University of Michigan Museum of Art, Walker Art Center, Weatherspoon Art Museum, Whitney Museum of American Art, and more.

Notable curators, patrons and museum directors in attendance included Rachel Adams (Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts), Hoor Al Qasimi (President and Director of Sharjah Art Foundation), Laura Allred Hurtado (Utah Museum of Contemporary Art), Amara Antilla (CAC Cincinnati), Rehema Barber (Kalamazoo Institute of Arts), Marcella Beccaria (Castello di Rivoli Museo d'Arte Contemporanea), Louise Bernard (Obama Presidential Center Museum), Fred Bidwell, Chance the Rapper, Bob Clark, Joanne Cohen, Jill Deupi (Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami), Erin Dziedzic (Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art), Ciara Ennis (Pitzer College Art Galleries), Brian J. Ferriso (Portland Art Museum), Dana Friis-Hansen (Grand Rapids Art Museum), Miki Garcia (Arizona State University Art Museum), Bill Gautreaux, Amy Gilman (Chazen Museum of Art), Allison Glenn (Counterpublic Triennial 2023), Marcela Guerrero (Whitney Museum of American Art), Jack & Sandra Guthman, Craig Hadley (The Dennos Museum Center), Lauren Hinkson (Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum), Henriette Huldisch (Walker Art Center), Anne Kaplan, Simon Kelly (Saint Louis Art Museum), Min-Jung Kim (Saint Louis Art Museum), Nora Khan (2023 Biennale de l'Image en Mouvement), Koyo Kouoh (Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa), Sara Krajewski (Portland Art Museum), Tricia Laughlin Bloom (Newark Museum of Art), Liz Lefkofsky, Adam Levine (Toledo Museum of Art), Arthur Lewis and Tony Parker (UTA), Alec & Jen Litowitz, Catharina Manchanda (Seattle Art Museum), Charles Moore, Humberto Moro (Dia Art Foundation), Heather Nickels (Memphis Brooks Museum of Art), Benedicta M Badia Nordenstahl, Halona Norton-Westbrook (Honolulu Museum of Art), Jessica O'Hearn (Brookline Arts Center), Christine Olsen (University of Michigan Museum of Art), María Elena Ortiz (Pérez Art Museum Miami), Liz Park (Carnegie Mellon Museum of Art), Penny Pritzker & Bryan Traubert, Rachel Reese (Institute of Contemporary Art at UTC), Julie Rodrigues Widholm (Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive), Schwanda Rountree, Mark Scala (Frist Art Museum), Lauren Schell Dickens (San Jose Museum of Art), Cameron Shaw (California African American Museum), Franklin Sirmans (Pérez Art Museum Miami), Jill Snyder (Museum Consultant), Emily Stamey (Weatherspoon Art Museum), Jordan Stein (KADIST), Belinda Tate (Kalamazoo Institute of Art), Henry Thaggart, Jodi Throckmorton (PAFA), Allen Turner, Christina Vassallo (The Fabric Workshop and Museum), Steve Wilson and Laura Lee Brown, Helen Zell, and Julián Zugazagoitia (Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art).

Featuring one of the most rigorous and challenging platforms for contemporary art and culture, under the leadership of EXPO CHICAGO Director of Programming Kate Sierzputowski, dynamic citywide programming engaged visitors throughout EXPO CHICAGO, highlights including the /Dialogues panel discussions between abstract painter Mary Lovelace O'Neal and MCA Chicago Manilow Senior Curator Jamillah James, and founding and key members of AFRICOBRA in conversation with Hans Ulrich Obrist, presented in partnership with the School of the Art Institute of Chicago; curator Marcella Beccaria's immersive IN/SITU exhibition, Rare Earths, transforming Navy Pier's Festival Hall; EXPO CHICAGO and the City of Chicago's citywide outdoor installations IN/SITU OUTSIDE and OVERRIDE | A Billboard Project presented in partnership with the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE) which for the first time expanded to include City Information Panels "CIPs" in the Central Business District from April 4 - 17, 2022; the engagement of over 95 curators and museum directors through EXPO CHICAGO programs including the Curatorial Forum, presented in partnership with Independent Curators International (ICI); the expansion of the Curatorial Exchange program; and the groundbreaking inaugural edition of the Directors Summit, which brought together a diverse range of emerging museum leaders from across the country to discuss the shifting dynamics and the future of museum leadership today.

EXPO CHICAGO welcomed several new galleries in 2022 as well as numerous returning galleries, all of whom drew critical praise for their ambitious presentations. Exhibitors both new and returning noted that they received strong support from both nationally and internationally renowned collectors, museum curators and institutions, along with the greater Midwest collector base.

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