mountshang: Art Expo Chicago 2019

Amoako Boafo

(MARIANE IBRAHIM Gallery , 437 N. Paulina St)

The 2019 edition of Expo Chicago is different -- and better ! -- than the previous seven editions of Tony Karman's international art fairs.

There were some disappointments - like very few landscapes, cityscapes, or still lifes. And Forum Gallery - often my favorite for mimetic representation - had nothing for me this year.

But overall, the show felt calmer -- more like an art gallery and less like a street fair. Maybe that's because visitors now enter from the end of the long hall instead of from the hectic middle.

It didn't humiliate the younger, smaller galleries by putting them in a distinctive "children's table" section.

It accommodated cyclists like myself by giving us a parking area right next to the entrance. Hurrah!
(last year, security personnel were stationed there to keep bicycles from being chained to a railing)

But most importantly -- this show seems to announce the arrival of a new mainstream in American painting: the depiction of black people by black artists (mostly).

There have, of course, been black figure superstars like Jacob Lawrence, Romare Bearden, and mostly recently, Kerry Marshall. But until this year, black figuration has been rare at Chicago's annual art exhibition.

This year is different - and not just at Navy Pier. Black artists and black figuration have recently been much more visible throughout Chicago's galleries and museum spaces. The Mariane Ibrahim Gallery, which just moved here from Seattle, is one, quite promising example.

And since the subject matter is more about life than art theory, I am one happy viewer.

Below are my favorites.

Many others were on display, however. Some I didn't like -- and some I probably never saw. ( after about an hour of wandering about in this huge hall, I always become disoriented and may well miss a gallery or two )

Mala Cruz Palileo

Mario Moore

David Antonio Cruz

Cheryl Pope
(this is a kind of tapestry)

Charles DuBack, 1960

Shadi Al-Atallah
the U.K. artist is an Arab from Saudi Arabia

Pat Phillips

Love this dramatically skewed sense of space -- reminds me of Philip Guston

Devan Shimoyama

Many materials went into this confection -- including a real piece of carpet.

Paritosh Sen (1918-2008)

Marcus Brutus

I really like this self taught artist who was discovered after someone posted his work on Instagram

Marcus Brutus

Matthew Stone

(this is a wall-size digital print)

Alex Gardner

Stephane Conradie

John Sonsini

Elizabeth Catlett (1915 - 2012)

*****************

Now, we move on the depictions of white people:

Celeste Rapone, "Corner Office"

Sandro Chia

It would be hard to imagine this kind of figuration coming from anywhere but Italy or maybe France.

The artist was born in Florence.

Sandro Chia

Danuel Mendez (Cuban)

Nathan Oliveira (1928-2010) , 1966

Always a thrill to see good life drawing in these shows.

It's quite rare.

Tom Wesselmann (1931 - 2004)

Cayce Zavaglia , embroidery

Gina Pellon, 2011

Dae Hun Kwon, cast resin

Milton Avery, 1930

King Rhee

This was the only landscape that I saw --- it uses two layers of plexiglass to deepen pictorial space.

Mark Innerst

There were only a few cityscapes -- and these are the only ones that I liked.

Mendes Wood Gallery
(couldn't find the name of the artist)

Michael Reafsnyder

Jim Lutes

So far, this is my favorite painting by this local artist.

Alexandria Smith

Rashid Johnson

Similar to the banged and burned panels of Cleveland Dean -- but this one seems more related to abstract painting.

Mary Abbott. 1957

A huge and wonderful piece - the best of her's I've yet to see.

Jeff Kowatch

Quite large, quite goofy, and quite different from the blurry shapes that he painted below.
(it was executed with oil sticks)

Jeff Kowatch

detail

Paul Jenkins

Federico Herrero

Carrie Moyer.

John Santoro

Always one of my favorites in these shows.

Angelina Gualdoni

Andrew Holmquist

Sean Scully

Ad Minoliti

Chung Sang-Hwa

A Go board ? The ruins of an ancient city?

William Dalziel

A self taught Chicago artist whose work only came out of his basement after his death. The subject matter relates to his experience as a ball turret gunner in the Army Air Corps in WWII.

It's anxiety reminds me of the paintings of Vietnam veteran Richard Olsen who showed at the Zhou B Art Center in 2017.