by Patrick Ogle

Warrior King by Paul Keene is a painting that looms over you as you approach, living up to its name. The piece was shown by Dolan/Maxwell (Philadelphia).

Below are: carnival by Florian Krewer (Michael Werner Gallery , NYC, London), Green Rain by Ross Caliendo (Ross + Kramer Gallery, NYC, East Hampton) and Orion Mists and Fireflies by Eric Aho (DC Moore Gallery, NYC). All stood out for quite different reasons.

Krewer is a German artist who has been exhibiting for about ten years. He has pieces in the permanent collection of the Centre Pompidou, Paris and Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal. There is darkness in the artist's work and plenty of distorted limbs and countenances. Yet there is something child-like too. This is meant as a compliment. There is something real in the work. Yes, I know that isn't terribly specific.

Caliendo's pieces are haunting, often depicting trees or architecture. Each has a predominant color like Green Rain. There is amazing depth to every painting.

Aho's work is deceptive. From a distance it looks like grass, sky but then, when you approach it it adds via subtraction. Trunks leap up, partially articulated. The painting makes you feel there is more there, something beneath the surface.

Marco Castro's provocative and painterly pieces were shown by Mexico City's Machete Gallery. It didnt make any sense to take a photo of one of them. He says his work arises from his connections to nature and cultural rituals and this broad swath of his work shows what the artist's reference.

Skeletons of Society, below, is by Chris Rivers (Pontone Gallery, London, Augusta) was one of three related paintings by the artist There is a whiff of Hieronymus Bosch (but only a whiff). I loved how the glossy parts of the painting frame the center creating the impression of a space, a hole. What looks like pure abstaction is full of figures on close examination. The photo on the right is detail from the painting to the left.

The observations here about Expo Chicago have been less pithy than some aimed at fairs and art at Miami Art Week 2021.

Why?

For one Expo Chicago had virtually no art that looked like second and third generation versions of "Mr. Brainwash," an artist I figure was part of an elaborate joke (or if it wasn't a joke it should have been). There isn't a banana taped to a wall or any such PR generated art either.Every year in Miami there is something ridiculous that allegedly "sells" for some ridiculous amount of money and is just plain silly. The year before last it was a banana duct taped to a wall. No one with a functioning brain thinks these stunts are actually real work. Frankly there is no reason to do that here as no one would actually cover it . Whether this is because Chicago is more sophisticated or because the media here don't care about art I will leave to your judgement.

There isn't much to HATE about anything at Expo Chicago.

Isn't that a little bit of a problem? After all, think of all the memorable art fairs and events in history. Something, in some booth, should inspire hate or at least ire. Not EVERYTHING. Art can certainly be pleasant but a little controversy would liven it all up. But maybe that should be the function of MORE fairs held simultaneously in Chicago. Why does Miami manage it while Chicago doesn't?

A few artists and gallery owners/workers have told me over the years that this fair is one where they hope to sell to institutions and corporate collections. Those sort of collectors are usually not interested in art depicting Che Guevara peeing on Jesus. So be it. I get that. That may be why this is a solid,  impressive fair year in and year out. I've also had it suggested to me that Chicago doesn't have an art "scene" but several art scenes that won't even look at each other. I cannot speak to the veracity of this but it fits some observations I've made from the outside. While I am in Chicago I'm on the outside!

by Patrick Ogle

Expo Chicago is running right now at Navy Pier and ends Sunday, April 10.

The galleries and artists shown here are not chosen at random but there is something random to it. The art is all outstanding but there is plenty that isn't depicted that is just as solid. What strikes people is often different.

This collection does include pieces I felt were among the best in the entire fair, notably the work by  Danuel Méndez shown by Cernuda Arte (Coral Gables). Los Ojos de la Cazadora is acrylic on canvas and El Huésped is oil on canvas. There is a mix of the real and the surreal here. The pieced even have a hint of defacement. It calls to mind post World War 2 that disfigured their work to make it reflect the damaged world of the time.

The three pieces below are all striking, for different reasons. The untitled piece by Perle Fine calls to mind Chagall for the color and  Kandinsky for the shapes. This is neither of them but rather Fine's own use of a peculiar geometry of her own making. This work is toward the dreamy side of her art rather than the more geometrical. The Fine piece is from McCormick Gallery (Chicago).

Should WE Become Bed & Breakfast People? by Jonni Cheatwood shown by Makasiini Contemporary (Turku, Finland) features the Brazilian-American artist's trademark psychological inquiry. The work is part domestic portrait and part interior monologue on canvas.

The third piece below by Ania Hobson and shown by Steve Turner (Los Angeles) has a hot carnal comic book vibe. There were other striking pieces by her as well and spending some time at this booth is a must.

Charlie James Gallery (Los Angeles) showed amazing relief sculptures by Rigoberto Torres and John Ahearn. The two sculptors work independently and sometimes together. I believe these two are by Torres. These sculptures were made in Brooklyn, beginning in the late 1970s. The people were folks from the neighborhood in the Bronx and they were not kings or popes or presidents but regular people, the sort of people who didn't historically have relief sculptures made of them.

They often made the molds for the sculptures in storefront windows in the Bronx. This is really art of the community but it is more than that it is a memorialization of a time and the people of that time.

VETA by Fer Francis (Madrid) showed the above piece and I cleverly neglected to get the name of it or the artist. It may be my favorite painting in the fair. I'm slipping in my old age.

The Last Giant (above) by Jacob Hashimoto and shown by Rhona Hoffman Gallery (Chicago) is a wall sculpture. It is bamboo, acrylic, paper, wood and Dacron.

The two larger pieces below are, obviously, wildly different in style.

Shulamit Nazarin (Los Angeles) had the piece on the right by Summer Wheat. Love Birds (left) is acylic paint and gouache on aluminum mesh. This makes me wish I looked more closely at this piece. That is an odd mixture of media!

Harpers (New York, East Hampton, Los Angeles) had work by Allie McGhee, the piece on the right. It is acrylic and enamel on canvas.

The Badr El Jundi (Marbella, Spain)/Pablo's Birthday (New York) had the pieces below. Click on them to look at the detail in these, for lack of a better term, wall sculptures.

by Patrick Ogle

Expo Chicago 2022 is up and running at Chicago's Navy Pier. The fair provides a diverse (in every sense of the word) collection of art from around the world in a fairly manageable size.

Photo Relevance (Houston),  showed work by Alia Ali, a Yemeni-Bosnian-American artist. Her art is informed by her upbringing, specifically the notion that "translation" between languages has often done a disservice to particular communities. In her work she endeavors to focus on experience and critique ...well frankly it is a critique of almost everything. She frequently uses textiles in her work, although Rhythmic Equations doesn't.

The two untitled pieces below by Adrián Gaitán were shown by Galeria La Cometa (Bogata). The pieces are burned motor oil on recycled wood in a cardboard frame. The photo is striking but they are even more so in person.

Wilfflowers by Claire Sherman is sort of a naturalists dream piece. It combines realism but there is something ethereal in the piece, its depth and intensity. How many different types of green are there?

David Driskell was a curator and a scholar. He was also a painter. The young lady at the booth said he was a student of Romare Beardon, one of the handful of greatest African-American artists. The piece here, The Branch, is a painting and a collage but the collage part is so subtle and seamless you have to get practically against the glass to be aware of it. Reading about the artist it is startling to realize he was more well known for his scholarly endeavors. He was born in Georgia but lived and worked in Maryland.

Both Sherman and Driskell were shown by DC Moore Gallery (Washington DC).

Ghosts in Common... by Kysa Johnson was shown by Nancy Littlejohn Fine Art , (Houston). This is, in fact, not the full title of the piece. You are encouraged to click on the gallery link to see that--and more pieces by the artist.  Her work is a fascinating exploration of nature at extreme scales. Are we looking at flowers? Bacteria or sub atomic particles?  A hint? It isn't the first one.

Frank Coffie. shown by Allouche Gallery (NYC) is a Ghanaian artist who mixes painting with textiles. This piece has a few discrete spots where thread is employed. It is difficult to see in a photo so you will ideally check his work out in person.

The two pieces below were shown by William Shearburn Gallery (St. Louis). Untitled by Donald Baechler and Effondrement huit lignes by Bernar Venet. The former is acrylic on canvas while the latter is oil stick on paper. It is more than just the media that are different.

Also below, from New York City's venerable and brilliant P.P.O.W. Gallery (NYC). Ann Agee's scupltures are just part of what they are showing. You can never predict style when it comes to P.P.O.W. but you can always predict thought provoking work.

Finally this work by Theda Sandiford via Ndr Nw Mgmt. Have you ever seen shopping carts as art?  The first word that might leap to mind when looking at these pieces is "exuberant." Isn't there always something exciting about art that uses an every day object as it's basis? These pieces are also best seen in person as the photo doesn't do them justice.