Mariane Ibrahim (Seattle) showed work by Clotilde Jiménez at Expo Chicago 2018.

Jiménez creates figures, in every day settings and made from every day materials. Each piece is a sort of self-portrait of the Hawaii-born artist (he now lives in London).

He is also a sculptor as you can see fro the piece below.

DC Moore Gallery (New York) showed pieces by Romare Bearden and Jacob Lawrence at Expo Chicago 2018.

Bearden and Lawrence are both artists you likely know--and if you do not you should. 

Bearden was born in North Carolina and became known as an artist in NYC. He received an MFA from NYU and also studied at the Sorbonne (following serving in the army in World War II).  His work is generally related to the African-American experience--even his more abstract and collage pieces. Bearden worked in a multitude of media dn his style likewise changed over the years. You can find out everything you want to know about Bearden at the  Romare Bearden Foundation.

Lawrence, likewise multifaceted, chronicled the African-American experience in America. Perhaps his most famous work is his multi-panel Migration Series, depicting the migration of African-Americans out of the South. It is both a magnificent piece of art and historical document. Like Bearden his work is held in the permanent collections of every museum that matters. He was the first African-American included in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art (NY) in 1941.

Lawrence was also a professor, teaching for over 15 years at the University of Washington. When you read about him you will hear about the influence of French painters on his work. He, however, said his work was inspired by the life and the color in Harlem. Find out more at the gallery link above or HERE.

Galeria Karla Osorio / Pablo's Birthday (NYC, Brasilia, Sao Paulo) showed work by Galeno at Expo Chicago 2018.

Galeno, from Brazil, is a painter, installation artist, sculptor, engraver and more. His work ranges between figurative and abstract and sometimes straddles the line between the two.

Galerie Division (Montreal/ Toronto) showed work by Chloe Wise and Ed Fornieles at Expo Chicago 2018.

Fornieles was born in the U.K. and now lives and works in Montreal. The scuplture piece, Mother, is fiberglass while the other is an HD video (which we can't show here).

Wise's two pieces range from an oil on canvas painting to a  urethane on wood sculpture.  She often features food in her work (look closely at Cantina). Even the painting has food and drink close at hand. I am always fascinated to hear the reactions and giggling when a nude painting like this is on display--and there were no children present. Middle aged people giggling and uncomfortable at a painted vagina. Why are naked women so scary?

Wise is originally from Montreal and now works in New York City. She has a BFA from Concordia.

Tory Folliard Gallery (Milwaukee) showed work by the inimitable Fred Stonehouse, Aniela Sobeiski and John WIlde at Expo Chicago 2018.

Stonehouse's can make you chuckle, entrance you or even think; "Wow, there is really something wrong with this guy." He is one of those admirable few whose art is so distinctive you can spot it from across a room and be certain who it is. Surreal, funny and expert Stonehouse is unique.

The late, Wilde, was an American Surrealist based in the Midwest.  He was born in Milwaukee and he remained in Wisconsin for his entire career (he did a stint in the U.S. Army during World war II). There is a joy of the fantastic in his work, in this case a painting.  He is known for being a draughtsman and an expert in Silverpoint drawing (a centuries old technique). Wilde taught studio art courses for over 30 years and his work is in the permanent collections of too many major museums to list.

Sobeiski mixes the faces of women with flowers, landscapes and other surreal imagery. The effect of her work is wistful and dreamlike. It is never disturbing but can be vaguely disquieting. Find out and see more of the artists at the gallery link above.

Richard Norton Gallery (Chicago) showed work by Gertrude Abercrombie and Igon Adler at Expo Chicago 2018.

For Abercrombie these pieces are gigantic and yet the top one measures 40 x 30 inches and the lower one 15 1/2 x 19 1/2.  Abercrombie paintings are usually quite small. The smallest the folks at Richard Norton had seen? One inch by one inch.

The Night Visitor, the folks at Richard Norton believe, may not be the actual, original name of the smaller painting. They have evidence of an earlier name from a late 1940s exhibition at the Art Institute. Abercrombie's work and life remain vaguely mysterious.

The Adler piece (and the others that were on display) were new to the gallery, they had not had pieces by the artist previously.

You can see more of both of these and more at the gallery website linked above.

Zolla / Lieberman Gallery (Chicago) showed work by Maria Tomasula and Julie Heffernan at Expo Chicago 2018.

Tomasula has a BFA from the University of Illinois at Chicago and an MFA from Northwestern. She has been exhibiting her work for 30 years. Her work often features flowers but these two pieces are more bird-oriented.

The work is elegant and fantastical; the images inhabit some intricate mythical world.  Reach is oil on panel while I Can Feel It is oil on canvas.

Heffernan's paintings have an almost Baroque feel--except not really. You want to compare them to various centuries old styles because they purposefully hint at these styles. There is also something of magical realism in the work but, also, not really.  She has a BFA in painting and printmaking from the University of California at Santa Cruz and an MFA in painting from the Yale School of Art.

You can find out more (and see a large collection of her work) at  www.julieheffernan.net.

Cernuda Arte (Coral Gables) showed work by Joel Besmar, Lilian Garcia-Roig and Jose M. Mijares at Expo Chicago 2018 (Navy Pier September 28 to 30).

Of course Cernuda Arte shows more than three artists. It is  a challenge to whittle down what to discuss from the gallery and avoid showing EVERYTHING.

Besmar, from Camagüey, Cuba, often features books in his paintings. Which is unsurprising given he is an art historian and lecturer in additon to being a visual artist. This painting has an architectural theme but how he arranges books also has an architectural feel.

Garcia-Roig was born in Havana and received her BFA from Southern Methodist University as well as an MFA from the University of Pennsylvania. She is currently a professor at F.S.U. in Tallahassee.

Taking a page from the Impressionists she paints these landscapes from direct observation. She is on location. While these pieces are representative they skirt abstraction in some cases.
 
Mijares was a daughtsman, printmaker, and above all a painter. The artist left Cuba in 1968 and settled in MIami. His work follows in the footsteps of Cuban Modernist painters such as Rene Portocarrero and Fidelio Ponce. Mijares work seems unique (at least to me). There is something about the colors and forms he uses that are decidedly non-tropical.

Pavel Zoubok Fine Art (New York) showed work by Sari Dienes and Vanessa Dienes  at Expo Chicago 2018 (Navy Pier September 28 to 30).

German is a visual and performance artist based in Pittsburgh. The gallery showed her work at Expo Chicago 2017 as well. Her work is as much community activism as art. She works in the Pittsburgh neighborhood of Homewood to educate kids in the arts.  Her work is held in the permanent collections of too many major museums to list.

Dienes was born in Hungary and moved to Paris and then London  in the late 1920s. She studied with an impressive list of artists including Fernand Léger, Amédée Ozenfant, André Lhote and Henry Moore.

Moskowitz Bayse (Los Angeles) showed work by Alexa Guariglia and Anthony Miserendino at Expo Chicago 2018 (Navy Pier September 28 to 30).

Guariglia's Leo is gouache and watercolor on paper. It has something of a collage property to it. You can seem more of her work at  alexaguariglia.com.

Miserendino's work uses acrylic and clay pigments. The gallery website says this piece is just acrylic on canvas, however. The work is deceptive in it's simplicity. Complexity coming not from color but relief. The work is just this side of wall scupture. Find out more about Miserendino at  anthonyartist.com.