Exhibitions

Duro Olowu: Seeing Chicago–

  • Griffin Galleries of Contemporary Art
    Fourth Floor
    220 E Chicago Ave, Chicago, IL 60611
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Featured images

Duro Olowu, Spring/Summer 2020, Look 1
Photo: Christina Ebenezer
Judy Chicago, Sky Sunfrom Flesh Gardens series, 1971
Collection Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, gift of The American Art Foundation by exchange, 2019.6. Photo: Courtesy of the artist, Salon 94, New York, and Jessica Silverman Gallery, San Francisco
Terry Adkins, Omohundro, 2002
Collection Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, promised gift of Helen and Sam Zell, PG2018.1. Photo: Courtesy of the artist and Salon 94, New York
Jonas Dovydenas, Wedding Reception of Emilija and Romas Sakodolskis, Pakstas Hall, West 38th Street, 1977. Gelatin silver print. 8 × 12 in. (20.3 × 30.5 cm) Collection Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, gift of the artist, 1980.3.13. © 1977 Jonas Dovydenas
Photo: Nathan Keay, © MCA Chicago
Ed Paschke, Untitled (portrait of a lady), 1975. Oil on canvas. 64 × 42 in. (162.6 × 106.7 cm). Collection Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, gift of Marianne Deson Herstein in honor of Samuel and Sarah Deson and the MCA’s 40th anniversary, 2007.24
Photo: Nathan Keay, © MCA Chicago
Duro Olowu, Spring/Summer 2020, Look 7
Photo: Christina Ebenezer
Kerry James Marshall, Portrait of a Curator (In Memory of Beryl Wright), 2009. © Kerry James Marshall
Photo: Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York
Henri Matisse, Laurette with a Cup of Coffee, 1916–17. Oil on canvas 22 11/16 × 15 11/16 in. (57.6 × 39.8 cm). The Art Institute Chicago, Estate of Marguerita S. Ritman; Marian and Samuel Klasstorner Endowment; through prior gifts of Philip D. Armour; through prior bequests of Dorothy C. Morris and Marguerita S. Ritman. © 2019 Succession H. Matisse / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York)
Photo: The Art Institute of Chicago/Art Resource, NY
Magdalene Odundo, Teardrop I, 1996. Terracotta and slip. 20 × 16 in. (50.8 × 40.6 cm). The Art Institute of Chicago, Harriott A. Fox Endowment. © Magdalene Odundo
Photo: The Art Institute of Chicago/Art Resource, NY
Duro Olowu, Spring/Summer 2020, Look 25
Photo: Christina Ebenezer
Bruce Nauman, Bound to Fail (from the portfolio Eleven Color Photographs), 1966–67/1970/2007. Ink–jet print exhibition copy (originally chromogenic development print). Image: 19 7/8 × 23 5/8 in. (50.5 × 60 cm). Collection Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Gerald S. Elliott Collection, 1994.11.h. © 2019 Bruce Nauman/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Photo: Nathan Keay, © MCA Chicago
Daniele Tamagni, Sapeurs posing in front of Memorial Savorgnan de Brazz, Brazzaville, 2008. Chromogenic development print. Frame: 37 ½ in x 47 in; paper: 26 in x 36 in
Courtesy of the Museum of Contemporary Photography at Columbia College Chicago
Barbara Kruger, Untitled (Your moments of joy have the precision of military strategy.), 1980. Black and white photograph. 37 × 50 in. (94 × 127 cm). Collection of Liz and Eric Lefkofsky
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Duro Olowu works at the crossroads of fashion, art, and culture.

Nigerian-born British designer Duro Olowu is internationally recognized for his womens wear label launched in 2004. Characterized by unique fabrics, evocative patterns, and impeccable construction, the London-based designer’s garments are informed by his international background and curator’s eye. Olowu’s multinational and multicultural viewpoint has translated into wildly popular platforms and projects from his dynamic Instagram account to his revelatory curatorial projects in London and New York.

Now Olowu turns his cosmopolitan eye to Chicago. Drawing from the city’s public and private art collections including works in the MCA’s collection, Olowu curates a show that reimagines relationships between artists and objects across time, media, and geography. Moving away from traditional exhibition formats, Olowu combines photographs, paintings, sculptures, and films in dense and textural scenes that incorporate his own work.

The exhibition is organized with MCA Manilow Senior Curator Naomi Beckwith and is presented in the Griffin Galleries of Art on the museum’s fourth floor.

Funding

Lead support for Duro Olowu: Seeing Chicago is provided by the Harris Family Foundation in memory of Bette and Neison Harris: Caryn and King Harris, Katherine Harris, Toni and Ron Paul, Pam Szokol, Linda and Bill Friend, and Stephanie and John Harris; Dimitris Daskalopoulos; Zell Family Foundation; and Cari and Michael Sacks.

Major support is provided by Mellody Hobson.

Generous support is provided by Julie and Larry Bernstein, Carylon Foundation, Marilyn and Larry Fields, Agnes Gund, Mirja and Ted Haffner, Mary K. Touhy, the Joyce Foundation, Liz and Eric Lefkofsky, Carol Prins and John Hart/The Jessica Fund, Susan D. Goodman and Rodney Lubeznik, Heiji and Brian Black, Dr. John E. Ellis, Vicki and Bill Hood, and Cheryl Mayberry McKissack and Eric McKissack.

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