Exhibitions
Description
The MCA’s exhibitions feature the art of our time in every possible media by artists of local and international renown. Explore the variety of MCA exhibitions on view now, coming up next, or from our rich past. Images in this section are published for educational use under the umbrella of the Fair Use doctrine.
Announcement
Exhibition dates are subject to change due to our temporary closure. Read more.
Exhibitions
- Dan Peterman: Sulfur Cycle 2.0–
- Long Four stacks of light-colored materials, which appear to be drywall, are installed in a gallery setting. Each stack of drywall is about thigh high, is laid out lengthwise along an open window. The bare branches of trees and a street is visible outside the window. The bright sunshine out the window on the left side of the gallery cast shadows from the stacks along the right of the floor.
Past exhibitions
2019
- Chicago Works:Assaf Evron–
- Long A photographic print of a desert scene features a rock formation against a blue sky on a sun-filled day. The formation is made up of layers of sediment colored in a range of cream, sand, tan, and umber. The sun rakes across the surface to reveal the texture of the rock and creates long shadows. The central sediment lines are squiggly, winding horizontally across the surface of the rock. Dark crevices appear at the base of the formation and small, dried-up vegetation grows sporadically across the rocky ground. It appears as though it could dried-up riverbed.
- Commons Artist Project:Brendan Fernandes, A Call and Response–
- Long Two people perform in an empty outdoor parking lot, one lunging and one leaning back, with their arms extended forward and wrists flexed. They seem to face each other, but the masculine person is closer to you and the feminine person is several paces further back. Their dark skin is highlighted by bright sunlight shining toward you that casts their shadows on the asphalt. The sky is blue and palm trees are in the background.
- Groundings–
- Long A person poses dramatically balanced on one arm, limbs spread in various directions–each adorned with a cowboy boot. One booted arm points towards us and both legs splay out to touch the walls of the nearby corner. The person faces away from you, back flexing from the contortion of their pose. The lighting of the photograph is dramatic and dream-like, with one light source casting red shadows and an orange glow, while another light casts green shadows. The figure's shadow spreads across the wall revealing the outline of male genitals.
- a body measured against the earth–
- Long In this vertical photograph, the bottom half of the image is taken up by a gray stone maze and, in the foreground, dry gray dirt with extremely sparse grass. On the ground is a vaguely humanoid impression, with a head, two arms, and a torso. It appears to be made with some kind of liquid, creating a deeply saturated brown imprint in the arid soil. In the distance, behind the stone maze, are lush rolling hills and mountains covered in dense foliage including one large tree. The top of the photo is occupied by dense white clouds. The color of the photo is slightly desaturated, giving it an archaic, desolate feeling.
- West by Midwest–
- Long A black-and-white photograph with white borders is affixed to a small wood board with photo corners. The photo shows a scene in a supper club or restaurant. It features two fair-skinned, dark-haired men in suits standing, shaking hands. The man on the left holds a small box and the man on the right extends his left hand to receive it. In the foreground, two seated, light-skinned people with long dark glossy hair look up at the men from their table. The two men look directly at us. A date stamp reading "JAN 3 1968" appears in the bottom border of the photo. The ends of two knotted leather cords emerge above and below the photo on the left side of the wooden board, seemingly binding the board like a book cover. A signature reading "Edward Ruscha" appears on the board in blue ink below the image, and the initials "B.A.B." are signed and underlined in black on the wood above the mounted photograph.