Exhibition

Alfredo Jaar: The Structure of Images

Saturday, Aug 28, 2021–Sunday, Jul 03, 2022

Carol & Douglas Cohen Gallery

A dark view of a lightbox showing circular mirrors reflecting abstract colors of orange and purple

Alfredo Jaar, R, 1990. Silver dye-bleach transparency in light box and mirrors; installed, approximately: 132 × 40 × 24 in. (335.3 × 101.6 × 61 cm). Collection Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Gift from The Howard and Donna Stone Collection, 2002.35. © 1990 Alfredo Jaar. Courtesy Galerie LeLong, New York.

Photo: Nathan Keay, © MCA Chicago

In our image-saturated and media-obsessed world, what stories remain untold? Employing images, lights, and mirrors, Alfredo Jaar (Chilean, b. 1956) asks us to acknowledge subjects who are often under-recognized. Projects range in scope and subject: as one artwork focuses on an Ethiopian refugee amid the Eastern Sudan crisis, another observes remarkable but overlooked women including human rights lawyer Shada Nasser, author and activist Nawal El Saadawi, and politician Camila Vallejo. Featuring a selection of key works and installations that span three decades, The Structure of Images showcases Jaar’s critical approach to addressing injustice in our world.

The exhibition is organized by Isabel Casso, Marjorie Susman Curatorial Fellow. It is presented in the Cohen and Stone Family Galleries on the museum’s fourth floor.

Funding

Alfredo Jaar: The Structure of Images is presented in association with Toward Common Cause: Art, Social Change, and the MacArthur Fellows Program at 40.