EXPO CHICAGO 2018: Programming

Dedicated to rigorous and challenging programming, EXPO CHICAGO hosts the /Dialogues panel series, featuring provocative artistic discourse with leading artists, curators, designers and arts professionals on the current issues that engage them; IN/SITU, featuring large-scale sculptures and site-specific works; EXPO VIDEO, highlighting a dynamic screening program for film, video and new media works; and more.

For a full program schedule, click here. On-Site Programs are free with ticket purchase.  

/DIALOGUES  

Presented in partnership with the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC), /Dialogues offers panel discussions, conversations and provocative artistic discourse with leading artists, curators, designers and arts professionals on the current issues that engage them.  

The 2018 program includes an onsite panel and performance at the U.S. Pavilion of the 16th Architecture Biennale in Venice, and the third annual /Dialogues Symposium, Present Histories: Art & Design in Chicago, tracing select art and design legacies produced in the city, taking place during EXPO CHICAGO in conjunction with the Terra Foundation for American Art’s initiative Art Design Chicago.

For more details, visit EXPO CHICAGO's /DIALOGUES page here.

IN/SITU  

CURATED BY PABLO LEÓN DE LA BARRAInstalled within the expansive, vaulted architecture of Navy Pier’s Festival Hall, IN/SITU features large-scale, suspended sculptures and site-specific works. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum Curator at large, Latin America Pablo León de la Barra curates a selection of works featuring artists from leading international exhibitors participating in the 2018 exposition.  

For more details, visit EXPO CHICAGO's IN/SITU page here.

IN/SITU OUTSIDE  

IN/SITU Outside provides the opportunity for EXPO CHICAGO Exhibitors to present temporary public art installations situated along the Lakefront and throughout Chicago neighborhoods, presented in partnership with the Chicago Park District (CPD), the city of Chicago's Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE), and Navy Pier.  

For more details, visit EXPO CHICAGO's IN/SITU OUTSIDE page here.

EXPO VIDEO  

CURATED BY ANNA GRITZ  Portrait of a Tongue - Towards Non-Visibilty   EXPO VIDEO features a dynamic, curated screening program for film, video and new media works by artists represented by 2018 exhibitors. The 2018 program is curated by KW Institute for Contemporary Art Curator Anna Gritz, the program will be presented within large-format screening rooms on the main floor of the exposition.  

For more details, visit EXPO CHICAGO's EXPO VIDEO page here.

OVERRIDE | A BILLBOARD PROJECT  

SEPTEMBER 17 –OCTOBER 7, 2018  

OVERRIDE | A Billboard Project is a cutting edge citywide public art initiative, presented by EXPO CHICAGO and the City of Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE). Displayed throughout Chicago’s City Digital Network (CDN), the citywide exhibition ran from September 17–October 7, 2018 to align with the seventh annual exposition.  

Placing artwork within this public context and the broader presentation of billboard advertising, OVERRIDE takes its name from industry terminology referring to the continuation of an outdoor advertising program beyond a contracted period. Fully integrated into the language of advertising and local familiar signage, each of the works included within the OVERRIDE program present the opportunity for artists to intercept and push the boundaries of how visual culture is disseminated in our increasingly image-based environment. Selected from EXPO CHICAGO 2018 Exhibitors, the artists included each engage with the medium in a dynamic way, from existing projects that seamlessly extend toward a conceptual continuation of their current practice, to new works created specifically for this context.  

Building upon the City of Chicago and DCASE’s longstanding commitment to public art, OVERRIDE provides EXPO CHICAGO a key opportunity beyond Navy Pier to showcase works by leading international artists in neighborhoods throughout the city.  

For more details, visit EXPO CHICAGO's OVERRIDE | A BILLBOARD PROJECT page here.

EXPO SOUND  

CURATED BY DAATA EDITIONS  The Afterlife Will Have Everything   Installed on the /Dialogues Stage within the exposition hall, the EXPO Sound program features a curated election of works by Daata Editions (https://daata-editions.com)—an online platform for the sale of commissioned artist video, sound, and web art editions—launching new artworks by select international artists.  Additionally, a select group of artists of the School of the Art Institute Chicago are included in the 2018 program.  

For more details, visit EXPO CHICAGO's EXPO SOUND page here.

CURATORIAL FORUM  

Developed by EXPO CHICAGO and Independent Curators International (ICI), the Curatorial Forum offers a group of mid-career and established curators, working independently or with an institutional affiliation, the opportunity to engage with their peers and explore significant issues relating to curating, programming, institution-building and audience engagement. Featuring a series of sessions focused on critical questions relevant to contemporary practice and context, the Curatorial Forum is led by internationally recognized leaders in the field.Participation in the Curatorial Forum is by invitation only.  

For more details, visit EXPO CHICAGO's CURATORIAL FORUM page here.

ART CRITICS FORUM  

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 29 | 5:30 – 6:30 PM    

The third annual EXPO CHICAGO Art Critics Forum highlights significant issues in arts journalism today, hosting leading national and international critics to discuss topics related to writing, authorship, and publishing amongst their colleagues and peers. The 2018 Forum, “Criticism and the Image,” will feature freelance writer and frequent contributor to Forbes, Galerie and The New York Times Ann Binlot; LEAP, The International Art Magazine of Contemporary China Robin Peckham; Art in America Editor William S. Smith; and Terremotto, Contemporary Art in the Americas, Editor Diego Del Valle Ríos, among others to be announced.  

How has the role of the image shifted the output of criticism? Through the format of the visual essay, each of the panelists will take part in a short silent presentation before opening into a roundtable discussion. From the perspective of John Berger’s Ways of Seeing, through to current disseminations of the image and its role as a vehicle for narrative in both online platforms and print publications, this program will consider how the image has either replaced or transformed the purpose of the written word.  

For more details, visit EXPO CHICAGO's ART CRITICS FORUM page here.

CURATORIAL EXCHANGE  

Building upon a pilot program initiated in 2013 by EXPO CHICAGO, the Cultural Services of the French Embassy in Chicago and the Institut français, EXPO CHICAGO has officially launched the Curatorial Exchange program, an unprecedented international initiative developed by the exposition in partnership with foreign consulates and cultural agencies. The Curatorial Exchange offers a select group of mid-career and established curators based around the world the opportunity to engage closely with their peers, convening as part of a four-day program, including access to exhibitions, top private collections, artist studios, museums and institutions.  

Over the four days, invited curators have the opportunity to engage with the more than 135 international exhibitors and organizations participating in EXPO CHICAGO, fostering new insights on gallery programs and artists’ practices from around the world. In 2018, the Curatorial Exchange will include more than ten curators from China (supported by the China Arts and Entertainment Group), Denmark (supported by the Danish Ministry for Culture, the Danish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, and the Danish Arts Foundation), France (supported by the Cultural Services of the French Embassy in Chicago), Italy (supported by the Italian Cultural Institute) and The Netherlands (supported by the Dutch Culture USA program by the Consulate General of the Netherlands in New York).  

For more details, visit EXPO CHICAGO's CURATORIAL EXCHANGE page here.

BOOK SIGNINGS  

For the full list of books and schedule, visit EXPO CHICAGO's BOOK SIGNINGS page here.