About EXPO Chicago

Opening the fall art season each September, EXPO CHICAGO, The International Exposition of Contemporary & Modern Art features leading international galleries alongside one of the highest quality platforms for contemporary art and culture. Hosted within Navy Pier’s Festival Hall, EXPO CHICAGO’s eighth edition will take place September 19 – 22, 2019, in alignment with the 2019 Chicago Architecture Biennial (September 19, 2019 – January 5, 2020). This year will have several Dutch contributors.

The Gallery Club

The Gallery Club, a non-profit foundation for photography based in Amsterdam, presents the exhibition ‘The American Landscape’, providing a new perspective on the United States through the eyes of the Dutch photographers Iwan Baan, Charlotte Dumas, Marie-José Jongerius, Sem Langendijk, and Bert Teunissen. All of them have extensively photographed the American landscape over the course of the years. Their work not only represents the diversity and grandeur of the American landscape but also addresses important (social) issues, such as climate change, (forced) migration and urban planning.

You can find them at booth 465.

Charlotte Dumas, “Wagon Wheel Way NV, The Widest Prairies”, 2013. courtesy of Andriesse Eyck

Marie-Jose Jongerius, “Los Angeles Palms”, 2015. Courtesy of The Gallery Club.

Reflex Amsterdam

Reflex is an established art gallery representing over 25 internationally renowned contemporary artists.

Rutger Brandt Gallery

The Rutger Brandt Gallery’s mission is to showcase contemporary art by emerging young artists as well as established international artists in a multi-generational program. They aim for a long-term commitment in developing the artists’ career and the gallery acts as a liaison with other galleries outside The Netherlands.

At the EXPO Chicago, they will present a solo exhibition of work by Radenko Milak called ‘NASA Secret Space Program’. The ‘NASA Secret Space Program’ watercolors are inspired by archive photographs of space programs led in total secrecy by NASA after World War II. These research programs were one of the beginnings of the mode of observation of the universe that keeps pushing further the unveiling of what is invisible to the naked eye such as dark energy, dark matter or black holes.  At the same time, the aesthetic of these images reminds us of the black and white cinema of the 50s. His work is expressive and extremely subtle; two extremes that are not naturally present at the same time in an artwork. His dark stripes, spots and sweeps are honest, sharp and are directly transferred in different shades of black watercolor to paper, reveiling the image in  extreme details while making sure the painterly quality is not lost. In 2017, Milak was represented as the  main artist at the National Pavilion of Bosnia and Herzegovina at the Venice Biennale.

Feb. 10, 1961. Ham the Chimpanzee in Space by Radenko Milak. Courtesy of Rutger Brandt Gallery.

Supersonic Wind Tunnel at what is now the Glenn Research Center in Cleveland by Radenko Milak. Courtesy of Rutger Brandt Gallery.

Rutger Brandt Gallery at EXPO Chicago 2019, courtesy of Rutger Brandt Gallery.

Smith-Davidson Gallery

Smith-Davidson Gallery exhibits a dynamic range of leading modern and contemporary art in various mediums. The present gallery’s mission is to acquire and present the work of significant artists whose work has either defined or is expanding the parameters of the visual arts. The group presentation ‘Texture’ gives a profound overview of the galleries collection from the renowned Australian Aboriginal Art collection to international artists such as Zhuang Hong Yi, Paul Rousso and Lu Luo.

You can find them at booth 369.