/Dialogues

Presented in partnership with the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC), /Dialogues brings together leading curators, artists, designers, and arts professionals for a series of panel discussions, forums, and artistic discourse on topics of the moment, including the civic responsibilities of the artist and art institution, the role of art in global catastrophe, alternative modes of making and exhibition, and curatorial collaboration.

Highlights of the 2024  edition of /Dialogues include a keynote with Chance the Rapper, Asma Naeem Ph.D. (Baltimore Museum of Art) and Nate Freeman (Vanity Fair) on hip hop and its contributions to contemporary art; a conversation on art making and social change with For Freedoms; a discussion with Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago curator Carla Acevedo-Yates and artists Candida Alvarez (SAIC Professor Emerit) and Omar Velázquez (SAIC MFA 2016) on the importance of Puerto Rican representation within local  collections and institutions; two roundtable discussions with emerging museum leaders as a part of the Directors Summit that explore civic discourse and foster common ground; a preview of Prospect.6 with co-Artistic Directors Ebony G. Patterson and Miranda Lash; a foum on criticism as art practice with ARTNews; a conversation on arts spaces outside of traditional centers with Jenny Moore (Tinworks), Kristy Edmunds (MASS MoCA), and Jodi Throckmorton (John Michael Kohler Art Center); a conversation on contemporary craft with 2024 United States Artists fellows;  conversations with artists Amanda Williams and Paul Mpagi Sepuya joined by curator Drew Sawyer (Whitney Museum of American Art); and interstitial screenings in partnership with Art21 and DAATA.  

Throughout the run of the exposition, visitors attending /Dialogues programs and film screenings will be able to lounge within the Soho House Snug, a community area provided in collaboration with Soho House Chicago. 

Real-time captioning will be available for all programming on the /Dialogues stage throughout EXPO CHICAGO, accessible via QR code and made viewable via StreamText on any tablet or smartphone. 

Thursday, April 11

2:00 – 3:00pm
FOR FREEDOMS | ART MAKING AND THE SOCIAL CHANGE STAGE: CURATING CIVIC LISTENING THROUGH ART IDENTITIES

Attend with a VIP pass only

Panelists |  Antonius-Tín Bui (Artist), Lisa Lee (Cultural Activist and Executive Director, National Public Housing Museum), Shinique Smith (Artist), and Jake Troyli (Artist). Moderated by  Toni Anderson (Consciousness Engineer, Healer and Human Design Strategist)

Join For Freedoms in a conversation exploring how social-political narratives expand and restrict artists' practices and shape civic culture. The discussion will explore the role of listening in art, community, and our shared humanity.  Founded in 2016 by a coalition including Hank Willis Thomas, Eric Gottesman, Michelle Woo, and Wyatt Gallery, For Freedoms is an artist-led organization that centers art as a catalyst for creative civic engagement, discourse and direct action dedicated to fostering an environment of listening, healing, and justice through a wide range of creative engagement. 

For the /Dialogues Stage (stage right), For Freedoms commissioned a series of limited edition prints by moniquemeloche artists Candida Alvarez, Antonius-Tín Bui, Shinique Smith, and Jake Troyli. Click here to shop or contact For Freedoms to inquire about presales.

3:30 – 4:30pm
ENTRE HORIZONTES 

Attend with a VIP pass only

Panelists | Candida Alvarez (Artist, moniquemeloche) (SAIC Professor Emerit), Omar Velázquez (Artist, Corbett vs Dempsey) (SAIC MFA 2016). Moderated by Carla Acevedo-Yates (Marilyn and Larry Fields Curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago)

Join curator Carla Acevedo-Yates with artists Candida Alvarez and Omar Velázquez as they discuss the importance of Puerto Rican representation within local collections and institutions. Acevedo-Yates' most recent exhibition at the MCA, entre horizontes: Art and Activism Between Chicago and Puerto Rico, examines the artistic genealogies and social justice movements that connect Puerto Rico with Chicago. By bridging these two horizons, the exhibition traces correspondence concerning place and identity across visual art and social justice formats. Featuring works by an intergenerational group of artists with ties to Chicago, the exhibition presents Puerto Rican painters who use printmaking techniques and approaches alongside artists who address social and political issues through their work.  

Presented in partnership with the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago.

7:00-8:00pm 
THE CULTURE | HIP HOP & CONTEMPORARY ART IN THE 21ST CENTURY 

Attend with an Opening Night Ticket or VIP pass only

Panelists | Chance the Rapper, Thelonious Stokes (Artist), and Asma Naeem Ph.D. (Dorothy Wagner Wallis Director, Baltimore Museum of Art). Moderated by Nate Freeman (Vanity Fair) 

Join Chance the Rapper in conversation with artist Thelonious Stokes and Asma Naeem, curator of the exhibition The Culture: Hip Hop and Contemporary Art in the 21st Century which traveled from the Baltimore Museum of Art to the Saint Louis Art Museum in 2023. Coinciding with the 50th anniversary of hip hop’s birth, the exhibition brought together the past two decades in hip hop considered through a wide range of artifacts and mediums. Featured in the exhibition—alongside iconic works like Gordan Parks’ photograph A Great Day in Hip Hop (1998) and Mark Bradford’s stunning canvas Biggie, Biggie, Biggie (2002)— was the same red overalls (designed by Sheila Rashid) and classic black ‘New Era 3’ cap worn by Chance the Rapper at the 2017 MTV Video Music Awards. Here, Chance will discuss contributions to hip hop through his career and his involvement in contemporary art through a multi-year collaboration with visual artists from his upcoming Star Line Gallery album. Thelonious Stokes, a trained oil painter, filmmaker, performance artist and designer, grew up with Chance on Chicago’s South Side. To this day, they are collaborators and friends, having previously worked together on the Black Star Line festival in Ghana, in Italy during the Venice Biennale, and are currently collaborating on artwork for Chance’s latest multidisciplinary piece, ‘The Last Stair.’ Stokes is now based in Florence where he is the founder of The Black Academy of Art. Moderated by Nate Freeman of Vanity Fair, the panel hopes to contribute to the growing scholarship around hip hop and its contributions to international contemporary art.

Presented in partnership with CULTURED. Artbook & MCA Chicago Store will host a signing for The Culture catalogue with Asma Naeem following the conversation.

Friday, April 12

12:00 – 1:00pm 
SCREENING: AWARD-WINNING ART21 FILMS

Producing more films than ever before, 2023 was a banner year for Art21. This film series highlights just some of the notable films of last year. Dive deep with newly-featured artists like Miranda July, Christine Sun Kim, and Wong Ping. Catch up on recent projects from artists featured in earlier seasons of Art in the Twenty-First Century like Kerry James Marshall and Sarah Sze.  Jurrell Lewis, Assistant Curator at Art21, will join for a Q&A following the screening. 

2:00pm — 3:00pm  
DIRECTORS SUMMIT | PAVING COMMON GROUND: PART I  

Panelists | Liz Andrews, Ph.D. (Executive Director, Spelman College Museum of Fine Art), Vanja V. Malloy, Ph.D. (Dana Feitler Director, Smart Museum of Art at the University of Chicago), Zoë Ryan (Daniel W. Dietrich, II Director, Institute of Contemporary Art at the University of Pennsylvania), JoAnne Northrup (Executive Director and Chief Curator, Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art). Moderated by Jill Snyder (Principal, Synder Consultancy).   

In 2024, EXPO CHICAGO will celebrate the third edition of the annual Directors Summit, an initiative that gathers an emerging generation of art museum leaders from across the country for a three-day program of conversations around civic responsibility and advancing organizational growth and change in response to the call for an equitable, inclusive, and sustainable future.  

Facing the profound challenges of an election year, the 2024 Directors Summit offers a forum for museum leaders to share how their institutions offer an invaluable "third space" to explore civic discourse and foster common ground. The summit is produced in partnership with museum consultant Jill Snyder (Principal, Snyder Consultancy) and features a keynote lecture at the University Club of Chicago by Dr. Louise Bernard, Founding Director of the Obama Presidential Center Museum (The Obama Foundation).  

This panel is presented in partnership with Sotheby’s, Bloomberg Connects, the Terra Foundation for American Art, and the University Club of Chicago.   

3:00 – 4:00pm  
SCREENING: ART21 PRESENTS ARTISTS IN CHICAGO

Art21 presents a selection of films featuring artists living and working in Chicago. Sharing their expertise and wisdom with the next generation, artists like Nick Cave, (SAIC Stephanie and Bill Sick Professor of Fashion, Body and Garment), Theaster Gates, Kerry James Marshall, Michael Rakowitz, Jessica Stockholder, and Catherine Sullivan are also educators. Each has taught or is currently teaching at local institutions like the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC), the University of Chicago, and Northwestern University.   Emma Nordin, Director of Education at Art21, will join for a Q&A following the screening. 

4:00—5:00pm 
A LOOK AHEAD TO PROSPECT.6 NEW ORLEANS

Panelists | Ebony G. Patterson (Co-Artistic Director, Prospect.6; Artist, moniquemeloche), Miranda Lash (Co-Artistic Director, Prospect.6; Ellen Bruss Senior Curator, MCA Denver), Ashley Teamer (Artist), Bethany Collins (Artist), Didier William (Artist) 

Join Miranda Lash and Ebony G. Patterson, curators of the sixth edition of Prospect New Orleans, alongside artists Bethany Collins, Ashley Teamer, and Didier William for a preview of new ideas and exciting undertakings by artists involved in the upcoming triennial. Opening November 2024, Prospect.6 titled the future is present, the harbinger is home will posit New Orleans as a globally relevant point of departure for examining our collective future as it relates to climate change, legacies of colonialism, and definitions of belonging and home.  

Presented in partnership with Prospect.6 and frieze magazine.

5:30pm—6:30pm
ART CRITICS FORUM | CRITICISM AS PRACTICE

Panelists | Christina Catherine Martinez and Michelle Grabner (Abattoir) (SAIC Crown Family Professor of Art). Moderated by Tessa Solomon (Associate Editor, ARTnews)

Join the seventh annual Art Critics Forum for a discussion on criticism as practice. It is often assumed that art critics spend their time observing the creations of others and penning reviews about what they see at their desks. However, for centuries, many of the finest art writers have been artists themselves. Moderated by Tessa Solomon, the Art Critics Forum will consider the tradition of the artist as critic, exploring how the experience of being in the studio influences how critics view and write about others’ art. The panel brings together two artist-critics to discuss the symbiosis between making and critique in each of their unique practices.

Presented in partnership with ARTnews.  

Saturday, April 13

12:00 — 12:45pm  
SCREENING: DAATA | THE ROCKERS UPTOWN (CHICAGO VERSION)  

Daata presents a playlist of commissioned video animations that embody the profound, equivalent coolness of the eponymous reggae dub, King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown by Augustus Pablo and King Tubby, released as the b-side to Jacob Miller's record Baby I Love You So in 1975. Exploring collective memories grounded in music, Daata curator David Gryn showcases the digital work of George Barber, Phillip Birch, Jacky Connolly, Jeremy Couillard, Ollie Dook, Ed Fornieles, Jess Johnson & Simon Ward, Takeshi Murata, Eva Papamargariti, Puck Verkade, and Lu Yang.

1:15 — 2:00pm
ART OUTSIDE THE CENTER

Panelists | Jenny Moore (Founding Director, Tinworks), Kristy Edmunds (Director, MASS MoCA), and Jodi Throckmorton (Chief Curator, John Michael Kohler Art Center). Moderated by Cortney Stell (Executive Director & Chief Curator, Black Cube)

Join directors Jenny Moore (Bozeman, MT), Kristy Edmunds (North Adams, MA), and Jodi Throckmorton (Sheboygan, WI) in a conversation that will explore how exhibition-making in locations outside the country’s art centers. From innovative exhibitions in repurposed buildings to arts meccas far from city centers, the panel emphasizes the transformative potential of art in less conventional settings. At the panel’s core is the recognition that artists play a unique role, bringing audiences to places they might not travel. This nuanced perspective prompts a profound exploration of the civic responsibilities inherent in situating art institutions in 'unlikely' places, and the conditions of possibility for new arts spaces to take root.    The conversation will be moderated by Cortney Stell of Black Cube, a nomadic contemporary art museum based in Denver, Colorado.

Presented in partnership with Esse.

2:00pm — 3:00pm  
DIRECTORS SUMMIT | PAVING COMMON GROUND: PART II  

Panelists | Asma Naeem, Ph.D. (Dorothy Wagner Wallis Director, Baltimore Museum of Art), Brooke A. Minto (Executive Director and CEO, Columbus Museum of Art), Reuben Roqueñi (Executive Director, Portland Institute for Contemporary Art), Yasufumi Nakamori, Ph.D. (Museum Director and Vice President of Art and Culture, Asia Society). Moderated by Jill Snyder (Principal, Snyder Consultancy).  

In 2024, EXPO CHICAGO will celebrate the third edition of the annual Directors Summit, an initiative that gathers an emerging generation of art museum leaders from across the country for a three-day program of conversations around civic responsibility and advancing organizational growth and change in response to the call for an equitable, inclusive, and sustainable future. Facing the profound challenges of an election year, the 2024 Directors Summit offers a forum for museum leaders to share how their institutions offer an invaluable "third space" to explore civic discourse and foster common ground. The summit is produced in partnership with museum consultant Jill Snyder (Principal, Snyder Consultancy) and features a keynote lecture at the University Club of Chicago by Dr. Louise Bernard, Founding Director of the Obama Presidential Center Museum (The Obama Foundation).  

This panel is presented in partnership with Sotheby’s, Bloomberg Connects, the Terra Foundation for American Art, and the University Club of Chicago.   

3:15 — 4:00pm  
SCREENING: DAATA | DEEP SPACE MATHEMATICS & OTHER STORIES 

Curated from the Daata archives, Deep Space Mathematics & Other Stories presents digital and video works that are unpolished yet glamorous, always energetic, girly, and unflinchingly raw. Spotlighting works by Rebecca Allen, Helen Benigson, Keren Cytter, Keiken, Rosie McGinn, Hannah Perry, Georgie Roxby Smith, Molly Soda, Anna Sophie de Vries, Chloe Wise, and Zadie Xa, the playlist takes its title from the featured video by Xa, originally introduced to Daata by Legacy Russell in 2016.   

4:00 — 5:00pm  
ON COLOR

Panelists | Amanda Williams (Artist, Rhona Hoffman Gallery), Alteronce Gumby (Artist). Moderated by Jordan Carter (Curator & Co-Department Head, Dia Art Foundation)  

Join artists Amanda Williams and Alteronce Gumby in a conversation exploring the symbolism of color and its broader societal associations through several of the artists’ past and current series. In her breakout series, Color(ed) Theory (2014–16), Williams painted houses in Chicago’s Englewood neighborhood that were marked for demolition in a spectrum of monochrome hues associated with Black culture. The photographs that document the intervention serve as a striking interrogation of the inequities in urban development and the question of value in the Chicago community and elsewhere. In Gumby’s work, color is also a tool of investigation, bringing his audience closer to an understanding of light and space. Gumby first began using unconventional materials like resin and glass when he discovered a shattered bus stop pavilion outside his neighborhood bodega in the South Bronx. Series such as The Color of Everything, an exhibition of what Gumby termed ‘tonal paintings,’ use these materials to reference connections between historic color-theory and contemporary interstellar discovery. From Williams' inquiries into the narrative histories of Black identity through more recent series such as What Black Is This, You Say? to Gumby's continued exploration of light and tonality in the ongoing series Glass & Gemstones, the conversation investigates the multifaceted role color plays in contemporary art practices. The conversation will be moderated by Jordan Carter, Curator and Co-Department Head at Dia Art Foundation and formerly the Associate Curator in the Art Institute of Chicago’s department of Modern and Contemporary Art. 

5:15 — 6:15pm 
DARKROOM A TO Z: PAUL MPAGI SEPUYA IN CONVERSATION

Panelists | Paul Mpagi Sepuya (Artist, DOCUMENT and Vielmetter Los Angeles), Silas Munro (Partner, Polymode). Moderated by Drew Sawyer (Curator, Whitney Museum of American Art)

Join Los Angeles-based artist Paul Mpagi Sepuya in conversation with Silas Munro on the occasion of Sepuya’s most comprehensive monographic release to date Paul Mpagi Sepuya: Darkroom A to Z, which will be published by Aperture in Fall 2024. Designed by Munro and his studio, the monograph guides viewers through the vast network of subjects, references, and interconnected artist communities within Sepuya’s photographic practice over the past 15 years. Sepuya will speak on the varies bodies of work featured in the monograph, in addition to discussing the development of the project and its larger relationship to publishing, zines, and bookmaking. Munro is the founder of Polymode, an LGBTQ+, minority-owned design studio working with various high profile cultural institutions and community-based organizations across the country. The conversation will be moderated by curator Drew Sawyer who curated the recent exhibition Machine Manifestos: Artists Who Make Zines at the Brooklyn Museum: the first museum exhibition dedicated to the rich history of artist self-publishing and zines in North America.

This panel is presented in partnership with Aperture.    

Sunday, April 14

2:00 — 3:00pm 
ACTIONS FOR THE EARTH | REFRAMING RELATIONSHIPS TO NATURE

Panelists | Jenny Kendler (Artist) (SAIC MFA 2006), Katie West (Artist). Moderated by Sharmila Wood (Curator, Actions for the Earth)

The recent convergence of worldwide crises—ongoing climate change, entrenched social inequity, renewed concerns over public health, and continued international conflict—demands a revaluation of care for and responsibility to our global community and oppressed local environments. In a conversation coinciding with Actions for the Earth: Art, Care & Ecology, a traveling exhibition at the Block Museum of Art at Northwestern University, the exhibition’s curator Sharmila Wood (Australia) sits down with artists Jenny Kendler (USA) and Katie West (Australia) to discuss interdisciplinary and participatory practices that engage the connecting threads of eco-cultural and ecological histories, ancient and Indigenous knowledge, healing actions, cosmology, spirituality, mysticism, and the more-than-human world. Specifically, the conversation explores the role of art and artists in the natural environment, looking at their role in regeneration and preservation as the climate crisis deepens.  

3:30 — 4:30pm  
ARTISTS MAKING NOW: CONTEMPORARY CRAFT  

Panelists | John Paul Morabito (2024 USA Artist Fellow) (SAIC MFA 2013), Linda Nguyen Lopez (2024 USA Artist Fellow, Mindy Solomon Gallery). Moderated by Judilee Reed (President & CEO, United States Artists) 

Join us for a conversation featuring 2024 United States Artists Fellows Linda Nguyen Lopez and John Paul Morabito, moderated by Judilee Reed, President and CEO of United States Artists. Morabito engages queerness, ethnicity, and the sacred through the medium of tapestry reimagined in the digital age. Lopez’s ceramic sculptures explore the poetic potential of the everyday by imagining and articulating a vast emotional range embedded in the mundane objects that surround us. During this panel, they will discuss sustaining their respective practices beyond major cities, recent and upcoming projects, and why they are drawn to their specific mediums as tools for expression. The panel is presented in partnership with United States Artists. United States Artists plays a pivotal role in our cultural ecosystem, advancing the well-being of artists through unrestricted funding, tailored professional services, amplifying their work, and improving conditions that support their essential roles in society.    

Presented in partnership with United States Artists.