Catalyst: Im/migration and Self-taught Art in Chicago, the first exhibition to open in Intuit’s newly-renovated museum, is part of Art Design Chicago, a citywide collaboration initiated by the Terra Foundation for American Art that highlights the city’s artistic heritage and creative communities.
Catalyst: Im/migration and Self-taught Art in Chicago is the first major exhibition to focus on the importance of immigration and migration in the genre of self-taught art. The exhibition underscores the creative contributions of migrants and immigrants, broadening the scope to include artists deserving of greater attention, while posing questions about access to the art world and how art comes to be defined and valued. Considering artists in the context of their migration experience, cultural backgrounds and communities invites new insights into their work. Chicago, a city with a significant and ongoing history of immigration and migration, is fertile ground for investigating the rich array of academic and nonacademic influences—cultural, communal and familial—that enrich artistic production. The exhibition aims to be inclusive of the experiences of immigrants and migrants while acknowledging social and legal differences.
Catalyst: Im/migration and Self-taught Art in Chicago explores catalysts for leaving home, for coming to Chicago and for pursuing an art practice. The range of personal and political subject matter and artistic styles reflects artists processing distinct cultural traditions, memories and experiences of living far from one’s homeland. Themes in the artworks range from belonging and longing for homeland, to labor and individual expression, to bearing witness to history, to assimilation.
The narrative centers on the rise of self-taught art in Chicago during the second half of the 20th century, opportunities for artists leading up to this time, and the continued importance of im/migration and self-taught art to Chicago today.
The exhibition features more than 75 works from both local and leading collections, spotlighting works by 22 artists in a range of media, including drawing, painting, collage, sculpture, printmaking, textiles, ceramics, woodcarving, and installation.
Artists Include
Carlos Barberena (active in the United States, born Granada, Nicaragua), Isamu Guy Conners (active in the United States, born Tokyo, Japan), María Enríquez de Allen (American, born Allende, Mexico), Albina Felski (American, born Fernie, Canada), Stefan Harhaj (active in the United States, born Stuttgart, Germany), Aaron Kleeblatt (active in the United States, born Poland), Tae Kwon “Thomas” Kong (American, born Hwanghae Province, North Korea, raised in Incheon, South Korea), Alfonso “Piloto” Nieves Ruiz (active in the United States, born Querétaro, Mexico), Marion Perkins (American, born Marche, Arkansas), Aldobrando “Aldo” Piacenza (American, born S’Anna-Pelago, Italy), Marva Lee Pitchford-Jolly (American, born Crenshaw, Mississippi), Pooja Pittie (American, born in Coimbatore, India, raised in Bombay/now Mumbai, India), Pauline Simon (American, born Nesvizh, Russia/now Belarus), Genya “Jennie” Siporin (American, born Łódź, Russia/now Poland), Drossos P. Skyllas (American, born Kalymnos, Ottoman Empire/now Greece), Dr. Charles Smith (American, born New Orleans, Louisiana), Bronislaw “Bruno” Sowa (American, born Lubomierz, Poland), Stanislaw “Stanley” Szwarc (active in the United States, born Krotoszyn, Poland), Jesús Torres (active in the United States, born Silao, Mexico), Charles Warner (American, born Prussia/now Poland), Derek Webster (American, born Puerto Castilla, Republic of Honduras, raised in Belize City, British Honduras/now Belize), Badaskhan “Betty” Zakoian (American, born Harput/Kharput, Armenia/now Turkey).
Image credit: Derek Webster, American, born Puerto Castilla (Republic of Honduras), raised in Belize City (British Honduras, now Belize), 1934-2009. Untitled (Turtle with up-turned head), 1990. Paint on found wood and found materials, 12 x 19 x 30 in. Collection of Intuit Art Museum, gift of Madeline Murphy Rabb, 2021.6
*Please note: Intuit is temporarily closed for renovation and will reopen in early 2025. All 2024 programs and events will take place offsite at partnering venues.