When you're a resident of the luxury Downtown Chicago apartments for rent at NEMA, you have the bonus of living within the South Loop, one of Chicago's premier hubs of artistry and culture. You're presented with an unending smorgasbord of art galleries, museums, and events. So long as your thirst for culture continues, this part of Downtown will keep you entertained and enlightened. Here, we look at some of the finest art-based establishments in this part of Chicago.
Shane Campbell Gallery | 2021 South Wabash Avenue
Naotaka Hiro's Breaking the Waves is on at Shane Campbell Gallery for the majority of January 2019. The artist explores his obsession with the mysteries of the body, through painting and sculpture inspired by the likes of Paul Gauguin, Carolee Schneemann, and Jackson Pollock. It's vivacious, arresting stuff.
Museum of Contemporary Photography | 600 South Michigan Avenue
Migration is the theme of this museum's first major exhibition of 2019. Stateless: Views of Global Migration takes the everyday statistics that permeate everyday media and transforms them into humanizing works of art, courtesy of a slew of talented photographers, including Leila Alaoui, Shimon Attie, and Hiwa K. Expect some painfully powerful images, which will make you think twice about what you think you already know.
Glass Curtain Gallery | 1104 South Wabash Avenue
The work of emerging and mid-career artists festoons the walls of the historic Ludington building, otherwise known as “Glass Curtain Gallery.” 2018 saw an eye-opening array of exhibitions, including Corrosive Like Salt Water, a collective commentary on life in Puerto Rico. Until February 15, 2019, you can see Where the Future Came From, which brilliantly documents feminist artist-run activities in the Windy City. Glass Curtain is also a wonderful place to catch a lecture and gen up on your art knowledge.
Hoypoloi Gallery | 2235 South Wentworth Avenue
"Uncommon art for the common person" is the tagline for this quirky Downtown boutique. Hoypoloi Gallery provides the added joy of allowing you to take its artworks home with you. What better way to kickstart the year than furnishing your luxury apartment with an off-the-wall jellyfish lamp, sprucing up your desk with a frogman paperweight, or lifting the living room with a stylish Yoda canvas by Allison Lefcort?
Art Institute of Chicago | 111 South Michigan Avenue
Not only one of the best galleries in the United States but the world, the Art Institute of Chicago bears repeat visits year on year, month on month; after all, who could tire of a permanent collection that includes Grant Wood's American Gothic and Joan Mitchell's City Landscape? Until January 27th, you can travel back to 17th-century Kyoto, Osaka, and Tokyo with the enchanting ukiyo-e paintings of "the floating world."
Wabash Arts Corridor | 600 South Wabash Avenue
Art isn't solely for indoor galleries, and nowhere sums this up in Chicago better than the Wabash Arts Corridor: a “living urban canvas” of ever-changing art. Right now, head to 1326 South Michigan to see the vibrant splash of color that is artist MadC's largest mural to date. Marvel at Eelco van den Berg's Wild Life on 1306 South Michigan, a comment on the coexistence of humans and animals. And visit 72 East 11th Street for Hello Kirsten's Listen To Learn, a celebration of Chicago's diversity.