January Art Picks

January 6, 2022 · Art Picks, Featured

Sixty’s selection of exhibitions and events in Chicago and the Midwest.

Featured image: A light beige painted background with painted polka-dots in the foreground. The polka-dots are blue, green, pink, and yellow. Illustration by Ryan Edmund Thiel.

Click a button below to jump to a specific week of events.


If you’ve followed us for a while, you know that our Art Picks offer a wide scope of events that are relevant to our audiences because we and the artists, cultural workers, curators, spaces, and projects we support live full lives that know no boundaries. We maintain expansive practices and work toward justice for BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, and disability communities in Chicago and the Midwest.  

Created in collaboration with The Visualist, Chicago’s leading visual arts calendar. Click here to get our Art Picks and latest articles delivered to your inbox monthly. This is a growing list, so check back often with new additions.

* * *

If you are an arts worker or cultural worker, we encourage you to take the Chicago Arts Census, the first comprehensive, cross-discipline data collection effort in the city created by and with the art workers of Chicago. The Census is a collaboration between ACRE and Annas in partnership with Sixty Inches From Center, DataMade, and C.A.M.P.

Sixty is excited to be an editorial partner for the Chicago Arts Census and will be producing a series of articles to explore the living, labor, and material realities of art workers in the city of Chicago. Click here to view our first installment of this editorial series.


January 1-21, 2022
Reverse Television–Portraits of Viewers (Compilation Tape)
Flint Institute of Arts: 1120 E Kearsley St, Flint, MI
Free

Tues, January 4, 7pm
Sisters with Transistors (2020)
Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University: 40 Arts Cir Dr, Evanston, IL
Free

Wed, January 4, 10am-12pm
Chicago Arts and Culture: Funding and Futures – Focus Group Discussion
DCASE, Arts Alliance Illinois, & the Chicago Cultural Alliance: Online
Free

Thurs, January 6, 12:15pm
Curator’s Tour: A Sense of Place
Fort Wayne Museum of Art: 311 E Main St, Fort Wayne, IN
Free

Thurs, January 6, 8-10pm
Reliving Lost Works: Animating Architecture with Razin Khan
Wrightwood 659: Online
Free

Thurs, January 6, 8-10pm
Whisper & Shout
Contemporary Art Center of Peoria: 305 SW Water St, Peoria
Sold out

January 7-February 4, 2022
REVELATIONS
M Contemporary Art: 205 East 9 Mile, Ferndale, MI
Free

January 7-February 19, 2022
Shahrbanoo Hamzeh: Home Sweet Home
Contemporary Art Center of Peoria: 305 SW Water St, Peoria, IL
Free

January 7-February 26, 2022
Private Quarters III
Volume Gallery: 1709 W Chicago Ave., Chicago, IL
Free

January 7-March 12, 2022
Julia Curran: Corporeal Microcosms
Kranzberg Arts Foundation: 3224 Locust St, Suite 401, St. Louis, MO
Free

January 7-March 19, 2022
Judy Duggan-McCormack: The Presence of Absence
The Foundry Art Centre: 520 N Main Center, St. Charles, MO
Free

January 7-March 19, 2022
Kalven Duncan: through this window, another side
The Foundry Art Centre: 520 N Main Center, St. Charles, MO
Free

Fri, January 7, 12:30pm
Taylor Harris: THIS BOY WE MADE
Women & Children First Bookstore: Online
Free

Fri, January 7, 5-8pm
The Rounds
Chicago Artists Coalition: 2130 W Fulton St., Chicago, IL
Free

Fri, January 7, 5-8pm
Kyle Bellucci Johanson: for spacious skies
Chicago Artists Coalition: 2130 W Fulton St., Chicago, IL
Free

Fri, January 7, 5-8pm
BODY POLITICS
ARC Gallery: 1463 W Chicago Ave., Chicago, IL
Free

Fri, January 7, 5-8pm
Patrice S. Nelson: Into the Vanishing Prairie
ARC Gallery: 1463 W Chicago Ave., Chicago, IL
Free

Fri, January 7, 9:30pm
Rare Cuts
The Whistler: 2421 N Milwaukee Ave., Chicago, IL
Free

January 8-February 19, 2022
Dan Gunn: of the land behind them
moniquemeloche: 451 N Paulina St., Chicago, IL
Free

January 8-February 26, 2022
Anneke Eussen: Blank Pages
DOCUMENT: 1709 W Chicago Ave., Chicago, IL
Free

Sat, January 8, 11am-1pm
Reparations Now and Onwards: Voices of Survivors, Advocates, and Next Steps
DePaul Art Museum: Online
Free

Sat, January 8, 2-6pm
Liz Chilsen: Messengers: Artist Talk and Closing Reception
Riverside Arts Center Freeark Gallery and Sculpture Garden: 32 E Quincy St, Riverside, IL
Free

Sat, January 8, 2:30-3:30pm
Author Event: Blythe Landry on Trauma Intelligence
Haymarket Books: 2523 N Kedzie Blvd., Chicago, IL
Free

Sat, January 8, 3:30-4:30pm
Tracked & Traced Virtual Sessions
Science Gallery Detroit: Online
Free

Sat, January 8, 4-7pm
Through a New Lens: Works from the World-Wide Mobile Photography Movement
Perspective Gallery: 1310-1/2 Chicago Ave, Evanston, IL
Free

Sat, January 8, 6-9pm
Bryana Bibbs: (un)disclosed
1100 Florence Gallery: 1100 Florence Ave, Evanston, IL
Free


January 9- February 12, 2022
Diana Gabriel: Permanence
Goldfinch: 319 N Albany Ave., Chicago, IL
Free

January 9- February 12, 2022
Carris Adams: Get Over, Get Under, Get Easy, Get Greasy
Goldfinch: 319 N Albany Ave., Chicago, IL
Free

January 10-February 23, 2022
2022 Faculty Biennial
University Galleries of Illinois State University: 11 Uptown Circle, Suite 103, Normal, IL
Free

January 10-February 28, 2022
Glenn Belverio: Bad Grrrls (1993)
Wexner Center for the Arts: 1871 N High St, Columbus, OH
Free

January 11-22, 2022
WATCHTOWER 12-12-12
Roman Susan: 1224 W Loyola Ave., Chicago, IL
Free

January 11-25, 2022
Collection Playlist: Reframed: Forgotten Film Remembered
Walker: 725 Vineland Place, Minneapolis, MN
Free

Tues, January 11, 12pm
Viva la Vida: Still Life Painting
National Museum of Mexican Art: Online
Free

Tues, January 11, 1pm
Meet This Author! Kekla Magoon – Revolution in Our Time
Left Bank Books: 399 N Euclid, St Louis, MO
Free

Wed, January 12, 6-9pm
Wednesday Night Jazz Jam
The Dark Room: 3610 Grandel Sq, St. Louis
Free

Thurs, January 13, 4pm
To Govern the Globe: World Orders and Catastrophic Change
Haymarket Books: Online
Free

Thurs, January 13, 4-7pm
Young Adult Lab: a State of Emergence
Contemporary Arts Center Lois & Richard Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art: 44 E. 6th St, Cincinnati, OH
Free

Thurs, January 13, 5pm
Medical Humanities: Stories Told Through the Art of Hannah Wilke
Pulitzer Arts Foundation: 3716 Washington Blvd, St. Louis, MO
Free

Thurs, January 13, 6-7pm
Curator Tour: Lisa Melandri, Wassan Al-Khudhairi, and Misa Jeffereis
Kranzberg Arts Foundation: 3224 Locust St, Suite 401, St. Louis, MO
Free

Thurs, January 13, 7-8pm
Open Door Reading Series: Kofi Antwi, Jesse K Baer, Louise Akers, & Tariq Shah
Poetry Foundation: Online
Free

January 14-March 12, 2022
Crip*
Gallery 400: 400 S Peoria St., Chicago, IL
Free

January 14 – March 26, 2022
THE UNDERWORLD: George Crump
South Side Community Art Center: 3831 South Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL
Free

January 14-March 19, 2022
Human/Nature
Weinberg Newton Gallery: 688 N Milwaukee Ave., Chicago, IL
Free

Fri, January 14, 6-9pm
No Body
Cleaner Gallery + Projects: 1856 N Richmond St., Chicago, IL
Free

Fri, January 14, 1-3pm
Chicago Arts and Culture: Funding and Futures – Focus Group Discussion
DCASE, Arts Alliance Illinois, & the Chicago Cultural Alliance: Online
Free

January 15- February 26, 2022
Rachel Niffenegger: Opia
Western Exhibitions: 1709 W Chicago Ave., Chicago, IL
Free

January 15- February 26, 2022
Aya Nakamura: Wayfaring
Western Exhibitions: 1709 W Chicago Ave., Chicago, IL
Free

January 15- February 27, 2022
Clifton Henri: FIGHT OR FLIGHT
Jackson Junge Gallery: 1389 N Milwaukee Ave., Chicago, IL
Free

January 15- April 3, 2022
Enmeshed: Our Changing Relationship With Space and Time in a World of Digital Interdependence
South Bend Museum of Art:120 S Dr Martin Luther King Jr Blvd, South Bend, IN
Free

January 15- April 4, 2022
Hyper Contemporary
Real Tinsel: 1013 W Historic Mitchell St, Milwaukee, WI
Free

January 15- August 7, 2022
Beverly Fishman: Recovery
MSU BROAD: 547 E Circle Dr, East Lansing, MI
Free

Sat, January 15, 12-1pm
Virtual Artist Talk: General Objects
Heaven Gallery: Online
Free

Sat, January 15, 2-5pm
Man Bartlett: At a Certain Point
Bert Green Fine Art: 8 S Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL
Free

Sat, January 15, 2-5pm
Happy Returns: Counterpoise [Fish out of Water]
Bert Green Fine Art: 8 S Michigan Ave
Free

Sat, January 15, 5pm
Ravi Shankar: Curated Tour with Brian Keigher
South Asia Institute: 1925 S Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL

January 15 – February 26, 2022
Brendan Getz | when the after-image is the image
Carrie Secrist Gallery: 900 W Washington Blvd, Chicago, IL 
Free

January 15 – February 12, 2022
Word of Mouth
Woman Made Gallery:  2150 S Canalport Ave, 4A-3, Chicago, IL
Free


Sun, January 16, 3-6pm
Mayumi Lake and Stacia Yeapanis: The Bigger the Fear and Despair
Riverside Arts Center Freeark Gallery: 32 E Quincy St., Riverside, IL
Free

Sun, January 16, 9pm
Aerophonic Records Record Release! Rempis/Ra
Hungry Brain: 2319 W Belmont Ave., Chicago, IL
$10

January 16-February 19, 2022
TL Solien: The Lonesome Dervish
Devening Projects: 3039 West Carroll Ave., Chicago, IL
Free

Sun, January 16, 3-6pm
Niki Grangruth and James Kinser: Muse
Riverside Arts Center Freeark Gallery: 32 E Quincy St, Riverside, IL
Free

Sun, January 16, 3-6pm
Football Practice: Imagining Football Futures
High Concept Labs: Online
Free

Mon, January 17, 9am-5pm
MLK Day Annual Celebration presented by Citizens
The Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History: 315 E. Warren Ave, Detroit, MI
Free

Mon, January 17, 2022
Black Creativity Juried Art Exhibition Opens
Museum of Science & Industry: 5700 S. DuSable
Lake Shore Dr., Chicago, IL
$12.95-$21.95

Mon, January 17, 4-7pm
An Unapologetic Dream: A MLK Day Celebration
Green Line Performing Arts Center: 329 E Garfield Blvd., Chicago, IL
Free

January 18-March 25, 2022
Azya Lashelle: Baby, I got the Blues
Fort Wayne Museum of Art: 311 E Main St, Fort Wayne, IN
Free

Tues, January 18, 7pm
Virtual Conversation: Jami Attenberg & Ada Limón
Women & Children First Bookstore: Online
Free

Tues, January 18, 10am-12pm
Chicago Arts and Culture: Funding and Futures – Focus Group Discussion
DCASE, Arts Alliance Illinois, & the Chicago Cultural Alliance: Online
Free

Tues, January 18, 6-8pm
In Progress: Bimbola Akinbola
Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago: 220 E Chicago Ave., Chicago, IL & Online

January 19-23, 2022
TNK Fest
Hideout: 1354 W Wabansia Ave., Chicago, IL
$20

Wed, January 19, 1-3pm
Chicago Arts and Culture: Funding and Futures – Focus Group Discussion
DCASE, Arts Alliance Illinois, & the Chicago Cultural Alliance: Online
Free

Wed, January 19, 6pm (EST)
Kirkwood Public Library Presents Nghi Vo
Left Bank Books: Online
Free

Wed, January 19, 6-7:30pm
Journalism & Police Accountability: Perspectives from the Chicago Reader and the Chicago Torture Justice Center
Newberry Library: Online
Free

Wed, January 19, 12-1pm
By the Book: D. N. Rodowick: An Education in Judgment and Samantha Rose Hill: Hannah Arendt
57th Street Books: 1301 E 57th St., Chicago, IL
Free

Wed, January 19, 6:30pm
January Intro to Printing Workshop
LATITUDE: 1821 W. Hubbard Street., Chicago, IL
$70

Wed, January 19, 7pm
Breakaway Shorts
Wexner Center for the Arts: 1871 N High St, Columbus, OH
Free

Wed, January 19, 7-10pm
Avreeayl Ra: Healing Arts Initiative: Meditation in Motion
Elastic Arts: 3429 W Diversey Ave., Chicago, IL
$15

Wed, January 19, 6pm
Virtual Lecture: Ken Lum
Society for Contemporary Art: Online
Free

Thurs, January 20, 6pm
Life Lessons: The Collaborative Process Behind Life Magazine’s Iconic Photographs
Wichita Art Museum: 1400 W Museum Blvd, Wichita, KS
Free

Thurs, January 20, 6pm
Rochele Royster in conversation with Jim Duignan
DePaul Art Museum: Online
Free

Thurs, January 20, 6-7pm
Celebrating the Visiting Teaching Artists of Forms & Features
Poetry Foundation: Online
Free

January 21-22, 2022
Days
Walker: 725 Vineland Place, Minneapolis, MN
$12

January 21-February 19, 2022
Into the Open
Detroit Artists Market: 4719 Woodward Ave, Detroit, MI
Free

January 21-February 25, 2022
Experiments in Dark Matter
Mu Gallery Chicago: 1541 W Chicago Ave., Chicago, IL
Free

January 21-February 26, 2022
PEPPI BOTTROP | ROBERT JANITZ
M. LeBlanc: 3514 W Fullerton Ave., Chicago, IL
Free

January 21-March 5, 2022
Joshua Penrose: Forward Escape
The Sculpture Center: 1834 E. 123rd St, Cleveland, OH
Free

January 21-March 18, 2022
Solo Exhibition by Meagan Smith
KINK Contemporary: 1305 W 80th St, Cleveland, OH
Free

Fri, January 21, 12pm
Photos at Noon: American Epidemic themes in the MoCP collection
Museum of Contemporary Photography: Online
Free

Fri, January 21, 6-9pm
Dmitry Samarov: Collages + Mute Duo: performance!
Compound Yellow: 244 Lake St, Oak Park, IL
Free

Fri, January 21, 10pm
Blue Hawaii
The Empty Bottle: 1035 N Western Ave., Chicago, IL
$10-12

Sat, January 22, 6-10pm
Kioto Aoki and Pamela Ramos: Sixth Planet from the Sun
LVL3 Gallery: 1542 N Milwaukee Ave., Chicago, IL
Free


Tue, January 25, 12-1pm
Artist Talk: Celina Eceiza and Klaire Lockheart
Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts: Online
Free

January 26-June 19, 2022
Homebody
Cranbrook Art Museum: 39221 Woodward Ave, Bloomfield Hills, MI
$6-10

January 26-July 10, 2022
A Site of Struggle: American Art against Anti-Black Violence
Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University: 40 Arts Cir Dr, Evanston, IL
Free

Wed, January 26, 4-7pm
Kim Piotrowski: Anxious Heaven
O’Connor Gallery of Art, Dominican University: 7900 W Division St, River Forest, IL
Free

Wed, January 26, 4-7pm
Kim Piotrowski: Anxious Heaven
O’Connor Gallery of Art, Dominican University: 7900 W Division St, River Forest, IL
Free

Thurs, January 27, 7-8pm
Public Assembly
Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts: 724 S 12th St, Omaha, NE
Free

Thurs, January 27, 6-7pm
Cameron Clayborn Artist Talk
Columbia College Chicago: Online
Free

January 28-March 13, 2022
ON DRAWING DRAWING ON: Ten Years of Fellowship at the Richard and Mary L. Gray Center for Arts and Inquiry
Logan Center Exhibitions: 915 E 60th St, Chicago, IL
Free

Fri, January 28, 10-11:30am
Workshop with Lex Lancaster | Abstract Tactics: Queer, Black, and Trans Approaches to the Problem of Visibility
Krannert Art Museum: 500 E Peabody Dr, Champaign, IL
Free

Fri, January 28, 6-8pm
Artist Feature: Joseph Tisiga
MSU BROAD: 547 E Circle Dr, East Lansing, MI
Free

Fri, January 28, 8:30pm
Diamond/Kleijn/Roebke, Aaron Shapiro Organ Quartet
Elastic Arts: 3429 W Diversey Ave., Chicago, IL
$10

Sat, January 29, 1-1:45pm
A Site of Struggle: American Art against Anti-Black Violence: Opening Performance: Mendi + Keith Obadike – Numbers Station 2 [Red Record]
Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University: 40 Arts Cir Dr, Evanston, IL
Free

Sat, January 29, 7-11pm
Asian Improv aRts Midwest Presents: Bass Dreams minus B + Special Guest Mako Sica
Elastic Arts: 3429 W Diversey Ave., Chicago, IL
$15

Sat, January 29, 2-4pm
A Conversation with Ayana Contreras: Afro-Optimism and Creativity in Chicago
Black Metropolis Research Consortium: Online
Free

Sat, January 29, 4-5:30pm
Lecture: Emanuele Coccia
The Renaissance Society: Online
Free

January 31- May 14, 2022
Malika Jackson: Whispers of a World Without Words
Hyde Park Art Center: 5020 S Cornell Ave., Chicago, IL
Free


Through January 1, 2022
Abstraction & Social Critique
Kavi Gupta: 835 W Washington Blvd, Chicago, IL
Free

Through January 2, 2022
Axis Mundo: Queer Networks in Chicano L.A.
moCa Cleveland: 11400 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH
Free

Through January 2, 2022
Candice Lin: Seeping, Rotting, Resting, Weeping
Walker Art Center: 725 Vineland Pl., Minneapolis, MN
$0-$15

Through January 2, 2022
Men of Change: Power. Triumph. Truth.
The Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History: 315 E. Warren Ave., Detroit, MI
$0-$15

Through January 2, 2022
Grand Prototypes, Humble Tools
Transformer Station: 1460 West 29th Street
Cleveland, OH
Free

Through January 2, 2022
A Cunning Array of Stunts
ACRE Projects @ Drama Club: 2439 S Oakley Ave., Chicago , IL
Free

Through January 4, 2022
Kevin Stuart: between all saints day and halloween
Roman Susan: 1224 W Loyola Ave, Chicago, IL
Free

Through January 5, 2022
Mitli Mitlak: Like You, Like Me
N’Namdi Center for Contemporary Art: 52 E. Forest Ave., Detroit, MI
Free

Through January 7, 2022
Vibrant Mechanisms: Kinetic and Sound Art
The Bridgeport Art Center: 1200 W 35th St, Chicago, IL
Free

Through January 7, 2022
Jessica Stockholder: Specific Shapes
Kavi Gupta: 835 W Washington Blvd, Chicago, IL
Free

Through January 8, 2022
Atomic Number 13
Vertical Gallery: 1016 N. Western Ave.
Chicago, IL
Free

Through January 8, 2022
ROMANO JOHNSON: The Yellow Moon Healing God
Portrait Society: Historic Third Ward 207 E. Buffalo St. Ste. 526, Milwaukee, WI 
Free

Through January 9, 2022
Time (Constant, Suspended, Collapsed): Neha Vedpathak
Flint Institute of the Arts: 1120 East Kearsley St., Flint, MI
$8-$10

Through January 9, 2022
The Contemporary Print: 20 Years at Highpoint Editions
Minneapolis Institute of Art: 2400 Third Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN
$20

Through January 9, 2022
leave me letters and dust
Apparatus Projects: 1500 S Western Ave, 4th Floor, Suite 407, Chicago, IL
Free

Through January 9, 2022
Stacia Yeapanis: Reliquaries for Clinging and Letting Go
Material: 2025 W Belmont Ave, Chicago, IL
Free

Through January 15, 2022
Peter Uka
Mariane Ibrahim Gallery: 437 N. Paulina St., Chicago, IL
Free

Through January 15, 2022
SLAYSIAN 2.0
Co-Prosperity Gallery: 3219 S Morgan St., Chicago, IL
Free

Through January 15, 2022
If This Is a Dream, Please Let Me Sleep
Anthony Gallery: 470 N. Milwaukee Ave, Chicago, IL
Free

Through January 16, 2022
as a sort of cloud rather than a bubble
LVL3 Gallery: 1542 N Milwaukee Ave, #3, Chicago, IL
Free

Through January 16, 2022
Hannah Wilke: Art for Life’s Sake
Pulitzer Arts Foundation: 3716 Washington Boulevard, St. Louis, MO
Free

Through January 16, 2022
World’s Stage
Hans Gallery: 2000 W Carroll Ave, Chicago, IL
Free

Through January 16, 2022
GASTROPOETICS
FLXST Contemporary: 2251 South Michigan Ave, Suite 220, Chicago, IL
Free

Through January 21, 2022
MATERIAL PERSPECTIVES
Indiana University Northwest Gallery for Contemporary Art: 65 West 33rd Ave, Gary, IN
Free

Through January 22, 2022
A.J. McClenon: Notes from VEGA
Hyde Park Art Center: 5020 S Cornell Ave, Chicago, IL
Free

Through January 22, 2022
Intersections
ENGAGE Projects: 864 N Ashland Ave, Chicago, IL
Free

Through January 23, 2022
General Objects
Heaven Gallery: 1550 N Milwaukee Ave, 2nd floor, Chicago, IL 
Free

Through January 23, 2022
Justin Favela: Central American
Des Moines Art Center: 4700 Grand Ave., Des Moines, IA
Free

Through January 23, 2022
Jeremiah Hulsebos-Spofford: League of Nations
Chicago Cultural Center: 78 E Washington St, Chicago, IL
Free

Through January 29, 2022
Hannah Levy: Surplus Tension
The Arts Club of Chicago: 201 E Ontario St, Chicago, IL
Free

Through January 29, 2022
Emiliano Cerna Rios: Emilianopolis
boundary: 2334 W 111th Pl, Chicago, IL 
Free

Through January 30, 2022
Lydia Ourahmane & Alex Ayed: laws of confusion
The Renaissance Society: 915 E 60th St, Chicago, IL
Free

Through January 30, 2022
Jeannette Ehlers: Take Root
MOCAD: 4454 Woodward Ave., Detroit, MI
$5 suggestion donation


About the illustrator:

Ryan Edmund Thiel is an interdisciplinary artist, graphic designer, and photographer based in Chicago, IL. Their playful and energetic compositions of color, texture, and form are influenced by emotion and the natural world. Ryan is also the Communications and Design Facilitator for Sixty Inches From Center. View more of their work at www.ryanedmundstudio.com.