Few inventive and popular culture figures from the final 70 years are extra widely known than Yoko Ono, the 92-year-old peace activist and former collaborator with such famed musicians as John Cage, Ornette Coleman and her late husband John Lennon.
Much less identified are her contributions to the visible and conceptual artwork worlds, just like the groundbreaking position she performed in Fluxus, an influential experimental motion within the Sixties and ‘70s. Then there are her progressive, generally banned movies throughout those self same a long time, comparable to “FLY” (1970-71).
Myriad sides of this cultural dynamo will probably be open for exploration in “Yoko Ono: Music of the Thoughts,” a touring exhibition on view Oct. 18–Feb. 22, 2026, on the Museum of Modern Artwork Chicago, 220 E. Chicago Ave. The MCA is the present’s solely U.S. venue.
This massive-scale retrospective — organized by the Tate Trendy in London, the place it drew file crowds — options greater than 200 objects, together with a cross-section of Ono’s installations and bodily artworks. And whereas “Music of the Thoughts” is certain to dominate the Chicago artwork world’s consideration this fall, there are many different notable exhibitions value visiting. Listed here are 10 others.
Aaron Curry’s “Uncooked Canine”
The place: Corbett vs. Dempsey
When: Sept. 11–Nov. 1
The Chicago-trained Curry is greatest identified for his brightly coloured, biomorphic sculptures that humorously fuse modernist abstraction with the worlds of science fiction, cartoons and video video games. His debut solo present in Chicago will function a brand new physique of wooden sculptures, each wall-mounted and freestanding, in addition to cereal field collages. Curry was born in San Antonio and now lives in Los Angeles, however he earned his bachelor of high-quality arts from the College of the Artwork Institute of Chicago in 2002 and is represented within the MCA Chicago assortment. Additionally a prolific printmaker, the artist was included in a recent etching present at New York’s Museum of Trendy Artwork in 2023–24. 2156 W. Fulton St.
“Tengo Lincoln Park en mi corazón: Younger Lords in Chicago” appears to be like again on the influence and legacy of the Younger Lords. The present tells the story by way of archival supplies, historic artifacts, images, murals, prints and a central multimedia set up.
Chicago Solar-Occasions/ST-40001976-0057, Chicago Solar-Occasions assortment, Chicago Historical past Museum
“Tengo Lincoln Park en mi corazón: Younger Lords in Chicago”
The place: DePaul Artwork Museum
When: Sept. 11–Feb. 8, 2026
Springing from its roots as a Chicago road gang, the Younger Lords Group reworked itself within the Sixties right into a civil rights group that advocated on behalf of a Puerto Rican neighborhood scuffling with gentrification. Considered one of its highest-profile acts of resistance occurred in Could 1969, when the group occupied the Stone Administration Constructing at McCormick Seminary, now DePaul’s College of Music North Constructing.
This exhibition, curated by DePaul professor Jacqueline Lazú, appears to be like again on the influence and legacy of the Younger Lords. The present tells the story by way of archival supplies, historic artifacts, images, murals, prints and a central multimedia set up created by multidisciplinary artist Arif Smith in collaboration with Insurgent Betty, a Puerto Rican artist, poet and cultural employee. 935 W. Fullerton Ave.
“Tiffany Lamps: Past the Shade”
The place: Driehaus Museum
When: Sept. 12–March 15, 2026
Louis Consolation Tiffany was a number one gentle in artwork, structure and design of the late Nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and the lamps his studio produced from the Eighties by way of the Nineteen Twenties have turn into nothing wanting iconic. Tiffany desk, desk and ground lamps in a variety of kinds will kind the guts of this present, which was organized by Alexandra Ruggiero, a glass specialist who serves as a consulting curator on the Neustadt Assortment of Tiffany Glass in New York. Additionally on view will probably be complementary picks like glass and pottery vases, enamel and bronze containers and a leaded-glass hearth display. In all, greater than 50 objects drawn from the intensive Tiffany holdings of the Driehaus Museum and Richard H. Driehaus Artwork Exhibition Lending Basis will probably be featured. 50 E. Erie St.
“Charting Imaginary Worlds: Why Fantasy and Video games Are Inseparable” examines the inextricable relationship between tabletop and video video games, comparable to “Dungeons & Dragons” and “The Witcher,” and the literary fantasy style and its make-believe worlds of magic spells, historical riddles, offended monsters and shadowy castles.
Crochet Charizard. CrochetDollbyVTAH (ETSY creator).
“Charting Imaginary Worlds: Why Fantasy and Video games Are Inseparable”
The place: Hanna Holborn Grey Particular Collections Analysis Middle, Joseph Regenstein Library
When: Sept. 15–Dec. 12
This exhibition would possibly happen in a library, nevertheless it’s not musty or pedantic. As an alternative, this present examines the inextricable relationship between tabletop and video video games, comparable to “Dungeons & Dragons” and “The Witcher,” and the literary fantasy style and its make-believe worlds of magic spells, historical riddles, offended monsters and shadowy castles. This exhibit chronicles how the 2 have influenced and formed one another for greater than a century. After all, an exhibition about video video games may have three playable choices — “Journey” (1980), “Golden Axe II” (1991) and “Dragon Age: The Veilguard” (2024)” — alongside books, maps, toys, props, costumes, screenshots and video clips. 1100 E. 57th St.
Helen Frankenthaler is among the legendary figures in post-World Warfare II Summary Expressionism and a pioneer of shade discipline portray.
Helen Frankenthaler (American, 1928 – 2011), Door, 1976–1979. Lithograph on paper, 28 1/2 x 41 1/4 in. Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Artwork, Northwestern College, reward of the Helen Frankenthaler Basis. 2023.24.5. Copyright 2024 Helen Frankenthaler Basis, Inc. / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / Common Restricted Artwork Editions (ULAE), West Islip, New York.
“Pouring, Spilling, Bleeding: Helen Frankenthaler and Artists’ Experiments on Paper”
The place: Block Museum of Artwork at Northwestern College
When: Sept. 17–Dec. 14
Helen Frankenthaler, who died in 2011 at age 83, is among the legendary figures in post-World Warfare II Summary Expressionism and a pioneer of shade discipline portray. The artist didn’t use a brush in any conventional sense however employed the methods contained within the present’s title to attain her usually visually poetic compositions. The core of this present would be the first public show of 34 prints and dealing proofs from the Helen Frankenthaler Basis, during which the artist transfers the feel and appear of her work into a really totally different medium. In 2023, the Block was one in all 10 college artwork museums in the US to obtain a portfolio of such works on paper together with funding to assist accompanying interpretation and public engagement. 40 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston
“SHIFT: Structure in Occasions of Radical Change”
The place: Chicago Structure Biennial, areas across the metropolis
When: Sept. 19–Feb. 28, 2026
Established in 2016 to honor Chicago’s celebrated architectural legacy and showcase the sphere’s progressive designers, this worldwide expo has turn into some of the necessary on the earth. This sixth version will spotlight initiatives by 100 architects, artists, and designers together with La Cabina de la Curiosidad (Quito, Ecuador), Hardel Le Bihan Architectes (Paris) and Sean Lally (Chicago). The Chicago Division of Cultural Affairs and Particular Occasions will host the opening program Sept. 19 on the Chicago Cultural Middle.
“Theaster Gates: Unto Thee”
The place: Good Museum of Artwork, College of Chicago
When: Sept. 23–Feb. 22
Theaster Gates has gained worldwide approval for his investigations of time, reminiscence and decay during which he reclaims and recontextualizes objects and even buildings intently tied to the Black expertise. The Good will highlight this important Chicago artist in a milestone mid-career survey that may embody large-scale installations, music, movie and what the museum is asking a “redeployment” of seven teams of scrapped objects and supplies from the College of Chicago, the place Gates is on the visible arts college. These embody pews from the Bond Chapel, granite from the Logan Middle and vitrines from the Institute for the Examine of Historic Cultures. Gates may even be spotlighted in a loosely concurrent present Oct. 16–Dec. 20 on the gallery GRAY Chicago. Good Museum, 5550 S. Greenwood Ave. Grey Chicago, 2044 W. Carroll Ave.
Shakkei: Work by Mayumi Lake and Bob Faust
The place: Elmhurst Artwork Museum
When: Sept. 6–Jan. 4, 2026
The design precept of shakkei or “borrowed surroundings” originated centuries in the past in East Asian gardens, incorporating current pure options and architectural parts. That is the primary main museum exhibition for 2 Chicago-based artists, Mayumi Lake and Bob Faust, who draw on this idea in distinctive methods of their immersive, kaleidoscopic works. “We come from fully totally different cultural heritages,” Lake mentioned in a press assertion, “but I imagine our practices come up from the identical profound soul — a flood of colours, wealthy symbolism, rhythmic patterns and metaphor.” On view on this present, which is a part of the Chicago Structure Biennial, will probably be latest large-scale works by each artists in addition to a collaborative set up combining their design languages. 150 S. Cottage Hill Ave., Elmhurst
“Scott Burton: Form Shift” seeks to recalibrate the artist’s place in latest artwork historical past by way of a serious reexamination of his accomplishments and legacy within the realms of conceptual, public and queer artwork.
Set up view of Scott Burton: Form Shift on the Pulitzer Arts Basis, September 6, 2024–February 2, 2025. © 2024 Property of Scott Burton/ Artists Rights Society (ARS), {Photograph} by Alise O’Brien Images, © Pulitzer Arts Basis and Alise O’Brien Images.
“Scott Burton: Form Shift”
The place: Wrightwood 659
When: Oct. 3–Dec. 20
Within the Nineteen Eighties, Scott Burton was one of many hottest artists round, with artwork museums and public artwork applications clamoring to acquire examples of his furniture-inspired sculptures. Minimalist at first look, the kinds turn into extra complicated when rigorously considered. However the 50-year-old artist died of AIDS in 1990, and shockingly, his inventive profile rapidly diminished. This touring exhibition, the biggest ever mounted of Burton’s work, seeks to recalibrate his place in latest artwork historical past by way of a serious reexamination of his accomplishments and legacy within the realms of conceptual, public and queer artwork. Organized by the Pulitzer Arts Basis in St. Louis, it encompasses almost 40 sculptures, in addition to images, ephemera and the one identified extant video of his efficiency work. 659 W. Wrightwood Ave.
“Unusual Realities: The Symbolist Creativeness”
The place: Artwork Institute of Chicago
When: Oct. 4–Jan. 5
“Isms” have lengthy been necessary within the artwork world. Symbolism was a unfastened, late Nineteenth-century motion that emerged in France and Belgium, then unfold throughout Europe, with an emphasis on emotion and concepts, versus naturalism and realism. With greater than 85 prints and drawings from the Artwork Institute’s ample holdings on this realm, this exhibition showcases famed practitioners like James Ensor, Paul Gauguin and Odilon Redon, in addition to such lesser-known figures as Emilie Mediz-Pelikan, Léon Spilliaert (the Artwork Institute just lately acquired his “Self-Portrait on a Blue Background”) and Gustav Adolf Mossa. One of many present’s major attracts will probably be a black-and-white lithograph model of an iconic work: Edvard Munch’s imaginative and prescient of existentialist angst, “The Scream.” 111 S. Michigan Ave.
