EXPO CHICAGO Announces 2017 EXPO VIDEO and IN/SITU Programs Including Works by Major International Artists

CHICAGO—EXPO CHICAGO, The International Exposition of Contemporary & Modern Art, announces selections for the 2017 EXPO VIDEO and IN/SITU programs presented during the sixth edition (September 13 – 17). Selected by Independent Curator Ali Subotnick for EXPO VIDEO and Independent Curator Florence Derieux for IN/SITU, leading international artists chosen from the 2017 exhibiting galleries will have their work displayed on the main floor of Festival Hall throughout the exposition.    

“The strength of this year’s core programs is highlighted through Ali Subotnick and Florence Derieux’s curatorial premise, featuring a selection of artists under themes that are both focused and relevant to our current time,” said EXPO CHICAGO Director of Programming Stephanie Cristello. “Supporting the work selected for these on-site installations, the /Dialogues series will present focused conversations featuring artists whose work is on view, furthering the depth for discourse and engagement for the EXPO CHICAGO audience, and adding a discursive record to the program.”  

EXPO VIDEO: These Restless Times    

The 2017 EXPO VIDEO program, These Restless Times, will be on view in two large-format screenings rooms on the main floor of Festival Hall. Curated by Ali Subotnick, EXPO VIDEO features an in-depth presentation of dynamic and provocative videos by artists Stanya Kahn (Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects | Los Angeles) and Erik van Lieshout (Anton Kern Gallery | New York), along with shorts by Guthrie Lonergan (Honor Fraser | Los Angeles). Exploiting the humor and absurdity of contemporary life, politics, culture and the role of the artist, both Kahn and van Lieshout excel at creating achingly honest, witty works that speak to existential questions and the human condition, while Lonergan’s piece also highlights our current culture and how default noises found within technology are now so ingrained in our everyday lives that they have become as familiar as a doorbell or car horn.  

“In a time where feelings of instability, unease, fear and anger are increasingly normal, everyday emotions, the artists selected for this year’s program create deeply relevant and provocative works that are both of our time, and timeless,” said Subotnick. “Making art is a form of protest, a political act, and without heavy-handed didactics or proselytizing, both Kahn and van Leishout effectively engage viewers in their own activism. In addition, Lonergan’s work reflects our increasing reliance on digital technology to dictate our lives and routines.”  

To read the full Curatorial Statement, click here.  

2017 EXPO VIDEO Artists:  

Stanya Kahn | Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects  

Arms are Overrated (2012) 13:40 min  

Don’t Go Back to Sleep (2014) 74:00 min  

Stand in the Stream (2011 - 2017) 60:24 min  

Erik van Lieshout | Anton Kern Gallery  

Ego (2013) 25:48 min

Basement (2014) 17:19 min

Die Insel (2016) 37:50 min  

Guthrie Lonergan | Honor Fraser  

9 Short Music Videos (2005) 1:00 min (continuous loop)  

Additional EXPO VIDEO Programming | /Dialogues Stage  

In addition to presenting EXPO VIDEO on the main floor of Festival Hall, the /Dialogues program will also feature a dedicated panel discussion to further explore the work included in this year’s program.  

Conversations at the Edge — EXPO VIDEO: These Restless Times   Thursday, September 14 | 2:00–3:00 pm  

Artist Stanya Kahn (Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects) in conversation with 2017 EXPO VIDEO Curator Ali Subotnick  

Join EXPO VIDEO Curator Ali Subotnick for a discussion with Los Angeles-based artist Stanya Kahn, whose work will be included in the 2017 program.  
Presented as part of Conversations at the Edge, organized by the School of the Art Institute of Chicago’s Film, Video and New Media Department.  

Past EXPO VIDEO curators include Daria de Beauvais (2016) | Curator at the Palais de Tokyo (Paris); Alfredo Cramerotti (2015) | Director of MOSTYN (Wales, United Kingdom); Astria Suparak, (2014) | independent curator; and Dean Otto (2013) | Program Manager of the Film/Video Department at Minneapolis’ Walker Art Center.  

IN/SITU: Chronopolitics  

Installed amongst the vast architecture and vaulted ceilings of Navy Pier’s iconic Festival Hall, the IN/SITU program features major installations and large-scale work. Curated by Florence Derieux, the 2017 program, Chronopolitics, explores the idea of time in various ways. While the mention of “geopolitics” has largely dominated in the realm of public debate, the term “chronopolitics,” or the politics of a time, remains a marginal and rarely used expression. The potential of this term refers to the role played by time within our societies—viewed instead through the lens of social change. Art is an essential factor of this change. Politics, which is often described as an “art of the necessary,” is a matter of time.  

“The artist’s works featured in this year’s program all share an approach to the role and impact of the measure of time on our contemporary social, political and cultural structures,” said Derieux. “Using a wide array of mediums, these artists’ works question the temporal conditions, or episodes, that disturb our traditionally linear understanding of time and progress. In doing so, they allow us to experiment, evaluate, imagine and reimagine our own relation to reality.”  

To read Florence Derieux’s full Curatorial Statement, click here.

2017 IN/SITU Artists:  

Sanford Biggers | moniquemeloche (Chicago)  

Tom Burr | Bortolami (New York)  

Alex Chitty | PATRON (Chicago)  

Bethany Collins | PATRON (Chicago)  

Nate Lowman | Maccarone (New York, Los Angeles)  

Lavar Munroe | Jenkins Johnson Gallery (San Francisco, New York)  

Manish Nai | Kavi Gupta (Chicago)  

Dan Peterman | Rhona Hoffman Gallery (Chicago)  

Lara Schnitger | Anton Kern Gallery (New York)  

Hiroshi Senju | Sundaram Tagore Gallery (New York, Singapore, Hong Kong)  

Troika (Conny Freyer, Eva Rucki, Sebastien Noel) | Anne Mosseri-Marlio Galerie (Basel)  

Wang Du | Galerie Laurent Godin (Paris)  

Additional IN/SITU Programming | /Dialogues Stage  

Visibility | Invisibility — Sculpture in Everyday Space

Thursday, September 14 | 12:00–1:00pm  

Artist Nina Beier (STANDARD (OSLO), joségarcía, mx), artist Tom Burr (Bortolami Gallery and IN/SITU 2017). Moderated by EXPO CHICAGO Director of Programming and THE SEEN Editor-in-Chief Stephanie Cristello  

What is the responsibility of formalism in the twenty-first century? This panel will trace the work of contemporary artists whose diverse sculptural practices are inflected, transformed or reflective of their environment—from public space, to galleries, and institutions. Tracing the implications of visibility and invisibility through work that both adopts and appropriates existing materials, this discussion will address the poetic and political consequences of how works appear (or disappear) in a given context through the lens of object-making.  

IN/SITU: Chronopolitics
Saturday, September 16 | 12:00–1:00pm

Moderated by Florence Derieux (2017 IN/SITU Curator)

Join IN/SITU Curator Florence Derieux for a panel discussion with select artists from the 2017 program, Chronopolitics. Featuring large-scale suspended sculptures and site-specific works within the exhibition hall, IN/SITU is presented within the vast vaulted architecture of Navy Pier. Panelists announced at a later date.  

Past IN/SITU curators include Diana Nawi (2016) | Associate Curator at Pérez Art Museum Miami; Louis Grachos (2015) | Executive Director of The Contemporary Austin; Renaud Proch (2014) | Executive Director, Independent Curators International (ICI); Shamim M. Momin (2013) | Director and Curator, Los Angeles Nomadic Division (LAND); and Michael Ned Holte (2012) | independent curator and art critic.