2019 has been a monumental year for Catherine Edelman Gallery. Going through a major move from River North to West Town was just one of the many big changes we made this past year. We wanted to extend a huge thank you to all of our artists and to everyone who has supported us through this incredible year! We’d like to share with you a couple memorable moments from 2019:

– Our last exhibition at our previous location at 300 W. Superior Street was Michael Kenna, January 11 – March 16, 2019. CEG had been at this location for over 30 years and it was an honor to showcase Kenna as part of our last hurrah in River North.

– THE BIG MOVE! CEG reloacted to 1637 W. Chicago Avenue, joining the growing West Town gallery district. The newly renovated, bi-level space allowed us to expand the gallery’s footprint to 4400 sq. ft. The new gallery includes four exhibition spaces, a dedicated video room, a large viewing room for collectors, and an open area for educational programming.

– Our first exhibition at our new location and Joel-Peter Witkin turned 80 years old. On May 3, 2019, CEG officially opened at our new location in West Town with our inaugural show Joel-Peter Witkin: From the Studio. The exhibition featured more than 25 photographs, 80 drawings, as well as sketchbooks and journals, darkroom tools and cameras, letters and contact sheets, offering viewers a glimpse inside the mind of one of the true masters of photography. We were thrilled to have Joel join us for our grand opening!

– We put our new space to good use! With our large, versatile new space, CEG was able to experiment and go above and beyond with our exhibitions, creating one-of-a-kind experiences. For the exhibition Tami Bahat: Past is Present, we collaborated with the artist to build intimate rooms, using furniture, paint, and wall stencils, creating a wallpaper effect. During the exhibition Sandro Miller: I am Papua New Guinea, we hosted a discussion between Sandro and anthropologist Mark Golitko, Ph.D. The event drew a huge crowd and created an informative and thought-provoking dialogue between Sandro, Golitko, and the audience. Later in the year, we put together a major Robert & Shana ParkeHarrison exhibition, which includes giant murals and sculptures.

– Acquisitions by major museums and collectors. We are always excited to announce when our artists’ work enters major collections, and this year we had many acquisitions announcements! These collections included: The Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Art in Embassies, Figge Art Museum, George Eastman Museum, Harvard Art Museums, Hunter Museum of American Art, Indiana State Museum + Historic Sites, International Center of Photography, IU Eskenazi Museum of Art, Library of Congress, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Museum of Nebraska Art, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, The Norton Museum of Art, and the University of New Mexico Art Museum.

– CEG launched a new literary program, Art Speaks, which takes place in the gallery every second Saturday from 12:00 – 1:00 pm. This well-received initiative invites local writers and poets to read pieces they have written based on the theme present in the exhibition on view, providing a venue for local writers to share their work.  Our goal is to encourage and stimulate creative expression in an interdisciplinary setting, offering an opportunity for local creatives to collaborate and form connections. So far, we’ve had four iterations of the event with each one bringing in a diverse and talented group of writers, with works ranging from poetry to fiction, experimental to narrative.

– The numerous awards received by our artists! This year brought well-deserved recognition to several of our artists through various awards. Jess T. Dugan won the Infinity Award from the International Center of Photography, Clarissa Bonet was named the Hasselblad X You Grand Prize Winner, and Tami Bahat won the Young Masters Emerging Woman Art Prize by Cynthia Corbett Gallery. Congratulations to our artists!

– CEG added a new member to the team! In March of 2019, CEG welcomed Christina Nafziger to the team as the new gallery assistant. With a background in photography, art history, and museum studies, Christina has brought her experience gained from working in various art galleries and institutions to the small but mighty CEG team!