I saw some incredible work at EXPO CHICAGO this weekend. From Vernissage presented by the Museum of Modern Art Chicago, to the final day on Sunday, I found new and exciting pieces from each of my visits. There were booths for galleries from all around the world like Grice Bench of Los Angeles, Jessica Silverman of San Francisco, Kavi Gupta of Chicago, and Perrotin of Paris. Chicago is a very relationship-based art world, composed of incredibly thoughtful clientele. It's a city that focuses on political works, works by artists of color, and non-normative narratives. This year's edition of EXPO CHICAGO featured not just political art, but also political causes. Human Rights Watch had a booth with a work called Tea Project, 780 cast porcelain cups, one for each of the 780 Muslim men detained, almost all without any charges, in the U.S. detention site at Guantanamo Bay. The cups are modeled after Styrofoam teacups, engraved with flowers from the detainees’ countries, and are displayed alongside tea recipes from each of those countries. What we're seeing now is the potential for a real transformative scene happening in Chicago in terms of art patronage, and I'm excited to see what the future years will bring for the Chicago art scene. 

To learn more about the EXPO CHICAGO, visit their website here.