Art is in full bloom across the Windy City this spring, and for those planning on attending this year’s Expo Chicago, the unforgettable exhibitions don’t stop there. From Frida Kahlo at the Art Institute of Chicago to 25! at moniquemeloche, Whitewall has curated a list of must-see shows.
Frida Kahlo
Art Institute of Chicago
Grant Park
Frida Kahlo , “Arbol De La Esperanza,” Courtesy of The Art Institute of Chicago.
Frieda and Diego Rivera, artwork, photo by Ben Blackwell, Courtesy of The Art Institute of Chicago.
Focused on a pivotal time in Frida Kahlo‘s life, the exhibition highlights her time in Paris, in 1933, when she stayed at the residence of Mary Reynolds. “Frida Kahlo’s Month in Paris: A Friendship with Mary Reynolds” features 100 objects, including seven of Kahlo’s most important self portraits, letters, photographs, and more. Each piece draws inspiration from the intricate beauty in Reynolds’ home and serves as a testament to the deep friendship created between Kahlo and Reynolds during this transformative period. This collection offers a rare glimpse into the intimate world of Kahlo, revealing her experiences and relationships helped shape her legacy.
What we love: The integration of not only Mary Reynolds work, but also other artists who visited her Parisian residence—highlighting the home itself and the creative impact it had on those who pass its doors.
Frida Kahlo at the Art Institute of Chicago
March 29 – July 13, 2025
Michi Meko
Mariane Ibrahim
West Town
Michi Meko, “In the Pines, In the Pines, Where the Sun Don’t Shine,” 2025. Courtesy of the artist and Mariane Ibrahim.
Atlanta-based artist Michi Meko unveils his first solo exhibition at Mariane Ibrahim with “Under the Flickering Light of the North Star”. The show features both canvas and paper works, offering abstract landscape paintings inspired by the American South. Mekos art pulses between stillness and bursts of energy—dim and moody followed by bright and vibrant hues. His pieces function as emotional maps, plotting emotions and histories across canvas and paper, revealing the complex relationship between nature and human presence.
What we love: Mekos unique use of texture. By combining acrylic, aerosol, oil, pastel, colored pencil and gold leaf he adds a tactile quality to his work, inviting viewers to experience his landscapes on a sensory level.
Michi Meko at Mariane Ibrahim
April 22 – May 31, 2025
“Not Just A Pretty Picture”
Rhona Hoffman Gallery
West Town
Installation view of “Not Just A Pretty Picture,” Courtesy of Rhona Hoffman Gallery.
Rhona Hoffman Gallery closes the curtain on their memorable art space in West Town with a diverse group show titled “Not Just A Pretty Picture.” The must-see presentation unites visionaries Giovanni Anselmo, Jene Highstein, Donald Judd, Sol LeWitt, Sylvia Mangold, Martin Puryear, Edda Renouf, Fred Sandback, Richard Tuttle, Gunter Umberg, and Claire Zeisler. Each mesmerizing work delves into the nuances of nature and humanity by way of rigorous creative processes and materials.
What we love: A voyage into philosophical states of being unfolds at the heart of “Not Just A Pretty Picture.” For instance, Anselmo’s Verso Oltremare (Towards Overseas) stands as a 500lb sculpture of Italian piedmont granite, meditating profoundly on Mother Nature’s majesty.
“Not Just A Pretty Picture” at Rhona Hoffman Gallery
March 14 – April 26, 2025
“25!”
moniquemeloche
West Town
“25!” Installation Image, courtesy of the artist and
Monique Meloche Gallery. Photo:
Bob.
Rejoicing in the momentous 25th anniversary of moniquemeloche, the gallery unveils “25!” for visitors this spring. The lush presentation brings together a dazzling array of artists: Luke Agada, Candida Alvarez, Arocha-Schraenen, Sanford Biggers, Antonius-Tín Bui, Justin Cooper, David Antonio Cruz, Davis/Langlois, Brendan Fernandes, Dan Gunn, Chase Hall, Sheree Hovsepian, Rashid Johnson, Cindy Loehr, Jason Middlebrook, Lavar Munroe, Ben Murray, Maia Cruz Palileo, Ebony G. Patterson, Cheryl Pope, Karen Reimer, Carlos Rolón, Joel Ross, Carrie Schneider, David Shrobe, Arvie Smith, Shinique Smith, Jake Troyli, and Nate Young. International collectors will surely want to make time for this soaring Chicago exhibition.
What we love: moniquemeloche continues to support today’s visionaries who create bold, politically engaged artworks, and the gallery has stood alongside creative such as Rashid Johnson and Sanfrod Biggers since the beginning of their illustrious careers.
“25!” at moniquemeloche
April 5 – May 23, 2025
Caroline Kent
PATRON
West Town
Installation view of “Caroline Kent: The Sentimental Hand,” Courtesy of the artist and PATRON.
Chicago-based artist Caroline Kent raises the curtain on “The Sentimental Hand” at PATRON in a compelling second solo show with the esteemed gallery. Returning to the roots of her personal, creative process, meticulously cut paper designs in vivid colorways unveil a new, contemporary language. Beginning with a dark, earthy background, pure gradations of purple or gray ebb and flow into brighter hues, and a symphony of form and feeling extends outward, reaching viewers to the core.
What we love: Hand-cut paper pieces harness the emotion, curiosity, and skill of the artist, uniting in a playful, poetic, and perceptive, modern fairy-tale.
Caroline Kent at PATRON
April 10 – June 14, 2025
Lindsay Adams
PATRON
West Town
Installation view of Lindsay Adams: “All water has a perfect memory,” Courtesy of the artist and PATRON.
“All water has a perfect memory” is the mesmeric title of Chicago-based artist Lindsay Adams’ inaugural solo show at PATRON. “All water has a perfect memory and is forever trying to get back to where it was,” said Toni Morrison. Inspired by this quote in Morrison’s epic essay “The Site of Memory,” which intensely traverses notions of memory and truth throughout the Black American experience, Adams offers visceral new paintings on paper and mirror tile.
What we love: The artist’s sweeping painting All water has a perfect memory cascades before viewers in hot crimson enhanced by lyrical sparks of color and gesture, seemingly moving both towards and away from us in hypnotic flux.
Lindsay Adams at PATRON
April 10 – June 14, 2025
Arthur Jafa
The Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) Chicago
Streeterville
Installation view, “Arthur Jafa: Works from the MCA Collection,” MCA Chicago. June 01, 2024 – May 18, 2025. Photo: Robert Chase Heishman.
“Arthur Jafa: Works from the MCA Collection” shined light on the museum’s spellbinding collection of works by luminary Arthur Jafa. The Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) Chicago currently holds one of the most expansive collections of the artist’s unforgettable creations, and this special show illuminated the last decade of his magnetic oeuvre with photographic works, sculptures, and videos.
What we love: Sincerely exploring truths of Black identity, Jafa utilizes music, found imagery, collage, montage, and more in a fearless, multidisciplinary practice. Jafa notes that his artworks investigate “the full complexity, specificity, beauty, and potentiality of what Black folks have made and continue to make out of the bleak existential circumstance we’ve attended to over the past several hundred years.”
Arthur Jafa at The Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) Chicago
June 1, 2024 – March 2, 2025
