One of Chicago’s most beloved public art experiences is about to turn it up a notch for summer. Having emerged from a brief winter break, Chicago’s cherished Art on TheMART projections, aka the largest permanent digital art projection in the world, once again began lighting up the 2.5-acre river façade of the Merchandise Mart in April.
This month brought to a close to the Art On TheMART 2024 spring program which featured work from acclaimed artist Nora Turato and the Chicago Public Schools, replacing it instead with two incredible never-before-seen works.
Having started on Thursday, June 6th, all 34 digital projectors began lighting up the 25-story-tall face of the Merchandise Mart with world premiers of works by both Cory Arcangel and Yinka Ilori.
The former is “a sly homage to the Chicago-based band Earth, Wind and Fire” according to the Art on TheMART release with Cory Arcangel’s installation drawing on footage of water, wind, and fire shot in both Chicago and in Stavanger in Norway.
The second summer headliner is a show by British artist and designer Yinka Ilori which will take onlookers on the artist’s experience of a Pentecostal church ritual, traveling seventy miles from London to Margate in the United Kingdom
The show is titled Yoruba meaning ‘Ocean Water’ and will be split into four parts, with each one representing a memorable aspect of the journey: white garments, incense, the water, and a dreamscape.
The 30-minute shows will begin running nightly through summer at 9 pm and 9:30 pm starting Thursday, June 6th. The best places to view the projections are from the jetty section of the Chicago Riverwalk between Wells and Franklin Streets.
For those who prefer to view it from home, live streams can be found on Art on the MART’s Facebook page.