EXPO CHICAGO is taking over Navy Pier’s historic Festival Hall for the event’s 11th edition.
Having been acquired by the world’s leading platform for modern and contemporary art, Frieze, last summer it will be the event’s first year under new ownership and is set to welcome 170 leading international galleries representing 29 countries and 75 cities from around the world.
Taking place from Thursday, April 11th through Monday, April 15th, 2024’s EXPO CHICAGO will feature a grand total of 170 different artists on display and offer a diverse program of talks, on-site installations, and public art initiatives drawing upon the city’s rich history.
The event is split into different sections with The Galleries section featuring “leading international exhibitors”, the PROFILE section presenting “solo booths and focused projects by established international galleries” and the EXPOSURE section featuring solo and two-artist presentations by galleries ten years and younger.
Then there is also the Editions + Books section, which showcases “a diverse array of print media and object-based practices that span across photography, sculpture, monographs, and other multiples” from established and emerging artists.
Finally, the Special Exhibitions section features curatorial projects by select regional, national, and international non-profit institutions, museums, and organizations.
Navy Pier has also announced two significant sculptures by famed contemporary artist Eddie Martinez which will be on display on the pier’s South Dock through August 25th, 2024.
Martinez’s Half Stepping Hot Stepper is an enamel and spray paint on bronze piece while Untitled is an oil paint and enamel on bronze both of which have been described as “bold explorations of abstract shape, line, and form, all at once exuberant and nostalgically melancholy.”
“Presented in partnership with 291 Agency and the 11th Annual EXPO CHICAGO, the Martinez installation is part of EXPO CHICAGO’s IN/SITU Outside program which brings the work of artists represented by exhibiting galleries to high-profile locations where they can be enjoyed by the public, free-of-charge” reads an official release.
Taking place at Navy Pier’s Festival Hall every April, EXPO CHICAGO subsumed the role of Art Chicago in 2012, which was Chicago’s longest-running major contemporary art exposition from 1980 through to 2011 when it was forced to stop due to financial restraints.
Ticket prices vary depending on add-ons but single-day general admission is currently $40 when bought individually or $35 when bought as part of a group of 10+ while general admission valid for all three days of EXPO CHICAGO is $70.
EXPO CHICAGO 2024 will take place at Navy Pier Festival Hall, 600 E Grand, Chicago, Illinois.
View the full exhibitor list for the 2024 EXPO CHICAGO.