Bisa Butler
In my work, I am telling the story— this African American side— of the American life. History is the story of men and women, but the narrative is controlled by those who hold the pen.
My community has been marginalized for hundreds of years. While we have been right beside our white counterparts experiencing and creating history, our contributions and perspectives have been ignored, unrecorded, and lost. It is only a few years ago that it was acknowledged that the White House was built by slaves. Right there in the seat of power of our country African Americans were creating and contributing while their names were lost to history.
My subjects are African Americans from ordinary walks of life who may have sat for a formal family portrait or may have been documented by a passing photographer. Like the builders of the White House, they have no names or captions to tell us who they were.
READ FULL ARTIST STATEMENT
The Warmth Of Other Sons (detail)
The Warmth Of Other Sons
The Warmth Of Other Sons (detail)
The Warmth Of Other Sons (detail)
The Warmth Of Other Sons (detail)
Africa The Land Of Hope and Promise For Negro People's of the World (detail)
Africa The Land Of Hope and Promise For Negro People's of the World
Asantewa
Asantewa (deatil)
The Storm, The Whirlwind, and the Earthquake (detail)
The Storm, The Whirlwind, and the Earthquake
Daughter Of The Dust
Daughter Of The Dust (detail)
I Am Not Your Negro (detail)
I Am Not Your Negro
Zouave
Zouave (detail)
Wangari Maathai (for TIME Magazine)
The Equestrian
Broom Jumpers
To God and Truth
To God And Truth - detail (in progress)
Kindred
Dear Mama
Dear Mama (detail)
The Mighty Gents
The Mighty Gents (detail)
Collector House Interview
Three Kings
Three Kings (detail)
the artist discusses her work
The Princess
Les Sapeurs
Les Sapeurs (detail)
Bisa Butler: The Storm, the Whirlwind and the Earthquake
February 29, 2020 to June 27, 2020
Claire Oliver Gallery
View exhibit press release (pdf)
Claire Oliver Gallery is pleased to announce the debut solo exhibition by artist Bisa Butler, The Storm, the Whirlwind and the Earthquake. Butler’s large scale works are textile portraits of people of color fabricated from layers of brightly colored fabrics with a multiplicity of meanings. Butler’s composite characters are inspired by historical photography; the resulting images are rendered life-sized and vibrantly colored with viewers often engaging the subjects eye to eye.
1-54 Contemporary, London 2019
October 3, 2019 to October 6, 2019
Somerset House, London
View exhibit press release (pdf)
Rivers are their own separate systems but are still connected to one body of water, the sea. I feel like this is a metaphor for various diasporic communities around the world that are still connected or have roots in Africa.
Upending the Narrative @ EXPO Chicago 2019
September 19, 2019 to September 22, 2019
Navy Pier, Chicago IL
View exhibit press release (pdf)
The two artists featured in Upending the Narrative work slowly and methodically -- almost ritualistically. They create detailed and sumptuous works of art redolent with content and mystery; these works demand to be studied. Equally important to the painstaking “making” is their studio practices exploring the current condition in their own African American communities. Each speaks about the real life versus media portrayal/stereotype of the African American family: grandfather, mother, brother, daughter and the normal if the invisible successful black community.
PULSE Miami Beach
December 6, 2018 to December 9, 2018
Indian Beach Park, Miami Beach FL
View exhibit press release (pdf)
Claire Oliver Gallery, New York is proud to present
Impatient Obsessions: a three-person curated exhibition
featuring work by Barbara Earl Thomas, Bisa Butler, and Leonardo Benzant.
It makes no difference to the blackbird if he eats from our table or scavenges from our discarded piles. The future of his kind may not be altered. But that is not our fate. We’ve inherited the burden of knowledge and the grief of failed intention. We are not born blind, but we can choose to live that way. -- Barbara Earl Thomas
Shattered @ EXPO Chicago 2018
September 27, 2018 to September 30, 2018
Navy Pier, Chicago IL
View exhibit press release (pdf)
At EXPO Chicago 2018, Claire Oliver Gallery presented a two-person curated exhibition of new works of art by Barbara Earl Thomas and Bisa Butler entitled "Shattered". One definition of this word is disillusioned. The definition of disillusion is to be free of illusion; the works in this installation speak to the possibilities that are in front of us as a society if we can become empowered by understanding that which holds us captive and dismiss these delusions that serve to comfort us in a time to come. Shattered also connotes fragmented. The works of Butler and Earl Thomas use small fragments of disparate materials which they bring together in a way that speaks to a greater whole.
PULSE Miami Art Fair 2017
December 7, 2017 to December 10, 2017
Indian Beach Park, Miami Beach FL
View exhibit press release (pdf)
Claire Oliver Gallery has chosen to curate their stand for the 2017 edition of Pulse Miami with the theme of Materiality. When investigating the role of materiality in art we can attempt to expand notions of time, space, process, or participation. We may consider how materials obstruct, disrupt, or interfere with social norms. Materiality, as an aesthetic concept, has evolved out of formalism’s interest in the purely visual aspects of art to create both context and communication.
Public Collections:
- Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA
- Crystal Bridges American Art Museum, Bentonville, AK
- Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
- Art Institute of Chicago, IL
- Newark Museum of Art, NJ
- Orlando Museum of Art, FL
- Minneapolis Institute of Art, MN
- Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, MO
- Mount Holyoke Art Museum, Hadley, MA
- Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO
- 21c Museum of Art, Louisville, KY
- Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington D.C.
- National Museum for African American History and Culture
(Smithsonian Institution Museum), Washington D.C.
Selected Solo Exhibitions:
- Bisa Butler, Art Institute of Chicago, IL, 2020
- Bisa Butler, Katonah Museum of Art, NY, 2020
- “The Storm, The Whirlwind & The Earthquake” Claire Oliver Gallery, NYC, NY · 2020
- The Lawrence Art Center, Lawrence KS· 2017
- Richard Beavers Art Gallery, Brooklyn NY · 2016
- Firehouse Gallery, Valley Arts, Orange, NJ · 2015
- Domareki Gallery, Maplewood, NJ · 2015
- NEWARK Academy, Livingston NJ · 2015
- Hearne fine art, Faces in Many Places · 2015
- Morristown Courthouse, Morristown NJ · 2015
- Quilt Me A Story, Bloomfield College, NJ · 2008
- Astahs Fine Art Gallery, Maplewood NJ · 2008
- Home of Lonnie Austin show, solo exhibit · 2008
- Organic Soul, NJ · 2006
- Essex County College, Newark, NJ · 2004
- Essex County College, Newark NJ · 2003
Selected Group Exhibitions:
- The Dirty South Virginia Museum of the Fine Arts, Richmond, VA, 2021
- Burke Prize Exhibition, Museum of Arts and Design, NY 2020
- 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair, Claire Oliver Gallery, London 2019
- EXPO Chicago, Claire Oliver Gallery, Chicago IL 2019
- Every Fiber of My Being, The University of Hartford, Joseloff Gallery, 2019
- Plumb Line: Charles White and the Contemporary, California African American Museum, 2019
- On Their Own Terms, Windgate Center of Art and Design, AK, 2019
- Fashioning The Black Body, curated by Dario Calmese, St, Louis MO, 2019
- PULSE Contemporary Art Fair Miami, Claire Oliver Gallery, 2018
- EXPO Chicago, Claire Oliver Gallery, Chicago IL · 2018
- PULSE Miami, Claire Oliver Gallery, Miami Beach FL · 2017
- Howard University Alumni group exhibit, The Long Gallery, Harlem USA · 2017
- The Kinsey Collection, group exhibition, Hong Kong University, Hong Kong, China · 2017
- Guerillas in the Midst group exhibit, Rush Arts Gallery Philadelphia, PA · 2016
- East Orange is The New Black, group exhibition, Manufacturers Village, East Orange, NJ · 2016
- Ubuntutu, Quilts dedicated to Bishop a Desmond Tutu, group exhibition Organized by Michigan State College, Nelson Mandela Gateway Museum, Robben Island, Capetown, South Africa, Stellenbosch University, Pretoria, S.A · 2016
- Kingsborough Community College, solo exhibit · 2016
- Diaspora Now, group exhibit organized by Ms. Lauryn Hill, The Kings Theatre, Brooklyn, NY · 2016
- Thelma Harris Fine Art, a group exhibit, Color! , Oakland, CA · 2015
- Arkansas Art Center, 30 Americans Exhibit, Little Rock, Arkansas · 2015
- Thelma Harris Fine Art, White Linen Nights, group show, Oakland, CA · 2014
- International Quilt Convention in Africa, Women of Color Quilters Network, Johannesburg, South Africa · 2014
- Atlanta History Center, The Kinsey Collection, Atlanta, Georgia · 2014
- Art in the Atrium, Morristown Courthouse, Morristown NJ · 2014
- Evo-Lu-TION exhibit and calendar at Hearne Fine Art, Little Rock. AK · 2013
- The Harvey B. Gantt Center, Wells Fargo Presents: The Kinsey Collection, Charlotte, NC · 2013
- The Reginald Lewis Museum, Wells Fargo Presents: The Kinsey Collection, Baltimore, MD · 2013
- The Museum of the African Diaspora, San Francisco, The Kinsey Collection · 2013
- And Still, We Rise, National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, Cincinnati, OH · 2013
- Art on the Atrium, Morristown Courthouse, Morristown NJ · 2013
- DR Greenway Land Trust, Marie Matthews gallery · 2013
- Solos House Gallery, Newark NJ, egregious errors of splendor · 2013
- Epcot Center, Walt Disney World, The Kinsey Collection · 2013-16
- The Charles Wright Museum, Detroit, Michigan, World African Heritage Festival · 2012
- D&R Greenway land trust, NJ · 2012
- The San Antonio Museum of Art, San Antonio Collects · 2011
- Smithsonian Museum of American Art, African American Art Gallery, Shared Treasures, the Collection of Bernard and Shirley Kinsey · 2010
- The Journey of Hope in America; Quilts Inspired by President Barack Obama, opens at The National African American Museum, Wilberforce Ohio, Japan International Quilt Festival, Yokohama, Japan · 2010-13
- Textural Rhythms: Quilting the Jazz Tradition, Curated by Dr. Carolyn Mazloomi, traveling show, American Folk Art Museum, New York, Museum of Texas Tech, Lubbock, Texas, the Reginald Lewis Museum, Baltimore, MD, the Kings Art Complex, Columbus, OH · 2009-11
- Quilts For Obama, Washington Historical Society, Washington, D.C · 2009
- Quilting Together Our Heritage, Bisa Butler and Phyllis Stephens, Chattanooga African American Museum · 2009
- Seeing Jazz a tribute to the masters, Manchester Craftsmen Guild Group Show Pittsburgh, PA · 2009
- New York Black Fine Art Show, Hearne Fine Art · 2009
- Harlem Sewn Up, group show, The Dwyer Cultural Center, Harlem, NYC · 2009
- Festival of the Seas, Cruise ship art show hosted by Hearne Fine Art · 2009
- Two Decades of Hearne Fine Art, Group Show, Chattanooga African American Museum · 2009
- National Black Fine Art Show, New York · 2008
- Quilting African American Women’s History, curated by Dr. Carolyn Mazloomi, The National Afro American Museum and Cultural Center, Wilberforce, OH · 2008
- Group exhibit Daughters of the Diaspora, Hearne Fine Art Gallery, Little Rock Arkansas · 2008
- Sisters and Friends Art Show, Bloomington, IL · 2008
- Mason Murer Fine Art, Atlanta, GA · 2008
- Sisters of the Diaspora, Hearne Fine · 2008
- Storytellers Quilters retreat, featured artist, CT · 2008
- Treasures of the Silk Road University of Pennsylvania Museum of Art and Architecture trade show · 2008
- Face to Face, three-person show Gallery 1978, Maplewood Arts Center, Maplewood, New Jersey · 2008
- The Kinsey Collection, touring exhibition, The California African American Museum, Los Angeles California, The DuSable Museum of History, Chicago, IL, The Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach Florida, The California Museum, Sacramento, CA, The Mary Brogan Museum of Art and Science, Tallahassee, FL · 2008
- The African American Museum of Philadelphia, Warm Spirits Art, Little Rock, Arkansas · 2008
- Group show Astah’s Art Gallery, Maplewood, NJ · 2006
- Parallels and Intersections quilts curated by Dr. Carolyn Mazloomi, The International Freedom Center, OH · 2006
- The Graham Collection, Washington, D.C. · 2005
- Pictorial Quilt Exhibit, Macon Museum of Art, GA · 2005
- Southwest Art Center Exhibitor, GA · 2005
- E and S Gallery exhibitor, Louisville, KY · 2005
- Group exhibit at The Pingry School, Martinsville, NJ · 2005
- Hearne Fine Art 2-person show, Little Rock, AK · 2005
- The home of Moses and Caroline Chadwick, CA · 2005
- Sienna Visions group exhibit, Plainfield, NJ · 2005
- Dwellings Home Décor, Washington D.C. solo show · 2005
- Group exhibit C.C Kabaka’s creations, Philadelphia PA · 2005
- International Collectors Show, Atlanta GA · 2005
- The Graham Collection Group show, Washington, D.C · 2005
- Avisca Fine Art, Atlanta, GA Group show · 2005
- Baltimore Black Art Expo Exhibitor, Baltimore, MD · 2004
- Hearne Fine Art Group Show, AK · 2004
- National Black Fine Art Show, New York · 2004
- The Graham Collection, D.C. Group exhibit · 2004
- October Gallery exhibitor, Philadelphia, PA · 2004
- Loft Home art and Design, Atlanta GA solo exhibit · 2004
- Philadelphia International Art · 2004
- Transcultural Art exhibit, 4 person show, The Bergen Museum, NJ · 2004
- Newark Open Doors Tour, Symphony Hall, Newark NJ · 2004
- Savacou Art Gallery exhibitor, NY, NY · 2004
- October Gallery featured artist, Philadelphia, PA · 2003
- Newark Open Doors Studio Tour – WISOMM Mansion, Newark, NJ · 2003
- Philadelphia International Art Expo exhibitor · 2003
- Best new artist The Coalition of 100 Black Women Philadelphia chapter · 2003
- Savacou Gallery Art exhibitor, New York · 2003
- Unique Home Art Gallery solo exhibit, Plainfield, NJ · 2003
Article and Reviews
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Corley, Cheryl. Bisa Butler’s Quilts Feature Designs So Realistic That They’re Compared To Paintings, NPR, August 10, 2021
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Ihejirika, Maudlyne. Black Chigagoans flock to Bisa Butler, Obama Portrait exhibits as museums rise to racial reckoning, Chicago Sun Times, July 25, 2021
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Brehmer, Debra. Bisa Butler’s Worlds in Cut Cloth, Hyperallergic, May 8, 2021
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Walker, Kendra. FIVE TEXTILE ARTISTS EXPLORING COMTEMPORARY QUILTING, Cultured, May 26, 2021
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Scott, Chad. Bisa Butler Exhibition At Art Institute Of Chicago Headlines National Recognition of Quilting, Forbes, April 8, 2021
- Johnson, Steve. At the Art Institute, Bisa Butler’s quilted portraits depict Black figures in a new light, Chicago Tribune, February 18, 2021
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Jordan, Eliza.Bisa Butler Brings The Truth, The Coveteur, 2021
- Loos, Ted. From 2 Artists, 2 Ways to Tell Stories of Black America, nytimes.com, October 21, 2020
- White, Katie. Studio Visit: Rising Textile Art Star Bisa Butler on How to Use Fabric Like Paint and the Kind of art She Finds Irredeemably Boring, new.artnet.com, September 22, 2020
- Allnutt, Chris. Bisa Butler: Portriats 2020, ft.com, July 17, 2020
- Smith, Melissa. 7 Things To Do This Weekend, nytimes.com, August 3, 2020
- Logan, Liz. Artist Bisa Butler Stitches Together The African American Experience, smithsonianmag.com, July 24, 2020
- Scharre, Clemens. TIME: 2001 Wangari Maathai, time.com, March 5, 2020
- Edquist, Grace. Depth, History, and Reverence: The Intricacies of Bisa Butler’s Quilted Portraits, vogue.com, March 3, 2020
- Dodson, Jewels. Bisa Butler: Stitching History, juxtapoz.com, March 2020
- Staugaitis, Laura. Interview: Discover Bisa Butler’s Approach to ‘Painting with Fabric’, thisiscolossal.com, December 4, 2019
Bisa Butler Uses Quilting to Share About the African Diaspora | Juneteenth Artist Showcase | OWN
Bisa Butler is a portrait quiltmaker who uses colorful African textiles to capture personal and historical narratives of Black life. Her subjects range from historical figures like Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass to members of Butler's own family. Her mission is for people to look at her artwork and "see the true beauty of Black people."
Newark Art Museum guided ZOOM visit to the studio of artist Bisa Buttler
Tricia Laughlin Bloom, Ph.D., Curator of American Art at the Newark Museum of Art guided a ZOOM visit to the studio of artist Bisa Buttler
MoAD In The Artist’s Studio | Bisa Butler
join the Museum of the African Diaspora's own Demetri Broxton as he visits Bisa Butler in her studio. She will share what she is currently working on and how her work is changing as a result of the quarantine.
Streams of Thought presents “Avant Yarn” A Conversation with Bisa Butler
On this episode of Streams Of Thought, titled Avant Yarn, Tariq speaks with his neighbor, who also happens to be one of his favorite visual artists, Bisa Bulter.
Bisa Butler: Portraits @ The Katonah Museum of Art
Bisa Butler: Portraits is the first solo museum exhibition of the artist’s work and features her vivid and larger-than-life quilts that capture African American identity and culture.
Impatient Obsessions @ PULSE 2018
The three artists featured in Impatient Obsessions work slowly and methodically -- almost ritualistically. They create detailed and sumptuous works of art redolent with content and mystery; these works demand to be studied.
Prudentail: Masterpiece of Love
Healing with art, Bisa Butler discusses the purposeful choices she makes in her work.
Press
Kemper Museum Uses Contemporary Art To Connect Two Centuries Of Missouri’s History
KUCR
September 13, 2021
Press
Breonna Taylor’s memory lives on in new Smithsonian exhibit (photo)
rollingout
September 13, 2021
Press
Bisa Butler Is Exhibiting Over 20 of Her Amazing Quilted Portraits at the Art Institute of Chicago
My Modern Met
August 25, 2021
Press
Artist Bisa Butler’s “portrait quilts” celebrate Black life and history
CBS News
September 4, 2021
Press
Bisa Butler’s Quilts Feature Designs So Realistic That They’re Compared To Paintings
NPR
August 10, 2021
Press
The Obama Portraits Are Going On A 5-City Tour That You Don’t Want To Miss
yahoo! life
July 29, 2021
Press
Black Life Captured Through Quilting at the Bisa Butler: Portraits Exhibition
Chicago Defender
June 30, 2021
Press
Oprah Taps Artists Bisa Butler, Gio Swaby and More for Juneteenth Series
ARTFIX daily
June 16, 2021
Museum & Institutional News
Fabric of a Nation American Quilt Stories
Museum of Fine Arts Boston
October 10, 2021 - January 17, 2022
Press
Bisa Butler’s Quilted Portraits Glimpse ‘How Black People Would Like to Be Seen’
WTTW chicago
April 20, 2021
Press
Bisa Butler Exhibition At Art Institute Of Chicago Headlines National Recognition Of Quilting
Forbes
April 8, 2021
Press
How Bisa Butler Went From Being a High School Art Teacher to an In-Demand Quilter With a Show at the Art Institute of Chicago
artnet news
April 7, 2021
Press
5 Contemporary Textile Artists to Celebrate During Women’s History Month
My Modern Met
March 8, 2021
Press
In bright colors, at life-size scale, artist Bisa Butler portrays everyday people — on quilts
Chicago Sun Times
March 7, 2021
Press
At the Art Institute, Bisa Butler’s quilted portraits depict Black figures in a new light
Chicago Tribune
February 18, 2021
Press
New & Noteworthy Visual Books, From Boxing to Hollywood Candids
The New York Times
December 15, 2020
Press
Bisa Butler’s Portrait of Porche Bennet-Bay TIME Magazine’s Guardian of the Year
FAD Magazine
December 21, 2020
Press
A Vibrant Perspective: A Review of Bisa Butler at the Art Institute
NewCity ART
January 4, 2021
Press
‘Radical Tradition: American Quilts and Social Change’ Opens at Toledo Museum of Art
ARTFIX daily
November 23, 2020
Press
An Eye-Opening Exhibition in Ohio Looks at the Role of Quilting in Radical American Social Movements
artnet news
December 2, 2020
Press
Bisa Butler stitches together portraits of Black American life
Chicago READER
November 11, 2020
Press
Bisa Butler is Giving Identity, History, and Legacy Back Through Quilting
Whitewall Magazine
November 5, 2020
Museum & Institutional News
Newark Museum Acquires Major Work by Contemporary Black Artist Bisa Butler
The Newark Museum of Art
October 8, 2020
Press
Studio Visit: Rising Textile Art Star Bisa Butler on How to Use Fabric Like Paint and the Kind of Art She Finds Irredeemably Boring
artnet news
September 22, 2020
Press
Stitching Together History: The Incredible Work of Bisa Butler
Ever Widening Circles
September 5, 2020
Press
Artist Bisa Butler Stitches Together the African American Experiance
The Smithsonian Magazine
July 24, 2020
Press
Claire Oliver Gallery launches limited edition poster series called Art is for Everyone
FAD Magazine
June 18, 2020
Press
The best shows you haven’t seen Yet Museums extend exhibitions through summer
lohud
June 16, 2020
Press
Bisa Butler Summons Black History In Her Quilted Arts to Motivate the Fight for Black Lives
OKAYAFRICA
June 22, 2020
Press
See Her, Support Her: Five Modern Black Female Artists Who Are Redefining the Art World
Martha Stewart
June 15, 2020
Press
Quilted Portraits Honor the Stories of Black Men and Women Who Are Forgotten by History
My Modern Met
June 10, 2020
Press
Depth, History, and Reverence: The Intricacies of Bisa Butler’s Quilted Portraits
VOGUE
March 3, 2020
Press
Vibrant Quilts Honor Black Men and Women Whose Stories Were Forgotten or Overlooked
My Modern Met
February 6, 2020
Press
Textile art inspired by vintage photographs of African Americans
The Guardian
October 19, 2019
Press
#BlackGirlMagic: Art Institute of Chicago Acquires New Work
The Chicago Maroon
October 27, 2019
Press
Everything You Need to Know About the 7 Fairs Taking Over London During Frieze Week 2019
artnet news
September 30, 2019
Press
One of the world’s largest celebrations of contemporary African art is back
CREATIVE BOOM
September 11, 2019
Museum & Institutional News
Bisa Butler discusses her work @ New Paradigms: #BlackGirlMagic
The Art Institute of Chicago
October 22, 2019
Museum & Institutional News
Bisa Butler announced as a finalist, Museum of Arts and Design BUKRE Prize
Museum of Arts and Design
October 3, 2019 - April 12, 2020
Museum & Institutional News
A conversation with artist Bisa Bulter @ 21c Cincinnati
21c Museum - Cincinnati
August 30, 2019
Museum & Institutional News
Bisa Butler: “Safety Patrol” acquired by the The Art Institute of Chicago
The Art Institute of Chicago
July 1, 2019
Museum & Institutional News
Bisa Butler: Portraits
The Art Institute of Chicago
November 8, 2020 - September 6, 2021
Press
Plumb Line: Charles White and the Contemporary
BLOUIN Artinfo International
March 8, 2019 - August 25, 2019
Press
Colorful Quilts Crafted from African Fabrics Tell Stories of Artist’s Ancestral Homeland
My Modern Met
March 9, 2019
Museum & Institutional News
Plumb Line: Charles White and the Contemporary @ California African American Museum
California African American Museum
March 8, 2019 - August 25, 2019
Museum & Institutional News
On Their Own Terms @ Windgate Center of Art and Design
Windgate Center of Art + Design
January 17, 2019 - March 10, 2019
Press
Art Basel Miami: how this year’s fair aims to increase diversity
The Guardian
December 4, 2018
Press
Expo Chicago 2018: See it now features Claire Oliver Gallery
Chicago READER
September 29, 2018
Press
All the Art You Need to See at This Year’s Massive EXPO CHICAGO
Chicago Observer
September 28, 2018
