ART BEAT: Sloomoo Institute Brings Slime Based Interactive Art Gallery To Chicago Starting November 19th.

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Here at ChiIL Mama, we're huge fans of play for all ages, so we're excited that Chicago's soon to be home to the secondSloomoo Institute. We'll be out for the press opening, November 17th so check back soon for our photo filled feature. Sloomoo Institute - an experiential destination that taps into the joy of multi-sensory play through hand-crafted, artisanal slime and #satisfying experiences - announces the opening of its second U.S. ticketed destination located in the River North neighborhood at 820 N. Orleans Street, leased by Easy Street Properties. Launched in 2019 with its New York flagship location, Sloomoo Institute offers a much-needed reprieve from the overwhelmingly digital nature of the modern world and instead, puts us in touch with the physical world and with ourselves.

The new concrete loft space features a series of fantastical, interactive experiences that delight the senses of sight, touch, smell and sound, including: a DIY bar that offers 60 scents (think dessert, fruit, floral, spa vibes and more), 40 colors and 150 charms to make over four million slime creations, dozens of vats of slime to dip your hands into, “Sloomoo Falls” where visitors can stand under a waterfall of slime,  “Lake Sloomoo” which provides 350 gallons of slime to walk on after alcohol-wiping your feet, a Yayoi Kusama Obliteration Room-inspired “Slime Wall,” Kinetic Sand® "Doons", ASMR experiences, soundscapes, scent exploration, immersive videos, AR surprises and more.  

“When we launched Sloomoo Institute in 2019, we were passionate about activating our customers’ senses with a physical product, going back to the concept of sensory play and analog experiences as a way to experience joy and let go of swipe culture,” said the Sloomoo founders Karen Robinovitz and Sara Schiller. “We began as a pop up in New York City but after seeing how our guests responded to the concept, we decided to expand across the US.”

Sloomoo Institute called on experts in diverse, creative industries to round out the sensory experiences, including composer Pei Pei Chung who wrote music for Sloomoo’s ASMR soundscapes called “Synthesoothers,” and artists Laia Cabrera and Isabelle Duverger who developed AR and interactive video installations, including a “Slimey Mirror” that reflects a figure of your frame made out of slime. Completely innovating recreational architectural design, Architect Demetrios Comodromos of Method Design created an immersive canvas that cohesively and beautifully ties all of these elements together. Sloomoo Institute Chicago partners include Elmer’s - whose glue is used to make all of its slime formulas - as well as Kinetic Sand®, Brown Sugar Bakery, Choose CHI, Mag Mile and World Business Chicago, with more to come as the space is ever-evolving.

Sloomoo Institute Chicago will be open from Wednesday-Sunday from 9am-7pm year round. During rush seasons, including holiday, spring break, summer break, and more, Sloomoo Institute will be open 7 days a week. Sloomoo Institute Chicago will also include a retail space where visitors can shop Sloomoo’s slime collections. For more information please visit: https://sloomooinstitute.com/

About Sloomoo Institute

Sloomoo Institute is an immersive experience that taps into the joy of multi-sensory play. Sloomoo Institutes feature sophisticated, interactive spaces designed by contemporary artists where where hand-crafted, artisanal slime comes to life - dozens of textures, the most delicious scents, soothing ASMR, and wondrous delights all in a glossy setting to delight not just kids, but the kid in all of us. Co-founders Karen Robinovitz and Sara Schiller launched the Sloomoo universe in October of 2019 to bring the magic of slime and sensory play to the world through both in-person experiences and dozens of satisfying Sloomoligamations, which are sold in-store and online.

IMMERSIVE FRIDA KAHLO Now Playing in Chicago Through May 28, 2022

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IMMERSIVE FRIDA KAHLO

The Creative Team Behind Immersive Van Gogh Directs Its Lens to the Life and Work of Frida Kahlo

Here at ChiIL Mama, we loved Lighthouse Immersive's Immersive Van Gogh so much we came out to see it 3 times! I even did yoga in the space & provided yoga photos for Fan Dads. You can still catch it in Chicago through May 30. Check out ChiIL Mama's original photo filled review here. Now we're equally jazzed to see IMMERSIVE FRIDA KAHLO. We're still solidifying a date, so check back early and often for loads of other great Chi, IL arts and entertainment, and I'll have my full review up with original photos and videos shortly. 

Lighthouse Immersive, North America’s leading producer of ground-breaking experiential art exhibits, and Maestro Immersive Art announce their newest immersive art installation, IMMERSIVE FRIDA KAHLO. On the heels of their critically acclaimed blockbuster Immersive Van Gogh (now on-view in 15 cities), Lighthouse Immersive and Maestro Immersive Art have set their sights on the art and life of Frida Kahlo (1907-1954), the beloved 20th century Mexican artist best known for compelling self-portraits and radiant pieces inspired by her life in her native country of Mexico. The exhibition features some of the artist’s best-known works “brought to life” by the world-renowned master of digital art, Italy’s Massimiliano Siccardi, again accompanied by composer Luca Longobardi’s resonant score. Vittorio Guidotti is the Art Director. A brilliant, bold and uncompromising painter, Kahlo’s work is globally recognized for its raw emotional vitality, vibrant color work and unflinching intimacy.

IMMERSIVE FRIDA KAHLO arrives to Lighthouse ArtSpace at Germania Club (108 W. Germania Pl) Feb. 24 through May 28, 2022. Tickets are on sale at immersive-frida.com. Ticket prices start at $39.99 with timed and flexible options available.

In addition, IMMERSIVE FRIDA KAHLO arrives Spring 2022 in the following cities:

Dallas, Feb. 3 through April 17, 2022

Lighthouse Dallas, 507 S. Harwood Street, Dallas, TX 75201 Co-produced with Impact Museums

Boston, Feb. 10 through May 8, 2022

Lighthouse ArtSpace at the Castle, 130 Columbus Avenue, Boston, MA 02116 Co-produced with Maestro Immersive Art

Houston, Feb. 17 through April 17, 2022 1314 Brittmoore Road, Houston, TX 77043 Co-produced with Impact Museums

Denver, March 3 through May 30, 2022 Lighthouse Denver, 3900 Elati Street, Denver, CO 80216

Toronto: March 31 through May 29, 2022 1 Yonge Street, Toronto ON M5E 1W7

Los Angeles, March 31 through June 11, 2022

Lighthouse Los Angeles, 6400 Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90028 Co-produced with Impact Museums

“The success of Immersive Van Gogh has demonstrated that audiences are excited to experience art in a new way. Our Italian creative team are experts at digitally exploring masterworks in such a way that viewers are not merely passive observers. They obtain an even richer understanding of the artist by seeing the work as its creator might have,” said Lighthouse Immersive Producer Corey Ross. “That said, Siccardi presents Kahlo’s works in a format very distinct from that which he utilized in examining Van Gogh’s. He does not try to unify the many styles Kahlo used in her lifetime, but instead, presents them to us as a series of kinetic tableaus that may initially contradict – but eventually illuminate – each other.”

“Frida Kahlo’s work is uniquely suited to be explored in an immersive environment and her life story is equally fascinating,” added Lighthouse Immersive Producer Svetlana Dvoretsky. “Kahlo lived her life as one giant journey of exploration, and her art mirrored that journey. Our goal is to give our viewers more than an examination of her work; we also hope they will leave with a richer understanding of the smart, complex woman who created these timeless masterpieces.”

“In this piece, we will chase Frida’s world, always in motion,” adds Siccardi. “We will discover her tenderness and hostilities by taking in her observations and fantasies. Our hope is that viewers will let themselves be penetrated by Frida’s stories, and in so doing, live vicariously through her.”

Kahlo’s work bridges surrealist and magic realism traditions – blending authentic depictions of her life with fantastical elements reflecting her inner thoughts and struggles. Folk art, mysticism, surrealism, magic realism and a notably revealing series of self-portraits are all included in the projections. Among the works featured in the piece are The Two Fridas (1939), The Wounded Deer (1946), and Diego and I (1946), intermingled with an assortment of photographs, drawings and iconography. Alongside her paintings, Siccardi’s piece also includes photos of Kahlo at various ages and images of figures from Kahlo’s life that influenced her worldview. The projections are shown on Lighthouse Immersive’s massive architectural canvas, using state-of-the-art projectors for a crisp image and high-quality sound systems that heighten the mood-setting score.

For more information about IMMERSIVE FRIDA KAHLO, visit immersive-frida.com.

About Frida Kahlo

Kahlo was born in 1907 in Mexico City. After surviving polio at the age of six, Kahlo was involved in a horrific accident at the age of 18, when the bus she was riding on was struck by a streetcar, leaving her with a broken spinal column, along with a myriad of other injuries. Bedridden, Kahlo was encouraged by her parents to take up painting to pass the time. A custom-made easel allowed her to paint while lying down. During these long days, Kahlo often spent hour after hour staring at her own image that was reflected in a mirror fixed over her bed. It is here that she began presenting herself as the subject matter of her work, channelling her personal struggles into her art. Kahlo’s travels throughout Mexico and the United States further developed her artistic style. Individualistic and rebellious, her spirit was torn between the Communist Party and the Mexican Nationalist movement. Despite her lifelong passion for her husband, Diego Rivera, she is said to have had numerous affairs with other men and women. Throughout her life, Kahlo developed a rich iconography touching on the realms of life and death and mixing violence and vulnerability in ways that often shocked viewers by pushing gender norms. Kahlo stands today as an iconic figure and a symbol of female empowerment, individual courage and Mexican pride.

Kahlo’s popularity has grown exponentially in recent decades and has been prominently featured in museums worldwide. Public interest was bolstered by several recently released biographies and Julie Taymor’s Academy Award-nominated film starring Salma Hayek. The announcement of IMMERSIVE FRIDA KAHLO comes after a recent record-breaking sale of Frida Kahlo’s 1949 painting “Diego and I,” which sold at Sotheby’s on Tuesday, Nov. 16 for $34.9 million dollars, making it the most prized piece of Latin American artwork ever sold at auction. The sale of “Diego and I” surpassed a benchmark set by Kahlo’s husband Diego Rivera in 2018, when one of his paintings sold at auction for $9.76 million.

About Lighthouse Immersive

Lighthouse Immersive brings together two of Toronto’s preeminent production companies – Starvox Entertainment, Canada’s fastest growing live entertainment company responsible for bringing hit shows like The Art of Banksy to Toronto, and Show One Productions, a full-service production company presenting concerts with high-profile classical musicians, opera stars and orchestras – to bring the world premiere of IMMERSIVE VAN GOGH to Toronto, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York City and 16 other North American cities. Working directly with the Italian masters of immersive digital art and other leading global creators, Lighthouse Immersive has custom-designed all exhibits to distinctly envelop the various architectural settings they inhabit.

In Toronto, Lighthouse Immersive Artspace occupies the vacant five stories of the 1 Yonge Street building that previously housed the Toronto Star’s printing presses. The main gallery encompasses 600,000 cu. ft. and the facility features two additional gallery spaces alongside offices, two gift shops and a café.

In the last year, the Canadian company has announced or opened new galleries in 21 U.S. cities including Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York City and Orlando. To date, Lighthouse Immersive has sold well over 4 million tickets to IMMERSIVE VAN GOGH across North America, with Art Net recently commenting on the wave of immersive galleries, calling it “one of the largest coordinated art phenomena of all time.”

About Maestro Immersive Art

Maria Shclover and Irina Shabshis are the co-founders of Maestro Immersive Art. Shclover founded Maestro Artist Management in 2004, Shabshis in 2005, and together they have presented more than 1,000 theatrical and classical music performances across the United States, including projects with Michel Legrand, Mikhail Baryshnikov, John Malkovich and more.

Art Beat: Greektown Chicago is Celebrating the Holiday Season with a Traditional Holiday Karavákia Display Through January 15, 2022

Art Beat:

New Greektown public art exhibit 

celebrates the season

 

photos by Diane Alexander White

Holiday Karavákia Display showcases vibrant little boats

from 30+ local artists now through January 15, 2022

in businesses throughout Greektown

In Greece, there is an old Christmas tradition of decorating karavákia (little boats) with paint, lights and other materials. The Greektown Arts Committee has brought this unique tradition to life in Chicago by inviting 30+ local artists to decorate little boat models and providing them to Greektown businesses to display in their windows or in a prominent place for public viewing throughout the holiday season. Visit greektownchicago.org for more information.

Greektown is also showcasing a larger karaváki, painted by distinguished artist James Mesple, near the monument at Elysian Field (southeast corner of Halsted and Van Buren Streets), where Greektown’s holiday tree is located.

Visit Greektown Chicago and enjoy the Holiday Karavákia Display that combines modern-day art with homeland traditions. This vibrant art display celebrating the holiday season is sponsored by Greektown SSA #16.

Greektown Holiday Karavákia Display artists & locations

Arkadia Tower Apartments

Artist: Chuck Walker

111 S. Halsted St. (in lobby)

 

Artopolis Bakery, Cafe and Agora

Artists: Vicky Tesmer, Andy Morreale, & Jennifer Cronin (3 boats)

306 S. Halsted St. (inside)

 

Athena Restaurant

Artists: Ken Hirte, Dustin Harris & Terry Poulos (3 boats)

212 S. Halsted St. (inside)

 

Athenian Candle Co.

Artists: James Mesple, Malika Jackson, Rebecca Zaragoza, & Tyrue “Slang” Jones (4 boats)

300 S. Halsted St. (in windows)

 

Chicago Parthenon Hostel

Artists: Connie Hinkle & Victoria Martin (2 boats)

310-312 S. Halsted St. (in windows)

 

CHI Smokes

Artist: Leo Talaganis

309 S. Halsted St. (inside)

 

Dugan’s on Halsted

Artist: Marcelo Elli

128 S. Halsted St. (inside)

 

Greek Islands Restaurant

Artists: Fernando Ramirez, Diane Thodos, Patricia Owsiany, Panos Fiorentios & Alexandra Damato (5 boats)

200 S. Halsted (In windows & inside)

 

Mythical Smokes

Artist: David Holt

235 S. Halsted St. (In window)

 

Nine Muses Bar & Grill

Artists: Kiki Whitehead & Kathleen King (2 boats)

315 S. Halsted St. (inside)

 

Rye Deli + Drink

Artist: Chris Loutris

25 S. Halsted St. (inside)

 

Sonder Greektown Suites

Artist: Michael Thompson & Sheri Smith (2 boats)

314 S. Halsted St. (in windows)

 

Spectrum Bar & Grill

Artists: Michael Thompson, Vasiliki Valkanas, Louis DeMarco & Mariana Karampelas (4 boats)

233 S. Halsted St. (inside)

 

Starbucks

Artist: Ms. Alex White

116 S. Halsted St. (inside)

 

The Van Buren Apartments

Artists: Dino & Mark Crisanti

808 W. Van Buren St. (inside)

 

Walgreens

Artist: Tracey Ostmann

111 S. Halsted St. (in window)

 

Wild Fork Foods

Artist: Eve Moran

100 S. Halsted St. (inside)

 

About Greektown Chicago

Greektown is a dining, nightlife and cultural district located on the Near West Side of Chicago. A popular destination for tourists and Chicago residents alike, Greektown offers the best sampling of Greek heritage outside of Athens—from authentic restaurants, cafes and shops to the National Hellenic Museum and annual Taste of Greektown festival. Greektown Special Service Area #16 is the business improvement district for the neighborhood, administered by sole service provider the West Central Association and guided by a volunteer commission of local business owners, property owners and residents. For more information, visit greektownchicago.org.

ART BEAT: Save the Dates: Elmhurst Art Museum PresentsWhat Came After: Figurative Painting in Chicago 1978-98 This Fall Beginning September 14, 2019

What Came After: 

Figurative Painting in Chicago 1978-98

on view September 14, 2019 - January 12, 2020

Exhibition organized in conjunction with newly installed Chicago Imagists installation at Elmhurst College

(Left to Right) HOLLIS SIGLER (AMERICAN, 1948-2001), IT KEEPS HER GOING, 1991-92, OIL ON CANVAS WITH PAINTED FRAME, 53 X 66 INCHES | COLLECTION OF ROCKFORD ART MUSEUM, ILLINOIS, USA, GIFT OF FRANCIS AND JUNE SPIEZER | PHOTOGRAPH COPYRIGHT OF ROCKFORD ART MUSEUM

TONY PHILLIPS, THE SPACE BETWEEN, 1993, OIL ON CANVAS, 48 X 58 IN. |ARTIST COLLECTION

PHYLLIS BRAMSON, DECOYS, 1989, OIL ON CANVAS, 84 X 72 IN. | COURTESY OF THE ARTIST AND ZOLLA/LIEBERMAN GALLERY

Elmhurst Art Museum (150 South Cottage Hill Avenue) proudly presents What Came After: Figurative Painting in Chicago 1978-98 on view September 14, 2019 – January 12, 2020. Organized by Chicago-based, internationally exhibited artist Phyllis Bramson, What Came After is a survey of diverse interests in the figure as a subject, the human condition, and an interest in personal iconography.

According to Bramson, “Many have struggled with understanding and processing the term ‘Chicago Imagism’ since it was first used in the early 1970s, including artists that built on the ideas of their peers or sought to break free from expectations of that legacy. What Came After better defines and celebrates this later generation of artists, which have been called third generation Imagists, Post-Imagists, and the Chicago School.”

In addition to Bramson, artists represented in What Came After include Nicholas Africano, Susanne Doremus, Eleanor Spiess-Ferris, Richard Hull, Michiko Itatani, Paul Lamantia, Robert Lostutter, Jim Lutes, Tony Phillips, David Sharpe, Hollis Sigler, Ken Warneke, Margaret Wharton, and Mary Lou Zelazny. The show of 30 paintings will serve as an introduction to these artists for a broad audience, while also examining a specific time and place in Chicago’s recent history.

“We are thrilled to work with this group of artists, as well as Elmhurst College again, to dig deeper into Chicago’s rich cultural history. The exhibition builds on an ongoing conversation about Chicago Imagism, which has become broadly and internationally known, but often misunderstood,” said Elmhurst Art Museum Executive Director John McKinnon. “The painters in this exhibition have all been recognized in their own right, yet this period of history has often been overlooked.”

The exhibition’s original scholarship will include a brochure with essays by Bramson, Chicago curator Lynne Warren, and New York curator/critic Deven Golden. In these texts, the wide-ranging term of Chicago Imagism will be discussed as valuable yet limiting. Public programs will better define how the well-used term was formed, what it originally meant, and what it has come to mean through time. What Came After is dedicated to the late art critic James Yood, a champion of Midwest artists, who was involved in early conversations of this exhibition. 

What Came After is organized in conjunction with a new installation across Elmhurst’s museum campus at Elmhurst College’s A.C. Buehler Library. This new display was organized by Suellen Rocca, one of the original members of the Hairy Who collective and current Curator and Director of Exhibitions at Elmhurst College.


RELATED PUBLIC PROGRAMS

·         Panel Discussion: Despite Imagism

Saturday, September 14, 1:30pm

Presenters including artist Phyllis Bramson, curator Lynne Warren, curator/critic Deven Golden, and artists Richard Hull, Susanne Doremus, and Jim Lutes. Free with museum admission.

·         Family Days

Saturday, September 28, 1 - 4pm, and Monday, October 14 (Columbus Day), 1 - 4pm

Children and parents are invited to participate in hands-on activities inspired by the current exhibition. Available to all ages. Free with museum admission.

·         Tours of Elmhurst College’s Chicago Imagist collection with Suellen Rocca

Saturday, October 19, 1:30pm and Saturday, November 9, 1:30pm
See the newly reinstalled, internationally recognized Chicago Imagist collection at Elmhurst College with these exclusive tours by Suellen Rocca, one of the original members of the Hairy Who collective and current Curator and Director of Exhibitions at the College. Rocca will offer first-person accounts of Chicago’s cultural history, while also providing context and furthering the dialogue about art from Chicago during the 70s-90s. 

·         Lecture: What is Chicago Imagism?

Saturday, November 2, 1:30pm

Join us for a talk about Chicago Imagism and its legacy by art critic, curator, and essayist Deven Golden. This talk will look at the artist dialogue that led up to this period, what followed, and how things irrevocably changed as the 20th century came to an end.

·         Lecture: What Came After?

Saturday, November 23, 1:30pm

Curator Robert Cozzolino better defines how the well-used term of Chicago Imagism was formed, what it originally meant, and what it has come to mean through time.

·         Exhibition Tour with artist and exhibition organizer, Phyllis Bramson
Saturday, January 11, 1:30pm

What Came After is sponsored by the Explore Elmhurst Grant Program, with public programming sponsored by Terra Foundation for American Art.


About Elmhurst Art Museum
Elmhurst Art Museum is located at 150 South Cottage Hill Avenue in Elmhurst (IL), 25 minutes from downtown Chicago by car or public transportation (Metra). The Museum is both an international destination for Mies van der Rohe scholars and fans and a regional center where people from Chicago and the western suburbs learn to see and think differently through the study of the art, architecture and design of our time.  The Museum is one block from the Elmhurst Metra station and open Tuesday-Sunday from 11am -5pm. Admission is $15 ($12 for seniors) and free for students and children under 18.

Simultaneous with What Came After, Elmhurst Art Museum will be mounting McCormick House – Past, Present, Future, also September 14, 2019 – January 12, 2020. For the first time ever, the Museum will exhibit a full 1950s domestic representation of its Mies van der Rohe McCormick House (1952) as well as historic images showing how residents lived in the home and explanations about the current transitional state of its preservation.  

For more information, please call 630.834.0202 or visit elmhurstartmuseum.org.

ART BEAT: Serge Maheu's Free Interactive Art Installation Passage to Open at Navy Pier Through Sunday, January 6th, 2019

Navy Pier’s Interactive and Multi-Sensory Free Public Art Installation

Passage Opens Friday, December 7

ChiIL Mama will be ChiILin' at Navy Pier tomorrow for the press preview of Winter Wonderfest. While we're there, we plan to check out Passage as well. 

Presented in partnership with Illuminart and creator Serge Maheu, Passage is interactive artwork that stimulates the emotional connection between sound and light.  The installation consists of 20 circles that form a tunnel of light, animations and sound as you pass through it to create a playful, multi-sensory experience.





Opens Friday, December 7 and will be on display at Navy Pier through Sunday, January 6. Navy Pier’s South Dock | 600 East Grand Avenue, Chicago, Ill. 60611



BACKGROUND: Created by Canadian computer engineer and artist Serge Maheu and produced by Montréal-based Illuminart, Passage is an immersive, interactive and minimalist work of art that explores the connections between light and sound. With each step, guests will experience a new configuration of the installation with its own dynamic ambience.



Throughout the creative process for Passage, Maheu utilized his multi-disciplinary background to visually and audibly portray the interpretation of the word, “passage,” which is defined as the act of moving though or past something, or transitioning from one place to another. Through intricate design and a unique blend of colors, light and sound, Maheu has created a personal, playful and multisensory experience for guest interaction and engagement.

ART BEAT: GEORGE KOKINES: LAYERS REVEALED – OPENING SEPTEMBER 20, 2018 At Chicago's NATIONAL HELLENIC MUSEUM

THE NATIONAL HELLENIC MUSEUM ANNOUNCES NEWEST EXHIBIT – GEORGE KOKINES: LAYERS REVEALED – OPENING SEPTEMBER 20, 2018

Dedicated to collecting, preserving and portraying the legacy of Greek history and culture in America, the National Hellenic Museum has the largest collection of Greek American artifacts and recorded oral histories anywhere. The National Hellenic Museum (NHM), 333 S. Halsted St., introduces its newest exhibition — George Kokines: Layers Revealed. On September 20, 2018, the National Hellenic Museum will open the first ever retrospective of the artist George Kokines. Using loaned objects and those from the NHM Collections, this exhibition traces Kokines’ artistic development and accomplishments in Abstract Expressionism as well as his journey to embrace his Greek American identity.

Kokines’ art employed free-form organic and geometrical forms, abstract figures and intense spaces of color. He inserted humor, references to Greek mythology and his life experiences into his work. When working with nontraditional materials like wax, plaster and concrete, Kokines often carved through the layers he had built up on the surface. He was known to rework older pieces many times over. Palimpsest — something altered that bears visible traces of its previous form — was a concept that is apparent in much of Kokines’ work.

In 1993, Kokines traveled through Greece, making stops at his parents’ hometowns on a trip that allowed him to connect his history and artwork to ancient Greece. Later in his life, Kokines was deeply impacted when he witnessed the events of September 11, 2001 first hand, watching as the World Trade Center fell. The largest installation of his career, September 11, was created in remembrance of the day and will be exhibited. The installation includes the painting Agios Nikolaos, representing the small Greek Orthodox church that also stood at Ground Zero.

Kokines was born in 1930 in Chicago to Greek immigrant parents. He studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, earning a BFA in 1960. Early in his career he received critical acclaim and was a prominent figure in the Chicago art community. Once the subject of controversy, he said, “All contemporary painting should defy description.” In 1966, he moved to New York where he lived and worked for nearly 40 years. In 2005, he returned to Chicago and continued to paint until he passed away in 2012. Kokines’ work was exhibited in galleries and museums nationally and internationally, including the Art Institute of Chicago, the Whitney Museum, the Richard Gray Gallery, the Centro Cultural in Buenos Aires, Argentina and the Palazzo Massari in Ferrara, Italy.

The works in this exhibition exemplify Kokines’ improvisation and the textural and large-scale style of his work. Demonstrating his mastery of abstraction, this exhibition reveals the brilliance and skill of George Kokines. Related educational programming, docent-led tours and field trips for school children will be offered throughout the year.

Founded in Chicago as the Hellenic Museum and Cultural Center (HMCC) in 1983, the HMCC moved to the city’s Greektown neighborhood in 2004 and opened its current location on Halsted Street as the National Hellenic Museum in 2011. The contemporary four-story building is home to extensive collections, rotating exhibitions, classrooms, and a stunning rooftop view of Chicago. Three floors of galleries explore ancient and modern themes and provide multi-use spaces to host tours, public programs, and private events. The NHM boasts a rich repository of 20,000+ artifacts, photos, historic newspapers, books and an archive of 450+ recorded histories. The NHM Collections & Archives serve as a central repository of Greek American history, now many generations strong. The Museum celebrates the mosaic of the Greek diaspora, immigrant journeys, and the breadth of the American experience.

The National Hellenic Museum is open to all ages with admission as follows: adults $10, seniors $8, students $8, and children 3 to 12 years are $7. Children under 3 years of age and members receive free admission. NHM is open Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., Saturdays and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and is closed on Mondays. Members enjoy many additional outstanding benefits throughout the year. 

NHM counts on member support to help preserve and share Greek history and culture through programs, events, and exhibitions. To become a member of the NHM, please visit the Museum’s membership page. For more information about George Kokines: Layers Revealed and other programs, membership, special events, facility rentals, or giving, please visit www.nationalhellenicmuseum.org.


About the National Hellenic Museum
The National Hellenic Museum (NHM) portrays and celebrates Greek history and the Hellenic legacy through educational classes, exhibits and programs. With a growing repository of over 20,000 artifacts, the Museum catalogs and highlights the contributions of Greeks and Greek Americans to the American mosaic and inspires curiosity about visitors’ own family journeys through cultural expression, oral history and experiential education. Located in Chicago’s Greektown, the NHM provides lifelong learning for the whole community using artifacts and stories to spark inquiry and discussion about the broader issues in our lives.

For more information, visit http://www.nationalhellenicmuseum.org or call 312-655-1234.Follow NHM on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.