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Western Exhibitions

Western Exhibitions is a contemporary art gallery that shows thought-provoking and visually innovative artists who work across most media, with an emphasis on personal narratives and cosmologies; LGBTQ and feminist artists and issues; pattern, decoration and surface concerns; works on paper; and artist books. Western Exhibitions presents unique artist projects, curated group shows and maintains a specific inventory of artist books and multiples, gathered together as a sister entity and store, WesternXeditions.

Western Exhibitions was conceived in 2002 as a nomadic commercial gallery, staging shows at apartments, lofts, other galleries and participating in the influential Stray Show. In 2004, director (and ex-artist) Scott Speh first opened a brick-and-mortar space on Chicago’s west side and after 10 years in the West Loop, moved to Chicago’s West Town neighborhood in 2016, along with Document and Volume Gallery. The gallery celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2024.

About Western Exhibitions
Olivia Zubko: Nymphaeum

September 17 – October 31, 2026

Western Exhibitions is pleased to announce our first solo show, Nymphaeum, with Olivia Zubko, a Chicago-based artist new to our roster. Zubko’s recent work is thematically framed within private, semi-private, and domestic environments and employs cast replicas of fixtures and found materials to create ceramic sculptures to evoke viewer's personal memories and associations with intimate spaces. Her work investigates the nuanced relationship between these objects and the human form, as well as the broader dynamic between the individual and the domestic sphere of private space, personal intimacy, having a body, and the burdens and privileges of maintaining it. The show opens with a free public reception on THURSDAY, September 17, 5 to 8pm (during Chicago Exhibition Week) and runs through October 31. Gallery hours are Tuesday to Saturday, 11am to 6pm.

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