Expo Chicago, the long-running Midwestern fair that was acquired by the media and event company Frieze in 2023, will return to Navy Pier’s Festival Hall this April, with around 130 galleries taking part. That lineup of exhibitors represents a dip of around 23% from the fair’s last three editions, when Expo Chicago expanded to its largest size yet with around 170 exhibitors. The fair’s exhibitor announcement frames the scaled-back gallery list—closer to the more than 140 exhibitors who participated in its 2022 edition—as part of “a more focused, intentionally scaled format, designed to deepen engagement”.
This will also mark the fair’s first outing under its new director, Kate Sierzputowski, who served for many years as its artistic director and has taken the reins from its longtime leader Tony Karman.
“As we build toward Expo Chicago 2026, our priority has been to refocus the fair on what has always defined it: rigorous curation, civic collaboration and a deep commitment to artists,” Sierzputowski said in a statement. “Over the past year, we have shaped a fair environment that allows thoughtful, high-quality presentations to take form. The goal is a fair that feels intentional, artist-centred and reflective of the creative energy of Chicago.”
As ever, the fair boasts a strong contingent of local dealers, including venerable Chicago galleries Gray, Moniquemeloche, Patron, Document, Corbett vs. Dempsey, Good Weather and more. Participating galleries from elsewhere in the US will include Sean Kelly, Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, Fort Gansevoort, Half Gallery, Karma and 47 Canal from New York, Regen Projects, Vielmetter Los Angeles, Charlie James Gallery and Night Gallery from Los Angeles, Jonathan Carver Moore, Jessica Silverman and Gallery Wendi Norris from San Francisco, Embajada from Puerto Rico, Rivalry Projects from Buffalo, What Pipeline and Matéria from Detroit, and more.
The fair is once again collaborating with the Galleries Association of Korea to bring 12 galleries from South Korea to Chicago, among them 021 Gallery, Gallery Dasun, Lee & Bae and Paik Hae Young Gallery. Other international exhibitors will include four galleries from Lagos—Adegbola Gallery, Affinity Gallery, Soto Gallery and Yenwa Gallery—Wizard Gallery from Milan, Kevin Kavanagh from Dublin, Contour Art Gallery from Vilnius and Cott from Buenos Aires, among others.
Expo Chicago is also partnering with the Obama Presidential Center, due to open on the south side of Chicago this spring; Louise Bernard, the director of the centre’s museum, is curating two special sections at the fair. One, titled Embodiment, will feature works inspired by the architecture and art commissioned for the centre’s campus. The other, Evolution, will include archival materials related to the centre’s art commissions—which include site-specific projects by Julie Mehretu, Theaster Gates, Maya Lin and others.
“Expo Chicago is uniquely positioned to connect artists with museums and collections,” Essence Harden, the fair’s curator, said in a statement. “This year’s presentations reflect focused, conceptually rigorous practices that resonate with institutional priorities while also engaging collectors. By building on institutional relationships and acquisition pathways, the fair becomes a meaningful point of entry for artists into broader cultural and curatorial networks.”
Harden will curate its special section devoted to solo and thematic stands, Profile. And Katie A. Pfohl, an associate curator of contemporary art at the Detroit Institute of Arts, will curate an exhibition in the fair’s Focus sector devoted to galleries that have been open for no more than 12 years, Gathering of Waters, bringing together works related to migration, care and healing, the natural environment and craft-based processes.
- Expo Chicago, 9-12 April, Festival Hall, Navy Pier
