Gallery 400

Gallery 400 The contemporary art gallery at the University of Illinois Chicago.

As the Gallery celebrates its 30th anniversary, we continue to pursue our mission of presenting and supporting the leading edge of contemporary art, architecture, and design through compelling exhibitions, dynamic programs, and multifaceted support for arts practitioners. An integral part of both the University of Illinois at Chicago's and the city of Chicago’s vibrant contemporary arts scene, Gal

lery 400 is uniquely poised to offer innovative programming that connects the art of today to scholarship and debate. Gallery 400 has presented more than 1,000 artists in its exhibitions and programs since its founding in 1983. In so doing, we strive to make complex works and ideas accessible to a broad spectrum of the public, advance and cultivate a variety of cultural and intellectual perspectives, and foster an interdisciplinary understanding of the visual arts.programming that connects the art of today to scholarship and debate.

Join us Thurs., June 18, 3–4 p.m. for the virtual tour of π‘΄π’š 𝑴𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 π‘΄π’π’–π’π’•π’‚π’Šπ’ in collaboration with the UIC Disability Cu...
06/10/2026

Join us Thurs., June 18, 3–4 p.m. for the virtual tour of π‘΄π’š 𝑴𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 π‘΄π’π’–π’π’•π’‚π’Šπ’ in collaboration with the UIC Disability Cultural Center (.dcc).

This tour takes you through Carolyn CastaΓ±o’s debut solo exhibition in Chicago, paying close attention to the materials she employs (gold foil, appliquΓ©s, watercolors) to address the disappearing glaciers in the Colombian Andes.

Multi-disciplinary artist William Estrada () joins CastaΓ±o () in a discussion on the conceptual and formal underpinnings informing the exhibition. Our staff will offer detailed verbal descriptions of each piece discussed during the tour. A recording of the tour will be available later for those unable to attend the livestream.

Photo by Jonas Mikosch MΓΌller-Ahlheim.

Join us today, Fri., May 29, 6–8 p.m., for the opening reception of π‘΄π’š 𝑴𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 π‘΄π’π’–π’π’•π’‚π’Šπ’. On her featured monumental paint...
05/29/2026

Join us today, Fri., May 29, 6–8 p.m., for the opening reception of π‘΄π’š 𝑴𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 π‘΄π’π’–π’π’•π’‚π’Šπ’.

On her featured monumental paintings that blend visual and historical sources such as the Wiphala flag and 19th-century travelogues and cartographic surveys by European colonial explorers, CastaΓ±o says, β€œMy work proceeds from a painted base layer evoking painters like Frederic Edwin Church, whose painting Heart of the Andes, 1859, was a sweeping homage to these landscapes. The pieces…immediately interrupt that Euro-centric way of looking at these sublime landscapes by introducing collaged textiles in patterns inspired by traditional Andean textiles or the infographic color-coding of climatological heat maps.”

Image: Carolyn CastaΓ±o, This is Dedicated to the One I Love- El Cerro de La Plaza, 2026. Watercolor on watercolor paper.

This Sat., May 30, in collaboration with Armstrong Auctions, select archival prints of Pop, Chicago Imagist, and Concept...
05/27/2026

This Sat., May 30, in collaboration with Armstrong Auctions, select archival prints of Pop, Chicago Imagist, and Conceptual artists from Landfall Press will be auctioned on Artsy to support our programmatic vision.

Images: Vito Acconci, Wav(er)ing Flag, 1989.
Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Wrapped Statues, 1989.
Ed Paschke, Pump, 1989.

Join us Fri., May 29, 6–8 p.m. for the opening reception of Carolyn CastaΓ±o’s debut solo Chicago exhibition π‘΄π’š 𝑴𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝑴𝒐...
05/26/2026

Join us Fri., May 29, 6–8 p.m. for the opening reception of Carolyn CastaΓ±o’s debut solo Chicago exhibition π‘΄π’š 𝑴𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 π‘΄π’π’–π’π’•π’‚π’Šπ’.

π‘΄π’š 𝑴𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 π‘΄π’π’–π’π’•π’‚π’Šπ’ is named for CastaΓ±o’s relationship with the mountains of her native Colombia, personifying the mountains as elders and mothers. Across paintings and mixed-media work, CastaΓ±o unpacks the myths and folklore surrounding the Andean volcanic glaciers, such as El Nevado del Ruiz and VolcΓ‘n Nevado de Santa Isabel. Her vibrantly patterned paintings contrast with the landscape’s diminishment due to climate change, extractive industries, and urbanization.

Image: Carolyn CastaΓ±o, Cumanday: El Nevado del Ruiz, 2023. Watercolor and gouache on paper collaged with acrylic, sequin appliquΓ©s, and fringe on canvas.

In collaboration with John Michael Kohler Arts Center and Tufts University Art Galleries, join us tomorrow, May 21, 6–7:...
05/20/2026

In collaboration with John Michael Kohler Arts Center and Tufts University Art Galleries, join us tomorrow, May 21, 6–7:30 p.m. in Room 1100 of the UIC Architecture and Design Studios for the publication launch party of π‘―π’π’˜ 𝒅𝒐 π’šπ’π’– π’•π’‰π’“π’π’˜ 𝒂 π’ƒπ’“π’Šπ’„π’Œ π’•π’‰π’“π’π’–π’ˆπ’‰ 𝒕𝒉𝒆 π’˜π’Šπ’π’…π’π’˜β€¦

Contributing author Amanda Cachia will discuss her essay in the publication alongside related scholarship from her recent book, π‘―π’π’”π’‘π’Šπ’•π’‚π’ π‘¨π’†π’”π’•π’‰π’†π’•π’Šπ’„π’”: π‘«π’Šπ’”π’‚π’ƒπ’Šπ’π’Šπ’•π’š, π‘΄π’†π’…π’Šπ’„π’Šπ’π’†, π‘¨π’„π’•π’Šπ’—π’Šπ’”π’Ž (2025).

In a recent interview on the book with BOMB Magazine, Cachia notes that, β€œAmanda Cachia: Curating itself has undergone quite an evolution in the last thirty years. Originally curators had come in to care for collections. The irony is that they might have been caring for objects, but they weren’t really caring for bodies that would come into the space of the museum. My interest is in how we care for bodies without being so fixated on β€˜curing’ them.”

Exhibition co-curators and publication co-editors Tanya Gayer and Laurel V. McLaughlin will present an overview of the π‘―π’π’˜ 𝒅𝒐 π’šπ’π’– π’•π’‰π’“π’π’˜ 𝒂 π’ƒπ’“π’Šπ’„π’Œ π’•π’‰π’“π’π’–π’ˆπ’‰ 𝒕𝒉𝒆 π’˜π’Šπ’π’…π’π’˜β€¦, its design by Body & Forma, essays and featured artworks by Yani aviles, Chloe P. Crawford, Nat Decker, Jeff Kasper, Carly Mandel, Jeffrey Meris, and Libby Paloma. The exhibition is on view at the Kohler Arts Center through Oct. 4, 2026

Image: Jeffrey Meris, March On to Glory, 2023. Courtesy Tufts University Art Galleries.

Opening Fri., May 29, 6–8 p.m. is Los Angeles-based artist Carolyn CastaΓ±o’s π‘΄π’š 𝑴𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 π‘΄π’π’–π’π’•π’‚π’Šπ’.In her debut solo Chicag...
05/19/2026

Opening Fri., May 29, 6–8 p.m. is Los Angeles-based artist Carolyn CastaΓ±o’s π‘΄π’š 𝑴𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 π‘΄π’π’–π’π’•π’‚π’Šπ’.

In her debut solo Chicago exhibition, CastaΓ±o presents paintings, watercolors, and works in other media exploring the disappearing glaciers of Colombia’s Andean glaciers.

Monumental and smaller-scale works play on early representations of Andean landscapes, from the botanical collections and studies of Alexander Von Humboldt and romantic landscape paintings such as those of Frederic Edwin Church, to more documentary/cartographic representations from the ComisiΓ³n CorogrΓ‘fica, a mid-19th-century survey of the area that was to become Colombia.

Organized by Director and Chief Curator Lorelei Stewart.

Image: Carolyn CastaΓ±o, Chundua – Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, 2023. Watercolor and gouache on paper collaged with acrylic, sequin appliquΓ©s, and fringe on canvas.

05/05/2026

Working at the intersection of dreams, roots, and memories, Elias Mendel’s interdisciplinary practice investigates his own familial archive and history. Their works 𝑫𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝑩𝒆𝒆𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒐𝒕 (2026), π‘°π’π’”π’•π’“π’–π’„π’•π’Šπ’π’π’” 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 π‘¨π’“π’„π’‰π’Šπ’—π’† (2026), and π‘«π’‚π’π’„π’Šπ’π’ˆ π’˜π’Šπ’•π’‰ 𝑴𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒉𝒂 (2026) are featured in the 2026 MFA Thesis Show: 𝑺𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒕 π‘Ίπ’•π’π’“π’š π‘³π’π’π’ˆ, on view through May 9.

04/28/2026

Claire Burke Dain’s paintings explore human relationships with industrial structures. Working with found materials, her practice addresses the psychological impressions left by spatial design and dynamic environments such as trains and automobiles. Dain’s π‘½π’Šπ’ˆπ’π’†π’•π’•π’†π’” (2026) and 𝑰 π‘³π’Šπ’—π’† π‘³π’Šπ’Œπ’† 𝒂 π‘­π’Šπ’”π’‰ π‘Ύπ’Šπ’•π’‰ 𝑡𝒐 π‘΄π’†π’Žπ’π’“π’š (2026) are on display in the 2026 MFA Thesis Show: 𝑺𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒕 π‘Ίπ’•π’π’“π’š π‘³π’π’π’ˆ, on view through May 9.

04/10/2026

We are thrilled to announce that we are recipients of the hosting grant for our upcoming fall exhibition, 𝑷𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔 & 𝑷𝒖𝒍𝒍: π‘»π’˜π’ 𝑫𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑹𝒐𝒃𝒆𝒓𝒕 π‘©π’π’‚π’„π’Œπ’ƒπ’–π’“π’ π‘·π’“π’Šπ’π’•π’Žπ’‚π’Œπ’Šπ’π’ˆ π‘Ύπ’π’“π’Œπ’”π’‰π’π’‘.

𝑷𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔 & 𝑷𝒖𝒍𝒍 features over 35 original prints, archival ephemera, and video drawn from the Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop's historic collection and archive. The exhibition traces the origins, mentorship, collaboration, and technical innovation that have made it the US’s oldest and continuously operating cooperative workshop.

Rooted in radical inclusivity, the Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop opened its doors in 1947 in New York City, providing space and opportunities for artists of color amid racial segregation and the mass defunding of community arts centers after WWII.

𝑷𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔 & 𝑷𝒖𝒍𝒍’𝒔 Chicago iteration will feature a supplementary exhibition with prints and archival materials that trace the city’s historical parallels to the Workshop, underscoring the artistic ecosystems Black artists developed in the mid-twentieth century and their impact today.

Congratulations to all our fellow grantees!

𝑷𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔 & 𝑷𝒖𝒍𝒍: π‘»π’˜π’ 𝑫𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑹𝒐𝒃𝒆𝒓𝒕 π‘©π’π’‚π’„π’Œπ’ƒπ’–π’“π’ π‘·π’“π’Šπ’π’•π’Žπ’‚π’Œπ’Šπ’π’ˆ π‘Ύπ’π’“π’Œπ’”π’‰π’π’‘ at UIC Gallery 400 is made possible by Teiger Foundation.

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400 S Peoria Street
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60607

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Wednesday 10am - 5pm
Thursday 10am - 5pm
Friday 10am - 5pm
Saturday 12pm - 5pm

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