Gallery 400
Nestled on the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) campus, Gallery 400 is hidden behind walls covered in flyers for student performances, ads for dog walkers, and hallway installations made from plastic bottles and art student dreams.
One of the best (albeit farthest away) galleries I’ve been to, Gallery 400 is worth the wait.
Gallery 400 is UIC’s non-profit art space, supporting art, design, architecture, and arts education. They host free artist talks, performances, and media screenings alongside original exhibitions by contemporary artists. While they don’t typically show work by current students, they do host the MFA thesis show. The artists that show at Gallery 400 are often Chicago-based, including many UIC alumni. Their goal is to engage students and community members in meaningful conversations about art and how it relates to the Chicago community at large.
Derrick Woods-Morrow, Gravity Pleasure Switchback. (installation view). Photographed by Dabin Ahn.
Images courtesy of Gallery 400
About the art/ists
Gallery 400 doesn’t represent artists like a commercial gallery. Instead, they invite local artists to install work in the space. They primarily focus on Chicago-based or Chicago-associated artists because by responding to their environment in one way or another, they help channel conversations about their community.
They don’t shy away from complex topics — themes like accessibility, sexuality, Blackness, and climate change — because many UIC students and surrounding community members intimately experience these issues. Gallery 400 understands the impact of having your experience reflected in art.
Gallery 400 has been bringing emerging artists to the UIC campus since the ‘90s. Because they aren’t trying to sell the art that they host, it’s more akin to a tiny museum than a typical gallery space. But, unlike a museum, they aren’t subject to the desires of a larger, bureaucratic institution, meaning they are able to bring a wider variety of new and creative thinkers and makers to their space. Recently, they’ve hosted artists like Derrick Woods-Morrow, Carmen Winant, and Tomás Saraceno. Using various media and installation techniques, each of these artists explores identity and experiences living in the United States as social turmoil, climate change, and discrimination continue to shape our communities. Gallery 400’s commitment to cutting-edge artists and ideas makes it a great place to see the future of contemporary art.
What is contemporary art?
Contemporary art refers to the art of today… broadly. Contemporary art movements began in the late 20th century, and continue to the present. Contemporary art continues the tradition of challenging and questioning art expectations that Modernism began. Using new media, pushing back against aesthetic expectations, and using art to provoke sociopolitical change are facets of contemporary art. Art has always challenged norms and implicated society, but contemporary art’s leaders push these questions further.
Jeremy Bolen, Because the Sky Will Be Filled With Sulfur, installation view. Courtesy the artist.
Images courtesy of Gallery 400
Inside the gallery
Gallery 400 is not hard to find. Its on-campus location means there are convenient university-sponsored signs everywhere, leading straight to the doors of the academic building where the gallery sits, tucked away up a set of stairs. It’s also a cool opportunity to explore a building on another college campus. (I’ll be honest, I snooped a bit.) Although the student artwork in the hallways and stairwells might not quite live up to the Gallery 400 artists, it’s still pretty great.
I spent time exploring the different rooms — the largest front gallery, and the two smaller attached ones, one playing a video installation, one lit up by a neon sculpture. I met two of the gallerists in an adjoining space full of books, where they informed me of their extensive art library, available to students and community members alike. Take advantage, if you need a hit of art academia.
The staff at Gallery 400 are obviously accustomed to student visitors, but they still recognize that visiting art spaces can be uncomfortable for people who are unfamiliar with them. They encourage students to treat the gallery as a social space, noting that many students meet at the gallery to chat, hang out, and discuss the current exhibition. If nothing else, art gives you something to talk about!
Lawrence Steger, Road, Episode 50: Shoulda Been Dead, This American Life, January 17, 1997, Audio, 10 mins. (installation view).
Photographed by Clare Britt.
Images courtesy of Gallery 400
It’s not like other galleries
As part of many of their shows, Gallery 400 designates a “reflection space.” Sometimes, this looks like a place where visitors can write a short reflection on the current show. Another time, they set up a phone line that visitors could pick up and share a memory the show evoked. These phone messages were recorded and archived as part of the show. Whatever the format, Gallery 400’s reflection spaces offer an opportunity for anyone to interpret the work they’ve seen — what it means to them, what they think it’s about, what it made them think about…no need to be a Pulitzer Prize winner to participate.
Evident in their thoughtful exhibition design, Gallery 400 has a strong commitment to accessibility. They have expanded their services to include QR codes where visitors can access audio recordings of the written descriptions and virtual tours of exhibitions, and they offer sensory spaces for visitors who may need to step away from the gallery. They also offer tours for groups of all ages, which anyone can book for free through an easy online form. In my opinion, it is important to take advantage of any and all free VIP experiences. More importantly, you’ll definitely learn something on a tour with Gallery 400 staff. Most of their staff members have, or are on their way to a Masters or Ph.D in Art History. Talk about qualified.
Visit Gallery 400
400 S Peoria St, Chicago, IL 60607
Hours
Tuesday-Friday
10 am–5 pm
Saturday
12 pm–5 pm
How to get there:
Train
Take the Red Line to Monroe, then transfer to the Blue Line and get off at UIC-Halsted.