Art Expo Chicago

 Covid may never be gone, but at least Art Expo is finally back after a two year hiatus. I'm not sure it's bigger and better than ever  As international art fairs go, it remains second or third rate. It doesn't even have the  gallery that represents Chicago's two most famous artists, Kerry Marshall and Nick Cave. But it still has enough to keep me thoroughly entertained for a Saturday afternoon   ***************** Poojah Pittie, Still Stranger, 2022 Yes, I'm a Poojah Pittie person .  I would have bought this if I hadn't  bought her showpiece from last year's virtual Expo.  All that watery passion - it drives me nuts.  Such a strong sense of tunneling into the infinite. Gabrielle Garland,untitled , 2022 As noted when I reviewed her here ,  I'm a fan of Garland's cityscapes -- and now I'm even more enthusiastic as they are becoming less goofball cartoonish and more  like an ordinary hangover on a bright sunny day. Margot Bergman, Carri...

  Amoako Boafo (MARIANE IBRAHIM Gallery ,   437 N. Paulina St) The 2019 edition of  Expo Chicago is different -- and better ! -- than the previous seven editions of Tony Karman's international art fairs. There were some disappointments - like very few landscapes, cityscapes, or still lifes.  And Forum Gallery - often my favorite for mimetic representation - had nothing for me this year. But overall, the show felt calmer -- more like an art gallery and less like a street fair.  Maybe that's because visitors now enter from the end of the long hall instead of from the hectic middle. It didn't humiliate the younger, smaller galleries by putting them in a distinctive "children's table" section. It  accommodated cyclists like myself by giving us a parking area right next to the entrance. Hurrah! (last year, security personnel  were stationed there to keep bicycles from being chained to a railing) But  most importantl...