About

Gallery Address

CHICAGO

1709 W Chicago Avenue
Suite 2c
Chicago IL 60622 USA
(312) 480-8390
scott@westernexhibitions.com

Gallery hours:
Tuesday through Saturday, 11am to 6pm. Appointments are not necessary, masks are optional

Directions:
1709 W Chicago Avenue is located in Chicago’s West Town neighborhood, in between Wood and Paulina streets. Western Exhibitions shares the 1709 W Chicago Avenue building with Document, Volume Gallery, Paris London Hong Kong and David Salkin Creative, and is directly above Rhona Hoffman Gallery.

Public transit:
CTA BLUE LINE TRAIN depart at the DIVISION stop and walk south on Ashland to Chicago Avenue, or depart at the CHICAGO stop and walk west on Chicago Avenue.

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SKOKIE

7933 N Lincoln Ave
Skokie, IL 60077

Gallery hours:
Wednesday to Saturday, 12-6 pm
Sunday, 12-4 pm

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Gallery Background

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, Volume Gallery and Paris London Hong Kong.

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.

In November 2022, the gallery opened a second location, (northern) Western Exhibitions, in the Chicagoland suburb of Skokie. (northern) Western Exhibitions shares a renovated single-floor bow truss building on Skokie’s charming downtown corridor with WHO Modern, a mid-century modern-focused vintage store co-run by Donald Schmaltz and building owner Zach Williams. As a vintage veteran with a passion for Italian furniture, Schmaltz previously co-owned Chicago’s Circa Modern and has worked as a design specialist at Toomey & Co. Auctioneers and Leslie Hindman Auctioneers. In addition to curating furniture and designed objects at WHO Modern, Schmaltz will also oversee day-to-day operations at (northern) Western Exhibitions.

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Art Fairs

Staple + Stitch Art Book and Print Fair, Chicago 2024
NADA Miami 2022, 2021, 2019, 2018, 2009, 2008
NADA New York 2022, 2018, 2012
Outsider Art Fair 2022, 2021*, 2017
Future Fair 2021, 2020*
Intersect Chicago 2020*
Editions | Artist Books, New York 2020*, 2018, 2015, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010
EXPO Chicago 2020*, 2019, 2015
Intersect Aspen 2020*
FAIR 2020*
not cancelled Chicago 2020*
Art Los Angeles Contemporary 2020, 2019
Chicago Art Book Fair 2019, 2018, 2017
Cincinnati Art Book 2019, 2018
UNTITLED Miami Beach 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013
Code Art Fair, Copenhagen 2017
LA Art Book Fair 2016
Art Rotterdam 2015
Dallas Art Fair 2015
Baltimore Contemporary Print Fair 2015, 2012
Texas Contemporary, Houston 2013
VOLTA NY 2013
MDW Fair, Chicago 2011
The Armory Show, New York 2009
Art LA 2009
Milwaukee International Art Fair 2008, 2006
NEXT, Chicago 2009, 2008
NY Art Book Fair 2009, 2008
Volta 4, Basel 2008
The Affair at the Jupiter, Portland 2007, 2006
The Stray Show, Chicago 2002, 2001
*online fairs 2020-2021

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Press

Gallery shows have been reviewed in Artforum, Art in America, Art Papers, Art Review and in several Chicago-based publications. See complete bibliography here.

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Submissions

While we are not actively looking to add to our roster, we might take a look at what you are doing. We invite you to email us with your website address (URL). Please do not email jpegs (emails with an attachment of any kind will be deleted without opening) or mail a package. If you don’t have a website, get one! Also, please don’t expect an immediate response or a critique — there are only so many hours in the day…..

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Mailing List

To receive invitations or information by email please join our mailing list by clicking here.