Mayor Rahm Emanuel today announced that the City of Chicago welcomed more than 100,000 visitors from around the world to Chicago for several premier arts and design events. For its second edition, the Chicago Architecture Biennial (CAB) expanded to include over 140 practitioners from 20 countries at exhibitions at the Chicago Cultural Center hub, as well as at six neighborhood sites across the city. EXPO CHICAGO, the International Exposition of Contemporary and Modern Art, presented 135 leading international galleries from 25 countries and 58 cities. Additional special projects in collaboration with both CAB and EXPO CHICAGO took place at Navy Pier with Nick Cave’s Here Hear Chicago performances and at the DuSable Museum of African American History’s Roundhouse for the Palais de Tokyo’s first-ever off-site exhibition in the United States, in partnership with the Institut français. The Chicago Architecture Biennial runs through January 7, 2018, and is free and open to the general public at the Chicago Cultural Center and sites across the city.
 
“Renowned exhibitions at both the Chicago Architecture Biennial and EXPO CHICAGO bolstered Chicago’s reputation as the vanguard of architectural, art and design innovation on the national and international stage and underscores the city’s important convening power,” said Mayor Rahm Emanuel. “I want to thank all of the architects, organizers, and residents of Chicago who made this week such a tremendous cultural, educational and economic success for our city.”

CAB, addressing the theme Make New History, opened to critical acclaim this weekend. Estimated attendance was over 30,000 at opening festivities Thursday through Sunday at all CAB related venues, including the Chicago Cultural Center, Expo 72 and the City Gallery at the Historic Water Tower. Special projects were also exhibited at Garfield Park Conservatory, Farnsworth House, and CAB’s six Community Anchor sites at The Beverly Arts Center, DePaul Art Museum, DuSable Museum of African American History, Hyde Park Art Center, the National Museum of Mexican Art and the National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture.

"We are grateful for the initial, enthusiastic response to the Biennial from both the professionals who traveled here to celebrate its opening and from local citizens and visitors to our city who attended the exhibition in its first days, said Jack Guthman, Chairman of the Board for the Chicago Architecture Biennial. The Biennial is intended to serve multiple audiences. The praise for the selection of works on exhibit and the dialogue they have generated are most welcome and, we hope, indicative of a successful exposition."

The opening of 2017 Biennial aligned with the sixth annual EXPO CHICAGO, the International Exposition of Contemporary and Modern Art, which underscores the important convening power that Chicago has for visual art and architectural innovation across the world. The estimated attendance for the event at Navy Pier was 40,000 over the five days between Wednesday and Sunday, including 8,500 for the opening night Vernissage event, benefitting the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago.

“I am extremely proud that the sixth edition of EXPO CHICAGO aligned with the opening of the Chicago Architecture Biennial and the Palais de Tokyo to contribute to an extraordinary week of international art, architecture and design events and exhibitions,” said EXPO CHICAGO President | Director Tony Karman. “There is no city in the world that collaborates like Chicago, and all of us have benefitted greatly with the incredible support and involvement of our cultural institutions, galleries, artists, architects and civic leaders working together to welcome the world.”

EXPO CHICAGO and the CAB have partnered with the Palais de Tokyo in Paris for its first US satellite exhibition, at the Roundhouse at the DuSable Museum of African American History through October 28.

Additional CAB special projects will include a SO-IL and Ana Prvački collaboration and a Francois Perrin installation at the Garfield Park Conservatory, a performance artwork by Gerard & Kelly at the Farnsworth House, and James Welling photographs and Gerard & Kelly videos at the City Gallery in the Historic Water Tower.  The River Edge Ideas Lab exhibit, unveiled at CAB by the Metropolitan Planning Council (MPC), nine participating architects and other partners and funders, featured development concepts to enhance the Chicago Riverwalk from the main branch to Ping Tom Park in Chinatown.
 
In addition to the exhibitions at the Cultural Center and Community Anchor sites, the Chicago Architecture Biennial will present a robust roster of public programming which will take place throughout the run of the Biennial. Programming will include a sound performance by multidisciplinary artist Mark Fell, a discussion between the Museum of Modern Art Associate Curator Yasmil Raymond and artist Tomás Saraceno, a screening of the film Jens Jensen: The Living Green, a lecture by Pritzker Prize winner Tadao Ando, and a conversation between architect Cesar Pelli and Art Gensler. For more information on CAB including public programming, please visit chicagoarchitecturebiennial.org. 

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About the 2017 Chicago Architecture Biennial
The 2017 Chicago Architecture Biennial is free and open to the public September 16, 2017-January 7, 2018.  The hub of the 2017 Biennial is the Chicago Cultural Center and will provide a platform for groundbreaking architectural projects and spatial experiments that demonstrate how creativity and innovation can radically transform our lived experience under this year’s theme, “Make New History.” The 2017 Biennial is presented in partnership with the City of Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events and funded through private donations with lead support from SC Johnson, Presenting Sponsor; BP, Founding Sponsor., Alphawood Foundation, Chicago Community Trust, Clayco, MacArthur Foundation,  Zell Family Foundation,  Shahid Khan; The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation; Edlis-Neeson Foundation; Lendlease; Magellan Development Group; Joe and Rika Mansueto; The Walsh Group; American Institute of Architects; Artek; Comcast NBCUniversal; Marriott; National Endowment for the Arts; Robert R. McCormick Foundation; Samuel M. and Ann S. Mencoff Foundation; Graham Foundation; Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP; and Thornton Tomasetti.

About EXPO CHICAGO
EXPO CHICAGO, The International Exposition of Contemporary and Modern Art, is presented by Art Expositions, LLC at Navy Pier’s Festival Hall, hosting more than 135 leading International exhibitors presented alongside one of the highest quality platforms for global contemporary art and culture. Entering its seventh year as a leading international art fair, EXPO CHICAGO offers diverse programming including /Dialogues, IN/SITU, IN/SITU Outside, EXPO VIDEO, the Curatorial Forum, the Art Critics Forum, Special Exhibitions, EXPO Sound and OVERRIDE | A Billboard Project. In addition, EXPO CHICAGO continues to publish THE SEEN, Chicago's International Journal of Contemporary & Modern Art. Under the leadership of President and Director Tony Karman, EXPO CHICAGO draws upon the city’s rich history as a vibrant international cultural destination, while highlighting the region’s contemporary arts community and inspiring its collector base. In 2017, EXPO CHICAGO aligned with the opening of the Chicago Architecture Biennial (September 16–January 7, 2018), establishing the city as a preeminent destination for global contemporary art and architecture, intersecting across a wide variety of programs including panels, international residencies, exhibitions and citywide events. In addition, EXPO CHICAGO also partnered with the Palais de Tokyo in Paris for its first off-site exhibition in the United States with the Institut français to kick off EXPO CHICAGO (September 12–October 29, 2017) at the Roundhouse at the DuSable Museum of African American History.

EXPO CHICAGO 2018 will return September 27–30. The seventh edition will align with Art Design Chicago, and together with the Chicago Humanities Festival, Navy Pier and the Terra Foundation for American Art, will present the first-ever Hans Ulrich Obrist Marathon in the United States.

For more information on EXPO CHICAGO and EXPO ART WEEK (September 24–30, 2018) visit expochicago.com.