Lori Waxman

Lori Waxman is a freelance writer for the Chicago Tribune.

The coffins in Ebony G. Patterson’s “Invisible Presence: Bling Memories,” 2014, were originally carried through the streets of Kingston in Jamaica in a carnival-esque performance. Part of the exhibition “Project a Black Planet” at the Art Institute. (Provided by AIC)

Review: In ‘Project a Black Planet’ at the Art Institute, artists from all over expand on the idea of Pan-Africanism

February 18, 2025 at 10:27 a.m.

Regenstein Hall looks magnificent, resplendent with more than 350 objects from paintings to flags to a rotating disco ball in the form of the Egyptian queen Nefertiti.

A dozen screen prints by Thomas Bayrle (left) and a 1965

artwork made by Barbara T. Smith using a Xerox machine are part of "The Living End: Painting and Other Technologies, 1970-2020" at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. (Robert Chase Heishman)

Review: ‘The Living End’ at MCA: When artists first discovered computers, the results weren’t always pretty

January 23, 2025 at 5:00 a.m.

“The Living End: Painting and Other Technologies, 1970-2020” takes over the museum's fourth floor. A lot of the work is ugly, plenty of it is funny, and nearly all of...

Part of the exhibition "Potential Energy: Chicago Puppets Up Close" at the Chicago Cultural Center. (Colectivo Multipolar)

Art for winter 2025: 10 shows, from revisionist surveys to unusual solos

January 14, 2025 at 11:42 a.m.

If your New Year’s resolutions include seeing more art, be it for distraction or engagement, look no further.

New Yorker Losel Yauch based "Procession Immemorial" on her grandfather's memories of growing up in eastern Tibet. Her horses, currently on view in "Reimagine: Himalayan Art Now" at Wrightwood 659, are sculpted from willow branches, recycled sari silk, brass bells, raffia and cotton. (Michael Topea)

Review: From Buddhas to busses, icons to iPods, Wrightwood 659 shows Himalayan artworks then and now

December 26, 2024 at 5:00 a.m.

“Reimagine: Himalayan Art Now” pairs art by living artists of the Himalayas and its diaspora with traditional religious objects from Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan and surrounding areas.

A view of the exhibition "Paul D'Amato's Midway," on display on the second floor of the Chicago Cultural Center through Jan. 4, 2025. (Paul D’Amato and Stephen Daiter Gallery)

Review: ‘Midway’ to here: Paul D’Amato photographs the people and places surrounding Midway Airport

November 8, 2024 at 5:00 a.m.

Nearly every week for the past 10 years, Paul D’Amato has been photographing the environs of Midway International Airport.

Andrea Carlson's solo show "Shimmer on Horizons" at the Museum of Contemporary Art includes sculpture, paintings on paper and video that present alternatives to traditional American landscape art. (Robert Chase Heishman photo)

Review: Artist Andrea Carlson’s work, including ‘Shimmer’ at the MCA, looks deeply into Indigenous dispossession

October 15, 2024 at 5:15 a.m.

“Shimmer on Horizons” is an excellent opportunity to experience a radically other view of the planet’s surface.

Yvette Mayorga’s “The Lovers Dance,” part of the exhibition “Augmented Chicago: Inaugural Realities” in Millennium Park. (Rendered image provided by Millennium Park Foundation)

Review: Is this art for real? ‘Augmented Chicago’ joins new artwork in Millennium Park

September 12, 2024 at 5:15 a.m.

The park celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. Some new public art installed for the occasion is only there in your mind, and on your phone.

Riva Lehrer’s recent multimedia depiction of Sky Cubacub will be on display this fall, alongside the artist herself, who will turn the Zolla/Lieberman gallery into a working portrait studio for the duration of her show, with invited collaborators. (Provided by Ronit Bezalel / Colectivo Multipolar)

Art for fall 2024: Top 10 exhibitions at AIC, DePaul and the Cultural Center

September 6, 2024 at 5:30 a.m.

From a first solo exhibition to a show about an artist who made oddball Chicago houses, our picks from the city's art museums and galleries for the next months.

Detail of "East River from the Shelton (East River No. 1)" (1927-28) by Georgia O’Keeffe. Part of the exhibition “My New Yorks” at the Art Institute of Chicago from June 2 to Sept. 22, 2024. (Peter S. Jacobs photo / Georgia O’Keeffe Museum)

Review of ‘My New Yorks’ at Art Institute: When Georgia O’Keeffe lived in the city

June 18, 2024 at 5:15 a.m.

She's not just about desert landscapes. A fuller account of the artist's tale is told in the Art Institute’s summer blockbuster.

"East River from the 30th Story of the Shelton Hotel" (1928) by Georgia O’Keeffe. Part of the exhibition “My New Yorks” at the Art Institute of Chicago from June 2 to Sept. 22, 2024. (Georgia O’Keeffe Museum)

Top 10 for art in Chicago: Georgia O’Keeffe to Art on the Mart in a 2024 summer of firsts

May 28, 2024 at 5:30 a.m.

An unusual number of firsts are taking place in Chicago museums this summer, from older artists getting their due to emergent talents making their local debuts.

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