Don’t Miss These Five Standouts at Expo Chicago

Winnipeg, Canada-based artist duo Michael Dumontier and Neil Farber have previously collaborated with Marcel Dzama as part of the Royal Art Lodge collective. Their paintings and sculptures combine imagery and cheeky text that made me laugh out loud: One sculpture of stacked fictional books includes a cover with the words “Inside Famous” written on its spine. (Related!) Another large painting composed of modular small tile paintings features a panel displaying a book titled “Itinerant Lothario”, an irresistible combination of words.

With locations in Toronto and Montreal, Patel Brown sells small works for as low as $1,000, sculptures from $5,000 to $20,000, and large paintings from $15,000 to $40,000.

If you thought you wouldn’t find an illuminated missal from Belgium from the 1500s at the Chicago World’s Fair, known for its modern and contemporary art, you’ll be pleasantly surprised at the booth of Les Enluminures, a manuscript dealer with locations in Chicago, New York and Paris. The gallery also participated in TEFAF Maastricht last month, selling the rare artifact for $575,000. The 13-inch-tall book is one of two volumes, the other kept in the Glasgow Library, created for Jan de Broedere, the Benedictine abbot of Grammont. Its pages feature five what the gallery calls large miniature paintings and a number of smaller paintings. Fascinatingly, two paintings from the book were lost over the centuries, but the gallery was later able to find them in two different private collections. Now, the book is complete again, said Sandra Hindman, founder and president of Les Enluminures.

Pao Houa Her, whose parents are Hmong, risked their lives to escape Laos by siding with the United States during the Vietnam War. Her portraits of men posing in military uniform, including some of her relatives who fought on the American side, are simple in form and emotionally resonant. Notably, the American Legion in Laos is still fighting for benefits for these men, who were recruited by the CIA and then hung out to dry by U.S. authorities. Likewise, the Hmong have been targeted by a recent surge in Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, who are now based in the Twin Cities. “They were arrested, hunted,” the artist told art news. “Agents Raid Hmong-Owned Businesses.” Her large framed photos, printed in editions of three, sell for between $12,000 and $17,500.

“It takes a lot of money to look this cheap,” Dolly Parton once said. Robert Nava’s paintings may look busy and rushed, like the work of a child, but we know that it takes hard work and true freedom to let go of the ideas we have received about competence and correctness. Night Gallery founder Davida Nemeroff said the East Chicago native considered Chicago Imagism an early source of inspiration and moved to New York after graduating from Yale University, where Jean-Michel Basquiat also had a major influence.

It’s him who directs the stall Volt Dog, Battery Dragon (2025), in which the titular beast leaps across a pink ground, accompanied by brief descriptions of a tree, a submarine, and lightning. The canvases are painted in oils and acrylics, and some parts have the feel of hastily spat out airbrush graffiti. According to Nemerov, he worked on it for more than two years.

As of the end of VIP Day on Thursday, the gallery had priced Nava’s painting up to $200,000.

New York artist Aliza Nisenbaum, who received her BFA and MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, will be in the spotlight when the Obama Presidential Center opens in June. She painted a massive interior mural on the interior of the Chicago Public Library branch, where the branch will set up shop. On display in this shared booth are her portraits (priced from $20,000 to $200,000) that are the result of long-term interactions with her models, who she often painted multiple times and became participants in the work. One piece shows a mariachi band from Los Angeles who not only perform but also teach future generations. Some of the figures featured in Obama’s massive mural also appear in portraits in the booth, so eagle-eyed collectors may have a chance to own a painting associated with Chicago’s next major cultural center.