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What Material Do I Want to Be?

Opening on Saturday, April 19, from 7-9pm

Duration: From April 19, 2025 to April 18, 2026

The Franklin is proud to present the group exhibition titled What Material I Want to Be?

Material and intention are at the core of art making. The material that an artist uses can be as essential to their practice as the thematic explorations that propel creation. As we explore the motivations that ignite art makers to commit to a form, a material and content, What Material Do I Want To Be? explores the poetry behind the craft that comprises a work of art.

For this exhibition we have gathered a group of artists that explore materials and content at various frequencies, letting the ideas become a part of the foreground as well as the materiality that embodies their expression.

The title of this exhibition was inspired by a conversation with artist Paola Cabal regarding artistic practices.

This exhibition will allow us to celebrate the work of 20 artists, who are significant to our relationship with Chicago’s artistic community and beyond. They are people we love and admire and have been close to our radar through work, missions or friendship.

This exhibition marks a new commitment goal for The Franklin: The presentation of an exhibition that will be on view for one year. Our work and careers have become more time consuming and demanding, but our commitment, love, respect and admiration for creative communities remains the same. We will provide an opportunity for long-term visibility with the goal to enthuse exhibition participants to use The Franklin as a platform for activations, discussions, performances and gatherings. Activations and libations!

The Franklin
3522 W. Franklin Blvd.
Chicago, IL 60624
(312)823-3632
Contact: edrasoto@gmail.com
ig: the_franklin_outdoor

Unbroken Chain

Opening: Saturday, April 6 from 7-9pm
From April 6 to June 1st

Sarah and Joseph Belknap Clayton Phillips Luba Mendelevich Kitty Rauth Alberto Aguilar

As we navigate life, we experience feelings of love and loss. Interconnectedness, spirituality, existential questioning and the human experience are manifested and considered in this collective presentation.

November and more As I wait for the score They’re telling me forgiveness Is the key to every door A slow winder day A night like forever Sink like a stone
Float like a feather

Lilac rain, unbroken chain Song of the saw-whet owl Out on the mountain, it’ll drive you insane Listening to th_e wind_s howl

As we navigate personal and collective grief, we celebrate the ones who impacted our lives and the ones that we never met, who left life through unjustified causes.

From the song Unbroken Chain by The Grateful Dead

The Franklin
3522 W. Franklin Blvd.
Chicago, IL 60624
(312)823-3632
https://thefranklinoutdoor.tumblr.com/
@the_franklin_outdoor

More Sound Than Lemons

curated by Frank Vega

(presenting and preserving)

Cesar Lopez

Hyeseul Song

Julian Tyus

Mariana Noreña

Terence Hannum

Calling attention to fragments and often overlooked materials, the artists in this exhibition excavate new possibilities through ephemera, creating preservative systems of contemplation. Morphing diverse materials, locals, and procedures, these artists create a fresh domain of autonomy. These artists blend traditional and innovative processes going in and out of the static vessel of tradition. Through abstract strategies, these works navigate and exhaust natural material stability. Creating permanent containers, these artists present the viewer with fragmented elements that contextualize and reevaluate our perception of local ecosystems, providing us with new adaptable possibilities. These compositions break through the surface, reconsidering current norms, functions, presence, and permanence. The conversation between artist and object, humans and things, allows us to confront and amplify voices that deal with contemporary culture and notions around what requires preservation.

Opening Reception: Saturday, September 30th, from 2 pm to 5 pm

From September 30 to November 18, 2023