New MCA exhibit explores Chicago's AIDS activism
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"Cherry Coke." Doug Ischar, Marginal Waters #9, 1985, printed 2009. Courtesy of the artist.
The MCA's new exhibit, "City in a Garden: Queer Art and Activism in Chicago," explores the city's role in AIDS activism dating back to the 1980s.
The big picture: The multi-gallery show features more than 30 artists, artist collectives and activist groups working from the '80s to the present.
- The show includes everything from sculptures, performance art works and ephemera such as T-shirts, posters and newspaper clippings about the early days of the AIDS crisis.
What they're saying: "To read most existing accounts of queer art history and the history of queer activism, it's essentially to read about what happens in New York City and San Francisco," curator Jack Schneider said at a press preview.
- "The goal of this project was really to broaden the scope of scholarship on this subject beyond, or rather, between these coastal meccas."
Between the lines: The word "queer" in the title of the exhibition also speaks to LGBTQ+ people reclaiming the historically negative term.
What to expect: Large color photos of the now-demolished Belmont Rocks, a video recreation of the former bathhouse Man's Country, and a sticker with Mayor Richard M. Daley's portrait with the text "I will not get AIDS," are among the more than 80 works featured.
If you go: "City in a Garden: Queer Art and Activism in Chicago" is at the MCA through May 31, 2026. A dance party hosted by Lucy Stoole and Nico is scheduled for July 18.