Trio of Spring Exhibitions at Wrightwood 659

Wrightwood 659 is a private, non-collecting institution devoted to socially engaged art and architecture. The three new exhibitions coming this spring showcase art that encapsulates topics from Chinese “cyberpunk” to 80s Chicago Black Gay Scene.

Kongkee: Warring States Cyberpunk features the work of award-winning animation director and visual artist Kong Khong-chang, known as Kongkee. Part comic book, part motion picture, part meditation on history, the exhibition is presented through dazzling animated vignettes projected across walls and on screens.

Patric McCoy: Take My Picture is a selection of some 50 black and white and color photographs from this rich document of 1980s Black gay Chicago. McCoy’s subjects are neither posed nor directed; each has agency over how he is seen, elevating the subject’s humanity, inverting and subverting the gaze.

And finally, Shahidul Alam: Singed But Not Burnt surveys the four-decade career of the renowned Bangladeshi photographer, writer, activist, and former Time magazine Person of the Year, as he documents the consequences of catastrophic weather, repressive regimes, and political upheaval in his home country.

The exhibitions are open Thursdays 1-8pm, Fridays 12-7pm, and Saturdays from 10am-5pm. Tickets are $15 and available online only https://tickets.wrightwood659.org/events. Please note, admission is by advance ticket only. Walk-ups are not permitted.