Hyde Park Art Center just opened a new exhibition, Ground Floor, which introduces Chicago to the most promising emerging artists who have recently completed top level MFA programs.

Casilda Sánchez. Still from Quisiera ser tan alta como la luna (I) (I wish I was as tall as the moon) 2012. 5 channel HD video, 10 min loop. Image courtesy of Aspect Ratio Projects and Hyde Park Art Center.

A survey exhibition of fresh art that brings together work by Chicago’s new leading talent, Ground Floor acts as a biennial best-of show that challenges and transforms Chicago’s existing artscape. Ground Floor receives its name for filling the entire lower level (10,000 square feet) of the Art Center.

The artists featured include Jeremy Bolen, Guillermo R. Gudiño, Julie Renée Jones, Tony Lewis, Andrew Thomas Lopez, Eric May, Rachel Niffenegger, Josh Reames, Casilda Sánchez, Neal Vandenbergh and Shane Ward.

The exhibition provides young artists a major public venue in one of Chicago’s premiere exhibition spaces and deliverers a diverse audience via one of the most trusted authorities on great art in the city. Ground Floor provides a major platform for artists breaking into the professional art world, while simultaneously offering the arts community an introduction to artists whose work demands to be seen and supported.

Rachel Niffenegger Shroud (Etiolated Shred and Symbol) 2012. Watercolor, acrylic, spray paint, fabric, paper, tape, wood, concrete, plaster, and studio debris 96 x 48 x 4 inches. Image courtesy of Western Exhibitions and Hyde Park Art Center.

Exhibiting artists in the 2012 Ground Floor exhibition come from a broad range of schools that offer graduate level fine art degrees, including the University of Chicago, the University of Illinois at Chicago, Northwestern University, Columbia College Chicago and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Hyde Park Art Center invites the Chicago community to celebrate the emerging artists and their work at a free exhibition reception on Sunday, September 23, 2012 from 3-5 p.m. The exhibition was developed by internationally renowned artist Dawoud Bey, who worked with Sze Lin Pang and Jason Salavon, other members of the Art Center’s Exhibitions Committee.

Tony Lewis, roloc colo oloc oloc or colo colo oloc color 2011. Pencil, graphite powder, and tape on paper 84 x 60 inches. Image courtesy of Shane Campbell Gallery and Hyde Park Art Center.

EXPO CHICAGO is proud of our partnership with Hyde Park Art Center, an important Chicago institution and contemporary art space. Hyde Park Art Center presents innovative exhibitions of new work by primarily Chicago-based artists, along with community programming that cultivates a more vibrant and inclusive arts community.

Hyde Park Art Center is located at 5020 South Cornell Avenue. For more information, visit their website.