Past Exhibitions
Spring 2025
March 19 through May 11, 2025
Windows to the Subconscious
South Gallery
View "Windows to the Subconscious" online.
"Windows to the Subconscious" is a juried exhibition exploring the meaning of dreams. It features the work of 13 artists selected from applicants from around the country who responded to our call for entry asking for their perceptions on dreams and nightmares.
The selected artists are Brandin Barón, Natalie Christensen, Marcella Hackbardt, Sandra Leonard, B. Lynch, Alejandro Mazon, Mark Pease, Mary Porterfield, Janelle Rebel, Jeffrey Rinehart, Maria Robinson, Martha Wagner and Liu Yang.
Surrealist Classics from the Museum Collection
South Gallery
View "Surrealist Classics" online.
"Surrealist Classics from the Museum Collection," also in the South Galleries, features another 13 artists: Hans (Jean) Arp, Hans Bellmer, Salvador Dalí, Georgio de Chirico, Paul Delvaux, Max Ernst, Fernand Léger, René Magritte, Roberto Matta, André Masson, Joan Miró, Man Ray and Odilon Redon.
These pieces come from a donation by Melvin and Dicky Pfaelzer that would become the foundation of the NIU Art Museum. Initially associating as a group in the 1920s, the Surrealists were deeply interested in interpreting dreams as conduits for unspoken feelings and desires.
Phantasmagraphica: The Early Psychedelic Work of British Artist Douglas Binder
North Gallery
View "Phantasmagraphica" online.
"Phantasmagraphica: The Early Psychedelic Work of British Artist Douglas Binder or Nightmares of alienation in post-industrial England" includes a selection of intriguing gouache paintings on paper and a panel from a larger triptych donated to the museum by M.A. Lipschultz of Chicago. Phantasmagraphica is a reference to both the inventive and unsettling imagery and the bold graphic style with which it is depicted. We remain unsure about the exact personal meaning behind Binder’s chosen iconography but the repetition of motifs both enhances and subverts our attempts at logical interpretation.
A Deb Sokolow Sampler: 20 Years of Speculative Drawing
Rotunda Gallery
View "A Deb Sokolow Sampler" online.
"A Deb Sokolow Sampler: 20 Years of Speculative Drawing" rounds out the suite. Sokolow is a Chicago-based artist for whom observed reality becomes a point of departure for researching and imagining the unknown and the plausible. Snippets of truth jump out at the viewer when reading the early, somewhat crudely rendered diaristic work, as well as when one studies Sokolow’s later, more visually elegant architectural renderings. Both exemplify the artist’s obsessive dissection and diagramming to clarify the unexplained. With humor and a dose of paranoia, she burrows deeply when researching her topics, deconstructing and critically imagining her apocalyptic narratives.
A catalog with essay by Ross Stanton Jordan is in production. All works courtesy of the artist and Western Exhibitions, Chicago.
Winter 2024-2025
November 20, 2024 through February 15, 2025
College of Visual and Performing Arts Faculty Biennial
Rotunda and South Galleries
View "CVPA Faculty Biennial" online.
Shown every two years, this invitational exhibition featured artwork and scholarship of current full-time and part-time faculty and teaching staff from the School of Art and Design, School of Music and School of Theatre and Dance.
Featuring work and scholarship from: School of Art and Design: art and design education: Kryssi Staikidis and Shei-Chau Wang; art foundations: John Siblik and Ben Stone; art history: Sarah Evans and Rebecca Houze; design and media art: Riley Brown, Amy Fleming, Aleksandra Giza, Maria Grillo, Jessica Labatte, Perrin Stamatis, Amanda VanValkenburg and Jullian Young; studio art: Michael Barnes, Marisol Cervantes, Billie Giese, Cynthia Hellyer-Heinz, Jim Kearns, Millicent Kennedy, Kimberly Martens, Ari Norris, Nina Rizzo, Geoffrey Todd Smith and Frank Trankina; teaching Staff: Janelle Rae and Veronica Storc; School of Music: Lucia Matos; School of Theatre and Dance: dance: Rich Grund; design and technology: Jeremy W. Floyd; history, literature and criticism: Gibson Cima.
New to the Collection
North Gallery
View "New to the Collection" online.
This exhibition featured artwork added to the Permanent Collection of the NIU Art Museum between 2019 and 2024.
Featured artists include: Letterio Calapai, Patricia Fennell, Jessica Gondek, Leo Limon, Ben Mahmoud, Gladys Nilsson, Rudy Pozzatti, Barbara Rossi, Paul Sierra, Gail Skudera, Clarissa Sligh, Eleanor Spiess-Ferris and Peter Van Ael.
Fall 2024
August 28 through October 19, 2024
Seeing Each Other: Portraits in Time and Place
Rotunda Gallery
View "Seeing Each Other" online.
"Seeing Each Other: Portraits in Time and Place" is curated by the NIU Art Museum Exhibition Advisory Committee. Thirty-one works by 23 artists were selected by invitation and from a national call for entry by NIU Art Museum staff and members of the museum's Exhibition Advisory Committee. Each entry explores this time-honored tradition in art making in a unique way, often finding universal narratives and concerns within intimate and personal imagery.
The artists participating in this exhibition include: Trudy Borenstein-Sugiura, Maggie Capettini, Alyssa Corrigan, Virginia Derryberry, Carly Ellis, Dan Farnum, Julia Fauci, Shawna Gibbs, Charles Gniech, Heather Green, Nicholas Gully, Dean Krueger, Carol Luc, Kiara Aileen Machado, Dana Major, Dave Menard, Danielle Piloto, So Young Song, Veronica Storc, Ann Toebbe, Dillon Ward, Amy Yeager and Dan Zamudio.
Hold Still: Portraits from the Permanent Collection
South Gallery
"Hold Still: Portraits from the Permanent Collection" is curated by NIU Art Museum's Assistant Director Peter B. Olson. Portraiture, like "still life" or "landscape" has been a pillar of art genres since time immemorial. We combed through our permanent collection to assemble an exhibition of portraits including Japanese actor prints and Andy Warhol Polaroids. Gritty to the idealized, there are images of individuals, groups, the self and even animals.
Homage to Humanity: Portrait Prints by Sidney Chafetz
North Gallery
View "Homage to Humanity" online.
"Homage to Humanity: Portrait Prints by Sidney Chafetz" is also curated by Peter B. Olson and will show a series of prints by Sidney Chafetz. Chafetz (1922-2013), a Jewish American artist, devoted his life to education and the arts. An avid reader, Chafetz employed his talents as a printmaker to depict his social and literary heroes. In this exhibition, we gathered many of his portraits into a cultural hall of fame.
- Things that Seem Needed Suite (August 29 – October 14, 2023)
- Dialogue (curated by Jo Burke)
- The Remaining, Mourn (curated by Michael Chambers and Millicent Kennedy)
- Food Exhibition Suite (November 14 – February 17, 2024)
- Making Our History – Artists Render Lincoln’s Legacies (March 26 – May 11, 2024)
- Lincoln Highway: The Main Street Across America (March 26 – May 11, 2024)
- Children's Illustrated Suite (August 23 - October 15, 2022)
- Golden Legacy: Original Art from 80 Years of Golden Books
- Everyday People: The Art of James E. Ransome
Both shows were organized and traveled by the National Center for Children's Illustrated Literature in Abilene, Texas - Burnishing the Medals of Children's Literature (organized by staff members of the NIU University Libraries)
- Stories From My Childhood (November 29 - December 17 and January 10 - February 17, 2023
- Ronald Gonzalez: As a Child I Sailed the World(November 29 - December 17 and January 10 - February 17, 2023)
- A Show of Hands: Recent Work by Ben Stone(January 10 - February 17, 2023)
- Collecting Suite (March 30 – May 14, 2023)
- Biennial NIU Faculty Art Show (January 19 – May 14, 2022)
NIU School of Art and Design Faculty Biennial Continuum (January 14 – March 18, extended September 8 – November 14, 2020)
- Refugee Exhibition Suite (August 24 – November 12, 2021)
- “The Art of Surviving: The Journey of the Karen Refugees in Illinois” organized by the Center for Burma Studies at NIU
- Refuge and Refugee
- “Very Well, Thank You”: The Arts as a Means to Well Being (March 26 – May 15, 2021)
- “Well Enough, Considering…” Artists take a mid-pandemic look at COVID-19
- Narrative Art Exhibition Suite (January 12 – February 26, 2021) *These exhibitions contain mature content and may not be suited for all audiences.
NIU School of Art and Design Faculty Biennial Continuum (January 14 – March 18, extended September 8 – November 14, 2020)
- Exploring Aspects of War In and Through the Visual Arts (August 27 – extended through November 13, 2019)
- Data Exhibition Suite (March 28 – May 16, 2019)
- Data: BIG/-driven/Visualized…
- Graduate Museum Studies Student-curated Exhibitions
- Transparency Exhibition Suite (November 15 - February 15, 2019 closed university holidays)
- SWEET, Golden and Delicious…NIU Studio and Design Alumni Artists (August 28 - October 19, 2018)
- Imagery and Icons: Former Tenure and Tenure-track Faculty (September 18 - October 19, 2018)
- South Asian Traditions and New Directions Exhibition Suite (March 27 - May 18, 2018)
- NIU School of Art and Design Faculty Exhibition (November 16 - December 15, 2017 and January 16 - February 23, 2018)
- New to the Collection: Recent Acquisitions (November 16 - December 15, 2017 and January 16 - February 23, 2018)
- Objectifying the Photograph (August 29 - October 20, 2017)
- Reflections: Intimate Portraits of Iconic African Americans by Terrence A. Reese (August 29 - October 20, 2017)
- Vintage Cameras: A Snapshot of Photographic Technology (August 29 - November 12, 2017)
- Hand in Hand: The Visual Arts as a Means of Social and Political Propaganda, Protest and Commentary (March 28 - May 20, 2017)
- “What a Frightful Spectacle!”: Lithographs of Honoré Daumier
- Theoretical Mockery: Satirical Prints by Sidney Chafetz
- A Tale of Donkeys and Elephants; Satire with the Wink of a Fox
- Over the Top to Victory!
- (RE)PRESENTING GUATEMALA (January 17 - February 27, 2017)
- VISIONES E HISTORIAS: Maya Paintings from Guatemala
- REGINA JOSÉ GALINDO: Bearing Witness
- This exhibition contains graphic images not appropriate for children or sensitive viewers.
- HUIPILES: Maya Identity and Identifier
- Kaleidoscope of Burmese Art: Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of the Center for Burma Studies (August 23 - November 18, 2016)
- Journey Through Burmese Art
- Masterpieces from the Burma Art Collection at NIU
- From Tradition to Modernity: Art from Myanmar as Viewed by Contemporary Burmese Artists
- Donors and Collectors: A Legacy
- Art Deco Exhibition Suite (April 7 - May 20, 2016)
- Between the Wars: Contrasts, Parallels, Shifts and Patterns
- Beyond Gatsby: Common Luxury in American Art Deco
- The Chicagoan: A Publication of the Era
- NIU School of Art and Design Faculty Biennial (November 17, 2015 - February 20, 2016)
- Contemporary Artists Exploring Relevant Social Issues (August 25 - October 24, 2015)
- Embarrassment of Riches
- Unloaded
- Sustainability Practices and Research
- Traditions Transfigured: The Noh Masks of Bidou Yamaguchi (March 24 - May 22, 2015)
- Amerimanga! Convention and Expression (March 24 - May 22, 2015)
- Local Visions: Selections From Area Collections (January 6 - February 21, 2015)
- Dressing Difference: Exploring Ethnicities in Modern Burma (August 26 - November 15, 2014)
- Manly Men, Girly Girls and Everybody in Between (August 26 - November 15, 2014)
- Hoarding, Amassing and Excess (March 25 - May 23, 2014)
- Looting, Hoarding, Collecting (April 3 - May 23, 201
- NIU School of Art Faculty Exhibition (November 9, 2013 - February 15, 2014)
- On Watching and Being Seen (August 27 - October 19, 2013)
- OBJECTIVE/SUBJECTIVE: Mapping as Visual Language (March 19 - May 24, 2013)
- Mapping: Measuring Across Place and Period; Information, Navigation, and Geography (March 19 - May 24, 2013)
- Selections from NIU's Geography department regarding contemporary mapping techniques (March 19 - May 24, 2013)
- Vice + Virtue (January 8, 2013 - February 23, 2013)
