UPCOMING ExhibitionS
The possibility of an expanse and what interrupts it
Mariel Harari
February 28–April 11, 2025
Opening Reception: February 28, 6:00–9:00pm
The possibility of an expanse and what interrupts it is a site specific window installation featuring new work by Mariel Harari opening on February 28 through April 11 at Co-prosperity. The work explores how human made systems impact organic beings. Physically, focusing on the way plants grow in relation to sidewalks, buildings and pollutants. Emotionally, investigating how memory can both reinforce imposed values and hierarchies, or be drawn on to untangle them.
The installation consists of fiber, sculpture, drawing, photo and video. A large blue textile presents something uncontained, images of an arm, thumb, bricks and sidewalk squares are stitched on to interrupt the blue. Hybrid sculptures present combinations of trees growing into buildings, self portraiture and limbs emerging from a cocoon of drawn memories, and plants growing from cracks in cement. The video strings together footage from Harari’s walks around Chicago, observing how and where plants contend with imposed environment, the encompassing nature of sky, and what can be learned from openness and softening contrived delineations.
BAUBO UNEARTHED:
A Trove of Mystery
Laughter in the Face of Grief
A Conjuring
February 28–April 12, 2025
Opening Reception: February 28, 6:00–9:00pm
Co-Prosperity presents BAUBO UNEARTHED, a celebration of joyful resistance in the face of despair and oppression. The exhibition is a tribute to the ancient figure Baubo, whose bawdy humor served as a catalyst for transformation, breaking the grief of the goddess Demeter and restoring the cycles of life, as held in the lore of the Eleusinian Mysteries.
Curated by Stephany Colunga, BAUBO UNEARTHED is presented as a museum-like display of mythic and historical narratives and artifacts alongside a contemporary art showcase. It features a diverse group of inter/national artists united by the spirit of Baubo, directly and by way of embodiment. Through sculpture, painting, performance, jewelry, video, and sound installation, the works (re)introduce this elusive figure, aiming to transmute collective grief, foster radical empathy, and ignite defiance through laughter.
Baubo emerges as a symbol of unapologetic apotropaic joy, feminine rage, queer love, and the power of vulnerability, urging viewers to dismantle despair, engage with their suffering, and envision nourishing, interconnected futures. The exhibition emphasizes reclaiming agency and rekindling curiosity, wonder, and hope as acts of rebellion against oppressive systems.
BAUBO UNEARTHED, Stephany Colunga’s curatorial debut, showcases work from around the world, gathering together artists in various stages of their lives and careers. This is a culmination of years of self-supported research—including a trip to the sanctuary of Demeter in Priene in southern Turkey where the Baubo votives were discovered, along with a visit to the Altes Museum in Berlin where the figurines reside. Colunga’s own contributions to the show include metal-work, ceramics, video, and installation, an evolution and unfolding of the sensitive, intuitive work she is known for.
A special evening of performances will take place on the Spring equinox, March 21st, from 7:00 to 10:00pm. These performances tie the exhibition to the Eleusinian Mysteries, which mark the return of Persephone from Hades and the renewal of life. This conjuring of spring will feature performances by Alicia McDaid (McDazzler), Karly Bergmann, Chicago band SHRIFT, and more.
Contributing artists:
Crackhead Barney
KS Brewer
Amanda Joy Calobrisi
Stephany Colunga
Baylen Levore
Yolanda McLellan
Alicia McDaid
Helen Welton
Past PROGRAMS and exhibitions
exhibition texts
Co-Prosperity started an initiative in 2021 with the help of our Co-Pro Council that commissions writers to produce responses that document/review/analyze/discuss/talk about their experiences of our exhibitions. Are you a writer? Get added to our Writer’s Bank here!
About Co-Prosperity Chicago
Co-Prosperity is a gallery and HQ for Public Media Institute: a non-profit organization that brings you independent media projects like Lumpen Magazine, Lumpen Radio, and Lumpen TV, a gallery in upstate New York, Buddy (an artist store at the Chicago Cultural Center), and MdW: a coalition of artist-run organizations in the Midwest!
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