Current & upcoming programs
Stuffed
Fat Pervs Unite
November 1st - December 12th, 2025
Opening Reception: Saturday, November 1st, 4:00 - 6:00PM
Anti-fat bias is sometimes known as ‘the last acceptable bias.’ Though this is clearly both problematic and untrue, it does highlight how deeply rooted anti-fatness is in our society, and how uncomfortable many people are with confronting it. The history of anti-fat bias has always been intertwined with systemic racism, sexism, and classism; the burden of fatness is felt most acutely by communities marginalized in other ways by capitalist imperialism.
STUFFED eschews mainstream narratives about body positivity, instead harnessing the powerful dread conjured by the obesity epidemic, and explores the intersection of fat and queer communities through the frequent framing of both as kinds of perversion. It exposes the historical and contemporary intersections of fatphobia with anti-queerness and transphobia, as outgrowths of broader cultural pathologization in modern Western medicine. By featuring all fat queer artists in order to illuminate the vibrant communities that have blossomed at the intersection of fat liberation, queerness and anti-imperialist struggles, the exhibition will queer the notion of perversion itself by reframing and embracing it as solidarity-building, specifically between fat and queer/kinky communities.
STUFFED is informed by fat studies scholars like Dr. Caleb Luna, whose work against healthist-futurism is an outgrowth of queer theorist Lee Edelman's treatise against heteronormative reproductive futurism. Luna theorizes fatness as a confrontation with one’s own mortality, which in turn inspires fear and repulsion. The exhibition contains several artworks that explore the intersections of pathologization and perversion, ephemera and pleasure. STUFFED embraces the temporary fantasy realms that are created through solidarity between fat bodies and other ‘unruly’ subjectivities.These spaces of excess don’t last–they necessarily come together for a short period of time and then decompose; don't despair! Here, temporary pleasures are celebrated for their fleeting nature. We’re all just cruising through utopia.
Detrás de Nosotros Estamos Ustedes: Behind Us We Are You
Atlan Arceo-Witzl
November 1st - December 12th, 2025
Opening Reception: Saturday, November 1st, 4:00 - 6:00PM
How might a public-facing commercial space be used to serve the voices of common people? A storefront that no longer sells products but instead tells stories of resistance. A place to pull up a chair and commune with neighbors. An autonomous printshop built to express dreams, ideals, and play. Each window display declares, “people over profit!” The collective of characters known as the Chican@ Mythmakers live in a hybrid world of the ancient-now where they speak of truth, dignity, and self-determination. Détras de Nosotros Estamos Ustedes reflects on the power of culture. The artist draws inspiration from liberatory political graphics, cultural ephemera of the Midwest, and the rich mythistory of marginalized people. In the face of societal tumult and rising American fascism, there are many roles to play in dismantling hierarchical systems of domination. ¡Manos a la obra!
Past PROGRAMS and exhibitions
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!
Come visit us at 3219 S MORGAN ST, Chicago, IL, and follow us on Instagram to see our Open Hours!