1
Ai Weiwei
Museum of Contemporary Photography
Love him or hate him, Weiwei’s politicized provocations hit a strong nerve.

2
Huong Ngo
DePaul Art Museum
Ngo brilliantly weaves archival research with material precision to explore the many identities of Vietnamese anticolonial resistance.

3
Deana Lawson
Rhona Hoffman Gallery
Lawson’s piercingly intimate portraits defy all expectations of identity politics and everyday life.

4
Eugene “Eda” Wade
Chicago Cultural Center
Commissioned for the doors of Malcolm X College’s recently demolished structure, Eda’s paintings are a lynchpin of Chicago’s black art history.

5
Memoria Presente
National Museum of Mexican Art
America’s premier museum of art from both sides of the US-Mexican border commemorates thirty years with a show of living Chicago artists.