Gallery 400 is a not-for-profit arts exhibition space

Not-for-profit arts organization

A not-for-profit arts organization is usually in the form of a not-for-profit corporation, association, or foundation. Such organizations are formed for the purpose of developing and promoting the work of artists in various visual and performing art forms such as film, sculpture, dance, painting,...

 within the College of Architecture and the Arts at the University of Illinois at Chicago

University of Illinois at Chicago

The University of Illinois at Chicago, or UIC, is a state-funded public research university located in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its campus is in the Near West Side community area, near the Chicago Loop...

. It was founded in 1983 to exhibit and support art, design and architecture. Over its history Gallery 400 has presented many exhibitions, lectures, and artist commissions. The exhibitions and programs present a broad range of recent developments and aesthetic concerns and have included more than 1,000 artists to date. It's located in Chicago's West Loop neighborhood.

Mission

Gallery 400 at the University of Illinois at Chicago supports contemporary art

Contemporary art

Contemporary art can be defined variously as art produced at this present point in time or art produced since World War II. The definition of the word contemporary would support the first view, but museums of contemporary art commonly define their collections as consisting of art produced...

, architecture, and design through exhibitions, lectures, publications and programs that prioritize interpretative reflection and critical inquiry. Operating within a public educational institution, Gallery 400 is uniquely poised to offer innovative programming that serves a range of audiences across the urban fabric of Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

 and UIC’s community.

Exhibitions

Gallery 400 regularly exhibits new work by Illinois

Illinois

Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

 artists. In group exhibitions Gallery 400 often premieres new works by local and national artists together. Exhibitions in 2009 have included: Our Literal Speed, Paper Trail, This Shadow is a Bit of Ideology, Biological Agents, and Chances are the Comets in our Future: A Visual Introduction to Drag City Records

Drag City (record label)

Drag City is a Chicago-based independent record label. It was established with a Royal Trux release in 1990 in Chicago, Illinois by Dan Koretzky and Dan Osborn.Drag City specializes in experimental indie rock acts...

.

Exhibitions from years past have included: Focus Pull: Onion City Off Screen, Frau Fiber: Knock Off Enterprises - the labor behind the label, Justin Cooper: Thread, Asma Kazmi: Relation-Chute, Andy Roche: Black Iron Vatican, Leif Elggren

Leif Elggren

Leif Elggren , is a Swedish artist who lives and works in Stockholm.Active since the late 1970s, Leif Elggren has become one of the most constantly surprising conceptual artists to work in the combined worlds of audio and visual...

 and Carl Michael von Hausswolff

Carl Michael von Hausswolff

Carl Michael von Hausswolff is a composer, visual artist and curator based in Stockholm, Sweden. His main tools are recording devices used in an ongoing investigation of electricity, frequency, architectural space and paranormal electronic interference...

: Inauguration of the Consulate General of the Kingdoms of Elgaland-Vargaland, An Atlas, I Am Eyebeam, Carol Jackson, Feel Tank Chicago

Feel Tank Chicago

Feel Tank Chicago is a Chicago-based group composed of activists, artists, and academics that engages both in critical research and political activism. It originally began as a cell in larger project called Feminism Unfinished: the cell was called Public Feelings, and has grown in other locales...

: Pathogeographies (Or, Other People's Baggage), Amanda Browder and Stuart Keeler: Urban Warp / Weft sculptural research project, Captive Audience, John Arndt : Empire, Jeanne Dunning: Tomato Fight, Carter: Drawings and Polaroids

Voices Lecture Series

Gallery 400’s Voices lecture series is a forum in Chicago for discourse in the field of art and design practice. Significant artists, critics, designers and art historians discuss timely ideas and working methods. Voices extends the educational programs of the Gallery and UIC to provide the public at large direct contact with a diverse range of artistic practices and positions. The speakers in 2009 have included: Paul Hatch, TEAMS Design

TEAMS Design

TEAMS Design is a multinational industrial design firm headquartered in Germany founded in 1956 by industrial designer Hans Erich Slany. As of July, 2009, TEAMS has five design studios on three continents. They have been ranked second by the International Forum Design , or 14th in an international...

; Pierre Dorion, Artist; Maud Lavin, Art Historian; Peter Nicholson and Tiaa Hansson-Tuntland, The Foresight Initiative and IKEA; Jonathan Shaun and Elizabeth Redmond; 3.Zero and Independent Sustainability Consultant; C.E.B. Reas, Artist; Paul Murray, Herman Miller, Inc.

Herman Miller (office equipment)

Herman Miller, Inc., based in Zeeland, Michigan, is a major American manufacturer of office furniture and equipment, as well as furniture for the home. It is notable as one of the first companies to produce modern furniture and, under the guidance of Design Director George Nelson, is likely the...

Commissions

Throughout its history Gallery 400 has commissioned

Commission (art)

In art, a commission is the hiring and payment for the creation of a piece, often on behalf of another.In classical music, ensembles often commission pieces from composers, where the ensemble secures the composer's payment from private or public organizations or donors.- Commissions for public art...

 large-scale new works through residencies

Artist in residence

Artist-in-residence programs and other residency opportunities allow visiting artists to stay and work so that they may apply singular focus to their art practice....

, comprising varied combinations of workshops for students, public lectures, the creation of large-scale new works, and collaborations between the artist, students, and partner community groups.

At the Edge: Innovative Art in Chicago

In Fall 2002 Gallery 400 initiated an annual four-month exhibition series of commissioned works from local artists called At the Edge: Innovative Art in Chicago. The Goal of At the Edge was to promote experimentation, support excellence and nurture innovation in local artistic talent. Some ATE shows have traveled after their commission at Gallery 400. Artists from the series have gone on to exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago

Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago

The Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago is a contemporary art museum near Water Tower Place in downtown Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The museum, which was established in 1967, is one of the world's largest contemporary art venues...

, one-person gallery shows in NYC and in the PS 1 exhibition Greater New York 2005. The series was brought to a close in 2008. Commissions by Illinois artists continue at Gallery 400 but no longer are listed as an independent series within the gallery's exhibition schedule. A full-color catalog of the entire ATE series is currently in production.