Founded in 1915, The Renaissance Society's mission is to encourage the growth and understanding of contemporary art through exhibitions, publications, and events.
The Renaissance Society presents art seldom seen
in the midwest, giving the public opportunities to investigate the most recent developments in contemporary art. At the same time, the museum is equally committed to fostering the development of Chicago's own rich artistic resources.
All programs are guided by the goal of maintaining The Renaissance Society's integrity as one of the finest resources of vanguard art in the nation.

The Renaissance Society
2009 2010 Exhibition Season




Allan Sekula, September 20 to December 13, 2009

The Renaissance Society will present an exhibition of new work by photographer Allan Sekula. This new series, titled Polonia and Other Fables, critically documents and examines the social impact of global economics. Always aiming to position his work within an exhibitions local community, Sekula will develop this project to focus on Chicagos rich labor history, in particular on the citys large Polish immigrant population, and The University of Chicagos famous lineage of economic theorists.

In addition to being outstanding documentary photography in its own right, Sekula's work is also a critique of the genre. Sekulas examination of the theory and practice of photography is as important as his inquiry into labor history and economics. Central to his work is an interest in documentation—as pictorial form, method of recording, narrative device, historical memory, and medium of social engagement. Sekula's work poses the rhetorical question, Is it possible to discuss photography as a medium separate from the thing being photographed? Put another way, is a photograph in and of itself capable of being self-reflexive while critiquing its subject? Sekulas answer is no. An integral part of his practice is writing, an activity he has maintained since the outset of his career 35 years ago. His writings expose the inherent limits of a documentary genre based purely on photographic imagery. Together, Sekula's images and text constitute the most trenchant and rigorous photographic discourse on globalization.

Anna Shteynshleyger, January 3 to February 14, 2009

The Renaissance Society will mount a solo exhibition of photographs by Chicago-based artist Anna Shteynshleyger (b. 1977). Trained at Yale, Shteynshleyger belongs to a generation of photographers whose work is notable for its formal beauty and technical execution. The exhibition will feature approximately 18 works that poignantly document Shteynshleyger's life over the past several years. During that period, Shteynshleyger has had to renegotiate her relationship to Orthodox Judaism, which she had practiced since the age of 16, after moving to the United States from Moscow where she was born. Too personal to qualify as documentary of the Orthodox Jewish community, Shteynshleyger's work spans a variety of genres—portraits, still-life, landscape, and interiors—all of which will be included in the exhibition. The portraits and interiors display a sensitivity that is as questioning as it is knowing of its subjects.