Expo Chicago 2025/ French Connections

Since 2012, EXPO CHICAGO showcases leading contemporary and modern art galleries each April at Navy Pier’s Festival Hall, alongside a diverse and inventive lineup of talks, on-site installations, and public art initiatives.

Once again, Chicago presents itself as a privileged cultural destination, given the rich contemporary art community that gathers there every year. Thanks to its annual curatorial exchange, EXPO CHICAGO remains one of the only art fairs in the country to have an initiative dedicated to funding global curatorial exchanges, which foster future collaborations between curators on a local, national, and international level. This invitation-only program encourages critical dialogue on the Chicago and Midwest art scenes from an international perspective.

Galleries

For the 2025 edition, 98 gallerists will be represented, including a large number of Paris-based gallery owners:

193 Gallery, Paris, Venice
Bogéna Galerie, Saint-Paul de Vence
Galerie Charlot, Paris, Tel Aviv
Les Enluminures, Chicago, New York, Paris
Galerie Richard, Paris
Zidoun-Bossuyt Gallery, Dubai, Luxembourg, Paris

Directors Summit

EXPO CHICAGO will celebrate its fourth annual Directors Summit, April 24-26, 2025. The initiative has previously gathered an emerging generation of art museum leaders from across the country. For the first time in 2025, the program will include distinguished leaders from across the globe. In partnership with Villa Albertine Chicago, this year’s participant from France is:

Guillaume Désanges, Director, Palais de Tokyo in Paris

Guillaume Désanges is curator and art critic. In January 2022, he was named president of the Palais de Tokyo. He founded Work Method, a Paris based agency for curatorial projects. From 2013 to 2022, he was responsible for the artistic programme of La Verrière – Fondation d’entreprise Hermès in Brussels. From 2015 to 2019, he also curated the Méthode Room, an artist residency in Chicago.

Curatorial Exchange

Through its annual Curatorial Exchange, EXPO CHICAGO remains one of the nation’s only art fairs with a dedicated initiative focused on funding global curatorial exchanges that foster future collaborations for curators on the local, national and international level. This invitation-only program fosters critical dialogue about the Chicago and Midwest art scenes from an international perspective.
In partnership with Villa Albertine Chicago, this year’s participant from France is:

Jean-Baptiste Delorme, Director of the Musée d’art contemporain de la Haute-Vienne – Château de Rochechouart

Opened in 1995, this contemporary art museum is housed in a Renaissance castle in the heart of the French countryside. Previously, Jean-Baptiste Delorme served as a curator at the Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris, the Centre National des Arts Plastiques in Paris, and the Musée National Marc Chagall in Nice.