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Tuesday 11am - 6pm Wednesday 11am - 6pm Thursday 11am - 6pm Friday 11am - 6pm Saturday 11am - 6pm

https://hiltoncontemporary.com/?v=32aec8db952d

Hilton Contemporary, 716 N Wells Street, Chicago, IL (2025)

01/23/2025

Cristina Mittermeier has been at the World Economic Forum all week as a cultural leader alongside changemakers like and . « We’re bringing forward the stories and solutions the world needs now more than ever. »

« Many people see art, science, humanities, and economics as separate worlds, ranked subjectively by importance. But they’re all connected. Biodiversity supports industries like fisheries, forestry, and tourism, while art helps us connect with each other and the world around us. I use art as a tool to communicate complex science and emotions when words alone aren’t enough. »

—

« Throughout the week, I’m sharing a message of hope, but also looking toward global leaders for hope. I’m here to remind them that you cannot build an economy on a dead planet. »

01/20/2025

« Martin Luther King Jr., Los Angeles »
by Julian Wasser

Silver Gelatin, rare limited edition print.
Hilton Contemporary has two of these prints remaining. Includes a Certificate of Authenticity

———————————
A few of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s most profound quotes:

* « I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed. We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal ».  
* « I look to a day when people will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character ».  
* « Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that ».  
* « Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into friend ».

* « Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into friend ». 
* « We must discover the power of love, the power, the redemptive power of love ».

* « Even in the inevitable moments when all seems hopeless, men know that without hope they cannot really live »  
* « For when people get caught up with that which is right and they are willing to sacrifice for it, there is no stopping point short of victory »

* « The time is always right to do what is right »  
* « The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy »  
* « Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter »

01/12/2025

Yasemin Aslan Bakiri’s 2022 Crystal Billur Exhibition on display at the historical building, a located in Üsküdar, Istanbul.

This breathtaking exhibition transcended civilizations, featuring her works consisting of hand-blown hot glass with hand knitted silver steel mesh. Through these works, the Kaftans and Kalkans (shields), Bakiri wished to show the magnificence of the Ottoman Empire.

“After all, these contemporary works within the game of time and space carry the traces of the past. This exhibition offers you the opportunity to look at history from a different perspective beyond our borders.” -

01/11/2025

Yasemin Aslan Bakiri work consisting of intricately crafted kaftans woven with metals and glass is a play of fragility and strength. Bakiri is the Founder of Camhane in Balat, on the Golden Horn, a studio where she has worked and taught the traditional art of glass making for many years.

“I wanted the kaftans to symbolically show the multicultural makings of the city, with metal weavings similar to ‘Byzantine armour.’”

More about Yasemin Aslan Bakiri:

Her educational credentials include a BFA degree in Ceramics and Glass from the Academy of Fine Arts at Mimar Sinan University, a Certificate in Communication Studies and CAM diploma from The London Institute, London College of Printing and Distributive Trades; and further studies at The Surrey Institute of Art & Design University College, specialising in 3-Dimensional Design (Glass). She is a visiting lecturer at the Faculty of Fine Arts in glass department and Industrial design department at Anadolu University.

Since 1986, her work has been exhibited in art galleries, museums and in private collections worldwide.

She specializes in sand-cast glass techniques using ideas relating to the natural world, nature as a theme for her plainness and dynamism. The mesh foundation on which the glass is applied is comprised of silver, copper and stainless steel threads, knitted by the artist’s mother. In her work she uses timeless simplicity to provoke a powerful sensation of colour and movement. She is interested purely in the spontaneous reactions of the glass, using different materials in her works, wires and hand-woven metal meshes.

The artist rendors the juxtaposition of the cold, hard nature of metal with the transparent, breakable and sensitive characteristics of glass. She successfully interprets the splendour of the Ottoman Empire in contemporary forms to portray the fluidity and purity of glass and her metal-weaving technique.

The “Glass Kaftans” are contemporary sculptures to historical references in our minds.

”The universe is so endless that is not possible to interpret it – just like glass.”

01/02/2025

Happy new year!

On the birth of Adonis, January 1st, 1930, This Is How Love Arrived.

And on New Year’s Day 2025, 95 years later, Love continues to arrive.

Yesterday, on the the first day of the new year, we celebrated the 95th birthday of the venerable poet and artist, Adonis. Born in Syria in 1930, Adonis, née Ali Ahmad Said Esber, is considered the greatest living poet of the Arab world. He not only revolutionized and modernized Arabic poetry, but is also considered the T.S. Eliot of the Arab world.

Hilton Contemporary is very proud to represent him and to have hosted the first US exhibition of paintings last September 2023, titled “This Is How Love Arrives.”

Find below one of his beautiful poems:

The rose leaves its flowerbed
to meet her
The sun is naked
in autumn, nothing except a thread of cloud around her waist

This is how love arrives
in the village where I was born.

— Adonis
(From “Beginning of the Body, Ends of the Sea”
Translated by Khaled Mattawa in Adonis: Selected Poems)

12/29/2024

PAUL NICKLEN | “A Mother’s Universe”

Limited edition print.

Winter is in full effect, as is its beauty.
There is nothing more majestic, more beautiful and more precious than a mother Polar Bear and her cubs.

Paul describes his recent encounter with this awe-inspiring moment and encounter with the trio:

“I have followed polar bears for years, but it was not until last year that I finally witnessed the moment a mother emerged from her den with her two cubs. Her gentle demeanor and the delicate way she settled into the soft snow made the moment feel especially intimate and vulnerable. I am drawn to images that challenge viewers to look deeper into the stories behind animals often perceived as powerful and indomitable. Polar bears are the largest terrestrial carnivores on Earth, but size and strength alone are not enough to survive a constantly changing world. Mother bears are tasked with protecting their cubs from harm and passing on their wisdom so their offspring may face the challenges ahead.”

12/21/2024

☀️ HAPPY WINTER SOLSTICE ☀️
It is with great pleasure we invite you to celebrate
the Winter Solstice with us

OPEN HOUSE
Saturday, December 21st
1:00 to 5:00 pm

Hilton Contemporary (River North)
716 N. Wells, Chicago
Hors d’oeuvres/ Wine will be served

HOW THE ANCIENTS CELEBRATED WINTER SOLSTICE

In the northern latitudes, midwinter’s day has been an important time for celebration throughout the ages. On this shortest day of the year, the sun is at its lowest and weakest, a pivot point from which the light will grow stronger and brighter. This is the turning point of the year.

The Romans called it Dies Natalis Solis Invicti
“Birthday of the Unconquered Sun”

The Roman midwinter holiday, Saturnalia, was both a gigantic fair and a festival of the home. Riotous merry-making took place, and the halls of houses were decked with boughs of laurel and evergreen trees. Lamps were kept burning to ward off the spirits of darkness.

Schools were closed, the army rested, and no criminals were executed. Friends visited one another, bringing gifts of fruit, cakes, candles, jewelry and incense. Roman masters feasted with slaves, who were given the freedom to do and say what they liked. In Scandinavia the winter festival was the yule (or juul). Great yule logs were burned, and people drank mead around the bonfires listening to minstrel-poets singing ancient legends. It was believed that the yule log had the magical effect of helping the sun to shine more brightly.

Mistletoe, which grew on the most sacred tree, the oak, was ceremoniously cut with a golden sickle by the Druids and a spray given to each family, to be hung in the doorways as good luck. Kissing under the mistletoe was a pledge of friendship.

Please join us to celebrate our festival of renewal that the ancients believed to be the “holy days” in the yearly cycle of life!

We look forward to celebrating under the mistletoe with you!

12/05/2024

Today at 1230pm David Yarrow will be doing a talk at
Hilton Contemporary Booth A14 at CONTEXT Art Miami
Please join us if you are at the fair!

Photos of our beautiful booth’s solo presentation of David Yarrow’s “IT’S A WONDERFUL WORLD” exhibition kicked off yesterday at CONTEXT Art Miami 2024. We look forward to seeing you!

📍Booth A14 | One Herald Plaza @ NE 14th Street | Downtown Miami

« IT’S A WONDERFUL WORLD » recounts Yarrow’s adventures with Wolves, Cheetahs, Bears, Cowboys and Celebrities, Native Americans and Supermodels.

Considered the best-selling photographer in the world, Yarrow’s photographs encapsulate his life mission as a conservationist, an activist, a storyteller and author. He is at the forefront of creating unique works by incorporating supermodels, celebrities, native Americans and everyday folk. With elements of our natural world, Yarrow brings together tantalizing visual stories to help us see through the eyes of a man who is seeking new and unique experiences to share with collectors.

“IT’S A WONDERFUL WORLD” will feature recent works by Yarrow as he shares his journey throughout the world recording stories of the beautiful life in the magical places from The Amalfi Coast and The French Riviera to the desert sands of Namibia; from Iceland’s magnificent waterfalls; back to the United States to recount the stories of America’s Wild West and South.

Hailed as one of the most influential photographers of our time, Yarrow has dedicated his life and art to raise awareness and especially funds for the protection of endangered species, pediatric cancer research and animal conservation. Over the years, Yarrow has donated more than $11 million from the sales of his work to various charities.

DM .contemporary to request a catalogue.

📹 .lister

11/26/2024

Today is the day that we flip the camera around and place the focus onto the inspiring woman who has dedicated her life to focusing the camera lens on the natural world and the ocean.

Happy birthday to the Cristina Mittermeier, an incredible human who reminds us every day through her photography just how beautiful this planet is, but also just how precious and fragile it is. And that we all - individually and collectively - have a responsibility to be its guardian, and to take care of all species that call it home.

Through her work, like a ripple effect, she moves others to make positive change in this world.

We love you Cristina, and we are blessed to have you as part of the Hilton Contemporary family.

The world needs more people like you!

❤️❤️❤️

📸 1 & 2

11/19/2024

Boky Hackel-Ward is a multidisciplinary sculptor whose work navigates the delicate intersection between materiality, language, and concept. Her practice spans a broad spectrum of mediums, from traditional figurative sculpture to abstract minimalist works, always rooted in a deep conceptual exploration. Boky’s sculptures are not merely physical objects; they are vessels of thought, where form and content intertwine, evoking questions about the nature of communication, perception, and the spaces between. Her work often engages language —not just as a textual element but as a living, evolving force that shapes and distorts the world around us.

Boky’s approach is one that resists easy categorization. She is drawn to the spaces between established forms, the gaps where new possibilities emerge. Whether evoking the human figure in fragmented, surreal forms or creating sparse minimalist objects that leave much unsaid, her work challenges the viewer to fill in the blanks and consider what is absent as much as what is present. There is a tension in her work between the presence of form and the absence of meaning, between the visible and the hidden. In every piece, Boky pushes the boundaries of materiality and language, creating an evolving body of work that reflects her ongoing dialogue with the conceptual, the physical, and the linguistic.

DM .contemporary to inquire about the artist.

11/18/2024

BOKY HACKEL-WARD | Enigmatic faces, masks, broken bronze portraits covered with gold leaf or platinum by Boky Hackel, present reinterpretations and transfigurations of her enigmatic face, sphinxes of mystery that materialize a tenacious will to affirm her attitude and artistic identity, as in Damaged for instance, in which the interior of the female figure cites an extract from the poem by Paul Géraldy, Mea Culpa: “Au Fond, vois-tu, mon erreur, ma grande folie, c’est d’avoir chargé ton cœur de tout le poids de ma vie” (taken from the book Moi et Toi), source of inspiration for the author; or in Losing myself in you.

The author in her experimental eclecticism, in search of her artistic daimon, autonomous and self-aware, finds in sculpture a code of renewal of the intangible and the spiritual, practiced assiduously from 2013 and 2016, years of fervent study and work.

At the foundry battling the wax, then the bronze, in the interpenetration of poetry and anthropomorphic, stylized figures, combining words and shapes used to give life to sculptures that become éternelles. Her male and female bodies through words welded together determine enigmatic identities. In the communicative energy of language and in the universality of poetry, the author yearns for rebirth, materialization and transfiguration of the verbum, evoking tension towards the absolute expressed with gold.

DM .contemporary to inquire about the artist.

11/13/2024

Boky Hackel-Ward’s “WOOF? (What of Our Future?” steel and LED light sculpture merges humor with gravity, emitting a playful bark while dually asking an urgent question. It served as both a call to awareness and an invitation to act.

Unique / One-of-a-Kind Piece
100cm X 70cm
Steel and LED lights

DM .contemporary for more details about this piece and the artist.

Artist statement:

The golden steel sculpture WOOF? commands attention through its minimalist yet provocative form, which subtly juts from the wall, creating a powerful visual and conceptual presence. Crafted from a single piece of golden steel, the work merges humor with gravity, using the acronym WOOF?—with letters illuminated from within—both as a playful bark and as an urgent question, standing for What of Our Future? On the side extending from the wall, the full phrase is cut into the steel, allowing the light to spill through, casting a soft glow onto the surrounding space and emphasizing the urgency of this existential query.

The piece’s humor is deceptive; while the playful acronym WOOF? may initially evoke lightheartedness, it quickly pivots to provoke serious reflection on the world’s current trajectory. The illuminated letters serve as a subtle alarm, signaling that our future depends on immediate, conscious actions to address the deteriorating environmental and cultural landscape. Through the understated elegance of minimalist design, the sculpture avoids excess, reflecting a need for clarity, restraint, and purposeful action in a world overwhelmed by consumption and excess.

Its shape, reinforces its message: it physically extends outward, as if reaching for engagement, for change. The golden hue suggests value and richness—a reminder of the natural and cultural wealth at stake—while the triangle it forms with the wall hints at both stability and precariousness, challenging viewers to contemplate the balance our future demands. The internal light spilling through the letters reflects hope, symbolizing that we still have the power to illuminate a sustainable path forward.

11/05/2024

Currently on view at our “History of the Chess Queen” exhibition is Jack Perno’s “Catch Me If You Can, 1995”

Vintage Monochromatic C Print
20 × 24 in | 50.8 × 61 cm
Edition of 2
Part of a limited edition set
Includes a Certificate of Authenticity

The exhibition runs through to December 20th.

📍 Hilton Contemporary, Morgan Arts Complex
3622 S. Morgan St., Chicago

DM .contemporary for more details.

10/28/2024

ANTOINE ROSE | « Swarmanoid II » (Engadin 2014)

Edition of 8
30.3 x 68.9 inches | 77 x 175 cm
Archival pigment print

DM .contemporary to request further details.

BIOGRAPHY

Originally from Belgium, Antoine Rose is a self-taught photographer who started acquiring the necessary skills to capture and model the light through the lens of his camera at the age of 8 years old. Over time, he developed an ardent passion for photography, travels and the sea. He was the official photographer of the Kitesurfing World Cup for several consecutive years and has traveled around the globe, from South Africa to Istanbul, in order to capture those magic moments. Antoine is a published artist with major international brands who have commissioned his materials for worldwide advertising campaigns. In his latest series, Rose approach to photography became more minimalist, trying to convert ordinary scenes, landscapes or objects into pieces of Art.

The “Up in the air” series has received a very warm welcome from the audience. These miniature-like representations transform the natural aerial landscapes into abstract paintings and inscribe Rose’s works in a minimalist artistic approach. The artist introduces a tension between real and virtual, between what it seems to be seen and what it is really seen, between the visible and the hidden. Roses’s photographs can be found in prestigious private and corporate collections and are part of the permanent collection of the Museum of Arts & Design (NYC)

10/24/2024

JACOB GILS | During the season of Autumn leaves 🍁🍂, the Artist in our collective that immediately comes to mind is Jacob Gils, and his MOVEMENT series of limited edition prints, where he places a great deal of focus on trees from across the globe.

Print name:
SOPHIENHOLM #1

70 9/10 × 47 1/5 in (180 × 120 cm)
Edition of 5

DM .contemporary to request more information about Jacob Gils.

ARTIST STATEMENT

« In my ongoing project, Movement, I strive to give visible shape to the relationship between my own concrete physical movement in the production phase and the established environment or familiar sites chosen as chosen content. »

Jacob Gils was born in Gentofte, Denmark, in an artist family. His mother is the painter Merete Hansen and his father was the painter Ove Gils. Jacob Gils graduated from the Copenhagen School of Photography in 1989, where he assisted the Danish photographer Leif Schiller. In his early career he worked as an advertising photographer and founded the renowned photo studio Gils Photography. In 2001 he switched to an art practice and began to experiment with various techniques and forms of expression in photography.

10/24/2024

JACOB GILS | During the season of Autumn leaves 🍁🍂, the Artist in our collective that immediately comes to mind is Jacob Gils, and his MOVEMENT series of limited edition prints, where he places a great deal of focus on trees from across the globe.

Print name:
COPENHAGEN #25

43 3/10 × 28 7/10 in (110 × 73 cm)
Edition of 6 + 2 AP

DM .contemporary to request more information about Jacob Gils.

ARTIST STATEMENT

« In my ongoing project, Movement, I strive to give visible shape to the relationship between my own concrete physical movement in the production phase and the established environment or familiar sites chosen as chosen content. »

Jacob Gils was born in Gentofte, Denmark, in an artist family. His mother is the painter Merete Hansen and his father was the painter Ove Gils. Jacob Gils graduated from the Copenhagen School of Photography in 1989, where he assisted the Danish photographer Leif Schiller. In his early career he worked as an advertising photographer and founded the renowned photo studio Gils Photography. In 2001 he switched to an art practice and began to experiment with various techniques and forms of expression in photography.

10/24/2024

JACOB GILS | During the season of Autumn leaves 🍁🍂, the Artist in our collective that immediately comes to mind is Jacob Gils, and his MOVEMENT series of limited edition prints, where he places a great deal of focus on trees from across the globe.

Print name:
BORUP #2

43 3/10 × 28 7/10 in (110 × 73 cm)
Edition of 6 + 2 AP

ARTIST STATEMENT

« In my ongoing project, Movement, I strive to give visible shape to the relationship between my own concrete physical movement in the production phase and the established environment or familiar sites chosen as chosen content. »

Jacob Gils was born in Gentofte, Denmark, in an artist family. His mother is the painter Merete Hansen and his father was the painter Ove Gils. Jacob Gils graduated from the Copenhagen School of Photography in 1989, where he assisted the Danish photographer Leif Schiller. In his early career he worked as an advertising photographer and founded the renowned photo studio Gils Photography. In 2001 he switched to an art practice and began to experiment with various techniques and forms of expression in photography.

10/21/2024

Our beautiful group exhibition
«HISTORY OF THE CHESS QUEEN »

We invite you to stop in for a visit between now and early 2025 to experience the works up close, and to be inspired by pieces from numerous leading artists from across the globe who came together to celebrate the Monarch of the Chess board.

📍 Hilton Contemporary, Morgan Arts Complex
3622 S. Morgan St., Chicago

Statement

Inspired by Stanford University Professor Marilyn Yalom’s “Birth of the Chess Queen,” (author of History of the Wife and History of the Breast),
“The History of the Chess Queen” is an exhibition that celebrates the ingenuity, resilience, and strength of women throughout history.

30 artists from Australia, Canada, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Mexico, Poland, Scotland, Turkey, Syria, and the United States - Painters, sculptors, photographers, poets and multimedia artists - bring a global interpretation to a game that became the reflection and evolution of feminine power in the Western world, paying tribute to “The Queen,” and her rise to become the most powerful piece on a board game that originated in 6th century India as a war game.

“Everyone knows that the Queen is the most dominant piece in chess, but few people know that the game existed for five hundred years without her.”

Intelligence, grace, and elegance are central themes to the show, demonstrating but a few of the assets that make women essential to history and society. Although women have had to fight for the right to stand alongside men as equals, the exhibition could easily be construed as a political commentary, especially with events happening today to women all over the world. However, this exhibition attempts to display the evolution of a simple board game that originated with an all male cast to how the most powerful character evolved to become the only female member of game.

📸 1 + 2: .ok

Hilton Contemporary

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10/21/2024

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Tuesday	11am - 6pm
Wednesday	11am - 6pm
Thursday	11am - 6pm
Friday	11am - 6pm
Saturday	11am - 6pm