Illuminating the power of visual storytelling by empowering creativity, inspiring passion, and enriching lives through timeless curated art.
Object Lessons
Current Exhibition until 11/9/25
“Here ‘curating’ is intended as an advocacy for art as a meaning-making (even if sometimes perplexing) endeavor. Over the course of the years I have had numerous opportunities to curate art exhibitions in various contexts, but this exhibition with T. Mari Gallery is certainly one of the wider and perhaps wilder ventures.
Each of the seventeen artists is represented by a single artwork. Concurrently, as curator, I have incorporated various “structural” components.
As the exhibition title might imply each of these artworks is in some way conceptually and meaningfully charged. Such phenomena that becomes more complex and interesting in relation to the other artworks.
The curatorial intent here is to present artworks in the galley’s spaces in ways that will invite the viewer into their own creatively thoughtful engagement.”
- Tim Lowly
Artists:
Bekah Baker
Conrad Bakker
Nik Burkhart
Steven Carrelli
Guy Chase
Chris Cożnowski
Tim Hawkinson
Joe Houston
Catherine Jacobi
Andreas Jauss
Emily Lindskoog
Cherith Lundin
Nnenna Okore
Katie Schofield
Justin Sorensen
Ian Weaver
Laura Wennstrom
(A curatorial hommage to Robert Gober)
Upcoming Events at T. Mari Gallery
Knots Opening Reception — November 20, 6–9 PM
Knots is a collaborative exhibition by Ann Latinovich and Eli Pla, two artists who met across an ocean and a language barrier—and discovered an unexpected bond.
Through shared reflection and creative dialogue, their work traces the invisible threads that tie us together with threads of memory, emotion, and form.
Together, they explore what it means to be seen, to be held, and to remain connected beyond words.
Phillip Nuveen — December 19, 6–9 PM
Phillip Nuveen’s work blurs the line between the domestic and the imagined, reinterpreting everyday materials through a lens of memory, craftsmanship, and play. Known for his meticulous constructions and conceptual precision, Nuveen invites viewers into spaces that feel both familiar and dreamlike, interiors that hold traces of longing, humor, and reflection.
This exhibition explores how objects shape identity and how design becomes a form of storytelling. Each piece is a meditation on how we inhabit our worlds. The ones we build and the ones that build us.
Free Live Concert — November 7, 7 PM
Experience an evening of live music with Tim Lowly, whose creativity extends beyond curating and painting into the world of sound. Tim will perform alongside some very talented musicians including Daniel Warren Johnson, a comic book artist and writer based in Chicago. This will be a memorable performance and an event not to miss, a chance to experience another dimension of artistry within the walls of T. Mari Gallery.
Artist Talk — November 8, 3–5 PM
Join us for an engaging afternoon with several of the artists featured in Object Lessons. The conversation will explore the ideas behind their work and the themes that connect them.
For artists unable to attend in person, we’ll also share video contributions, ensuring every voice is part of the dialogue.
It promises to be a phenomenal and inspiring event. Kelly VanderBrug, Chicago artist and educator, will lead and moderate the discussion.
Both events will take place at T. Mari Gallery, and all are welcome.
We look forward to sharing these moments of art, music, and conversation with you.
Mame Cheikh Mbaye
Current Exhibition until 9/7/25
Mame Cheikh Mbaye is a Senegalese photographer whose work captures the pulse, rhythm, and layered narratives of daily life in Dakar. With an intuitive eye for composition and a deep connection to his community, Mbaye transforms ordinary moments into timeless visual stories. His photographs are not staged performances, but living portraits of the streets, markets alive with color, quiet corners where light falls just so, and faces that tell generations of history in a single glance.
Rooted in the vibrant visual language of West Africa, Mbaye’s style blends documentary clarity with a painter’s sensitivity to light and texture. He often works with natural light, allowing the environment itself to shape the atmosphere of each frame. The result is photography that feels both immediate and enduring, work that draws viewers in not simply to observe, but to feel present within the scene.
Mbaye’s images are a dialogue between tradition and modernity, between the intimate and the universal. They speak of Dakar’s unique spirit while resonating with anyone who has known the warmth of community, the beauty of resilience, and the poetry of everyday life. Through his lens, Mbaye invites us to see his city not as an outsider passing through, but as a neighbor welcomed into its streets.
Behind the Art
"Behind the Art" offers an intimate journey into the lives of artists beyond the canvas. Each episode features a different artist, offering an intimate look at their hobbies, interests, and daily routines when they are not creating art. The series aims to give another layer to artists, exploring how they unwind, recharge, and draw inspiration from everyday life.
We were able to shadow Francisco Malave as he shares his process for capturing striking headshots of music festival-goers and passersby.
We visit Jamaal Durr at his Dayton, OH art studio. He is recognized for his mixed media works and portrait drawings.
Step inside the world of artist Phillip Nuveen, known for his intricate miniature sculptures and installations that blur the line between reality and imagination.
Drago is an artist and fashion designer who captures moments in time, his thoughts, and his identity through his work. His creative momentum defies the ordinary, he is anything but everyday. Driven by a passion to express beauty, Drago's fashion line is a reflection of what inspires him. Each shirt is hand-painted with his art, making every piece a one-of-a-kind creation that resonates with his deeply personal and introspective vision.
Drago’s designs are personal, pure, and uninhibited, like the calm of a Sunday morning. His shirts are unisex, creative, and entirely unique.
You can find Drago’s shirts online, in NYC, Japan, and now in Chicago at T. Mari Gallery. Stop by to see these eclectic designs and pair them with your favorite outfit.
FRAGMENTS OF STILLNESS
Artwork by Jim Yale, Curated by Pattie Horwitz
“Jim Yale’s artistry is simple and honest. Each piece is painted in real time, revealing glimpses of his subjects as they exist in their private spaces—pensive and enveloped by the quiet glow of solitude. He paints his subjects as they are—pensive, alone, caught in their own quiet moments. Yale is known for his mastery of gouache on paper and oil on canvas. His brush strokes are loose but true, his colors bold but never loud. He leaves out the extra details, capturing only what matters.
Each figure is in a place that feels like home. A private place. You can’t always see their faces, but you feel the weight of their thoughts in the tilt of a head or the curve of a shoulder. Yale’s paintings hold his subjects in that quiet, in-between moment, where they’re left to themselves, unguarded and real.
These are glimpses, nothing more. Fragments of solitude and silence. We see them as they are—unpolished, unsure, utterly human. And perhaps, in those small, still moments, we see a part of ourselves, too.”
- Pattie Horwitz, Curator
Fairyland Series
Andy and Lilette Ramos-Baker
Fairyland — a place that’s beyond the imagination and yet it exists. Its beauty surrounds you, engulfs you, and captures your attention.
Andy Alexis-Baker is a photographer, printmaker, and professor with a passion for exploring our natural world and Lilette Ramos is a landscape photographer based in Chicago and born and raised in Luzon, Philippines. Through her art, she aims to inspire a profound appreciation for the raw power and resilience of nature's geological wonders.
Both are passionate advocates for environmental conservation and invite you to see the wonders of the world through their lens.
