Browse a complete list of past exhibitions, from 1883 to 2007, at the exhibition history archive.

Animals around the World: Picture Books by Steve Jenkins
November 19, 2011–April 22, 2012
Ryan Education Center
Artist Steve Jenkins combines cut-paper collage with amazing animal facts to create dynamic nonfiction picture books that appeal to readers of many ages.
Alfredo Jaar: Muxima
December 17, 2011–April 8, 2012
Gallery 186
Since first coming to prominence in the early 1980s, Alfredo Jaar has simultaneously asserted and questioned art’s ability to raise awareness, solicit empathetic response, and …
Spencer Finch: Lunar
October 8, 2011–April 8, 2012
Bluhm Family Terrace
Throughout his career, American artist Spencer Finch has used color and light as primary subjects—and materials—in his drawings, photographs, mixed media projects, and large-scale installations.
Light Years: Conceptual Art and the Photograph, 1964–1977
December 13, 2011–March 11, 2012
Regenstein Hall and Galleries 271–273
Member Preview: December 10–12, 10:30–5:00
Among its many accomplishments, the pioneering movement known broadly as Conceptual Art succeeded in …
focus: Sharon Hayes
November 10, 2011–March 11, 2012
Galleries 182–184, Ryerson Library
Over the past 15 years, American artist Sharon Hayes has been probing how speech—both public and private—intersects with politics, history, personal identity, desire, and love through her …
Exposure: Matt Keegan, Katie Paterson, Heather Rasmussen
September 3, 2011–March 4, 2012
Gallery 188
This continuing series in the Department of Photography showcases the Art Institute’s commitment to collecting and exhibiting the most dynamic new work by emerging artists.
The Marguerite Michaels Collection: Japanese Prints of the 1960s and 1970s
December 17, 2011–March 4, 2012
Gallery 107
The artists on display are all members of the Creative Print (Sôsaku Hanga) movement that began in the early 20th century but truly flourished in the 1960s.
Contemporary Drawings from the Irving Stenn Jr. Collection
October 19, 2011–February 26, 2012
Galleries 124–127
In just a little over a decade, Chicagoan and Art Institute of Chicago trustee Irving Stenn Jr. has amassed a compelling collection of 170 drawings by at least 90 artists.
The Three Graces
October 29, 2011–February 5, 2012
Galleries 3–4
Beyond their capacity to preserve and evoke memories, snapshots of celebrations, vacations, and gatherings of family and friends are accumulated with the aim of constructing a personal …
Jürgen Mayer H.: Wirrwarr
October 15, 2011–January 22, 2012
Gallery 24
For more than a decade, architect Jürgen Mayer H. has been collecting envelopes lined with patterns and codes designed to keep the contents private.

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