Artist Talk: Beyond What the Eye Beholds
@ Zhou B Art Center
1029 W 35th Street Chicago, IL 60609
Opening Saturday, July 18th, from 2PM - 4PM
On view through Sunday, September 13th
About the show
Curator September Gray brings a landmark group exhibition to Chicago, exploring perception, memory, and the human experience
What the Eye Beholds is a compelling group exhibition presented by Atlanta based September Gray Fine Art Gallery opens in Chicago in July. Curated by September Gray, the show brings together seven visionary contemporary artists whose work interrogates the very nature of perception—what we see, what we feel, and what remains just beyond our reach. The exhibition opens July 17, 2026, at the Zhou B Art Center, with a reception from 7:00 PM to 10:00 PM.
The exhibition features artists Khalilah Birdsong, Kevin Cole, Najee Dorsey, Preston Sampson, sculptor Eric Stephenson, Gabrielle Torres, and Jamele Wright Sr.—a roster whose collective vision spans painting, sculpture, and mixed media. Each artist brings a distinctive visual language to the shared investigation: how personal histories, inner conviction, hidden fears, and quiet complexities shape the way we interpret the world around us. Together, they construct a dynamic dialogue between the individual and the universal.
Gray’s curatorial premise is both intimate and expansive. “From the moment we open our eyes each morning, we are shaped by the environments we inhabit—through conversation and silence, memory and anticipation, the familiar and the unexpected,” she offers. What the Eye Beholds honors that daily negotiation, asking viewers not merely to look, but to truly see. The works on view challenge surface appearances and invite deeper engagement with the emotional and intellectual currents that flow beneath the visible world.
Located at 1029 W. 35th Street in Chicago’s vibrant Bridgeport neighborhood, Zhou B Art Center has long been a cornerstone of the city’s contemporary art landscape. This summer, it welcomes an exhibition that is as timely as it is transcendent. Do not miss the opportunity to encounter these seven extraordinary artists and the worlds they’ve built from what the eye alone cannot contain.
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Tags: Eric Stephenson, Gabrielle Torres, Jamele Wright Sr, Kevin Cole, Khalilah Birdsong, Najee Dorsey, Pigment International, Preston Sampson, zhou b art center
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