EXPO Chicago 2024

We are thrilled to present Reginald Madison (b. 1941), born and raised in Chicago’s South Side and currently residing in Hudson, NY. SEPTEMBER is returning this year with a selection of figurative works spanning Madison's dynamic decades-long career. The figure, in it's many forms whether rendered or dissolving into abstraction, is a beloved motif for Madison.

His seminal work titled “Blue Smoke” (1967) is a striking composition of a woman holding a cigarette and gazing directly at the viewer. Less prominent is Madison's profile, capturing a reflection of himself at twenty-six years old when he was a young artist living in Chicago. As with many of Madison’s subjects, his figurative compositions are bold and fierce. At times his portraits are suspended on the canvas without form or body, suggesting mythical and surreal narratives. Citing Afrofuturism as a major source of inspiration, Madison’s combines personal history and fantasy to explore Black life, agency and freedom.

Reginald Madison (b. 1941, Chicago, IL) is an American painter and sculptor who came to prominence in the emergent art scene of the Black Arts Movement in Chicago (1965 -1975). Self-taught, he has studied art independently in Paris, Venice, and Copenhagen. After moving to Western Massachusetts in the 1970’s, Madison was represented by Phyllis Kind Gallery. Madison’s work has been exhibited at the experimental art center Art & Soul (1969), 57th Street Art Fair, Phyllis Kind Gallery, NYC (1975 - 2009), Ace Hotel Chicago, Smart Museum of Art at University of Chicago (2018), SEPTEMBER Gallery, Historic Hudson Hall, CR10 Arts, False Flag Gallery, Rachel Uffner Gallery, among others. Madison’s work has been featured in The New York Times, Times Union, Upstate Diary, and Whitehot Magazine. In 2020, Madison curated Art & Soul, an exhibition at Historic Hudson Hall that included the work by David Hammons and Tschabalala Self. He organizes Melodius Thunk, a Jazz Music Festival in Hudson, NY. Madison is a 2021 recipient of the NEA Artist Residency at Basilica Hudson. His work is in the collection of Beth Rudin DeWoody, Vinny Dotolo and Michael Sherman, Museum at UC Santa Barbara (CA), Museum of Fine Arts St. Petersburg (FL) and The Baltimore Museum of Art (MD). Madison currently lives and works in Hudson, NY.
  Reginald Madison
EXPO Chicago
April 11 - 14, 2024

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SEPTEMBER