Expo Chicago 2023: Booth #173

EXPO CHICAGO, The International Exposition of Contemporary & Modern Art, features leading international galleries alongside the highest quality platform for contemporary art and culture. In 2023, EXPO CHICAGO will host more than 140 leading international exhibitors at Navy Pier’s Festival Hall. The exposition draws upon the city’s rich history as a vibrant international cultural destination, while engaging the region’s contemporary art community and collector base. The 10th edition of the exposition will take place on April 13-16, 2023 at Navy Pier. 

For EXPO CHICAGO 2023, Rutger Brandt Gallery is pleased to present new works by Radenko Milak and Matthias Schaareman. 

Radenko Milak’s powerful watercolors capture and reflect the zeitgeist of our current age. Vividly rendered in black and white ink on paper, his paintings chronicle our shared experiences of urban life, socio politics and collective conditions. Milak’s striking illustrations are intimate pictorial references to topical media and current events. By consciously translating these images from one medium to another, he reinforces the message of the original imageand invites the viewer to layer in their own interpretations.

The large commanding scale of Milak’s works will act as a beautiful complement to Matthias Schaareman’s smaller, more intimate paintings. Schaareman creates works on paper which playfully examine the tension between two and three-dimensional space. His intricate linear and geometric compositions allude to familiar landscapes and city scenes with a clever abstraction. In the flat vistas in his works, spatial elements are ordered and played with in a collage-like manner until all the separate parts come together in the “right” way. These elements refer to graphical and decorative patterns of industrial heritage, theaters, ornaments and furnishings from old houses. But the designs are not simply decorative. He also investigates their narrative and spatial meanings, layering a unique story into every work.

Both Milak and Schaareman share an acute spacial awareness. Their works draw viewers in and hold their attention, where one’s eyes and mind are invited to wander through the visual space. Milak’s bold contracts are harmonized by Schaareman’s bright color palette. And where Milak’s works have a sense of profound presence, Schaareman’s have a poetic softness. Together the artists synchronize with a shrewd use of light and shadow, both in two and three-dimensional forms. Their resulting works become scenes suspended in time, transporting the viewer into a frozen realm where landscapes feel familiar and at the same time uncanny.