Interiors: MCA Chicago

In recent years, many museums and galleries have attempted to represent historically marginalized people by displaying works that depict their bodies. Responding to the limits of this approach, Interiors considers the potential of geometric abstraction—a form of art that relies upon simplified shapes—to obliquely allude to the body. Primarily drawn from the MCA’s collection, the works in this exhibition use basic shapes, curves, and grids to imply the sensual presence of a figure. At the same time, these abstract elements fragment, obscure, or distort the body, allowing subjects to remain indeterminate. Lush yet withholding, the works in Interiors adopt aesthetic strategies that turn inward and preserve interiority, resisting pressures to be publicly visible and definable within static categories of identity. 

Interiors was inspired by Miyoko Ito’s painting, Chiffonier (1971), which was acquired by the MCA in 2005 and is on view for the first time. The paintings, sculptures, and photographs in the exhibition share themes and techniques with Ito’s work, particularly its use of layering, reflections, and dreamscapes—all of which refuse easy legibility. 

The exhibition is curated by Nolan Jimbo, Marjorie Susman Curatorial Fellow. It is presented in the Cohen and Stone Family Galleries on the museum’s fourth floor.