Go see art in 2026. Can’t hurt, might help, and it’s absolutely better than binge-watching trash television, click-buying things no one needs, doomscrolling the apocalypse or feeling helpless in the face of fascism. Remember, commercial galleries and community art centers are gratis entry and most museums have free days for locals. (And those that don’t, should.)

“Jessica Zawadowicz: Crossover”

Not every painter can incorporate leftover almonds, a just-played basketball, old clothing, a single Croc, or a chunk of parking lot into her canvases. Well, I suppose anyone could, but rare is the artist who does it well. The up-and-coming Zawadowicz can, and does. Enter with a sense of openness and humor, stay for the superbly considered abstract compositions. Definitely don’t eat the Skittles.

Through Feb. 7 at Regards, 2216 W. Chicago Ave.; regardsgallery.com

“Sight of Resistance”

The Center for Native Futures puts on its strongest group show yet, with otherworldly creations that are fierce, witty, and boldly recuperative of cultural traditions and histories. Including the clever Winnebago-dotted landscape collages of Henry Payer; the wrenching, exquisite ledger drawings of Chris Pappan; a fully beaded high-visibility emergency vest by Erin Genia; and fantastical cornhusk creatures by Erin Lee Antonak.

Extended through Feb. 28 at CFNF, 65 W. Adams St.; centerfornativefutures.org

“Luftwerk: The Sun Standing Still”

Amid the shortest days of the year, and with seasonal affective disorder in full swing, Chicago’s premiere light artists offer solace by way of new sculptures, wall reliefs and an installation regarding the relationship between sunlight and the revolution of the Earth. Don’t expect anything too sciencey — Petra Bachmaier and Sean Gallero, the duo known as Luftwerk, fashion simple-seeming artworks out of light, color and form, to create beautiful and surprising perceptual effects. Accompanied by “Luminous Matter,” an intergenerational exhibit of eight related artists, among them Yuge Zhou and Jan Tichy.

Through Feb. 28 at Secrist-Beach, 1801 W. Hubbard St.; secristbeach.com

The Center for Native Futures’ best group show yet includes “Winnebago Camp II,” a 2025 collage-painting by Henry Payer (Ho-Chunk).

“Firelei Báez”

Who knew post-colonial feminist rage could look so good? Báez paints huge, fiery, fabulous portraits deeply informed by her Dominican-Haitian heritage, with an emphasis on the critical possibilities of hair and its wrappings, recuperated historical documents, and especially decorative excess. Her first mid-career survey, organized by the ICA Boston, also includes a palimpsestic architectural sculpture, a silly immersive installation, and a mesmerizing array of 225 collage-drawings on old book pages.

Through May 31 at MCA Chicago, 220 E. Chicago Ave.; visit.mcachicago.org

“Chair-ish”

What exactly does chair-ish mean? Alex Chitty, an artist who makes sculptures that look a lot like interior decoration, and Norman Teague, a designer who makes furniture that looks a lot like sculpture, should have much to say on the subject in this, their first joint exhibition.

Jan. 22 to April 11 at Cleve Carney Museum of Art, 425 Fawell Blvd., Glen Ellyn; theccma.org

“MOCP at 50: Collecting Through the Decades”

On the occasion of its 50th anniversary, the Museum of Contemporary Photography looks back on the varied practices that led to its amassing of over 18,000 objects by more than 2,000 artists. Organized by decade according to when a work was acquired, not when it was made, the show promises to shed light on evolving ideas of what matters in terms of the photographic canon, and how that has changed over time.

Jan. 22 to May 15 at the MOCP, 600 S. Michigan Ave.; mocp.org

At the Elmhurst Museum, Edward Weston’s iconic images of the American West and his young lover are responded to by Kelli Connell, who offers parallels in photographs like “Betsy, Lake Ediza,” from 2015. (Kelli Connell)

“Living with Modernism: Kelli Connell’s Pictures for Charis and Double Life”

Between 1934 and 1945, Edward Weston photographed his young partner, the writer Charis Wilson, and the landscapes of the American West. Forty-eight of these now-iconic prints appear alongside a contemporary series they inspired, by Kelli Connell, also portraying a photographer’s spouse and shot while traveling the American West. Artistic power structures, shifting ecologies, and complex relationships figure everywhere, across gulfs of time and understanding. Also on view is Connell’s newest work, staged in the museum’s Mies van der Rohe house.

Jan. 24 to April 26 at the Elmhurst Art Museum, 150 Cottage Hill Ave., Elmhurst; elmhurstartmuseum.org

“Lucas Samaras: Sitting, Standing, Walking, Looking”

When Samaras died in 2024 at the age of 87, his greatest subject died too — namely, himself. Always unclassifiable, producing everything from mirrored environments to encrusted boxes to psychedelic Photoshop compositions, Samaras was especially well known for the innovative self-portraits he made using Polaroid instant process film. This posthumous exhibit focuses on those images, often manipulated with a finger before the chemicals set, placing them amid sculptures and paintings recently gifted to the museum by the artist’s estate.

Jan. 31 to July 20, Art Institute of Chicago, 111 S. Michigan Ave.; www.artic.edu

The Hyde Park Art Center’s solo show of paintings, drawings and collages by local artist Ann Toebbe includes “Northside Southside” from 2021. (Ann Toebbe)

“Ann Toebbe: Cooler by the Lake”

In the apartments of Toebbe’s Hyde Park, where the painter has lived for nearly two decades with her family, midcentury furnishings abound, plants sometimes wilt, and nearly all available surfaces are covered in patterns. Also, there are no people and everything is compressed, as if a giant hand had come down from the sky and harmlessly splayed the three-dimensional world out into two, for easier viewing. Flat has never felt so deep as in her meticulous drawings, paintings, and collages.

Feb. 28 to June 14 at the Hyde Park Art Center, 5020 S. Cornell Ave.; hydeparkart.org

“Alice Tippit: Rose Obsolete”

Tippit, as befits her name, is an artist of ambiguities. Her small, carefully rendered paintings, filled with simple floating shapes in perfectly odd solid colors, double as Rorschach Tests for the viewer. Are those leaves or a mustache, cheeks or nose? Half a grapefruit on a platter or a monster from a children’s book? Ram’s head or serpent still digesting its last meal? Sounds strange, looks deceptively straightforward, and is most assuredly deserving of the artist’s first museum show.

March 5 to Aug. 2 at the DePaul Art Museum, 935 W. Fullerton Ave.; resources.depaul.edu

Lori Waxman is a freelance critic.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/02/art-chicago-winter-2026/