2026 SCA EXHIBITION

The 2026 SCA Exhibition of the Society for Contemporary Art brings together four distinct yet deeply resonant works that investigate how perception, material, and presence are constructed through contemporary art. Selected by the Acquisitions Committee of the SCA, in partnership with the Art Institute of Chicago’s department of Modern and Contemporary Art, the exhibition reflects the SCAs longstanding commitment to championing rigorous artistic practices that expand the language of contemporary art while entering into dialogue with the evolving history of the museum itself.

On view from May 30 through August 31, 2026 at the museum, the exhibition features works by Kerstin Brätsch (German, born 1979), Jana Euler (German, born 1982), Tadaaki Kuwayama (Japanese, 1932–2023), and Klara Lidén (Swedish, born 1979). Across painting, sculpture, and spatial intervention, these artists explore the unstable boundaries between the emotional and the material, the architectural and the perceptual. Moving between maximal and minimal visual languages, these artists continue to reinvent the possibilities of form, abstraction, and sensory experience.

This exhibition will continue SCA’s historic relationship with the museum. Since 1940, the SCA has worked with museum curators to organize exhibitions of contemporary art that have directly contributed to the museum’s permanent collection. Through the vision and support of its members, the organization has helped bring nearly 200 significant contemporary artworks into the collection, shaping the museum’s engagement with living artists across generations.

The exhibition also serves as an invitation into the SCA’s annual acquisition process, culminating in the Annual Meeting and Acquisition Vote on Thursday, June 4, 2026, when SCA members collectively participate in shaping the future of the museum’s contemporary collection. In addition to the four works on view in the galleries, SCA members will also have the opportunity to experience and consider a fifth selected work: a video installation titled Sweet Talk: Commissions (Beirut)_Solidere 1994–1997 by Walid Raad/The Atlas Group (Lebanese, born 1967) available through a digital viewing link prior to the Annual Meeting and on view during the Annual Meeting itself. We warmly encourage SCA members to attend the Annual Meeting and Acquisition Vote, and invite those who are not yet members to join the SCA and participate in this important tradition supporting contemporary art at the Art Institute of Chicago.

Artworks on view in the exhibition:

Kerstin Brätsch (German, born 1979)
hMƎTA series, 2024
Oil on canvas
250.2 × 195 cm (98 1/2 × 76 3/4 in.)

Jana Euler (German, born 1982)
Where the energy comes from, connected, 2025
Acrylic on canvas
285.8 × 175.3 cm (112 1/2 × 69 in.)

Tadaaki Kuwayama (Japanese, 1932–2023)
TK6169-75, 1975
Acrylic and aluminum powder on canvas with aluminum
175.3 × 175.3 cm (69 × 69 in.)

Klara Lidén (Swedes, born 1979)
Lamp Post (Square Moon), 2025
Concrete, steel, plexiglass, and LED wiring
390 × 80 × 80 cm (153 9/16 × 31 1/2 × 31 1/2 in.)

Artwork available for viewing via digital link and at the Annual Meeting on June 4th:

Walid Raad/ The Atlas Group (Lebanese, born 1967)
Sweet Talk: Commissions (Beirut) _ Solidere 1994-1997, 2019
Panoramic, single-channel video, color, silent;
10 min. 22 sec., continuous loop