After a freezing cold walk along the river and Michigan Avenue I decided I needed to head indoors. Given my little outing was on a Tuesday, and Tuesday’s are free at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) to Chicago residents, this was a perfect destination.
It hasn’t been too long since my last visit to the MCA so I decided to focus my photography on the museum’s café. This might seem kinda strange, but there’s a geometric installation on the café’s ceiling designed by architecture firm Johnston Marklee. Until coming across this I didn’t realize the museum is working toward a renovation and this grid pays tribute to the building’s original architect, Josef Paul Kleihues.
Kleihues’ design was based on the dimensions of the square grid of Chicago’s city plan. The grid layout is seen in the building’s facade and floor plans. So interesting and worth noticing next time you visit. I love how good architects pull interesting facts about the environment in which they design and find innovative ways to incorporate these elements into the building. There’s much more here about the design if you’re interested.
On this visit I seemed to be drawn to geometric patterns so I focused on the café and the initial hint at renovations to come by Johnston Marklee.




No visit is complete without a stop by one of my favorite Chicago staircases. (More diverse images from past visits in this set here.)

Of course I wandered through the exhibitions I hadn’t seen yet. I really liked this sculpture by Julia Dault which is reflecting the massive paint-splattered glove by Amanda Ross-Ho on a neighboring wall.

Another exhibit I found interesting was Window Dressing by Chicago-based artist Diane Simpson. The sculptures are Art Deco inspired window displays which originated as a commission from the Racine Art Museum. The geometric qualities of the Art Deco design fit in well with my geometric mindset of the day.


This last image is more about documenting the final exhibit I saw on Tuesday and is worth the trip to the museum in and of itself – Kerry James Marshall: Mastery. Just go see it, you’ll be glad you did!