Chicago calls out to the country, a stronghold of hope, acceptance, and protection—the largest midwestern city, a bastion of democratized politics. Artists and cultural institutions are beginning to echo this sentiment in their own translations. Language spoken across and again, increasingly visible, provides a foothold for more people to latch onto. Two exhibitions in the West Town neighborhood treat translation as a form of reinforcement: Luke Agada’s To Translate is to Move Across, presented at Monique Meloche Gallery, and Bethany Collins’s Dusk at Patron Gallery. Both solo shows spotlight the artist’s process as integral to their method, providing context in conceptualizing their relationship with their subjects. To view these shows is to read the personal through the lens of style, inviting a fluid understanding of fact that is always tainted with subjectivity.
