The best art exhibits to see in Chicago in April

Vertical Gallery celebrates five years of exhibiting urban-contemporary art with a special group show, featuring work by artists who have played a major role in the gallery's success throughout its existence. Visitors will find pieces by Australian visual artist Ben Frost, Chicago-based Flyboy creator Hebru Brantley, Norwegian street artist Dot Dot Dot and 20 other creators from across the globe. If you want a crash course in exciting contemporary street art, you need to catch this show.

Inspired by the natural world outside of his studio in Maine, artist Alex Katz presents some his largest and most expressive canvases in his new show "Grass and Trees." Painted in bold green strokes, many of the images look as if they're just a section of a larger landscape, accentuating the scope of the work. "Grass and Trees" is viewable Wednesday through Saturday by appointment through June 2.

The Afro-futurist movement seeks to redefine the black experience in popular culture, through films like Black Panther and the music of free jazz artist Sun Ra that depict alternative visions of the future. “In Their Own Form” presents a collection of photos that are inspired by the Afro-futurist aesthetic, envisioning a world where racism and oppression have been eradicated, giving black individuals an opportunity to create a new culture that is not bound by the past.

Whether subtle or overt, most advertisements contain messages that go beyond the desire to sell a product. Hank Willis Thomas has spent the majority of his career sifting through archives of vintage ads and digitally stripping away the text, uncovering imagery that was targeted at African Americans and women, influencing the ways in which consumers view race and gender. Devoid of context, brands and slogans, Thomas uses the illustrations and photographs contained within these advertisements to examine the impact of mass communication.

A new exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago explores the work of Japanese artists Onchi Kōshirō and Saitō Kiyoshi, who championed the sōsaku hanga (“creative prints” ) movement. The artists used woodblock prints to create moody portraits that demonstrated the possibilities of the medium.

Abstract artist Helen Frankenthaler is best known for her bold canvases, on which she employed her "soak stain" technique to create translucent splashes of color. However, "The Romance of a New Medium" focuses on her lesser-known work as a print artist, which shrinks her abstract process down in size through the use of lithography, wood cutting and etching. The Art Institute displays a nearly complete collection of more than 50 of her prints, which—true to its name—exhibits Frankenthaler's enthusiasm for a new set of artistic tools. 

Local artist Richard Rezac showcases some of his most recent sculptures inspired by architecture and improvised drawings, including sleek wall-mounted pieces that look like something from the pages of a futuristic IKEA catalog. "Address" features 20 works by Rezac, including a few new pieces commissioned by the Renaissance Society, many of which are inspired by specific locations (addresses) that are significant to the artist.

Allison Glenn curates this multi-venue show, which displays overlooked works by women of color at the DePaul Art Museum, Gallery 400 at UIC and the Stony Island Arts Bank. Work at each institution is based around a theme—the DePaul Art Museum includes pieces that feature landscape and the body; Gallery 400 features works inspired by mapping and migration; and the Stony Island Arts Bank includes art that deals with time and material culture.

Chicago-based photographer Kenneth Josephson’s conceptual images push the boundaries of the medium, using carefully-planned collages and pictures of pictures to create surreal works that toy with the viewer’s perception of space and time. The MCA will exhibit a selection of Josephson’s images largely drawn from its permanent collection, including images of Chicago that juxtapose images from different eras of the city's history.