Expo Chicago’s global lineup

Expo Chicago opened at Navy Pier on April 9 with about 130 galleries, a slimmer lineup than recent editions and the first under director Kate Sierzputowski. (expochicago.com) The fair runs April 9-12 in Festival Hall at Navy Pier, with exhibitors from 36 countries and a program that mixes gallery booths with talks, installations and public art. (navypier.org) Frieze, which acquired Expo Chicago in 2023, has framed the 2026 edition as a more curated fair, with over 130 galleries instead of the roughly 170 exhibitors seen in recent years. (theartnewspaper.com) That shift is visible in the floor plan and in the fair’s programming under Sierzputowski, who told the Chicago Sun-Times the smaller event was designed to feel “more intentional.” (chicago.suntimes.com) One of the featured projects is Sarah Nsikak’s presentation with Sibyl Gallery in the Focus section, a curated area for younger galleries and emerging practices. (sibylgallery.com) Sibyl Gallery says Nsikak’s installation, “How could you hold it?,” presents new textile works, and the artist is based in Brooklyn and was born in 1991. (sibylgallery.com) Expo Chicago renamed its former Exposure section as Focus for 2026 and put it under Katie A. Pfohl of the Detroit Institute of Arts, part of a broader push toward stronger curatorial framing. (press.frieze.com) The fair also expanded its partnership with the Obama Presidential Center for an exhibition called “Embodiment,” curated by museum director Louise Bernard, tying the commercial fair more closely to Chicago institutions. (press.frieze.com) Observer reported that museums including the Denver Art Museum, the Detroit Institute of Arts and the Saint Louis Art Museum were making acquisitions as the fair opened, underscoring the institutional audience Expo Chicago is courting. (observer.com) For Chicago, the result is a fair that is smaller on paper but still pitched as an international market and museum meeting point, with textile work like Nsikak’s used to signal the kind of focused presentations organizers want to foreground. (observer.com)