BEYOND GRANDEUR

Lake Forest resident Dr. Giovanni Aloi, a renowned expert in art and environmental aesthetics, brings a fresh perspective to Chicago’s historic Driehaus Museum with A Tale of Today: Materialities, on view through April 27. As guest curator, Aloi invites visitors to look beyond the Nickerson Mansion’s renowned Gilded Age grandeur to discover the hidden stories within its magnificent materials.

Drawing on his expertise as founder of Antennae: The Journal of Nature in Visual Culture and his scholarship at institutions including the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Aloi has assembled 14 Midwestern artists for this groundbreaking exhibition. Each artist has created site-specific works that respond to the mansion’s rich material palette—from exotic woods and imported marbles to coal and glass.

The exhibition reveals how these materials, which once showcased the Nickerson family’s wealth and taste, tell complex stories about global trade, ecological impact, and social progress. Through diverse mediums and perspectives, the featured works demonstrate that the true luxury of this historic mansion lies not just in its opulence, but in the fascinating narratives its materials continue to tell about our past and present.

A Tale of Today: Materialities runs through April 27 at the Driehaus Museum, 50 East Erie Street, Chicago. driehausmuseum.org/exhibition/ materialities