Installation view, Faraway Nearby, works by Mary Lum, Sanou Oumar, Becky Suss, Beverly Acha and Sean Sullivan.

Faraway Nearby

North Loop’s inaugural exhibition brings together a group of artists who explore the lived experience of place. Faraway Nearby approaches place as a personal geography that is shaped by memory, culture, and history. What all of these artists share is a lived-in, practical intimacy with their subject matter—in one way or another, the works included “measure physical and psychic geography together.”

The artists in this exhibition work from memory or direct observation to translate their understandings of place. The psychological and sensory qualities of physical surroundings inform the formal and material explorations of Beverly Acha, Mary Lum, and Sean Sullivan. Michele Abramowitz focuses on optics and the perception of space. Becky Suss, b chehayeb, and Kevin McNamee-Tweed all conjure the plasticity of place-based memory and narrative through their renderings of significant objects and symbols. William Burton Binnie considers how land acts as both document of and witness to human activity. Sanou Oumar, Carlos Rosales-Silva, and Kemar Keanu Wynter all engage with the remembered spaces of their respective childhoods. Oumar and Rosales-Silva draw on the architectural structures and visual patterns of the cities and landscapes they grew up in, while Wynter references foods from his youth to explore the interconnectedness of family, cultural history, and home.

As the pandemic has prompted many of us to renegotiate our relationships to place, we look to the possibilities suggested by this group of artists to interpret our ever-shifting surroundings.

1 Rebecca Solnit, The Faraway Nearby (New York: Viking, 2013), 108. In naming the show, we echo the title of Solnit’s 2013 book. Solnit’s title in turn references Georgia O’Keeffe’s letters to loved ones following her move from New York to rural New Mexico, which the artist signed, “From the faraway nearby.” We’re interested in the collapsible, mutable, and personal experience of place that O’Keeffe’s poetic sign-off suggests. The quotation cited above illustrates Solnit’s interpretation of the artist’s intentional phrasing. Lucy Lippard’s The Lure of the Local and Miwon Kwon’s One Place After Another also shaped our thinking while putting together this exhibition.

Installation Images

  • Installation view, Faraway Nearby, works by Beverly Acha, Sean Sullivan and b chehayeb.

    Installation view, Faraway Nearby, works by Beverly Acha, Sean Sullivan and b chehayeb.

  • Installation view, Faraway Nearby, works by Mary Lum, Sanou Oumar and Becky Suss.

    Installation view, Faraway Nearby, works by Mary Lum, Sanou Oumar and Becky Suss.

Item 1 of 9

Individual Artworks

  • Beverly Acha, blued into view, 2021, oil on canvas, 56 x 42 in.

    Beverly Acha, blued into view, 2021, oil on canvas, 56 x 42 in.

  • Beverly Acha, circuito (nuevas energías I) [loop (new energies I)], 2022, pastel on paper, 15 8 10 x 11 4 5 in. unframed.

    Beverly Acha, circuito (nuevas energías I) [loop (new energies I)], 2022, pastel on paper, 15 8 10 x 11 4 5 in. unframed.

Item 1 of 23

Individual Artworks

  • Beverly Acha, blued into view, 2021, oil on canvas, 56 x 42 in.

    Beverly Acha, blued into view, 2021, oil on canvas, 56 x 42 in.

  • Beverly Acha, circuito (nuevas energías I) [loop (new energies I)], 2022, pastel on paper, 15 8 10 x 11 4 5 in. unframed.

    Beverly Acha, circuito (nuevas energías I) [loop (new energies I)], 2022, pastel on paper, 15 8 10 x 11 4 5 in. unframed.

  • Beverly Acha, mis flores (nuevas energías V) [my flowers (new energies V), 2022, pastel on paper, 15 7 10 x 11 4 5 in. unframed.

    Beverly Acha, mis flores (nuevas energías V) [my flowers (new energies V), 2022, pastel on paper, 15 7 10 x 11 4 5 in. unframed.


  • Sean Sullivan, Summer monotype 01-09, 2022, all oil on Kitikata paper mounted on panel, 8 x 6 in. each.

    Sean Sullivan, Summer monotype 01-09, 2022, all oil on Kitikata paper mounted on panel, 8 x 6 in. each.

  • b chehayeb, getting all dressed up for ceviche, 2020, oil on panel, 11 x 14 in. Courtesy of the artist and OCHI.

    b chehayeb, getting all dressed up for ceviche, 2020, oil on panel, 11 x 14 in. Courtesy of the artist and OCHI.

  • b chehayeb, open mouth room study, 2021, oil on panel, 14 x 11 in. Courtesy of the artist and OCHI.

    b chehayeb, open mouth room study, 2021, oil on panel, 14 x 11 in. Courtesy of the artist and OCHI.

  • Mary Lum, Surface, 2021, acrylic, watercolor, gouache and photo collage, 10 7 8 x 14 in. unframed, 14 3 4 x 17 3 4 in. framed. Courtesy of the artist and Yancey Richardson.

    Mary Lum, Surface, 2021, acrylic, watercolor, gouache and photo collage, 10 7 8 x 14 in. unframed, 14 3 4 x 17 3 4 in. framed. Courtesy of the artist and Yancey Richardson.

  • Mary Lum, Queens, 2021, acrylic, found paper, color pencil, and photo collage on paper, 10 7 8 x 13 7 8 in. unframed, 14 3 4 x 17 3 4 in. framed. Courtesy of the artist and Yancey Richardson.

    Mary Lum, Queens, 2021, acrylic, found paper, color pencil, and photo collage on paper, 10 7 8 x 13 7 8 in. unframed, 14 3 4 x 17 3 4 in. framed. Courtesy of the artist and Yancey Richardson.

  • Mary Lum, Curtain, 2021, gouache and photo collage on paper, 11 x 14 in. unframed, 14 3 4 x 17 3 4 in. framed. Courtesy of the artist and Yancey Richardson.

    Mary Lum, Curtain, 2021, gouache and photo collage on paper, 11 x 14 in. unframed, 14 3 4 x 17 3 4 in. framed. Courtesy of the artist and Yancey Richardson.

  • Becky Suss, Foundations of Modern Art, 2016, oil on canvas, 14 x 11 in. Credit © Becky Suss. Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York. From the collection of Brian Ruhl and Ozgur Ozar.

    Becky Suss, Foundations of Modern Art, 2016, oil on canvas, 14 x 11 in. Credit © Becky Suss. Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York. From the collection of Brian Ruhl and Ozgur Ozar.

  • Sanou Oumar, 03 01 2022, 2022, pen and marker on paper board, 32 x 40 in. unframed, 35 x 43 in. framed.

    Sanou Oumar, 03 01 2022, 2022, pen and marker on paper board, 32 x 40 in. unframed, 35 x 43 in. framed.

  • Sanou Oumar, 02 26 2022, 2022, pen and marker on paper board, 40 × 32 in. unframed, 43 x 35 in. framed.

    Sanou Oumar, 02 26 2022, 2022, pen and marker on paper board, 40 × 32 in. unframed, 43 x 35 in. framed.

  • Carlos Rosales-Silva, Gem Room, 2022, sand, crushed stone, glass beads in acrylic paint on panel, 20 x 16 in.

    Carlos Rosales-Silva, Gem Room, 2022, sand, crushed stone, glass beads in acrylic paint on panel, 20 x 16 in.

  • Carlos Rosales-Silva, Cobija (study), 2022, sand, crushed stone, glass beads in acrylic paint on panel, 14 x 11 in.

    Carlos Rosales-Silva, Cobija (study), 2022, sand, crushed stone, glass beads in acrylic paint on panel, 14 x 11 in.

  • Kemar Keanu Wynter, Tin Sardines and Pepper Sauce, 2021, oil pastel, acrylic and grommets on paper collage, 31 1/2 × 31 1/2 in.

    Kemar Keanu Wynter, Tin Sardines and Pepper Sauce, 2021, oil pastel, acrylic and grommets on paper collage, 31 1/2 × 31 1/2 in.

  • Kevin McNamee-Tweed, Variation on The End, 2022, glazed ceramic, 2 3/4 x 3 1/4 in.

    Kevin McNamee-Tweed, Variation on The End, 2022, glazed ceramic, 2 3/4 x 3 1/4 in.

  • Kevin McNamee-Tweed, Flyer (Joe Brainard at St Mark's Church), 2022, glazed ceramic, 8 x 7 in.

    Kevin McNamee-Tweed, Flyer (Joe Brainard at St Mark's Church), 2022, glazed ceramic, 8 x 7 in.

  • Kevin McNamee-Tweed, Vessel (Earth), 2022, glazed ceramic, 6 3/4 x 4 3/4 in.

    Kevin McNamee-Tweed, Vessel (Earth), 2022, glazed ceramic, 6 3/4 x 4 3/4 in.

  • William Burton Binnie, Untitled (Forest), 2022, black gesso on canvas, 8 x 10 in. unframed, 10 x 12 in. framed.

    William Burton Binnie, Untitled (Forest), 2022, black gesso on canvas, 8 x 10 in. unframed, 10 x 12 in. framed.

  • William Burton Binnie, Untitled (Wildfire), 2022, black gesso on canvas, 8 x 10 in. unframed, 10 x 12 in. framed.

    William Burton Binnie, Untitled (Wildfire), 2022, black gesso on canvas, 8 x 10 in. unframed, 10 x 12 in. framed.

  • William Burton Binnie, Pink Flag, 2017, acrylic and gesso on canvas, 48 x 36 in. unframed. 50 x 37 3/4 in. framed.

    William Burton Binnie, Pink Flag, 2017, acrylic and gesso on canvas, 48 x 36 in. unframed. 50 x 37 3/4 in. framed.

  • Michele Abramowitz, Hunter, 2019, oil and black gesso on polyester canvas, 48 x 44 in. Courtesy of the artist and Kate Werble Gallery, New York.

    DescrMichele Abramowitz, Hunter, 2019, oil and black gesso on polyester canvas, 48 x 44 in. Courtesy of the artist and Kate Werble Gallery, New York.iption goes here

  • William Burton Binnie, Empire (of dirt), 2022, black gesso on canvas 36 x 18