Chicago Invitational 2019

Artist Melissa Brown will curate a poker tournament during which invited players will wager original artworks in a winner-take-all round of Texas Hold ‘Em. The winner will leave the table with an art collection, formed by chance and skill. An exhibition of the wagered artworks will be displayed during the game. Presented with Derek Eller Gallery, New York.

Melissa Brown creates paintings that explore what is otherworldly about ordinary experience. Her paintings collage different painting methods that capture reality at different speeds: one through a camera, one through direct observation, one from memory.

Solo exhibitions and two person projects have included: “Melissa Brown and Jamie Bull” at Dodd Gallery at University of Georgia in Athens, “Going AWOL,” Biggins Gallery at Auburn University, “Between States,” Derek Eller Gallery, “Tennis Elbow,” the Journal Gallery, Brooklyn, “Past Present Future” at Magenta Planes, “Paper Fortune” at CANADA, in New York City.

Internationally she has mounted solo exhibitions at Kenny Schacter, ROVE in London and Roberto Paradise in Puerto Rico. She staged “How to Win the Lottery” at the Nuit Blanche in Toronto 2009, a performance that attempted to collectively win the lottery with thousands of other people. In 2015, as part of NADA presents, she hosted Eye in the Sky Hold ‘Em, a private, off-site poker lounge which was visible at the fair through closed circuit television. She was awarded the Joan Mitchell Grant for painting in 2012 and a residency at the Joan Mitchell Center in 2019. Her work is in the permanent collections at the Whitney Museum of Art and the New York City Department of Education. She is represented by Derek Eller Gallery in New York, New York.

Game Room, 2nd Floor
Chicago Athletic Association Hotel
12 South Michigan Avenue