Julius Caesar

About

Julius Caesar (JC) is an independent artist-collective founded in Chicago's East Garfield neighborhood. The collective began an experimental artist-run project space in 2008 to create exhibition opportunities for Chicago artists outside the commercial gallery ecosystem. JC has been open to the general public through exhibitions and events, with programming focused on placing emerging and under-represented Chicago artists alongside national and international programming. Since 2019, JC expanded its mission to include promoting artist-run with their conceptual artwork ""BARELY FAIR,"" an invitational art fair at 1:12 scale. The invitational fair miniaturizes the architecture of a traditional fair to expand access for participation. Aligning itself with larger, destination art fairs, Barely Fair combines spectacle of the miniature with high-powered partnerships to draw attention to spaces otherwise unable to participate in art fairs.

Our programming seeks to support and elevate those who are integral to their artistic communities, but unable to achieve recognition beyond their localities. Whether due to a lack of opportunity or operational capacity, our program reflects a commitment to direct action on systemic limitaitons we've witnessed or experienced in our collective decades of experience in the art world. Since 2014, exhibitions have featured artists from Chicago, Berlin, Portugal, Malta, Romania, Toronto, Paris, New York, Israel, London, Los Angeles, Minnesota, Boston, Michigan, Tampa, and Milwaukee. Exhibitions have been featured in The New York Times, The Art Newspaper, ArtForum, CNN, PAPER, Contemporary Art Daily, HyperAllergic, Frieze, Chicago Tribune, ArtSlant, New City, and Bad At Sports among others. Founded: March 2008