As a follow-up to the exhibition The Figure and the Chicago Imagists, which explored the highly original expressions of the human form created by a group of Chicago-based artists in the 1960s and 70s, the Elmhurst Art Museum now presents What Came After: Figurative Painting in Chicago 1978-1998. 

After the rise of Imagism, many Chicago-based artists struggled with understanding and processing the term since it was first used in the early 1970s, including those that either built on the ideas of their peers or those who sought to break free from expectations of the Imagist legacy. What Came After better defines and celebrates this later generation of artists, often labelled third-generation Imagists, Post-Imagists, and/or the “Chicago School.”

Organized by artist and curator Phyllis Bramson, What Came After features 30 paintings by artists including Michiko Itatani, Paul Lamantia, Robert Lostutter, and many more.