Rivalry Projects

Rivalry is pleased to announce Aftertouch: Mimosa Pudica, the gallery’s first solo exhibition with Crystal Z Campbell. The exhibition expands Campbell’s ongoing exploration of “underloved” histories through new collages and sculptures that are inspired by the touch-sensitive mimosa pudica plant. Drawing from herbarium collections, archival materials, ceramics, painting, and cast bronze and iron, the work examines colonial histories, migration, and ecological memory.

Join us for the opening reception on Friday, September 18, 2026 from 5:00 - 9:00pm. The exhibition will be on view from September 18 - October 30, 2026, and will be accompanied by a new publication. Stay tuned for more details!

Image: Crystal Z Campbell, 2026. Acrylic paint, archival inkjet print, glazed and unglazed ceramic shards, fish leather, on birch wood panels, 28 x 11 inches, 29 x 12 inches framed Crystal Z Campbell💚❤️🇵🇭💚❤️

Gabriel Martinez: Sites of Encounter has been extended through Friday, September 4 by appointment.

The exhibition marks a departure from Martinez’s earlier use of national Q***r archives, turning instead to his own documentation of cruising spaces across the United States and abroad. Through a process that bridges analog and digital photography, Martinez transforms these landscapes into layered, luminous images that speak to memory, desire, and the histories embedded within Q***r space.

Regular gallery hours continue through Friday, August 14. Following that, the exhibition will remain on view by appointment through September 4.

Stay tuned for details about a special closing event we’re planning later this month.

Gabriel Martinez, Sunbeam, 2026
Silver gelatin print,
16.5 x 21 inches, 17.25 x 21.75 x 1.75 inches, framed
Gabriel Martinez

Rivalry Projects is open today from 11:00 AM–5:00 PM.

Stop by to see Gabriel Martinez: Sites of Encounter, on view now.

Gabriel Martinez, Iron Cross, 2026
Silver gelatin print, 20 x 30 inches

Gabriel Martinez, Mattresses, 2026
Silver gelatin print, 20 x 30 inches

New works from the studio of Peter Stephens. ☀️

If you’d like to see what’s currently available, get in touch—we’d be happy to share images and details.

Peter Stephens, Jumpin’ Jivin’, 2026
Acrylic on panel, 20 × 18 inches

Peter Stephens, Four Leaf Clover, 2026
Acrylic on panel, 20 x 18 inches
Peter Stephens

Artist Jen Everett is the latest guest on the Museum of Contemporary Photography’s podcast, produced by WCRX-FM Studios at Columbia College Chicago.

In conversation with MoCP Community Engagement Fellow Alayna N. Pernell, Everett discusses her interdisciplinary practice spanning lens-based and time-based media, installation, collage, and writing, and her ongoing exploration of how Black knowledge is produced and transmitted through rupture, interiority, and embodied memory. The episode also includes a reflection on a work by Patty Carroll from the MoCP permanent collection. Link in bio to listen in.

Image: Untitled, diptych from Redoubled/Something We Carry, 2018

Image 2: Patty Carroll, Georges’s from Hot Dog Stands and Changing Chicago, 1987-1990

Referencing flora- and fauna-themed textiles, Susan Metrican assigns the same utility to painted canvas by cutting, sewing, and forming it into image and object. Rather than functioning as a window onto illusionistic space, the canvas becomes a constructed surface—stitched, stuffed, and materially transformed.

The title, Prairie School, alludes to the relationship between figure and ground in painting—the interplay between an object and the space it occupies. It also references Frank Lloyd Wright’s description of Prairie School architecture as being “married to the ground,” emphasizing an integrated relationship with the Midwestern landscape.

Susan Metrican, Prairie School, 2021
Acrylic on canvas, cotton, recycled cotton stuffing, thread, 24 × 21.5 × 2.5 inches

Gabriel Martinez: Sites of Encounter is now on view.

Photographed across Fire Island, Miami, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and beyond, these landscapes are rooted in Martinez’s own experiences while also evoking a broader network of Q***r cruising sites that span generations and geographies. Together, they trace spaces of desire, community, memory, and absence from the 1970s to the present.

On view now at Rivalry.

Gabriel Martinez, Redwoods, 2026
Silver gelatin print
20 x 12 inches, 20.75 x 12.75 x 1.75 inches, framed
Edition of 3 ( #1/3)

Thank you to everyone who joined us for the opening reception of Gabriel Martinez: Sites of Encounter last night and for the artist talk this morning. We are grateful for such a wonderful turnout and thoughtful conversations.

The gallery is open today until 5:00 PM, and the exhibition remains on view through August 14.

Please note that Rivalry Projects will be taking a much-needed break for the July Fourth holiday. The gallery will reopen on Wednesday, July 8.

Join us tonight for the opening reception of Gabriel Martinez: Sites of Encounter, from 5:00-9:00pm. Gabe will be attendance and give an artist talk / exhibition walk-through tomorrow, Saturday, June 27 at 11:00 a.m. We will be serving coffee, bagels and pastries. Hope to see you! Link in bio to read more about the exhibition and the artist.

Gabriel Martinez: Sites of Encounter opens next Friday, June 26, 5:00-9:00pm! Including new photographic works of cruising spaces across the US and abroad, Martinez creates fragmented Q***r landscapes that are imbued with anticipation and memorial.

Gabriel will be in attendance for the opening reception and will also give an artist talk and exhibition walk through on Saturday, June 27 at 11:00 AM. Join us!

Image: Gabriel Martinez, Elysian, 2026
Silver gelatin print, 16.5 x 21 inches