JOSEF STRAU in Ornament & Information

Chicago Cultural Center
78 E. Washington St.
Chicago, IL 60602

April 10 – July 19, 2026

Opening Reception
April 10, 6–7PM
Chicago Rooms, 2nd Floor North

Ornament & Information, curated in partnership with GERTIE, presents artists working in Chicago and Vienna whose practices explore the historic intellectual exchange between the two cities. Through direct or indirect means, these artists' practices engage and expand upon a historic intercity dialogue that spans the realms of modern architecture and mid-century free-market economics. The ideational pipeline between Chicago and Vienna has never necessarily been of a one-to-one nature; rather, it is a product of certain intellectual characteristics developed by one city being then synthesized and transcended by the other.

The exhibition presents a group of Josef Strau's lamp works produced in the mid-to-late 2000s. Strau's sculpturally modified lamps "illuminate" texts and images which synthesize the artist's personality as both artist and writer.

To learn more about the exhibition, visit the Chicago Cultural Center website.