Curatorial Notes

​

The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) presents Undercurrents, a group exhibition opening January 9, 2026, at Fondazione Marta Czok Foundation Venice. Developed through
the SAIC Venice Exhibition Seminar, Undercurrents brings together undergraduate and graduate students from SAIC as curators alongside 14 student-artists presenting new works across textile, painting, sculpture, installation, video, sound, and design. The exhibition explores how Chicago and Venice — two cities shaped by water and layered histories — navigate change, preservation, and resilience.

Undercurrents regards Venice in its unfixity. The exhibition reflects on Venice as a transient site where the frictions of Venetian life intersect with our own. By placing personal interpretations of modern global issues within present-day Venice, the artists conceptualize climate, migratory, and cultural change. Through representations of transformation, they reveal Venice as a dynamic landscape — one whose complexity is often obscured by theforces of pageantry, preservation and capital.
The participating artists approach the city from multiple directions. Venice’s water — inscribed by empire and mercantile exchange, shaped by industry, and defined by the circulation of goods and culture — emerges as connective tissue. It sustains life, carries
memory, and threatens collapse. Through diverse media, the artists reimagine waterways as immersive and precarious sites of memory, migration, and ecological crisis.
Public programming during the exhibition will include artist talks, curator-led walkthroughs, and discussions exploring how contemporary art responds to environmental and cultural transformation.