Evolution of space

Evolve the Gallery has evolved into a larger gallery space. It recently settled into its new location on Third Avenue and Broadway in Oak Park in the former 40 Acres Art Gallery space. The move only covered a couple blocks, but the larger new space will mean there’s room for more art.

The current show features African and African-American female artists, such as Dawn Williams Boyd and her quiltlike “cloth paintings.” Her work addresses racism, spirituality and sexuality. Her provocative “Odalisque,” for instance, is a take on Edouard Manet’s classic painting of a nude prostitute in repose, “Olympia,” but Williams Boyd’s dark figure lies on her stomach instead, contrasted by a pile of colorful pillows, rendering her more like a silhouette. Unlike Manet’s woman, who stares directly at the viewer with a dark-skinned servant presenting her flowers at her bedside, Williams Boyd’s woman faces away from the viewer, glancing over her shoulder, with two contrasting smiles.