Art Calls The Aesthetics of Power
Opportunity Description
International Deadline: August 15, 2025 – A.R.C. Gallery invites artists to submit work for The Aesthetics of Power, an exhibition juried by artist Mahwish Chishty. This show looks closely at how aesthetics can be used to express layered, quietly disruptive ideas. We are drawn to work that surprises, that reveals itself slowly, and that occupies the fragile space where beauty unsettles rather than soothes. Submissions should be layered and unexpected: artworks that linger in the uneasy space between attraction and unease.
EXHIBITION
As tools of harm grow more remote, outsourced, and hidden, their impacts continue to rapidly shape our lives. While the mechanisms may be out of sight, their impact remains immediate, shaping the human experience, memories, and the cultural archive. This exhibition invites artists to share their work that respond to that contradiction: a world where power hides in plain sight, but leaves its unmistakable marks.
Exhibition dates: October 2-25, 2025.
ELIGIBILITY
Open to all artists, national and international. Original works created within the last 5 years. All mediums and materials will be considered in addition to video and performance based arts. No projections or media installations will be accepted for this show due to space limitations.
CURATOR
Mahwish Chishty merges new media and conceptual art with the rich materials and techniques of South Asian artistic traditions.
With over seventy exhibitions both in the US and internationally, Chishty’s work has garnered widespread recognition. She has been awarded numerous residencies, including Yaddo in Saratoga Springs, the Chicago Cultural Center in Chicago, and the Vermont Studio Center in Vermont. Ms. Chishty also has works in public and private collections including the Foreign Office Islamabad, Pakistan, Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Fukuoka Shi, Japan, and Imperial War Museum, London, UK. Notably, Chishty is a recipient of the prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship.
Chishty is an Associate Professor in the Department of Art at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She holds a BFA with a concentration in miniature painting from the National College of Arts in Lahore, Pakistan, and an MFA in studio arts from the University of Maryland in College Park.
APPLY ONLINE – Application Fee: $40
SALES
Works will be for sale unless noted as NFS (not for sale) on the entry form. ARC will act as a liaison for sales of the artists’ work. However, any work sold and paid for via Paypal will have the small fee deducted from the sale amount. ARC will deduct a 20% commission from the selling price of the work in group shows, with the artist retaining 80%.
DATES
- Notification of Acceptance: Will go out by email on Monday, September 1, 2025
- Delivery of work to ARC: Thursday & Friday, September 25-26, 2-6pm; Sat, September 27, 12-4pm
- Pick-Up Work at Gallery: Sat, October 25, 2:30-4pm
- Shipped Work Return Date: Week of October 27
*Pre-Paid FedEx or UPS return label is required
*Do not use the U.S. Postal Service
About:
ARC Gallery and Educational Foundation is a non-profit, woman-run cooperative gallery dedicated to providing alternative space exhibition opportunities for innovative artists outside the commercial gallery system. Since 1973 ARC has given exposure and support to artists, providing an atmosphere for the continued development of artistic potential and experimentation.
ARC is run entirely by its women artist members; as a non-profit exhibition space. ARC receives some support from outside funding sources but not enough to cover our operating expenses. Thus, to provide the space and services we offer to exhibiting artists, we defray our expenses by charging exhibition fees. Each of the rental spaces in the gallery actually costs twice as much as we charge the artists.
ARC Gallery & Educational Foundation
1463 W. Chicago Avenue
Chicago, Illinois 60642
(773) 252-2232
