Overview: The Society for Contemporary Art (SCA) was founded at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1940 to promote a better understanding and appreciation of the art of our time. Monthly SCA programs provide access to an exciting roster of leading national and international artists, dealers, critics, historians, and curators, as well as visits to distinguished private collections and major art centers within the Unites States and abroad. On an annual basis, the members of our acquisition committee review a carefully selected group of contemporary works and present them together as an exhibition. Our membership then votes to purchase one or more objects on behalf of the museum. In past years, the SCA has acquired works by artists such as Josef Albers, Alexander Calder, Joan Mitchell, Jasper Johns, James Turrell, Dan Graham, Leon Golub, Reinhard Mucha, and more recently Lorna Simpson, Guillermo Kuitca, Tacita Dean, Larry Clark, Doug Aitken, Wolfgang Tillmans, Rudolf Stingel, and Rosemarie Trockel.

This year’s offering includes a foam and glass sculpture by Matthew Monahan (American, born 1972); a series of photographic collages and works on paper by Richard Hawkins (American, born 1961); a 16-mm film by A K Dolven (Norwegian, born 1953); a copper sulfate and wood sculpture by Roger Hiorns (English, born 1975); and a suite of color photographs by Boris Mikhailov (Ukranian, born 1938).

Members will vote on these works at the annual meeting on May 22, 2008.

Seen in Galleries 136–137.