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Nathaniel Mary Quinn and Gregory Huebner: The Hand That Guides Exhibition Opening Reception

  • ARTS + PUBLIC LIFE 301 East Garfield Boulevard Chicago, IL, 60637 United States (map)

This exhibition marks the first joint presentation of Nathaniel Mary Quinn and his former mentor Gregory Huebner, two artists whose practices are bound by the transformative power of guidance, reflection, and human connection.

Renowned for his emotionally charged, collage-like portraits, Quinn presents a new series of paintings on linen created specifically for this occasion. These works meditate on the “guiding hands” that have shaped his life and artistic path—mentors, loved ones, and inner voices—while opening a broader conversation about the universal role of mentorship in shaping creative journeys.

Alongside Quinn’s new work, the exhibition features Huebner’s Ritual series (2015–ongoing), a body of abstract paintings that channel his lifelong exploration of the unseen. Layering color, energy, and gesture, Huebner seeks balance amid chaos, grounding his work in decades of philosophical inquiry and spiritual study.

Together, their works resonate across generations, offering two distinct yet interconnected visions of art as a practice of searching—whether for selfhood, for spirit, or for the possibility of transformation.

This exhibition is curated by Anastasia Karpova Tinari with assistance from Sheridan Tucker Anderson

About the Artists

Nathaniel Mary Quinn (b. 1977) creates hybrid, fractured portraits and figures on paper and linen canvas using black charcoal, gouache, soft pastel, oil pastel, paint stick, and oil paint. His works are replete with art historical references to Cubism, Surrealism, Francis Bacon, and others. Yet, his process is also very personal, drawing from his memories, experiences, traumas, and family history growing up in Chicago’s Robert Taylor Homes.  Nathaniel Mary Quinn balances the beautiful with the grotesque, the sinister with the benevolent, capturing the complexity of human emotion in a way that is individual and representative of the human condition.

Almine Rech Gallery and Gagosian Gallery represent Nathaniel Mary Quinn worldwide.  

Nathaniel Mary Quinn has exhibited at galleries and institutions internationally.  Recent solo exhibitions include Gagosian, New York and Paris; Almine Rech, London, England; Half Gallery, New York; Luce Gallery, Torino, Italy; M + B Gallery, Los Angeles; Rhona Hoffman Gallery, Chicago; Bunker 259 Gallery, Brooklyn; Pace Gallery, London, England; and the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, Madison, Wisconsin.  Numerous group exhibitions have featured his work, including at The Bronx Museum of Art, Albertz Benda, New York, Satori Gallery, New York, Susan-Inglett Gallery, New York, and in A Process Series | Here He Come: Black Jesus, curated by Jessamyn Fiore at Rawson Projects, New York.  Multiple publications have reviewed his work and studio practice, including the New York Times, The Independent (London), Cultured Magazine, The Brooklyn Rail, Family Style, AFROPUNK, the Chicago Reader, The Daily News, Huffington Post, and The New Yorker.  He is the recipient of the Lorraine Hansberry Artistic, Performance, and Fine Arts Award and a two-time National Arts Club Prize winner.  Considerable public institutions, such as the Art Institute of Chicago, the Sheldon Museum of Art, and the Whitney Museum of American Art, carry his work in their permanent collections.  Nathaniel Mary Quinn, a native of Chicago, received his BFA from Wabash College and his MFA from New York University.  He currently lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. 

Gregory Huebner is Professor of Art Emeritus at Wabash College. He received his BA in Art in 1971 from St. Benedict’s College in Atchison, KS, and his MFA in 1973 from Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville. He taught at Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Indiana, for 37 years (1974–2011), serving as Chair of the Department for 23 years and holding the rank of Full Professor of Art since 1990.

Huebner has had 32 solo exhibitions and been featured in 85 group and juried exhibitions, receiving several awards for his paintings. His work is represented in 33 public collections and over 90 private collections, including Raclin Murphy Museum of Art at Notre Dame University, Indiana State Museum Collection, Greater Lafayette Museum of Art Collection, Deloitte & Touche Collection, IU Health Collection, and others . He currently resides in Indianapolis, IN, where he is an artist-in-residence with Virtusa Corporation. His series—including Amplexo, Litany, Vision Quest, Passage, Silence, Centering, Jazz, Transition, and Ritual—were the subject of a major retrospective at Wabash College in 2024, highlighting fifty years of artistic production.

All APL programs are free and open to the public. To help us continue to provide these programs and build a hub for arts & culture on the South Side, we appreciate donations of all sizes. Your support sustains the rich ecosystem of artists that make the Arts Block so vibrant. To make a donation, please visit our giving page

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October 30

The Hand That Guides: Conversation with Nathaniel Mary Quinn and Anasatasia Karpova Tinari

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November 1

Chicago Film Symposium