Museum of Contemporary Art ChicagoNear North Side / Streeterville

Slow Dance

Now showing12 September 2026 – 14 March 2027$22

Six artists reclaim forms of slowness that resist the contemporary demand to constantly perform, across painting, sculpture, video and live performance.

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More in Chicago

On now All of November 2026

A dancer stretches, limbers up and gets ready for a performance that never starts. That's Cally Spooner's Warm Up, and from 3 November to 20 December it runs for three hours at a time, which Bears fans will find relatable.

It's one of four live works that take turns in the second-floor galleries, alongside painting, sculpture and video by six artists, all about the pressure to keep performing at work, online and in public. Until 18 October, two dancers improvise either side of Melanie McLain's wall-like partitions. Brendan Fernandes's six dancers take over in January, and from 16 February Gordon Hall's performers are carried through the room lying on gurneys. You'll want the schedule: performances run on select days only, mostly Tuesday evenings and weekend afternoons.

I-M Magazine called it "a compelling, thought provoking exhibition". It's included in admission ($22, $19 for Chicago residents, free 18 and under), and Illinois residents get in free on Tuesdays from 5 to 9pm.

Look for

Melanie McLain, Peripersonal (until 18 Oct)
Wall-like partitions borrowed from office architecture split two dancers, who improvise in response to each other and to the limits the structure sets.
Cally Spooner, Warm Up (3 Nov to 20 Dec)
A dancer stretches and prepares, on a loop, for a performance that never takes place.
Brendan Fernandes, Inaction (5 Jan to 7 Feb)
Six dancers join hands in a circle, climb a sculpture triumphantly, then break apart to stand still in static tableaux.
Gordon Hall, Hands and Knees (16 Feb to 14 Mar)
Performers lie back on gurney-like sculptures and are carried through the gallery, then set down to rest on pairs of chairs.