Sights, Seen, and Never Seen explores the imagery found in the urban environment and the representation of urban life that are often ignored or hidden. Among the rush hours and countless telephone poles, we aim to magnify the mundane, to look at the bigger picture, not for what it is, but for what makes it. Bringing to the forefront things forgotten, we pull together the edges of the urban landscape into curious treasures that deserve a closer look beyond the periphery. Motivated by the endurance of Ukrainian artists during times of upheaval, these artists have remained deeply rooted in the material and the everyday, transforming the debris of history into objects of memory and resilience—reminding us that even in moments of erasure, creation persists. Artists featured within this exhibition come from a variety of disciplines and cultures, but a commonality can be found in any community's reliance on the simplicity of daily life. Sights, Scenes, and Never Seen pushes the mundane forward, taking another look at sites often passed by.

After Line, Before Form is curated by Students from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago’s Curatorial Practicum Class. The course is led by UIMA’s Curator, Adrienne Kochman, PhD, Lecturer in the Department of Art History, Theory & Criticism at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.