Dominican University's O'Connor Art Gallery will host "Headshots," an exhibition of paintings by internationally renowned artist Susanna Coffey and up-and-coming Chicago painter and animator Lauren Gregory, running from November 7 to December 19. The gallery is located on the fourth floor of Lewis Hall on Dominican's Main Campus, 7900 West Division Street, River Forest.

While photographed headshots are a functional visual aid in the acting and theater world—providing a superficial look at one's appearance—the painted heads of Coffey and Gregory are more than simple renderings of the face, compelling the viewer to ponder the psychological presence that lies beneath the surface.

Susanna Coffey is a National Endowment for the Arts and Guggenheim Award-winning painter best known for her paintings of heads, including self-portraits. Her work has been exhibited in museums and collections around the world, including the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Greece and the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. She has taught painting at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago since 1982, holding the F. H. Sellers Professorship in Painting since 1998. She holds a BFA from the University of Connecticut and MFA from Yale University.

Lauren Gregory was born in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and descends from a long lineage of female painters. She earned her BFA from the University of South Carolina and MFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2009.  While studying at SAIC, she expanded her painting practice to include new media techniques like film and animation. She is a part of the Aboveground Animation collective and has shown her paintings and animations in galleries across the country including Swimming Pool Project Space in Chicago and Ramiken Crucible in NY.  

Gallery hours are Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Admission is free.  The exhibit will open with an artist talk with Gregory on Wednesday, November 7, from 3 to 4 p.m., followed by a reception in the gallery until 7 p.m.

About the O’Connor Art Gallery 

The mission of the O’Connor Art Gallery is to present the Dominican University academic community with timely, relevant and focused contemporary art exhibitions that foster critical and thoughtful dialogue across disciplines. Exhibitions are curated with the student body in mind, as they are meant to introduce students to new and innovative artistic concepts, practices and strategies. Located steps from the art department’s studios and classrooms, it is particularly accessible to art students as a space for intimate engagement and reflection.