(Featured Image: Song of Songs 2, 4, and 5, oil on linen panel, 9″ x 9″ (framed)
Addington Gallery
704 N. Wells Street
Chicago, IL
Gallery Hours: Tuesday – Saturday, 11 am – 6 pm
Join me on October 17th! I will be at the gallery 2–4 pm for art, conversation, and light refreshments. I am excited that Addington Gallery has invited me to exhibit 5 small portrait paintings in a group show in the front space of the gallery.
My mother died last year at the age of 102. During her last years I observed her isolation, cognitive decline, and the effects of emotional and physical loneliness. The needs of the body—both basic bodily functions, and spiritual and emotional yearnings—are satisfied largely through physical proximity to others. My paintings expresses the collective fragility of the human condition – our tenuous threads of existence.
The titles for this series of paintings come from Song of Songs, a biblical text that is explicitly sensual and metaphorically spiritual, describing the relationship between
lovers. Although there is a societal disconnect between the language of sexual longing and the physicality of an elderly woman, I title works of my mother from this text to convey the truth that the desire for love and touch is universal and not limited by age.
lovers. Although there is a societal disconnect between the language of sexual longing and the physicality of an elderly woman, I title works of my mother from this text to convey the truth that the desire for love and touch is universal and not limited by age.
https://danaddington.com/addingtongallery/
In Full View
Woman Made Gallery
Through November 7, 2026
Gallery Hours: Wednesday – Sunday, 12–5 pm
In Full View is a group show that explores visibility and invisibility as they relate to identity, aging, memory, and the legacy of a fully lived life.
Like a Lily Among Thorns, oil on linen, 60″ x 30″