What Can You Look for in Gina Litherland’s Gone to Earth in Chicago?
Gina Litherland’s “Gone to Earth” is on view at Corbett vs. Dempsey from November 12, 2026 to January 9, 2027. Her sixth solo exhibition at the gallery brings together sixteen paintings made since 2022. Women, animals, landscapes and interiors meet in scenes where the boundaries between them are often unstable.
Based in the countryside outside Milwaukee, Litherland has developed a vocabulary of images connected with Surrealism and Magic Realism, while drawing on her own research. In Not Really a Still Life (2025), a woman rests her head on a wooden table beside a cat. In Wolf Wear (2025), a woman’s clothing and a setting of foliage bring the animal and human worlds into close contact. Elsewhere, figures levitate and a woman becomes part cormorant.
Look first for what feels ordinary, then for the detail that unsettles it. A tabletop, an item of clothing or a familiar animal can provide an entry point before a painting shifts into an impossible event. Asking what links a figure to its surroundings may be more useful than trying to decode every symbol into a fixed message.
The painted surface matters to these scenes. Litherland sometimes uses decalcomania: paint is applied with another surface, which is then removed to leave irregular, mottled textures. She works back into those textures, sometimes developing images they suggest. All the paintings are on board; most use oil, while five recent works use egg tempera. Moving between a view of the whole scene and close attention to its surface can help connect narrative and technique.
Corbett vs. Dempsey is at 2156 West Fulton Street, Chicago. Regular gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 10 AM to 5 PM. Check the gallery’s current information before traveling for special events or holiday changes.
About Antre
Antre is building an app that gives artworks their context, starting with New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. Join the waiting list at antre.art.
Sources
- Corbett vs. Dempsey, exhibition page: dates, sixteen paintings, materials, works and decalcomania
- Corbett vs. Dempsey, contact page: address and gallery hours
