What Is Zombie, the New Group Exhibition at Chicago Artists Coalition?

Short answer

Zombie opens Friday, October 30, 2026, at Chicago Artists Coalition in the West Loop and runs through December 10. The group exhibition brings together Mauricio López F., Gabriel Moreno and Pablo Lazala Ruiz, curated by Serena JV Elston, to trace systems of extraction across borders, languages and industries. The opening reception is Friday, October 30, from 5 to 8 PM. Note the limited gallery hours before you go: Wednesday 11 AM to 4 PM, Saturday 12 to 4 PM, or by appointment.

Key facts

• Who: Artists Mauricio López F., Gabriel Moreno and Pablo Lazala Ruiz, curated by Serena JV Elston.
• What: Zombie — a group exhibition on labor, extraction and systems that are already obsolete but refuse to finish dying.
• Where: Chicago Artists Coalition, 1431 W Hubbard St, Suite 201, Chicago, IL 60642.
• When: October 30 to December 10, 2026. Opening reception October 30, 5 to 8 PM.
• Hours: Wednesday 11 AM to 4 PM and Saturday 12 to 4 PM, or by advance appointment. Admission is free.

What is the show about?

The exhibition follows objects dislocated from place: tools rebranded, images redubbed, machinery left to break down. Through them, the work keeps returning to the worker, the body that labors, rests, and is called back to labor before rest is complete. The curatorial premise sits inside exhausted systems that are already obsolete but refuse to finish dying, producing what the gallery calls the working dead. Here, the organizers say, zombie is not a metaphor but a diagnosis.

Who are the artists?

Mauricio López F. is an interdisciplinary artist from Santiago, Chile, now based in Chicago, who emerged from Chile’s early hardcore punk scene and recently completed an MFA in Sound at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago; his Doméstic (2026) combines loudspeakers, translucent prints and LED lights. Gabriel Moreno works in sculpture, drawing and collage, treating sculpture as a language of touch and digging into American histories of meat packing, refrigerator manufacturing and logging; his NASCAR NASCAR NASCAR (2026) is a digital photo print. Pablo Lazala Ruiz, born in Bogotá and based in Chicago, trained in architecture and sculpture and examines the invisible systems of the built environment through rituals of construction, concealment and impermanence, as in the video ofrendas y de lo cotidiano (2021).

Who is the curator?

Serena JV Elston is a transdisciplinary sculptor and curator whose research-based practice thinks through the body and its relationship to structures of power, across ecology, posthumanism, disability and embodiment. Her work asks whether institutions can disable bodies, and whether bodies can disable institutions, rendering both as fragile, interdependent forms that require care to endure.

What is the Chicago Artists Coalition?

Chicago Artists Coalition is a nonprofit that supports artists through residencies, exhibitions and professional programs, closer in spirit to an artist-run space than to a commercial gallery: the exhibition program exists to serve artists rather than sales. López F. himself has been an artist-in-residence there. Our October guide to Chicago’s galleries, artist-run spaces and open studios maps more venues working this way.

How do you visit?

The gallery is at 1431 W Hubbard St, Suite 201, in the West Loop. Public hours are limited: Wednesday 11 AM to 4 PM and Saturday 12 to 4 PM, or by advance appointment at contact@chicagoartistscoalition.org. Admission is free. The opening reception on October 30 runs from 5 to 8 PM.

FAQ

What are the dates?

October 30 through December 10, 2026, with the opening reception on October 30, 5 to 8 PM.

Is admission free?

Yes. Chicago Artists Coalition is a nonprofit and entry is free.

What are the opening hours?

Wednesday 11 AM to 4 PM and Saturday 12 to 4 PM, or by advance appointment.

Who are the artists in Zombie?

Mauricio López F., Gabriel Moreno and Pablo Lazala Ruiz, curated by Serena JV Elston.

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

• Chicago Artists Coalition, exhibition page for Zombie: dates, reception, address, hours, curatorial text and artist and curator biographies.

More context: our guides to Stacey Lee Gee’s ROTATOR at ARC Gallery and to Brendan Fernandes’s In the Round at the Driehaus Museum, in its last weeks.