NEW YORK, NY.- Phillips announced its first private selling exhibition dedicated to the artists that have come to define the Chicago art scene. Curated by gallerist Karen Lennox, Cooler by the Lake: Chicago Art 1965-1985 celebrates the vision and influence born from the artists of the Windy City throughout two of the most significant decades of creative output. Including works by Roger Brown, Miyoko Ito, Jim Nutt, and, Christina Ramberg, the exhibition brings together an extraordinary group in the new New York galleries at 432 Park Avenue, where the show will be on view from 10 December to 15 January.

Karen Lennox, said, “The artists in this exhibition share friendships, legendary teachers and an urge to look at everything including the fearlessness of self-taught artists they collected. They’ve had many appellations attached to them; goofy, shocking, irreverent, yet, historically, one can trace their predecessors back to the Italians and the Dutch masters as easily as Marvel comic books. Their significance is that of a bold new vocabulary of Imagism which remains fresh, new, exciting and impossible to forget.”

Miety Heiden, Phillips’ Head of Private Sales, said, “Phillips is excited to bring together artists from such an important and vibrant community to 432 Park Avenue. The Chicago art scene has delivered many significant creators over the years with lasting impact in the evolution of 20th century and contemporary art. We welcome clients to view these works over the next month in their full grandeur and presence in our sophisticated New York gallery space.”

Karen Lennox was an early director of the Phyllis Kind Gallery, working with curators on seminal shows culminating in the international show, Who Chicago? Lennox eventually opened her own gallery and, by 2000, she had worked directly with Jim Nutt and Ray Yoshida, in addition to the estates of Miyoko Ito and Christina Ramberg. This opportunity, presented to her by Phillips, is her first time serving as the curator of a Chicago Imagist exhibition.