Feature image: Jason Purcell I by Melanie P. Brown. Courtesy of Oliva Gallery.
March 6, 2026 – March 28, 2026
Opening Reception: Friday, March 6, 2025, 5:00–9:00 PM
Oliva Gallery, 3816 W. Armitage Ave., Chicago, IL 60647
Submitted
Chicago, IL – Oliva Gallery marks its tenth anniversary with MMM…., a group exhibition presented in conjunction with International Women’s Day. The exhibition opens on March 6, 2026, and features work by Melanie P. Brown, Mia Capodilupo, and Michelle Stone. The title references both the shared first initials of the participating artists and the visual and sensory richness of their work.
Together, the exhibition brings painting, sculpture, installation, and performance-informed practices into dialogue, highlighting distinct yet complementary approaches to material, gesture, space, and perception.
Melanie Brown
Melanie P. Brown presents work rooted in her long-standing practice of painting in direct response to sound and music. Since 2020, Brown’s process has centered on live and recorded sound as a catalyst for color, gesture, and mark-making. Preparing extensive palettes and integrating pastel and charcoal, she translates rhythm, texture, and spatial perception into layered compositions. Brown frequently performs live painting in collaboration with musicians, treating the act of painting as a time-based, multisensory event. The resulting canvases function as residual records of these four-dimensional collaborations. Brown lives and works in Chicago and holds a BA from Knox College and an MFA in Painting from American University.
Mia Capodilupo
Mia Capodilupo contributes sculptural and installation-based work informed by physical contact, spatial experience, and material tension. A sculptor and installation artist originally from Boston, Capodilupo has exhibited widely in museums, galleries, and alternative spaces across the United States. Her practice includes large-scale public and semi-permanent installations commissioned by the cities of Chicago, Atlanta, Bellevue, Washington, and the Indianapolis Art Center, as well as a permanent work at the Ragdale Foundation in Lake Forest, Illinois. Capodilupo holds an MFA in Sculpture from the San Francisco Art Institute and serves as Gallery Director at Lillstreet Art Center. She is also the founder and director of Ignition Project Space in Chicago.
Michelle Stone
Michelle Stone presents constructed, impasto acrylic sculptures alongside related paintings and drawings. Her work occupies a space between figuration and abstraction, often expanding into wall-based, floor-based, and immersive installations. Stone’s practice investigates memory, narrative, and the human condition through layered surfaces, fragmented forms, and evolving structures. Her paintings and sculptures emphasize transformation, erosion, and psychological space, with imagery emerging through accumulated gestures and textures. Stone is affiliated with Ceres Gallery in New York City and Dialogue Chicago and maintains a studio with Greenleaf Artists. She lives and works between Chicago and New York.
MMM…. affirms Oliva Gallery’s decade-long commitment to presenting contemporary work while foregrounding the voices and practices of women artists. The exhibition aligns with International Women’s Day to future emphasize this focus of the gallery.
About Oliva Gallery
Oliva Gallery is dedicated to showcasing exceptional work by contemporary artists with roots in the Midwest and beyond. Through exhibitions spanning painting, sculpture, and mixed media, the gallery fosters critical dialogue, interdisciplinary exploration, and inclusive cultural engagement.
Contact:
Oliva Gallery
olivagallery@gmail.com
(847) 922-5736